|
Lifting a hand, he let it fall upon the other fae's dark hair. "Tell me about it, what this would mean, what it would bring." Could such a thing even exist between them? "It ... it might be like with your wings ... Me not being able to help, no matter how much I want to." He was afraid it wouldn't work, that it couldn't.
Pink eyes filled with worry, with turmoil and hope. He lifted his wings, glancing at how they sparkled and shined. "I hope things are similar as well, that it will work." Sitting above the other man, he felt like standing and running to the door to avoid the crushing feeling he was sure would come. It reminded Malachy too much of the first time he'd met Chiro, of the disappointment of not being able to heal the other fae's ruined wings. |
Chiro breathed out, swallowing to ease the somewhat ill feeling that had come upon him, and sat on the floor before Malachy. "You need to know what... my kind believe. A companion, in the eyes of my kin, myself, is... someone you've bonded with since the day you were born. You never fight, you never hate one another, and you share a type of... telepathy that allows one to feel the other's emotion, or even hear their thoughts if they're intense enough. I might not know what you feel... without asking... but I can't ignore a connection... I can feel it. And all I really want is to... just be around you. When my kind was alive a companion was so much more than a friend, but... you might... not... might not understand that quite yet..." Maybe someday soon he would forget about his old companion. He needed to. So he could heal, like Malachy said. |
"You could help me understand." Malachy slid from the chair to settle down beside Chiro. The amethyst, he placed upon the floor by his knee. Such worry, such distress ... He leaned over to wrap his arms around the other fae. "I already feel so connected to you, can feel your emotions like no other." Wings lifted to wrap around the older fae, to offer comfort and closeness in the only way that seemed to work.
|
Chiro leaned a bit against the fae, put an arm around him just above the wings. "I don't know if I can... describe it adequately." He muttered. "The relationship between two bonded fae. My kind, that is. The bond never breaks, and runs so deeply that they die on the same day, in the same hour, within the same minute. Their love can't be understood by anyone beyond one another and it's different for each and every pair, regardless of the genders that connect. They share their loves and hates, and work together to make everything about their relationship as flawless as possible, though even the flaws are worked out without qualms toward one another." He sighed, and closed his eyes, absently resting his cheek against Malachy's soft hair. "And then a time comes that... they want to become parents. It takes natural courses for male-female bonded pairs, but for the males and females, they took part in a... a ritual. A large, naturally-grown flower was brought by a cloaked figure every year, whose bloom lasts for a decade. Both parents funnel magic into that flower---life, elements, knowledge. Everything of them, they duplicate and concentrate. And months pass. And soon their baby is ... bloomed." He smiled at the thought. He'd seen it done before---the magic was strange and alien to him, but the memory of seeing it---nearly taking part in it---was fresh. |
It was bittersweet, hearing of what the other fae had once shared. It puzzled him, made him want to ask about what had happened, why it was that Chiro still lived, when his companion was long dead. But no, he didn't dare ask. Instead he tilted his head just so, tucking himself into the other fae with ease. It felt right. But was it the right thing for Chiro? It seemed like the other fae thought so.
There was that doubt, the thought that perhaps the other man clung to him so because he was the first person to have drawn him from his shell. "I hope ... Hopefully that ..." There were no words coming to mind. All Malachy could find to do was to slip his arms around the other fae, brushing his fingers lightly against the older fae's wings. All he wished for was Chiro's happiness. "I want this with you." And the thought of a flower blooming for them sent the young fae's heart racing... As unreachable a dream as that was. |
Chiro leaned forward, lifting up the gem and settling it between them, lightly petting Malachy with his other hand. "It's nice." He breathed. "Nice, I mean... to feel like you've found a part of you again. Like it never even left." He looked down to the gem, wiping it clean when a tear fell on it. "I hope... you don't think of me as too needy. Or taking advantage of anything... Lying to you..." He looked down to Malachy, bringing a hand through his hair. "I do feel as if something's... clicked. Like I found something that I lost a long time ago. Or maybe you found it and gave it to me. My past is still so... so hard to swallow. I can't forgive myself, but I hope it'll be a bit easier." He bit his lip, shaking his hair. "Last night... I didn't go for a walk." |
The young fae shifted, pressed his lips against Chiro's smooth cheek. The other fae had lied. "What did you do?" Leaning back, Malachy slipped his hand around Chiro's, wrapping his fingers through the other man's, twining their hands together. The closeness he felt, the uncertain joy, it was all so new, bright as a gem just polished. It wasn't yet as beautiful as it could be, that gem, but it would be. Could be, rather. It was hard to say what shape the relationship would take, the bond that he didn't even know if he could feel.
