[PRP] Have and Hold [The Marrieds]

[demon_pachabel]

He felt like Between warmed over - and that was putting it lightly. Sevendays had passed and days blurred together in a mixed drink of pain and partially conscious moments that he would later find out had happened farther apart than he'd initially thought. What he'd thought had been an immediate visit from Aryale and Yaguareth A'star had later discovered had been several days after he and Miryath had fallen from the sky.

It felt like he'd been the last one to find out how bad it was, time split between long mental touches from Miryath that followed him into fitful slumber and waking hours of the worst expression he'd ever seen on Euryale's face at first. It made his heart twist in his chest. It almost felt worse than his body did. Almost.

They would never fly again. Miryath had a chance to recover and be able to touch the sky - maybe - but....A'star was....


Even now he looked at those empty spaces, things that hadn't been hallucinated away. Down most of one leg. Down most of his arm. Down most of his face on that same side. He could only imagine how bad it looked. He could see how bad Miryath looked, an ugly shade of grey out in the sand with her head resting where her arm had been, scoring all over where he'd been seated. Would straps ever fit her comfortably again? It doesn't matter, she reminded him glumly. Her own pain she could forget.

But his life had pittered too close to the edge, and now they both suffered. For that, she could not - would not - brighten easily.

Houllow

 

[houllow]

Miryath was not the only darkened and gloomy body on the sands, for Theath lay beside her in almost a similar shade of depressed. There was nothing physically wrong with the green as she rested by her twin, but her appearance of not wishing to move and being emotionally drained to the point of physical pain made the twins remain just that. Twins, through and through, and if she'd had her way proper then Theath would lose a leg to match. Her twin heart, her other half was suffering, how could she possibly do anything in this state?

And honestly? Euryale didn't blame her lifemate in the slightest. The sight of A'star laying uselessly in bed had been the hardest hit she'd taken in her life and too many candlemarks had been spent over the last sevendays trying to keep it together. The redhead was naturally strong in mental fortitude, her attitude covering any weaknesses she might have had, but seeing her husband like that had been almost too much to bare. His body racked with pain, her inability to do anything about it except hold his (remaining) hand like affection was going to take back all the damage. That maybe all her love was going to help him regrow an arm and a leg, help him patch up his face like the wounds were just from a brawl they shared.

"A'star? You awake?" The aforementioned redhead came into the healer's area from where she'd been outside, softly scolding Theath into going and getting something to eat. Trying to properly care for two downed dragons was a pain, especially when there was nothing wrong with one of them. "Hang on, I'll be right there."

Talking to A'star had become hard. This was a man she'd spent literally all of her life with up to this point. No secrets had ever remained between them thanks to the antics of the Twins and there had never been a shortage of things to say. Now though? Now Euryale could barely look at him without some sort of unflattering expression on her face. It wasn't that she hated him, or couldn't handle his wounds - no, no. It was more she couldn't fix this, couldn't help him. She was useless to protect her family in ways that mattered most and frankly?

Euryale was pissed.

demon_pachabel

here we goooo

 

[demon_pachabel]

"Th' g'na t'n 'nt' a sad c'cl, (They're gonna turn into a sad cycle)" A'star commented, words slurring together as he leaned into Miryath's misery, trying to offer it something nicer. He was fine, he was going to live. She barely moved for him or Theath, though she did not deny their love. The damage would take long to heal in her hearts. She could not be happier sooner, even if it was for Theath. Even for A'star. What use was a dragon who could not fight Thread?

I could have Euryale strap me to your back, he suggested jokingly, though he was certain his beloved would have tried if he actually suggested it. There was more to Threadfall than being a body in straps - and more than half a body was needed. Even looking at what he could see now of himself, though, he knew her love would not waiver - though he would not have blamed her.

