Welcome to Gaia! ::

Lithian winced, immediately nosing his snout in at Casseth’s stagger and moving a wing out to support and shelter him. When Casseth stepped back, Lithian opened his mouth to respond that Casseth most certainly was not alright. But, he opted instead to huff and shift, stepping up to Casseth instead in his humanoid form and brushing his fingers over his mate’s forehead. Pain. He blinked. And growth? It took all of a moment to click, and he tilted his head.

“Perhaps your third eye is soon to open?” he asked. “Come, we’ll…” On glancing towards the treeline, Lithian hesitated. “Do you think we would be safer here, or…deeper in? I know nothing of this landscape…perhaps, close to shore is best?” When he looked back to Casseth, his brow furrowed a fraction, and he circled a hand up, giving a soft push of magic to redirect the rain over and around them instead of falling on, and then plucked at the wetness already soaking Cas, drying him. “I need somewhere to set a fire and get you onto furs…” His last statement, said quieter, was almost as much to himself as to Casseth.

Lithian blinked, startled by Casseth’s tone. He opened his mouth, and then hesitated, reaching out instead. After touching his fingers to Casseth’s shoulder and sending out a cursory pulse of magic, he was reassured that — at the very least — his mate did not seem to be sick. His body’s energy was definitely being taxed, but it felt similar to the focus of energy in his forehead, and he wondered if it were possible that another part of Casseth’s bloodline was kicking into gear growth wise. Satisfied that Casseth was unlikely to damage himself, though, he nodded.

“Something small — whatever you feel you can manage, and I will set up the rest of camp and give you a proper look over.”

After Casseth set their shelter, Lithian opened his mouth to remind him he didn’t need to do anything else, but Casseth was already moving, dragging out and laying out their furs before collapsing onto them. Lithian shut his lips, crouched, and pressed a kiss to his mate’s temple before stepping out of the small structure and setting to the task of warding it: first against rain, then against intruders. After raising the equivalent of a peisio bubble of magic to guide the rain lightly away from their shelter, he started in on placing a small series of spells in a ring around it in the sand, designed to alert them if anything over a certain size approached too near.

Once satisfied, he moved back in and began the process of starting a fire: large enough to warm the space, but not so much so that it endangered them or any of their supplies. Then, as soon as that preparatory work was finished, he moved to settle by his mate, drawing out his limited array of healing supplies designed for travel and getting to work. Small spells to ease his aching, a probing spell to test the areas his body needed the most strength, and a minor bolstering spell there to aid his energy reserves and ward against any sickness which might take his weakened immune state as an open invitation.

By the time he finished, the shelter was warm, the fire crackling pleasantly, and Casseth looked at least to be resting more at ease for the time being. Lithian remained at his side, though, brushing his fingers lightly over his skin before kissing his shoulder.

“I think,” he said, keeping his voice soft, but loud enough to be audible over the rush of the outside storm, “…your body is growing in a second set of wings, from your father’s side. The great focus of your body’s energy is in your lower back and it’s straining your system, but on the whole you seem healthy…if the pain now and closeness of your bouts of it is any indication, the growth may well start very soon, though…I admit I have no direct, hands on experience with such growth in terms of dealing with it as a healer.”

Lithian flushed, smiling and shaking his head. “Nonesense…we had a wonderful start. And besides,” he added, “now we are safe. We’ve found shelter, have a fire, and an entire island to explore come morning, if you are feeling up for it then.”

Satisfied that Casseth was healthy, at least for the moment, he set to work making a small meal and heating some tea in the aftermath, providing Casseth with a bowlful of each as he ate his own. From there on out, the night wound down smoothly. After finishing their meal, Lithian cleaned and set things away before undressing and joining Casseth on the furs. Their usual bout of lovemaking — due to Casseth’s wearied state — was gradual and relaxed, but thorough, leaving both satiated by the time they tucked close for actual sleep.

Outside, the rain continued, providing a lulling backdrop to the soft, close brush of Casseth’s breathing, and inside, what remained of their dying fire crackled mutedly. No, Lithian thought passively, content as he shut his eyes and rest his head against his mate’s, this was certainly not a poor beginning to an adventure in the least.

Lithian had always been a light sleeper. Even as a child, he often found it difficult to sleep steadily through the night, his mind waking him for the most trivial of disturbances — or none at all. Thus, when Casseth first stirred, so too did Lithian, his mind pulling towards consciousness even before his mate jerked upwards, and when he did, Lithian was wide awake, moving in to steady Casseth all but before it had fully registered what was going on.

“Casseth—” He reached out, touching his fingers to Casseth’s back and giving a soft pulse of white-blue magic, the energy immediately swallowed up beneath his mate’s skin and sinking in and down to the source of growth and pain. “Shhhh, shhh-shhh…” he murmured in spite of himself. “You’re alright…you’re doing well, mm? Breathe…you’ll be through it shortly…” He carded one hand of fingers into the hair at Casseth’s nape, holding lightly and tucking the words against Cas’ temple.

Outside, the wind howled, moaning shrieks like a scorned banshee. Inside, Lithian shut his eyes and held his lover close, keeping up a small trickle of magic after the first pulse, monitoring Cas’ experience and mediating as best he could manage.

Of all the strange experiences his childhood self would never have imagined, this ranked high.

Lithian huffed, shaking his head. “You’ve nothing to apologize for…”

He let the statement rest, though, when Casseth turned, presenting his back. In response, he reached out, touching again — lightly, but testingly — inspecting the new skin, bone, and muscle structure. After a moment, he reached over to his supplies, unstoppering one of his flasks and drawing out a small trickle of water to run over the new wings, cleaning them of the thin, external, almost mucus-like layer coating the new growth and infusing the water with cleansing ripples of energy to sterilize and heal the raw skin and leather. At length, when the water had made a full, blanketing trip over all the new surfaces, he withdrew it, leaving Casseth dry.

“They do,” he answered. “New and tender, but healthy. We…likely ought to spend some time here. Give them time to strengthen and your body time to adjust and rebuild its strength. It oughtn’t be a chore, in any case…given that it seems we have an entire island to potentially explore, mm?”

“Mmm…it’s strange,” Lithian answered. “Plants like nothing I’d ever seen before, even in the majority of texts…” When Casseth leaned in, suggesting more sleep and catching him in a kiss, Lithian let his eyes shut, relaxing into the gesture and nodding in its aftermath. “It is too early…hopefully you can sleep well.”

That said, Lithian, too, moved to lay down, settling beside his mate and layering a hand lightly over his back. Whether or not sleep came to him, it was too early, and too impractical to attempt to accomplish anything else until morning. Thus, he shut his eyes, dismissing concerns for the moment and concentrating on the hope of getting at least another hour or two of rest before beginning to tackle their situation in full come the morning.