(no subject)
Pineapple #3.They'll Never Know What Hit Them with Hot Fudge
Story : knights & necromancers
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1275 (follows Chase - Redivivus & Save Your Strength)
Word Count : 822
I started this as fotd for yesterday, but gave up and went to bed at 2am. Luckily I had a fitting list prompt too.
Reida leaning over his bed was easily the last sight Kairn wanted to wake up to. He tried to press his eyes back shut and pretend he’d never opened them, but she was already out of her seat, moving closer still, and he gave up the notion with a sigh that quickly gave way to a groan as the pain flared in his ribs.
“Morning, sunshine.” There was an edge in her voice, an uncertainty to her pearly grin, and something in her eyes that on a being capable of such things might have been labeled concern. “Well, evening really, but I don’t suppose that matters much to you.” She reached out a hand and Kairn thought to flinch as it made for his face, but his body refused to obey. He caught himself holding his breath as she gently brushed the hair back from his brow. “How are you feeling?”
He just stared at her in silence for a moment, trying to claw his way through the haze of pain killers that had become his reality of late. “Like I’ve had my guts torn out by a demon,” he said at last. Her lips twitched at that, like she wanted to laugh but was doing her best to refrain. “What do you want?”
Reida’s hand slid down his cheek and she fixed him with a mock pout as she gave him a pat. “What? I can’t just be worried about you?”
“No. No, you can’t.” He grimaced at a fresh wave of pain from his abdomen.
Shaking her head, Reida reached for a pocket and pulled out a sigil-lined handkerchief. “I shouldn’t bother with this, then?”
“Huh?”
Before he could mount much of a protest, she’d pulled the blankets down over his bandage wrapped chest and was scowling at the red and pink matted gauze. “Here,” she said. Leaving the covers heaped around his waist, she pressed the cloth to his forehead.
“But my head doesn’t-“
The spell went off with sort of a soft, liquidy pop and warmth seeped under his skin and down into his veins, and it was suddenly as if the bed had swollen up around him to swaddle him in a big fuzzy cocoon.
“See?” said Reida, wadding the cloth back up in her fist. “That one will make it so you forget why you’re even in pain in the first place.”
Something in the depths of the fog latched onto “forget.” His side was starting to tingle. The room around him shifted, a sea of buzzing colors swirling around a double image of a grinning Reida. “Forget,” he mumbled, and her eyes narrowed, dark slits in the blur. Of course she wanted him to forget why he was in pain. She was…she was…He couldn’t quite find the word right now, but it all had something to do with Reida.
“Just remember who sat by your bed and kept you patched up.” She stuffed the cloth back into her pocket.
“Sethan…the pink…” His whole side was packed with the stuff. When he wasn’t drowning in the colors and the humming, he swore he could feel the difference between what was flesh and what wasn’t quite yet.
“And a lovely job he did,” she said, scowling at the bandages again. She pulled the blankets gently back up to his neck and carefully patted them down around his shoulders.
Kairn caught her eye as she leaned in close. “Guilty,” he said, the word finding it way to his tongue at last.
Reida froze, her hands still pressed into the covers.
“S’your fault.”
“Oh?” Her eyes were stark black points in the haze and the look they gave him sent a chill up his spine that cut through the spell. He winced at the pang in his side, and Reida’s gaze flicked back to the wound.
“You know,” she said, and her hands were shaking as she pulled the handkerchief back out of her pocket. “I brought you dinner, but I think I’ll just give you another one of these and let you go back to sleep instead. Clearly the pain’s going to your head.”
“Guilt or fear?” he said as she pressed the cloth back to his face. He could see her, as clearly as he had that night, crouched in the brush with Rune while the demons thundered all around.
“Now you’re just talking nonsense. If anything Sethan should be guilty. Taking you to a battle, what was he thinking?” Her fingers skimmed the cloth, skirting the marks.
“Obviously not that you would be there.”
Reida sniffed. “Get back to your beauty rest.”
Kairn opened his mouth, but the fresh rush of warmth left his tongue feeling like lead. He was sinking through the bed while the ceiling floated away and darkness closed in with its familiar, comforting hum. The last thing he felt as he closed his eyes was the cloth pulling away from his face.
