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Nod looked up from his wooden birds and grinned when Captain Orion crouched down beside him.
“What’s its name?” the boy demanded, holding up his cardinal.
“I have it on very good authority that that is a cardinal,” the captain smiled, then pointed to one of the wooden humming birds, “and that is a humming bird.”
Nod giggled, “it’s a ruby throated humming bird.”
“Yes it is,” Orion nodded.
“Ronin will be home for dinner,” Nod informed him, because no one ever came looking for him, “we can play until then. I have lots of birds, and you could use some.”
Orion sobered, “Ronin isn’t going to be home for dinner.”
Nod stiffened, grip tightening around his toy.
“He’ll be alright, but he got hurt, and he needs to stay with the healers for a few days,” Orion explained carefully.
Nod’s brow furrowed, “he’ll be alright?”
“Yes,” Orion reassured him, “he just needs to rest for a while in the healers’ ward.”
“A few days is two,” Nod held up two fingers.
“More like three or four this time,” Orion shook his head.
“I’ll go stay with Ronin then,” Nod set down his wooden bird decisively and picked up Cheep-Cheep so he could take him with him.
“The healers’ ward is no place for little boys,” Orion tried to explain, “Miss Orla is packing a bag for you, then we’ll go visit Ronin, but you’re going to stay with my wife and I while Ronin is getting better.”
“No,” Nod tightened his grip on Cheep-Cheep, “Miss Glory is nice to me even though I bit her. She’ll let me stay with Ronin.”
Orion managed to keep a straight face. Nod had in fact bitten the head healer more than once, and Orion has heard about it all three times, but he was hardly the only child to have bitten Glory.
“Miss Glory likes you very much, but Ronin needs to rest,” Orion said, “we can go visit him though.”
“I can sleep with him,” Nod frowned at him, “I always sleep with him. Ronin said that I could.”
“The beds in the healers’ ward aren’t really made for two people,” Orion countered.
“I can sleep on the floor,” Nod toyed with the strands of yarn that made up Cheep-Cheep’s tail.
“That doesn’t sound very comfortable,” Orion pointed out, “plus I think Ronin would worry about you if you slept on the floor, and if he’s worried, then he’s not resting.”
“But I would be good,” Nod insisted, hugging Cheep-Cheep to his chest, “I can be good.”
“You’re a very good boy,” Orion said firmly, “but you can’t stay in the healers’ ward. We’ll go visit Ronin though, and tomorrow morning we can visit him again.”
“I can just stay with him,” Nod repeated, “I’ll get my bag and I’ll put my food in it and then I’ll have food to eat and I can stay with Ronin.”
“It doesn’t work that way kiddo,” Orion told him gently, “you aren’t going to be able to stay with Ronin, but we can go visit him.”
“Can we visit him now?” Nod asked.
“Just as soon as your bag is packed,” Orion nodded.
Orion lifted Nod up so he could kneel on the bed Ronin was sleeping in, and Nod crept forward cautiously, not sure if he should wake him or not. Orion had said Ronin needed to rest, but Nod really wanted to talk to him.
“Hello chickadee,” Ronin opened his eyes a sliver and smiled tiredly at him.
“Are you alright?” Nod leaned forward farther.
“I’ll be find, don’t worry,” Ronin lifted his hand to smooth back Nod’s hair, “I’ll be home before you know it.”
“Captain Orion said in a few days, and that a few is more than two, and that it might be three or four,” Nod frowned at him.
“It might be three or four,” Ronin agreed, absently stroking Nod’s hair, “but you’ll have fun with Orion and Marne.”
“But I don’t know Marne,” Nod hugged Cheep-Cheep to himself.
“Mrs. Marne,” Ronin corrected automatically, “you’ll like her. She’ll play with you like Miss Orla does, and she’ll tell you stories you haven’t heard before.”
“But you can tell me stories I haven’t heard before,” Nod fidgeted.
“It will be okay chickadee,” Ronin murmured, eyes starting to drift closed.
“I think we need to let Ronin sleep,” Orion put a gentle hand on Nod’s back.
Nod hesitated, staring at Ronin unhappily, then scooted forward and kissed Ronin on the cheek, “I’ll leave Cheep-Cheep and then you won’t be lonely because I’m not here to sleep with you like I’m supposed to.”
“Are you sure chickadee?” Ronin opened his eye’s a little, “I don’t want you to miss him.”
“No, he wants to stay with you,” Nod set the stuffed animal on the bedside table.
“Alright,” Ronin tugged Nod down to kiss his forehead, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“In the morning,” Nod sat back, “Captain Orion said we could come back in the morning.”
“In the morning,” Ronin agreed vaguely, his eyes falling shut.
“Come on Nod,” Orion picked the boy up, “we’ll let Ronin sleep so he gets better, and we’ll go meet Marne.”
“Mrs. Marne,” Nod corrected, hand fisting unconsciously around one of the buckles of Orion’s armor, “and we’ll come see Ronin tomorrow.”
“Yes we will,” Orion reassured him.
Nod watched Ronin over Orion’s shoulder until the curtain around his bed closed.
“Cheep-Cheep will keep him company,” the boy buried his face against Orion’s shoulder, “and he’ll get lots of sleep, and then he’ll come home.”
“Yes he will,” Orion agreed, patting the boy’s back, “and he’ll be home just as soon as he can. After all, he misses his little chickadee when he has to be away.”