Aftermath
After the final battle, Khaidai stays the night at the Centre.
Author's Notes
Takes place right after the end of the FC plot [The Heist], after the battle against the leader of the Lion's Maw company.
The room is dark.
Faint sounds of celebration can be heard from somewhere upstairs, and the occasional sound of footsteps as people walk past the room Khaidai is resting in.
Even this late in the day, and after all they went through, the Centre is as lively and busy as Khaidai has gotten to know it as. There is a sense of pride to be had in this observation; to be able to tell what is or isn’t typical of a community one inhabits.
As he lies on his back, Khaidai slowly places his hand over his midriff. Slowly, his fingers trail across the folds of the bandages wrapped around to support his injured back. There is a slight pulsation inside head that matches the beating of his heart, and his bruised left side feels visibly uncomfortable as he lies there, but none of the hurt is serious.
He’s lucky he survived with so little damage done to him, and yet his entire body feels so heavy in its exhaustion that he feels like he might just sink through his bed deep into the ground underneath the Centre’s floors.
While still conscious, he tries to remember if any battle or a skirmish he participated in back home made him feel as tired as he is now. Faintly, he recalls the Naadam that almost became his last; when he was sliced in the stomach with his innards just barely avoiding to spill out on the bloodied battleground. He realizes he doesn’t remember much of what followed after, and even if he did, Khaidai is sure it must have felt different to this exhaustion.
Nevertheless, he’s grateful to have been able to fight by everyone’s side. And with the worst now thankfully — hopefully — behind them, he’s looking forward to seeing the Centre slowly readjust to mundane living free of the oppressive gloom that was the Lion’s Maw. No more worried glances or tension in the air; no fearing that every unfamiliar face at the Centre is yet another bad actor gauging the holes in their defenses.
Sleep finally overcomes him. As he closes his eyes and welcomes the healing slumber, Khaidai smiles as he thinks of the shared victory of the Centre.