|
Chiro smiled a little, but he still felt somewhat guilty. He grasped Malachy's hand tightly. "I... well, I did go for a walk, but... I went to find Oren. I... was worried. I wanted to make sure everything was okay, and... and talk about my kind. Not about me, but... about what my race was. He... he's a historian, after all, he needs to know in-depth detail about my kind. How they rose, how they fell, how they believed and functioned. I wanted to tell him before I told you because... I didn't want you to be overwhelmed if I started feeling... anything negative, or powerful. I wanted to make sure I could handle it first. So it's a little easier to talk about. Because I've done it already. And I don't have to subject you to... to that feeling. That feeling I get when I talk about them. About him." Him. Soon enough he would talk about him. But Chiro didn't really want to. He knew it was necessary to confront that event. He should have died---the spores had ruined the bonds between the fae. They had started dying... erratically. He breathed in, letting it out in a sigh. |
Just the mention of Chiro's companion had negative emotions spiking through the other fae's mind, Malachy could feel it through every inch of his skin. With an ease of familiarity he didn't quite posses, the pink eyed fae leaned against the dark haired man. "That was considerate of you, kind ... Though waking up to see you gone was .. it was ..." He sniffled a little, and coughed harshly. Phlegm filled his throat, clogging the airways. It made him feel sick, like he was about to throw up. The suddenness of the onslaught stopped Malachy from hiding it. With a grunt, the delicately featured fae curled around his stomach as a sharp pain lanced through his abdomen. The other things had been gradual, expected almost, but the stomach pains ... He sniffled to try and clear his nose.
|
He was glad for Malachy's presence, until he coughed violently and doubled over. "Oh, no..." He got onto his knees and nearly started panicking. Chiro pushed the feeling down, though, and stood, bringing Malachy up in his arms. "Come on, now... We have to get you to bed." Bed, then perhaps Chiro could make something to break up the thick, disgusting-sounding mucus that kept him from breathing well. He took Malachy into his room, lying him down carefully. "It's best if you stay on your side---it's easier to breathe that way..." He took the blanket from nearby, settling it over Malachy, then crouching down at the side of the hanging petals. "I... don't think this is just a cold." He said, feeling as if cracks were forming in what happiness he had just rediscovered, and cracks as well were forming in Malachy's more confident exterior. "I... I don't think it's just a cold... It... It reminds me of... that illness..." And no one could find a cure. Everyone had died, except him, somehow. |
Malachy coughed and shivered until he was laid down carefully upon his bed. A soft sigh slipped from his lips as he settled down, curled up beneath the covers. Half-closed eyes snapped open at the mention of the illness which had decimated Chiro's people. "It ... It doesn't matter how I got it." Vainly, Malachy was fairly certain of that, he tried to forestall the blame he knew Chiro would put upon himself.
Smiling, he reached out to slide his fingers through the other fae's hair. "I'm so happy that I'm the one who made you slip out of your shell, the one who made that warm feeling well up in your heart." His palm slipped down to cradle the other fae's cheek, before Malachy slipped it beneath the covers once more. "I was ... sad, yesterday, at the thought that perhaps it had been someone else." |
Chirp closed his eyes for a moment, accepting the touch. "I'm sorry I worried you... I hoped I would have come back before you woke up... I wanted to give you the gem... in a better way. I would have made a bag for it. For you." He sighed, breathing easily to keep himself from reacting strongly. "It's my fault, no matter what you say. I led you into the depths of my ruined city when I should have turned you away---taken you out. You breathed in the spores when we went into the elemental cities. I should have brought you out of there. I should have known... I should have known the spores were still there. No doubt dormant. I should have... kept you away." He sniffled, standing up. "You rest, okay? I... I have to do something. I have to make... something. A cure. Everyone else failed but I can't let someone else die. I can't... I won't." He bit his tongue, turning away so Malachy couldn't see his face, and started toward the door. "Just... Just let me know if you need anything. Just call, okay?" He slid through the ivy curtain and went to his room, gathering ingredients. He would have to trade some for others. Antibiotic herbs and roots. Special waters. He would have to leave Malachy alone for a time, if that were a fact. |
"Chiro, you had no way of knowing ... And no way of knowing that the sickness could pass from one species of fae to the next." The younger fae sighed, closed his eyes. He wished there were something he could do to allay the worry, the self-blame, he knew the other fae felt. When he would have begged for Chiro to stay by his side just a little while longer, it was already too late. And his stomach hurt so much, made him want to throw up every time he shifted and moved.To say he felt horrible was an understatement.
