nysalogs | [Closed Catch All]

_{[He can't imagine it, what it must be like, having grown up in such a way. Granted Slaine knows he didn't have a normal childhood but still he can't help but feel a muted pang of jealousy. His mother's face to him is something he only vaguely remembers and his father's is also becoming fuzzier with time. She most definitely was loved...but of course she was. She was royalty, a princess. It only made sense that she'd be adored.

And what was he? A Terran without loyalty to Earth and no home, forced to live amongst those who despised what he was. There was no room for adoration toward a person like him.

It's easier to focus on her turmoil than his own inner lack of self worth, hands reaching out to hold hers, clasping them together.]}

Remember what we said up in the Stasis Unit together? Surely your father will wake up, just like Princess Asseylum and Soo-won will. You shouldn't worry over such a thing right now.

[She's silent for a few long moments, her gaze on their joined hands. Her fingers twitch once, like she wants to curl them around his, but she ultimately doesn't.]

...I never found his pod. [Yona's voice is a little dull. Deep down, she knows why that is, but she's still holding out the hope that she might find it someday, once she's gotten better and she's able to go back up there.] ...Slaine, what if he isn't... even...

[Suddenly, she goes absolutely silent still.]

[It's quiet outside the door, but...]

—I can hear him.

[She's... gonna try and stand up...]

My father's here. I can hear him - just outside.

_{[She's hearing things again.]}

There's no one there. It's just us right now.

_{[It's a bit alarming, in all honesty, but he does his best to keep his composure, giving her hands a squeeze. As for not finding her father's pod...maybe she had overlooked it somehow. There were an awful lot of pods in the stasis unit after all.]}

I can hear him.

[She says it insistently, urgently, and though she squeezes his hands in return, she does try to slide her hands out of his once that's done so that she can go for the door.]

I know he's out there. He... he has to be.

He isn't I'm not lying to you.

_{[She doesn't need to tire herself out by dragging herself all the way over to the door, only to see that what he's telling her is true. He'd rather avoid that if possible.]}

...I don't think you're lying, I just...

[She takes another step toward the door.]

My father's... he's a coward. If he came all this way to see me even though I'm sick, then I have to go to him.

_{[He's not going to convince her otherwise, that much is certain. All he can do is carefully hover behind her, in case her legs decide to give out from exhaustion.]}

No one will be there, Lady Yona.

[She's fatigued - that much is obvious from the way she moves. Her steps are more like slow, unsteady shuffles, and her movements lack the easy grace they have when she's at her best.

But either Yona doesn't notice, or she doesn't care. She makes it to the doorway and peers out; a moment later, she lets out a cry.]

—Father!

[There's no one there, but that's not what she sees. What she sees is someone who looks very much like her father vanishing around a corner of the hall, and so she forces herself into a run, surging forward unsteadily.]

Father, wait!

_{[As soon as she suddenly begins to shakily bolt down the hall, Slaine finds himself rushing after her. It doesn't take much to catch up and he reaches out instinctively to grab her by the shoulder in a bid to get her to stop.]}

There's no one there! You're going to exhaust yourself, Lady Yona! Please...

Father!

[Her voice is already raspy; it's only going to become even more hoarse the more she yells. And even her yelling isn't loud enough to carry all that far.]

Don't— don't leave me all alone...

[Slaine grabs her by the shoulder and she tries to shake him off, but she doesn't have the energy to do so. Her knees buckle a moment later, and unless he grabs her, she'll hit the ground hard.]

I saw him, I saw him, h-he was there...

_{[He's quick to catch her and stop her from crumpling onto the ground, arms sliding around her middle. He holds her tight against his chest, pressing his own forehead into her shoulder. He doesn't know how to deal with this. Convincing her that she's seeing things isn't working. It's just making her more hysteric.]}

Yona please... _{[No formalities this time. He doesn't have the energy for it.]} Let me take you back to your room.

[Yona.

The use of her name on its own - no titles, no terms of endearment - is what catches her attention. Hak calls her Princess, Jae-Ha calls her Yona dear, and while she's managed to get some people that she's only met for the first time in this place to call her by her given name alone, sixteen years of titles still make this something of a shock.

Particularly coming from Slaine, who's called her Lady ever since he found out about her status.

...if he's calling her by just her name, then does that mean he's not real...? That this really is just her mind playing tricks on her? She'd like it if he left off the title, but he'd insisted...

Ah.

