[Zephyr]

Whatever was on that needle that the mystrider had jabbed into his leg had made the whole world be a cloud. A fuzzy... fluffy... soft....

What?

Oh. Wait. Zephyr was actually laying on a giant bed in the middle of a room that was at least four times the size of the back of his shop. But everything still had a surreal quality to it, and Zephyr was pretty sure he could hear giggling. It was permeating the room in such a way that he couldn't tell which direction it was coming from. Of course, the reason he was having trouble is because some of those miniscule laughs were coming from him as he watched the canopy posts of his far-more-than-king-size bed wobble with each noise that happened.

If Zephyr were sober enough he would have remembered the end of the Malaki raid that he'd been injured in, and then a Mystrider healer coming to him with a tiny hammer and a bundle of cone-shaped objects that looked like crude needles of some sort made from the spines of an animal. The medic used the hammer to slam the spines deeply into Zephyr's injury so that the material embedded itself in his bones. That process got repeated three times, and each time although Zephyr thought the impact would hurt he felt an immediate decrease in pain. After that a salt mixture was poured over his wounds and a number of potions were forced down his throat as the world slowly drifted away into a place a swirls and fluff and colors.

The bedroom he was in nor was the lavish "god suite" that had been created most likely for use by Danae himself given the name of the room. There were three beds. Zephyr was laying on the largest one in the center of the room, and two slightly smaller ones were on other end of the space. The smaller beds were on tracks of a sort which allowed them to be easily slid to create one large bed at the center with a sort of waterfall effect due to the differing levels of the mattresses. The decor was all ornately decorated with lush, soft materials and intricate designs bearing rich colors.

In one bed off to the side was Elias, knocked unconscious (sort of) by another set of strange spines of Mystrider origin. Although he was verifiable comatose, however, he was still responsive in a sort of second consciousness way. One of the translators had learned from the Mystriders that it was a side effect of the hallucinogenic sedatives Elias had been given and that it would last until he was given an antidote at a later date once he had sufficiently healed both mentally and physically. The other bed held another gravely injured person from the skirmish at Vynett who was also under the influence of the strange Acanthan medicine.

Diana had taken it as her responsibility to care for the injured, but she was aided by a member of the harpy crew that was apparently the ship's medic-of-sorts. The avian species was more intelligent than she'd initially thought if they could be trained in at least minor medicine, but they were most certainly subservient in every way. Regardless, Diana was keeping a log of everything that happened in regards to the heeling of the injured in her care. The Mystriders had given her a bundle with several more doses and explained to her how to use them and what each one would do more or less, but given the differences between Elysian and Acanthan lives there was no telling what unforeseen impact the medicine might have. For example, no one had warned her about the incessant giggling.

Thankfully Zephyr's leg had actually started to heal. The extreme cold the injury had been subjected to stopped him from having too much bloodloss before help could get to him and drag him away from the heart of battle. Some basic field medic skills were used to stitch his wound closed, and the combination of Elysian and Acanthan medicines rejuvenated a lot of the tissue and encouraged the regrowth of skin. Under direct instructions of the Mystriders now that there was no longer an open wound she was to remove the spines and not replace them as she had done at least twice now.

Zephyr didn't even wince as Diana used the strange pliers that she'd been given in the bundle of medicine to literally rip the spines out of his bone.

“Here, rub this on his leg once he starts to feel pain again,” Diana instructed Kiel as she handed him the little pouch which contained a salve Diana had also received at Vynett. “It should lower his pain, but it will make him very... distractable,” she explained further. Kiel hadn't left Zephyr's side since they'd both been healed. The boy had been injured himself with a broken arm to match Zephyr's broken leg but that hadn't seemed to deter him. Diana said goodnight before leaving the room to get some rest in the room she'd been assigned. It was the middle of the night, and the harpy currently standing watch in the suite were under strict instructions to report immediately should anything abnormal occur.

Zephyr blinked groggily as the disco in his mind slowly began to fade away and his rational mind began to return. He had no idea how much time had passed, but he still really had no idea about much of anything seeing as the bed posts were still dancing to the music only he could here. With a vacant smile Zephyr's head lolled towards Kiel as the ship rocked due to going over a large wave.