But try as he may, he would not be able to rummage up the words to soothe her mind. Like Miryath, Euryale would likely take long to heal as well. It was hard to not feel personally responsible for the suffering of all of his loves. So instead of platitudes and pleas for forgiveness, he struggled to find other words - reaching out for his wife with his hand instead.

houllow

 

[houllow]

"If' Theath doesn't get something to eat for the two of them soon I'm personally going to force feed your dragon while you watch and cheer me on. I've no time for her sulking when you -" Euryale cut herself off and turned her gaze down sharply; her lips made a thin line as an expression of pain washed like a wave on shore. Just like the tides though it washed back out and was replaced with her usual - if forced a bit - cheer. This man in the bed was her husband, her soulmate, and the second half to her whole. She needed to get over herself and transfer that anger into something else before she hurt him even more. "Anyway, those sad sacks look downright awful."

Her words were hollow and callous, the only way she could deflect from wanting to join them. It had taken an act of Faranth (and a lot of pulling from healers, Wingleaders, and a few others) to get her to leave A'star's side those first few days. There was more than one time she'd literally been dragged from holding on to his hand, her actions like that of a bratty child rather than a woman of forty-plus turns. Forty-plus turns with this wounded man at her side, again. The thought hit hard as she recalled how he tried to talk and...

No, she needed to stop. The way he was speaking now was just fine considering the horrible alternative of never being able to hear his voice again. A few slurred words here and there would always be welcome against the silence of actual death. The offered hand was quickly taken, perhaps a bit too fast so she might have actually hurt him with that squeeze, and gently she lowered down so that she might place his palm against her cheek. "Hello my love."

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

Stroking her face was instinctive - as thoughtless as breathing, though that was something he was much more conscious of right then than he felt like he'd been in his entire life. How he fought with the urge to apologize for making her so sad - making them all so sad. He knew she didn't blame him more than she blamed the Red Star itself up in the sky, safe from their touch right then. Oh, if it got any closer his beloved would have plucked it from the sky to crush it between her hands.

He could picture it so easily.

"Sh' f'ls a'fl, (She feels awful)" A'star admitted, watching as Miryath looked up after her sister as she left for a fleeting moment, some muddled shade of blue and purple intermingling with the murky greys and whites that tainted their connection before she turned to rest her head on the other side instead. He wanted to cradle her head as he did his wife's now, knowing he couldn't go to her. It hurt more than his body, Miryath's woe.

"'v y' b'n sl'pin'?(Have you been sleeping?)" he knew the answer already, but...

houllow

 

[houllow]

"A bit. Our bed is entirely too big for just me alone and it's starting to get cold at night." Euryale chuckled a little at her husband's questions, doing her best to sound like she wasn't actually sleeping out front of the healing area, or in the arms of her dragon. She looked as though she hadn't seen the proper side of a shower in a few days and her normally vivid red hair was dull. Maybe it wasn't just dragons who dimmed down when their hearts were breaking. A turn of her head had her lips meet his palm with a soft and delicate kiss. "You better hurry up and get back in there before winter comes or else the two of us will be crammed into this tiny cot." Another chuckle. "You know I kick in my sleep."

As for Theath, hearing Euryale's snide comments were enough to make her move. The green knew entirely there was no hate there, no shame, but a pain that lingered over them all like a sea net. There was no shaking it free if one did not act and so the able-dragon moved to get food. The idea of Miryath being force-fed had been the final push she needed, for Theath would rather have chewed Thread herself than let such an indignity happen to her beloved.

A wherry, or two, was easily dispatched by her in the feeding pens without complainant and slowly she traced her steps back to her twin's side. There was be no eating for her until after Miryath had her share, even if it was just a few bites. She could feel the anguish just as well as she could see it and both were devastating to someone as sensitive as the dragon. My love.... Theath hesitated as she placed down the food, unsure if it would be accepted or she would be snapped at for meddling. Such a thought was foolish, but even now? Please, eat.

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

"'y now, I onl' go' one goo' leg t'kick," A'star immediately defended with a joke, but it sounded so good to him - to get to go back to their weyr. He'd eventually have to come to terms with figuring out how to get up to it, the ledge out of both his and Miryath's reach, but he was sure Euryale would have learned to fly to carry him herself.

