Hurt/Comfort - „Vielleicht bin ich doch nicht okay.“ (Für's Team)
Titel: A Long Way Back
Team: Machine
Challenge: Hurt/Comfort - „Vielleicht bin ich doch nicht okay.“ (Für's Team)
Fandom: The Eagle
Charactere: Esca, Marcus
Sprache: Englisch
Wörter: 1.400
Kommentar: Hab ich endlich The Eagle geschrieben?? Und dann auch noch H/C??
Esca’s arm was starting to bother him.
A Long Way Back
Esca’s arm was starting to bother him.
It hadn’t hurt so much at first - a brief spark of pain that had immediately been smothered by the rush of adrenaline. Afterwards the wound had stung, but he had been too distracted to pay it much heed, only taking the time to wrap a strip of cloth around it to stop the bleeding.
But now, sitting on his horse with nothing but the empty landscape around him to take up his attention, it was all he could think about. The injury was throbbing in time with his heartbeat, and every small movement gave rise to a new wave of pain that moved up all the way into his shoulder.
He had switched the reins to his left hand and tried to keep his right arm as still as possible, but the ground was rocky and Minna’s gait was uneven. And still the wall was not visible on the horizon.
He hissed out a breath in frustration and tried to shift his position into something more comfortable.
“Esca.”
He made a sound of acknowledgement.
“Are you all right?”
He kept his eyes firmly on the ground that was visible between Minna’s ears. “I’m fine.”
He could hear Vipsania’s steps grow louder as Marcus shifted her until their mares were walking abreast and their legs were almost touching. “Esca”, he said again, but this time there was more than a hint of urgency in his voice.
When Esca finally looked over his shoulder, he was met with brown eyes that were filled with nothing but concern. He sighed out in defeat. “My arm hurts.”
Immediately Marcus’ gaze went to the bandage around his upper arm. “It doesn’t look like it’s still bleeding.”
“It’s not.”
“How deep is it?”
“I don’t know.” And at Marcus’ incredulous look: “It didn’t seem so bad!”
“Alright, we’re taking a look at this right now.”
Esca shook his head. “We should keep going. We’re almost there anyway.”
“No, we’re not. Get off your horse.” Marcus brought Vipsania to a halt, and Esca had no choice but to follow suit. He tried to slide off her back carefully, but when his feet hit the ground it still sent a fresh wave of pain through his arm and he groaned.
Marcus made him sit down on a mossy boulder and then moved to peel the bandage off. The fabric was sticking to his skin where the blood had dried, and even though he was being as careful as possible, Esca still made a noise of protest when he finally pulled it off.
He watched as Marcus simply sat down onto the ground instead of going into a crouch (which his bad leg would not allow him) to examine the wound more closely.
“Did you wash this out?”, he asked as he eyed the cut critically.
Esca just shook his head. “I didn’t have time!” he said defensively when Marcus gave him another look.
Marcus shook his head and mumbled something under his breath that sounded a bit too much like “Idiot” to Esca. Then he took his field bottle out of his bag and opened it.
“We still need that”, Esca pointed out.
Marcus pointed to the sky where grey clouds were piling up near the horizon. “It’ll rain soon enough. Besides, we don’t have that much farther to go. We’ll make do with the rest. This is more important.”
Esca hissed again when Marcus started to clean out the wound. The water stung, and Marcus’ ministrations didn’t improve on this.
“Esca, this is deep”, he finally said. This time he kept the chastising tone out of his voice, it was only full of concern. “Almost down to the bone.”
“Didn’t feel like that at the time”, Esca said lamely. It certainly did now, though.
“This needs stitches. And a poultice, or this will get infected, if it isn’t already.”
“Oh, so you’re a real medicine man now?”, Esca mocked, but there was no bite to it.
“I’ll do my best. The fort won’t do much better, and it can take days before we find a decent doctor beyond the wall. This needs tending to now.”
“Alright.” And when Marcus visibly hesitated: “I trust you.”
Marcus looked like he was of two minds in regard to this, but it still set him in motion.
It took a while for him to set things up. His medicine bag supplied him with a needle and a thread, but first he had to light a small fire to ensure the instrument was clean, and prepare a poultice with the meagre supplies he still had left. When he was finally ready to start, Esca was about to jump out of his skin.
“This is gonna hurt”, Marcus said as he leaned over him. Esca just gave him a look over his shoulder. But when Marcus handed him a piece of wood to bite down on, he took it without arguing.
And all the better for that, because the operation brought tears to his eyes. He was breathing heavily through his nose and despite his inner resolve, each new pressure to the wound made him wince. The fingers of his free hand were digging into his own thigh to control himself when he wanted nothing more than to pull away.
