Dark Waters

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

"Birdie, come to bed." Gilbert complained draping himself over his husband. He was sitting at his desk writing down a bunch of medical techniques and procedures. The Prussian squinted trying to read what the blond was writing, but couldn't. His eyes had gotten bad over the years. He sighed. "It's late."

"Yeah, one second." Matthew said through a yawn. He reached back and cupped the albino's cheek. The Prussian smiled to himself reaching down to his neck and rubbing his thumb over the iron cross pendant. The blond kissed the back of his hand. "I'm almost done."

"Okay." He sighed leaning into his touch. The Canadian finished his sentence and stood up. Gilbert smiled as Matthew took his hand leading him to their bed. They laid down and the albino immediately pulled him to his chest. "Vhat's going on tomorrow?"

"It'll be Thursday right?" Matthew asked with his eyebrows furrowed. The Prussian nodded pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Quin's starting tomorrow."

The pair were both over fifty now. The blond's hair had gone grey and he let it grow out a little. He normally kept it up in a bun. He was still kind and soft spoken. The Prussian didn't really look too different. He had a few more wrinkles, but his hair was still silver. His eyes were a bit hazier than they used to be. He had seemed to have shrunk a foot too. Both moved a lot slower than they used to. Kumajirou had passed a few years ago. He had lived very long for a polar bear. It took the blond a while to get over the loss. The bear had been with him since he was a child.

Matthew's memory wasn't the best anymore. He found it hard to remember what day it was. He had to write down any new information he was given otherwise he'd forget it. The Canadian was happy he still had his older memories, but was writing down important things just encase he forgot.

Gilbert was always there to remind him of things and he was there to help the albino read. The albino was scared to lose his vision completely, but he knew Matthew would be there to help him. He was always looking and watching the blond. If he did completely loose his vision he wanted to remember how beautiful he was. Glasses didn't really exist in the Atmos, not ones that helped vision anyway.

"Is she?" Gilbert hummed through a yawn. He smiled sleepily and snuggled closer to the Canadian. He pressed a light kiss to the albino's jaw. "Ich liebe dich, Vogelchen."

"Je t'aime aussi." The blond hummed tiredly closing his eyes.

-❄️"The real lover is the man who can thrill you by kissing your forehead or smiling into your eyes or just staring into space."❄️-

The next morning, the pair got up together. They sat and ate breakfast talking quietly. The albino was humming as he did the dishes and Matthew dried them. The Canadian put an arm around his waist and kissed his cheek. He smiled with a small blush leaning into his touch.

"Jou're so cute, Birdie." Gilbert smiled standing on his tip toes to kiss the scar on his neck. The blond smiled leaning down to properly kiss him. "And jou're still a tree."

"You're so smol." Matthew squeaked nuzzling into his hair. The albino sighed exasperatedly with a small smile. "You're still as awesome as ever."

"Danke!" Gilbert smiled brightly. "Vhen is Quin coming?"

The Canadian looked at him confused for a second before remembering. "Oh, ummm... Either twelve or two." He sighed. "One of the two. I can't remember."

"Ve'll have to see." The Prussian shrugged. They went and sat on the couch together. Matthew had grabbed one of the books they had been reading and started to read out loud. Gilbert hummed listening to his voice. It was so smooth and calming. The pair jumped as there was a knock at the door. "Guess it vas twelve."

"Yeah." Matthew said standing up closing the book and setting it on the coffee table. He stretched with a sigh. He went over to the door and opened it. "Hello Quin."

"Hi Mattie!" The woman greeted pulling him into a hug.

The Canadian smiled seeing her. When she was little she had always sneaked away from her parents to visit him. She was always very curious about what Matthew was doing. Quin wanted to help him all the time. While her older brothers were off training to be Sky Knights she wanted to be a doctor.

"Ready to start?" Matthew asked raising an eyebrow. She smiled and nodded bouncing excitedly. He smiled and lead her next door to the office. He picked up his appointment book. "Only a few people today. Mostly easy stuff unless there's any emergencies."

"Okay!" Quin smiled.

The Canadian took his time showing her where he kept all his different supplies and medicines. She kept asking questions and he was happy to answer. After a while, the first patient was there. Quin was by his side as he spoke to and checked the woman over. She was a few months pregnant and just there for a check up.

"It's easier to heal cuts and wounds than it is to heal sickness?" Quin asked raising an eyebrow once they had a moment of down time.

"Yes. Most species can be treated the same way with wounds. Only real difference between them would be what needle to use depending on how tough their skin is. It's a lot more complicated when someone's sick." Matthew explained. He grabbed one of his note books from a bookshelf and handed it to her. "Each species has different sicknesses and react differently to medicines. Then someone could have an allergy. It's a bit of a guessing game at this point. There isn't enough cases or research to have any solid cures."

"And all the info you go off of is from books that are hundreds of years old." Quin said reading over his notes. "Why nothing more recent?"

"When your parents were little they had healing crystals. They used them to heal everything, but they ran out. The Atmos seemed to completely forget about first aid and how to heal during that time." The Canadian explained. "Where I came from we didn't have crystals and had to heal this way. Our medicine was a bit more advanced though. It's hard to bring that information to help people here since the Atmos doesn't have the same herbs and stuff."

"I guess as time goes on people will figure out better ways?" Quin asked and Matthew nodded.

The rest of the day was fairly normal accept for the Blizzarian that came in with a sky shark bite. He stitched him up explaining what he was doing to Quin the whole time. She listened and watched intently. He finished and wrapped the wound. The Blizzarian was just happy to have the shark's tooth as a souvenir. Once he had left, Matthew showed her how to properly clean and sterilize the tools.

"That's all for today." The Canadian said and Quin nodded. "Bit more busy tomorrow. Same time?"

"Okay. I'll be here by two." The woman said. "See you tomorrow Mattie!"

Matthew smiled and waved as she walked back home. He went back next door to find Gilbert cooking something. He wasn't really sure what, but it smelled good. He walked over and put his arms around his husband's waist kissing his cheek.

"That smells good." The Canadian said. "What is it?"

"I have no idea." Gilbert shrugged. He picked up a bottle of spice and showed it to him. "Vhat does this say?"

"Pinsrap." Matthew said reading it for him. The albino shrugged and added a pinch to the pot. "Want me to set the table?"

"Ja bitte." The Prussian hummed. He finished cooking and brought the food over. "How vas Quins first day?"

"Good. She's been hanging around for years so she already knows the basics." The Canadian shrugged taking a sip of the albino's soup. It was pretty spicy, but good. "I bet she'll be making more effective medicines in no time."