Chapter Text
“He won’t…” Aniqe swallows, her eyes to the floor. “He won’t wake up, Razeiya.”
Her last statement makes Faoric finally look up, and his eyes narrow. “Magic at play?”
“No. I… I checked everything I could think of. He’s just…” She falters, her voice growing quieter. “He was badly injured. Even healing magic isn’t doing anything…”
“Then attempt something else. I can hardly afford to have yet another retainer out of commission...” Faoric returns to his papers. Aniqe wouldn’t believe how cold he’s being if it weren’t his standard behavior.
“We… We did try other things, Razeiya.” She stares at the floor, trying to keep her voice from shaking. “We’ve tried everything. He just… He won’t…”
“Have his allies been called upon?”
“Yes. They’ve tried, too. Repeatedly.” Despite herself, Aniqe can feel tears beginning to prickle in her eyes--mostly out of frustration at her own failed attempts. “Nothing we’re doing is working. I think you might… need to see for yourself.”
Slowly, Faoric rises from his desk. Aniqe lets out a shaky breath, letting her eyes go back up to the killoren’s face. He stands beside her for a brief moment, then pulls the door open.
“Take me to him.”
Aniqe shuffles forward, her head bowed as Faoric stalks behind her, deathly glare still on his face.
Though she wishes he would be, Rahmi isn’t awake when they arrive. She shuts the door behind Faoric, finding it slightly hard to look at either of them. Rahmi’s sleeping form looks so peaceful, and there’s a faint smile on his lips, like he’s half-amused by a joke, but… he doesn’t laugh. He barely moves, even his breathing hardly enough to lift the sheets that cover him. Faoric sighs audibly, pacing up to the knight’s bedside as though this is an inconvenience rather than a dire situation, and speaks.
“Romazi. Wake up.”
Aniqe winces at his harsh tone… Rahmi doesn’t budge.
Faoric frowns at that, narrowing his eyes. “Romazi… I understand that you are one for sentiment, but I hardly have the time to sit at your bedside and nurse you back to health. You will awaken, now, and allow me to return to my quarters.”
...nothing.
Aniqe sees Faoric shift and cautiously leans in, confused. “Did you, um… think talking to him like that would help?”
“If no other unconventional methods worked, I believed it worth an attempt.” A pause. “Lameraigne. There are fey tales of monarchs cursed to sleep eternally, whose only saving grace can be a kiss from their ‘true love’.”
“E-Excuse me…!?” Aniqe can’t bring herself to look at Faoric again, but nor can she look at Rahmi… eventually, her eyes land on the floor. It’s not as though she didn’t suspect that Rahmi had feelings for her, but she hasn’t really examined her own enough to decide how she feels about him herself. She DOES like him, yes, but calling her his ‘true love’ is a bit of a stretch when they’ve not even so much as held hands… On top of that, she knows for a fact that she’s not the only person Rahmi is interested in. She clears her throat, still unsure where to look. “But he… has feelings for you, too.”
“I am aware. But Romazi knows they are unrequited. You are the better choice.” Faoric gestures calmly. “Rest assured, I will look away.”
“Razeiya, it’s not about looking away, it’s… I-I don’t think I can …” But even as she protests, Aniqe finds that she’s creeping closer toward the bed, heart hammering in her chest. If this really is the method that wakes Rahmi up, she might slap him back asleep...
She squeezes her eyes shut and firmly pecks his lips, face turning red with embarrasment when they part. But… Rahmi doesn’t open his eyes when she opens hers. She sighs, turning back to Faoric.
“It didn’t work.” Her eyes fall to the floor again. “Maybe he just needs time.”
“We do not have time, Lameraigne.” Faoric steps forward, moving past her and leaning over Rahmi. She starts a bit at the sight of the killoren, proud and cold, never one to debase himself, bending over to kiss Rahmi himself. It’s such a strange vision that she has to wonder for a moment if she’s finally just going from crazy from stress. It certainly doesn’t look pleasant--but then, she can’t blame Faoric for not putting his heart into the kiss, she didn’t either--and Aniqe watches as he presses against Rahmi a little too hard, a little too quick, their noses bumping on the way down…
She averts her eyes, realizing that she should respect Faoric’s privacy as he did hers, even if the killoren doesn’t necessarily care.
She looks back when she hears Faoric step away, hoping despite everything that it will have worked…
...but Rahmi is still asleep.
She’s looked back just in time to see a brief flash of vicious anger spark across Faoric’s face, gone in an instant, and the killoren looks back to her with a stern expression.
“How did this happen?” His voice is calm, but Aniqe can sense the tension behind his easy words… She clears her throat and paces over to Rahmi’s bedside, lifting a clipboard with some notes.
“Even Rahmi’s friends weren’t sure. Earlier in the day, they were fighting some cultists… Apparently this was nothing new for them, so it shouldn't have been a problem.” Aniqe reads slowly, her voice a little shaky as she continues scanning the clipboard. “Rahmi reportedly threw himself in front of an unidentifiable burst of magic to protect a friend, and while he was fine immediately after, he went to sleep that night and just… didn’t wake up in the morning. They suspect it may have something to do with negative energy, and I agree, but… we can’t figure out what specifically just yet.”
“And how many days has it been?”
“Six. It... took them a while to decide if they should bring him to you or not.”