Even with half his face missing, though, her appearance was impossible to miss. Though she hid her pain as best as she could he'd known her too long - loved her too long - for it to hide where he couldn't find it. "Pl' tak'are of y'rself too," A'star reminded gently. Both of them, he thought idly, and if she'd not been holding his only hand, he would have rested it against that barest sign of who was to come. Ah, he'd have to have Aryale show the twins how to help him wrangle the kids. A full time stay at home dad.

Miryath didn't even budge at the offering Theath brought at first, pulling that blanket of misery over her head like a child who didn't want to get up and go to class. A'star reached out mentally to fling it off of her, nudging her towards the meal. He may not have been able to physically force it, but if he had to get up and go out there to butcher a few wherries.....

She didn't want him to force himself, the mere idea causing her to stiffly sit up, like a corpse being heaved by an outside force. Briefly, she leaned her head against Theath's - though she did not radiate that warm and constant stream of love she usually did. It wasn't for a lack of love. She was tired. She was so tired. It reflected in the way she grabbed up one of the wherries, resting part of it under her remaining foot with some effort and pulling it asunder.

This should be plenty, dearest, she assured. She'd nurse at it for a while, at least.

houllow

 

[houllow]

It..... Theath began to speak as she watched Miryath's meager actions, though she bit her mental tongue at going further. A soft nudge from Euryale, or rather a glance in towards where she knew her rider was softly weeping with exhausted concern, had the usually soft-spoken dragon press. It hardly is. I....I....I don't know how you're feeling and this is a sensation we will likely never share, but.... Oh, how it felt so wrong to be so pushy! Theath was never the sort to question, never the sort to bully; from the moment she'd come from her shell she had always differed to others and kept her opinions so close to her hearts that they might as well never have existed.

Another glance in towards Euryale and A'star moved her again. I.....I would be dead without you, just as Mine would be without yours. Pl..please, try a little more. Even if you are unable to love me after for being so rude, just...try It was so silly of her to be so forceful when she was gray on her own and the second wherry she brought would likely go uneaten. Theath would have to be pressed in the same manner before she even thought of taking it into her stomach.

Honestly this whole family was a giant mess in one way or another. Their infamy about the Weyr always changed and updated with the times.

"I...would rather take care of you, for once." Euryale thought about what he was saying about her self-care and wondered just how much he knew, about how little she was showing for it to be enough. It was quite possible he knew everything considering how much about her A'star knew without trying, though the Twins being in the state they were in had prevented the usual Call. If it'd been another time there would have been excessive rejoicing; for now all there was was the continued weighted sorrow. "You have no idea how hard it is to try and be the good parent. I'm regretting not watching you in action over all these turns." There was an effort to engage in humor, just as her husband had.

After all of this was done, Euryale was going to go and find someone to do some combat training with. She needed to punch out her frustrations on something other than an unfortunate tree. "I've also spoken with the Headman, about moving our weyr. I know we've always talked about having beachfront property for our retirement but it looks like it may be happening sooner than we thought." A smirk crossed her lips. "I should have known you'd find a way for us to get sand in our sheets daily, or have our sordid dreams of making out in the surf come true."

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

Miryath paused in her eating, then flipped the wherry she'd been nursing at over entirely to rest her head back in the sands, lifting a wing to cover her head in an unusual display of stubbornness. She'd been eating! Why was that not enough? A low huff of irritation seeped through her bond to A'star, privately sulking to the broken man.

You started it. Finish it or I'll make my way out there somehow, A'star pushed in on his green, who recoiled with a low snarl. I'm not hungry! she snarled back to him privately, only to be pressed down on again. Eat. He may have been sore to his bones, but he didn't need to feel the hunger of depression on top of it. Not when she was already on the thin side.

"Ry'le, pl's," A'star was uncertain what he'd done to deserve too absolutely stubborn and fiery women in his life, but he would have never changed any step of it. "Th' 'ealersss are tak'n c'r 'f me. I don' wan' y' cry'n 'v me, ok?" he paused in speaking once to clear the drool from his mouth, almost frustrated - whether it was his own or Miryath's was up in the air. Perhaps she was feeling his own frustration. The frustration that came with battling off that numb feeling that wanted to root itself in his chest.

He was, after all, only half a man now. Dead weight.

Houllow