Work Text:
I haven’t been this cold since mid winter. I’m shivering, even under Valor’s fancy jacket. He even lent me his dress shirt, left in his undershirt. It helped, but only slightly. This is my fault. He told me, warned me to tread carefully, that the changing of the seasons meant that snakes were emerging more often. I was so excited to find that stream, felt useful for once, didn’t even notice the slithering beast beside the water until its fangs were in my shin and he was slicing its head clean off its body, poor bastard. Now he’s having to support a good portion of my weight while he drags me as swiftly as my stumbling feet will allow to the nearest town.
We usually avoid civilizations. That’s a new word, Valor taught me. He’d be proud of my use of it. Towns are too risky. A street kid going missing is one thing, nobody cares. The beloved heir, the prince, however, is another story. There’s no telling how far the news traveled, if there are guards from Novus Solis patrolling every town in a two hundred mile radius, or if they simply don’t like outsiders. It’s my fault that we have to risk wasting all of our progress and getting caught, but I only get to the front steps of what I assume to be an inn before my thoughts are stolen by the blackening of my vision.
I wake –hours later, I assume, by the fact that the sun has long since set– to a strange man on my right and a panic stricken Valor on my left. The hand in my own left tightens and another meets my shoulder when I nearly jump out of my skin at the sight of a stranger, the first human I’ve seen up close since we ran away that night. I whip my head around, exhaling in relief. It’s just Valor, his left hand in mine and his right on my shoulder to prevent me from flailing off the side of the bed in my panic, which I’m uncomfortably close to.
His right hand finds my cheek, a reassuring touch that I’m glad to be offered, then moves to my jaw to move my head back and forth. I grunt slightly, allowing the paranoid perfectionist to examine my pupils, reactivity, and my pulse. I offer a raised brow, earning myself a pleased smile from him.
“There you are,” He breathes, swiping the sleep from my eyes.
“Gave us quite the scare, young lady.” A gruff, deep voice snaps my attention to my right. He offers his hands in an attempt to render himself harmless, “Easy, kiddo. I ain’t gonna hurt ya.”
He clears his throat, gestures to my shin, bandaged and slightly swollen, “You got lucky. I was checking out this morning when you two barreled in.” He nods to Valerian, “Your buddy here brought the dead snake with ‘em and we were able to identify it, managed to get you the antivenom you needed just in time because of ‘em.”
I glance at Valor, and his eyes won’t meet mine. I assume he’s embarrassed because of his less than dignified approach to the situation. He doesn’t even curse in my company, liking to keep a pristine and graceful image; I’m sure crashing into a public inn hauling an unconscious girl and a snake carcass, shall I say, rattled him a bit.
My eyes find, who I assume is, the doctor once again when he rises from his seat, “You’ll be a‘ight, kid. Lots of rest, water, and proper food.” He scratches at his beard a bit, solemnly adding, “You’re certainly malnourished. Dehydrated. I went ahead and paid for you two to stay for a night and get some food and water in ya. Front desk should have the keys.” He looks back to us, almost hesitant to leave us here, “I gotta get back to the clinic, we’re backed up and understaffed. You two take care of yourselves… I’ll be back to check that wound in the mornin’.” With that, he stands and grabs a bag, packing supplies back into it. One final look at us, like he’s considering his options, and he’s gone with a drop of a room key into my hand and a soft click of the door.
I close my fist around the key, shifting to look at Valor. I don’t even get turned around fully before he’s standing, avoiding my gaze. He places my hand on the bed, heading for the door, “I’ll go get you some food. Stay here and remain in bed, please.” He says softly, shutting the door behind him.
Why won’t he look at me? Is he that upset that I stunted our progress? Or is it because a stranger had to spend money on us? I know he’s skittish about that, he never liked relying on others for anything. He got enough of that when he was living in the palace, he’d say.
He returns shortly with a plate and another key in hand, placing the warm, inviting platter in my lap, “I’m going to eat downstairs so you can rest a bit. He paid for two rooms, so they gave me a key to my own. I’ll sleep there tonight.” He turns to leave as swift as he came. I open my mouth to protest, to insist he isn’t bothering me, but he’s already out the door and closing it quietly.
