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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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 Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 4:44 pm
Casseth grunted and winced as he pushed himself up and swung his legs, as best he could, over the side of his bed. He had waited until the house was quiet before making his move. Lithian and Valla had set out for her shop to gather herbs and his father was outside, working on a weapon someone had commissioned him for. Cas had the house to himself for a little bit and damn if he was going to spend the whole day cooped up in bed. It’d been four days since the pit match and while his body wasn’t back to being one hundred percent better, Cas still wanted out of bed. What harm could moving around a little cause anyway? Between Lithian and Valla the poison was out of his system and any wounds he’d had were a memory long forgotten.
Cas took a deep breath, pulling his wings in close to him, and braced a hand on his bedside table. He pushed himself up on shaky legs, pausing to let his body become accustomed to being on it’s feet again. He took a step forward, moving his hand along the table as he did so, pausing when his fingers brushed up against the dagger that had once belonged to Detra. Cas’ brows furrowed together as he glanced down at the blade. He hadn’t brought up the subject of the oblivionite since the day he had woken up. It hadn’t gone well then and he was sure that it wouldn’t even now. He was growing restless, though. Had Detra really left for good? What about Araceli?
Casseth shook his head, sighing as he forced himself to move out of the room and down the stairs. In total, the trip down to the living room took longer than he had expected. Though the stairs between the two floors was not a long trip, normally, Cas had had to stop a few times to catch his breath. Apparently his body did need more rest. At this point, though, he was already down stairs. Better to make the best of it before someone came home and caught him out of bed and scolded him. He smiled at the thought, Lith’s face instantly coming to his mind. Cas glanced around and his gaze fell to the kitchen. As if on cue, his stomach rumbled.
Cas started to move towards the kitchen but froze at the sound of footsteps outside his door. He braced himself for it to open but was surprised when he heard a knock instead. His wings twitched as he tilted his head. Maybe someone looking for his father? He waited, wondering if they would keep trying or check in the shop. When another knock came he moved towards the door, not bothering to hide his wings. The damage was already done and thousands of people at the pit had seen them. What was the use in hiding them? Just as a third knock came, he grabbed hold of the door and pulled it open. “Ara.” Cas blinked, completely surprised by the dovaa’s appearance outside his door.
“Casseth…” Ara’s brows pinched together as she stared at him, expression confused. “Aren’t you supposed to be in bed? Where’s Lithian?” She asked once she found her voice again. She had fully expected to find Lithian at the house, a place he hadn’t left much the past few days. Ara needed to talk to someone and hadn’t known who else to turn to, even though she knew Lithian’s feelings about Detraeus at the moment. Now, however, the perfect solution was staring her in the face. “Do you think we could talk?”
Casseth blinked at the words and stepped aside. “Yeah, sure. Come on in. I uh...let’s just sit in here for now. I’m not sure I can make up back upstairs by myself.” He gave a sheepish smile as she stepped inside and he closed the door behind him. “Let me just...get us something to drink, yeah?”
As Cas went to move Ara stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Allow me? You rest.” Without waiting for an answer, Ara moved into the kitchen, fetching them both some water and rejoining Cas, who was now seated on the couch and looking rather relieved. Araceli had been surprised to see him answer the door, knowing full well that Lithian would still be insisting he stay in bed and for good reason. It would be obvious, to anyone looking at Casseth, that he still belonged in bed. “I…” Ara began to speak but shut her mouth, not sure how to go about bringing up the subject of Detra. She hadn’t talked to anyone in the past few days and had no clue what Casseth remembered of the match, if anything.
“Detra’s gone.” She said simply, at last. “I suspect he fled to Soudul. He was so angry, Casseth. At you, at me...I’d never seen him so mad.” Her wings shuddered at the memory of the anger that had been radiating off of him. “I...even with all that anger...I still don’t believe he was the one to poison you, Casseth.”
Casseth’s eyebrows rose at her confession and relief coursed through him. Araceli agreed with him, without even knowing she was doing so. He shook his head as he spoke. “Me either. I’m pretty sure I know who did it, now and it wasn’t Detra. He was as shocked as I was.” They talked, mostly Casseth retelling the bits and pieces of what he remembered. He had remembered more, as his body had recovered, but his time inside the pit, towards the end, was still a blur that he couldn’t quite remove. Then Ara was speaking, going over the details of that evening, after the pit match. Her confession, his anger, him storming off, all of it. Even her visit to his house.
“I want to go after him,” Casseth said when she finished telling him about what had happened at her home after the match. “Even though he’s angry at me...I can’t just leave it at that. If he wants to fight me, so be it...but I’ve got to see. I’ve got to make sure that’s what he wants.” He glanced up to Ara, head tilting slightly. “And you...how could he just leave you behind. You’ve done nothing but care for him lately.” Casseth shook his head. “It’s just not right. Someone needs to knock some sense in him. I’ll be better soon enough.”
