Once he stepped beneath the stream of hot water, Harry sighed softly as he reveled in the feel of actual water pouring over him, the sensation far more realistic than he'd expected; including the stinging of the numerous cuts that littered his arms, back, and neck from where the crows had hurt him with their claws and beaks. He soon closed his eyes, leaned up against the wall, and slowly relaxed as the warm water washed over him. He probably would have fallen asleep standing up if not for Agil knocking on the door and asking him if he was almost finished some twenty minutes later.
Regretfully, Harry fumbled for the bar of soap in the shower and quickly washed himself before he rinsed off the suds, turned off the water, and stepped out of the shower. He then quickly opened his Inventory to equip himself with an older set of clothes that he had intended to sell without bothering to dry off and never noticed that his hair was still dripping water or that his clothes clung to his damp body.
He intentionally avoided looking at his reflection again as he shuffled over to the door and opened it just wide enough so he could stick his head out into the hallway. When he didn't see anyone waiting for him, he tentatively slipped out into the hallway and warily made his way back to the living room.
"Ah, good, you're finished," Agil proclaimed as he exited one of the bedrooms, walked up behind Harry, and scooped the nine year old back up into his arms.
Harry stiffened and bit off a startled yelp over the unexpectedness of being swept off his feet and held once again. He relaxed a minute later when the man simply carried him the rest of the way down the hall, through the living room, and into the dining room. Agil then shifted Harry into one arm while he used his free hand to clear off a chair that he soon deposited the nine year old onto. Harry blinked up at the man in confusion when he reached out and ruffled Harry's still wet hair before he left the room.
Uncertain about what was going to happen to him now, Harry pulled his feet up into the chair with him, wrapped his arms around his legs, and propped his chin on his knees as he let his eyes wander about the room. He was starting to drift off once more when he suddenly found Kirito kneeling in front of him holding a jar that was labeled as Healing Cream and a roll of gauze. The two of them had a short staring contest; Kirito thinking it obvious what he wanted and Harry not having a clue as to what the teen planned to do. The contest ended when Agil returned to the room and started laughing at the two of them.
"James, Kirito has agreed to treat your injuries in order to stop the bleeding," Agil explained as both boys automatically turned to frown at the adult in response to the laughter. "Kirito, James has repeatedly refused to learn how to read minds; you have to explain to him exactly what it is you want. Trust me, I speak from experience and the gaki has a stubborn streak a mile wide when the mood strikes him."
"I'm not stubborn," Harry countered automatically as he frowned at the grinning man. "I just don't like people bossing me about; I got that enough from my relatives."
"I rest my case."
Kirito smothered a laugh when Harry scowled (more like pouted) in response to Agil's retort. After a few minutes, the teen managed to get his amusement under control before he stated, "Agil informed me that you don't have First Aide as one of your acquired Game Skills. However, I do, so he asked me to tend to your injuries since it would be less effective if you tried to do it yourself. In order for me to do that, I need for you to take off your shirt and grant me permission to treat you through the game Menu. I figured I could treat you right here since we don't really know each other and I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable by dragging you off to another room. Will that be alright with you, James?"
Harry tipped his head to one side and considered the teen before glancing at Agil who was watching the both of them as he cleared off and set the dining room table so they could eat. He then glanced down at his arms and let his eyes flick over the numerous blood stains that were blooming across the tan sleeves of his shirt; a stark reminder that his injuries had not stopped bleeding. A quick check of the golden bar hovering above his head had him flinching when he realized that it was still dangerously low and he wondered if that was because he was bleeding or if he was still bleeding because it was so low. Shivering, Harry reached up to open the Menu to take off the shirt he'd just put on.
If either of the other Players were startled by how thin and frail Harry looked without his shirt or the fact that he had quite a few nasty looking bruises (that he'd gotten when he'd fallen out of the tree), they didn't mention it in Harry's presence.
Over the course of the next hour, Harry grew increasingly uncomfortable as he watched Kirito grow frustrated as the first aide Items that he was using to treat Harry's injuries briefly stopped functioning the moment they came into contact with his body before they suddenly reengaged; Harry's magic briefly shorting out the game code running the Items each time they were used as it continuously failed to assimilate the coding into a new spell due to the fact that it wasn't Harry using the Items. If not for that anomaly, it would have only taken between five and ten minutes to dress the multitude of wounds Harry had acquired from the Carrion Crows.
Not long after his injuries had been properly treated, Agil brought out three plates of food for the three of them. The earlier anomaly Harry had noticed with the apple he'd eaten cropped up once more when he hesitantly began to eat from the plate Agil had set before him. The food would take on the characteristics of real food the moment the food came into contact with his hands or with the utensil he was holding and Harry got the distinct impression that Kirito was jealous of him for that.
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