Land-locked Seadweller

You stiffen abit as she coughs. Is it your imagination or is she sounding worce? You needed to stop you mind from makes up all these worries but, you could not help yourself. You gently pick her up from your lap and carry her back inside.

We will have to go to the hospital... Any type of injury like this could be fateal... But... If it is not as bad as I think it is... And just mostly bruseing... I'll mix ya up some more sleep heal and you rest again. If not... Ima have to look for a boat to get you to the mainland.

You manage a smile at her. Okay you have this all figured out. You will just have to get a boat somehow. You set her gently back down on the couch.

Ima just lift up your shirt a bit Princess so that I can take a look.

And you do just that.

You manage a nod, and rest your head against his shoulder, not making eye contact. You didn't complain when he carries you now, mostly because you know he isn't going to drop you by accident. You stay quiet when he puts you down, automatically untying the wide bandage that keeps the gauze pressed against your gills. Soon the bandages are in a pile beside you and you can remove the gauze. You can feel your gills twitch when they feel the air against them.

The frail folds of tissue are halfway extended, lacking the vibrant pink colouring it typically has. The gill slits are crusted with blood, the entire surrounding area black and dark pink from bruising. Your gills appear swollen almost, trying to cope with the blunt force trauma applied directly to them. You watch Aarush's face, waiting for his reaction.

You try not to show anything on your face. You think carefully. It looked bad. Very, very, bad. You know you have to clean them up a little just to see what damage there was but you doubted that the pain would be worth it with her awake.

Well it dosent look good...

You say slowly placing her shirt back down.

They'll need to be cleaned a bit... It could be that blood is getting in threw some gash I can't tell and it just needs to be stiched up... If not well I'm probably going to have to call for a boat or transport from the hospital. Theres no way you can ride on my bike...

You get up and kiss her gently on the cheek.

Ima mix up more of that sleep-heal so that I can clean up what blood is there and that you aren't going to be squeeking and wincing in pain.

You can't read his face, but maybe that's for the best. So you just quietly listen, looking up at him when he kisses you. You find his hand with yours, your skin a little warm from the slight fever. "Sounds like a good plan... Getting more sleep would be nice." You managed a laugh. Maybe your gills were just a little clogged, maybe there was just a few little cuts between the folds. You pulled on your braid nervously.

Phobee was now awake. She came tumbling down the stairs, demanding food in her keening high pitched wail. She jumped up onto the back of the sofa from behind, then locked eyes with Aarush. She puffed herself up and hissed at him. "Do you think you can feed Pheebs for me?" You ask.

I'll feed the little demon... I mean, cute little dragon.

You would pick up the housecat sized dragon, very careful to hold her in a way that she wouldn't have a chance to bite or claw you. Tucking her under your arm you carry her into the kitchen.

So... do you like fish or just raw meat?

You ask the dragon a bit absently as you rummage threw the fridge, well there was some meat in there that might do it. You take out the large peace of meat. Some violet blooded beast had given it's life to be dragon food. You set the dragon on the counter and start cutting the meat into bite sized peaces for the dragon and dumping it into a bowl you pull from a cabnaite. You didn't see anything like a food bowl.

Here ya go Phebee.

You place the bowl on the floor and then turn to making the sleep-heal. Sopor, some powder made by the Carnival's healer, a few more special herbs all brought to a boil over the stove and carefully poured into a large pitcher to cool in the fridge for a little bit. You sit by her after you open a few windows. It wasn't the best smelling of things at all.

Phobee growled at Aarush until she was set down, even then glaring at him with her tail whipping back and forth. She ignores Aarush in favor of the food, taking the pieces one by one in her mouth, quickly cooking them and swallowing them whole, little tendrils of smoke rising from her nose. She hisses when Aarush starts boiling, not liking the smell, and drags the bowl out of the kitchen.

You wrinkle your nose at the smell but don't say anything, resting while he makes the sleep-heal. When he sits beside you, you open your eyes and lean against him, your head on his shoulder. Your fingers find his and you try to relax, but you're nervous that he'll find an injury in your gills that will need a hospital to fix.

You smile and hold her hand as you sit back waiting for the sleep-heal to cool. You gently rub her hand with your thumb as you sit and relax a little. You get up quickly tho when you remember the door outside.

I'll be right back just going to place that varnish on the door so that it can all harden up in the day.

You kiss her gently on top of her head before getting up to do just that. When you head back inside thirty minutes later after you had covered the door with the protective varnish you go right into the kitchen and pour her another glass of the sopor heal drink.

