((I'm gonna go ahead and make a small jump, just a few days, but not a full week.))

The days that flew by just seemed to get longer and longer. Maybe not for Ivan though, as he was mostly sleeping, or having Iris read the journal for him. Considering how many happy moments Llyud and Artemis had had together while they were making their home and all, that really cheered Ivan up a great deal. He really needed it to, as he had come down with a bad infection in his broken leg. So the last few days, he have had a really nasty fever rising, which wasn't really a good thing as they didn't have much water. With Ivan sweating as he did, he was losing allot of his body fluids too fast, and that meant that Iris would have to suffer too, since he had to sacrifice his share of the precious little water they had just to keep Ivan from dying of dehydration.
But at least they were having one day of luck, even if there was no sign of anyone coming to get them yet, but this morning it had started raining really heavy. And there were a few pots and such around the small home. And they had been put upside down to keep the dust out too, so they didn't have to clean them out or anything. It was just to put the puts under the hole and let them fill up. That would give them some badly needed water.

But since they didn't have much to do while they waited for the water to fill up the pots, Ivan asked Iris to read for him again. He couldn't read himself at all anymore. He could barely open his eyes. And on top of that, he was pale as death and even as he had a fever, his hands and most of his body was cold as ice if Iris wasn't there to keep him warm. If no one came soon, Ivan would pretty much be out of luck. He probably had another three days to go before his body would completely give up on him. And yet, he refused to let that ruin his mood. Even trough all of this, he was keeping a weak smile on his face. He was really doing his best to look on the bright side and keep his hopes up. And he wanted to keep Iris's hopes up as well.

Even now, Ivan was staying positive, even if Iris was obviously starting to lose faith in their chance of being rescued. Though, he had to admit that he didn't have much faith in himself surviving. He was rather sure that he wouldn't be able to last that much longer. But he would keep his hopes up for Iris. Iris still had a fighting chance after all. Would be better that at least one of them got out of here alive then neither of them.
So even if he probably shouldn't be wasting his breath on speaking, he still did, even if you would have to listen closely to hear what he was saying.

"Iris, don't be so negative. I'm pretty sure that I might not make it out alive, but I'm still positive that you will. You still have a good chance. They're probably just taking so long because it's hard to find this place. Not even we knew it was here... If you make it out, I want you to promise you'll live your life enough for the both of us. And don't waste any more of the water on me. You need it more then I do."

You could probably think that Ivan was either giving up hope or had completely lost his mind, but he was actually sure about not being able to make it out of there alive, but he didn't want Iris to give up hope yet.
After having that said, Ivan gave another of his weak but still cheerful smiles, making himself as comfortable as he could with the little strength he had left as he started to drift into sleep. That was pretty much all he did, sleep or listen to Iris when he was reading. That was all he could do.

It really was hard to get some sleep, hearing how Iris was blaming himself for this. It wasn't his fault. Neither of them could have known this would happen. He gave a sigh listening to what Iris was saying. He really didn't like to hear it, but what could he do?

"Iris... Stop blaming yourself. Neither of us could have predicted this would happen... And I was the one that fell, not you... I'm just happy you decided to stay with me. Thank you... It feels safe... and warm to sit here like this..."

He said. He was pretty much mumbling at the last part, but you could still make out what he was saying. For some one dying, he did seem really happy. That was at least good. And he didn't want Iris to blame himself for all of this. He would never be able to rest in peace of Iris kept blaming himself. Not that he actually wanted to die. But it did seem as if he would. He had no idea for how much longer he could hold on. For all they knew, Ivan could be gone the next time he fell asleep. It could be anywhere between a few minutes to days. But he really did wish that Iris wouldn't waste more water on him.
But since it was raining and Iris was collecting water, it was rather ok. Would be nice to get some water when the pots were filled.

Finally starting to drift into sleep again, he smiled a bit.

"Iris... Thank you for taking care of me. I really appreciated it..."

Ivan pretty much slept quietly trough the night, and by the next morning, he didn't really wake up. He wasn't dead, but you could question if he was still alive. He was as weak as ever, and he was just barely breathing. But he still seemed really peaceful. As long as he got to stay near Iris, he would feel at peace. But in this condition, he needed really urgent medical attention. So unless they got saved really soon, Ivan would be beyond help, even after all of Iris efforts to keep him alive. And even if it didn't seem like it, Ivan was really doing his best to hold on for a little longer, but his body was starting to completely give up on him. He couldn't move, or speak, or open his eyes, and he could barely breath. At the moment, he was pretty much unconscious.

