Pissing Contest

"I'm Henry. You must be Jhonny's dad. I just came back with Jhonny. He's inside already.," Henry calmly answered, not moving a muscle.

"I'll check that out myself, if you don't mind," the man calmly said.

"Jhonny!?" he hollered towards the inside of his home.

"Dad!" came the answer from inside.

Jhonny came running out of the back room, straight towards the two men. When he saw the position Henry was in, he laughed.

"Looks like you got caught, Henry. Need some help?" Jhonny mocked.

"You know this man, Jhonny?" the man behind Henry asked.

"Yes, Dad. He's the one that killed all those Tamarain soldiers keeping you and Ma' prisoner. He's not a bad guy," Jhonny chimed, happy to see his father again.

"Humph!" the man huffed, taking the knives off Henry's back.

He then firmly pushed Henry inside the home.

"Get inside. We need to talk," he told Henry, keeping the knives in his hands.

"Woah! Easy, big guy. I'm not your enemy," Henry replied.

"I'll be the judge of that," the man said gruffly before pushing him again.

After bringing Henry into the kitchen and seating him in front of himself, he put the kukris on the table in front of him. Henry eyed them a little before giving up the idea.

The man in front of him clearly had a military bearing. His back was straight, his shoulders held high, and his eyes cold as ice. Nothing good would come of scuffling with him.

Seeing Henry eye the knives, the man let out a small laugh and grinned from ear to ear.

"Go ahead. Take them back. I dare you," the man said, still smiling.

Henry had a slight cold sweat on his spine. He then gathered his composure again and smiled back.

"So much killing intent from only one man. Scary. But if you wanted to kill me, I'd be dead on your doorstep. Can we stop the pissing contest now?" Henry asked with still a smile.

The man huffed again. He then pushed the knives towards Henry, gesturing to take them back.

Henry took his blades and sheathed them back.

"I had to check if you had ulterior motives for saving my family first," the man said, releasing the surrounding tension.

"My name is Joshua. Joshua Spitfire. In my family's name, I thank you for saving my wife and me," the man said, slightly bowing his head.

"You're welcome, Joshua. It's my job to protect humankind from the Tamarain invaders." Henry said.

"Your son was of great help, too. Honestly, I probably couldn't have done it without him," he added.

"Yes. About that," Joshua started, his eyes hardening again.

" What kind of sick man are you, to bring a child on a dangerous mission like that? What if he had been killed?" he added, with an angry tone.

"In my defence, I never asked him to come along. I even tried to make sure he stayed away," Henry said, raising both hands up.

"Yeah! This brute tied me up like a sausage and left me alone in a cave!" Jhonny butt in, still a bit mad about that incident.

"You should have stayed there hidden, boy!" his father thundered.

"Think about how your mother and I would have felt had you died. Don't be selfish!" he said, tightening his fists.

Henry could see in his eyes the pain at the thought of losing his only son. He could relate, too.

He simply nodded.

"... I'm sorry, Dad," Jhonny said, his head drooping.

"It's okay now, but don't you ever do that again. It would be stupid to throw your life away. You're too young to die," Joshua said, shaking his head.

"Yeah... About that," Henry interjected.

Joshua looked at him from the corner of his eye, then back at his son. Jhonny was twirling his foot on the floor, trying to gather up the courage to tell him what he wanted to do.

"No!" Joshua said before his son could even talk.

"But, Dad, you don't even know what I was going to say!" Jhonny yelled, lifting his head high.

"Oh, but I do. Do you think I don't know why he is still here?" Joshua said, pointing to Henry with his thumb.

"He could very well have dropped you off and left. And yet, he stayed," he kept going.

"Do you really think I don't know what you are going to ask? Don't be unreasonable, boy, stay here. You can leave when you're a man. Till then, you're staying here. I'll tie you down if I have to."

"You can't force me to stay, Dad; I'm old enough to make my own decisions!" Jhonny screamed.

"I said NO!" Joshua yelled, smashing his fists on the table.

"Okay. I'm going to go now," Henry said, getting up to leave.

"Sit the fuck down, or I'll drive you into the ground!" Joshua yelled at Henry.

Henry simply looped back down into the chair. He was no push-over, but this was not his matter to step into.

"Are you the one who gave him this silly idea?" Joshua asked Henry.

"No, he's not!" Jhonny yelled.

"I decided that on my own. I want to help people, Dad. I don't want to stay in this rotten hole anymore!" he added.

"You are too young! This is madness! Suicide, even!" Joshua screamed, lifting his arms above his head.

"I made my choice, Dad. I'm doing this with or without your consent," Jhonny said, steeling his resolve.

All the while, Jhonny's mother had been standing in the corner, simply watching. When she finally moved, she laid her hand on her husband's shoulder.

"Calm down, Josh. Look at our son's eyes. Can you not see the strength of his resolve? I say we pampered him enough. He's close to being a man; let him choose his own path," she calmly said.

She then looked up at Henry.

"Are you going to protect him, Henry? Can you promise me that?" she asked slowly.

"I can't promise his life, Ma'am. But I will try my best to keep him out of death's clutches," Henry said, nodding his head.

"See, honey? He at least has some protection going forward. You were a military man once; can you not trust another soldier?" she asked her husband.

"That's not the point, love," Joshua sighed.

"Can we really let our only son leave us like that? Are you not terrified he'll never come back?" he added, his eyes softening.

"I trust this man," she simply answered, pointing at Henry.

Joshua slowly rubbed his temples. After a few moments of silence, he finally raised his head again and looked at Henry.

"I may not be in service anymore, but if you cause the premature death of my boy, I will hunt you down like a dog and make you regret ever being born. Do you understand what I'm saying, Henry?" Joshua said, looking straight into Henry's eyes.

"Yes, I do. I will make sure he doesn't throw his life away, sir. If he ever dies by my fault, I will hand myself over to you myself," Henry promised.

"Good. Now that this painful conversation is over, I would be a terrible host if I didn't invite you for dinner," Joshua said, going back to smiling, although obviously forced.

"Go wash up, boy. And help your mother cook," he said, gently slapping the back of Jhonny's head.

"Yes, Dad!" Jhonny said happily while scampering off.

And thus stopped the most uncomfortable conversation Henry ever had.