"I'm not as good as all that," Reya replied, though it was true she had taken care to cut the redfrult before offering it to T'of so that he needn't know part of it had been bruised and offered him the unbruised half. That wasn't evidence of being too good for the world. That was evidence of having a son who was a picky eater. "But since you'll be living on infirmary food for the foreseeable future, I thought I might give you a taste of what you'll be missing."

T'of smiled, and Reya could tell it was a real smile, albeit made less brilliant than usual by exhaustion and fellis.

"Actually, I'll probably be eating better than you," he said, taking the redfruit gingerly from her fingers without touching her. "Extreme blood loss earns a man lots of meat and sweet things to help restore nutrients. So there's that to look forward to."

"Give that back, then," Reya joked, though she made no move to take it from T'of, who took a defiant bite and raised his eyebrows in challenge. "You seem to be doing better."

T'of gestured with his right hand toward his mug. "Fellis and new numbweed. I can barely feel a thing. Honestly, I look like someone tried to tear me in half by pulling on my arms and did a poor job of it. It's really something."

Reya couldn't quite bring herself to smile at his description of his wounds. Based on it, she would have drawn the conclusion that he'd been dosed with more fellis on her own. T'of was pretty fond of the sound of his own voice, but this wasn't usually how he spoke, particularly about injuries, when he couldn't seem to help getting technical. But the fellis seemed to be doing its job of keeping pain at bay. In fact, depending on the ratio of fellis to wine in that mug, he might not be awake much longer anyway. So she'd have to say what she needed to say quickly, before he was unconscious again.

"In case you prove to be obnoxious while you recuperate and I don't feel this way anymore, I should tell you: I'm beyond relieved that you're alive. I hate that you and Makh are so badly hurt, but I'd choose that over the alternative every time."

T'of smiled at her, lazy and a little dopey, and warned her, "I am a terrible patient. You'll definitely change your mind. But I'm glad we aren't dead, too."

Reya was definitely not going to have important discussions with T'of while he was slightly out of his head, and so she turned the conversation to speculation about the hatching they were missing at Western, proposing ludicrous outcomes, like every egg holding twin golds. T'of let her change the subject and played along, though he grew increasingly vague as the fellis took effect and at one point he frowned and muttered something about a dream he'd had about a hatching. Apparently it hadn't been a good one, though he didn't elaborate. Reya kept up a steady stream of mindless talk until T'of stopped responding completely and began to snore softly, at which point Reya became aware of her sore feet. There was still nowhere for her to sit.

With the immediate danger seemingly passed, Reya felt all right leaving T'of long enough to seek out a chair and some oil of the sort used on the hides of dragons and firelizards. These findings she brought back to T'of's bedside and put to use, sitting in the former and applying the latter to Shiver and Ladyfriend, who she knew were accustomed to being oiled daily. It was a soothing activity for all three of them, and while she worked she and Raqi conversed mentally. T'of woke frequently, but never for long. Each time he looked for Makh in a bleary panic, and each time Reya was there to tell him there had been no change. Once he apologized for making her miss the hatching.

"I'm sorry we all missed it," she'd countered as he fell asleep again.

Another time thanked her for being there after she told him how Makh was (the same). That time as he fell asleep she was biting the inside of her cheek to hold back the tears that made her eye sockets ache. Naturally, that was also the point when a few of T'of's wingmates came in to check on him and Reya was forced to catch them up to the best of her abilities. None of them questioned her presence there. They had grown used to the idea that T'of spent much of his free time with Reya instead of doing wing activities, or would bring Reya with him. They stayed for a while, but T'of didn't wake up and eventually they left, promising to come back later. Reya stayed.

She stayed until a red-haired healer told her his shift was over, and that meant hers was, too.

"Your boyfriend's stable and he's not going to wake up any time soon. Get some real shuteye."

"He's not my boyfriend," Reya said reflexively, earning herself the same skeptical look her wingmates gave her when T'of came up.

"Could've fooled me," he replied with a shrug. "You might think about it though."

Reya waited until he'd left to stand up and lean over T'of to murmur, "I'll be back tomorrow. Raqi will stay with Makh. Please don't die."