It had stopped raining, and they probably did seem to be completely out of luck. But then, there was a bit of a fuzz outside. Some one was shouting. It was hard to make out, but it seemed as if some one knew they were there. And on top of that, it was a few of the people from town. They had probably spent days looking for the two, and they had finally found a promising spot. A hill with a hole on top of it. so they were rushing there to take a look and see if this might be it, and hopefully, to find the two still alive after almost a week had passed.

"IRIS?! IVAN?! Are you down here?!"

They had really been in quite some luck, to be saved at the last moment. A few moments after Iris had called for those looking for them, a few familiar faces appeared at the hole above, some shouting to others that they were there and to hurry and get some ropes.

The first one they got out of the hole was of course Ivan, as he needed medical attention right away. And there was a discussion that they might have to cut his leg off to save him, but they would of course just take that as a last resort. And then they got Iris out too, and could safely say that they both had to stay with the doctor for a while. Iris wasn't injured or anything, but he was rather badly dehydrated and all from giving up his share of both food and water to help keep Ivans strength up so that he would survive. So both of them would be stuck with the doctor for a while. Iris would probably just need a week or two, Ivan would have to stay till his leg was properly healed and he could walk again. And that would probably take a while.

When they both had been taken back and being taken care of in the ways they needed, as well as getting cleaned up and all, they were left to recover in the room upstairs of the doctors home, and of course there were people that were constantly there to help them clean up and such, and to make sure they were getting better.

Ivan was pretty much out cold for another three days after they had been taken back. The first two days, the doctor had to work on him almost 24/7 to stop the infection from spreading and to get the fever down, as well as make sure to keep his condition stable enough to work with him. But at least he had managed to help him without them having to cut his leg off. That was a good thing.
And for Iris, there was food and water on a small table in the room, near his bed for him to eat or drink whenever he needed to.

As Ivan finally woke up, he was still not feeling all that well, and he was really exhausted and weak, but he was without a doubt getting better. And he probably looked really strange as he was laying in the bed, wearing a plain white shirt and his hair let out. Usually it was braided, but now you could see how long it really was, and he could easily pass as a woman with his hair hanging lose like that. But that he didn't care about of course. He was just tired and confused over where he was at the moment. And he was too tired to turn his head to take a look. But to confirm that he was alive, he knew what he would do.

"Iris...? Are you there...?"

Ivan gave a smile as he heard Iris voice. That was such a relief. Now he knew for sure that he was still alive. Specially as Iris told him that the villagers found them and got them out. But he kind of was curious about how long it would take before he could get up and go back and take a better look around again. Iris seemed to be doing great, but himself, he wasn't feeling that well yet. And he had a broken leg. Thinking about it, he just had to make sure he still had his leg left, so he tried moving it a bit. Dang it hurt. But as he could clearly feel his leg and feet and toes, he could assume it was still there. thank god for that. Would be rough to make it trough life with only one leg.

He closed his eyes for a bit, just happy to be there right now. Even if it did worry him a little that Iris couldn't find his bag with the journal and the other book. But no one in this town could be as mean to go trough Iris bag, right? And if you just looked into the bag, the books would just look like plain old books that some one brought along to read as entertainment. So there was no reason for anyone to just steal them.

But he wouldn't think about that now. But he still had something he wanted from Iris.

"Iris... Could you do me a favor...?"

Ivan was just about to tell him what it was that he wanted Iris to do when the nurse came in. One heck of a way to ruin the moment. He just gave a sigh. Hadn't he been asleep long enough as it was by now? He didn't want to sleep more now. At least not so soon after waking up. And on top of that, the nurse was telling Iris not to talk to him? If Ivan was talking to Iris, of course he should answer him. And if it was tiring him out, he would say so. Ivan was just patiently waiting for the annoying nurse to go away. He couldn't stand people that told them what to do and what they couldn't do. specially if it concerned one another. That was their problem, no one else, so the nurse as tiring him out more then Iris was.

And as the damn nurse finally was gone, Ivan just sighed in relief.

"I can't stand people like that. If you would be tiring me out, I would just tell you. But, you think you could do me that favor now?"

He asked, changing from seeming irritated, back to his regular self again, with a bright smile on his face when he asked about the favor again.

"You think you could come sleep next to me? I kind of miss the warmth..."

Ivan really seemed happy that Iris actually wanted to come and lay down with him. Had he missed the warmth as well? Seemed that their time down in the hole had given them some new odd habits. Not that there was anything wrong with them. Being close to another was a good thing after all.

