Garrison Fawkes’ POV

Instantly, I swallowed a gulp of water. My eyes stung when I opened them to find myself submerged and sinking in open waters. I swam for the surface, coughing and inhaling deeply when I found air again. 

I treaded water frantically, looking for my friend. But Uriel was nowhere to be found. Another deep breath and I dived back under to find them. They were sinking and unmoving. Uriel was unconscious. 

There was nothing in my mind except the thought of saving Uriel from drowning and I swam desperately. My lungs were burning by the time I could grab their sleeves, the silk almost slipping from my fingers.  

Gasping for air at the surface, I kept an arm around Uriel’s waist to keep them from sinking again. As far as I could tell, we were somewhere in the middle of a lake where evergreens grew at the edges of the water. I swam towards the bank, dragging Uriel out of the water.

We were both soaked and our waterlogged clothes did not make things easier for me. Uriel remained unmoving. I turned them on their side, in case they needed to expel lake water. Being completely drenched only made the cool air feel freezing. I didn’t know if they would survive like this, given that Uriel also seemed to have lower body temperatures, but I knew that my decidedly human body would only suffer more if we didn’t find shelter. 

Fortunately, I wasn’t the only person in the vicinity. There was a thin, twisting column of smoke rising from between the trees. Smoke always meant fire and fire meant civilisation. It was enough for me. I picked Uriel up, carrying them on my back. They would not awaken. 

~

Further into the forest now, I had difficulty seeing the smoke, but I trudged on in that general direction, hoping that I hadn’t gotten lost since my last view of it. All the trees here looked exactly the same. 

Eventually, I came to a small log hut. There was nothing but firewood inside. Good, that meant I was almost there. I went on. There was a small village just ahead and the people started when I emerged from the woods.

“Help, please,” I called. My voice was raspy from swallowing lake water and the cold. 

I was given a dry blanket and someone came to support Uriel’s weight instead. I let myself be led to somebody’s house with coals blazing in the hearth. The heat made my frozen fingers hurt. 

“Change your clothes,” instructed a woman. “They are my husband’s, they should fit you.” 

I took them with stiff fingers. “Thank you.”

“Hurry, or you’ll get sick.” She left to give me privacy. I changed and huddled closer to the fire under my blanket. The matron of the house returned with a hot bowl of stew for me to warm myself up with.

When she turned to leave, I grabbed the edge of her apron. “Wait,” I called. She looked back with a raised eyebrow. “Where is my friend?”

“The healer’s home. Finish your stew and I’ll take you there.”

“Thank you,” I replied gratefully and turned my attention to finishing my food. 

~

As promised, once I’d eaten, the woman led me through her small village to the healer’s home. It was the second biggest cottage here. The biggest being the one I’d just come from. The woman was probably the Village Chief’s wife.

Uriel lay unconscious in the cot at the healer’s cottage. All their clothes had been changed to dry ones, except the black lace half-veil that had shrouded their face since I first met them. 

“The veil can’t be removed. I tried,” said the healer when I turned to him. 

I frowned. There was a wave of irrational anger directed at the healer who had tried to take Uriel’s veil, even though I knew they were just trying to help. There was also relief that they hadn’t succeeded. 

Very reluctantly, I left Uriel’s side to pass the night in a proper bed at my host’s home. I had been firmly informed that Uriel needed rest and exhausting myself to keep watch would only be detrimental in the long run. 

Alone in my room, I wondered if I would be able to sleep when my friend was passed out for reasons unknown. I didn’t think I should announce the fact that they were no exactly human to this isolated human village. Not unless Uriel permitted it. But I needn’t have worried. As soon as my head touched the pillow, I fell into dreamland.

~

In my dreams, I was at Uriel’s bedside, watching them sleep. My fingers grasped theirs, willing them to wake. And in my dreams, there was no veil. Uriel’s finger twitched and I studied their face. Pale eyelids fluttered and opened to reveal golden eyes. Golden and glowing. 

“Uriel,” I murmured. “You’re awake. How are you feeling?”

They did not speak. Uriel drew me in, pulling me closer until my face was only a hair’s breadth away from theirs. I waited, for our lips to touch, but nothing happened. Were they waiting for permission? If so, I leaned forward in answer.

The kiss was nothing like I’d expected our first kiss to be. The warm press and wet slide of tongue seemed an edge desperate, but it didn’t feel horrible. The urgency made me kiss back harder. And when we broke apart, I was on my back looking up into Uriel’s face.

Confused, I tried to get up. “Wait. How did I—”

Uriel hushed me with cool fingers. “Don’t think,” they instructed gently. “Just feel.” They pushed me back to lie on the mattress. I sucked in a breath when Uriel’s mouth attached to my neck, sucking bruises into my skin. 

The slide of cool skin against my heated one made it hard to think and it was Uriel. I didn’t really want to think. I let Uriel settle between my legs. When had they spread? It didn’t matter. Uriel’s hands had reached for my aching desire and taken it in their smooth hands. I gasped, eyes closing involuntarily to better feel their touch. “Please,” I breathed. What I was asking for, I didn’t know. 

They were touching and squeezing in ways that made me want more. I could feel their desperation in a muted sense. And it was no surprise that my climax reached me so quickly. Not when they were doing everything they could to take me there. 

My eyes snapped open. The roof of my host’s house swam in my vision. I was flushed and panting; there was a familiar stickiness between my legs. Despite this, I shivered. I felt feverish, and yet like I was freezing. Uriel wasn’t here, it had been a dream. 

Glowing embers in the brazier lit my room in dim light. I rolled off the cot, bruising my knees on the floor when they were unable to hold me upright. The blankets were dragged with me and I wrapped them around myself as I curled up on the floor beside the heat emanating from the brazier. This time, my sleep was dreamless.