“Time wasted.” Faoric is clearly annoyed, and Aniqe lets her eyes fall to Rahmi. In contrast, Rahmi looks so peaceful… He hasn’t looked like this in a long time, it feels like. She sets the clipboard down and carefully rests a hand against the side of his bed, not quite touching Rahmi, but close enough to feel his warmth.
“For the moment, set aside your other duties and focus on awakening him.” Faoric is already heading for the door, and Aniqe blinks.
“What? But— But I’m already behind on work as it is…”
“I will make arrangements for someone to continue Parable’s work in your stead. Your other projects can wait.” Faoric opens the door. “I will likely recruit Orvaigne for assistance as a temporary stopgap.”
“Okay…” Aniqe sighs as Faoric shuts the door on her, letting her gaze return to Rahmi. She wishes she knew what to do, but at the same time, there’s a part of her that doesn’t want to disturb him. The smile on his face so genuine when he’s like this… She shakes off her regrets and sets off to begin work on this new project, her mind still circling around thoughts of Rahmi’s sleeping face, and the warmth of his lips when she kissed him.
Days pass.
Aniqe works practically nonstop, though she manages to convince herself to take breaks here and there by telling herself that it’s what Rahmi would want. But even her breaks are spent in the room where Rahmi is sleeping rather than at her desk. She’s headed there now, too, with a small salad and a book in her hands. It feels strange, but… it’s not bad to monitor him, just in case something has changed—
When she enters, she sees that Rahmi has moved.
She nearly drops her things at the sight of it, rushing to his bedside and staring at him in shock. He’s moved his hands to cover his eyes… She reaches out to touch one of them gingerly, moving it to see if his eyes are open, but they aren’t. She sighs quietly and carefully lifts the hand away, trying to reset it at his side.
But Rahmi resists.
She stares, shocked, as Rahmi pries his hand out of her grasp and covers his eyes again.
“Rahmi…?”
No answer.
She looks around, a little frantic, wondering if she should go tell Faoric… but if Rahmi’s even a little aware, she can’t afford to leave his side. She calls out instead into the hallway, slightly relieved that she left the door open for once.
“Someone— C-Can someone call for Razeiya? Tell him there’s a small development with Sir Romazi, he’s not awake, but he moved of his own accord…” It’s hard to raise her voice, but she does get the attention of a passing attendant, who pokes her head into the room in passing. “Yes, you— Did you hear what I said…?”
She repeats the information as the attendant takes a note and returns her gaze to Rahmi as soon as they’ve scurried off, inspecting him. Nothing has changed, except for… sunlight, coming through the window, shining on Rahmi’s face.
“Is it… the light?” Aniqe looks to the open curtain on the window and reaches for it, pulling it shut. With a very quiet shuffle, Rahmi’s hands drop from his eyes. She blinks, surprised that it was that simple… when she opens the curtains again, Rahmi’s hands go back up. She carefully grabs her notes, writing to try and keep her head straight. She can’t remember immediately whether or not those affected by negative energy avoid sunlight, but it’s not an impossible thought… She makes a note of it as Faoric arrives--unhurried, but with a determined expression.
“He moves,” she says quickly, gesturing to Rahmi’s hands. “Watch.”
She closes the curtains, and Rahmi’s hands return to his sides. Opens them, and they cover his eyes. Faoric’s expression doesn’t change.
“He wasn’t moving before this,” she says quickly, closing the curtains again so that Rahmi can lower his hands. “And he still doesn’t respond, but…”
“Interesting.” Faoric moves to examine the sleeping Rahmi, glancing back at her after a moment. “Does this only occur with natural light?”
“Um-- I haven’t checked yet, hold on.” She pauses, fumbles a bit for her notes, then manages a casting of Light onto Rahmi’s face. His hands twitch, as though hesitating… one drifts up after a moment, covering his eyes again, and Aniqe nods. “Well. He didn’t really seem sure himself…”
“It shows awareness in some form. Enough to tell us that he isn’t a lost cause.” Faoric turns away, but doesn’t leave the room yet. He pauses for a long moment of thought, and Aniqe doesn’t try to interrupt, contemplating her own ideas and thoughts on the matter. Faoric glances over his shoulder after a moment.
“Romazi.” His tone is even and calm. It takes Aniqe by surprise. “I am certain that you can hear me now... Do not forget your promises. You must recover from this. Do not let me down.”
Rahmi’s position doesn’t change. But as Faoric exits the room, Aniqe hears something--
She’s not sure if it’s related or not, but… Rahmi sighs. Loud enough for her to think it sounds almost exasperated. It gets a half-smile out of her as she imagines Rahmi doing it for her benefit, making one of his inappropriate but funny remarks about it before bounding out of the office with that goofy smile on his face.
She dims the casting of Light and pockets its source, letting Rahmi lower his hands again.
“If you need anything…” She trails off, fumbling for words. “Well. I guess you can’t talk, but. If there’s anything you need that you can communicate by moving your hands like that… Do it, and I’ll try to understand. It’s, um… it’s my break right now, so I’ll be here next to you for a while longer if you need me.”
Rahmi’s fingers twitch slightly, but his hands don’t move anymore. Aniqe nods, grabbing her salad and book and taking a seat in a chair next to his bed.