Six Will Stand (First Draft)

Chapter 20

"No... I wanna keep playing tag..." Fai groaned as the person shaking him awake pulled off the blankets around him. "Wah...cold..." He blearily opened his eyes and put an arm over one eye to block out the bright morning light, a very annoyed Josh continuing to shake him awake.

"Wake up, idiot. I don't care if you want to keep playing tag. It's nearly the afternoon, and I figured you'd want a little time to wake up before I took you to Yrin's." Josh continued to shake the redhead. Hard. "I can get ice cold water if you prefer..."

The redhead immediately shot up in the bed. "I'm up, I'm--" he yawned, "--up; I'm definitely up." He yawned again, making sure to keep his face pointing toward the mattress. I probably actually bit my tongue... I hope it doesn't start bleeding... I'm actually surprised it isn't bleeding right now if I did...

Josh peered at him. "Is there a reason you have blood on your mouth?"

Raksa. "Bit my tongue while I was sleeping, I guess."

Josh cocked an eyebrow, but when Fai didn't say anything else, he shrugged. "Eh, I won't ask. The others are talking to Caleb right now if you wanted to join them. I'll be back there myself in a minute." He looked around warily, as if looking for eavesdroppers. Then, he asked quietly, "How's Riv?"

Fai grinned. "We played tag!" His grin faltered for a moment. "Then she got stuck in a huge jar... She broke it though with this ice club thing--it was really cool--but she was like...ten feet above the ground so she fell, obviously... She...might've broken her leg... But! I think she fixed it. And, I helped her with all her other cuts and glass shards so she should be good now. I think..." The redhead tilted his head. "Anyway, is Caleb okay now?"

Josh smiled when Fai spoke about Riv, but his smile faded slightly when he mentioned Caleb. "Yeah.... He should be fine. Though I have to say, I almost don't.... You know what? Nevermind. Yeah, he's fine. I'll be across the hall whenever you're ready." With that, Josh turned on his heels and left the room.

"...Alrighty." When Fai had quickly gotten ready, he went over to the other side of the hallway. He nearly just barged in, but he remembered at the last second 'common' courtesy. He knocked, then barged in. "Good...afternoon?" He grinned.

Caleb was still in bed, his blond hair scruffy. He looked a bit tired, but he smiled in greeting as Fai entered the room. "Almost, but not quite, Fai." Marion and Cade were both sitting in chairs around Caleb's bed. Josh was standing close to the bed, leaning against the wall.

"Oh... So," Fai sat on the floor by Caleb, "How're you feeling?"

Caleb sighed, leaning back against the the bed rest. "Better. Not one hundred percent, but I'll be back to normal in a couple days." He made a face. "According to Nerik, though, I'm not allowed to leave bed for three more days. I wish he wasn't so stubborn. I'd much rather watch Yrin kick your butts in training today, and it's not like I'd be stressing myself out or anything."

Josh came over by his brother's bed, a knowing smirk on his face. "You know how stubborn he is."

"Don't remind me," Caleb said wryly.

"Uh--" Cade flinched a bit. "You could be less...harsh with the whole 'Yrin kicking our butts' thing..." The blond turned his head to the side. "Even though that's a very accurate description of it..."

Caleb and Josh laughed. "Okay, sorry," Caleb said, "but it is kind of satisfying to see, since we had years of it."

Cade sighed. "Of course it is..." He raised his eyebrow when Fai laid his head on the edge of Caleb's bed. "...What the heck are you doing?"