96- Special Tea

Yechiel's face was reddened, his eyes puffy and focused on the floor between his feet as Tau hung his own coat in the closet.

"Hello, Yechiel."

Quayleigh spoke with a calm and easy tone as she made her way towards him. Pressing her hand to his forehead, it was cold and clammy, but it caused him to look up at her, although his eyes had lost the spark of life, she was familiar with.

"Thanks for letting me stay here," he replied, his voice low, shaky, and dry.

"As my closest friend, I'll not have you spending the night alone," Tau stated, moving up beside him. "If I can't do at least this for you, then what was the point of you contacting me in the first place. Quayleigh's made up the spare room for you and has brewed some tea for us to enjoy."

"It should be cool enough to drink by now," she added as she went to remove the coat he was clinging to, only for him to step back and turn away.

"Don't. You don't need to see…"

"Do I need to be harsh with you?" she questioned as she grabbed his cheeks and forced him to look her in the eye. "You listen to me; I know something about trauma. I've been through it more than once and I'm not about to be bothered by some blood on a shirt. Tonight, is about getting you comfortable enough to sleep. That means getting you cleaned up and getting something in your stomach."

Relaxing his shoulders, Tau removed the jacket and took it to the closet as she walked Yechiel towards the couch. She wasn't surprised to see him wearing an old set of scrubs or the patches of blood that had seeped through from the undershirt beneath; in fact, she had been expecting it to be worse. Sitting him down, she wrapped a blanket over his shoulders, while Tau carried the teapot in from the kitchen.

"Once you've finished your tea, I'll show you up to your room for the night. Everything you need is already waiting for you," she explained as Tau poured the tea filling each of the three cups.

Taking the phone from her pocket, she sat down next to Yechiel and quickly texted Harlowe to let him know that he had arrived, before setting the phone onto the table.

"Did anyone update you on Kavak's condition before you left?" Tau questioned, setting down the teapot before sitting on the couch across from him.

"No. They had just taken him into surgery when I left. Harlowe said he would text once they knew something," he replied as Quayleigh placed a spoonful of sugar into each of the cups. "I'm trying to be hopeful, but I don't think he's going to make it. That thing isn't known for leaving victims alive."

"He left you alive, and Skye. There's no reason to believe that Kavak won't pull through," Tau remarked, in what appeared to be an attempt to make him feel better.

"It's best if you stay cautiously optimistic. There's no point in speculating about anything tonight. And you don't have to force yourself to talk about it either," she stated, offering him one of the prepared cups of tea.

"I don't even really know if there's anything to talk about. He showed up out of nowhere and before we could do anything, he was gone. What I don't understand is why? Why would he have shown himself to us, and let us live? Why attack Hakan for no reason? At least not one that I understand," Yechiel rambled slightly as he looked between the two of them before dropping his head and taking the cup she had offered.

"He said something to you," Tau stated, picking up his cup and leaning back on the couch, "What was it?"

"Something about a poisoned tree and fruit, and a bad dog. It's just all jumbled up. When I try to think about it, it's nothing but a blur."

"Baandahg. It's the name of a Tuhané god," Tau said as Yechiel took a sip of his tea. "It's strange that this entity would mention such a thing."

"Yes, but now is not the time to try and figure out why. It's not surprising that you can't remember much of anything at the moment. But I promise, it will be clearer tomorrow, after you've had time to rest," Quayleigh remarked, taking a cup for herself.

"I feel exhausted, but I don't think I could sleep, even if I tried," Yechiel said as she took note of his half empty mug.

"That's what the tea's for. It's going to help you get through the night," she replied before taking a sip of her own.

"You drugged the tea?"

"No," Quayleigh replied with a disapproving glare, "it's a special blend, prepared by a friend of mine. I drink it when I'm having trouble sleeping and it helps silence my mind. You can thank me for this in the morning. Now drink up before it gets too cold."

With no further complaint, Yechiel downed the last of the tea in his cup and placed it back onto the tray.

"Here's hoping you're right," he whispered as he looked up at her.

"Little trust Yechiel," she replied, doing her best to smile in a friendly manner despite how she felt towards him giving the situation the previous night. 

Setting her cup onto the table, she showed Yechiel to his room, giving him a quick tour and informing him of the available clothing in the dresser.

"Take your time, and when you're done, feel free to come back downstairs or just head to bed if you'd prefer. Either way, I doubt your clothes are going to be salvageable at this point and those scrubs have seen better days to begin with, but I can throw them in the wash if you want me to try."

"No need, I'll toss them tomorrow before I leave. And really, thanks for all this. It seems like all I've done since I met you, is disrupt your life."

"You have been making a terrible habit of it." She smirked from the doorway as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"I'm really sorry," he said, a soft crack in his voice as he began to tear up. "I just didn't know who else to call."

