Don't ask, don't tell

Horknath let himself fall on the ground and in one breath, he told Valdyr all the story. "...and I wasn't sure you'd have wanted to help the guy because you seem really closed, but he looked desperate, and I have a tender heart so-", he breathed in, then out. "...so there we are. That's it. This is the story." He looked up at him, and to Yvan, in case he wanted to add something.

Valdyr sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Actually no, that's not the whole story. Why did people want to prevent you from leaving town?" he asked Yvan, his brows furrowed.

"Oh, you know, I'm a dangerous schizophrenic magician," Yvan replied as he scratched his nose, distractedly. Not realizing that he just threw a bomb on Valdyr's shoulder, who was about to just scream right now.

Horknath's eye twitched. "You're wHAT-", he snarled, before jumping on his feet. "Alright. I'm taking you back right now. I can't BELIEVE", he said, picking him up and effortlessly throwing him over his shoulder. "No way I am letting you hurt PEOPLE. I know how that works. It's always the orc's fault!"

Yvan yelped. "WAIT ! I'M NOT REALLY DANGEROUS!" He said, helplessly wiggling his legs about. "I MEAN, I CAN CONTROL HIM !"

"... I'll set up camp right here," Valdyr sighed, as he massaged his temples. "Just drown the bastard in the nearest river."

"Yes sir", Horknath replied grimly before walking off. Actually looking for a river, by the way. "I can't believe I fell for the 'helpless persecuted citizen' act. I should be smarter than that", he grumbled. "... wait, 'him' who", he asked then to Yvan.

"...Well, the... other guy. That's in my head?" Yvan answered, a bit uneasy. "I mean, he doesn't come out until I mean him to. But people still assume that I'm crazy, when really, I'm not !" if anything, he sounded just like a madman.

"I hope you know you sound crazy right now", Horknath answered with a grunt. "You sure it's not possession? You do sound kinda possessed too. I'd visit a priest, if I were you." He sighed, then very reluctantly put him down.

"Look, Ash's not a bad guy. Well. Alright, he's a bad guy, but I mean, he doesn't take control without my consent. And when he does, he only harms the people I want him to. Also he's making fun of me right now so please don't ask me to justify myself again," Yvan whined as he let his forehead rest on Horknath's back.

"Alright, alright", Horknath huffed, putting Yvan back on his feet. "Listen, I got it. Everyone is scared of you even though you're probably not that dangerous. Been there, done that. I am probably pretty nuts too, since I am buying your story. So I am letting you go. Ok? That's what you wanted, no?"

"... Yeah, it's true," Yvan sighed. "So... No chance that I can actually try to tag along with you guys, uh?" He seemed kind of sad about that.

Horknath groaned, scratching his head. "Look, I told you. I wouldn't have anything against it. I like company, you seem a decent person. But I really don't know if Valdyr would agree with that. If you want, you can try and ask him", he nodded towards the still visible camp.

Yvan pressed his lips together, then sighed. "Why do you bow to him so much? I mean, you seem like the stronger guy there."

Horknath looked away, sighing. "Lot of reasons, really. One, he is a customer right now, my allowance depends on him. So far he has been the best person I've traveled with. And honestly, he is a good guy. If I can have him not despise me, I'll be happy."

Yvan nodded. "Okay. Well. I'll tell him I'm a customer too, then!" Then, smiling brightly, he went to talk to Valdyr. Who glared at him so much he could have vanished into dust if he had been a magician too.

Horknath opened his mouth. Then he closed it. And smacked his own face. He could feel a headache starting to build up. He walked back to the camp too, dragging his feet on the ground. "Hey, uh... I'll go hunt", he muttered. He really wanted to escape as soon as possible.

"It's not like you've ever needed permission to do anything, did you?" Valdyr snapped, before he sighed, and focused on the fire. Yvan raised his thumbs up at Horknath, mouthing silently "I've got this, bro".

Horknath groaned loudly, leaving quickly after glaring hard at Yvan. He didn't take as much time as he would have wished though, coming back to camp with a couple of boars hung over his shoulder, a bloody arm and a dirty axe.

Thankfully enough, Valdyr and Yvan now sat together in an awkward silence. Yvan waved at Horknath when he saw him back, relieved. "Wow, dude. Tell me it's not your blood on your arm?"

Horknath sighed, shrugging. He let the boars fall down near the fire, and he sat down too. "It is mine. The two bastards were hunting together. It was a rough fight." He took out a knife.

"...Do boars hunt ?" Yvan asked, a bit lost. He clearly wasn't used the the wild, and would have believe near to anything Horknath was going to answer him.

"Oh, they do. They will eat anything they find, you know. Weird that they were in the same territory though", Horknath said, grunting as he started to clean the meat. "Guess they didn't like my pretty face."

"It's funny, because you're not exactly pretty," Yvan snorted. He was too honest for this world, to the point even Valdyr shot a scandalized look at him.

"... wow, thanks for noticing, I would have never realized", Horknath answered bitterly, after a long second in which he looked at Yvan with a dumbfounded expression. He rolled his eyes and went back cleaning the meat. Good for Yvan he wasn't too touchy.

"You're welcome," Yvan answered instinctively. Valdyr just slapped his own forehead in despair. "So, uh, do you usually do... this ? Catch boars and rip their insides out ?" No, he didn't know how to prepare meat.

"I don't really feel like eating the skin and the hair, you know. But if you want it for yourself, you can have all of it", Horknath grumbled, piling the cleaned meat on a neat spot near the fire, showing Yvan the skin of one of the boar.