I prod at my food idly. It’s been over an hour, simply staring at it. I haven’t eaten a morsel in a day and a half, but somehow I’m not hungry. My stomach feels twisted, like I wouldn’t be able to keep anything down. Perhaps it’s the antivenom. I frown at the bread. My favorite kind, and I can’t even eat it. The single bite I took felt wrong, the usually beloved texture repulsive somehow.
The platter is placed on the nightstand with a soft clink, food long since cold. My legs shift, swinging over the side of the bed. Something feels off, but I can’t quite place it. Something’s missing. Someone’s missing…
I’ve failed to realize I’m picking at my cuticles until my attention is drawn away from the action and to the creaking door on the far side of my room. Creased brows and hesitant eyes linger in the crack that’s created. I know those eyes. My mountains. They’re cloudy with reluctance, and something that hides just inside the shadows of the trees at the base of them.
“Valor?” I offer, along with a small tilt of my head. He simply lingers there for a moment, gaze averted as if unsure, “You can come in, you know.”
He pushes the door open, closes it behind him softly. Wordlessly, he approaches and sinks to his knees in front of my own with a muffled thud. His forehead falls to my knees, as if repenting, praying at an altar.
My eyes are wide, face etched with shock, “Valor?” “I do not deserve that name.” He whispers, and I feel his voice tremble.
I try to get a glimpse of his face, only met with him tilting it away so I can’t, but I can feel the few drops of brine wetting the fabric covering my knees. I frown, instead threading my fingers into the hair at the base of his skull in an attempt at reassurance, “What do you mean?”
“I failed,” He breathes, his body tense with resistance, “I promised to keep you safe. That day we ran.”
The memory finds me immediately. He had told me with the easiest smile plastered onto his face, “I’ll protect you. No real harm will become of you as long as I’m around. Consider me your poison tipped arrow.” I had always found it slightly silly. While heartwarming, I could never imagine the boy in front of me in a position of battle. He had the training, the sword, and everything in between, but he was just a child. Like myself. I couldn’t expect him to look after himself, let alone another person.
Now he’s on his knees in front of me, crying into my own for such a silly reason. For me running into danger and finding it on my own. It was an accident, if anything, it was my own fault. Nothing more. I can’t help but smile a bit. He was always hard on himself, I suppose.
My fingers scratch lightly at his scalp, “I’m alive, am I not?” I hum.
“Barely. The doctor said three more minutes and you would be dead.” His words are followed by a small hiccup and a sniffle.
“That’s just it,” My hands shift from his scalp, down to his jaws, and lift his head so that I may look at his reddened cheeks and teary eyes, “You must not remember the second part of that oath, hm?” My thumbs swipe lightly at his tears, as he swiped the sleep from my nearly ever-closed eyes just hours earlier, “‘And if I fail, and harm does find you, I will fix it. Death will find me in savage affray before he so much as turns his gaze on anything you’ve merely touched.’ And that you did. I live, and I live because of you. You’ve earned that name even before today, I will not strip you of a well-deserved title.”
A small hiccup accompanies new tears that roll down his cheeks, which are soon wiped away as well. His voice is broken and shaky when it reaches me, “I nearly lost you.”
“Nearly is a strong word.” I chuckle, but it fades when his lip quivers, “Shh. I know. I’m right here.” My fingers brush wet hair out of his sticky face, thumb continuing to rid it of salty tears.
“Sleep has continued to evade me…” He admits with a thick swallow.
I frown, cupping his cheeks, “Is it the bed? Does it cause you such discomfort?”
He shakes his head, “I cannot sleep without you…” exhales, “May I sleep in your room? I can take the floor. I promise I will not be a bother.”
I smile softly in amusement, “I’m not going to make you sleep on the floor, Valor. Come. The bed will fit us both.”
He hesitates, then slowly finds his feet. He tugs lightly at the blanket until it slips out from under me, placing it aside for the moment. His right arm wraps around my back, his left slipping carefully under my knees and adjusting my position to lay on one side of the bed, “Please, don’t strain your injury. If you need to move or get up, I will assist you.” He murmurs, sliding into the bed beside me before pulling the blanket over us.
Mainly over me. Paranoid I’ll freeze even with my three top layers, I suppose. I move some onto him instead. He begins to protest, but stops himself when I hold up a hand. “Good night, Valor.”
“Good night, Vira…” He mumbles, and I place my head under his chin. He seems much less distressed now, the proximity giving both him and I a sense of safety, knowing he’s right there if need be.