On Edge

"Will you stop squirming? You are worse than an angered toddler." Fin grumbled as he tried to press something against Daiya's damaged scalp.

The injuries he'd sustained from the rainstorm had slowly begun healing, helped along by the amount of food Fin had been bringing him. They were far from perfect, however, and Fin was quite determined to speed up his healing with annoying bandages and medical poultice.

The scent of the medicine bothered Daiya's nose after days of having it forced upon him. He lifted his hands to try and push Fin's away from his head, where he was trying to apply another glob of medicine before he, no doubt, added another constricting bandage.

"I swear you were never this problematic to deal with when you got hurt as a child. You would come running to me to get a bandage for a wound that barely even bled." Fin grumbled as he swatted one of Daiya's hands away and began wrapping an uncomfortable length of bandage around his head.

Daiya growled a little and leaned away, making one of the strips of bandage sag down around his damaged eye.

It seems like someone got caught out in the rain. What a shame that he was undead during that abrupt storm.

Fin's attention immediately turned away with Daiya's good eye slowly following to land on a little silver songbird that had come in through the slightly open window. It perched upon the wing chair.

"You tried to kill him just because I would not let you have him. How benevolent of you, my lord." He hissed, getting an excited chirp from the tiny bird.

Fin was just about to walk over and snag the little creature, clearly intent on snuffing out its useless life considering the look on his face, but he paused mid-step when another bird flew through the window to join it on the chair. The two creatures hopped about, ruffling their feathers and flitting around on the fabric, seemingly not caring that their lives were in danger.

Daiya slowly slid from where he had been sitting on the edge of Fin's bed and stood, glad that his balance had been improving, even as he was recuperating from his injuries. His words, however, came and went, and never stayed for long.

"Do you think that I will consider not killing the birds if you might not be one of them, bitch?" Fin said as he continued his way over to the chair.

She is not one of them, but by all means, kill them anyways. They are quite noisy. Devil thought to them, drawing a frown to Fin's face but an awkward half-smile to Daiya's.

We do not need a physical form to bother you, necromancer. Devil said as a large hawk flew through the window, both of its talons easily grabbing the little birds and snaring them against the cushion of the chair with ease.

It ruffled its feathers and then began pulling apart pieces of the screeching birds, silencing them in seconds as it worked on consuming the dying creatures.

But it does not hurt to remove any possibilities. Devil said, clearly giving himself away as the larger bird currently making a meal out of the other two smaller ones. It took him little time to make both animals disappear, leaving behind only a few feathers scattered about the chair and floor.

"What are you doing here, Devil?" Fin asked as he pushed the hawk right off the top of the chair so that he could drop down into it and lean his head back.

I just came to check on my boy. Devil said, having already hopped up onto Fin's bed so that he was standing right beside where Daiya was, making the young zombie slowly turn and look down at him.

What on Earth have you let that evil wench do to him? Devil hissed into their minds, getting a growl back immediately.

"That blasted bat I had originally raised to watch over him ran away with him." Fin replied as he turned his head toward them, scowling at Devil as Daiya carefully got himself seated.

It took Devil only a few seconds to get himself situated in Daiya's lap, reminding Fin of a plump chicken instead of the master of the underworld.

This plump chicken was considering giving you some helpful suggestions, though it doubts that your poorly functioning brain will be able to comprehend them. Devil said at the same time a third bird flitted through the window to land on the carpet.

It promptly loosed a dropping there, silently telling them that God had arrived in her new physical form.

I can heal him, you know. God said as the bird hopped about lazily.

The hawk in Daiya's lap sneezed, and Fin was about to reply when they all heard a knock at the door.

"Come in." Fin said, getting a little more comfortable as the seamstress he'd assigned to Daiya previously came in with an armful of clothing.

"My lord, I have completed the outfits you've requested, and a few more that I believe you will like." She said, bowing as she stole a few quick glances at the two birds in the room before setting the items next to Daiya on the bed.

Fin stood, examining the new clothing as if Devil and God weren't in the room.

"These should do for now. I will have him try them on and see how they fit." He said, earning another bow from the woman before nodding toward the door, effectively dismissing her.

When he returned his attention to the clothing, to his surprise, Daiya was already reaching for one of the shirts with the more comfortable fabric.

"You want to try it on?" He asked as Daiya slowly stood, effectively depositing Devil's hawk form onto the floor without a care.

Devil didn't seem to mind, though, and happily skipped away to try and catch God's wary smaller form. As the two danced about the room, Fin helped steady Daiya, then took the item he'd been picking up and set it back down.