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Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 3:48 pm
“It’s a lendula stock,” Vallarah explained as she walked. “Some more rural areas refer to it as the ‘lenlen’ plant, and a staple in areas where it grows aplenty. Snap it, and the aloe therein can work wonders on itches, burns, and exterior skin infections…”
“A numbing agent?” Lithian asked, his attention rooted with curiosity.
“Some, yes, but it’s also a natural toxin remover, soaking up a number of harmful substances like a spounge. The numbing quality can soothe the need to scratch or pick, as well as smoothing over the effect of aches and pains that come with all variety of maladies, and in cases where you have poison it can help draw it out.”
“Casseth’s poison was internalized, though,” Lithian said, frowning. “If it’s already in the bloodstream, how can a surface cream do much?”
Vallarah smiled. “Quick, hm?” She put the plant up, tucking it into her satchel as they approached the house. “Chop it, brew it in a tea and sift out the stalk. You can get a similar effect. Takes toxic agents with it straight through the system and out in the urine. Stings a bit, yes, but doesn’t do any damage on the way out and makes the magic workout far less tiring.”
Lithian nodded, stepping forward to open the door and let her in first.
“—not right. Someone needs to knock some sense in him. I’ll be better soon enough. And when I am—”
“Casseth.” Lithian darted in past Vallarah. “What are you doing out of bed? You’ll make yourself dizzy — you should be resting — are you alright? If you needed something—” He glanced to Ara and flushed, frowning. “Ara could have gotten it for you, I’m sure, or your father, and I would only have been a bit further behind. I told you not to get out of bed, and you shouldn’t really be up much but for necessities for several more days…”
On the sidelines, as Lithian rambled on, Vallarah smiled slightly, giving Casseth a quick wink before making use of Lithian’s first pause for breath to comment that she would be taking the necessary herbs up to his room and storing the rest. In the meantime Casseth could ‘negotiate’ with his intended and ‘find his way upstairs as soon as seemed reasonable’, lest Lith have a heart attack.
As she left, Lithian flushed, murmuring. “You will wear yourself out if you’re up too much…let me help you upstairs? And what were you talking about, anyway…?” He glanced back to Ara. “Knock sense into who?”
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 4:00 pm
Casseth’s mouth remained open, the words he was about to speak caught in his throat at Lithian’s voice. He shut his mouth quick, flushing and wings sagging a fraction of an inch at Lith’s tone of voice. Cas felt much like a child being scolded. “I was hungry. Dad was outside and you were gone. I”m tired of being cooped up. It’s not that far from my bed to the kitchen.” He sighed, waving his hand. “Besides, Ara didn’t arrive until after I was downstairs. None of this is her fault.” He gave a quick, small smile to Ara before turning his attention back to Lith. “Sorry?”
At Casseth’s apology and Lith’s question, Ara rose. “I should go. I’ve kept Casseth long enough.” She moved over to Lith, giving him a quick hug and whispering. “Go easy on him.” Ara turned to leave, pausing as she reached her hand out towards the doorknob. She gripped it tight, eyes closing. “Thank you Casseth.” With that, she was pulling the door open and leaving. Better to allow Casseth and Lithian to talk this over without her there.
Cas’ smile faded as he looked away from the shut door and back to Lithian. “No one,” he said in response to Lithian’s question. He grunted as he pushed himself up from the couch, pausing to allow his legs to steady beneath him. “Help me upstairs?”
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Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 4:15 pm
Lithian moved in immediately, almost before Cas’ request left his lips, slipping his arm around him and supporting him. Ara’s comment stuck with him, bringing a soft flush to his cheeks — embarrassed at having reacted quite so strenuously — before he began helping Cas up the stairs. He reserved his commentary on what he thought of Casseth’s ‘no one’ response until after he’d successfully delivered Cas back to his bed.
“I know you’re restless,” he said as Cas settled. “You’re used to being active near constantly, and I shouldn’t have let it upset me so much, I just…” Lithian unstoppered a flask as he propped himself partially on the bed and began a routine check-up of Casseth’s functions, providing a pulse of magic here and there to bolster Cas’ immune system and head off any potential ill-effects of overworking himself. “I worry. Perhaps too much, but you’re worth it and I can’t help it. You are weak right now, and your body needs all the energy it can spare. If you must go out to satisfy your restlessness…let me or your father help you? Perhaps we could go sit outside…though I’d rather you move as little as you can stand for now. A few more days…”
Lith moved off the bed, utilizing the ingredients Vallarah had left out to start a mug of herbally-enhanced tea to warm and steep. Firani spell runes designed specifically for warming and cooking could be expensive to find etched in high quality, but were worth it in the end for convenience under certain circumstances. After setting it up, Lithian moved back to the bed, his eyes settling on Cas.
