The skill of the Healer class varies widely, often insufficient to be called such. Sometimes though, there are exceptions.

  - WHA Recruitment Liaison Vanderbill -

  I don’t do awkward situations. Or rather, I try not to do them. Sometimes I fail to properly avoid them though... this is one of those times.

  “Well, you’ve looked better Ki… Jimmy,” Dorliac says, she’s smiling, but she always does that when she’s pissed, I can usually tell the difference, because her teeth aren’t showing. When she’s actually happy, it’s a full-on smile.

  “Yeah, rough day,” I wheeze.

  “So,” Dorliac begins, looking at Cortez now, “Who are you?”

  Is this really more important? More than helping the guy who’s barely standing and clearly suffering?

  “Cleo,” she replies, “You must be Dorliac?”

  “I like to be called Amber when off duty, but yes, I am Dorliac.”

  “Right,” Cortez says, holding Dorliac’s death gaze.

  “Right,” Dorliac says.

  Silence, just silence besides my wheezing for ten whole seconds. Holy crap.

  “Where do you want him?” Cortez asks finally, still holding me up.

  “Take him to my bed, I’ll need to inspect his injuries,” Dorliac says, grabbing a robe off the granite kitchen counter and swinging it over herself. Tying it loosely.

  Her apartment is just like I remember it. Minimalist in the furniture, but she has several sculptures, and many paintings and pictures on the walls. She’s kind of a collector of things she likes.

  “Where is…” Cortez begins.

  “He knows where it is,” she says, giving a strange head tilt to Cortez.

  This is going to be fun…

  Cortez’s eyebrow twitches, her hazel eyes turning to me. She squeezes me with the arm that’s holding me up. My jaw tightens.

  “Jimmy?”

  “Uh, end of the hall, last door on the right,” I say.

  “Great,” Cortez says, hefting me forward, quieter she adds, “Anything else I should know?”

  “Uh, no,” I say, but instantly regret it as we go down the hallway.

  Cortez stops, eyes blinking at a picture on the wall. A picture of me and Dorliac kissing… though I don’t know why it’s still up. We ended things over six months ago. Well before I started whatever it is me and Cortez have.

  “Cute,” Cortez says, clenching her jaw again. Eyebrow threatening to fly off her face, “When was this taken?”

  “Not that long ago,” Dorliac lies before I can speak.

  “More than six months ago,” I correct.

  Cortez looks at me with a measuring look, trying to see if I’m lying. Her eyebrow, seemingly satisfied falls back in line.

  “Feels like yesterday though, doesn’t it Jimmy?” Dorliac asks.

  Cortez’s eyebrow quivers again. This is going to be rough…

  “So,” Dorliac begins as we move down the hallway, her tone shifting, more sharp, “How do you two know each other?”

  “Same platoon,” I reply, but Cortez gives me a look, like maybe I said something wrong? I don’t know, my eyes are still drooping and my body feels like it got run over.

  “Oh, that makes sense,” Dorliac says, a tone of relief, then it changes again, more curious, “That’s all then? Just platoon mates?”

  Cortez doesn’t say anything, she just looks at me, waiting for me to define whatever it is that hasn’t been defined. Which is confusing because she said it was over… well here goes.

  “She’s my…” I pause, looking at Cortez, she squints waiting for me to finish.

  “Your what?” Dorliac asks, her tone clearly different now. A tenseness falls over her face when I look back.

  “My girlfriend,” I say, giving another look to Cortez. She doesn’t even blink, she just turns her head, a small smile forming on the edge of her lip. So… is she then? Did that just happen? Are we official now? Just like that?

  “Girlfriend,” Dorliac says, that fake smile rippling on her face now, “Well, I wish you would have told me sooner.”

  “Sorry,” I manage to wheeze.

  “It’s fine,” Dorliac says, moving in front of us to open the bedroom door.

  Candles are lit on the nightstand and the dresser. Shit, I kind of feel bad now. But I did say I needed a healer, not… well, this. Cortez sets me on the edge of the bed, helping prop me up when I almost fall over.

  “Strip,” Dorliac says, walking to the candles and blowing them out.

  “He doesn’t need to be naked for you to heal him,” Cortez says, brashly too.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, are you a healer?” she asks.

  “No, but I…”

  “Right, you’re not, you’re just the new fling,” Dorliac says with a head tilt.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Silence again… fuck I hate awkwardness.