"You need to take off those clothes first, Daiya."

It seemed to take him a few moments to comprehend what he had said. A thin line of drool slipped from the edge of his mouth and ran down along his chin before Daiya realized that his arms would need to be lifted in order to remove his borrowed clothing.

The action, Fin noted, was performed twice as quickly as it had been previously. "You are getting even better with your movement." He said as he tugged off the shirt Daiya had been wearing and replaced it with the soft blue one that had been made for him.

I like that one. Definitely suites him more than anything you own... or you in general. God said as her tiny bird landed on the armrest of the chair he'd been sitting in.

Instead of bothering with a response, Fin leaned over and yanked Daiya's loose, borrowed pants down and helped him step out of them. He then looked through the garments the woman had brought and decided on a pair of faded white pants. They didn't quite go down to his ankles, but they actually looked stylish that way.

"Very nice." He said, looking the lad over with an approving nod.

"Once your head heals up more, you'll catch quite a few eyes... though I do not know if I want to sell you now." He said, then shrugged. "We shall see what happens, but I am tired of staying in this stuffy room, and I'm also not quite pleased with our feathered guests. How about you come with me? I have a get together in a short while, but I would not mind being early."

Daiya managed to give fin a half smile, earning a small one from the man as he reached forward and took his hand. Without thinking about it, Daiya tightened his fingers around a few of Fin's, but did his best to keep from holding him too strongly.

"Come, let us leave these problematic poultry to themselves." Fin said, tugging Daiya out of his room and shutting the door right as both birds tried to fly through.

He reveled in the sounds of their bodies plunking against the hardwood. "Is it bad that I think that was pretty funny?" Fin asked, glancing sideways at Daiya.

Mustering up his focus, Daiya pursed his lips, then licked them a few times before whispering a response. "They can... be brat."

Fin raised an eyebrow at his reply, then chuckled quietly as he reached up and softly patted his hair where he wasn't injured.

"Brats, yes. That's a good word for them."

Giving Daiya's hand an encouraging squeeze, Fin began heading toward the large spiral staircase that would take them down into the open foyer. He hadn't exactly planned out how Daiya would manage stairs, because, honestly, most zombies failed them miserably unless they were of the most competent class of undead.

He had his doubts.

Daiya seemed hesitant when they came upon the stairs draped in soft red cloth. The marble on either side of the carpet was fairly new, since they had all been fixed after Fin had regained his life, so as Daiya began to hesitantly lower one foot toward the first upper step, Fin quickly stepped behind him and grasped his waist gently.

"You will hurt yourself further doing that." He said as he carefully moved Daiya to the left a step or two.

"Right here. Step on the carpet. The stone can be very slippery."

It seemed to take a few moments for the movement to register in Daiya's mind, as he seemed fixated on the fact that Fin had released his hand, and was holding it up in front of himself with a frown.

"You are a bit of a brat, too. Okay, here." Fin said as he stepped around Daiya and took his raised hand, then carefully began helping him make his way down.

As expected, the lad made several mistakes and would have fallen if it weren't for Fin's diligence. By the time they were close to the last few steps Daiya was clinging to him as if he were strictly seeking warmth, but self preservation was there, too.

"Oh, master Fin. Who is that zombie?" A high-pitched woman's voice asked as they finally finished their descent.

Of course, Daiya did not loose his grip much, but Fin just settled one arm around his shoulders and smiled up at the woman walking toward them.

"My zombie. He had a bit of a run in with some fresh rain, but he's healing up well." He said, drawing the woman's attention to the damage on Daiya's head that was hidden, mostly, by uncomfortable bandages.

Being reminded of the thing made Daiya finally release Fin, only to begin tugging at the wrappings around his head.

"Come now, do not do that, Daiya. I have told you many times that your wounds must be covered to heal well." Fin grumbled as he tightened the bandages Daiya was loosening.

They pestered each other for a few moments before the woman's laughter had them both turning their heads toward her, their entwined hands and arms frozen in mid-action.

"You two are adorable. Why have I not seen this lad before?" She asked as she walked over and gently lifted Daiya's chin with one hand.

"He's not quite cold to the touch yet. Is he recently dead?" She asked, looking up at Fin for an answer as another person joined them in the large room.

Fin hesitated for a moment, but figured that it wouldn't matter if he told them the truth.

"Yes. He passed somewhat recently and is still learning how to be an undead."

The man who had joined them smiled down at Daiya as he shook Fin's hand.

