"You know~" The voice chimes in, seemingly from nothing. "I've been told that when a mans nose is really red it means he's sick with a very serious disease.. Only I can't remember what it is. You're nose is really red though. Are you feeling well?"
Maybe, Haaki thought, he would get used to this one day. Maybe one day he wouldn’t jump clean out of his seat at the sound of Chira’s voice. But today was not that day, and after such a long period of silence, he hesitated. It was Splendid’s happy barking and snuffling around on the ground which eventually convinced him to say,
‘Chira? Is that you? I really hope it’s you. If it’s not, I probably sound kind of strange.’
Chira, despite her own attempts to remain collected and serious, smiled widely at the pup. Standing up with what could be considered a type of dramatic flair she moved herself rather quickly to pet and squish the dogs face in between her hands.
“I’m afraid not.” She cooed, rubbing Splendid’s soft ears. “We’re going to have to cut them off! That’s the only way I can save you from the Wombinosis. It’s One-Hundred-And-Two-percent fatal and I can’t risk loosing you.” She added, still cooing at the dog. “Who’s gonna loose his hands? Daddy is!” She giggled, looking up to Haaki to motion she could hold the dog.
‘No! Not wombinosis! I’d heard stories, but I never thought it’d reach Whiterun!’
Haaki lifted Splendid up, ready to pass the puppy over, but before he got very far she was already leaping out of his arms and scrabbling towards Chira. He placed his hands under her back paws for extra support as she scrabbled snugly into place.
‘Of course, if I lose my hands I won’t be able to do much any more,’ he added, once Splendid was secure. ‘You’ll have to be my personal servant. Wait on me night and day, that sort of thing.’
“It did! Came in on a bad batch of Troll cheese. So many have been lost.” She giggled, arms encircling the pup and securing her into place. “So wiggly~” She coo’ed, smiling as she nuzzled into the soft fur of Splendid’s ear, momentarily distracted from her friends life altering illness.
“You are completely right, Haaki. I’ll have to give you my hands! And then you’ll have ghost hands! But it’s not good enough to just have ghost hands, you know. Ghost hands are a big upgrade over mortal hands. You’ll want more and more ghost parts. It’s a slippery slope! I worry about you getting addicted to ghost parts.”
