Rogues

VIII. The Bump Drop

"Arghh!" Fedor rolled onto his back and clutched his head, vague memories from the previous night clattering around his mind.

"Drink this."

He started at the sound of Gavril's deep voice and shot up to a sitting position, his head thundering with each breath. He took the clay cup and sniffed inside, recoiling at the sickly-sweet stench. "What is it?"

"It's a hangover cure." He fixed his grey eyes on Fedor, his nostrils flaring. "You should drink it."

With a nod, Fedor knocked the liquid back. His throat convulsed and he gripped the sofa's arm. "That's disgusting."

"What's wrong with you, kid?"

Each word brought a rhythmic, crushing blow down on his skull. "My...my head hurts."

"I'm not talking about that." Getting to his feet, Gavril took the cup and fixed Fedor's gaze. "You almost led the watch to our hideout?"

"Did I? I—"

"You did." He hurled the cup past Fedor, shattering it against the wall. "Do want us all to get in trouble?"

"No." His bottom lip trembled. "I..." Fedor stared down at his hands as shame washed over him. "Sorry."

"Look at me."

Swallowing, Fedor gazed up at Gavril.

"This is a warning." His lip curled. "Never do a job when you're drunk. Fix that rule in your mind. Do you understand?"

"Yes. Sorry. Lev—"

"Lev should have known better. I've already had words with him." He ran a hand back over his silver hair and let out a long, loud sigh. "You've to be more careful, kid. If I go down, everyone does."

"I'll be more careful. I promise."

"Good. Make sure you do. Because trust me, kid, you don't want to be fair game."

"Thank you. I will."

Gavril started to pace. "Do you know why we don't do muggings?"

"What's a mugging?"

"A mugging is what those lads were doing when I saved you. Robbing someone on the street."

"Oh."

"Well?"

Fedor frowned. "Well, what?"

"Do you know why we don't do them?"

"Because it's dangerous?"

"Exactly. You open yourself up to unnecessary danger and you're putting us all at risk. You're not working for yourself. You're a part of a team. You want to be part of a team, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Then stop acting like you're not." He narrowed his eyes. "Because you're new, I'm giving you fair warning. But I swear that if you screw up like this again..."

Fedor stiffened as the words trailed off.

"Are we good?"

"Yeah."

"Good." His posture relaxed. "You'll be training with Yorik, Melita, and Lev this morning. Think your head can take it?"

Fedor nodded and tried not to wince at the pain inside his skull.

"Good." Gavril gave Fedor's shoulder a gentle shove. "You alright, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"That's great." He smiled and edged towards the door. "You're going to have a great time here, kid. We look after each other. I'd hate for all this to come falling down because of one dumb mistake."