As Iris laid down next to him, he wouldn't mind if Iris moved him over a bit to get more room, that was fine with him, as long as he was careful with the leg. And once Iris was next to him, under the covers with him, even if Ivan was weak and tired still, he still used some strength so that he could rest his head against Iris head. The closer the better for him. He even pushed himself enough to move one arm to give Iris a light hug.

"Iris... Thank you for all you done for me. I'm really lucky to have someone like you by my side... I couldn't have ended up down there with anyone better then you."

He said, keeping the bright smile on his face, just making himself as comfortable as he could. It was nice to feel the warmth from Iris again. He had really missed it.

((No worries. I'm ok with it as long as it's not inexcusable short XD))

Ivan smiled a bit, nodding. He wouldn't mind it at all to go back. He would be happy to go back there, as long as they were prepared the next time. Then they could find out a bit more. Ivan had to admit that even if he was a bit scared by bones laying around there. But as long as he didn't look at them he would be fine.

"I won't mind to go back. But promise me that we'll bring ropes and some food and water with us next time. Even if it's heavy to carry, ok?"

He said, with a somewhat strict but still playful voice. He gave a sigh as he watched Iris fall asleep. He looked so peaceful asleep. So Ivan just couldn't help himself. He just gave Iris a gently peck on the cheek as he went to get some more rest himself. He was glad that Iris was there with him. They really had been lucky to get out of that hole in the very last minute.

And Ivan was pretty much deep asleep trough the rest of the day, and the night at that. But the more he rested, the better he would feel. So that was just good.

Ivan didn't really notice much when Iris woke up and sat up to get some water. So Iris was doing a great job not to wake Ivan up. But he still nuzzled closer to him. He was having a little more energy now, even if he was asleep, so, Ivan was moving allot more now then before. He was recovering fast now as the infection was pretty much gone and the fever and all was gone. He even turned over on his side and wrapped both his arms around Iris waste while he was sitting up, and burying his face into Iris side, mumbling a bit in his sleep. It wasn't something that was possible to make out completely, but it did involve "Iris" and "warm" somewhere in it. That was probably enough to figure out what he had said though.

Obviously, Ivan was being quite comfortable and clearly enjoying this. Was safe and warm to have Iris there with him. Specially as he was rather vulnerable right now. Not that he really had anything to be afraid of back here in the village, but still.

By the next morning. Ivan was rather surprised to find that he had woken up first. But on other hand, he got to see Iris sleep. That was enough to make his day. He just laid there and watched his friend for a while, with a bright smile on his face. Iris was just like a big teddy bear. He was just so warm and cozy. And even if it might risk waking Iris up, thinking about it, Ivan couldn't resist giving Iris a tight and nuzzling hug. He actually hoped that Iris would wake up. Ivan was in the mood to tease him a bit for being such a warm and cozy teddy bear for him.

And thinking about it, Ivan really had allot more energy today. He was a bit hungry, but he just had to eat a bit and he would be fine. But still. He felt really well. And that just made him more happy. If the darn leg could just heal up, they could go back and take a good look at the old home of Llyud and Artemis, and hopefully find out all they wanted to know to satisfy their curiosity.

But for now, Ivan was just satisfying his strong urge to stick with his warm and cozy friend. He was laying with his head on Iris chest, and his arms wrapped around Iris, hugging him. He had loosened up a bit on the hug, but he was still hugging him close, just cause he felt like it.

"Are you awake yet, my big and warm teddy bear?"

It was clear in his voice that Ivan was just teasing him. Not that it was in a mean way. It was just for fun. And it was a good way to tell Iris that Ivan was feeling much better today. He could guess that Iris agreeing to stay close to him was part of that. It was important to be close to some one. And closer then this they could most likely not get.

Ivan chuckled a bit hearing what Iris said about five more minutes. He had almost forgotten that Iris wasn't much of a morning person, since Ivan was the one that had been sleeping trough the days the last couple of days. Ivan almost felt sorry for his friend. Iris had been working so hard to take care of him and make sure Ivan stayed alive.

So Ivan gave a smile, nuzzling against Iris again, closing his eyes for a few moments.

"Sleep for as long as you want. You deserve it."

Though, that didn't last long, since soon enough the nurse came in with some food for them. And just hearing about it reminded Ivan about how hungry he was, so he really didn't mind. He managed to sit up properly and gladly took the breakfast that was handed to him, giving a smile to the nurse.

"Thank you. I am quite hungry."

He could guess that he hadn't had allot to eat the last couple of days. Was probably had to get some one unconscious to eat after all. But as Iris seemed to wake up a bit now, Ivan looked at him and smiled a bit. About time he woke up. And as soon as Iris got his food and the nurse left, Ivan smiled at his friend.

"Good morning sleepyhead. Slept well?"