Then this can't be real, it's wishful thinking. And if that's the case, then maybe her father really wasn't here after all.

She slumps against him, exhausted, and nods once.]

...I want to sleep now. [Her voice is dull.] Maybe I'll wake up, and being sick will only be a bad dream.

_{[His heart is hurting for her. Really, it is. He can only imagine how terrible she must feel right now and really...there isn't much he can do to alleviate it. Helping her to her feet, he makes sure her weight is supported by him. He'd rather she sleep now, and hopefully she would wake up and feel far better.]}

I'm sorry, Lady Yona.

[She leans heavily on him as they make their slow, careful progress back to her room. Now - without her father's voice ringing in her ears, without the sight of his robes fluttering as he turns a corner - she can feel the effort every step takes, even with Slaine's support.

It hurts. Everything hurts.

She knows that she should just lie down and sleep. But when they make it back inside, when she goes to her bed and settles in on the mattress, her hand trails along his arm, fingers catching on the hem of his sleeve.

He's not real. She should let go.]

...please don't leave me alone.

[But she doesn't want to wake up to an empty room. If her mind is playing tricks on her, it's fine if he stays, isn't it? Because the real Slaine will be getting his rest somewhere else.]

_{[Thing is, the real Slaine is here with her, and now at the sound of her plea coupled with the grip on his sleeve...he can't leave. He has to stay. He won't get in bed with her, but he can at the very least sit by her side through the night.

Having plucked the flowers from the mattress and set them in the little vase he'd brought, he can't help but glance between them and her.]}

...I won't. I'll stay.

[And this is why Slaine has to be forced into taking a nap by other people.

Yona, unfortunately, is a little too far gone to realize what she's doing to him. Both the fever and her exhaustion have her in their thrall, and she's more than convinced that Slaine and the flowers are figments of her imagination, just like Tae-Jun and her father.

She lets out a small sigh of relief and lets her fingers trail down from his sleeve to curl around his fingers.]

...thank you...

_{[Squeezing her fingers he grabs the chair by her bed and tugs it over close so he can sit on it. He's resigned himself to his fate by now. He'll be here till morning, surely.]}

You're welcome. Rest, okay? You need it.

[He could have been sleeping in a bed!

...but Yona will take what she can get. She nods, her fingers still curled around his, and settles more easily against the pillow.]

Uh-huh...

[She's out like a light mere moments later, her raspy breathing evening out as sleep overtakes her.]

_{[There's an audible sigh that slips Slaine when he realizes she's knocked out and he settles himself in the chair beside her cot. It's not the most comfortable position to be in, but he's stuck here now, isn't he? He can't just get up and leave, not when he said he'd stay the night.

Making himself as comfortable as he can, he eventually finds himself asleep in the chair, head tilted to the side, breathing soft and shallow. He'll have a stiff neck in the morning but he's slept in far worse positions and conditions in the past. A chair is nothing.]}

[At some point during the night, Yona lets go of Slaine's hand.

It's not on purpose - mostly, it's because she's tossing and turning a little in her sleep. Her rest is fitful as she dreams, but luckily, in the morning she doesn't remember any of it.

She wakes feeling a little more rested than before, but not by much, and she blinks blearily at the person sleeping in the chair next to her mattress as she wakes up.]

...

Slaine?

[Huh.

So he really did stay.

Hesitantly, she reaches out for him, her fingers brushing against his hand like she's afraid he'll disappear if she touches him.]

_{[The touch to his hand and the sound of his voice has him stirring, eyes blearily blinking open. Oh...he'd fallen asleep here. That's right. He'd told Yona he'd stay.

Did that mean it was morning?

Stretching Slaine moves to sit upright, yawning despite himself. He looks...well, wrecked. That's a good way of putting it.]}

Good morning, Lady Yona...

[He's here.

Yona's eyes flick to his face, and she reaches for his hand fully, her fingers curling around his.]

Good morning.

[Is she imagining him again? ...or was all of that real? She chances a glance at the flowers; they're still there, too. But she's not sure if that means this is real or fake.]

How are you feeling? Did you sleep well?

_{[He lets her take his hand in hers, giving it a small squeeze, suppressing the urge to yawn once more.]}

Less tired than yesterday...

[His hand feels real. The way he squeezes her fingers feels real, too. Yona hates that she doesn't know whether she can trust her own mind or not.]

You slept. Did you fall asleep very long after I did?

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