Story : knights & necromancers
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1275 (follows Chase - Redivivus & Save Your Strength)
Word Count : 822
I started this as fotd for yesterday, but gave up and went to bed at 2am. Luckily I had a fitting list prompt too.
Reida leaning over his bed was easily the last sight Kairn wanted to wake up to. He tried to press his eyes back shut and pretend he’d never opened them, but she was already out of her seat, moving closer still, and he gave up the notion with a sigh that quickly gave way to a groan as the pain flared in his ribs.
“Morning, sunshine.” There was an edge in her voice, an uncertainty to her pearly grin, and something in her eyes that on a being capable of such things might have been labeled concern. “Well, evening really, but I don’t suppose that matters much to you.” She reached out a hand and Kairn thought to flinch as it made for his face, but his body refused to obey. He caught himself holding his breath as she gently brushed the hair back from his brow. “How are you feeling?”
He just stared at her in silence for a moment, trying to claw his way through the haze of pain killers that had become his reality of late. “Like I’ve had my guts torn out by a demon,” he said at last. Her lips twitched at that, like she wanted to laugh but was doing her best to refrain. “What do you want?”
Reida’s hand slid down his cheek and she fixed him with a mock pout as she gave him a pat. “What? I can’t just be worried about you?”
“No. No, you can’t.” He grimaced at a fresh wave of pain from his abdomen.
Shaking her head, Reida reached for a pocket and pulled out a sigil-lined handkerchief. “I shouldn’t bother with this, then?”
“Huh?”
Before he could mount much of a protest, she’d pulled the blankets down over his bandage wrapped chest and was scowling at the red and pink matted gauze. “Here,” she said. Leaving the covers heaped around his waist, she pressed the cloth to his forehead.
“But my head doesn’t-“
The spell went off with sort of a soft, liquidy pop and warmth seeped under his skin and down into his veins, and it was suddenly as if the bed had swollen up around him to swaddle him in a big fuzzy cocoon.
“See?” said Reida, wadding the cloth back up in her fist. “That one will make it so you forget why you’re even in pain in the first place.”
Something in the depths of the fog latched onto “forget.” His side was starting to tingle. The room around him shifted, a sea of buzzing colors swirling around a double image of a grinning Reida. “Forget,” he mumbled, and her eyes narrowed, dark slits in the blur. Of course she wanted him to forget why he was in pain. She was…she was…He couldn’t quite find the word right now, but it all had something to do with Reida.
“Just remember who sat by your bed and kept you patched up.” She stuffed the cloth back into her pocket.
“Sethan…the pink…” His whole side was packed with the stuff. When he wasn’t drowning in the colors and the humming, he swore he could feel the difference between what was flesh and what wasn’t quite yet.
“And a lovely job he did,” she said, scowling at the bandages again. She pulled the blankets gently back up to his neck and carefully patted them down around his shoulders.
Kairn caught her eye as she leaned in close. “Guilty,” he said, the word finding it way to his tongue at last.
Reida froze, her hands still pressed into the covers.
“S’your fault.”
“Oh?” Her eyes were stark black points in the haze and the look they gave him sent a chill up his spine that cut through the spell. He winced at the pang in his side, and Reida’s gaze flicked back to the wound.
“You know,” she said, and her hands were shaking as she pulled the handkerchief back out of her pocket. “I brought you dinner, but I think I’ll just give you another one of these and let you go back to sleep instead. Clearly the pain’s going to your head.”
“Guilt or fear?” he said as she pressed the cloth back to his face. He could see her, as clearly as he had that night, crouched in the brush with Rune while the demons thundered all around.
“Now you’re just talking nonsense. If anything Sethan should be guilty. Taking you to a battle, what was he thinking?” Her fingers skimmed the cloth, skirting the marks.
“Obviously not that you would be there.”
Reida sniffed. “Get back to your beauty rest.”
Kairn opened his mouth, but the fresh rush of warmth left his tongue feeling like lead. He was sinking through the bed while the ceiling floated away and darkness closed in with its familiar, comforting hum. The last thing he felt as he closed his eyes was the cloth pulling away from his face.