So, entrytiem... Not in a writing mood, so most likely it is not very well written.
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Cenere stared at his image in the mirror. This was one of the times he had simply zoned out, and thus had been standing like that for the past five minutes before actually blinking. At least it felt like five minutes. Or ten even. He gave the image a look before starting to investigate a few of the cuts and bruises on his right arm.
It had already been a long day considering he had not slept for what slowly became the 30th hour. Besides having followed Strop around since the morning before, he had simply refused himself the sleep when he finally got home at dawn. It did not seem important, and it would just ruin his sleep pattern if he went to sleep in the middle of the day anyway, so instead he had been trying to clear out the mess of his room. This in basics consisted of kicking dirty clothes around the room, before pushing it under the bed, and remove all drawings and papers that Strop most likely would look through if, or rather when, he had the chance. After that he had used his time on staring emptily at himself for no other reason than his brain seemingly restarting.
Most of his body had gone into a state of numb pain like his usual headaches, so it was relatively easy to ignore, but a few bruises cut through the defence and troubled him. His right shoulder, for example, had a massive bruise from a panicing newbie that had rammed into him while fleeing the overly enthusiastic ninja pony. It probably wouldn't have been a problem if that particular newbie had not been wearing a homemade plate armour, and in general just had been twice as big as Cen. Twice as big in this case meant twice as heavy, and sad to say, much of that heavy came from muscles.
The young man sighed, moving the shoulder a bit. This 'WoM' had become tiresome really fast, and Strop's hyper active behavior actually made it worse. Not because of how he acted, but how he acted around the contestants. Many seemed to be newbies trying out to get a good position in the city, and most of these were not familiar with the ninja horse and his habits of sneaking in on people and violently attacking them with those blasted balls. This unfamiliarity had lead to incidents and destruction, and Strop seemed to enjoy it more and more. Not the destruction, of course (At least Cen hoped it wasn't the destruction), but the chaos and the screams and the fleeing.
Cen wondered for a second if he could find a way out of being Strop's ... slave, but then again, a promise is a promise, and a promise is to be kept... No matter how much trouble it was.
What he really needed now was a good shower and something to eat, before he began his highly neglected homework. The young man turned his gaze to the showerhead on the wall, and he was quite sure that it laughed evilish at him. Besides it always being either too warm or too cold, it usually had a habit of having too much pressure, which made the water hit like hail during a storm: Hard and just about everywhere...
It didn't seem like the best of ideas to use it with a back full of bruises. There must be another way...
"It's open!" Zophia yelled at the door, while making her way out of bed. It was too warm to be outside, even for a half reptile, so she had made a nest in her bed, complete with juice and peaches and of course a drawing pad. She mumbled a bit over the disturbance until she saw exactly who had knocked on the door. "Cen? What are you doing here?" She tilter her head questioningly, actually finding it strange to see him at her door, instead of the other way around.
"Sorry if I am to any trouble, I.." He trailed off, frowning.
"Oh, you're not!" She smiled widely, almost pulling him inside. "I wasn't doing anything important anyway, so it is just fine with some company."
"Well, technically just here to ask if I could borrow your bathroom for a while? My own is - acting up." As usual.
Zophia looked at him for a while, seemingly trying to read his mind (or just looking like it), before nodding. "Sure. I have some towels somewhere, if you.."
"I have brought my own along, it is okay..." Cenere mumbled. This was.. embarrassing, to say the least. But still better than knocking on Thoad's door to ask for the same. The endless jokes would be, well, endless. "Uhm, thanks..." He made his way into the bathroom before Zophia could reply, and closed the door.
It was actually quite a nice room, a bit bigger than his own (which wouldn't be hard to achieve), and not as warm as everything else. This might even prove to be a good idea.
"That doesn't look good..."
Cenere looked up at the dryohr as he exited the bathroom, now nice and clean and with fresh, albeit quite short sleeved and -legged, clothes on. "Uhm, sorry, what?" He paused for a moment to look questioningly at her over the glasses.
"Your.. legs, arms... I bet what I can't see is even worse..." She rose from the couch, while he (panicking) zipped his backpack, and moved towards the door.
"I.. dun kno what'ya talking about..."
She grabbed his hand even before he made a move to open the door. "This. Looks like someone has beaten you up or something."
"It's nothing, really... Zophia, I have other..."
"Have you even cleaned them?"
"I just took a shower..."
"Not what I meant. Come here." She pulled him towards the couch and made him sit. "Stay."
He glared blankly at her, having given up the fight even before it began. Well, it was not really possible to neglect the homework more than he already did.
Zophia's puppy trotted up to him, wacking its tail sleepishly, before jumping up beside him and going to sleep again, resting its head on his thigh as if to tell him, he should start patting it. When he didn't, it simply looked up at him with sad puppy eyes, and drooled a bit on his shorts.
"... 'nd I can't believe you don't stand up to him or anything, when he is treating you like... Cen?"
The young man gazed up at the dryohr, not quite sure if she had been talking to him, or - talking at all. "Mm..? Sorry, I am a bit..."
"Sleepy? Tired? Exhausted? Beaten up?" She moved har tail a bit, frowning with concern.
"Mm.."
She sighed, then got the dog to move a bit, making enough space in the couch to be able to sit beside him and be able to have the first aid kit in reach. "Let me see..."
Zophia smiled to herself, patting the puppy. Cen had been... quite easy, just a bit of head scritching and he had fallen asleep. He probably hadn't slept properly for days, but it was still quite a satisfactory achievements to her. Besides, it had given her the opportunity to actually bandage him up, instead of simply going along with his "It is all fine, it does not even hurt...". At least she did not have to look at them any more. Just too sad she hadn't got the chance to bandage more than his arms a legs. But then again, it hopefully was worst there.
She patted the puppy again, but a leash on it and went for a walk.
"Darn it all... Bloody... Ind i... Hvorfor...." He mumbled to himself, fighting his way up they stairs. It had been an unusual long way home because the fact that he had slept or relaxed, even, had made most of his muscles stiff and given the bruises the time for them to become bigger. He was still dress in bandages, mainly because he had not cared to fight the band aid and duct tape Zophia had used (he wondered why she had used duct tape, but then again, it was Zophia). At least he could cover it up by wearing the jacket and pants of the suit. It was still filled with dust and probably needed to get cleaned, but it was better than having people to stare even more because he was looking like a butt...
He opened the door and threw his bag on the kitchen floor. All too long day, and his homework...
"Hi Cenny Cen Cen!"
He swung around to look at the ninja pony that sat on his bed. "Wha...."
"You weren't home, so I took a nap." Strop smiled widely (or it seemed to be widely) at him, before picking up a piece of paper. "Who is she?"
