A medical emergency

[fadingworld]

A deep navy cloak hides his features and the more ornate tunic the courtesan usually wears to greet his clients. Mal hunches his shoulders and slides through the crowds hoping to avoid notice. He keeps his head down until he reaches the home of the doctor and wraps smartly on the door. "Open up," he calls in a voice that expects to be listened to.

How much time did he have? He could not have a client bleeding out. Not this one. Not one who had come to him for help, to be treated privately.

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[fadingworld]

Mal remembers the bat licking its lips. "But you didn't do it," he replies firmly. "That is what matters here. Not the might have beens but what you did. You were good, strong and wise like you always are."

[mandragoraspiritus]

"And what if it happens again?" He says more forcefully, raking his fingers through his hair in an unsettled gesture of frustration and unease. "I do not wish any harm upon you and I will do everything in my power to make sure you are safe. And this, this thirst for blood, it will ease. But right now, in this moment, I am finding it very difficult to fully trust myself."

[fadingworld]

"Do you trust me?" Mal says softly. "Trust me to try and bring you back to me?" He wonders if their connection was what had helped Regis come back from the bestial form.

[mandragoraspiritus]

"I trust you to try," Regis says, closing his eyes even as he takes Mal's hand to bring it to his lips, kissing the palm and murmuring his next words against it. He is still so clearly pained. "I trust you heart and your bravery, with every fiber of my being. But I am not as sure that I trust myself to listen."

[fadingworld]

"I will trust enough for the both of us," Mal says warmly. Tears fall from his eyes as the pain Regis' feels hits him. "You will listen because I and other people mean more to you than blood."

[mandragoraspiritus]

"Oh, dear heart," Regis murmurs, still against Mal's palm. "So much more."

Yes, the thirst for blood is there. But there is also so much love for Mal, so much. Vampires do feel strongly and when they for an attachment to another person, that bond runs so deep.

[fadingworld]

"See," he says softly, "This is why I do not fear, you feel so deeply. You cannot harm someone you love like that. It's...it's almost overwhelming how you feel." And feel he could with such intensity that it almost blinded him.

[mandragoraspiritus]

Regis doesn't think that Mal quite understands, that he can't. That it isn't as black and white as that, what it means to go against ones own nature the way Regis does, especially when he is still essentially physically damaged and could use he strength blood could give him to fuel his regeneration, yet knowing what a monster he would be if he fell into such a habit again.

He sighs heavily, tired, slipping down off the bed to sit on the floor, resting his arms and upper body on the bed, remaining close that way with his forehead resting on Mal's shoulder.

[fadingworld]

Mal strokes Regis' hair. "It will be alright I promise. I am sorry to have distressed you but it is better I think that I know and it doesn't continue to fester inside you and make you worry."

[mandragoraspiritus]

"I will worry, for some time," comes the mumbled and honest reply. Still, it will get better with time. Regis has pulled himself through times similar to this in the past, once even not many years ago at all, and he knows he can do it again.

He stays like that for a while, savoring the comforting petting of his hair before he pulls back slowly, rubbing a hand tiredly over his face. "You need to eat," he says, pushing himself up to get the broth and pour it into the mug previously used for tea. "You will need it to heal."

[fadingworld]

Mal will be there to help with the worry. It does not matter how many times he needs to reassure Regis, it will be worth it every time.

"And you need to rest," he says gently. Before he accepts the mug he has to wipe the unexpected tears away from his face. "Do the transformations tire you?"

[mandragoraspiritus]

Regis shakes his head. "No. Not as such. But going as far as I did today is intense and not entirely pleasant." As the snapping of bones and creaking of warping muscle ha perhaps suggested.

"I will admit to being tired, but it stems from other things. But I cannot sleep just yet." Not when he wondered with some concern what else might lurk out in the woods and might come out at night.

[fadingworld]

Mal takes a sip of the broth. "What will you do until you can sleep?" he queries softly, "Besides keeping me entertained." There is a lightness to his tone, inviting Regis to move away from the serious conversation if he wishes.

[mandragoraspiritus]

"Keep watch," he confesses, glancing over at the still open door. "With the unexpected presence of the chort, keeping a watchful eye seems wise."

[fadingworld]

Mal shivers. He looks down at the mug to hide the fearful look in his eyes. Of course he cannot hide the increase in his heart rate. "What else could be out there?" he asks quietly.

[mandragoraspiritus]

"Hopefully nothing. Chorts are very territorial from what I understand." But then again, now that the chort is dead... He worries a bit about various kinds of necrophages, lured by the smell of blood and the stench of the cadaver there in the woods. It isn't that far away after all.

[fadingworld]

"But," Mal presses gently. Again, he can feel that worry coming from Regis. It is enough to make him pause and wonder, is he developing a fever and starting to imagine things that he can't really see or feel.

[mandragoraspiritus]

"There will always be things out in the wilds," Regis says, calmly enough. "Perhaps no more than a pack of wolves. A cadaver like the chort might attract something. Though anything there to simply scavenge should pose no real danger to us."

[fadingworld]

"To you," Mal corrects fondly. "I remain grateful and lucky that you are here to protect me." Though perhaps he could learn a bow and arrow someday, enough to shoot from a distance if they were ever in trouble in a forest again.

If he ever entered a forest again.

[mandragoraspiritus]

"To us," Regis corrects in return. "As I will not be leaving you unattended." In that, Mal would be kept perfectly safe.

[fadingworld]

Mal wishes that comforted him completely. But he continues to feel that faint apprehension. "Would anything dare to try and enter a cabin?

[mandragoraspiritus]

"Not much so long as I am here, and nothing I expect would at all be in the area." Not with that chort having been so close.

"No, Mal, you can rest easy. I will keep you safe from anything that might be out there."

[fadingworld]

Mal sets the mug down having eaten most of the broth. "Thank you," he says softly. He half shuts his eyes again. "Can you tell me a happy tale about travelling with one of your friends?"

[mandragoraspiritus]

"May of my tales ends in sadness, I fear. Very few of those friends remain alive today. But that is not to say that there weren't good times along the way."

He takes that mug and goes to wash it out, then closes the door against the night, putting another log in the fire on his was back to Mal's bedside, again taking a seat on the floor. "What would you like to hear about?"

[fadingworld]

"I would like to hear about someone or something you remember fondly." Regis continues to fascinate Mal. Regis is good talker and Mal a good listener so it fits very well.