A/N: Still on a roll with this one! Hope all of you are loving the summer weather! If any of you have been reading for a while, you might know I'm a winter person (and I love talking about the weather apparently 😆) but I'm living off showers, watermelon and ice tea - and it's not bad at all 🍉🥤☀️
This is unedited.
Chapter 3.
"Louis..."
Louis woke to a light pat on his arm and he forced his heavy lids open to squint up at Holly. "What?"
"I-I thought..." Holly looked around anxiously, red circles dark beneath his big green eyes. "Maybe we could start walking?"
Louis rubbed his face with both hands and groaned. He felt like he'd had five minutes of sleep.
The first rays of dawn were shining between the leaves and a few birds were twittering. Back home he was used to waking early, but never before sunrise.
He forced himself up, rolling up his mat and shoving on his boots. The air was frigid with cold and his jacket was still damp.
Holly watched him uneasily and insisted on carrying the pack. The boy hobbled over roots and moss, face tight with pain, until Louis couldn't take it anymore.
"Get on my back." He squatted and the Sai-ran looked back at him, green brows furrowing.
"What?" Holly was already out of breath and his red cheeks were a shade lighter than the rest of his skin.
"I'll carry you, come on." Louis gestured impatiently.
Holly's mouth thinned and his eyes narrowed. "I can walk on my own."
"You're slowing us down and there's a river I want to reach, before it gets dark." Louis felt a little bad for snapping - but he was short tempered from lack of sleep and Holly might respond better to practicality than coddling.
The Sai-ran's eyes lowered and he limped behind Louis to climb onto his back.
Lou gripped Holly's firm thighs and stood slowly. It was heavier, with the added weight of the pack, but the boy's skin was like a warm blanket against his spine and Lou was used to lugging barrels of ale in the tavern.
He felt the Sai-ran's head fall against his nape a few times, before it settled, and Holly's body relaxed on a long exhale. Poor guy probably hadn't slept a wink all night.
When they finally reached the river Louis's entire back was sore and sweat was trickling down his shirt. He squeezed Holly's knee and set the boy down slowly.
The Sai-ran woke with a start and sat heavily on the grass, head drooping between his shoulders.
Louis refilled his flask with water and handed it to Holly. Then he stripped off his clothes and waded into the stream. The water was ice cold and gooseflesh rushed over his skin.
He dunked in his head, to get the worst of the shock over with, and lifted with a gasp. Shivering, he lifted palmfuls of sand and scrubbed at his skin, like his pa had taught him.
When he was clean, he ran his fingers through his hair and hurried back on the grass to rummage through his pack. Holly was sipping the flask and watching him with large eyes.
"Water's freezing! But it wakes you up." Louis managed a grin through clattering teeth and rubbed himself dry with a blanket.
Holly looked from Louis to the water and hesitantly took off his boots.
Louis politely turned away, while the Sai-ran undressed, and pulled on his trousers. He buttoned up his jacket and knelt by the edge of the river to rinse his grubby shirt.
He heard a splash, followed by a yelp, and risked a peak at Holly. There was only a ripple of circles on the water and he jumped up with a shout of alarm.
An instant later Holly's head broke the surface. His green hair was plastered to his eyes and he pushed it back with a grin. "There's fish!"
"Watch out! The current's strong out there!" Louis called back, fear making his voice harsh. Holly released a breathless laugh and ducked back under.
Louis cursed. River currents weren't nothing to joke about, he'd learned that the hard way when he'd half drowned at ten years old and his pa had to pull him out.
He stared hard at the water, ready to jump back in and fetch the idiot, when Holly reappeared with a fish in his mouth.
Lou's jaw dropped and he stared dumbstruck as the Sai-ran limped back on the shore and spat a fat trout into his hands.
"I think I can catch another one." He said and held out the fish, green eyes shining. "Can you start a fire?"
"Uh, sure..." Lou's anger drained away as he took the fish and watched Holly paddle back into the stream, catching a good look at his wet cherry skin and tight little ass.
The boy didn't swim like someone used to it, but his technique was clearly working...
Louis shook his head in baffled admiration and went to collect wood for the fire. Keeping an eye on the water, just in case. He found a straight and sturdy branch that reached his chest and put it aside as a walking-stick for Holly.
He found his flint, and had just gotten the fire started, when Holly returned with a second fish.
The Sai-ran huddled in the blanket and watched intently as Louis placed the trout on a flat stone and reached for his pocketknife.
"You, uh..." he hesitated and glanced at Holly. "You want to finish it first?"
The boy's eyes lowered and his fingers tightened in the blanket. "No, thank you. Not fish."
Louis was tempted to ask what animals the Sai-ran did drink, but Holly was clearly uncomfortable with the subject. And no wonder, when he'd lived all his life in a culture that considered his diet unholy.
Lou turned back to the fish and set to work, gutting and descaling it.
It was a tiring and slow process with his pocketknife and he put a decent knife on his list of purchases to be made in Devan, along with an extra bed-roll and boots for Holly.
"Where did you learn to do that?" Holly asked after a long moment of quiet, as Lou pierced the fish and placed them over the fire.
