(art creds to @ drew.er on Instagram) hey just wanted to say if anyone is alone/feeling alone because of the pandemic you can always talk to me! leave a comment and i promise we can talk :)
(also this is super long •<•)
"Muriel!" I call out as I block the creature's heavy swing. It's too close to use my bow now, I have to bring my sword into it. Once again it swings it's huge arm towards me and i slice a tendon with my blade. It calls out in pain and throws its whole body at me. With its long claws of its other hand it holds my wielding arm to the ground and starts gnawing on my shoulder. I cry out in pain and try to break free as it's hind legs scratch into my side. Finally I wrestle my arm from its claws and drive my sword though it's body. It barely makes a sound before becoming completely limp atop me. "Fuck..." I pant, trapped below the corpse. Heavy footfalls alert my ears suddenly and a familiar voice calls, "y/n!!!" Darkness.
"Argh..." my first waking thought is the stinging pain in my shoulder, then the pain everywhere else. I shuffle slightly in the bed and feel suddenly all of the bandaging on my body. Upper right arm, right hand, left shoulder, waist, right knee, left foot, and a little bandaid across my nose bridge. I scrunch my face a little to the unfamiliar feeling and open my eyes slowly. "Muri?"
"Oh!" he gasps so quietly and scampers over to my side, "How are you."
"How are- agh-" I try to sit up, only to be met with insufferable pain.
"Oo don't sit up! Your shoulder is dislocated... and lots of your muscles have been torn please just...stay still..." He hovers his hands over me and looks pleadingly into my eyes. I look up at him and nod before taking in the room. "We're in the palace?"
"Yeah... closer to Julian and stuff."
"Oh boy-" almost on cue i'm interrupted by the doctor as he bursts into the room.
"Don't you worry y/n! i've already done all I need to. That bite on your shoulder had a little venom but I got it out and you should be fine and dandy!"
"Thank you, Julian."
"Aaaaand Muriel here is going to be your little nurse. He said himself he wanted to help you."
"nurse??" He blushes slightly and furrows his eyebrows.
"Nurse, nanny, carer, maid, whatever you want to call it. You're looking after y/n" He waves his hand around and walks out the door.
"mAID??" Muriel's pitch raises as he watches Julian leave.
"You'd make a cute one." I grin weakly and he buries his face into the sheets. I chuckle and run my fingers through his hair, my eyes falling on the window. "Oh snow? How long was I out?"
Muriel's muffled voice come from the sheets.
"Huh?" I shuffle to hear him better.
"A few days..."
"and it SNOWED?? all of the days??"
"Yeah..?"
"I hate this. I hate all of it." I huff and frown at the wall.
"You'll heal soon, it'll be okay." He holds a hand over my shoulder and uses some healing magic. The feel of it is almost like warmth, but unique to only him. "Come closer." I say softly, trying to lift my arm and pull him down.
"Don't move! I'll get in the other side." He lifts the sheets beside me and gets carefully into the bed. I turn to face him and smile, "You look so cute."
He smiles a little and blushes a lot, healing my shoulder some more. "I wish it could've been me getting hurt instead."
"I don't!!!" I frown.
He sighs and looks away.
"If you got hurt I wouldn't get nurse Muri."
"Shhh I'm not a nurse..."
"Yeah you are." I grin and kiss his hand.
He sways the conversation. "I think tomorrow Julian is going to relocate your shoulder."
"Oof that's going to hurt..."
"it'll be worth it though, I'll try to use some magic while he does it." He shuffles a little closer and looks at me.
"Thank u pretty nurse Muri." I kiss his cheek. He gives up and kisses me quickly.
"Now grab me some snow!" I grin as wide as I can and nod to the window. He smiles and grabs some from the windowsill, trying not to let too much cold into the room. "Where do you want it?"
I open my mouth wide and he places the little snowball delicately onto my gape. It's far too large to fit inside but it's nice anyways.
"Is it too cold?"
I shake my head.
"Are you sure?"