Here you go... Drink all of that while I wash up a bit and get somethings together to clean up your gills.

You hand her the glass and then go back into the kitchen filling up the bowl you had used earlier with water and the ointment and soaking a few peaces of gauze in it to sterilize and just soak them in the ointment water. You also drop in the needle in case you had to use it. You brought all that into the living room and would sit next to her until she fell asleep.

You chirp and smile when he kisses the top of your head, then content yourself by reading until he returns. You still feel tired, after all you had a lot of sleep to catch up on. Three hours of sleep spread across a night and day were not nearly enough to keep you going. You put your book down when he comes in and take the glass from you, wrinkling your nose. It smelled pretty bad. But you drink it all quickly, finishing it as Aarush sits down beside you. You set the empty glass on the coffee table and lean into him, the sleep-heal working quickly. Your fingers found his as your eyes shut. "I don't wanna go to the hospital..." you manage to murmur before falling asleep.

Only if you don't have to go...

You would say softly as you kiss her softly before slowly untangling your hand from her. You kneel back down on the side of the couch as you gently pull up her shirt. You take the gauze carefully in your fingers and dab around her gills gently. The sleep-heal should help with the bruising some and the swelling. You wished you could just place her in her coon so that the healing properties of the Sopor could really work on her, but you didn't know if she'd accidentally breathe it in threw her gills like this. You finish cleaning and do notice some nasty cuts that were still bleeding, probably because the tissue around her gills was softer. You clean them up carefully, before taking some soaked bandage and placing it against her gills. That should keep them clean and also help them heal. You cover that bandage with normal bandage to keep the moisture in. After you were done with all that you let her sleep. You place away the things and clean them again. You sit back on the couch with a bottle of Sopor. She would probably get upset at you, but your hands had started to shake again as you were cleaning up, you needed to remain steady for as long as she was hurt.

You sleep quite peacefully, dreaming of the golden world. You explore, the little white people showing you around. They are quite pleased at your excitement over their vast library, and you spend the rest of your dream happily reading. You could spend an eternity here among the books and be more than happy.

You slept through sunrise and sunset, feeling rather groggy when you woke. You sat up, holding your side as you do. The pain had been reduced, your gills no longer feeling absolutely awful. You coughed a few times before yawning, looking around for Aarush.

You would be passed out on the floor next to the couch. That one bottle had turned into two, then three, then four... There was at least a case sitting next to him. Also there were papers with phone numbers and chumhandles, all names of reputable docterrors and a few members of the Cult. You had been doing research and gathering information on what to do before the stress had just been too much. You were over worrying yourself big time. It was mostly just bruising according to some, there might be some damage to the gills but none that would not heal over time. Your findings and notes would be on the back of those papers. This was also how you normally worked when you had to track a troll. It was a bit of a miracle that you are even a reputable laughsasisn.

Your stomach sunk at the sight of all of the bottles, and you regretted staying asleep for so long. Quietly, you stand and collect them all, putting them all in the recycling bin. You didn't have any soporifics or liquor of your own, perhaps he would have run out... Next you gather the pieces of paper and stack them on the coffee table. Unsure how late he had been up last day, you gently spread a blanket over him then move to the kitchen, surprised by how much better you were feeling. It was just your ribs that seemed to ache with every movement. You made yourself coffee, black as you usually took it in the evenings. Extra strong to help you wake up. As you made breakfast, you drank at least another two cups. Hashed browns seemed tasty, so you made those. You cooked up some sausages to go with it and brought the finished result back to the living room, setting both plates on the coffee table then sitting down beside Aarush, brushing the hair from his face.

"Aarush? I made breakfast." You gently shake his shoulder, trying to stir him.

You blink as you would sit up slowly, rubbing your eyes. Breakfast? Was she talking about breakfast? Breakfast sounded good. You rub your face with both hands and yawn, shit your head felt slow.

Thanks... Princess.

You say as you yawn again as you stand. The blanket falls off you. When did you get a blanket? Eisire must have placed it on you.

What did you make? It smells good...

You sit down at the table as you realize that the food was there, and would take a plate.

