Words: 1009It'd been more than a month from when Lakshmi and Kiana had first met when their routine changed abruptly. The silver male bypassed the normal flowers to calm down and when straight to the river. He breathed harshly over the gently flowing river, coughing and vomitting into the river.
The water carried away the mess, mostly bile and foam. He was shaking, and badly too. He could barely stand. He wasn't quite sure what brought on this bought of sickness. He wasn't sick, though, not really. His mind was reeling, though, against... Whatever was happening in his head.
He shook his head to clear the contents from it, but the motion just jostled him.
More vomit expelled from him harshly. He coughed against it, a sob biting viciously from his raw throat. It happened, sometimes, this overanxious feeling that made him do things like this. It was awful, and it made his stomach clench and ache in such an awful way.
He should be meeting Kiana now. It was what he looked forward to every single day. He wasn't quite sure what brought this on, he reminded himself. He was tired, and ended up falling asleep a bit at the mouth of Apokreis's den. He shared it with his mother and sisters.
Everyone else had been gone though, besides Kreis and Koka. Koka sat near her brother who slept fitfully for a bit before waking up. Normally Koka and Lakshmi would frame either side of him, but with the recent episodes, he'd gotten violent and bruised one of Lakshmi's sides.
He wasn't willing to lay so close now, but he knew it helped, in a way. Apokreis shouldn't suffer from him not wanting to risk injury. The young dog risked that just by sleeping at night, after all. Lakshmi couldn't blame the small lash out.
Lakshmi bowed his head to the river, trying to rid the taste of bile from his mouth. His body was still shaking in a bad way, but he could drink at least. The cool water felt heavy in his stomach, like he'd eaten a mouth full of rocks instead. He huffed after he finished drinking.
Honestly, he should have expected Kiana to show up at the river's edge with him. She seemed to always know where to find him, or she at least knew who to ask. Still, he was thankful she did. As soon at the dark dog walked up, he pressed into her side. He leaned all his weight into her, and she was kind enough to bear it all for a moment.
Kiana hummed softly, a soothing sound. It was a familiar one. Kiana gave small, reassuring hums all the time, and Lakshmi latched onto them like a dying dog with a scrap of meat. He breathed harshly for a moment but Kiana murmured soothing words to him.
Lakshmi hummed back. He buried his face into her shoulder. The feeling in his chest was overwhelming. He almost felt like vomitting again, but he swallowed against the feeling. He hadn't eaten yet and the bile burned his throat.
"What happened?" She asked softly once she thought that Lakshmi could speak to her. He shook his head at first, breathing in Kiana's scent to calm himself further.
He still wasn't sure what happened.
"I think," he started. He was cut off by a soft cough. He turned to spit up some of the water he just injested. It was slimy, like he'd swallowed honey instead of water. His stomach churned again and he gave a small whine. He hated this, it wasn't like it happened.
Nothing happened!
A frustrated noise pulled from the back of his throat and he pushed back into Kiana's side. She urged him to sit down, and he complied a bit reluctantly.
He started again. "I think it was a nightmare," he told her after a moment. He had to be sure he wouldn't vomit again. He sniffled, still shaken from a dream that he couldn't even remember. It wasn't like Kreis' dreams, he was sure.
But how could he be? He wasn't sure himself. He didn't want what Kreis was going through, and maybe that was the thought that frightened him into running.
Kiana had only figured out what had happened when Koka hadn't shown up to replace her. She left another guard in charge and made her way down to retrieve the other dog and Koka told her what had happened. Kiana ran off in a panic, worried about her almost-mate.
She found him vomitting into the river, and concern wormed its way into her chest like a rockslide. She felt like the wind was knocked out of her lungs and she ran a bit faster to reach him.
A bit of relief had bubbled into her chest when he pressed into her side.
It was concerning that a nightmare made Lakshmi react this strongly. That was something she would worry about later, though. She needed to make sure her mate was physically fine. She nosed him softly, trying to see if she could smell any illness or infection on him, but all she could smell was bile and pack and Lakshmi.
She could only pray to the gods that this was a one off thing. It wasn't that she would abandon her mate. He wasn't a burden or anything like that, but she wanted him to be happy and healthy. Not for her sake, but for his. Why wouldn't she want this sweet boy to suffer in any way?
She nuzzled his neck a bit.
"Are you alright to lay down?" She asked softly. It took a long moment, Lakshmi's face clearly showing him considering the question. Slowly, he gave a small nod, and Kiana herded him a little bit away from the water for the pair to lay. She laid her body in some of the short grassed along she shore, allowing Lakshmi to press into her side. He curled against her.
She gave a small hum. "Rest, love, and I'll protect you."