The Weight of Scales (Ch.2): Welcome (Page 8-13)

Iris opens the door and walks into the apartment. She performs her usual home routine of turning on lights, kicking off shoes, hanging keys, and dumping her bag on the floor. Iris is happy to be home.

She calls out for Drake who has yet to follow her inside. He is leaning on the railing just outside preoccupied with internal thoughts. He seems out of breath and dizzy.
Iris shouts for him again. As he comes back to his senses and crosses the threshold, a few unseen magic threads follow him in.

Iris tries to welcome Drake in with a friendly presentation, but the apartment is a mess. Trash, dishes, and discarded clothes are strewn about. Drake looks unimpressed at best.

Iris quickly switches to cleaning up what she can. She suggests Drake get comfortable and remove his heavy armor. She asks if he needs help doing so, but he declines her assistance, so she returns to cleaning.

Drake gets permission to set his gear down on the newly cleared dining table. First, he lays the borrowed blanket over a chair. Then he starts the well practiced task of removing his gear one bit at a time.

The area where his torso is injured twinges with increasing intensity as he moves around. Iris notices that he is in pain and volunteers to help him remove his chest plate. Unfortunately, her hands are not strong enough to unlatch the wet leather straps, so her efforts only yank Drake around.

Drake puts a hand over her struggling ones and pleads for her to stop. Iris pulls her hands away and Drake resumes removing the last piece of armor through gritted teeth.
Once free of the heavy metal, he shakes out his rain soaked hair. Iris protests and compares him to a wet dog.