"My parents were nomads, until my ma had me." Louis explained. "My pa especially, he feels right at home out here. Towns make him restless after awhile."
Holly nodded, as if he understood, and he probably did. Many towns didn't welcome Sai-ran at all.
Louis was itching to ask Holly about his own life - he loved company and listening to a good story, almost as much as he liked to tell one - but the boy was only just starting to relax and Louis didn't want to spoil the mood again.
So he chatted about his childhood; telling Holly about the time he'd been chased by a wild goose, when he'd tried to catch it.
And the time he'd come home swollen and red from a tumble in poison ivy. And about the traveling shows and performers that sometimes boarded in his ma's tavern.
Holly watched him quietly, cheek resting on his knee and blanket tucked up to his chin. His injured ankle was stretched towards the warmth of the fire and his leaf green eyes were half-closed.
When the trout was done, they were both so hungry, there was no talk at all. Louis was impatient and scorched his tongue, but the fish was juicy and delicious, flesh flaking smoothly off the bone.
Holly ate quickly too and licked his slender fingers, making Louis tense up this time, but for a whole different reason and he had to subtly adjust his way of sitting.
That night, when they shared the bed-roll, Holly was still uneasy and when he finally slept he had nightmares. It started as little animal sounds in his throat, that woke Louis and had him propping up on his elbows.
The embers in the fire had burned out and a few stars shone between the leaves, illuminating Holly's head tossing back and forth.
"Holly?" He whispered and squeezed the boy's arm.
Holly jerked away and Louis saw the shine of sweat and tears on his cheeks.
"No, don't! Please don't!" The Sai-ran mumbled frantically, body trembling.
"Wake up. You're dreaming." Louis said louder and gripped the boy's shoulders. Holding him still against the bed-roll, before he hurt himself.
Holly's eyes flew open and he stared up at Lou with stark terror. But his eyes were blank, and unseeing, and Louis felt a chill run down his spine.
"It's just me. Louis Brown, remember?" A lump tightened his throat, but he tried not to let it show in his voice.
Holly blinked tears from his eyes and his pupils focused. His breath shuddered out and his brow smoothed.
"Just a dream." The Sai-ran whispered hoarsely.
"That's right..." More than a little shook, Louis brushed back the boy's damp green hair and pulled him into a hug.
Lou had experienced night terrors as a child and his ma used to hold him like this. But that was many years ago and he'd never experienced a dream like Holly just had. He didn't want to imagine what sort of trauma had caused it.
Holly shuddered against him and gripped Lou's back, nails pinching the skin and heart beating a rapid drum against his chest.
"Just a dream." Louis repeated softly and stroked the boy's spine - palm running down to the small of his back and up across his sharp shoulder blades. Over and over. Slow and steady.
Holly's muscles softened and he turned his face into Louis's neck, hot breaths gushing against the skin.
Louis didn't spare a single thought to the sharp teeth so close to him. All of his attention was focused on soothing the boy in his arms. Holding his warm little body and stroking his back, until Holly eventually stopped shaking.
....
Louis woke to sunlight warming his skin and he blinked around the forest in surprise. The sun was high in the sky and coloring everything lush and green. He hadn't meant to sleep this long, but he supposed they'd both needed it.
Holly's face was pressed to Louis's shoulder and his little face looked peaceful, for once, green lashes bright against his red cheeks. One hand was curled beneath his chin and the other was splayed on Lou's chest.
Louis was reluctant to disturb him, but the thought of anyone finding them in broad daylight made his heart thump uneasily and he squeezed the boy's shoulder.
"Wake up." He said and Holly lifted his head so quick, he nearly clipped Louis on the chin.
"Wha..." Holly's green pupils shrunk against the light and he blinked owlishly. "It's morning?"
"Closer to noon." Louis said and wriggled out of the roll to grab his shirt, hanging on a branch to dry.
"I...slept?" Holly's lips began to form a small smile, but then his nerves seemed to catch up with him and he scrambled to his feet.
They packed their things quickly, refilled the water flask and set off.
Holly's ankle seemed a little better, but not by much, and Louis handed him the walking-stick for the beginning of their trip and carried him for the rest of it.
They passed an apple tree and harvested a bunch of them, along with some wild mint growing in a thicket.
Holly spotted a hare and his entire body twitched, clearly itching to run after it. But even if the Sai-ran had been as quick on land, as he was in water, he was in no condition for it now and Louis set the boy down and took aim with his rifle.
He managed to shoot two and it was a little unsettling to watch Holly scamper through the grass and press the still warm carcasses to his mouth.
When he'd drained both hares the Sai-ran hunched his shoulders and he wouldn't meet Lou's eyes.
"Hey, I ain't judging." Louis said, even though he was feeling queasy, but he wasn't about to say that and make Holly feel ashamed of his nature.
"Hare one of your favorites?" He joked to lighten the mood, as Holly tied the animals by their hind legs to the pack. The Sai-ran looked up in surprise.
"...one of them." Holly shared hesitantly.
"Well, let's hope we find the rest of them." Louis knelt and Holly climbed onto his back, slender arms folding gently around his neck and warming the skin.
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