  “If you want to go somewhere else, feel free to leave,” Dorliac says, sitting on the edge of the bed, “Or Jimmy could just heal himself.”

  Shit. Cortez turns to me, blinking.

  “Why didn’t you just heal yourself?” she asks, like she’s only now realized it.

  “I’m out of mana,” I say, which isn’t a lie, technically I’m still recovering it.

  Cortez squints at me, but nods.

  “Well, I guess you’d better strip then,” Dorliac says, crossing her legs and bobbing her leg up and down slightly.

  I really need a healer, and as mad as Cortez might be about this. I do as she asks, and start trying to strip. Wincing as I move my ribs, and pull the shirt over my broken arm. Cortez finally relents and helps me, all the way down to my underwear.

  Both of them stare at the wounds.

  “What did you say happened to you again?” Dorliac asks, tracing her eyes at the long gash on my side and massive amounts of bruising. I’m caked in blood of different colors, staining my skin still.

  “I didn’t.”

  Cortez suddenly looks less irritated and more worried. My bruises are looking worse than earlier. My arm's swollen up pretty bad, and my leg, well, it looks fucked.

  “Right then,” Dorliac says, stopping her game and evaluating me.

  She places her hands on my ribs gently, “Healing.”

  Her pupils expand, and her irises shift from blue to light green, glowing faintly as she channels the healing magic. It hurts, but she’s really one of the best. She’s the one who taught me most of the tricks they don’t teach in school. I feel her mending my insides. It’s strange to feel the magic, something once intimate and familiar tracing along old pathways. The loss of it… it hits hard now, seeing someone use it.

  For a long time, I had been upset that I was a basic healing class. Most of us never learn to do more than fix a sprain. But after working with her, I understood the flow, became one with it even. She might be a little off, but she’s a prodigy with weaving magic. Also a pretty damn good teacher when she wants to be.

  It doesn’t take her long to fix each injury, she knows her stuff well. It’s why she got promoted to be an officer when she hit level twenty, even though her class and subclass aren’t the best. She makes it work. Plus, she’s extremely driven with her career. She turned down an offer to work with the World Hunter Association when she got her new class. Most people would kill for the offer. Not her. She’s well, who she is.

  I feel so much better now. Healing when done right is incredible.

  “There, how do you feel?” she asks.

  “You’re a miracle worker, Amber,” I say, and I instantly wish that I didn’t say it like that. Because looking over, Cortez just went from happy seeing me well again, to probably wishing she’d left me by the dumpster.

  “Oh stop,” Dorliac says, tracing her hand through my hair and ruffling it, letting her robe fall open.

  Cortez walks forward and puts a hand over my eyes. Like I’m a kid.

  “It’s not like he hasn’t seen it before,” Dorliac sighs, “Besides, he seemed like he enjoyed it.”

  “He didn’t,” Cortez says, pushing my clothes into my hands.

  “Leaving so soon?” Dorliac asks, tightening her robe again.

  “We need to get back before curfew,” Cortez explains.

  Putting on my shirt, over my dirty ass body, I realize now that my nose isn’t swollen, I smell really bad. Like Goblin asscheeks flame broiled in Wyvern piss. I’m tempted to ask to use Dorliac’s shower, but given Cortez’s mood, I’ll take the stinky body over the stink eye.

  “You didn’t get notified?” Dorliac asks.

  “About?” Cortez asks.

  “Post is closed down, quarantined.”

  What? Why would they close down the post?

  “Why?” Cortez asks, shooting me a glance.

  “Apparently there were spatial fluctuations on post earlier,” she says, motioning us to follow her from the bedroom into the hall again.

  We follow, and Cortez gives me another questioning look.

  “They haven’t been able to pinpoint where exactly it came from, so everything’s locked down until tomorrow just in case,” Dorliac explains.

  Moving into the kitchen, Dorliac grabs a wine glass and pours herself a large serving. She grabs two more glasses, sliding them over to us.

  “So, I suppose you’ll be needing a place to stay the night?” she asks, sipping from her glass.

  Cortez checks her messages in her interface, swearing under her breath.

  “I guess we will,” Cortez says, her eyebrow trying not to twitch.

  “Well then, I guess we should get better acquainted.”

  “Guess so,” Cortez says, pouring herself a glass.

  Dorliac smirks, an evil grin forming on her mouth.

