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"You're lucky to be alive, Lord Mydei," Hyacine mutters.
Mydei rolled his eyes before looking away. At the very least, it was a beautiful day, the sun glittering through the windows of the twilight courtyard. The wind blew all the flower petals across the courtyard. Mydei's eyes burned with the scent of lavender. It was fine; he had more pressing matters, i.e., the horrible burn on his right arm.
"I can't die, Lady Hyacine," He muttered. "I'll survive."
"How did you even get this bad a burn?"
He turned his head away, a flush rising in his cheeks. He could barely force out the words. He didn't want to lose Khaslana's goofy smile over something so trivial.
"I'm so sorry, I couldn't hear you." Hyacine tilted her head.
"Sparring with Phainon."
"You got these burns from just 'sparing' with Lord Phainon?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm.
Mydei coughed at the knowing look she shot him. He knew what the 3rd degree burns that were shaped like handprints branded on his back and arms looked like. He hated the implication that he and Khaslana weren't careful, that they didn't take every precaution in the book. That was the only way Khaslana felt comfortable enough to hold Mydei's hand while the heat of millions of coreflames burned within his chest. Being burned by a post-sparring hug simply because Khaslana had forgotten to give himself time for his temperature to return to normal would kill all their progress.
"I'm not sure what this has to do with anything," Mydei ground out. "They're not gonna kill me anyway."
"Even so, it will take a while for them to heal. Take it easy for a while."
"Thank you, Lady Hyacine,' Mydei nodded, pulling himself to his feet, "Do you mind if I make one last request?"
"Of course not."
"If the deliverer asks you about my wounds, can you tell him that I'd gotten them from a battle?"
"You want me to lie to him?" Her eyebrows narrowed, and her nose scrunched up, "Why?"
"He's started getting comfortable with the whole…Lord Ravager thing. I don't want to shatter what little confidence he's grown."
"I'll do my best." She said, "Take care, lord Mydei."
****
The apartment door creaked open, though the sound was distant. Khaslana's wings ruffled, sending a cascade of golden feathers across his bedroom. He muttered a string of swears, stood up, and began brushing the feathers off his bed. The tacky purple sheets made them stand out more, lighting an ugly spark in his chest.
A knock on his bedroom door rang out. Khaslana jolted, his wings splayed out to their full span. Luckily, his wings were mostly fluff, so they didn't break anything. Once he made sure he hadn't put holes in the walls, he took a deep breath and turned around.
Mydei leaned on the doorframe, a bag of groceries in one hand and a tin from the twilight courtyard in the other. His orange eyes glittered with mirth. Khaslana tilted his head as his eyes fell on the bandages wrapped around his biceps and chest.
"Sorry for scaring you, Deliverer."
Mydei's fond voice stoked that fire burning in Khaslana's belly. They met in the center of the room, Mydei wrapping his arms around Khaslana's waist, and the Lord Ravager's wings folded around them both. He'd long since stopped trying to fight the instinct to purr, the noise building from his chest.
"Did you have to fight the chimeras for those groceries?" Khaslana teased, lightly tracing his claws along the bandages.
"I won, if that's what you're worried about."
Mydei flinched as Khaslana's claws caught on the fabric. Fear launched up into his throat, and he tried to pull away, but Mydei pulled him closer. The kremnoan ran his fingers through Khaslana's feathers. He narrowed his eyes as he pulled his hands away with a handful of golden feathers.
"You're still shedding?" He shot Khaslana the look reserved only for when Khaslana wasn't taking care of himself.
"I talked to Hyacine, like I promised." He held up his hands in surrender, "She said that it was a normal effect of the seasons changing and hormones or… something."
"You're molting?"
"I guess?"
"At least it's not malnutrition,' Mydei chuckled. "I was worried your salad diet was coming to bite you."
"The salads would never betray me!"
His wings hit his dresser, knocking over one of the numerous tchachkeys he'd collected over the years. At least he didn't break it. Mydei just continued to run his fingers through Khaslana's feathers. The touch soothed him.
"I can make dinner tonight, you should rest." Khaslana reached for the shoping bag.
"Absolutely not!" Mydei playfully held the bag out of Khaslana's reach, "I'm perfectly capable of cooking."
"Come on, I'm not that bad of a cook!"
Khaslana's feet floated a couple inches above the ground as he continued reaching for the groceries. His wings fluttered as Mydei held Khaslana by his hips, putting a playful distance between them. They giggled together, pressing their foreheads together.
Khaslana gave into that heat burning through him and pressed a kiss to Mydei's lips. He purred as Mydei traced the path of his spine. He smiled softly.
"You can help cut veggietables," Mydei chuckled, pressing another kiss to Khaslana's forehead.
Khaslana smiled, his wings fluttering against his will. He tried to keep his eyes from lingering on the bandages wrapped on his arms. Something about them made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He just shook his head, following behind Mydei with a smile. Mydei intertwined their fingers, fond smile on his lips.
He should probably just forget it. It was probably nothing that Mydei couldn't handle.
****
In the end, Khaslana wasn't able to let it go. Something was gnawing at his chest, something that told him he should be more worried about the bandages around Mydei's chest. What he reported as "just a couple chimera scratches" had been bandaged for almost a week at this point. No matter how Mydei reassured, something was squirming in the back of Khaslana's brain. It whispered that he was to blame.