“And…what aren’t you telling me?” Lith’s mind had already started a hop-skip-jump process from one nasty potential to another, even worse one, like skipping stones. “Is someone after you? Someone from the pit? Have you been threatened? You might think you’re sparing me worry, Cas, but you’re not healed yet, and the more I know the better I can take care of you, and not informing me will only make my worry worse…if I need to go in there myself, I swear to Abronaxus—”
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 4:28 pm
Casseth was relieved to be back into bed, though he didn’t say a word of that to Lithian. He was right and Cas knew that. His body was still too weak for him to be up and moving about. However, he was glad he had been up. Otherwise his talk with Araceli might not have happened. Cas closed his eyes and laid back, enjoying the feel of Lithian’s magic coursing through his body. It was familiar and felt safe. His eyes opened back up when Lith pulled away and Cas watched his fingers move swiftly as he set things up.
Cas grunted, and looked away from Lith, at his question. He had hoped to have more time to build up to this, though in reality Casseth planned to take off for Soudul as soon as he was well enough. Which he hoped was soon. He shook his head at the mention of the pit. “No.” His response came quickly as he glanced back to Lith. “No one is coming after me, as far as I know. Which isn’t far, considering I’ve been stuck in this bed for the past few days.” He shrugged and glanced down at his hands as he gripped the sheets in them. “I’m going to go after Detraeus.” The name came out barely above a whisper.
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Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 6:05 pm
Lithian blinked, the words taking a moment to settle in. Immediately after, he tensed. “You’re what? Casseth, you can’t just—”
“I can.”
“You can’t! Cas, he tried to kill you — I watched him — he’s violent and dangerous and unpredictable and out of his mind…what do you think you’re going to accomplish? You’ve been his friend for years—if that wasn’t enough up to this point, how…?” Lithian shook his head. “It won’t make any difference, Cas, none but get you hurt, or worse, I—” He shut his eyes, bunching his fists and quelling the need to shake. “Please…please, please don’t…he doesn’t deserve that kind of loyalty…he can’t…surely? After what he’s done? He’ll spit on it, squander it, throw it away and…” Lithian’s voice quieted, dropping to barely above a whisper. “I need you, Cas…”
‘…more than he does…’
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 6:24 pm
Casseth squeezed his eyes shut as Lithian pleaded with him to not seek out Detra. His heart broke at his words and he had to hold back his own tears as they threatened to spill over. “I can’t just give up, Lith.” He shook his head as he took a deep breath and looked up. “And what of Ara? If I don’t go...she will. That much was obvious while I was talking to her. She loves him. Like I told her, someone has to knock some sense into him.” Casseth sighed as he looked back down at his hands. “I know he can be violent and he seems to always be angry...but I’ve gotten to know him over the years. There’s so much more under that thick skin of his. There has to be a reason for his hatred towards orderites. I’m not sure if we’ll ever know what it is.”
Cas trailed off, reaching out for Lith’s hand and tugging him fully into bed with him. His arms snaked around Lith and held him close. “I love you Lithian. I’ll come back to you, I promise. Just...please understand why I have to do this.” One of Casseth’s hands rubbed up and down Lith’s arms as he placed a feather light kiss on the tip of one of Lith’s ears.
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Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2014 4:39 am
Lithian bit his lip, not fully cooperating, but not struggling either as Casseth tugged him into the bed. When Cas’ lips brushed his ear, he shivered, though, and tucked closer on instinct. He didn’t want to hear it. Not any of it. Casseth had already suffered at Detraeus’ hands, and as far as he was concerned, Detraeus had more than lost any title to Cas’ friendship or loyalty in the arena days prior. Casseth was his — his, Lithian’s, future mate and intended, his friend, and his lover — and to think that Cas would choose Detraeus over him, that, after all that occurred, Cas would pick the man who had threatened to kill him over the one who had cried at his bedside and nursed him back to health, and then risk his life on the off-handed chance that by giving chase over a continent and a half he might restore some semblance of a friendship torn asunder.
That hurt.
But Lithian lacked the words or energy to give voice to his frustrations. Here, now, he had Casseth under him, alive and breathing and real, and when Casseth kissed him, he kissed back. When Casseth held him, he clung, and when Casseth touched him, easing his hands into his clothes like an explorer unmasking treasure, Lithian’s arguments about Casseth’s health and the duty to not over exert himself were feeble and soon after completely forgotten. Garments found their way to the floor like lost travelers, and with his lover's breath on his tongue, Lithian relished in the bittersweet, certain impermanence of the present instant.
Casseth was his, and in that moment and that moment alone, no one could dispute it.
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