He tried to concentrate on Marcus’s hand on his shoulder that was keeping him steady instead of whatever the other one was doing. He could feel the warmth of his palm seeping through the fabric of his shirt and was suddenly reminded of a different time, in a different place, when the roles had been reversed and Esca had been the one holding Marcus down while another operated on his leg. There seemed to be a lifetime between that moment and now and yet no time at all.
When Marcus was finally done, Esca was trembling and shivering in the cool breeze. Marcus applied the poultice he had let steep in the meantime before finally rewrapping the wound carefully with a clean cloth.
“It is done”, he said and sat back heavily onto the ground. “Let’s hope it’s not too late stave off infection.”
“In any case, let’s not do that again”, Esca said, who felt drained and tired after the whole ordeal, even though the mixture of herbs was actually starting to take the edge off the pain.
“Let’s not”, Marcus agreed. “Let’s not get struck by any swords or spears again, either.”
“Or arrows”, Esca added.
“Or arrows.”
Marcus struggled back onto his feet and started picking up their belongings while Esca was sipping from his water bottle. He dropped his cloak into his lap as he walked past. “Put this on before you freeze to death.” Esca obliged. The piece of clothing was warm and smelled like horse and faintly of Marcus.
When everything was again stowed in the saddle bags, Marcus said: “You should ride with me.”
For a moment Esca wanted to disagree, but he was cold and tired and didn’t really care anymore. So instead, he let Marcus help him into the saddle before he climbed up after him. Vipsania didn’t seem too happy about the change of plan, but they assured her that she would get to switch with Minna before the day was done.
Riding in front of Marcus was comfortable. It was easy to lean back against his broad chest and let himself be held in position by one of his strong arms while the other held the reins. It was significantly warmer as well. Esca let his eyelids droop and found himself reminded of a very recent time where the roles had been reversed. The thought was strangely comforting.
“Thank you”, he said into the silence that was otherwise only filled by the hoofbeats of their horses.
He could almost imagine Marcus’ irritated face behind him, but he didn’t say anything. Only after a moment passed could he hear him mumble, almost too low to be heard: “Don’t do that again. I can’t lose you.”
Esca looked straight ahead at the empty landscape they were passing through. “I won’t. I’m sorry.”
He didn’t get an answer to that, but he could feel the arm that was holding him pull him closer, and he smiled.
Team: Machine
Challenge: Hurt/Comfort - „Vielleicht bin ich doch nicht okay.“ (Für's Team)
Fandom: The Eagle
Charactere: Esca, Marcus
Sprache: Englisch
Wörter: 1.400
Kommentar: Hab ich endlich The Eagle geschrieben?? Und dann auch noch H/C??
Esca’s arm was starting to bother him.
A Long Way Back
Esca’s arm was starting to bother him.
It hadn’t hurt so much at first - a brief spark of pain that had immediately been smothered by the rush of adrenaline. Afterwards the wound had stung, but he had been too distracted to pay it much heed, only taking the time to wrap a strip of cloth around it to stop the bleeding.
But now, sitting on his horse with nothing but the empty landscape around him to take up his attention, it was all he could think about. The injury was throbbing in time with his heartbeat, and every small movement gave rise to a new wave of pain that moved up all the way into his shoulder.
He had switched the reins to his left hand and tried to keep his right arm as still as possible, but the ground was rocky and Minna’s gait was uneven. And still the wall was not visible on the horizon.
He hissed out a breath in frustration and tried to shift his position into something more comfortable.
“Esca.”
He made a sound of acknowledgement.
“Are you all right?”
He kept his eyes firmly on the ground that was visible between Minna’s ears. “I’m fine.”
He could hear Vipsania’s steps grow louder as Marcus shifted her until their mares were walking abreast and their legs were almost touching. “Esca”, he said again, but this time there was more than a hint of urgency in his voice.
When Esca finally looked over his shoulder, he was met with brown eyes that were filled with nothing but concern. He sighed out in defeat. “My arm hurts.”
Immediately Marcus’ gaze went to the bandage around his upper arm. “It doesn’t look like it’s still bleeding.”
“It’s not.”
“How deep is it?”
“I don’t know.” And at Marcus’ incredulous look: “It didn’t seem so bad!”
“Alright, we’re taking a look at this right now.”
Esca shook his head. “We should keep going. We’re almost there anyway.”
“No, we’re not. Get off your horse.” Marcus brought Vipsania to a halt, and Esca had no choice but to follow suit. He tried to slide off her back carefully, but when his feet hit the ground it still sent a fresh wave of pain through his arm and he groaned.