|
He knew it was his fault. Every species of fae had the same base, he was taught. Each species, regardless of genus, came from the same concept, the same base form. He should have known. He remembered every moment of that event and yet he didn't think to stop Malachy. To not take him into the city, where demons slept. Now they made their home in someone he cared about---the only thing he cared about. He huffed, setting down his boxes and organizing them, grabbing them up and hurrying out of his room, to Malachy's. The look of the fae lying prone made his heart break into hundreds of pieces. "M-Malachy... I have... I have to go for a while... I need to f-find the right ingredients... I won't be gone long... P-promise." He didn't wait for him to reply---if the pink fae even could. He ran out of the flower, his wings suddenly flapping as if he could use them to fly. But of course they were useless, worthless. Ripped, thin, ruined. He ignored others, staring oddly at the fae with ruined wings running frantically toward the city's heart, desperation showing obvious on his face. He had to get there. Had to get the right things, the right water, the right burners and incense, something to ease the pain Malachy no doubt felt now. How long did he had? It should have happened so much earlier... Were the spores weak? Weak from being dormant for so long? He hoped. |
The younger fae did have the strength to answer. His condition wasn't that bad yet. He just wasn't used to his body rebelling against his will at all, in any way. Malachy sniffled, curling himself tight beneath the soft cloth blanket he'd received so recently. The warmth inherent in the gifting, it helped to ease him into sleep. Malachy had grown that relaxed, and the gentle swinging of his vine bed only aided in that, in helping him fall into dreams. It seemed even the rose he called home was worried for Malachy.
Sleep healed. It eased the pain, chased away the coughing with an ease anyone would envy. |
The shopkeeper in the crystalline herb and ingredient shop seemed genuinely worried for Chiro's state of mind, and the fae could barely speak of Malachy's state and his desperation for the necessary ingredients to begin working on something to cure him. Chiro didn't speak of what it was, however---it was his fault, and he didn't need to keep dwelling on that. He needed to do something this time, rather than run away and let his loved one die. Not this time. The shopkeeper declined the trade, and his words soothed Chiro, if a little: "Take absolutely anything you need, no charge. Malachy needs you and whatever you can do, and if finding a cure means you take my most expensive stock, so be it." He cried as he did so, though---loading a new sack with what he felt would help, and extra things in case he ran out. He didn't want to keep going out, wasting precious time. He couldn't leave Malachy by himself. He sprinted out with a quick thanks to the shopkeepers, weaving through other fae and toward Malachy's home again. He had what he needed---so far. But if even their most intelligent couldn't find a cure, how could he? |
He did dream.
Malachy stood alone in the ruined city where he'd first met Chiro. Or so it seemed. Bodiless voices howled, lamenting their fate, their self-destruction. One louder then all the rest, cried for the companion lost to him. The frail fae stumbled back with a cry. Ghostly tendrils reached out, slipped over him, and tangled around a familiar form he hadn't noticed before. Hastily Malachy stood, and tried to fly, but fell instead into a vast darkness. He had lost Chiro ... Or had he, for there he stood all alone, waiting for Malachy. Just a few steps, and they were near. The fae, dressed in robes of sunset colors, launched himself into the arms of the one he thought to have lost. Malachy whimpered in his sleep, murmured Chiro's name softly. He clutched the blankets covering his form, twisted and turned. Now and again he would try to stretch his wings, but the delicate seeming things tangled with cloth until they were caught and held fast. |
The water took on a floral scent and grew an opaque tone of blue. It had to work. It had to kill the spores. But that wouldn't fix the damage, even if it did. Chiro would have to make a solution that Malachy could drink that would fix whatever damage was caused in his body. But that would have to wait. He funneled the liquid into a bottle and carried it to Malachy's room, peering in and feeling his heart wrench. Was he speaking Chiro's name? Breathing in shakily, he stepped into the room. "Malachy... Mal... I... Wake up, please..." He settled onto the side of the bed and ran a hand down the young fae's cheek. "I think I made something... that'll help... Please, wake up... You have to take this... I... hope it'll work..." He hoped. He hoped against everything he could consider. He wanted Malachy to be okay. |
Dark hair shifted as the younger fae lifted his head and blinked away sleep from his eyes. Inevitably, emotions had drawn Malachy from sleep. He smiled softly, before breaking out in breath stealing coughs. Shaking is away, he moved and placed his head upon the other man's knee. "Did you say you had found something to help?" Smiling still, he glanced up with utter confidence into the other fae's eyes.