• Piper's Boutique · DaFont · Mutsie · Aethereality · Kevin sorbo •

[Kiel]

Kiel, like, kneeled on the thick mattress just totally, like, gawking at Zeph's face. Like, he was pretty sure he hadn't moved since Kiel had commandeered the god suite on his behalf. Getting the others to help him get the dude in here had involved a lot of griping and wheedling 'cause at first the harpies were all, like, high-pitched "ooh, nooooo, that's the sun god's place", but they'd needed someplace for the injured that was out of the way of crew running the ship and, like, the crew quarters were way too cramped to stash Comatose and Giggles here and still tend to them properly.

“Wahahahaha, Giggles.” He had no energy, so his laughter totally fell flat, but he'd never seen Zeph giggle like this. Like, it didn't matter that the girly-haired freak wasn't the only person in here giggling — dude, their laughter was contagious, okay? — because all he could think was that the guy never laughed. He sometimes twitched a smile if he found something hilarious, which was crazy rare in itself, but Kiel had never seen him giggle. Like a kid. And that made him wonder, was the guy always this surly? What was he like as a cute little nipper? Where did he even live back then? Kiel knew next to nothing about his boyfriend's past, you know? It was always him doing the talking.

Hiccup.

“Like, I probably shouldn't be in here, you know,” he told Zeph, even though the dude was so out of it he probably had no clue Kiel was even there. Hiccup. “Like, you know, Mikes had the hiccups so bad right before she got the rash, you know.” Hiccup. “It was hilarious, man, she hicc-hiccup-ed every two seconds.” He kinda regretted laughing his socks off now, you know. “But, like, Jeri said the harpies seem to think we're all infected anyway. Like, apparently that guy, Danae, dude, they think he's a god. How crazy is that? Like, I thought Xanth was it, you know. Like. Dude.” With his unbroken arm, he tugged on his right earlobe. He had no clue what to think about this whole thing. Like, he was so glad he'd gone to Vynett, you know? At least there he could do what he'd trained for — fighting and being all heroic and stuff — but if he'd gone to the temple he was pretty his head would have exploded. “Like, shkaboom, you know.” It was kinda hard to do explodey noises and motions when one arm was in a sling, though.

Deri scuttled back down his arm, headed right back for Zeph. Like, she kept forgetting she wasn't allowed to touch him right now, so Kiel had to keep reminding her and tugging her back and, like, distracting her. This time, she ran smack into Shane's nose where the 'kin deliberately got in her way and growled. Like, they didn't get on at all, Shane and Zeph, but she totally felt Kiel's protectiveness and she knew Kiel was flagging, so he let her take care of the imp dragon instead.

“L...like. You know. I was crazy happy to see you, man, but.” Everything blurred and he used his sling to pat his eyes dry, wincing in pain. Like, Di tried to give him some of that stuff for his own arm, but he'd refused, like, they didn't know when they'd get back to Vynett, you know, they had to be careful with their rations and Zeph was so messed up even after the potions. His voice broke. “You shouldn't have come, okay?”

[Zephyr]

Zephyr didn't respond to what Kiel said. In fact he remained mostly silent for several minutes. These minutes felt like hours for the man as his mind struggled to come to terms with the world around him as the side effects of the Acanthan medicine wore off. The world slowly came in and out of focus until Zephyr could clearly make out Kiel's face.

The warrior clumsily reached a hand out for Kiel's cheek, first missing entirely of to the side, but then finding the kid's face. Zephyr gently rubbed his callused thumb across Kiel's face, not realizing how slow his actions were. “You... didn't die...” he slowly said, his words slightly slurred but still recognizable. Zephyr smiled faintly as he brushed his thumb across Kiel's soft face again.

Memories were slowly coming back as the world lost its vibrancy and Zephyr regained increasingly more motor control. He remembered getting to Vynett. Reuniting with Kiel. Being helpless to stop the boy as he tumbled over the edge. Burying the fear that Kiel was gone for good this time. But that fear still felt all too real and Zephyr pressed his fingers against Kiel's head as best as he could - just to ensure that he was really there.

