Raruo felt good. Not great, but he couldn’t complain. Scratches were meaningless, even if they were bleeding fairly copiously. He had driven off that Dhati, and, hopefully, sent a message off with him. It might have been more potent if they had been forced to drag back a dead body, but he would take what he could get. He didn’t feel pride, not in himself, because it was his duty. A good day at work, and one less Dhati-caused problem averted, he hoped.
Limping back to his den, able now to get some rest, he padded into the cave at a leisurely pace. He wasn’t too hurried to get himself looked at, planning to just lick his wounds until they stopped bleeding and then take a nap. It had always worked in the past. But, in the back of his mind, he knew that living with a healer was probably going to mean a change in his usually wound-tending ways.
He plopped himself down, the cave empty for the moment, and did his best to lick at a wound on his shoulder. He couldn’t tell if it was his blood of the Dhati’s that he was cleaning off, but he didn’t much care.
Getting tired in a hurry, he opted to leave them as they were, putting his head down on his paws for a quick nap. It was too difficult to stay awake, now that he was laying down.
To say that Kaihdin was shocked when she came into her new den would be an understatement. She was shocked, scared out of her mind, and angry all at one time. Why? Because Raruo was covered in blood, that's why. And she couldn't tell from her current position if it was his blood or someone else's. She could only hope the latter, though her mind told her to hope the former (after all, he was a warrior, even an old one).
So for a moment, with all those conflicting emotions, Kaihdin couldn't really say anything. She was scared that if she opened her mouth, either something bad would come out or nothing at all. So she took a few moments to compose herself, closed her eyes, took a deep breath: and then looked at him as if she would look at a patient. Because that's what he was right now.
"When did this happen?" she asked, walking up to him. She had been out searching for some rare herbs that grew nearby--thankfully, there had been some, otherwise her stores would be so empty--when she had smelled him. And blood.
With a critical eye, she inspected him from a distance, just walking in to the front of the den. There were scratches, both shallow and deep, but she would have to look closer to figure out each one. Bite marks were on his fur, too. She was horrified, but kept it down. Kaihdin knew that if she coddled him too much, it would insult his status as a warrior. And she had just recently learned how important that was.
She planned to wait until later to chastise him about it.
Raruo opened one eye when he heard someone come in. He knew who it was, of course: no one just walked into his den without at least announcing themselves first. Mostly because most folks didn’t like getting yelled at, as he was liable to do. Something he enjoyed doing, in fact. But he couldn’t really yell at her, since she wasn’t a trespasser. Picking up his big head, tilting it at her, he shrugged nonchalantly.
“Not too long ago,” he said, clearing his throat. Why did she make him feel sheepish? Of course he knew why, but he still didn’t like it. He always felt silly when he was talking to her, and she was mad at him. And he could feel that she was. At least irritated. He smiled at her, if the expression he forced on his muzzle could be called that.
“It was a fight on the border,” he explained, “just part of my duty. I suppose I might have… uh… gotten a bit carried away with it. I guess. You should see the other guy,” he really grinned then, flashing his teeth. Those, at least, were white and clean of blood.
“You don’t have to fuss over me. I’ve had worse, you know.”
"Oh yes, I do have to fuss over you. Because there is no one else to fuss over you, and I'm a healer. Therefore, I can technically say it is my job to fuss over you. So tough." There she was: she had fully entered Healer-mode on his butt. And when Kaihdin gets into healer-mode, it took a while to get her out of it. She comes out of a shell and becomes bossy, and stubborn.
Exactly what she needed to be in order to treat Raruo.
"Scootch over." The lioness sat down and took a pawful of a nearby herb and spread it in her paws. She took one look at him, said "This might sting a bit," and then slathered the mushed herbs all over his side, where a good many scratches happened to be. She didn't bother to clean his fur yet; this herb worked best when it was applied to the wound as soon as possible. Cleaning would just take up time she didn't have.
"A fight on the border? With who?" She asked, making conversation as she smushed some more herbs together to prepare for a second layer.