"Oh, no, Yechiel, it's fine. Really, it's fine," she replied as she went into the room and sat next to him on the bed. "And it's not like I don't understand. We are our own little worlds, and worlds tend to collide. We can't always control the impact, and we are rarely responsible for the collisions. All we can do is manage the outcomes. And frankly," she remarked, bumping his shoulder with her own, "I'm not sure you know anyone with as much experience as I have with trauma recovery. I'm also cheaper than a professional."

"And here I thought you were being charitable," he remarked as she stood up and headed towards the door.

"We can discuss payment of your bill for our generosity tomorrow." She smiled, stopping in the doorway and turning around to face him. "All joking aside; you'll feel better after you take a shower. And feel free to cry and scream to your hearts content in there. This place is well insulated."

Turning back around, she pulled the door closed and then returned to Tau in the living room.

"How is he?"

"Worse than I thought, but better than I hoped for," she replied as he reached out and took her hands pulling her down into his lap. "He's really shaken up by the encounter. I wish I could have told him something to ease his mind about Kavak, but at this point, I'm pretty concerned myself. His shirt has a lot of blood on it."

"Would it make you feel better if I sent Uru to check on him?"

"It would, but at the same time, it's a bad idea. Yechiel may not be in the best head space, but he's still a cop. I don't want him picking up on anything that seems abnormal for the situation. We shouldn't know more than him," she replied, snuggling down against him.

"And how are you holding up?"

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to crawling into that massive bed upstairs. It's getting late and I have another long day ahead of me tomorrow."

"Then why not head up to bed? I can take care of cleaning up down here."

"That's really sweet of you, but I'm going to stay up long enough to put the wash in the dryer. Besides, Yechiel's in the shower, and I'm hoping that Uru is at the apartment and not hiding here in his dimension."

"Rest assured, he is where he is supposed to be."

"I certainly hope so, because if you can't control him, I'm afraid for what he could do."

"As you should be. Even under my command, make no mistake, Uroxuz is, first and foremost, a weapon. One that's capable of killing anyone who crosses his path with the ease of breathing, and he would think nothing of what he's done."

"And there's nothing that anyone could do to stop him either, is there?" she asked, resting her head against his shoulder.

"No, not to my knowledge. You'd have to be able to stop him from slipping into his dimension, and I doubt even the MET could accomplish such a task. You needn't fear though, eventually Death would come and retrieve him."

"And how many deaths would it take for that to happen?"

"Enough to appear as if a war was happening," he replied before kissing her forehead.

"That is both terrifying and good to know," she said, when Tau's phone began to ring. "Please don't let that be another crisis."

"It's Cole," he replied, handing her the phone.

"Hey Cole, what's up?" she answered.

"Oh, thank the gods. Cher, I've been trying to reach you. Is Uru with you by chance?"

"Not at the moment, but I know where he is. Why do you ask?"

"Because he showed up here, unexpectedly, and not too long ago, he up and vanished. I expected him to show back up, but I didn't think I should wait any longer to let you know that Tau needs to get him under control."

"He told you what you did?" she asked, curious about how much Cole already know.

"He did. And I suspect he told you too?"

"No, I actually found out from Folsten. We're over at Dylan's condo, and Yechiel's here with us. He's in the shower at the moment, but it's not safe to talk about at length. Tau summoned him here and has dealt with that part of the situation, but we're still waiting on word about Kavak. Any idea why he showed up at your place?"

"I have an idea alright, and for now, I'll keep this brief. Tau's not the only one changing because he's trapped in our world, and I am much more afraid of Uru than I am of him."

"I understand," Quayleigh replied as she looked up at Tau. "I'll give you a call tomorrow when it's easier to talk, but you don't need to worry about Uru for tonight. He's grounded and won't be going anywhere."

"Uh huh. You grounded him?" he asked with an obvious skeptical tone.

"For lack of a better term, yes. And it was Tau that did it, not me."

"And you're positive that he's going to listen to Tau?"

"Yes. Absolutely. I promise, I will explain everything tomorrow."

"Alright," he sighed, "just as long as you're safe."

"I am. You have nothing to worry about. Have a goodnight, Cole."

"Fine. You too, Cher. Talk with you tomorrow."

"Crisis adverted," she grumbled, hanging up the phone and placing it onto the coffee table. "Ends up, Uru went over to Cole's place, after his visit with the detectives."

"Explains why I sensed him in the downtown," Tau replied as Quayleigh sat up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Is everything okay with him?"

"Yeah, he was just worried when Uru vanished and didn't come back. I'll explain everything to him tomorrow at some point. Figured it wasn't wise to get into it over the phone, given our guest."

Tau nodded as she rested her forehead against his and closed her eyes.

"No more talk until laundry's done or Yechiel comes down the stairs," she muttered.

"Oh? And what do you plan on doing instead?" he asked, as he ran his hand up her back and pulled her closer.

"No more talk," she whispered, and then kissed him.