Solivagency - Empires SMP

XL

Xornoth's throat hurt ten times worse than it just had been. They gasped, but their lungs were racked with pain and something was on their face forcing them to breathe and they didn't know what was going on-

Somebody was holding their hand, squeezing it comfortingly as the cold, plastic thing made them suck in breath fulls of air. Their other hand tried to grab it and scrape it off before they realised something else was latched onto their wrist and pulling it back down onto what felt like a bed, and they were hyperventilating against their will, panic seizing their body as something cold flushed into their system and they were out like a light.

-

They woke up again. This time it was slightly warmer than it had been before, and they felt numb. They could feel where the pain was supposed to be, and it was a heavy sort of presence, but they didn't feel the pain itself.

There was no hand on theirs, but there was the sound of light breathing to their left. The noise was soft and quiet and familiar and they drifted off again in no time.

-

"...I don't know when… going to…"

"...made Joey… right?"

"...of course I…"

Xornoth had no idea who the voices belonged to, but they were irritatingly loud despite them being unable to understand what they were saying. They squeezed their eyes more closed and shifted ever so slightly. Their leg refused to shift with them.

The second voice paused. "Are they awake?"

The other voice didn't say anything, but they felt two cold fingers prodding their face and they sluggishly jerked away from them.

"I would say yes."

"They don't look too awake." They didn't sound convinced.

"Hang on- let me-" They grabbed something or a multitude of things and sorted through them, accompanied by the sounds of glass clinking. "This one should work-"

Something was pressed into their mouth and they spluttered against the sudden flow of sticky sweetness that rushed in and slid down their throat. It tasted of dying strawberries and diseased watermelons, and it clung to every single inch of skin and tooth it could like a lukewarm tsunami of sense. They would have spat it out - and they almost did - if not for the person forcing them to swallow it.

Xornoth didn’t bolt up instantly as a warm energetic feeling flooded their veins. Instead, they took the time to properly crack their eyes open, and then they tensed as another bottle was jammed between their lips. This one tasted even worse (like dried out rats' skin and poisonous apple mints) and they started coughing violently, trying to force it out.

"They're awake now, Fwhip." They now recognised that as Gem's voice, but an attempt to look up only made them start coughing harder. What on earth was that potion?

"Uh-huh. I can see." Fwhip said hesitantly. "I can also see that they are choking."

"They'll be fine." They didn't feel fine. Especially not with the incredibly itchy hoarseness of their throat deciding ich annoyed them more than anything else. They tried to suck in another breath. The feeling of oxygen scraping the inside of lungs that felt like they had been scalded made them shudder.

"What now?" Fwhip whispered.

Gem shushed him, giving him a rude gesture with her hand, before turning back to give them an overly polite, passive-aggressive smile. "So, Xornoth. How are you?"

They blinked at her in confusion. It took them a good few seconds to fully understand what she said, and even then they were uncertain. “What?”

The action made their throat burn, and it ached from the sudden usage. They winced as another cough choked itself out of their throat.