An Awfully Eventful Day

[Zander Brogthamon]

Zander was terribly sore as he stiffly made his way back into the manor. Truth be told he was rather happy Primrose had given him a new tunic to wear. As much as he liked to saunter about shirtless he didn't suppose Pearce would be too happy about seeing his guaze wrapped chest first thing.

When he arrived back inside he was first greeted by the scrapping, scampering sound of Whiskys paws barreling towards him as fast as his little legs could take him. "Zanny! Zanny!" He heard next as his sister soon joined the pup. With as sore as he was he barely had time to crouch down and catch his sister as she attempted to tackle him to the ground.

He grunted in pain and winced but held her close to him in a hug. "Hey, sweet girl." He said between his teeth. The blonde girl pulled away with a frown as her bright green eyes wandered over him. "Whisky says you smell funny. Are you hurt?" The redhead ran his hand over her hair and smiled. "Just a little sore from work."

As he pushed himself up from the floor she still looked up at him skeptically. "Where's Mr. Lockheed?" It occurred to him that Pearce had said something about going out with cousin to the market. He followed his sister to one of the sitting rooms she'd apparently set herself up in. The tiled floor was covered in papers with drawings, words, her name written a couple of times. Zander eased himself down into one of the seats slowly with a wince.

[Pearce Lockheed]

His day out with his cousin had been...well, saying it was more enjoyable than he had thought it would be sounded terrible. He had certainly hoped it would be enjoyable. Pearce wasn't entirely sure he could claim to have 'bonded' with the man, but he did feel like he understood Percival a bit better. The day out had been good for both of them in general, a decent walk, fresh air, new clothes, new toys...

Speaking of presents, the marquis entered the manor with a small burlap wrapped pack held in both hands, almost like an offering that he was a little bit shy about presenting, though he was quite keen to give the sweets to Briella. All the other items he had left to his staff to put away, even the other candy, but he wanted to give these to her personally.

One of the maids indicated she was in the blue room (it had the best lighting most of the day and was the best for drawing, so when Pearce wasn't taking visitors there, it seemed to belong to the young girl and everyone knew it). Pearce knocked twice and then, it being his home, let himself in.

"Briella? I brought-" He stopped, rather surprised to see Zander home so early. It made him immediately suspicious. Conveniently, he didn't remember much of their antics last night. He started over. "I brought you a present." Still, confused or not, the noble was happy to see his boyfriend. "Zander, welcome home." Pearce decided he would hold his questions for the moment. Instead, he stepped into the room and closed the door, offering the package to the young girl and a smile to his lover.

[Zander Brogthamon]

As the door opened Whisky wagged his tail excitedly and the siblings both turned to see who was entering their space. "Welcome back, love." The offering of a gift had the blonde girl quickly jumped up from her work and dashed over to the man. "Thank you, Mr. Lockheed." She stated excitedly.

With a small wince Zander pulled himself up from his seat to make his way over to properly greet his boyfriend. "How was your outing with Perci?" He asked as he gently took the mans hand in his. Briella opened the package and pulled out the sweets excitedly as she laid back under the warm sun beam with Breeze and returned to her drawing.

[Pearce Lockheed]

Breeze had jumped up with the youngest Brogthamon moved, almost as if sensing her excitement. The cat padded over to Pearce, rubbed against one of his legs, pointedly ignored the dog, and then with a sniff, realized none of this candy business interested her so she returned to the spot of sunlight on the floor.

The 'small wince' did not go unnoticed. Pearce's smile at seeing the young man quickly turned into concern. "Percival and I had a lovely time," he began, letting Zander take his hand and considering him for a moment. He didn't look hurt, but something was bothering the boy. "Are you alright?" Pearce asked meaningfully, reaching up with his other hand to cup Zander's cheek.

[Zander Brogthamon]

Percival, right. He had to remind himself about that. "Percival." He stated, more as a small reminder to himself. He didn't miss the look of concern on his boyfriends face but simply shook his head dismissively. "I'm alright. Just a rough day at work." He leaned into the marquis touch and placed his own hand on top of his. With a soft smile he turned to place a kiss on his palm.

Briella looked up from her spot on the floor and narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her brother. "He smells funny." Zander glared back at his sister playfully and stuck his tongue out at her. "Perhaps I just need a bath." He whispered playfully with a chuckle.

Instead of waiting for the man to see the guaze wrapped around his chest Zander dragged his fingers through his hair. "I had to get a few stitches."