You sit beside him, letting him wake up in his own time. "I made hashed browns and sausages," you tell him, picking up your plate as well. You try your best not to inhale your food, you were rather famished. "Did you sleep okay? I mean, you were on the floor that couldn't have been comfortable..." You blush slightly, stopping yourself from rambling. You eat some more before talking again. "So, um, how bad was it? My gills I mean... I'm feeling better so whatever you did worked. My ribs just hurt pretty bad when I move, now. But I've only coughed once and got dizzy once so that's good..." You need to stop talking. He was barely awake, you should at least let him finish eating before talking to him about whether or not your gills were fucked. You stuff food in your mouth to stop yourself from running your gob again.

It wasn't that bad... Don't really remember falling asleep tho. Think the sun was up by the time I did...

You yawn again as you eat your food

Ya know, if ya wanted or could... You could quit being the Emperess' monster maker and go and open a resteraunt.

You sleepily shovel more hash browns into your mouth before taking a bite of sausage. She was a really good cook. Like really good. Better then you that is for sure. When you cook you tend to just take cans of things and heat it up, or just cook up some meat in a pan depending on how tired you were. Speeking of tired, you could really go for a cup of coffee. You get up and just hobble over to the coffee pot, an old injery from when you gotten a nasty scar from a target was acting up again. You pour your self some coffee and mix it up with an ungodly amount of sugar before drinking it.

You smile and purr happily at his comment. "Something tells me the Empress won't just let me quit, but thanks." You chuckle to hide the truth in that fact. You were pretty sure you'd be working for the Empress for the entirety of your very long life. You continue eating, considering cooking up some more food. Standing, you take your now cleared plate over to the sink and take note of how he makes his coffee. "Do you want some coffee with your sugar, Aarush?" You tease.

Phobee snuck down the stairs, keeping flat to the ground. She skittered across the floor and to the living room, hopping up onto the coffee table. She sniffed what was left of Aarush's breakfast and picked up one of the sausages in her mouth.

Sometimes I wish someone would take a fork and shove it right up her self important...Oi!

You would 'gently' tap the dragon on the head.

Don't ya be up and steal'en my sausage ya white winged...

You cut the peace of sausage that little dragon was trying to steal and stick the rest of it in your mouth while glaring at her. No way was that lil' pest going to be stealing your breakfast.

You said something about coffee? Errr... Yeah I could go for another cup or two.

Well you start putting more food in your mouth as you look around. You had those papers here a moment ago. Where had you placed them? They were right here. Litteraly right here. Where did they go? You start looking around. Did that little dragon turn them into a nest? No there were no shreds... Oh there they were Eisire must have stacked them.

Eissi! Why did you cook breakfast you shoulda woken me... Ah shiiiit. You should be resting and laying down still.

You stand back up quickly grabbing the plate. Some bloody guard you were. You were supposed to be taking care of her not the other way around.

You should go sleep in your coon. The slime will help heal ya... Do you need anything from ya lab?

You start shoveling the rest of your food in your mouth before dumping it into the sink and getting another cup of overly sugared coffee. You would get the dishes, and any other chores... Maybe you should higher a lowblood to take care of all that. Everyone knows the state of your hive, you try.

You cover your mouth to hide your snickers as you watch Aarush defend his breakfast from Phobee. She swallows the part of the sausage in her mouth and hisses at him, her baby teeth all bared and her wings puffed up, returning his glare before scurrying off. She takes to the air and perches on your shoulders, watching Aarush from her slightly higher viewpoint. You start brewing another pot of coffee, yawning as you do. You felt rather awake, most likely due to the copious amount of caffeine you had drank. You blink a few times when he calls you. Eissi? Hm, it seemed he had found a new nickname for you. That makes you smile sheepishly, a blush creeping to your face.

"Aarush, I feel fine. I don't want to sleep, I don't think I can I'm way too awake." You look around your hive, it had become quite messy due to your week of laying on the sofa and feeling sorry for yourself. "I need to get my hive back in order and take a shower, now that I can stand without feeling dizzy." You didn't know when you gave your hair a decent wash, you couldn't stay standing long enough to do so. Just thinking about the disgusting state your hair was in made you shudder. 

"As for getting things from my lab, its too deep underwater for you to reach, most of it is beneath the sea-floor. Its also heavily guarded, so in order to get in you'd need my fingers and my eye which I am using at the current moment." You set Phobee down on the floor and lean against the counter.

Alright... Let me think here a moment. I'll handle cleaning up the hive and getting things together up here. You go and shower and get all cleaned up from errr...

You very wisely shut up on that train of thought. Very, very smartly shut up.

Do you want me to feed the dragons? I can get some meat and what ever else you need...

You finish with washing the dishes and pour yourself another cup of coffee flavored coffee. You set your mug to the side as you place the wet dishes on a towel to dry.

