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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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 Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2014 2:28 pm
Casseth moved in to Ara, pulling her up and away from Detraeus as the guards gathered him up. She was shaking and mostly in shock as Cas helped lead her out of the pit and underground to the room they were taking Detra. “Shh, Lithian has him now.” Cas murmured assuringly. Cas’ arm wrapped around Ara tightly as they were ushered into the room. Quicky the guards were leaving and Cas was toeing the door shut behind them.
They watched as Lithian started to work his magic, Ara tensing when Detra said her name. She opened her mouth to respond but shut it the instant Detra snarled and took hold of Lithian’s wrist. She winced at Lithian’s words, tears forming in her eyes at the very thought of losing the man she loved in that moment. When she heard her name again Ara broke free from Casseth’s hold and rushed over to his side. “I’m here Detra, I’m here.” She took hold of his hand, lacing their fingers together and bringing it up to her lips.
She took a deep breath before speaking, letting it out slowly to try and calm her jittery nerves. “LIthian’s here. He’s going to heal you. Everything’s going to be alright.” Her eyes closed against more tears, the words coming out as both an assurance to Detra and herself. ’Please...please don’t let him die.’ She sent up a silent prayer to whatever god would listen to a dovaa praying for an oblivionite. She didn’t care which of them listened, only that they heard.
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Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2014 7:30 pm
Detraeus shuddered, watching — only half aware — as Araceli lifted his hand. But her touch was familiar, and her voice familiar, and so he let his eyes shut, mind boxing off the pain for a moment to zero in on her presence. “Yes,” he said. Everything would be alright. Araceli would be alright. The man who poisoned Casseth — who threatened her — was dead, and he would be alright because he had to be. He had three things to protect.
This was just a little pain.
He had dealt with pain.
It would be over soon.
Lithian touched his fingers to Detraeus’ forehead, and for an instant, Detraeus had an overwhelming swell of something vivid in his mind. Energy, surely. Lithian’s magic, but striking and rich in his mind’s eye in a way he had never perceived anything before. Then, it was receding like a swell, his body felt lethargic, slow, and the world petered out of his perception.
Lithian worked for the better part of two hours over Detraeus: removing the cloth of his pants with Ara and Cas’ help in order to clean and disinfect his wounds directly, mediating swelling, and holding his’ fluctuating functions in balance all the while. When his state finally began to stabilize, the worst of the poison worked out of his system, they recovered him and transported operations to his and Araceli’s shared house. There, after laying him out on their bed, Lithian allowed his body to pull out of his induced sleep. He provided Araceli with the herbal necessities for making a tea, later, to aid in reducing the muscle stiffness he warned was sure to happen, and advised that otherwise, Detraeus ought to be safe for the night with her.
“If his breathing picks up, though, or he begins to have trouble,” Lithian said, “contact me immediately. His throat or lungs may be experiencing more swelling.”
Sitting on the edge of the bed, one leg dangling off of it, Detraeus grunted. “M’fine.”
Lithian ignored him, speaking entirely to Ara for another minute or so before bidding her goodnight and heading off with Casseth. In the aftermath, Detraeus watched his withdrawal through half-narrowed eyes. His tail flicked across the bedding, and he rolled his stiff shoulders, curbing the urge to wince. His head hurt. His legs hurt. His throat hurt. His chest hurt. His entire body felt as though it had been bagged with sand. Or lead.
But for the moment, he shoved those concerns aside and glanced to Ara.
“You,” he murmured. “No one hurt you?”
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2014 7:43 pm
Araceli watched as Lithian and Casseth left. She was forever grateful to have such wonderful friends and even more grateful that Detra had pushed her into talking with Lithian when they’d had their fight. She wasn’t sure if Detra would still be sitting here had it not been for Lith. She jumped slightly at his voice, gaze flitting over to him. “Mmm...I’m fine, she said as she moved over towards him. She sunk down to the edge of the bed, feet and ankles both swollen beyond comfortableness. Ara let out a sigh, wings sagging a bit in exhaustion.
“Do you need anything? I can make some of the tea Lithian left if you feel you need some. Food? I can cook something. I…” Her brows pinched together and her bottom lip began to tremble and she chewed on it. She sank against him, eyes clenching shut to hold back the tears as best she could. “You stupid, stupid man,” she whispered as she wrapped her arms around him and held as tight as she dared, not wanting to hurt him more than he already was. “Oh Detra...I was so worried. I thought I — we — had lost you.”