[Pearce Lockheed]

Pearce pursed his lips. He definitely should have insisted. Rough day at work? That was all he had to say? Usually the redhead was excited to tell him all about his day, or at least this or that time he was nearly stabbed. As much as Pearce paled a little at hearing about that (for multiple reasons) he still liked hearing about the boy's day.

He folded his arms, about to express as much when Briella chimed in. Smelled funny? She certainly didn't mean sweaty, considering both of them were used to the young man smelling that way a lot. "Perhaps you do," he said, though it was more thoughtful. He swept his gave over Zander again and stepped forward, nearly committed to lifting his shirt then and there for a full inspection when Zander confessed.

His foot didn't hit the ground the right way and he wobbled a second. "Stitches?" he repeated, the word a little heavy in his mouth like it was foreign. And then he corrected his balance and his words and his rightful concern, and brushed Zander's hands away. "What happened? Are you alright? Sit down." So maybe it was best he not pull the redhead's shirt off, but he still sort of wanted to see. "You need to rest. Can Heather get you anything?"

[Zander Brogthamon]

This was exactly why the redhead hadn't wanted to tell Pearce about what happened. He knew it was only going to worry him. The man became unsteady just at the idea of him being attacked while on patrol. "Pearce, I'm fine." He insisted with a chuckle. Still, sitting down did sound nice. His muscles still felt stiff. As he lowered himself back into his seat he shook his head.

"It's only a few stitches. It's not the end of the world." Perhaps it was best not to bring up why he was so sore as well. "I don't need anything from Heather. I just need to spend some time with my favorite person." There may have been a part of him that hoped some flattery might calm his boyfriends nerves. Though he doubted it.

"We were doing dodging drills during training. We were using real blades this time instead of the practice ones and I got caught. That's all." Perhaps that would seem a bit worse to Pearce than it did to him. "Primrose patched me up pretty well though."

[Pearce Lockheed]

It was more a testament to how much tea (and what kind) he had taken this morning than anything else, considering he hadn't stammered yet. Those drugs didn't make him any less worried or anxious for his boyfriend. He waved away the assurance that he was fine. Pearce did that too, he understood the desire not to draw much attention or cause a fuss. The blonde knew Zander didn't like being worried about but he was soldier! How could Pearce not worry about him?! Especially considering Zander was a good enough soldier and a better actor that he hardly ever came home hurt (or at least let Pearce see as much), so it was all the more worrying for that reason alone.

Okay, maybe he was getting carried away. He nodded as Zander seated himself again. Pearce was not amused by the joke about the end of the world - he was taking this seriously. "You're favorite person can't hold you if he doesn't know where the stitches are," he countered, still with his arms folded, though he had followed Zander to his seat. Flattery was not going to help either of them. If he wasn't so preoccupied with Zander, he also might not have said something so forward in front of Briella.

"Real blades? Caught? P-Prim-" Pearce finally got caught up on the familiar name and stammered unintelligibly for a moment, flustered and confused. He unfolded his arms like he might need them to help balance. It was less that Zander had met his sister but more the whole stitches and bleeding things but...what?

[Zander Brogthamon]

Zander bit back a snicker at the marquis concern. He knew the man was serious and didn't want to discount his feelings. Even if he felt he was fine. "Bri, take Whisky and go play somewhere else." The blonde girl pouted up at her brother from her spot on the floor. "But I'm drawing." She whined making the redhead sigh.

"You can continue drawing later. I need to talk with Mr. Lockheed, so go play." Though she still pouted the girl stood up with a dramatic huff as she pulled the large puppy off of the floor to carry him out of the room with her. Once she was gone Zander couldn't help but laugh. "I swear I have no idea where she gets her attitude from." No possible idea at all. A complete mystery.

Finally Zander turned back to his boyfriend as he lifted up his tunic. His chest was wrapped in guaze with some fresh bruises forming around his ribcage and hips. "See? Not it's just my chest." The mention of Pearces sister though made him nod with a snicker. "She said she works part time at our infirmary. Very lovely lady."

[Pearce Lockheed]

No idea at all where the girl got it. Well, Zander might not, considering it was sometimes difficult to recognize shared faults. Thankfully it wasn't entirely a fault. Pearce raised an amused and sarcastic eyebrow but didn't answer. There were more important things.

He smiled gratefully at Briella. Hopefully the candy would make up for it.