• Piper's Boutique · DaFont · Mutsie · Aethereality · Kevin sorbo •

[Kiel]

“Wahahaha, what are you saying, you dork, I'm immortal.” Kiel's cheeks were wet with tears, though, and his eyes blurred again through his strained grin. When Zeph went quiet like that, he'd kinda panicked a little bit, you know, even though he'd known it was just because he was, like, dosed up to the nostrils. Like, when he flailed his arm out like that, Kiel totally thought the dude was gonna smack him silly for leaving Elysia or something, so to have the dude pet his cheek and be all, like, relieved and stuff just made Kiel cry harder. Why the heck was the guy being so gentle? He totally knew Kiel was about to break apart, right, and was doing this all deliberately to make it happen faster.

“Wah.” Squeezing fat tears from the corners of his eyes, Kiel ducked his head and pressed his cheek into Zeph's hand. Beside them, Shane growled softly as Deri yanked on an ear with tiny claws, totally like she was trying to ride the 'kin someplace. Kiel should have giggled at them. Instead, he, like, eased himself down on the bed beside Zeph, stretching full length against the dude but, like, keeping his lower body away so he wouldn't hurt Zeph's legs. It was kinda awkward with one arm, so he kinda flopped the last inch or so onto Zeph's chest, and totally just, like, buried his face against the dude's collarbone. “You gotta be okay, okay?” Like, lifemates or not, Kiel didn't think he could survive if Zeph died. Like, the guilt alone would eat him alive.

[Zephyr]

Zephyr tried his best to help Kiel ease onto the bed - even though he was definitely not coherent enough to actually understand what was happening. Hel, he couldn't even really understand what Kiel was saying still. But soon enough there was warmth covering the warrior's body. Not the warmth of the blanket, and not the fuzziness of the medicine, but just pure warmth coming from Kiel as the two men pressed their bodies together. Zephyr went to move closer to Kiel, the source of the feeling, and cringed as he felt his leg move.

He was definitely not done healing.

It had been so long since Zephyr had experienced pain like this. Not since his reckless days following the battle with the Hind where he had truly faced his mortality and had reacted by testing it further and further. Since then Zephyr fought much more safely, and did not take on challenges that were too large for him to handle. At least not usually.

Bursting into Acantha after Kiel was not a very well thought out plan, but Zephyr was only focused on making sure Kiel was okay. Whatever had triggered that earthquake was obviously related to the current conflict with Acantha, and any Elysians who argued otherwise were simply fools as far as Zephyr was concerned. Zephyr had needed to find Kiel and make sure he was safe.

After all, the boy was the only person he really had left.

Zephyr winced as waves of pain started to grow in his leg as his consciousness returned more fully. He wouldn't say anything about the pain, not right now at least. Right now he just wanted to wrap his arms around Kiel and rest with him... and not let him out of his grasp for a long time.

• Piper's Boutique · DaFont · Mutsie · Aethereality · Kevin sorbo •

[Kiel]

Usually, even when he was snuggling with his boyfriend, Kiel fidgeted, like, a ton, you know? He slept so much easier with the dude than not, but he perpetually had ants in his pants or something. He didn't fidget as much now, but, like, he was so tense his whole body was trembling. Like, it was kind of a combination of gingerly trying to snuggle while not hurting the guy, but mostly the shock was starting to set in. Or, like, something, you know.

“Ehehehe. Kiel sandwich.” Shane was the other slice of bread, wahahaha. She'd totally come in to lie full length against his back so he couldn't move away if he'd wanted to. And he totally didn't want to, even though he was pretty sure Derry was digging itty bitty claws in his neck.

For a minute or two, Kiel just kinda lay there, trying to be quiet and considerate and, like, quit shaking. His left hand spasmed where he'd rested it over Zeph's heart and, like, pain flared all along his arm so he totally whimpered despite trying to be all, like, macho and stuff. Like, Zeph was in crazy worse pain than him, and the dude wasn't whining about it, you know? But finally, Kiel couldn't take the quiet or the sitting still any more. His breath shuddered out and he squirmed back against his Chosen, his hand curling into the tattered remains of Zeph's vest.

“Like, d-dude, I gotta pee.” He sniffed as he nudged Shane back with his slinged-up elbow and twisted a bit so he could, like, roll off the squooshy mattress. Like, he didn't actually need the bathroom, but, like, he didn't want his boyfriend/boss/mentor to see him burst into tears.

[Zephyr]

Even while sleeping Zephyr was still as strong as an ox. So when Kiel tried to leave and Zephyr grabbed a hold of his shirt in an effort to hold onto him, the shirt tore quiet promptly and quite loudly. Zephyr let go upon hearing the noise, recognizing that it meant something bad had happened but not one hundred percent understanding what.

