The sound of the pouring rain and wind buffeting the apartment is what woke Crow up the following morning. He groaned, realizing he was awake and stuck listening to the storm. The floor felt cold and far from comfortable. Shifting, Crow slid upright, balancing his back against the edge of the mattress so he could wake up easier.
After a moment, he opened his tired eyes and took in the small apartment. It was plain, empty, not terribly messy, but it felt cozier than his house. He sniffed the damp air, making a noise in the silence, before looking around for where the orb had rolled to. He sighed a bit seeing it, but let his thoughts remain blank. As his blue eyes scanned around him, Crow turned to look at Will's sleeping face. Softly he let out a sigh, his heart sinking some; it didn't look like Will had stirred at all in the night.
“Will,” Crow said softly to him. “It's time to wake up now.” He waited a moment, watching Will's steady breathing softly.
When Will didn't get up, Crow got up and stretched and washed his face. He set about checking their clothes for dryness, folded them up and put them on the floor neatly. After which, he checked Will over, feeling his forehead. “No fever,” he mumbled, then lightly tapped Will's cheeks with his hand. Ever so slightly, Will's brow furrowed and his lips opened, letting out a soft soundless groan. Crow's body relaxed; shocking him, he didn't realize had been so tense.
As Will opened his eyes halfway, Crow eased himself down so he was perched on the edge of the bed. He waited without moving or saying a word as Will's eyes adjusted to the dim cozy light of the apartment before settling on Crow's face.
“Hey,” Crow greeted. “How do you feel?”
Will slowly traced his eyes up to the ceiling, looking around some more. “Tired,” he said very softly, his lips hardly moving.
Crow took in a careful breath. Shit, he might have a concussion. Second time he's banged his head. “Can you tell me your name?”
At that question, Will's eyes returned themselves to rest on Crow's. He looked tired and confused as if he'd drank too much wine, but he opened his mouth to speak. “Will... Bel`vaz.” His voice was light on the air, and hard for Crow to hear.
“What kingdom are you in?”
“Lein... Leinzlia.” Will answered, his eyes not once breaking contact with Crow's.
“Do you know what year?”
Will's brows furrowed again slightly, his eyes thinning. He made a soft noise as he tried to think. “Forty-seven Royal Originium.” he answered after a slight pause.
Crow relaxed. Good, he remembers all of the important stuff. “Do you remember what happened?”
Will's face slackened as his eyes trailed up to the ceiling again. “Went to see Phyte. Got scared. Then...” He paused, his words falling softer as he spoke. “Matéas.”
Crow leaned forward to hear him better. “Scared? Scared of what?”
Will blinked his eyes still staring at the ceiling. He seemed confused and muddled about what had happened. Just when Crow was about to speak up again, he caught himself when he saw tears coming down the sides of Will's temples toward his ears. “Phyte. He was killing you.” Glossy wet blue eyes slid to look at Crow slowly. “You're all right?”
“Yeah,” Crow nodded, reaching up slowly to brush Will's black bangs from his eyes. “Yeah, I'm fine.” He mused his fingers through the locks of hair while he studied Will's worried and tired expression. “You wanna see for yourself?”
Will nodded his head a bit. Crow straightened up, and slid one hand underneath the covers to grab Will's. He guided Will's limp hand up to his chest, placing it so the fingertips were touching his warm skin over his heart. Crow watched as Will blinked his eyes tiredly, but kept his hand there to feel the pulse reverberating through his fingers. With his other hand still in Will's hair, Crow gently massaged the locks away. He gave Will a small smile while slipping that hand lower and brushed a trail of tears away from Will's eyelashes.
Will focused his sight on Crow's heart. After a few seconds of silently feeling the pulse, he scanned his eyes up to meet with Crow's again. “What happened to my skin?”
“Oh, the black came off,” Crow lifted his hands off of Will, so that Will could slowly retract his hand and fold it over his chest on the blanket. “While you were unconscious, it rubbed off. So I uh... I helped it.”
Will stared at him for a moment. Not in shock or anything, but he looked dazed and sleepy.
Suddenly I feel like I just did something really naughty. Crow thought, feeling guilt and embarrassment weighing down on him as Will wouldn't stop staring at him blankly.
After a few more seconds of this silence, Will shifted the covers up, lifting his head so that he could look at himself in the dark. “My,” he said, still sounding like he was in a daze, but impressed. “You were quite thorough.”
Crow slipped off of the mattress, his face suck in a frown as his cheeks burnt red. “Anything I missed you can get off in a shower later.” He said, turning away from Will. No response came, not even the sound of the sheets moving. Shit! I'm too aware of this! Crow cursed, feeling his head pounding between his ears.
Will watched him dazed for a moment, but felt himself smile appreciatively. He really is kind to me like this. He thought. Shifting quietly, Will slipped his hand out into the cold air and dropped it gently on top of Crow's navy hair. “Thank you.” he said softly, his voice almost croaking out the hard consonant of the 'k'.
Crow jumped a bit when he felt the hand land on his head, but he turned slightly to look at Will's face. He smiled back to him, then shifted up. “Let's get you dressed. Your dad wanted to see you for breakfast, remember.”
Will smirked a bit, but closed his eyes as he waited for Crow to shuffle around gathering up his clothes for him. I regret to say that I might have to take a rain-check on that meeting... “Brunch will suffice.”
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