#matthritz

The infirmary in Sasau wasn't anything special, a single room for the patients, clearly not designed for a tragedy like this. The room was helplessly filled with the wounded; those who were stable enough were laid outside. Not out of cruelty, but out of desperation. The two monks were doing the best they could. When Johanka, God may bless her soul, offered her help, they were more than happy to accept. Fritz was relieved that nothing happened to her. He would be lying when he said that they were close; she was more a friend of Theresa and Matthias than his. But still he was glad anyone made it out unharmed. Silently praying that Theresa, Matthias, and Henry made it as well. The two young men he hadn't seen during the attack; he had no idea if they even made it out of Skalitz. The last time he saw Theresa, they left her at the mines with her barely alive brother. Fritz was in no way a medicus; some may argue he was barely intelligent enough to think on his own, but even he could tell that Samuel wouldn't make it anyway.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Matthew stirring next to him, trying to shift away from him a little, without much success. „God, you are radiating more heat than the sun, Fritz. As if I wasn't sweating already,“ he mumbled. Fritz would have taken that personally any other day, but he could understand his friend. The room wasn't very big and was filled with hot bodies, plagued with fever. Causing a humidity in the room that made your clothes stick to your skin. They were only inside because Fritz himself developed a slight fever from the wound on his stomach; the slash on his temple was less severe but still stung every time a drop of sweat made its way to it. Matthew seemed to have no serious outside wounds, but he fell while they were running, unable to put much weight on his right foot, and his left side started to show a deep purple spot where he was hit by one of these savages at the mine, the same one that stabbed Fritz. Now surely in hell after Fritz put a pickaxe through his chest.

The other man's complaint about his body heat soon changed, however. Once Fritz's fever was gone and they were sure that Matthew hadn't hurt any organs, they were put outside. To make room for the next fever patients. Now Matthew was sticking close, trying to warm himself at night. Looking strangely content when pressing his back to Fritz's arm, causing the latter to flinch at the sudden coldness. An action that would earn them a quiet chuckle from Johanka and a raised eyebrow from the younger monk. But no one talked about it. Once they felt a bit better, they sneaked some met. The young monk, Elias, joined them. At first, it was lighthearted. The two Skalitz men are talking about childhood shenanigans. But then Elias made a dumb decision. He leaned closer to Matthew. „Your friend isn't the sharpest tool, is he?“ He said with a hushed voice. The other man's face turned sour at that. „Awfully rich, coming from a guy who has been here for a long time and yet still knows less about healing than a refugee woman who came here a few days ago.“It was something he did ever since they were children, getting short-tempered whenever someone insulted his friend's intelligence. A fact that made Fritz's heart swell. Sure, Matthew calls him a dumbass every now and then, but there is no bite behind those words. Fritz knows that; he also knows that he is a bit slow. But that doesn't mean that the words don't hurt him nonetheless. His friend knows that, so he defends him, even when it is being said behind his back.

Matthew's sharp tongue clearly hit a nerve. „Hey! I was only joking; no need to get personal,“ the young monk snapped back. „Why are you getting so worked up about it?“ a pause, then: „Is it because he keeps you warm at night?“ A remark made by an alcohol-loosened tongue. Referring to the fact that Matthew sticks close to his friends heat at night, but with an insinuating undertone. Making the other man freeze for a moment with disbelief. Now that didn't sit right with Fritz. Getting up so fast that he shoved the table back into both Matthew and Elias. His fist making contact with the pale monk's face, he yelped. Matthew didn't join in, but he also did nothing to stop the other man. Just looking on as his friends hit the frailer man over and over again. The tumult alerted Johanka, who ran towards them, her voice shrill. „Good heavens, Fritz! Stop!“Others came to help, and soon the two friends found themselves sitting outside the inn with a nice little debt on both their backs, no groschen, and no place to sleep now. "I'm not going to put out for you just because you defended my honor. Just so you know." Fritz gave a halfhearted laugh at his friend's statement, who flashed him a crooked smile.

They fell silent for a while, not sure what to do now. „It was kind of nice.“ Matthew began, and Fritz gave him a confused look. „Reminiscing about our childhood,“ he continued. „We never really did that.“ Looking at his hands now, pressing into a bruise there. „Mhm, I guess we never really had a reason for it.“ The other man agreed. A smile made its way to Matthew's face as he looked at him again. The kind of smile that made his heart race just a little faster. „You used to collect the teeth of the kids you roughed up.“ A chuckle escaped Fritz's mouth as he remembered it. „You made a necklace out of them and gave it to me to cheer me up when I lost another fight. Do you remember?“ Groaning embarrassedly, Fritz hid his reddening face in his hands. Of course he remembered, but he didn't think his friend would.. Matthew struggled to put on body mass as a child, so he often lost when the other boys started fights. This changed once he had a growth spurt, but they didn't know that yet. So he thought sharing his trophies would cheer his friend up. Matthew looked so happy back then, smiling and holding the necklace as if it were a holy relic.He would be lying when he said he did it without ulterior motives. Truth be told, he liked him more than a friend, even back then. Seeing him so happy at something Fritz made for him made his heart skip a few beats. „I still have it“ He kept it? This made his heart race even faster, filled it with hope. Looking at the other man he found that his face turned sad. „well, had it. Now it's burried somewhere in the ashes of my home...“ He fell silent again, Fritz didn't know what to say. So he only put a comforting hand on the others shoulder.

Henry made it out alive; Fritz couldn't have been happier. He found them a job, settled their debt at the infirmary, made peace between him and Elias, and even helped them with foreman Thomas. The bastard. Throwing him into the river like that, he could have drowned if it weren't for the others who pulled him out. He shook from the cold water as well as with anger as Matthew patted him down with a rag. Henry, ever the peacemaker, tried to resolve everything with words. But when that failed, he had at least joined them during the brawl between them and Thomas. Neither Henry nor Matthew were very happy about this outcome, but Fritz was thrilled with it. Looking at the broken teeth on the floor, the aftermath of their fight. A thought crossed his mind: stuffing the teeth in his pocket before joining his friends again. Things settled at the mill, but Fritz still found plenty of time to get his fill of flying fists at the tavern. Making sure to pick up every tooth he could find. Once their work at the mill was done and they were on the road again, he added the teeth of poached game to his collection.