Lesson 124- If someone is hurt, you should take extra good care of them.

Immediately the guy holds up his hands defensively.
“Woah, woah, I come in peace!” He insists. Torin doesn’t budge, still glaring at him. The atmosphere in the room is tense and the remaining customers clear out. Damn it, and the night was going so well too. I peer around Torin to see the kelpie take another step forward. Torin shakes his head and the kelpie freezes, but I don’t think it was the head shake that did it. Torin’s eyes have gone black. Like, totally black. The kelpie flinches and takes a half step back and that is when I notice that he’s limping. Also I can see what looks like a faded bruise on his cheek and he’s kind of hunched over funny, like he’s in pain.
“Tori… I think he’s hurt.” I say softly.
“Good.” Torin answers harshly.
“You don’t mean that.” I say and he shrugs.
“I might. He attacked you.” He growls out the words.
“He didn’t mean to hurt me, he went out of his way not to kill me. Maybe we should hear him out.” I suggest. Torin raises an eyebrow, clearly he thinks I’m crazy. Maybe I am.
“He might know who is after me.” I add. Torin hesitates this time, actually considering my words. He can clearly see the bright side here.
“Talk.” He demands.
“Can… Would you mind if I sit down first?” The kelpie asks. He seems almost breathless. Yeah, he isn’t in great condition. Torin glares but points to a seat on the far side of the bar. The kelpie nods gratefully, then limps his way over there. I know he was injured when he left here, but I don’t think it was this bad. Not to mention these injuries seem a little more… Recent. What the hell happened to him? And why do I care anyway? I guess it’s because even when he was trying to kidnap me, he was… Almost polite? He didn’t call me names or try to hurt me. I feel like he at least deserves a chance to explain himself. The way he spoke about his boss before… He didn’t seem fond of him.
“Now explain.” Torin demands. The kelpie guy sighs.
“Well, to start with. My name is Richard Keys and as you’ve probably guessed, I’m a kelpie. Um… This all starts a few years back and it’s kind of complicated. But long story short, I owed a big favour to a very scary guy. I didn’t realise how dangerous he was until it was far, far too late. I was in way too deep and I’ve been stuck doing… Basically whatever my boss needed for over a year. Mostly it was small stuff, running errands, making deliveries, guarding random empty buildings, stuff like that. Then one day, he calls me in and says my entire debt will be gone, totally forgiven. All I have to do is try to grab this human bartender that’s been captured by a demon of all things and bring her to him. They even told me that you wouldn’t be here during the day.” He gestures at Torin.
“I knew getting past the wards would be tricky, but you guys didn’t know me. I hid in the bathroom and if any of you spotted me, I would pretend to be drunk and let you kick me out then think up a new plan.” He pauses and takes a deep breath.
“At the time, I kind of assumed that the ‘human bartender’ had to be a prisoner here, a slave or something. I thought it would be more of a rescue mission than an actual kidnapping. But then you were so… Resistant. And you insisted that you were friends. I was very confused. I know at the time I kept fighting, but I figured it was too late to bail on the plan then. You had both seen me, and I wouldn’t be able to just walk in here again. After I… Left. I didn’t go back to my boss right away. I was pretty sure he would hurt me, punish me or something. I thought about what happened and I regretted it… Like a lot. Then, a couple of days ago he found me, I don’t know how and… Well.” He gestures to his various injuries.

“Ouch.” I comment, still leaning around Torin to see what’s going on. Laura is still waiting on the other side of the bar, her eyes narrowed suspiciously at Richard.
“None of that explains why you’re here.” Torin says darkly. Richard sighs.

“I’m here to apologise. To you, but mostly to Miss Akari. I really never wanted to hurt you. I didn’t even really want to take you. I just… I didn’t feel like I had a choice. I thought you were already in a bad situation here. I justified it to myself saying that passing you from one captor to another wasn’t really making your situation any worse. I was wrong. Totally wrong, I know that. I’m hoping you’ll forgive me.” He says earnestly. I actually believe he means it. His story lines up with the impression I got of him the day he tried to take me. Not to mention his injuries definitely aren’t fake.
“Why do you care about apologising?” Torin grumbles.
“Because pissing off a demon is a stupid idea, and I don’t know what the deal is with this human, but everyone says she has you wrapped around her little finger, so I’m not risking it. I’ll apologise as many times as I need to in order to get her forgiveness and hope that yours comes with it.” He says bluntly. I stare. Well… Way to call Torin out I guess. Laura smirks then quickly covers her face and I glare at her. Still, despite his apologies, I’m not quite ready to forgive the kelpie just yet.
“There’s someone else you should be apologising to.” I grumble. He looks confused.
“Huh? Who?” He asks.
“Jane.” I answer simply.
“Who is Jane?” he wonders. I point at the floor beside me and his eyes go wide.
“Your creature?” He says incredulously. I frown.
“Her name is Jane and she’s lovely. You don’t need to say it like that.” I complain.
“Everyone says that she ATE the other guys who tried to kidnap you!” He objects and I glare.
“Well… That’s technically true. But they WERE trying to kidnap me. What was she meant to do?” I say defensively. Richard sighs deeply.
“Fine. I’ll apologise to the creature.” He agrees.
“Go on.” I demand.
“Now?” He asks.
“Yes, now.” I say firmly.
“Uh… Okay. Jane? If you’re listening… I sincerely apologise for… Flooding the basement and blocking the door while I tried to kidnap your… Friend?” He glances at me and I nod, satisfied. With a creaking sound, Jane pushes her trap door open. Richard watches nervously as one of her limbs comes into view. At first it’s unclear what she’s doing. Then in a quick movement, she grabs a bucket of half melted ice, lifts it and tips it straight over his head while he sputters in shock. She drops the bucket onto the floor by his feet, then goes back into the basement, slamming the trap door behind her. Right. So Jane does not forgive Richard. Noted.

“So how are you here now? If your boss dragged you back? Did you escape? Run away?” Torin practically spits the words. Apparently Richard’s excuse isn’t enough to earn his forgiveness, or his sympathy.
“Ah… Well, he wasn’t happy with me, and he made me suffer. But he had to let me go. I tried to take her after all.” Richard explains. I raise an eyebrow.
“But you failed.” I point out. Richard gives a half smile.
“I know. But the deal was that I TRY to take you, and my debt is cleared. I did try. I doubt he thought about the wording at the time, but he definitely regretted it later.” Richard smirks, clearly pleased.
“Oh, come on. That’s just a technicality. Surely someone willing to BEAT you for failing wouldn’t just let you go over some little thing like that. No one follows an agreement to the letter of the law like that. It’s ridiculous!” I complain. But when I look to Torin for his support he looks… Horrified.
“A demon would.” He whispers. Ah shit.