Day 2 of YumeLokalWeek : Ring
“Doctor, I didn't realize you were already married!”
When Whislash finishes saying that, both SilverAsh who is talking with Cliffheart, his little sister, and Thorns, who is inspecting his blade for the upcoming maintenance, are frozen in place.
Did… did they hear right? Is the Doctor married already?
Doctor Althea herself responded with a nervous laugh. “...what do you mean?”
Whislash smiles. “Ah, don’t be coy. If I knew you're married, I wouldn't… well…” her eyes darted around for a second, searching for the right word. “But never mind! Who are you married to? And when did you marry?”
On the table he's sitting in, Thorns grips his blade tighter. Doctor… married...
When? Why? Since when? And why did he miss it? Unbeknownst to himself, Thorns scowls. He puts his blade away and focuses his gaze on the nearby Doctor and Whislash.
And why is he so frustrated by the fact that the Doctor is already married? She's already that age. He shouldn't be surprised if she's married. Besides, he only looks up to her. He just respected her. She's just his field commander and he's just her assistant.
Well, former assistant, because that mischievous child called Arene holds the position now.
There's nothing more beyond those things, right?
After mulling for a few seconds, he sighs. That might be a lie.
Meanwhile, just near the table Thorns is sitting in, Cliffheart is looking up at her brother who's closing his eyes in concentration.
“Brother, what is it?” Cliffheart tilts her head. It’s weird for her brother to suddenly space out like that.
“Please wait a minute, Ensia,” says Silverash.
There is one thought that is running through his mind right now. The same one that Whislash asked.
Who is her spouse? Who is the one brave and skilled enough to slip through and propose to her despite him staying by the Doctor's side as much as his job allows him to?
The thought of losing the Doctor, someone who he has treasured so much, to someone else... is… not good. It makes his heart ache.
Tired of his brother's silence, Cliffheart fidgets in her place. “If there's nothing more, I think I'll leave first, brother. I actually have an appointment with Ms. Dobermann after this.”
Silverash snaps back to reality and nods with a heavy heart. “I understand. I'll see you again later.”
“Okay then, bye brother!”
After Cliffheart leaves the room, Silverash turns his attention back to the Doctor who's still pestered by one of the newest members of Rhodes Island.
He even let a chance to talk to his little sister go because he's too preoccupied thinking about other things… he should get to the end of this quickly.
While Silverash is busy thinking of what he should do to find out who the Doctor's spouse is, Whislash is still asking her questions.
“Come on, Doctor,”
“Whislash please, I'm not married.”
“Don't lie to me, Doctor.” she laughs in a carefree manner. “Just tell me who's the lucky one.”
“No one? There's no 'the lucky one'…” still confused, Doctor Althea crosses her arms in front of her chest. And that's when both Silverash and Thorns realized the golden sparkle on her left ring finger.
A ring. A golden ring.
Thorns flinches. Seeing the golden color reminds him of an Operator… one rich enough, close enough to the Doctor to put it there… one of her former assistants too...
At the same time, Silverash thinks back to the skirmishes he's had with one particular Operator. Someone who he thinks is skilled enough to slip through and proposed to her when he wasn't looking.
And they lock eyes with each other, realizing they're thinking about each other and how their assumptions are wrong.
Thorns don't get along well with someone high and mighty like Silverash, and Silverash doesn't understand Thorns either. But they both know they're aiming for the same thing.
And in times like this, when they both see they might not get what they want, it's better to team up and see through the end on who managed to marry the Doctor aside from them.
While that happened, the Doctor herself is starting to get irritated by Whislash nagging. She just drops into the dorm because she heard both Thorns and Silverash are here and she wants to say hi, but somehow she ends up in a situation where Whislash assumes she's married...
The Doctor sighs. “Whislash, for the last time, why do you assume I'm married?”
Whislash shakes her head. “Doctor, you have a ring right there! Don't deny it!”
“This? This thing?” she points at it. “Why would this be considered a wedding ring?” The doctor takes it off and twists it around.
“Look, it’s an astronomical ring. Cool, huh?”
From the inside of the golden ring, there are three smaller rings that open up, each one smaller than the other. On those rings inscribed certain words and symbols.
“An… astronomical ring?”
Oblivious to the shock she gives everyone near her, she closes it before putting it back on. “I found it along with some of my other things the other day and I think it’s quite cool,” she laughs.
Silverash approaches the Doctor, his usual calm facade still adorns his face despite the condition of his heart. “My friend, you shouldn’t wear something that is not a wedding ring on the fourth finger of your left hand.”
“Ah, Silverash. Were you listening?” she lets out a nervous laugh. “And um, why is that?”
“That's a place to put a marriage ring.” Thorns pipes in, standing next to the warlord.
“Thorns? You were listening too?” asks the Doctor, sounding even more confused. “Why would you two listen to such an unimportant conversation…” she mumbles to herself. Then she let out a soft hum.
“But wait, marriage ring? There’s a tradition like that?” asks the Doctor.
And it all clicked in. They finally remembered about her amnesia.
Thorns let out a sigh, small enough for no one to notice. That takes more burden off his chest than he imagines. Maybe he was really lying to himself...
Silverash is also relieved. At least, when the time comes where he wants to put a real ring on the Doctor's finger, he only needs to get rid of one person.
“Ah, is that so…” says Whislash to herself. Rather than being disappointed, she sounds more relieved.
She then moves closer to the Doctor, faking a cough.“But you know Doctor, I'm still not marr—–”
“Might repeating that again?” Thorns shifts the blade that he slings over his shoulder. The smell of his toxin is still present on the blade, making Whislash nervous.
Silverash follows with a nod, tapping his cane on the floor a few times. “She might not have heard you.” his gaze is sharp, maybe even sharper than his pet eagle that she's seen a few times.
They both slowly move to stand behind the Doctor, creating a tall wall behind the short woman who's still trying to understand why they are fussing around over a ring and how fascinating a tradition of putting a wedding ring on a certain finger is.
Whislash smiles to herself. She knows when things are too tough and what kind of battle she can win. And against two powerhouse guards? There's no way.
“Nevermind,” she laughs, taking a few steps back.
“Okay…” Doctor Althea mumbles. “Um, well, I need to go sign some paper again so please excuse—–”
“I'll go with you, my friend.” Silverash cuts her off, his tail circling the Doctor's waist.
“No need,” Thorns steps closer to the Doctor, hands almost touching, gaze fixed on Silverash. “You're busy, so you should go back to whatever you're working on.”
The aura in the room gets colder. Whislash is thinking about getting out.
But the Doctor is just standing there, laughing silently. By now, this is just a daily occurrence to her. And this time, it sparked because of a ring.