I shake my head. He chuckles and lifts it from me, "you should get some more rest, you can have more snow once you can hold it."
"Whaaaat?"
"Come on, nurse Muri says."
I giggle, "okay nurse. please can you stay with me though?"
He thinks for a moment and twiddles his thumbs, "uhm... if that's what you want."
I grin as he climbs in carefully beside me and fixes my hair a little. I stare at him for a moment as a servant quietly draws the curtains and shut the door. An icy wind roars outside. "I hope I can play in the snow soon." I whisper.
"You will, I promise."
There he sits by my bed, head in hands. I'm cold and unmoving and there's no light in my eyes. "I miss you, I miss you, come back to me, come back." His voice is barely above a whisper but echoes coldly in my ears. I want to terribly to hug him but i'm stuck in a thick air, barely able to move. Suddenly I turn behind myself and a hood with to piercing eyes ushers me to a tree. "Have a seat, won't you?" A boney hand offers me a seat by the tree.
"What about Muri?"
"He is alone again, just as he was before."
"But can't i visit him?"
"It is interesting. See, he is alone much like he wanted and yet there is so suddenly much pain. In seeing how life could be when he wasn't alone, he realised the error in his thoughts. You are now the only thing he can't live without, when before all he craved was isolation."
"I have to go back."
"Is that so? That is what you wish?"
"Yes."
"Very well. Such is the ways of love, it seems."
"Y/n!!" Muriel shakes me quite gently but hard enough to wake me. "Your heart become so slow I-I performed a spell on you are you okay??"
"Yes, I'm very well." I smile softly at him, ache in my heart. I cant believe he needs me so badly, just like I need him.
"Thank goodness..." He holds me and I slowly lift my right arm around him. "Woah does that hurt?"
"A little but it's worth it, I think that muscle is healing well."
"don't push yourself too far but... It's nice to hug you." He mutters into my neck and I kiss his cheek. He sits back a bit and I manage to sit up, looking tiredly up at his face. "Woah you're healing fast." He blushes.
"I don't think i'm too close to standing though... my legs feel like achey jelly..."
"Oh one of the scabs has opened hang on.." He gets up and rushes over to a table. I look down at my knee as a little stream of blood stains the sheets. "Shit..." I whisper as he comes over, delicately unwrapping a bandaid. His hand curls around my leg and gently lifts it, "Is this okay?"
I nod. He sits up on the bed some more and wipes away the blood with his shirt.
"ah you're going to stain it!"
"It's okay, don't worry." He slowly places the bandaid on the wound and kisses it gently. "There."
I try to say thank you but I can barely move, entranced by him. My hand lifts to his face and I tilt my head slightly. "You okay?"
I nod, smiling a little. "You're so kind. Thank you."
He becomes immediately flustered and splutters his words, "I just- you already know me! why are you saying that again..."
"Because you are. I'm so glad I am able to tell you how good you are. It would be hellish if nobody did."
He holds me tight and thick, green magic fills my body like air in my lungs. I suddenly feel far less weak than before. Though my arm is still broken, my legs feel as though they could move. "Woah..." I whisper, finally being able to wiggle my toes.
"What did that do? Was it too much?" Muri checks me gently. I slowly slide my legs over the side of the bed. "Woah, woah!" He holds out his hands protectively.
"I'll be okay."
"Let me get you a gown, it's cold..." He grabs a thick and silky one from the door and drapes it over me. It's heavy on my shoulders, but comforting. Slowly I press my feet on the cold marble of the ground and hold Muriel's shoulder. One leg feels a little stronger, less damaged, so I stand first on that one. I smile at Muriel as he looks at me, amazed. As I wobbly thrust my weight upon both of them he stands with me. I cant fully stand alone, but with his help I can walk very carefully. "I guess you are close to walking now." We chuckle together, both amazed at ourselves. He opens the window with his free hand and I lean out into the cold, fresh air. Muriel nudges me and I look to him. He holds a little snowball and places it in my hand. "For you."
I smile and take it, "Thank you nurse Muri."
