Night Watch I: Eliza, Ward of Andrew

*Andrew’s POV*

I tentatively approached Eliza as she emptied the contents of her stomach. There didn’t seem to be a lot of it. I realized I hadn’t thought to feed her, I’d been so damned preoccupied with my stupid emotions and trying to conceal my seemingly ever-present boner. Some paragon of responsibility I was turning out to be. “Eliza, are you alright? What happened?”

She held up a hand as she retched again, and I turned away, trying to give her some privacy. I wanted to do something to help… “I’ll go fetch you some water.” I headed towards the small kitchens, but Blasko flagged me down.

“This is a good sign, Andrew.” Eh?

“What do you mean, Eliza’s vomiting in the damned bushes-“ I was irritated at being stopped for small-talk, I wanted to get Eliza some water and get back to her, to make sure she was alright.

“Not that, you ass! You were explicitly told to stay with her at all times, yet here you are, wandering off, and you haven’t even known her a day.” My face turned scarlet. I was surely about to be dismissed from the Night Watch. Eliza would lose her high-ranking ally because of my lack of foresight, and who knew whose ward she would now become. I decided not to say anything, it could only make things worse.

Blasko grinned widely and clasped my shoulder. “You’re a fucking dumbass sometimes, you know that?” I opened my mouth, assuming I was supposed to respond in the affirmative, but he cut me off. “Demon tits, Andrew, that was rhetorical! The point I was going to make was that, despite being a rather impulsive young man, and, yes, by the way, you really, really need to work on that, you are an excellent judge of character. If your concern for an exile’s health overrode your desire to obey orders, based on your assessment of her character: I feel that is a good sign. That she would be worth the care, that you would trust her enough to leave her side.” Blasko looked at me intently, nodding, then patted my shoulder.

“Now, go get her some water. Given that Eliza is surrounded by dozens of Watchmen, and has just finished vomiting, it seems unlikely that she poses an imminent threat to anyone. But don’t be pulling this kind of shit all the time, alright?” He raised his eyebrows at me. It seemed this question was not rhetorical.

“Absolutely. So… I am not dismissed from the Night Watch?” Blasko snorted.

“Not right this minute. Why don’t you two start with a walk of the perimeter. Once you’ve been around, take a break, get some food, and we’ll all talk. Alright?” His eye twinkled, and I hoped he wasn’t thinking what I thought he was thinking, but I knew now wasn’t the time to ask. But I couldn’t shake my disbelief at getting off scot-free.

“Am I not going to be disciplined?” As soon as I said it, I felt like an idiot. It was just asking for it and goading him on, but that hadn’t been my intention- I honestly couldn’t believe Blasko was letting me off with cranky comments and a compliment on my perceptiveness.

Blasko shook his head. “Oh, for fuck’s sake! You have such a stick up your ass! You need to work on that too, Andrew! So you know what, I wasn’t intending to, but now I certainly shall bloody well discipline you!” He looked at me sternly, and I shrunk back a little unintentionally. “You and Eliza will take tomorrow night AND the night thereafter off!” My jaw dropped.

“But the Council-“

“Shut the fuck up, Andrew, and that’s an order! No ‘buts!’ You will take two days off with your ward, and work on pulling the stick out of your ass! Now go get your guest some water, and then show her the tribal walls. Chop-chop my boy!” He gave me a toothy grin and clapped his hands. I jogged to the kitchen poste-haste amidst the soft, empathetic chuckles of some of my nearby fellow Watchmen. I was no fool. Blasko’s words may have sounded like jest, but once he gave an order, I needed to follow it.

Dickhead. Well, sort of. Having days off with Eliza might be fun. I wasn’t sure, I had been coming to Watch every night for years, so I was rusty on the concept. I was probably a stick in the mud. Eliza would surely find me boring. I’d have to think of activities to keep her entertained and occupied…

I found another part of my mind trying to bring up the fact that how our free time was spent would largely depend on how the conversation went that I was hoping to have after tonight’s Watch. I had a small speck of hope that it might be spent passionately making love, over and ov- don’t think about that! Shit, I can’t be getting wood in the middle of the kitchens! My face felt hot, and I was glad for the dim lighting as I went through the door.

Notes

ugh- posting while quite sleepy- let me know if i have major errors, please :)