“No, you really don’t,” he countered, though he knew she was right. It was her job, after all. Still, he got the feeling she was extra-fussing, and that wasn’t fair. He would rather he didn’t get preferential treatment, if it meant avoiding her getting so vexed about his wounds. They weren’t that bad, as far as he was concerned. His limbs were all still attached. His organs were all still on the inside. No bones broken. Things were fine.
Of course, she didn’t seem to think that way. So things were going to be interesting.
He scootched maybe a centimeter, mostly out of spite, when she told him to move. He watched her, impassive, then growled even before she touched the herbs to his wounds. He could just feel them, like they were oozing ‘I’m going to sting’ without her having to tell him so. He hissed when she did spread the stuff on him, baring his teeth in an angry, but not too threatening way.
“I didn’t happen to catch his name. But if you wanted to take a whiff of him, I’ve got chunks of his fur in my claws.” He snorted. He watched her as she prepared a second rub, frowning. “Is this really necessary?”
"No arguing. I'm the expert. Hush." Bossy again. She had to say that, every once in a while she did like to take advantage of being in healer-mode. It was fun to turn the tables for once.
Kaihdin didn't answer his question. She just pushed her paw back down onto his fur and smeared the herbs down again. "So we're going to let that dry, and while we do that, I'll treat the others." The medicine she had used was pretty much only good for large areas, like his sides and back. That's where she had put it. But for his neck, legs, and anywhere else, it wouldn't be as effective.
So she took a big leaf and dragged it a distance away, dipped it in water, and carefully dragged it back. Then she used it to clean his neck, where most of the bite marks were.
"Does it hurt badly?" she asked, her tone softening to allow some of the true worry and concern slip through.
Raruo frowned at her. He might have pointed out that she hadn’t been a healer in this pride for that long, so she was technically no master as far as he was concerned. But he figured she’d poke one of his wounds for that, so he kept his trap shut. And really, despite his rude demeanor, he was thankful for her help. Not because he thought he needed it, but because he liked that it was her.
Maybe he was just a big old flirt, on the inside.
“You’re making my fur look ridiculous,” he pointed out, angry but in an amused kind of way, “it’s sticking everywhere under that goo. Thanks a lot.”
He sighed as she tended to his neck, closing his eyes and relaxing a bit under her ministrations. At least this was soothing, and not so stingy. “Not too badly, no,” he said, which he believed. He was used to this kind of pain, though, so he couldn’t really compare it to what she might think ‘badly’ was. He knew she was worried, and he moved to nuzzle her slightly, just to comfort her in a small, not too fluffy way.
In no time the neck-wounds were clean enough for her to treat them with a different herb; this kind was gentler but just as effective at healing. No, she might have not been a healer for long, but she was a quick learner. Experimenting on both herself (just a little; she knew Raruo would not be happy if he found out) and hurt prey nearby.
"It doesn't look ridiculous. It looked even worse with chunks missing and blood is still everywhere," she replied, not unkindly as she spread the herb on his neck. "But I'm glad it doesn't hurt so much," Kaihdin added softly, nuzzling him back.
Raruo couldn’t help but step up the nuzzle into something more affectionate, though he didn’t want to get his herb-sticky mane on her fur. He was glad to have her taking care of him, being with him. Just putting up with him, in general. He wasn’t the easiest guy to like, let alone want to spend more time than necessary with. But she did, anyway, and seemed to like it. He wouldn’t question why, in case that led to her leaving.
He didn’t want her to go anywhere.
“I suppose you’re right,” he said, nodding. He grumbled a bit, which was actually a purr, and bumped his nose to hers. “I guess you’re not so bad, for a newbie healer. I don’t know what I’d think if everyone got this kind of treatment, though.” He looked thoughtful. He’d probably be pretty pissed. If he was feeling so drawn to her, because of who she was and how she treated him whenever they were together, he wondered distantly if others might feel the same.
He’d kick their butts if he had to.