Zephyr went to move to grab Kiel more properly, but as he adjusted his leg his attention was suddenly drawn to the immense shooting pain coming from it. Zephyr yelled out from the shock of it as it tore through the last traces of his previous delusions and rooted him firmly back into reality. His bone had merged back together again more or less, but it was still regrowing and the deepest parts of the tissue surrounding it ached and tore and burned all at the same time. It was far more pain than he had been anticipating given his prior state, especially given how the last movement only caused him the wince.

“Don't leave,” Zephyr barked out more harshly than intended as he fought the pain away. His tone was obviously not hateful or demanding, but pained and almost desperate. The man's mind raced a bit as he reeled from his body's own endorphins. The patients in the other beds barely stirred at all, and certainly did not wake. The harpy, however, rushed to the side of the bed and held out the pouch that Diana had given Kiel earlier, having apparently picked it up from wherever the boy had set it before.

• Piper's Boutique · DaFont · Mutsie · Aethereality · Kevin sorbo •

[Kiel]

“Like, herk.” Kiel froze on the edge of the mattress as the sound of ripping fabric rent the room. Eyes wide, he totally looked up, then left, then right, then kinda like twisted his head just a teeny bit to figure out where the sound had come from and why his shirt was all taut and stuff. Or, like, had been taut. It kinda wasn't any more. “D-dude.” He slashed his bad hand across his eyes to dash away tears and peered over his shoulder. Was the guy mad at him? Like, Kiel wouldn't blame him if he was, you know? Although, after more than a year together, he'd kinda gotten to know the differences in grunts and growls, you know, so he didn't think this one was all from anger. “I... I was j-just gonna...” Go someplace quiet where nobody could see him and cry his heart out. Yeah. Like, no.

When the harpy held out the meds he'd set down, Kiel's eyes totally widened even more. Like, for one thing, he'd totally spaced on them not being the only two people in the room, okay? And for another thing, why did he need a total stranger to poke him when his boyfriend was being all, like, argh? “Okay.” He twisted until he was sitting beside Zeph with one leg tuckd under the other, trying to reach with his good hand. “It's okay. Like, you know, it's okay. I'm a professional.” Taking the medicine from the harpy, Kiel sniffed at it and pulled a face. “Like, notice how I didn't say what kinda professional? Ehehehehe.” Like, his hands were shaking pretty bad and he was struggling to not cry. Like, those tears were pretty insistent, you know? He'd been through a ton and now it was downtime and his body was all, like, lemme let off some steam, damn you.

“Th-this might h-hurt a little bit, okay? Like, maybe blow through the roof and throttle me hurt, but, like, you can't, okay? Well, like, I dunno if you'd get through the roof, actually.” He glanced up at the glass canopy. Despite the obvious purpose of the room, the builders apparently, like, didn't care about privacy, you know? Like, what if a bird smacked into the roof and got smeared there? “Like, ew. Not that I've seen any birds, really... Ah! And you can't throttle me, either, okay, 'cause I like my head where it is and I like breathing and—Urrrrrrghewww.” It was totally, totally weird smearing this stuff on Zeph's damaged legs. Like, he wasn't sure which was grosser: The tissue damage, or the medicine itself. “Wahhhhh, that's gross, it's gross, it's gross.” But, like, at least it would help? And then he could go off and sob like a little girl.

[Zephyr]

If Zephyr hadn't been so distracted by his pain level he would have smacked Kiel upside the head and told him to be quiet. But he found it difficult to do anything but grit his teeth. Derina coiled around the bed post and chattered distaste for the pain that Zephyr was in.

The salve Kiel rubbed onto Zephyr's leg burned ans stung and soothed all at the same time. The skin was mostly healed, but it felt as if the medicine was oozing into his skin. Zephyr winced and moaned a bit. Then he moaned a bit more. It was at once the most pain and the most pleasure that Zephyr had ever felt.

“I... I think that's enough, Kiel,” Zephyr said when he couldn't handle the sensation any further. He grabbed for Kiel's arm to pull him back onto the bed. “Plese... stay.” Zephyr's voice was hoarse from pain and dehydration, but his only thought now was to keep Kiel as close to him as possible. He thought he'd lost the boy for good this time, and he didn't want to see that fear become reality now that he'd found the kid.