You smile at him, grateful you don't have to clean up the mess by yourself. "Thanks Aarush, once I'm out of the shower I'll help." You consider another cup of coffee, but if you drink any more caffeine you will be awake for weeks. Then again, if you were unable to sleep you could make up the work you were behind on...

"Oh the dragons? Honestly its only Phobee that doesn't hunt for herself. The others will catch themselves something. Phobee is just prissy." You chuckle, despite that Phobee being spoilt was completely your fault. She was by all means a house-meow-beast with wings. You plant a quick kiss on Aarush's cheek before going upstairs. 

You take your time in the shower, partially because your hair was incredibly long and thick and took a while to get clean, and partially because you liked the feel of water on your skin and in your hair. You had carefully taken off the bandages before getting in the shower, finding that it was no longer incredibly painful to get your gills wet. It just felt a little weird. You were just about to get out of the shower when you began to feel rather dizzy, you had pushed your luck by being on your feet for so long. You try to keep your footing but slip instead, your head hitting the tiled wall with quite a loud thud. You sit on the shower floor and spit foul language, but manage to turn the shower off and get out of the shower. You wrap a towel around you, rolling it at the top so it doesn't fall off, and stand in front of the mirror, holding onto the sink for support. You'd hit one of your horns pretty hard, you could feel pain pounding from where you smacked your head and horn. But it didn't look cracked. Thank glob.

You continue to help Eisire clean up by gathering up anything just laying around and stacking it neatly on the table. You keep shooing away the little white pest who seemed determined to annoy the hell out of you and topple every single neat stack of papers, dishes, and clothes. You were in the middle of trying to pick Phobee up when you heard Eisire fall in the bath. You hurry up the stairs.

Eissi??!! You alright?

You hover out side the shower torn about going in there or respecting her privacy. You deside to open the door anyway, but keep your eyes shut. If she needed your help you would open them.

You okay love?

You are fighting another wave of dizziness when you hear Aarush, your nails digging into the porcelain sink as he enters. You see him behind you in the mirror with his eyes shut tightly and you can't help but laugh a little. "I've got a towel wrapped around me, and unlike when we first met I will make sure it stays that way." You snicker, remembering his girlish scream when Aarush accidentally dropped his towel. You hiss when you feel the world spin around you and lean into the counter. "I'm fine... I just got a little dizzy and lost my footing... I don't think I hit my head that hard." The last part was a little white lie, you didn't want to worry him more than you had. You tenderly touched the afflicted area with the hand not keeping you standing. You weren't bleeding, that was a good sign, but there was already quite the lump.

You would open your eyes and gently help her to sit on the edge of tub.

Well I... Ummm I just didn't.

He would cough and change the subject.

Do you want me to go get your clothes?

He would gently feel her head. There was a quite a big lump. She would probably need some ice and a asprin. You try not to look worried, but it was impossible. You were worried, worried and nervous and scared. You wanted her to be better already. You hug her gently.

Maybe you should just lay in your coon for the rest of the day. I'll handle any chores and things. You don't need to stain your self.

"Yeah, um there should be a folded pile of clothes by my coon." Your room was a mess as per usual, with clothes and books scattered everywhere. You hiss and flinch when he touches the lump, more of am instinctual reaction than anything.  You lean into him when he hugs you, that miserable feeling of self pity and self loathing returning. You don't argue when he suggests you stay in your coin for the rest of the night. You mutter an 'okay,' at least you could read and work on your husk top from your 'coon. Maybe if you braided and piled all your hair on top of your head you wouldn't get slime in it. You sigh and snuggle closer to Aarush, momentarily not caring that you are only wearing a towel.

You manage a smile as she leans against you. Carefully you pick her up and bring her to her room, careful not to accidentally yank her towel down. You carry her up the stairs into her room. The mess doesn't bother you. It was neater then your room currently. You set Eisire back down gently on a chair, and go threw the clothes pile to find what would be good for pajamas, something that was already permanently stained with slime. Don't look at her underwear, don't look at her underwear... You very quickly, and hardly looking, select the clothes and a pair of underthings and hand them to her.

I'm going to head down stairs and get you some aspirin and a pack of ice for that lump.

You would kiss her gently on the cheek before closing her door for privacy and heading back down stairs. Thank the Wicked Ones you are wearing your makeup, you could just feel how hot your face was. You rummage threw your first aid kit and grab the Aspirin bottle and a glass of water from the kitchen before heading back upstairs.