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Flavor of the Day - 10/02/09 - Incarnadine
and Mocha #15. Save Your Strength with Hot Fudge
Story : knights
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1275 - follows Chase and Redivivus
Word Count : 564
Word of the Day : incarnadine - having a fleshy pink color
Kairn pried open one eye and the other to a shifting haze of unadorned walls bathed in gentle sunlight. He blinked, and even such a simple motion sent a fresh wave of pain down his spine to settle in his ribs. He gasped, another unfortunate movement, as it made him feel as though he’d had a lung turned inside out.
Struggling for a second breath to ease the burn of the first, he let out a yelp. The sound met his ears as though they’d been packed with gauze and he fought the compulsion to shake his head. A string of thumps followed, even more muffled than his voice had been.
Two heads poked round the doorframe, their features sliding in and out of focus. He made to squint and quickly discarded the notion with the pain it brought.
“He’s awake,” said Tristan, his voice slowly breaking through the haze.
Kairn’s tongue moved at the back of his throat, demands to know what happened on his lips, but he found he didn’t dare move his jaws. Instead, he simply stared as the two made their way into the room, their figures sharpening with each passing moment.
Sethan came to stand over the bed, peeled back the sheet that had been laid over him, and gave him a look, cold and thoughtful, as if he were so many bones he’d just laid out for his studies. Kairn followed his gaze as best he could without moving his head. He was wrapped in interlacing strands of white, stained red here and pink there, bits of the fleshy colored gel seeping between the cracks
He found himself wishing again he had the nerve to speak. He tried to remember what there had been before the pain. It was dark, it was cold, and…Reida had been there. That’s what he’d wanted to tell them, before the demon- His eyes flicked back to the wide expanse of cloth damp with blood. The thing had hit him square across the chest. The last thing he knew before he blacked out, he’d been flying through the air.
Sethan folded back a bandage with fingers stained by blood, and Kairn wondered just how much he’d lost. The skin beneath the wrappings was unnaturally smooth, like scar tissue after a bad burn, and crusted with a layer of sticky pink. He shook his head with a frown as he replaced the gauze.
“You should sleep,” said Sethan. He looked up from the wound, met Kairn’s eyes with his own, and Kairn swore there was an exhaustion there he’d never seen in the man before.
Kairn glared at him, or he would have if he could have moved much of his face. As it was, he was fairly certain the effect was more that of a slack-jawed stare. He found his voice, and it rushed out in an amalgam of ill-formed vowels as Sethan laid a hand to his brow. This is all your fault. The words clung to the back of his throat, another incoherent groan passing his lips in their stead.
The haze must have been returning, because it seemed Sethan’s face softened into something vaguely resembling concern. Then there was a burst of energy flowing from his fingers and all his pains were swept up in a wave of warmth and tingling. The room spun and blurred and slid to black.
and Mocha #15. Save Your Strength with Hot Fudge
Story : knights
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1275 - follows Chase and Redivivus
Word Count : 564
Word of the Day : incarnadine - having a fleshy pink color
Kairn pried open one eye and the other to a shifting haze of unadorned walls bathed in gentle sunlight. He blinked, and even such a simple motion sent a fresh wave of pain down his spine to settle in his ribs. He gasped, another unfortunate movement, as it made him feel as though he’d had a lung turned inside out.
Struggling for a second breath to ease the burn of the first, he let out a yelp. The sound met his ears as though they’d been packed with gauze and he fought the compulsion to shake his head. A string of thumps followed, even more muffled than his voice had been.
Two heads poked round the doorframe, their features sliding in and out of focus. He made to squint and quickly discarded the notion with the pain it brought.
“He’s awake,” said Tristan, his voice slowly breaking through the haze.
Kairn’s tongue moved at the back of his throat, demands to know what happened on his lips, but he found he didn’t dare move his jaws. Instead, he simply stared as the two made their way into the room, their figures sharpening with each passing moment.
Sethan came to stand over the bed, peeled back the sheet that had been laid over him, and gave him a look, cold and thoughtful, as if he were so many bones he’d just laid out for his studies. Kairn followed his gaze as best he could without moving his head. He was wrapped in interlacing strands of white, stained red here and pink there, bits of the fleshy colored gel seeping between the cracks
He found himself wishing again he had the nerve to speak. He tried to remember what there had been before the pain. It was dark, it was cold, and…Reida had been there. That’s what he’d wanted to tell them, before the demon- His eyes flicked back to the wide expanse of cloth damp with blood. The thing had hit him square across the chest. The last thing he knew before he blacked out, he’d been flying through the air.
Sethan folded back a bandage with fingers stained by blood, and Kairn wondered just how much he’d lost. The skin beneath the wrappings was unnaturally smooth, like scar tissue after a bad burn, and crusted with a layer of sticky pink. He shook his head with a frown as he replaced the gauze.
“You should sleep,” said Sethan. He looked up from the wound, met Kairn’s eyes with his own, and Kairn swore there was an exhaustion there he’d never seen in the man before.
Kairn glared at him, or he would have if he could have moved much of his face. As it was, he was fairly certain the effect was more that of a slack-jawed stare. He found his voice, and it rushed out in an amalgam of ill-formed vowels as Sethan laid a hand to his brow. This is all your fault. The words clung to the back of his throat, another incoherent groan passing his lips in their stead.
The haze must have been returning, because it seemed Sethan’s face softened into something vaguely resembling concern. Then there was a burst of energy flowing from his fingers and all his pains were swept up in a wave of warmth and tingling. The room spun and blurred and slid to black.