• Piper's Boutique · DaFont · Mutsie · Aethereality · Kevin sorbo •

[Kiel]

Kiel let out a shuddering breath, wincing at the bruise already forming under Zeph's fingers and the emotion in the dude's voice. He swallowed, opened his mouth to say that, like, he so couldn't stay because he was about to bawl like a baby, then closed it and swallowed again. He probably looked like a crazy fish or something with all the opening and closing and swallowing, but, like, he couldn't get any words by the insanely painful lump in his throat. If he did, it was a squeak, and it brought him that much closer to the whole, like, baby-bawling thing.

“D... C... I c... I'm not.” He shook his head, his hat sliding right off his head to the floor so his hair flopped into his eyes. Kiel totally didn't shove his bangs out of his face 'cause, like, hopefully the hair would mask the tears in his eyes. “I have to. Sh-shi-” He swore because the tears were leaking out of his eyes now, leaving visible tracks in the dirt caking his face. “You almost died.” He whined, kinda like Shane that time she'd almost broken her leg because she'd stayed solid to defend him. “You nearly died.” Because it bore repeating. “You came for me and you nearly, I almost got you killed!” His eyes widened, pupils blown, mouth dry and gaping. “I almost. Because of me. I'm. I'm not. I can't.” He tugged half-heartedly on his wrist where Zeph was holding it, both wanting to be free so he could flee and, like, find a dark corner to feel ashamed all by himself, and not wanting the dude to let him go. He wanted to curl up and sob into the dude's shoulder, like he used to do when he was a kid and he'd bruised himself climbing things he wasn't supposed to (like the house), or, like, he didn't even know. He was just barely clinging to the last ounce of, like, bravery or courage or bravado or whatever made him jump into this stuff face first.

And then the realisation hit him that, like, “You came for me.” His voice had turned breathy now and he was staring at Zeph, still wide-eyed and awkward because of the whole vice around his wrist thing but, like, suddenly so happy because surely that meant the dude, like, loved him for real and, like, he kinda knew that because what else were they doing if they weren't in love but also, just, like, WOW. “Dude, you so love me, it's not even funny.”

[Zephyr]

Zephyr had almost died so many times that his own mortality barely fazed him at all. It was strange to realize that it mattered to Kiel. It was stranger still to realize how much emotion Kiel was feeling over the issue. Zephyr was about to pull Kiel into his arms full force when someone from on of the other beds cried out in pain briefly before mumbling incoherently again.

“Just come here,” Zephyr chided a bit dismissively after Kiel's claim of Zephyr's love, but more kindly than his prior words. Zephyr honestly wasn't even sure what loving someone entailed anymore. All he wanted was to be close to Kiel and hold him, and he wasn't going to take no for an answer. He dragged Kiel into his embrace, being as careful as he could be with the kid's injured parts. The pulling took way more energy than Zephyr had anticipated though, and soon he was very light headed.

“Just... rest here.... with me...” He said, feeling tired from the exertion and the medicine and the emotion of it all. “Just.... don't leave.” Zephyr held Kiel as tightly as he could and slowly began to drift off to sleep.

• Piper's Boutique · DaFont · Mutsie · Aethereality · Kevin sorbo •

[Kiel]

The fact that Zeph hadn't agreed should, like, probably have upset him, but the dude hadn't exactly disagreed either, so he let himself be drawn down onto the bed and tucked his shoulder into his boyfriend/boss's shoulder where he could cry silently and, like, not be seen or something. His breath shuddered out, in, out and he felt Shane curl into his back, turning him into the meat in a heat sandwich 'cause they both kind of ran hot all the time anyway. Zeph, especially, though he used to think it was because the dude stood in front of a burning furnace all day.

“Don't worry,” he told the dozing man raggedly. “Like, I'm not going anywhere, you know. Like, I'll kick and scream and totally claw my way back if anyone so much as looks like they're gonna drag me away, okay?” The dude was probably already asleep and oblivious, but talking made Kiel feel better, so that's totally what he did. Like, talk, on and on, quiet and in half-sentences because it didn't matter if he made sense, even to himself, because no one was listening. And slowly, the talking and the hugging drained away the nerves - the only thing keeping the exhaustion from knocking him out completely - and his lips slowed and he fell asleep curled up against his boyfriend's side.