Neth's Apartment | In The Afternoon
Ambrose, Neth's pet leira, could be seen staring at the two men from the top of the staircase. In its old age, the lizard had become a fat, grumpy and lazy creature. Looking up at the lizard, Neth was almost certain Ambrose was trying to establish dominance from his high ground on the stairs. Old age sure made you an asshole.
Neth took a single deep breath as he patted the passive's shoulder. "Just a little more William... Just a little more."
The galdor then sat down on the chest as well and produced a handkerchief to wipe the sweat off of his forehead. The two had been at moving into the apartment for at least two hours now, and this chest was the last thing left for them to bring in. Never did I expect a single clocking chest to get the best of us. We had a great set-up in the beginning, how did we even get here? As the two rested, Neth stared at the floor as he reflected on the day.
In the beginning, William would haul in the boxes and luggage, and Neth's miraan, Laurentius, would carry much lighter items into his apartment. From there, Neth would sort the items the miraan and William had brought in, and all was well.
But that was not the case with this chest. William found that the titan of a chest was too much for him, and went to Neth for help. Stumbling into the apartment with a layer of sweat covering his forehead, the passive quickly plopped himself down on a dining chair. "Mister Savatier, there's something I need some help with."
Netheneale had been organizing his books on a few shelves and looked over at William once he heard the man plant himself in the squeaky wooden chair. Laurentius flew into the room and landed on a kitchen counter, immediately falling asleep. "Of course, William. What is it?"
William's voice appeared out of nowhere and brought Neth out of his memories and back to reality. "Mister Savatier? Neth? Neth? Are you there?."
Neth's gaze shot up at William and it took the galdor a moment to realize he was back in reality and out of his mind. After getting his bearings back, the galdor nodded at William. Standing up, the galdor put his handkerchief back in his shirt pocket. "Ok, let's do this. Once we're finished here I say we dine at a tavern. You and I both deserve some rest after this clocking nightmare."
Both men took one handle and lifted, or tried to. After the chest got an inch off of the floor the men moved towards the stairs in a short burst of energy. They made it up two of the steps, and the chest started falling backward on Neth. With a grunt, the galdor barely held the chest off of him. "Tocks, this thing is heavy!"
An exhausted William could be heard from above. "Just don't let go Neth! We have maybe five stairs left!" With the promise of being near the end, Neth and William both pushed themselves as hard as they could. Never again.. I'm never doing this again. The two made great progress and found themselves at the top with only one stair left. Once again, the two pushed themselves and made it to the top. They had succeeded!
Or so they had thought. Ambrose, who had remained still and silent at the top of the stairs, had never moved. Neth's foot was caught on the creature's fat tail, and he tripped. All that was behind the galdor was a flight of stairs. He slammed his body against the wall in an attempt to keep his balance, but Ambrose was having none of it. Surprised and unhappy that someone had tripped on him, he bit at Neth. It didn't hurt, but it was enough to break the man's balance. Neth slipped and fell. This is how I die, to a fat clocking lizard.
Neth's vision went black, and all was silent. "What if he's dead!? They'd kill me! I know they would!" William's voice was the first thing that the galdor heard. The next thing that greeted Neth was his sight, and then an intense, sharp pain in the back of his head. Looking around, Neth could see he was on a couch in his apartment. William was at the dining table talking to Neth's pet osta, Ana. She had been hiding during the whole move and it was a relief that she hadn't run off.
The pain in Neth's head was unbearable, but he still was able to move. As he sat up, William breathed a sigh of relief. "Nethe- Mister Savatier! You're alive! I was so wor-"
Neth raised an open hand at the passive. "Shhh! Let me think, William." Netheneale pressed his back against the couch and looked out the window in the apartment. A few winged animals could be seen flying far in the air. The galdor stared at them as he tried to block out all the sound around him. Just watch the birds, Neth. Watch the birds. After a minute had passed, the galdor took a deep breath and started to attempt casting an anaesthetic and repairing spell.