Why is Thari in Frarin\'s bed?

Frarin\'s room is quiet again. All is clean and tidy, except perhaps the cot in the corner. Rain slithers down the glass at the window. The fire burns low, and the lantern is only a faint yellow glow.

Thari is sleeping, head turned toward the door. Peaceful the dwarf looks, lips slightly parted, the lower half of the face covered in a short showing of beard.

Keldean pounds on the door to the room, then doesn\'t wait for a reply and tries the knob to see if the door is unlocked. The teen has never been one for proper manners. If it opens, he\'ll rush into the room rather recklessly, \"Frarin! I need to talk to you!\"

Why isn\'t the door locked? Why? Does Frarin\'s door have a faulty lock? For in rushes the teen and Thari is startled awake.

The wounded dwarf sits up, arm still in a sling, eyes wild. \"Frarin?\" Thari asks in a groggy voice, head turning toward the empty cot.

Keldean skids to a stop, staring in wide-eyed shock at the dwarf with little more than an evening shadow of a beard. In the dim lighting, seeing someone other than Frarin in his bed.. someone else.. in his bed. The teen comes to an instant conclusion, \"I didn\'t know you were with-.. I mean.. I didn\'t know dwarves and women..\" He trips over his words, looking away at first before he sees more than he wants to, but that brings his eyes to the cot. Why is there a cot? Keldean drags his gaze back to the figure in the bed, staring more closely with furrowed brows.

\"What?\" Thari looks just as perplexed as Keldean, if not more so. Furrowed brows and grey eyes are turned away from the cot and toward the lad. The small dwarf rubs a hand over eyes. \"What did you just say?� Dwarves and women?\" Thari\'s voice is utterly disbelieving.

[Keldean(#23332)] It\'s the voice that brings his thoughts to a screaming halt. He recognizes Thari and his jaw nearly drops to the floor. \"You and.. Frarin.. .. \" Keldean staggers back a step towards the open door, horror plain upon his youthful face as a new, more horrifying realization sinks in. \"That\'s not.. you can\'t.. \" He\'s speechless, the shock too much for his vivid imagination to process.�

Thari\'s eyes become sharp. The dwarf leans forward, toward Keldean across the room. \"Shut the door,\" says the healer in a very stern tone-- not angry, just firm. \"I won\'t hurt you. You will, however, shut the door, stay in here-- across the room if you like-- and explain to me what you\'re babbling on about. I will ask for Frarin\'s help in retrieving you if you do not.\"

[Keldean(#23332)] Ever flighty has the teen been. Keldean shakes his head quickly, backing through the door. He reaches for the handle and yanks it closed with a bang, retreating back even further to the wall across the wall. His mind is still twisting with revulsion as he tries to process what he -thinks- is going on. Unfortunately it makes far too much sense with the way the two act around each other all the time.

\"Keldean!\" Thari\'s voice is muffled through the door. \"Keldean! Please come back! Only for a moment!\"

Keldean hears Thari\'s voice and hesitates, looking back. Maybe he\'s wrong.. maybe that\'s not what\'s really going on. But.. what if it IS? Does the teen really want to know for sure? He moves back to the door and pulls it open a crack, peeking in. Curiosity is going to kill him one of these days.

\"Please?\" Thari repeats, brows lifted. The often-difficult and proud dwarf is still leaning toward the door, nearly pleading. \"I can\'t touch you. Just come in for a moment and talk to me. Already once you\'ve said so many strange things about me. Can\'t you just talk to me this time?\"

Keldean creeps back in, pressing the door closed behind him, but his hand remains on the nob. He swallows, chewing on his lip as he looks anywhere but directly at Thari. It can\'t be true.. it can\'t!

\"Thank you,\" Thari says in the same deep, smooth voice that one might use against a frightened colt. Still, there is a layer of tension, of nervousness beneath this. Thari has a hand on the blankets and it is shaking slightly. \"What,\" continues the dwarf in the same tone, eyes level on Keldean. \"were you talking about?\"

Keldean leans back against the door as if he could melt through the wood. \"I.. it\'s nothing. I mean, I thought you were with.. ah.. I didn\'t recognize.. without.. \" He stammers, flushing fiercely in the low light.�

\"My beard?\" Thari sounds surprised and the good hand reaches up to fan across the chin covered with hair less than an inch long. \"Yes, yes, it\'s horrid, isn\'t it? But you ran stuttering from the room over it? You have less of one yourself, lad.\"

Keldean grasps for the easy out, and quickly nods in agreement. \"Yes, I know.. I\'m sorry. I was just surprised, that\'s all.\" It\'s such an obvious lie, and the teen is still having trouble looking at the dwarf. \"I.. I\'m really sorry for what happened to you. I\'m going to find out who\'s responsible, I promise.\"

Thari sighs and casts a pleading look toward the ceiling before the eyes go back to Keldean. \"Look at me, lad,\" the dwarf says, flinging the one arm out wide, the other one still bound in a sling. \"You\'ve no call to be acting so terrified. What were you talking about dwarves and women for?\" There is a pause where Thari\'s tongue wets the mouth almost as if in nerves. \"The womenfolk of your town have nothing to fear of dwarves.\"

Keldean settles his brown eyes on Thari, his mouth running dry as he begins to speak. \"You and Frarin.. you\'re such close friends. I .. mean.. I guess it makes sense. Dwarves are different and .. .. it isn\'t really something I should -talk- about.\" He slowly twists the nob of the door behind him.

Thari\'s eyes drop to Keldean\'s hand on the knob. \"Nooo,\" agrees the dwarf in the same soothing, stern tone, though the agitation beneath is showing. \"You shouldn\'t talk to anyone about it except me or Frarin. Anyone else and you could really get hurt or put me in a great deal of danger.\"

Keldean violently shakes his head. \"I won\'t say anything. Your secret is safe with me.\" It\'s horrifying to -think- about. Why would he want to talk about it with anyone? Apparantly even Keldean\'s curiosity has it\'s limits. \"I\'m.. umm.. I\'m going to go.\" He pulls the door open again and hurries out, not lingering this time as it slams closed once more and the teen retreats to the stairs at the end of the hall.