"It will work, Chiro." He had no doubt that it would. Of course, there was no certainty that the concoction would heal, but help? That was a certainty. |
Chiro hesitated to give the bottle to Malachy---it was small, easily held, but he doubted it. Doubted himself. "I... don't know. Not even our best doctors could come up with a cure... They had thousands of years of knowledge in the healing arts, and I... I don't... I don't know..." He shook, bringing Malachy up a little and sitting easier on the petal bed. "Sit up a little... I don't want you to choke. Just... it'll take a while. If things don't clear up in a little while then... well, it didn't work..." He settled a bit, bringing the bottle to Malachy's lips to help him drink the liquid. It probably tasted like it smelled---floral and sweet. |
Parting his lips, he gulped down the sickly sweet potion. It was too sweet, like pure sugar, flower nectar, and everything that could give you a tooth ache. It didn't though, only made the phlegm in his throat rise up and bile flow from his lips. He retched and coughed, leaning away from Chiro automatically to let it all splat onto the floor. Pale faced, Malachy righted himself with shaky hands. "Was I ... was it ... supposed to do that?" With a cold hand, he reached out to pull himself against the other fae once more. So warm ... That was what he needed now, as he started shaking like a leaf.
|
Chiro gasped, breathing in and out through his mouth to calm himself and hug Malachy. Cold... He was cold and his wings were shuddering like leaves, more than his entire body. "I... I t-think so..." He muttered, keeping Malachy as close to him as possible. "It has to get out somehow... I just hope that's how it's coming out of your body. I hope those spores are dying... I just... I hope we got to them in time..." He grimaced, keeping himself from crying for Malachy's sake. "I... I don't know if it worked though... It might have just made you sicker... I have to go back to work... But... Malachy, would you want to come into the room with me...? So.... So you're not alone?" He didn't want to be alone. He wanted to watch out for Malachy. And he would carry him there. Perhaps he would feel safe in Chiro's bed. A pod. It would keep him warmer. |
It took but a moment for Malachy to come to a decision. He nodded his head, and rubbed it against the other man's shoulder as he did so. "I would ... I would like that."
There would be warmth, and comfort, and someone to take care of him like no one ever did. It was a wonderful change from the usual. Most thought healers had no need of being cared for, as they cared for others. They were the epitome of health in all ways, or so it seemed others perceived him. But not with Chiro. |
Chiro managed a small smile, reaching around and untangling the blanket from Malachy and wrapping it around his shoulders. "Okay... I'll lift you up now." He stood, carefully stilling the bed and sliding his arms under Malachy's small form, lifting him and the blanket and leaving the room and its mess behind. Shouldering into his room, he carefully deposited Malachy in his bed and settled the warmer side of the blanket against him. "There... There we go... Hold on... I'll get you water... You need water, you can't get dehydrated..." He went back to his ingredients, finding a small bottle of water and bringing it back. "Drink as much as you can... It's best, okay?" He regretfully went back to his work, starting a mix for a repairing elixir. It would taste like a faint tea, and repair some of the damage the spores had wrought inside Malachy. "I don't know if I'll make it..." His voice was low---he was speaking to himself. |
The ease with which Chiro picked him up reassured Malacy. He curled into the other fae's hold, pillowing his head against the other man's chest, and sighed. Malachy was sure he could have walked the small distance, but was grateful that he didn't have to. As he was deposited upon Chiro's bed, tucked in with care, he kept thinking how nice it was to be the one being taken care of for once. It filled his thoughts, that change, the appreciation it wrought in his heart.
Carefully, Malachy curled is hands around the bottle of water. He took a few sips, drank some of the cool liquid, before daring to speak. "Chiro, your worry for me ... It ... please, don't be so despairing." There were things he could have said, should have said, but they escaped Malachy. |
| All times are GMT. The time now is 04:44 AM. |