Kaihdin giggled and licked his face gently, managing to not get any of the blood on his fur. She bumped her nose against his and put her forehead against his too, and closed her eyes as she smiled happily, forgetting for a moment, that she was supposed to be helping to fix him. Since he went and got himself hurt.
"Thanks. I'm getting better! Remember when I couldn't tell the difference between a good plant and a bad plant? Now I at least know which good plants do what."
She licked him again and nodded, scooting back to finish treating his neck. "This kind of treatment is special. I made it up just for you; no one else will get it. Unless you want them to."
“I’m glad for that. I don’t like the bad plants half as much as I do these good ones,” he hummed, feeling a bit numb, and liking it. The pain he had been ignoring was fading, and now he realized how bad it really had been. Such was the way with him, though. And he was glad, in any case, that it was gone. Maybe he was just not thinking about it any more, and because of that he felt so much better.
He had something better to think about, anyway.
“No, thank you, I’d rather this stay between us,” he said with a grunt of a laugh, his voice sarcastic. He meant it, of course, but he didn’t want her thinking he was jealous already. Just at the idea of someone else feeling this good because of her. He shook his head, wanting to rub her again, moving and nuzzling her with surprising affection before licking her cheek and settling his head down on his paws. He sighed heavily.
“I think I need some rest, but I’d sleep better with some company in my dreams,” He was looking up at her, affecting a kind of puppy-dog look to him as he subtly asked her to lay down next to him.
"I do it all to make you happy, darling," she quipped, washing her paw off with some water and dribbling some on his paws. Besides, if he kept up this "duty" of his--this fighting on the borders with the Dhati--then she would have more than enough reason to perfect and expand her knowledge of healing. Maybe it would even drive her to talk with the pride's master healers to further her apprenticeship.
She didn't want to share this special time with anyone else, either, to be honest. Kaihdin was quite happy enough to have found someone who let her coddle him, even if he acted all grumpy about it. She wouldn't waste it on someone else.
Besides. He would probably tear the heads off of those who even looked at her the wrong way, let alone spend time with her.
She stuck her tongue out at him when he made a face at her and scrunched up her nose. "Oh, fine. Give me a minute." The black and purple lioness finished cleaning up her healing mess, pushed it all off to the side, and curled up next to him, though careful not to push too hard on his body or get the medicine on herself.
Raruo grinned, as if he had somehow won something, but getting her to sit next to him. He moved to let his head rest close to hers, shifting closer to make her effort not to touch him a moot point as he brushed his fur on her sides and got traces of the herbal remedy she had used on her fur.
“There,” he grunted, keeping his head on his paws innocently, “at least now we match.”
He snorted a scoff and then closed his eyes, curling against her more comfortably rather than just to tease her. He was a big lion, and not too used to cuddling, but he didn’t mind it. He liked the feeling of her sitting so close to him, and knowing that she actually wanted to be there. He still couldn’t really think of why, but imagined that if he questioned it she might realize she was being silly and leave him.
It didn’t take long for him to start drifting off, tired from his fight and well soothed from her ministrations. He was a bit of a snorer, the grumble of a sound filling the cave soon enough.
"I'll get you back later for that," she replied softly in response to him dirtying her nice clean coat with the very same herbs she had just dirtied his with. Kaihdin made a few mental notes of when to wake up and apply more herbs, and to change up the order a little bit, but she didn't worry so much about it right now. It was nap time, and of course it didn't take very long for him to drift off.
She couldn't help but smile as his snores echoed in his--their--den, comforting her. She wasn't entirely sure why they did; it wasn't like she had grown up with the sound or anything (Roho certainly would not have lowered herself to emit such a noise), but it reminded her of him in a physical form. His snore was deep and rumbling, just like his voice, which matched the huge mass of his body, which comforted her. So yes, in a sense, the snoring led to that, and she felt safe.
So with that thought, she relaxed her head on one of his paws, next to his own head, and closed her eyes to fall into dreamland, led by his snores.
