Never Too Late

A Few Words Between Friends

Briggan came back to being held by Yuya and Mastavian. Both had very frightened looks on their faces and Khrysta had just come back with a cooled, dampened cloth.

"I'm fine," Briggan huffed, trying to get up. Yuya stopped him with a firm paw.

"No, you're not. We were lucky you were only out for a few moments, or else this could have actually been very serious." Yuya retorted.

"Briggan, please. Let us help you. I know you must be tired of hearing me ask it over and over, but there are some things you just can't power through."

Saul chided in, "Have you eaten anything in the last few hours?"

"No, but I did have a small cider earlier."

"That's not enough. You probably need to get something to eat, and fast." Mastace said.

Khrysta handed the cloth to Mastavian, who began dabbing it against his forehead. "I'll go through a drive-thru and get a few meals for us."

"Alright," Mastace nodded that sounds good. I'll keep an eye on Briggan and make sure he's okay."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to help with that." Yuya offered, and Mastavian nodded. "Thank you, I know he means a lot to you."

"He's my world, Yuya. I don't know what I'd do without him."

Yuya smiled in acknowledgement. "I can tell. Neither of you said it outright, but I got the sense that you two are lovers."

Mastace was completely taken aback at Yuya's power of observation and deduction. They both made sure to leave no indication as to the true nature relationship. Despite their greatest efforts,  it apparently wasn't enough to fool the younger dragon.

It didn't matter anyhow. They would've ended up telling him soon enough, and they probably would've gotten the "I already know" response anyway. Mastace just focused on making sure Briggan was conscious and functioning as normally as possible.

Yuya kneeled beside Mastavian, and placed a paw on his shoulder. "Why don't you let me have a go at it? You seem a bit tense."

"My boyfriend just fainted out of nowhere, how else am I supposed to react?" Mastavian's voice became curt and cold.

Yuya gave a soothing squeeze of his paw. "It's not good to have an unleveled head in these situations. You don't have to leave his side, but please do try to relax a little."

Mastavian had the instinctual urge to lash out, but he bit his tongue and kept his bitterness to himself. He's only trying to help. There isn't any reason to get angry or defensive. Perhaps I should take a little step back and collect myself properly. "You're right. Here, I'm going to go find some water."

"There's a water fountain in the break room in the back." Yuya pointed in the general direction.

Saul offered to help him find a proper cup and a few other things, leaving the two childhood playmates alone.

"Does he treat you well?" Yuya asked.

Briggan chuckled. "More so than I deserve."

"Come on, that's nonsense."

"I know, but I really wonder what I did or what I had that made me so deserving of someone like him." Briggan tried his best to sit up against the glass pane of the display case but ended up needing help from a cautious Yuya.

The young dragon sat beside his friend. "It's because you're an amazingly good person, Briggan. I remember as kids we used to go around town and you'd always have this big smile on your face like nothing could be wrong or bad in the world. You had such a big heart and quite the spunk. Everyone thought you were great. And then... No one really knew what happened."

Briggan fell silent. Things stayed this way for a few moments more.

"The family went through some stuff, and it changed all of us forever. I can't say all of it was good, but some good did come from the thick of it all. Mastace. I don't know where I'd be without him. Probably still in that hellish misery I used to think was a life."

Yuya took in Briggan's words and regarded the wolf carefully. "Well, those days are behind you. You have someone in your life that cares, and plenty of support from the looks of it. I'd say you got it really good right about now."

"You're right, I do have a lot going for me." Briggan sighed, smiling. "I find myself wondering where it all comes from sometimes, and I can never figure it out."

Yuya chuckled. "Does it have to come from anywhere?"

"No, I guess not." Briggan giggled back.

Mastace came back with a couple of cups of water and sat on the other side of Briggan, who leaned on the lion once he sat all the way down. Mastace reacted only by petting his boyfriend soothingly as they enjoyed each other's presence.

"I'll leave you two alone so you can talk in private." Yuya got up and headed to the back for something, probably an excuse to stay away from the couple as they talked.

"You know what I'm going to say next, honey. I know you know." Mastace put it out there gently.

"I know, and you know I don't like it," Briggan returned.

"It's not going to go away if you ignore it. For all we know, it might be getting worse."

"I know, babe. That's why I want you to be right there with me when I go in tomorrow afternoon. I scheduled it a week ago."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"I failed to remember, I'm sorry."

"It's ok, honey. At least now we'll know what's wrong."

"And we'll be able to fix it."

"Yeah, but first, let's focus on getting some food in you. Khrysta should be back at any moment."

"Sounds great, I'm famished!"

Mastace giggled, and Briggan blushed as he softly nestled into the coat of gold just a little bit further.