Chapter 15:

Promise?

Bloodlust

For better or worse, getting back to the clinic was easy. Neither of them particularly wanted this day to end after all. There were far fewer people this time of the evening as everyone had gone back to do things that regular people do, so passing through the streets was more of a breeze than they wanted it to be.

The clinic, however, had far more people leaving than entering, and beyond one pair of physicians loudly arguing over a matter neither Raian nor Mochi could care to listen in on, making it back down to the facility wasn’t too much of a hassle either.

The elevator ride down was standard as usual, heralding in a few more heads for the night shift. The lower they went, the more Mochi seemed to lower his own head. He knew it would all come to an end eventually. Everything has to, but that didn’t make this less painful.

It was nice wearing clothes other than a plain white robe. It was nice trying new foods and seeing new things, and meeting new people, even if some of those people weren’t nice.

Above all else though, it just felt right finally having some time alone with Raian. It’s not like he couldn’t have that anymore, but it was just that warm feeling in his chest, on top of feeling normal for once, that he’ll miss.

However, the moment the doors opened up, chaos erupted. It was a noisy hellscape, just when things seemed at least somewhat peaceful when they left. The steel plating along the main corridor had been violently twisted and broken, but at the very least, no one seemed to carry any major injuries.

Handlers ran from place to place, guiding personnel far from what looked like some manner of impact zone. The closer Raian looked, those same steel walls carried the deep, detailed dents of a fist. Monstrous teeth and a few substantial blood smears also acted as decoration.

The two managed to avoid the commotion by standing out of the way, Mochi especially, having learned to not get lost in crowds by clinging tightly onto Raian, but even so it was difficult for the two of them to make anything of this situation.

“’sup.” A familiar voice came from below.

There, sat comfortably on the floor with their back against the wall was Unali, albeit looking a bit worse for wear. They gave a simple, half-hearted salute as blood continued to drip from their forehead and nose.

“You’re bleeding!” the squid stated the obvious, rushing to their side.

“What happened here?” Raian squatted down to their level.

The demon blinked fervently as if trying their damn best to stay awake, wiping a smear of dark blood across their cheek.

“Ah, really funny story,” Unali began, a bit more nasally than before, “you see, Agoni tried to pick a fight with God’s Wound, right in the hallway too. But God’s Wound wasn’t having none of that, so the stupid whale picked a fight with the second-best option, and BAM!”

The demon, against their better judgement, motioned throwing their horned head forward with a freshly radiating pain.

“Slammed my head right into the wall.” They groaned, “He got what he wanted in the end though, God’s Wound went berserk.”

“Yeah? How’d that go for Agoni?” Raian swallowed, suddenly even happier that he was out with Mochi.

“Well they either kissed, or Agoni got his face bitten off. I couldn’t tell. I may or may not have a concussion.”

“What about God’s Wound? Is he okay?” Mochi asked, unsure of what to do as he eyed the state Unali was in.

“Oh yeah, nah he’s fine. Few cuts and scrapes and bruises but he'll be alright.” The demon sighed, raising both hands toward the pair.

Usually Unali would say ‘uppies’ at this point, but they both assumed the demon had lost too much blood for that. Mochi pulled once again with all his might, but as is common for the man, Raian had to do most of the heavy lifting.

After a quick beeline for the infirmary, Raian planted a foot firmly against the door, giving it a bit more energy than intended. Both the door and the entailing room cracked with a metallic boom, unbeknownst to Grimsby who happened to be on the other side. He had a wonderful time spending the next several seconds juggling medicine bottles that had been scared out of his hand.

He knew that if even one bottle wound up smashed, he can kiss his next five paycheques goodbye. His powerful, banshee-like shriek not only worsened Unali’s pain, but also made Mochi scream in a similar intonation.

“What do you w-want?!” the elf clutched the medication close to his chest.

The lad didn’t have much use around here, admittedly; he was no handler, and far too inexperienced to be a doctor, but he had enough medical and first aid knowledge for him to be described as ‘adequately nifty’.

Mochi poked his head out from behind as Raian silently pointed toward the demon still bleeding black blood onto the floor.

“Right, s-sorry.” Grimsby pushed his glasses up and straightened his spine, “What seems to be the problem?”

“Conk.” Unali muttered.

“E-excuse me?”

“Conch cushion.” Mochi spoke up.

Whatever caffeine-addled braincells rattled about Grimsby’s skull were now working overtime. He could do nothing more than stare at the boy.

“Concussion.” Raian said flatly, flailing his hand vaguely at the blood pouring from Unali’s face, “and that.”

“Ah! That! Of course! Sorry!” the elf wailed, clamouring for the right equipment in an assortment of cupboards.

Assured that they could stand by themselves, the pair let the demon go. Grimsby found himself searching for medical equipment alongside a blood-soaked demon attempting to do the very same.

First Unali chugged a handful of painkillers labelled ‘Zeltronine’, which went down without a fuss. That was until they reached for another brown glass labelled ‘Lamarenzine’*.

“No! No no no! No no!” Grimsby lunged for them, snatching the bottle from their hands. “You can’t mix those two, you’ll bloody kill yourself!”

“How do you know?” Unali slurred their words.

“I… er…” he pushed his glasses up, “the books! The books said so!”

“Pfft, nerd.” The demon grumbled, snagging the Lamarenzine back and unscrewing the cap.

A wrestling match between a half-conscious Senrali, and a twig of an elf broke out, and neither Raian nor Mochi knew who to bet on. Separatory curtains fell and, surprisingly, Grimsby managed to effectively slam them into the bed.

He might not be physically adept, but he had the spirit at least.

“I’ll…” Raian shook his head, “I’ll leave you to it.”

Both Raian and Mochi were far too tired for this, and so they left. The commotion had died down a good bit, and now the brunt of the work had to be left to the maintenance crew. The jumpsuit squad happily sang and whistled away as they wrung out the dents and scratches and swept away any gore.

They knew they were getting paid well.

It was a dreadful, but brisk walk back to Mochi’s chamber, littered with silence and averted gazes. What could one possibly say in this moment?

Thoughts and questions, both intrusive and natural came and went until they were met with the same bolted, metal door the two had faced time and time again. The latches gave free, and that familiar box Mochi called home came into view. He only barely mustered the energy to take a few steps in.

“I’ll pop by in the morning as usual,” the man rested his palm atop Mochi’s head; it always surprised him how soft those tendrils were, “don’t forget to take your meds if I’m late.”

The boy nodded and gave a sombre smile, trying his best to not let his emotions get the better of him.

“When can we go out again?” he asked simply.

“I… do not know,” Raian responded, rubbing the back of his head, “I’ll submit another request form tomorrow, but we know how they like to take their time. I’ll make sure they go quicker.”