  “Does he still do the thing with his tongue?” Dorliac asks, Cortez tenses up, giving her a hard fucking blink, “You know, the thing,” she says, letting the robe fall down past her cleavage, “Or did he never… don’t tell me, he’s never done the thing for you?”

  Still as crazy as I remember. For fucks sake.

  Cortez blinks at her again. Her eyebrow is twitching, like really twitching. I want to be anywhere but here right now. Then it comes to me, the masterstroke, the one excuse that never fails.

  “I need to take a shit…” I say suddenly, both of them fall silent for a moment, looking at me. Like they know that I’m full of a different kind of shit. I don’t care though, this is not my scene. Backing up, turning down the hall, and fucking right off, that is my scene. I’m just not equipped for this type of scenario. I did not think this through. It might have been better to dodge questions at the hospital, and say I got hit by a truck or something.

  Pacing in the bathroom a few minutes later, I don’t really know what to do next. If I spurn Dorliac and tell her to fuck off, she’s going to make my life hell… just like last time. She’ll probably blackmail me about the injuries as well somehow. If I don’t, I risk Cortez… I can’t risk her though. She’s too important. Plus, now she’s my girlfriend, so shit. I need a distraction. My notifications earlier. The Title stuff and the Level up rolls. Yeah. Running my hand through the interface, I pull up the level-up ones first.

  [ System Notice: Level Up Rolls Ready ]

  [ Start? ]

  [ Yes / No ]

  I sit on the closed toilet lid. Please be good rolls. I’m about to smack yes, but the door bursts open.

  “We’re leaving,” Cortez says, grabbing my hand firmly and dragging me out.

  Fuck. This isn’t going to end well. As we move back past the kitchen toward the door to leave, Dorliac speaks.

  “Maybe you’re just being sensitive, because maybe your relationship isn’t as solid as you think it is,” Dorliac says, stirring the fucking pot.

  Cortez stops in front of the door, turning to Dorliac, then me. She pulls me toward her, grabbing me by the face, kissing me, tongue and all. Shit, I’ve missed her. Cortez pushes me away now, giving me a nod, then turning to Dorliac.

  “Stop trying to seduce other people’s boyfriends and get your own.”

  Dorliac blinks twice, and Cortez smirks. Opening the door, she takes my hand in hers and we’re off. Shit. That was messy, and I know it’s going to be a shitstorm. But right now, I’m feeling pretty good.

  ***

  An hour later, after I finally finished scrubbing off the filth from my body, I’m laying in a hotel bed. Waiting for Cortez to finish showering. She barely spoke on the trip over here. Leaving me wondering where we stand again. She did say that she left some milk, water, and food out for the fox though, hopefully it’s alright. Fuck, already doing a shitty job. Nothing I can do. Sneaking onto a military post during a lockdown is a really dumb idea.

  Distracting myself, I pull up the level-up interface again. I’ve never had so many levels to go through at once. Seven whole levels. Each one will give me a single attribute point. Randomly. Plus, I’m past level ten, so I’ll get the extra stat boon from that. And… another skill unlock. Also random within my current class. The anticipation is pretty serious now. I’m about to click yes when I hear the bathroom door open, damn she showered quickly. She turns the corner into the room. Only wearing the hotel robe.

  “There’s a lot that we need to talk about,” she says, giving me a stern look, “You’re going to tell me everything.”

  I move to the edge of the bed, sitting up now. Not sure how exactly to answer her.

  “But before that,” Cortez says, stepping closer, right into my space.

  She motions me with a finger to stand, so I do. She kisses me, soft like a whisper in spring. She pulls away, moving to where I had been sitting on the bed. Sitting now, she points down to the ground in front of her. She wants me to… oh, I think I understand. I didn't think she'd want to do anything at all after that... situation with Dorliac. Not that I'm opposed, because I'm not. She spreads her legs, pulling back her robe. Her face flushing as she looks away, almost like she's embarrassed.

  “I want you to do the thing,” Cortez says, pushing her hand gently through my hair, still not meeting my eyes, “Better than you did it for her.”

  [ Rolling for Rising Stars Genre List... Success ]

  [ Rolling for Rising Stars All List... Success ]

  [ Rolling for Rising Stars Number One... Success ]

  [ Rolling for Popular This Week front page... Pending ]

  [ System's humble recommendations... Please follow, favorite, and rate / review. ]

  [ Thank you for reading! ]