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Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2014 7:56 pm
Detraeus blinked, watching her, and then shook his head, tugging her in closer and frowning as he ran his hand up her back and kissed her hair. “I am not hungry.” It wasn’t entirely true, but at the same time, Ara looked exhausted, and he wasn’t sure he could keep food down if he consumed it, so for now, it was pointless. “And I am going nowhere…I promised you.”
He leaned around, kissing her and shutting his eyes into the kiss, brow furrowed as he drew his hand around and grazed his hand back and forth along the side of her belly, gently.
“I…am sorry that you watched,” he said. “But this world is better now. And when my strength has returned we can leave here, if you wish…” He brushed his fingers along her cheek, tucking hair out of her face. “Are you…ready to leave?”
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2014 8:14 pm
Ara shuddered at Detra’s touch, one of the twins giving a small nudge at her belly in the wake of Detra’s hand. She laid her hand on the spot and shook her head. “I made the choice to watch. I am glad that I did not stay home with Lithian. Abronaxus only knows what would have happened to you.” She leaned into his touch, eyes flitting back shut and savoring in the feel of Detra’s fingers against her skin. “Just...a little while longer in town? I’ve lived here for so long, it’ll be hard leaving. I still have orders I need to finish. Only a few but enough to keep me busy for a few weeks.” Ara hesitated for a moment, debating telling him of the visitors that were coming next month. “Plus...my parents are...visiting."
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Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2014 9:55 pm
Detraeus blinked, and then tensed as the information sank in. Parents. She intended for him to meet with her parents — plural — and he was only just now hearing of it. Not to mention, if they might well have taken issue with him previously, they had infinitely more reason to now. Once upon a time, he had simply been an irritable, untrustworthy foreign nuisance in their daughter’s home. Now…
His attention flicked to her belly, and then away. “Last I met your mother,” he said, “I promised her I would never touch you…” His ears burned and the prospect of exactly how much more than simple ‘touching’ had gone on since that time. Clearly, things had not gone according to either his or Araceli’s mother’s plan.
But that did not make him any more eager to meet with her again. Let alone Araceli’s father.
Detraeus’ brow pinched further at the thought. “Did your father not hate those born of Soudana? And you would bring him here, to see you as you are, carrying my children?” The spines on his tail rippled at the thought. Wary. He had heard of what Casseth’s grandfather had done — or attempted to do — upon reintroduction. If Araceli’s father made any such attempt…
Well, she would lose her second father, and Detraeus preferred not to be the one to do such a thing to her. Avoidance was best. Avoidance and seclusion. Things would be so much safer if he could simply convince her to make the final move into the mountains.
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2014 3:14 am
Araceli winced as she pulled away from Detra. She had meant to tell him she’d invited her parents for a visit but each time she had thought to bring it up, her nerves had gotten the best of her. She flushed at the mention of Detra’s promise. “My mother has known...for some time. Last time I visited, when my father was sick, we had a talk. She asked about you and she knew just from the way I talked about you and looked...that I loved you.” She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. “I suspect she talked to my father about it soon after.”
She opened her eyes back up and looked over at Detra. “My father is a complicated man. In the end, though, he is my father and a healer.” She laid her hand over her belly, smiling as she looked down at it. “They would not harm me nor you. I will see of it. Besides...they...already know I’m pregnant.” Ara’s brows knit together. “I’m not sure what will happen when they arrive, Detra but they’re my parents. I had to tell them. That just avalanched into my mom wanting to visit.”
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Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2014 2:56 pm
Detraeus watched her, listening intently. As she finished, he grunted and moved to remove his remaining clothes, curbing the instinct to wince as he laid back. Breathe in. Breathe out. “So long as you know,” he said, “that I will protect you first. From anyone, and everyone.”
‘Even your parents, should they threaten you.’
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2014 3:06 pm
Ara smiled as Detra settled down. “Yes, I know Detra. You always have. Even when you didn’t really know me.” She moved, kissing his forehead before settling down beside him, body ready for sleep. “I was so worried, Detra...so, so worried.” She yawned as she rolled over onto her side, facing away from him, and wings tucked in close to her back. She laid her hand over her belly, rubbing lightly. “Love you,” she said, sleepily, to both Detra and the twins.
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Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2014 4:42 pm
Detraeus grunted and rolled, fitting his chest to her back and layering an arm over her. “No worry,” he murmured, tucking the words into her hair and kissing the back of her head. “Just sleep.”
And so they did.
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