st_onecoldfox | Ghosts of Winter: Kolkhis (for Corbie)

Another coughing spell hit, clenching and jerking Mildmay's body so strong the headboard rattled against the brick wall of his room.

Fuck me sideways. I got the winter fever. Again.

His whole body ached, and he was shivering, but it hadn't been a septad-minute since he was drenched in sweat, pushing feebly at the covers trying to kick them off. He'd known it was Winter Fever, but forgot. It did him that way sometimes. The idea hitting all the sudden like a epifa-whatsit, and knowing he'd knowed it only fading in after.

But he knew he was sick. And worse, others knew it too. Emma'd kicked him outta the kitchen with a thermos of soup, assuring him she and Kenny'd manage without him, and insisting he get some rest and take care of himself. What'd happened to that soup? He couldn't remember eating it or nothing. He thought maybe Corbie'd bullied him into bed, but that mighta been the fever, 'cause there'd been two Corbies, and how the blazes could he withstand the both of 'em when they put their minds to something?

Couldn'ta been Corbie though, neither of 'em, 'cause she'd never been to Mélusine, and he knew this bed. Too big for any bed of his. Felix's bed at the Mirador'd been this big, but Mildmay's was little more than a cot. He knew this bed. This was... This was Keeper's bed.

Kethe. He hadta get outta here. He wasn't going back. Not to her. And he couldn't let her get Corbie neither. Fuck.

He took a deep breath to work up to pushing out of bed. Or he tried to. It set off more coughing, and he just wound up more tangled in the bed linens, already clingy damp with his sweat.

"Just where do you think you're going, Milly-Fox?" The voice was almost a purr that slithered down his spine like the Snake Littleman had called her. Keeper put her hand flat on his chest, and she barely had to push to keep him right where he was.

"You go where I tell you. When I tell you. Always so good at doing just what you're told. Except for when you didn't, and look where that got you. Although perhaps you've forgotten. Should I show you then? Remind you of what you are?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Just like that, two little fucking words and a not so little wizard's power behind him, and Kolkhis was gone. Griselda's corpse and the younger Mildmay too, and the rest of Mélusine. Just Corbie and Mildmay, alone in his room, and good thing his bed was right beside 'em, 'cause his legs went and gave out, the both of 'em, and he only just managed to land in a exhausted slump on the edge of it, 'steada the floor.

"Fuck me," barely more than a whisper, and Mildmay ran shaky hands over his face. He couldn't look at Corbie. Not after... that.

Instinct made Corbie rush to his side, but when Mildmay managed the edge of the bed, for a moment she didn't know what to do. Or say.

She'd never felt shame like this from him before.

Okay. She could handle this. "Come on," she said gently, reaching out to touch his shoulder. "Let's get you back in bed."

Mildmay didn't have it in him to argue with her, worn down to nothing by Kolkhis' "visit" and the fever that was gonna run roughshod over him never mind what else life had in mind for him.

"Don't gotta," he tried as he let her steer him back into bed. 'Cause why she'd want anything to do with him after all she saw, he didn't know. Why would anybody give a damn about him after seeing that? 'Specially Corbie, who was a good person with a soft heart. "Know you can't wanna now. Not for me."

"Shut up," Corbie said gently, tucking Mildmay back into bed. Her hand moved to his forehead. If only this fever would break. But maybe now that the ghost was gone, he'd be able to actually rest and heal.

She slipped into the bathroom to do what she'd intended before this all started, wetting a washcloth with cold water and wringing it out.

She came back a moment later and sat on the edge of the bed, folding up the washcloth and laying it on his brow.

It would be a lie to say that she felt nothing about what had just happened. She thought and felt a lot of things. But even if Mildmay was well enough to talk to her about it, she knew she wasn't ready. So she left it at, "I'm here. I don't hate you. We'll talk about it when you're better."

Ghosts of Winter: Kolkhis (for Corbie)

Re: Corbie & Mildmay (and Kolkhis)

Re: Corbie & Mildmay (and Kolkhis)

Re: Corbie & Mildmay (and Kolkhis)

Re: Corbie & Mildmay (and Kolkhis)