Chapter Text
Riz sprints when he sees the Van, moving as quickly as his short legs will carry him. Somewhere behind him he thinks he hears Adaine calling after him but he doesn't hear her, rushing for the vehicle with reckless abandon.
-
Riz can't move. He's pinned beneath The Shadow Cat, the smell of oil from the Hangman is sickening.
"Fabian slipped out the window." She sneers." I'd say cut your losses at one dead friend."
Kalinas words seizes him with a terror worse then anything he's ever experienced. His eyes move to the empty bed beside him- the open window. The realization dawns on him, cold and bitter as the freezing sea below.
No-
-
He throws open the back doors of the van, seeing Cathilda huddled over Fabian. He blinks blearily towards Riz.
He's alive. He's alive.
"Fabien-" Riz's voice cracks. And it's like suddenly he can breathe again. He practically hurls himself into the van, rushing to Fabien with a relieved cry. Cathilda moves away from him, a bemused yet- worried smile dancing across her face.
"Easy lad- he's had quite the fright."
Riz barely registers her words and falls to his knees next to him. He reaches for him but hesitates, hands hovering above him, unsure. He looks terrible. He's pale, shivering, absolutely soaking wet. He doesn't have his eyepatch- Where's his eyepatch?
"You- you're okay? I thought- shit." Riz laughs, because he's gone from thinking his best friend is dead to having him right in front of him in just the matter of hours- it's been a night. His smile immediately falls when he gets a better look at him- Fabian isn't looking directly at him, eyes downcast. His teeth are chattering against his will. Riz presses the back of his hand against his head, feeling his ice cold skin. "You're freezing- he's freezing." Riz turns to Cathilda, eyes wide. She just nods, moving to grab more blankets. He looks back to Fabian, who still won't look at him.
Fuck.
"I thought you were gone man...I thought we'd lost you."
That gets Fabians attention. The half- elf glances at Riz, swallowing hard.
"I'm sorry." He mumbles, voice raw and hoarse from the salt water.
"You're- what?"
"None of this would have happened if I hadn't..." He trails off, eyes darkening. For a moment Fabian is back in his nightmare, watching the heartbroken eyes of Alastair as he plummets off the side of the crows nest- tasting salt water as he drowns in the endless sea. "...It's my fault."
Riz takes his hand off Fabiens forehead, instead grabbing the front of his soaked coat and yanking him forward. Fabian let's out a faint Oomf- as Riz pulls him into a tight hug, tail tucking around them both protectively.
"Don't- Don't say stupid shit like that." Riz hisses, burying his face into Fabians shoulder. He exhales shakily, claws burying in the back of Fabians jacket. "None of that matters alright? Im just...you're here, you're okay."
-
Riz is is hyperventilating, curled up on the deck of the Leviathan. He stares up at the dark silhouette of Kalina, barely registering the pain in his broken arm. His desperation- his terror, fueled what he said next.
"I need to know that they're safe."
Please- please let him be safe.
Kalina smiles, her eyes glinting a dangerous yellow in the dim light.
"You want me to help Fabian out? I can make sure he doesn't die. It's not too late-"
It's not too late- it's not too late.
"-but I'm going to need everything." She purrs, whiskers twitching in malicious amusement." Everything you know."
"All right." Riz agrees. He doesn't have to think about it. He feels in this moment with the upmost certainly he'd do anything, risk everything, to make sure that Fabian was safe. For a boy who's life has always been shrouded in mystery- Never has he been more sure of anything in his life.
He'd tear the world asunder to save Fabian Aramais Seacaster.
-
"I thought you died." Riz's voice trembles. "Im just...I'm glad you're here."
Fabian, who had gone stiff under Riz's embrace- finally relaxes. He throws his arms around Riz, squeezing him as tightly as he can manage. He feels weak, exhausted, letting his head rest against Riz's.
I'm glad you're here too. Fabian thinks, but instead his voice gets caught im his throat and he just mumbles a quiet "Thank you." And closes his eyes.
Maybe one day he'll tell him.
"Don't do any of that dumb shit again okay?" Riz mumbles, voice muffled by Fabians coat.
"No promises." He whispers back, barely audible. He almost thinks Riz doesn't hear him, but he gets a small smack on the side of his head from Riz's tail.
"You're an ass." Riz hisses, still finding himself smiling as he hears Fabian laugh quietly against his hair.
"You shouldn't speak so ill of a friend who almost died The Ball."
Riz rolls his eyes. "I should've let you drown."
"Your mistake." Fabian chuckles, sighing contentedly as Riz's claws begin to rub soothingly at his back. He glances across the Van, watching over Riz's shoulder as Cathilda carries over a stack of plush blankets. She smiles wryly at him, setting them down next to where Riz was sitting.
Fuck, he's never gonna hear the end of this.