Struck

Maria was clearly unbothered by Noah's glaring and calling her a witch, as she had stopped paying attention to him the moment her fist made contact. After she exacted her payback, she simply resumed with what she was doing, which was welcoming her dear Laila in her temporary residence for the next couple of weeks. Maria helped Laila out of her summer coat, before she took it from her to hang on hanger. Laila didn't quite know how to respond to the situation as she felt that neither were innocent in the situation, and she found both reactions hilarious if she had to be honest. So, in the end she just chuckled after her initial shock passed as she had found Noah's comment amusing and Maria's reaction even more funny. To her the punch was well deserved and Noah apparently too felt like he had that coming as he made no other comment aside from the almost reflex like initial reaction. He picked the suitcases back up from the floor and carried them to the living room where he placed them down on their sides before he took a seat on the couch next to Steve.

Noah sat down with a big sigh and as soon as Maria was within hearing distance he said, "You had better watch out for that one. She is still quite feral. She just struck me for no good reason and if you aren't careful, you might be next. One day you might say something wrong, even if it is the truth, and she'll attack you before you even realize what is happening." But Maria didn't take the bait, or at least not in the way Noah had anticipated. She just lifted her nose up in the air and said with crossed arms, "Nothing feral about it. You were just asking for it".

Steve, just like Laila, chuckled after listening to their back and forth, before he responded. He said with a smug expression, "Well, you did try to insult her and the man she loves, so she had to defend us both." Noah scoffed and said, "Defend what? Your honour as a maiden? Besides, everything put aside, is this any way to treat someone who came all this way in order to bring you your luggage?"

But even this didn't earn Noah any sympathy from the couple, not even from his friend. Steve shrugged his shoulders, "Well, last I checked no one invited you. We asked Laila to bring over the luggage and you decided to take over the job. So, that is on you for expecting something in return for taking on a job you weren't asked to do. It certainly didn't grant you immunity to say whatever you please without any punishment." Noah seemed flabbergasted by this response and after taking a second to process he pulled Steve in a headlock and said, "Why you. Surgery certainly gave you some newfound bravery I see. Getting smart with me when you have no way of defending yourself."

Steve laughed and said, "Hey, watch it. I am still recovering. Besides, didn't you see, even if I can't defend myself, I have a personal nurse who is happy to do it for me. She takes care of me in more ways than one. So, if you don't want to be struck again, I suggest you play a bit more nicely." Of course Noah was being gentle and wouldn't do something that could potentially harm Steve's recovery, this was clear for even Laila and Maria, hence why they didn't step in, but this was just how their friendship was.

Noah just wasn't a person who was very good at expressing his feelings to anyone other than Laila, which everyone present knew. Noah only knew how to show that he cared with his actions and while using humour to deflect from anything too serious. So, even if Steve had been badly hurt and Noah had been worried about him, he couldn't just talk all nicely to Steve overnight. That would be too awkward. Most likely not just for him either but for both of them. Because the only reason why Steve could be bold with his words when describing their friendship, was because Noah was the way he was. He simply enjoyed seeing Noah squirm and get uncomfortable. But if he suddenly became nice to him and just agreed with his words, it would make his skin crawl from the cringiness he would be feeling.

After his short complaining about Steve's girlfriend and after some teasing of Steve himself, causing everyone to chuckle, Noah finally asked Steve how he was doing. Now that the initial tension had been broken, and he had pushed all elephants out of the room, Noah could actually inquire about his friend's wellbeing without it feeling weird to either of them.