Marcus made him sit down on a mossy boulder and then moved to peel the bandage off. The fabric was sticking to his skin where the blood had dried, and even though he was being as careful as possible, Esca still made a noise of protest when he finally pulled it off.
He watched as Marcus simply sat down onto the ground instead of going into a crouch (which his bad leg would not allow him) to examine the wound more closely.
“Did you wash this out?”, he asked as he eyed the cut critically.
Esca just shook his head. “I didn’t have time!” he said defensively when Marcus gave him another look.
Marcus shook his head and mumbled something under his breath that sounded a bit too much like “Idiot” to Esca. Then he took his field bottle out of his bag and opened it.
“We still need that”, Esca pointed out.
Marcus pointed to the sky where grey clouds were piling up near the horizon. “It’ll rain soon enough. Besides, we don’t have that much farther to go. We’ll make do with the rest. This is more important.”
Esca hissed again when Marcus started to clean out the wound. The water stung, and Marcus’ ministrations didn’t improve on this.
“Esca, this is deep”, he finally said. This time he kept the chastising tone out of his voice, it was only full of concern. “Almost down to the bone.”
“Didn’t feel like that at the time”, Esca said lamely. It certainly did now, though.
“This needs stitches. And a poultice, or this will get infected, if it isn’t already.”
“Oh, so you’re a real medicine man now?”, Esca mocked, but there was no bite to it.
“I’ll do my best. The fort won’t do much better, and it can take days before we find a decent doctor beyond the wall. This needs tending to now.”
“Alright.” And when Marcus visibly hesitated: “I trust you.”
Marcus looked like he was of two minds in regard to this, but it still set him in motion.
It took a while for him to set things up. His medicine bag supplied him with a needle and a thread, but first he had to light a small fire to ensure the instrument was clean, and prepare a poultice with the meagre supplies he still had left. When he was finally ready to start, Esca was about to jump out of his skin.
“This is gonna hurt”, Marcus said as he leaned over him. Esca just gave him a look over his shoulder. But when Marcus handed him a piece of wood to bite down on, he took it without arguing.
And all the better for that, because the operation brought tears to his eyes. He was breathing heavily through his nose and despite his inner resolve, each new pressure to the wound made him wince. The fingers of his free hand were digging into his own thigh to control himself when he wanted nothing more than to pull away.
He tried to concentrate on Marcus’s hand on his shoulder that was keeping him steady instead of whatever the other one was doing. He could feel the warmth of his palm seeping through the fabric of his shirt and was suddenly reminded of a different time, in a different place, when the roles had been reversed and Esca had been the one holding Marcus down while another operated on his leg. There seemed to be a lifetime between that moment and now and yet no time at all.
When Marcus was finally done, Esca was trembling and shivering in the cool breeze. Marcus applied the poultice he had let steep in the meantime before finally rewrapping the wound carefully with a clean cloth.
“It is done”, he said and sat back heavily onto the ground. “Let’s hope it’s not too late stave off infection.”
“In any case, let’s not do that again”, Esca said, who felt drained and tired after the whole ordeal, even though the mixture of herbs was actually starting to take the edge off the pain.
“Let’s not”, Marcus agreed. “Let’s not get struck by any swords or spears again, either.”
“Or arrows”, Esca added.
“Or arrows.”
Marcus struggled back onto his feet and started picking up their belongings while Esca was sipping from his water bottle. He dropped his cloak into his lap as he walked past. “Put this on before you freeze to death.” Esca obliged. The piece of clothing was warm and smelled like horse and faintly of Marcus.
When everything was again stowed in the saddle bags, Marcus said: “You should ride with me.”
For a moment Esca wanted to disagree, but he was cold and tired and didn’t really care anymore. So instead, he let Marcus help him into the saddle before he climbed up after him. Vipsania didn’t seem too happy about the change of plan, but they assured her that she would get to switch with Minna before the day was done.
Riding in front of Marcus was comfortable. It was easy to lean back against his broad chest and let himself be held in position by one of his strong arms while the other held the reins. It was significantly warmer as well. Esca let his eyelids droop and found himself reminded of a very recent time where the roles had been reversed. The thought was strangely comforting.
“Thank you”, he said into the silence that was otherwise only filled by the hoofbeats of their horses.
He could almost imagine Marcus’ irritated face behind him, but he didn’t say anything. Only after a moment passed could he hear him mumble, almost too low to be heard: “Don’t do that again. I can’t lose you.”
Esca looked straight ahead at the empty landscape they were passing through. “I won’t. I’m sorry.”
He didn’t get an answer to that, but he could feel the arm that was holding him pull him closer, and he smiled.