"Does it hurt?" Felix asked as he carefully worked on removing the stitches on Chan's wound. It was risky to remove them this early, but it would also be for the best for his body to heal as much as it could without any stitches.
"A little," Chan said, grimacing as Felix pulled yet another little string out of his skin. "More like a discomfort than actual pain but-"
"Do you want me to try and heal it again?" Felix asked, placing the small set of scissors to the side. Chan looked confused for a second, eyebrows raised as Felix placed his hand over the still red skin. Just as he was about to mutter the spell, Chan took his hand with both his hands.
"You don't have to," he whispered, brushing his thumb over Felix's skin. "You've done so much for me and I..." He brought Felix's hand up to his lips, pressing a soft kiss on Felix's knuckles. "I don't ever want to see you hurting."
"It doesn't hurt me," Felix murmured. "Not... not a lot."
"You have started bleeding when you healed me earlier," Chan pointed out, raising an eyebrow as he let go of Felix's hand, instead placing a hand on Felix's cheek. "I'll survive," he assured, brushing his thumb over Felix's cheekbone. "As long as you're okay, I'll be okay. Please take care of yourself."
"I'll... I'll try," Felix whispered, watching as a wide smile stretched on Chan's lips. He quickly looked down, his heart fluttering in his chest as he stood up. Chan kept his gaze on Felix as Felix walked to sit down behind him. The large wound had not pieced all the way through, but there had been a few scratched on Chan's back as well.
Felix brushed his fingers over the small, faded scratches on Chan's skin, before moving to touch the swirling pattern of the tattoo on Chan's left shoulder blade. With gentle fingers, soft eyes and lips slightly parted, Felix traced the black lines that travelled from the base of Chan's neck down to the back of his ribcage. He pressed the palm of his hand over the biggest part of the tattoo, the place where various shades of red adorned Chan's pale skin.
He wasn't sure what came over him as his chest tightened and he moved to sit a bit straighter. He let his free hand brush down Chan's arm, over his shoulder, down the curves of his bicep and upper arm; all the way down to his hand. His heart fluttered as Chan wrapped his fingers around Felix's, holding onto them in such a gentle but firm way. Felix exhaled shakingly, leaning forward to press a soft kiss on Chan's shoulder.
"I'm glad you found me," Chan murmured, his voice raspy and rumbling in his chest. "I'm so thankful."
"Fate really had it for us," Felix whispered, brushing a hand down Chan's side. He looked out over the dark fields before leaning in to press his lips against Chan's skin again. "We should to go sleep," he said, standing up again.
Chan hummed, moving to lay down on his bedroll. "Careful," Felix instructed, glancing over to their companions, who were all laying a few meters away from them. If they were awake, he wasn't sure because he couldn't see any signs of them actually being awake. Felix moved his bedroll a little closer to Chan's, laying down on it.
The fire was slowly dying down, the orange light growing weaker and weaker. Chan was laying on his back, head turned to look at Felix as Felix rolled over to his side. Felix inched closer, placing a hand on Chan's abdomen and he brushed his thumb over the skin. Chan remained silent, eyes locked with Felix's as he placed his hand on top of Felix's.
"You look tired, love," Chan whispered, rubbing his thumb in small circles on the back of Felix's hand. "You should rest," he continued and Felix wrapped his fingers around Chan's, giving them a weak squeeze. "You need to rest a lot."
"You need rest too," Felix murmured, voice growing tired and he blinked. His eyelids were heavy as he looked at Chan, brushing his thumb over Chan's hand. "You need to let your body recover."
"I'll go to sleep," Chan assured him, small smile tugging on his lips. "I just have to make sure you fall asleep."
"You don't have to," Felix said, but he closed his eyes either way. Chan continued to brush the pad of his thumb over Felix's scarred hand. The simple and gentle touch was slowly lulling Felix's to sleep.
"Go to sleep, little elf," Chan said and Felix chuckled, too tired to open his eyes. "I'll watch over you."
"What a knight," Felix slurred, the claws of sleep digging into him. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight," Chan said and Felix could almost hear the smile in his voice. If Chan said anything after that, Felix didn't know. Warmth and darkness wrapped around him as sleep claimed him.
"Do you know exactly where you are going?" Jeongin asked. They had begun to make their way up Tremorndin, after finally reaching the path that would lead them through the elven graveyard. Gwanwen if Felix remembered correctly. Felix looked over at him, blinking. "Where is Chan's home? Do you know?" he continued and Felix bit his lip, shaking his head.
"We haven't... we haven't talked about it really," he murmured and Jeongin nodded slowly. "Do you know where you're going?"
"No," Jeongin replied, shaking his head. He looked ahead, eyes fixed at the back of Chan, Minho and Woojin. The three of them were walking in the front, Woojin holding the map as they seemed to chat about the path to take. "I figured... Well." He shrugged. "I figured we would just... get across the mountain range, to safer grounds, before we started talking about where we wanted to go. Everything went down pretty quickly, we didn't really have time to plan it."
"I see," Felix said, glancing over at Jeongin before focusing on the path ahead of him. Despite it being a man made path, it was still rocky and uneven. They had to be very careful as they climbed up. If Felix could remember the map correctly, they would have to climb over one of the smaller peaks and then down to another peak on the other side of the mountain and then down to the fields.
"But I think... I think that we'll just follow you," Jeongin said and Felix nodded, not taking his eyes off the path. He glanced up at Chan's back, worry chewing on his gut. "If that's okay, of course."
"I'm sure it's just fine," Felix said, smile on his lips. "The longer we can stick together, the longer we'll be safe."
"That is very true," Jeongin hummed.
"And maybe... maybe it's better if Chan can... Maybe put in a good word for Woojin," Felix said, looking back up at Woojin in front of them. Jeongin hummed, looking up at Woojin as well. "I mean, we know he's harmless but considering the war... I don't know how people in this kingdom treat lone humans."
"It's probably for the best," Jeongin agrees and Felix nodded. Jeongin sighed heavily and Felix glanced over. "What do you think we can expect?" he asked, shoulder slumped and brows furrowed in worry.
"I don't really know..." Felix murmured, sighing. "I wish I did but... I don't."
"I guess we'll just wait and see," Jeongin said, looking back down at the path to make sure he didn't stumble.
"I guess we have to," Felix said, following suit. He walked carefully, eyes flickering around as he tried to find the right stones to step on. "I guess we have to."
