Redsand Canyon Is there something we're still missing?

Sleeping in a den was not something Glaukos enjoyed.

He had toiled enough through his punishment that he did not notice where he dropped for rest; as it happened, he was near the rendezvous where the other men kept their beds. He collapsed outside of an empty hovel, which itself was near to a spacious alcove shared between the newest auxiliary and the as-yet-unknown @Tamar.

He woke with a start some time after, but he was not where he had dropped. The sheltering walls around him caused a flare of panic; he rose up, slamming in to the low ceiling that he did not see was there, and felt a bloom of radiant pain across his head.

they all lived rather close together here, which kept tamar silent in the furs.

it was a particular sort of challenge, to learn to be quiet with arsenio. they were free here but they were not unheard.

the slamming sound in the home nearest hers brought the young woman's head up sharply. she had been combing new pelts for their floor with her teeth. tamar slid from the bed and dared to look outside, where she found a very large man.

she stiffened, but he smelled of mereo. "are you all right?" the former servant asked softly, eyes filled with concern.

The fuck!? Glaukos exclaimed as he sank down again, pressing his face against the dirt in the shadow of the alcove. One limb raised to cover his head, the other scraped the dirt. He ached for a few moments longer and did not look up, even when the woman's voice came to him.

His eyes were shut but watering. He'd hit the ceiling so hard that his jaw ached. It was very possible he had loosened some of his own teeth with the collision. Nothing came from his mouth: no teeth, no blood, just an endless ache that pulsed down his neck.

He moaned. No, I'm not alright.
It seemed as though he had heard her, after all.
Fuckin' hurt.

Lurching up again — snaking out from under the stony eaves — Glaukos moved to where he could lay properly without confinement. It happened to be in line with Tamar's door, blocking her from escape.

tamar blinked at his swearing, stepping back swiftly.

he slunk across her doorstep. again she tensed, but thus far he had given no indication that he was a threat to her. still he was a man. and she had learned not to trust them. only arsenio.

tamar took a shaking breath and cleared her throat. "can i — may i look at you?" her skills were very rudimentary compared to anything ruenna could do. "your head, i mean," she clarified unhelpfully.

if allowed, the young she-wolf would draw a little closer, tensely, and bend to see where he had struck himself on the stone ceiling.

As he sat and she advanced to investigate, the boy visibly tensed. He was not accustomed to the attention of others despite the recent training regime with the other auxiliary; if anything he was more cautious.

The rest of his body retained an ache from his punishment. His head throbbed the most now, and he felt weak, which made him erratic. Glaukos lifted his head and watched the woman carefully as she drew closer, every inch of him a thinly veiled threat.

Don't try anything, his body said; but he slowly eased in to her realm of influence, and let her take a look. The back of his head had a very obvious bump across it.

this man trusted no one.

in this, they were very much alike.

tamar moved with slow, deliberate motions. "you have a weal on the back of your head," she said quietly. "it will bruise."

she cleared her throat. "i think you should see the matrona."

Although she was careful and barely touched him, the slightest disturbance to the back of his head made Glaukos suck a breath far to the back of his throat, with teeth clenched.

It'll heal, he countered. Then, standing - trying to stand anyway - he moved a few paces from the woman's door and swaying, came to sit abruptly again.

Glaukos blinked rapidly as he opened his eyes, and could only squint against the reflected light catching upon nearby clusters of snow. Ah, fuck. I think I... Have a concussion.

tamar sighed in mild frustration.

"sit still." her voice took the same tones she had used with crowfeather. "do not sleep. i will bring water." and then she would fetch ruenna, no matter what this soldier said.

when the servant — servant no longer — returned, it was with a skin full of snow. "drink." she looked at his head again. "do not move from here."

Sleep? He had already slept. Glaukos did not like being told what to do by the woman, so he disregarded her completely, and that seemed fine — as she soon left.

But he didn't go anywhere. Wandering was a bad idea. She returned soon enough with a skin full of snow and began investigating his wound over a second time.

You're a bossy one. He murmured, squirming as she came close again; but the snow had begun to melt upon the skin and he was extremely thirsty... Ah, fuck it.

He bent and began to lap at the slush, still squinting.

"i have little brothers."

tamar's heart stung. she watched him drink, her pale eyes attentive and encouraging. "concussions can kill," she said quietly. "usually you do not die. you only begin to lose things. memories. time." 

she was quiet for a moment. "i am taking you to ruenna after this. what is your name?" she wanted to keep him talking.

The snow was cold, obviously. It was refreshing. Glaukos had not realized how warm his face felt. How constricted everything about his body seemed, with the muscle ache of his past work.

Had he known before that a head injury could cause the loss of time, perhaps he'd have sought them out. There were a plethora of memories Glaukos would love to expunge from his permanent record.

He snorted when he heard her speak these things, blowing a few accidental bubbles in to the meltwater.

What is your name?

He was about to say, ain't got one, but caught himself at the last second. The general calls me Glaukos. He does not ask for her own.

"is that what you call yourself?"

her own name was not necessary. for once she was glad that he did not ask after it. anonymity after akashingo was pleasant enough.

she stood nearby, not over him but close enough to watch. "can you stand?" the woman inquired after a moment. he would tower above her, tamar was sure. but she needed to get him to ruenna. she could not treat a concussion herself.

What an odd question.

He did not know what to say to that, and didn't answer. When the woman prompted he stand and try to walk, he did so as a challenge to himself; he could stand fine, but he could not quite orient himself when stepping to keep a straight line.

With a frustrated huff, he sat again.

Really, I'll be fine. This is nothing.

Idling now, he looked at the darkness inside her den - and the furs there - with the same semi-nefarious squint upon his face that had become his go-to, at least while his head ached. So long as he kept his eyeline out of the sun or far from snowglare, it wasn't as bad.

tamar saw his eyes pass over the bed.

beneath her fur she reddened. "arsenio is not here now. but i think he will want to meet you." it was an odd, abrupt thing to say, tamar telling this man of mereo that she was not available.

strange in itself. foreign, for she had always belonged to men. "come on," she told him softly. "let us walk. i will take you there now."

tamar drew forward to help him.

He didn't know what she was talking about. Arsenio was a name he knew only through Germanicus, and the man kept much of his knowledge to himself. It didn't phase Glaukos one way or the other that Tamar belonged to someone, or so the implication went.

He grunted, passing her a queer look, and then turned to follow her. The boy was oblivious to much of Tamar's feelings, observations, and concerns. It wasn't natural for Glaukos to be concerned with others - making him an oddity among the auxilia, who cared for and protected these canyons.

He was silent as he walked; it took more effort than he would admit to keep one step ahead of the other as he squinted down at his feet. So much so that Glaukos didn't heed whether he brushed Tamar or where she ended up.

But, at least he wasn't biting her head off.