What It Means To Be King

Chapter 61: Soldiers Keep On Marching On

"You're soaking wet." 

"I am aware, yes." Anubis bit back the curse for the sake of prioritizing Shao Long's condition first, knowing that if he and Leo were to resort to a verbal fight right now, there would be no end to it. Pools of water were starting to form underneath him as Evan and Hatt rushed to him, with a series of exclamation and questions. Evan was the one to take Shao Long from his arms, carrying him over to the couch to lay him over. Leo had dashed away in search of his medical bag while Gion, Shintarou and Livio made room for them to flock over. 

"What happened to him?" Shintarou was the one to ask first, reaching out tentatively, only to pull back when he thought better of it. Livio had stepped forward, offering to do a quick checkup before Leo could arrive, but Evan had beaten him to it, first checking the nosebleed which had already stopped, before checking his temperature. 

Hatt took one long look at Shao Long before shifting his focus on Anubis, who was still pretty much drenched to the bone, the shiver almost invisible as if he was trying to hide it. When Anubis stepped closer to the couch, wanting to look over Shao Long, he stopped him, saying, "Alright, alright, that's enough trouble for one night, yeah?" 

"What?" Anubis almost growled, "You think I'd hurt him?" He glared at the man in front of him, tensing his arm Hatt had grabbed, a silent threat that he could very much yank himself free which would be very violent and very easy to do, and was only holding back because he still had some respect for him. And Hatt was about to lose all that respect if he thought for one second that he might pose a danger to Shao Long, despite being the one to have gone out to look for him in the first place. 

"Nothing like that, kid." Hatt sighed placatingly as he released Anubis' arm. "Look, you're also drenched. And you're pale, which says a lot with your skin, you're shivering, you're panicking. I can list out more if—"

"I get it, I get it! Ugh." Anubis regretted ever knowing this man. You show them  the slightest respect and they take privileges insulting him like this. "What do you even want me to do, change?"

Hatt stared at him as if he was the dumbest creature alive. "Yes, change! Like, right now! Shao Long's alright, isn't he? He's not dying or anything, right?" 

"Of course he's not!" He hissed. "I checked! No external injuries! Do you think I'd be so stupid that I—"

"See? You said it yourself." Hatt internally smirked at the success of directing Anubis' attention away. This was so much fun, knowing when exactly Anubis would let his guard down so much to be directed away like this. When the sound of rushed footsteps came from the hallway, he pointed behind him, "And look, you have Leo to check on him. You wouldn't want sweet little Leo to murder you for adding up to his patients, would you?" 

"I'm not going to get sick of all things." Anubis pushed his way past Hatt, and the man sighed in dejection. "It's just a light rain." 

Leo, who had just arrived, took one look at Anubis and halted him before he could take another step. His face was stern as he pressed a firm hand on his chest, preventing him from coming closer, "Ah ah ah, what do you think you're doing?" The expression, or rather, mask that Leo had opted for was genuine confusion, Anubis wasn't as much as a stranger to not know that it was more of a threat than anything else.