Velveteen Angel:It had been a week or so since Ai had been called out by Ua, yelled at for being rude to Xiu, and that still stung, more than his wound did. He didn't like being told off, and being told off by his big sister (a usually calm and relaxed female), was just adding insult to injury. He huffed to himself as he walked through the trees, his paws finding purchase on the branches smoothly. He had been raised in these trees, so it was second nature to him. However, as he stepped, he felt something wrong with the branch he put his front paw on. He froze as he heard a loud CRACK as the branch gave way beneath his paw. He threw himself to the nearest branch, thankfully saving himself from taking a tumble down to the floor, but the thick branch which had formerly been attached to the tree crashed to the ground with a loud thud.
He scowled. Great. Even the trees were falling apart.
Painted Moose:
In the week since her rather unfortunate run in with Ai, Xiu had tried to keep herself as busy as possible. When she wasn't tending to the sick and ailing, she was spending all of her waking hours scrounging up herbs for her concoctions. She didn't like being yelled at; frankly, she didn't much like him. There was too much defensive anger in that rude leopard to keep Xiu calm around him, so she had done her best to avoid Ai at all costs.
The loud CRACK was barely a whisper to her as she walked, a nagging thought really, while Xiu ruminated. She had stepped out of the brush with a mouth full of herbs with a large weight slammed onto her tail and she let out a rather loud yowl. The leopardess nearly choked on what bits of herb that had managed to remain in her mouth, with tears instantly brimming in her eyes.
Velveteen Angel:
Ai hadn't noticed the female down below until she let out the yowl, his eyes going wide as he realised that the branch landed on her tail. He didn't particularly like the sour medic, but he didn't want her hurt. He groaned to himself, because he could escape now without her noticing he was there, but instead he lept from the tree downwards. The branch was thick, but Ai had spent his adolescence and his adult life training to be strong, so he easily lifted it off her tail without much issue.
"Are you alright?" He asked gruffly, refusing to make eye contact with her (well, with the one good eye that he still had).
Painted Moose:
Xiu let out a gasp when the rude Lawspeaker leaped down from the tree that turned just as quickly into a frown. A fairly pathetic one at that, since her tail was still stinging in pain and her eyes had tears falling from them. "You." She blurted pointedly. "Y-you did this on purpose didn't you? For the other day!"
She reached back to scoop up her tail as she sat. It was swelling, and sore but thankfully in tact. "It's not broken, if that's what you were hoping for." Xiu sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of her paw.
Velveteen Angel:
Ai bristled. "I could have just left you to deal with the branch, but I didn't, and this is all the thanks I get? Great. Next time I'll leave you to deal with it all on your own." He snarled grumpily. He started to walk away from her, his posture defensive and very annoyed. "By the way, it was an accident. The branch broke under my paw. If I did it on purpose, I wouldn't have hit your tail." He glared. He hated his attitude around the female, but there was something about her that just made his blood boil and his anger seeth.
Painted Moose:
Xiu groaned with a shake of her head. "You are a real piece of work, do you know that? All you had to say was 'Oh no, it wasn't my fault, it was an accident, I'm sorry'," she spoke in a false falsetto, "but you're acting like you're the one who was hit with the damn thing."
Dealing with this male was worse than trying to administer treatment to a cub! Honestly, what crawled up in him and died? She rose to stand and came closer to him. "No really, I want to know; what's wrong with you? Every time you're around me you act as if I've wronged your entire family when all I've done is try to clean out your eye. Which, by the way, probably needs it again."
Velveteen Angel:
Ai growled. "Or all YOU had to do was say 'Oh no, what happened? Was it an accident?' instead of jumping to conclusions and assuming that I am out to get you simply because we had a disagreement ONCE, and now you think I am going to be after you? Get over yourself. The entire world does not revolve around you!" He narrowed his gaze. "Why is it so irrational for me to react defensively when you straight out ACCUSE me of something I didn't do without giving me a chance to say anything. All I did was come to your aid and ask if you were ok. Wow. I must be such a good assassin." He rolled his good eye.
"I don't need your help, and I have never asked for it," he pointed out, ignoring her original question.
Painted Moose:
Xiu flipped her ears back against her head with a snarl. "Revolved around ME? Are you sure you aren't talking about YOU? YOU'RE the obviously injured party here." She said sarcastically. "And YOU didn't even bother answering my question. If you're not yelling at me you're stalking off without even looking me in the eye. Don't THINK I didn't notice that when you jumped down."
She threw up her paws with an aggravated huff. "If I apologize like a good little cub will that make you happy? Seems like the only thing that might. I can't offer to help you without ticking you off, I can't even breath without upsetting you. So what? What is it? What's so wrong about me that sets you off and how can I fix it?" The leopardess was angry, yes, but nervous as well. She wasn't used to speaking back to males when they got testy around her, and a part of her just wanted to smooth this all over so he wouldn't lash out.
Velveteen Angel:
Ai glared at her, his blood boiling and his body tense with irritation. He didn't know why she made him so angry. He had no idea, he just knew that she made him angry and he hated that. What was it about her that made him seethe and become absolutely furious? He held his tongue though, and just stared at her with a look of frustration, not angry. "How can you fix it?" He finally said. "You can leave me alone."
Maybe if she stayed far from him, the emotions that she stirred inside him would go away also. He could only hope
Painted Moose:
"Not likely." Xiu blurted. "Even if I wanted to leave you alone I can't. I would gladly pass you onto a different Medic, but because of your mother we're going to be seeing a lot of each other." The striped leopardess moved to gather up the fallen herbs, careful not to let her swollen tail touch the ground.
"She's sick, Ai, and not just spiritually anymore. They think she's been passing out from lack of nutrients in that tree of hers. If she were to fall...." Xiu shook her head and bundle the herbs. "But you knew that, right? Being the good son you are?" The quip was without heat, but it was accusatory. The Medic had seen precious few of the formal Council leopards family as of late. Family tension was high, but this wasn't the time for it anymore. "These will help her sleep and kick start her appetite." Pondering for a moment, she pushed them towards him. "You can take them to her. She has to eat every one."
Looking at him pointedly, Xiu scampered up into the trees and left.
Painted Moose
Ai stared down at the herbs that she had pushed towards him, feeling guilt setting heavily in his stomach like a lead weight. He hadn't seen his mother in weeks. His father was around, back to his usual silent self (well, worse than his former silent self. Now he wouldn't even talk. Maybe a grunt or two but nothing more.) He knew his mother had not dealt with their issues well, but he had thought she was...at least ok.
He would never admit it, but he had been hiding from her. He knew she felt bad because he had lost the sight in one of his eyes, and he didn't want her to see him struggling to adjust to his new, injured life...but Xiu had forced his paw. He took a deep, steadying breath, and gathered up the fallen herbs. It was time to see his Mother.