As Zander moved to lift his own shirt, Pearce shut his eyes. Bandages or not, on the slight off chance he was bleeding, the marquis knew himself all too well and would rather not deal with that right now. He grimaced, eyes still closed. "Alright, alright. You're not...not bleeding are you?" Only on reassurance would he open his eyes. Even a little bit of pink or a small splatter triggered the frustrating reflex.

"Yes. Prim...mentioned that. Her...husband was a soldier." He was dead now, may the man rest in peace. "She is. Yes." He cleared his throat. "You are staying home tomorrow," he insisted, voice firm.

[Zander Brogthamon]

Of course Zander knew how Pearce reacted to blood. It was the entire reason he'd thrown away the soaked one. "No blood. I changed the bandages myself before I came home." He'd also had to wash off his hands and face before returning home so it only made sense.

The insistentence that he stay home the next day made Zander furrow his brow in confusion. "Pearce I'm fine, really. I just need to be a little more careful." He also apparently needed to work more on his dodging. Perhaps he'd gotten too comfortable with the practice swords. The idea of not going into training felt wrong. Certainly there were days he didn't go on patrol due to rotation but even on his days off he usually ran down to the training yard at some point in the day.

"Your sister and I talked about you a little." He mentioned. Hopeing to pull Pearces mind off the idea of keeping him home.

[Pearce Lockheed]

He still wasn't happy to see the bruises and bandages but at least he had had it seen to. It would not surprise him to hear Zander had called it a "scratch" and needed to be ordered to the infirmary.

Pearce kept his arms folded in an attempt to hold that 'in charge' manner. "A little?!" He was incredulous and for a moment didn't know how to answer. Apparently he could only repeat what Zander was saying to him. "You are not fine, Zander. Don't..." he stopped to breathe. "Don't use my sister as a distraction. You need to take a break." He was frowning, but it was entirely in concern. "Please." For Zander's own sake. One day off wouldn't kill him. Besides, it was clear moving hurt. After sleeping he likely would feel even worse.

[Zander Brogthamon]

"It's not that bad." He insisted again as he dragged his fingers through his hair. As far as he was concerned it was little more than a scratch. Sure, moving was uncomfortable. He'd need to be careful to not pop the stitches before they were removed. But this was just part of being a soldier. He got hurt, he'd get better, he'd get hurt less. "I need to work on my dodging. I got distracted when I shouldn't have, fucked up my footing, and as a result I got cut."

There was a nagging voice in the back of his mind that said how he was starting to sound like his father. That wasn't a pleasant thought. Seeing the way Pearce looked at him made Zanders expression change to that of a kicked puppy. "I'm not...trying to distract you." That was a lie. Still, the way the blonde said 'please' made him groan. As he rubbed his hands over his face he thought for a quick moment.

"I will...take the day off tomorrow. Only if I get to spend it with you."

[Pearce Lockheed]

The more Zander said, the more concerned and aggitated Pearce became, but he didn't say anything back. The boy was hard enough on himself and knew more about being a soldier than the marquis did, even having been a soldier once himself. He twitched a little at the choice of language, but even that, of all things, didn't elicit an admonishment from the man.

At Zander's attempt to say he wasn't intentionally changing the subject, Pearce couldn't help the slight smile tugging at the corner of his lips. It was a lie and that didn't thrill him, but again, he said nothing, which was also rather uncharacteristic of him.

"Good," he said quickly, even as Zander was still speaking about spending it with him. He hesitated a moment, thinking. "You can assist in my class in the morning," he said thoughtfully. It would be good for some of the students. A few were actually soldiers too. He...also felt like he was doing something else tomorrow but he couldn't quite remember.

Pearce rubbed a hand against his temple, feeling a headache coming on. "I'll even go running with you in the morning. But you rest after." Well, if he woke up that early.

[Zander Brogthamon]

A playfully devilish grin crossed his lips as he heard he could assist in one of his classes. "I get to be Mr. Lockheeds personal assistant?" He purred teasingly with a snicker. Zander hadn't worked very well in a group setting for learning to read and write. He'd found himself far too easily distracted talking to others simply because he was frustrated. Or began kicking himself when he'd felt he wasn't working as quickly.

There'd been once or twice he'd walked by to find Briella working with some other children. She at least seemed to like working around others.

Zander doubted Pearce would really be in the mood to get up with him to run. Perhaps they could at least go on a walk together at some point. "You know how I hate sitting still." He whined with a dramatic huff. Had he not been so sore he might have thrown himself to the marquis lap. "Have you had you eaten today?"