[PRP] Holding Onto You (Y'qua/V'gar/dergs) (Backdated)

[Prism Shine]

Consciousness swims back to Y’qua in a blur, like he’s fighting a current. He feels.. Weak. Very, very weak. Breathing isn’t any light chore, and he coughs wetly, weakly. Blinking slowly, senses returning to him the longer he realizes that the ceiling above him is not, in fact, his new weyr--but something entirely different. There’s shuffling somewhere, footsteps back and forth--multiple? Somewhere populated then. The sheets are crisp, and its all he can do to blink and focus on what’s around him. Curtains around his cot--infirmary? How did he get there..? The last thing he can remember was.. reading over new records he had gotten, something vaguely about the detailing of clothing dyes in tapestry work…

Oh, you’re finally awake… The relief that floods Heimdath’s voice is nearly dripping, his sweet green distressed. I got so worried when you fell asleep and wouldn’t rouse.. I reached out to Ngawanth. Hers took you in. Heimdath leaned a bit into her sleeping sister’s side. It isn’t even sunrise yet. Please rest…

I will, my dear. But I only just woke up, too. Yet he felt as if Ramoth herself had stomped on his head. But he’s finally able to process the weight over his midsection. Y’qua raised his head, scrubbing his eyes in the vague darkness at the familiar form and wild crop of hair. Sure, Heim had said that V’gar had brought him down, but they’d actually stayed..? Eyes closed, looking peaceful aside from the occasional rough breath. So the flu had caught them, too..

From this angle, looking so peaceful… Faranth help him, V’gar looked so attractive. Color rose up his neck, curling around his ears like he might get caught on his own private thoughts. While it wasn’t the first time he’d thought them, it was certainly still a newer revelation. Everything was still fuzzy from sickness and sleep, but he can still recall how they looked on Ngawanth’s back, looking like they were made to be a-dragonback, so natural in the air.. His heart had been sent fluttering, like he’d seen his.. friend for the first time.

Gently, he pushes some of the braids from V’gar’s face, the gentlest touch down one of the many scars that graced their skin--emboldened by the brain fog that came with sleep, and that they were well into sleep as well. The feelings were new, but hidden well --they were one of his only friends, next to C’lusi. Feelings wouldn’t stomp on one of the few friendships he wanted to hold on tight to.

However, that position couldn’t exactly be the most comfortable, draped over the bed like that. Nor good for sleeping and chasing off what illness had touched them. With a strength that he wasn’t sure he still had with how exhausted he felt, Y’qua reached down to gently pull V’gar’s torso up towards him. “C’mon, V’gar..”

Hattaki

 

[Hattaki]

They had both been pushing themselves a bit too hard lately, V'gar with how often they were willing to throw themselves into training to learn and learn and Ngawanth who reveled in hard work even if she sometimes hesitated on first steps just a bit too long. Flying the first time had been... interesting. But because of all that hard work they had come down with something and that left the little green terrified for her rider but also worried about all those around her. Something was ripping its way through High Reaches, taking out candidates and riders and wingleaders and weyrleaders and now weyrlings without showing any sort of signs for stopping and slowing down. It had taken some time at first, but as days had passed V'gar had started to breath harder and harder until they were weak enough that even climbing up onto Ngawanth's low back was difficult. Thank goodness she was a green too, if she'd been much larger her rider would have killed themselves when they had needed to stop and cough roughly. Smoking certainly couldn't have helped that any, it just seemed to make it worse.

So it was with a mix of horror and fear that Nga had received the message from her smaller sister about her own rider, one that V'gar seemed to be getting closer and closer to with each passing day. While that hadn't ever fazed her before, when she'd passed on the information, worry in her words, V'gar had leapt from where they were laying, somewhat of a heap beside her where they had curled into her tail, and the pair had rushed to them and then straight to the healers. But oh, that had upset the green rider even more, for the healers were of course just doing their job, but they had wanted to strip Y'qua down to cool him off....

One healer in particular had fallen victim to V'gar's snarling expletives one after the other and despite what they had tried to do, what they'd intended to do, they had simply been left finding another way as the green rider, sick themselves and unwilling to be helped, had sprawled out over their friend protectively. It was to the credit of the healers stationed at High Reaches that they'd been able to help the pair of weyrling riders despite the insistent refusal and violent over-protectiveness that was thrown at them despite V'gar having brought their friend there to be helped. Once they had either realized what the situation was or had just accepted that the rider wasn't going to move to let them touch him anywhere other than his head and arms, maybe his legs, the healers had seen to the unconscious weyrling rider beneath them. But that had been all the energy that V'gar had left in them and without warning they had lapsed into unconsciousness themselves.

The healers were loath to move them.

It was in this state that V'gar slowly came back to themselves, not enough to be of much help despite what seemed to be happening. But... what was it that was...? It didn't matter, warm arms were pulling at them and who were they to argue when every sense they had told them that it was someone safe pulling them in. A groan of pain left the rider's mouth as they felt the stiffness that had settled into their lower back from the position that had left them over Y'qua's torso, but it was soon eased as thin arms wrapped around the form pulling them in.

Y'qua.... the name tumbled in their sick and exhausted brain and with it came only feelings of safety and a need to protect. Why they wanted to protect they didn't know, couldn't get the cells of their brain to fire well enough to explain.

It didn't matter, V'gar tightened their grip on the warm body beside them as they were pulled fully onto the bed and slowly, carefully even in a state of addle, they pulled one of Y'qua's hands up and pressed the whole of their face against it as they settled down in and felt darkness tug them deeper into sleep, body going boneless. "Safe." was the only word that escaped their lips as they pressed them gently against the other's palm and gave in to sleep once more. There had been some sort of plan, but exhaustion ate it and it drug Ngawanth up from her rest with a jolt until she felt Heimdath's reassuring presence beside her, solid and sure. If anything she knew that the two were at the healers, but it was simply sleep that had claimed V'gar once more, the lack of it with the sickness had made their connection fuzzy for the past two days as it was, so it was nothing new.

Prism Shine

Sorry for the double quote dear. XD;