24 Irvin again
The next day I left my home early in order to get to Elder Irvin´s house. Since I wasn´t allowed to train I wasn´t allowed inside the forest. Since the forest is more dangerous than training... supposedly.
On my way there I even wasn´t allowed to take my usual shortcuts over the houses, since... yeah I get it, okay?
Perhaps I could try and sneak out after talking to Elder Irvin? That would be a good excuse for mother. Spending a lot of time with the village healer and talking about the blessings with him might take a very long time, so I could manage to create a plausible excuse.
But! Counterpoint: What if my mother does find out?
Good point! Let´s not do it then...
When I knocked on Elder Irvin's house he just groaned as an answer.
What? Elder? Are you okay? And I knocked again.
"I´m up, I´m up."
His groaning voice betrayed his words as a lie. He wasn´t up. And he was still sleeping. Meaning I am the bad person who woke him up. Come to think of it! Yesterday was a huge party with quite some alcohol. Don´t know what kind since my mother did not let me have a taste...
I´m kind of cruel, right? And I knocked again. Revenge! For not healing me yesterday and giving me a three-day cooldown period.
All joking aside I need to talk to him about the blessings and if he is hungover he just might be careless and let slip something he would otherwise have kept to himself.
"Alright... fine! Come in, Arn!"
How does he know it is me? Ah! The knocking! I forgot that people don´t do that here...
"Hope you are dressed!"
I entered his house and he was not dressed. I let out a sigh. What else did I expect from people who aren´t exactly dressed at all? My gaze wandered over his nice pecs to his well-formed abs and... a bit further down...
What can I say? He was hung like an elephant. Good for me that I am not a guy anymore or else I might have felt a bit...
But what I find strange is that I am actually embarrassed looking at him even though I was a guy. And let me tell you I was straight!
... I know what you might think now. She was a christ so surely she was straight... or in denial. Here is what I must say to that: Love is free. If you found your soulmate inside someone of the same sex do not let anyone tell you that this is wrong! Remember: Hate is always foolish and love is always right. Or so the thirteenth Doctor told me. Or was it the fourteenth? Depends on how you might count...
But I also understood the side of the church. They have everything worthwhile in life interpreted in relation to god. So is marriage supposed to be an image of the trinity of god. As the human is an image formed after god so is the marriage an image of the whole father, son, and holy spirit thing. You see... there are three, right? So marriage must be love between three parts. And no I don´t talk about polyamory! I talk about father, mother, and son. So this is one of the aspects why the church thinks marriage needs to be as it says it should be. I understand that and acknowledge their opinion and honestly, if I would have married I would have done it this way, but... for god's sake just let them love who they want, okay? It´s not that difficult to look the other way... It is something we humans always do...
"Arn? Just where do you think you are looking?"
Was I still...? Oh god! I turned around promptly, while the Elder just chuckled.
"I think that is really early for you to be interested in. Perhaps I should tell Gulda about it?"
Nope! Nope! That must not happen!
"What do you want?"
I turned again and looked him in the face.
"Pfft"
Chuckling I tried not to burst out in a burst of full laughter. It wouldn´t do for me to roll on the ground and laugh about the Elder´s face. That would only sour our relationship, but... seriously his face was still swollen! The night of drinking didn´t help either. It was almost an artwork! Better than any modern art piece for sure! Well, that´s not difficult, but still...
"Had enough fun?"
He growled at me and I could see him holding his head. Was it because of the hangover or the artwork?
"I am sorry..."
I tried deliberately not to look in his direction at all and instead looked at the rocks in the rear part of his house.
"Could you tell Gulda indirectly not to hit me anymore? Since I definitely won´t do that. I won´t even think about it anymore!"
Hm? Was mother...
"Did mother do that to you? Why?"
Mother didn´t appear as the type that would do something like that unprovoked... or...?
"That doesn´t matter anymore! So! Convince her, to not hit me anymore, please."
His low voice went even deeper as he neared the end of the sentence.
"Fine! Okay! I will try and do that! But, one question..."
He just looked at me and sighed tiredly.
"You always have something to ask, don´t you? What is it?"
"You are capable of healing, right? Why didn´t you heal yourself?"
That was something I could not understand if you are a healer, why not heal yourself?
"I did..."
His face grimaced in pain and held his head once more. Is that hopelessness I detect?
"You did?"
I looked at his face disbelieving.
"I did! And then she hit me again until I wasn´t capable of healing myself anymore."
Ouch! Mother, what the hell? Why would you hit him like that?
"So..."
I began and he let out another heavy sigh.
"Can you tell me about the blessings?"
A straight ball is always the best right? Don´t beat around the bush and just ask him outright!
"Didn´t Erwin tell you about the blessings? He is in charge of your training, right?"
Yeah he is, and yeah he did, but...
"I don´t think he told me anything important actually... and..."
"You want to know more."
I just nodded. And he just sighed. Keep strong Elder! I will talk to your mother about your problem I promise! Unless I forget about it... Nah! I won´t!
"Can you tell me what exactly you are looking for?"
I smiled and sat down facing the other way.
"Sure!"