So here he was, walking through the streets of Okhema and trying to maintain his human skin. The band of Aglaea's golden threads burned at his wrist. He walked along the path to the Twilight Courtyard, waving at the people he passed and doing his best to smile. Would they still smile and wave, still greet him like an old friend, if they knew that he was just a monster made of rage and agony now?
He dodged and weaved between the healers, feeling just as off balance without his wings as he once did with them. Hushed conversations between the nurses became a soft white noise. One of the old ladies he appraised artifacts for offered him a smile, and he did his best to return it.
"Hello Lord Phainon," one of the nurses smiled, holding their clipboard close to their chest, 'Are you here for another check up?"
"Oh, no," he chuckled, running a hand through his snowey hair, 'I'm here to visit Lady Hyacine."
"Oh, she's supervising physical therapy out on the grounds. I can take you there if you want."
"That would be great, thank you."
The nurse just smiled as they turned and walked off with a purpose. Khaslana jogged after them, dodging and weaving with a fervor. They came to a stop in front of a grand archway, leading to a courtyard outside the Marmoreal palace. The scent of freshly cut grass assulted his nose. Sunlight refelcted off the pearlescent walls, leaving behind small reflections.
Hyacine stood in the middle of the courtyard, supporting a patient as they practiced walking on their new prosthetics. Her soft smile never left her face, though her eyes widened when she saw him. The nurse waved to her, nonethewiser.
Hyacine handed the patient off to two of the other nurses, bowing in appology. She walked over, doing her best to school her expressions back to neutrality. by the time she arrived at Khaslana's side, there was no trace of her earlier hesitation.
"Hello lord Phainon," She smiled, clasping her hands in front of her chest, "What brings you to the Twilight Courtyard?"
"Oh, I was worried about Mydei."
"W-what about Lord Mydei."
Her green eyes darted around the courtyard furriously, like she was looking for threats. She rubbed her hands together, showing off the purple nail polish Castorice had done for her. Khaslana took a panicked step back. Guilt curdled in his stomach, but he did his best to mask it with a smile.
"Oh, it's just… I've been trying to help him out with wound care, but you know how he gets with accepting help."
He tries to laugh it off, running a hand through his hair. He was never the best at lying, but thirty million plus cycles without human interaction degrades one's ability to socialize. Hyacine didn't seem to pick up on that though, the only sign that she was suspiscious was the slight twitch of her eyelid.
"So, he told you about how he got the injuries?" She tilted her head,
"Chimera attack?"
"P-pardon?"
"I had a feeling he was lying,' Khaslana sighed, "Please, Lady Hyacine, tell me the truth?"
Hyacine covered her mouth, cursing under her breath.
"I'm sorry, lord Phainon, but I promised that I wouldn't say anything!"
"Say anything about what?" Mydei's voice rang across the courtyard.
Khaslana's head snapped up. The heat of the coreflames in his chest burned a little hotter as a bit of that familiar rage bubbled up. He took a deep breath, calming the fire before meeting Mydei's eyes.
"the bandages." He whispered, "They're not from a chimera, are they?"
"… lets have this talk aomewhere else. don't want to disturb the patients."
Mydei took Khaslana's hand and led him through the courtyard again. Thier hands were intwined together, and it soothed the angry fire inside him just a little. Mydei led them through the bath house to an abandoned chamber. The door clicked closed and Khaslana let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.
"What are those bandages for, Mydeimos?" Khaslana pressed a hand to his chest, "Please don't lie to me."
"Burns," Mydei sighed.
Khaslana's stomach dropped. The phantom scent of charred flesh assulted his nostrils and curdled his stomach acid. Screams echoed against his skull. The heat of millions of coreflames surged within him at that fear.
"Deep breaths, Deliverer," Mydei soothed. He reached out to touch Khaslana's arms, but Khaslana flinched away, "This is exactly why I wanted to keep these a secret."
"I hurt you?"
"It didn't hurt."
"Not the point!" Cracks began appearing on Khaslana's human skin, spider-webbing their way accross like he was made of porceline. This human body wasn't strong enough to contain the heat of The Destruction at it's full power, "I need to know when I lose control so I don't burn the entire city to the ground."
"It was just an accident," Mydei hissed, cradling Khaslana's hands in his, "Your smile means more to me than a few measly burns."
"What does that have to do with anything."
"Your happiness means more to me than a couple new scars. "
"Then tell me when I hurt you!"
Mydei wiped Khaslana's tears away with his thumb and pressed a kiss to his forehead.
"You're my partner, and your safety means so much to me. Please tell me when I burn you."
Mydei just nodded, brushing his thumb along the cracks on Khaslana's hand. A couple of porceline flakes crumbled off, letting molten golden blood drip down. Mydei pulled him into a hug, tracing Khaslana's spine through his jacket.
"I'm sorry for yelling at you," Khaslana muttered, careful to avoid the burns on Mydei's back as he returned the hug, "And for burning-"
"Don't!" Mydei's chest rumbled as he growled, "I shouldn't have lied."
"The threads' power is failing. I should probably go back home."
"Or, we could take a bath," Mydei smiled, "relax."
"That sounds really nice, actually." Khaslana grinned.
"Let me grab more burn cream from Lady Hyacine and I'll meet you back here."
"I look forward to it."
Written by a human in Ellipsus.