"I'm a little surprised to see you with a zombie. You didn't seem like a man who liked undead pets." He said, reaching toward Daiya's chin just like the woman had, no doubt to get a better look at his features.

Unfortunately for him, he hadn't planned on Daiya actually responding. The moment the man's fingers came close to his mouth, Daiya tilted his head just enough to clamp down.

The man hissed, but the bite wasn't really hard. It was more of a warning, with an added growl attached to the action for emphasis.

"I... suppose he doesn't like much physical attention. I'm still working on figuring him out." Fin said as he gently removed the man's fingers from the young zombie's mouth.

He couldn't really chastise him for the bite, though. They had been poking at him and as a zombie, he hadn't liked that kind of thing either.

"What's his name? Is he a local from the village or a traveler?" The woman asked, clasping her hands in front of her, likely to keep herself from trying to touch Daiya.

After Fin had regained his life, he'd begun allowing normal travelers to find the hidden land he had created. He was still careful about the number of people that came in and who could settle, but the population of the area was definitely growing.

"He was a traveler who had come to a rather unfortunate end." He said, feeling Daiya start to nudge himself closer.

Since he wasn't being excessive, Fin wrapped one arm around his shoulder and pulled him against his side.

"He's actually a very calm zombie. He only bites when he's curious, and I suppose when someone does something that bothers him."

"He's quite handsome, and I believe that my wife would think him adorable. Do you plan to sell him once he's trained a little?" The man asked, the question unsurprising to Fin.

He'd definitely been right about the lad making a wonderful pet. Even his little bites weren't that bad. Neither time had even drawn any blood.

Fin gestured for them to head for the banquet hall where the get together would take place and then took Daiya's hand to tug him along behind the guests.

"The idea has crossed my mind, but I am unsure."

Once inside the room, Fin realized that most of the people he had invited had decided to come early, too. He was still new to large groups of living things. The undead never bothered him, mainly because he could control them with a simple thought... except for Daiya.

Glancing down at the lad, Fin thought his strongest order to him simply to step in front of him and bow. Daiya just looked up at him with a nervous frown and stepped a little closer, likely because some of his guests were encroaching on his personal space and not because of anything he had tried to order him to do.

"Good afternoon, Fin. Who is this lad that you brought with you today?" An older gentleman asked as he lifted a flute of champagne.

Fin was just opening his mouth to respond when Daiya squeezed his hand and stepped forward just a little.

"Am his." He said, trying to smile, though his lips didn't quite complete the action.

Fin's eyes widened at his statement and he set a hand on Daiya's head, making the zombie grumble just loud enough to cause a string of laughter from the growing crowd around them.

He spoke with the group for a short while before finding himself a spot by the large glowing hearth with another group of mostly young men, smoking cigars and chatting about all of the business coming to the local town, putting more money in their growing pockets.

Fin couldn't argue that there was a good amount of extra money coming into his own coffers. It wasn't exactly something he cared to discuss, though listening didn't bother him. What was starting to annoy him, however, was the topic continuously shifting to him possibly selling Daiya.

It didn't help that the lad was sitting next to the large grate before them protecting him from the burning fire inside. He was shifting from sitting to getting up on all fours and reaching toward it. Thankfully, the grate was quite sturdy and Daiya didn't try to push hard enough to worry Fin.

After a little while he allowed his attention to divert back and forth from the conversation around him and Daiya.

It was nearly two hours later, after he'd gotten up to simply relieve himself, that he found Daiya nearly on the edge of being horrifically burnt. The lad was just nearly over the heavy grate even though he'd asked the distracted group talking around him to keep a simple eye on him.

"Daiya!" He yelled, causing the zombie to pause, but not in the best position. He had been balanced, poorly, on the top portion of the grate.

He was just beginning to fall forward into the burning hearth when Fin bolted forward and grabbed Daiya, spinning him around so quickly that they both fell to the floor.

Fin's back hit the warm grate while Daiya fell into his lap, their weight pushing the screeching heavy metal a few inches closer to the fire. All of the talking in the room came to a sudden halt after a round of gasps echoed around them.

One point for me, bitch. Devil's voice thought through Fin's mind at the same time he heard a grunt from God.

He didn't bother responding to either of them, though. Instead, he just held Daiya tighter. "You stupid, undead idiot. If you wanted heat, you should have just taken it from me." He growled as he hid his face in Daiya's neck.

He didn't care who was watching. His heart was stumbling over itself with the stress of the entire situation and just needed to stay right where he was and breathe.