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“Logan, run!”
Roman shoved the logical side forward before spinning around and drawing his sword in one smooth motion. He dodged the first swipe of claws and swung his sword, grinning as the griffin-sphinx howled in pain, but his victory was short lived. The monster’s next hit landed, and Roman cried out as claws raked across his side.
“Roman!” Logan’s panicked yell cut through the air, and the griffin-sphinx’s attention snapped to him.
“No!” Roman lunged, but he was too slow. The creature struck, pinning Logan to the ground, and she leaned down to inspect him.
“Well well well,” she crooned, a sadistic grin growing on her human face as Logan squirmed underneath her. “You’re a new one.”
“Get off of him!”
Roman slammed his body into her side, and she let out a roar of fury as the two of them tumbled to the ground.
“You insolent brat! You’ll pay for that!”
“I said run, you moron!” Roman shouted behind him, and he saw Logan scramble to his feet out of the corner of his eye.
The griffin-sphinx moved as if to follow him, but Roman threw himself at her again, praying that he’d be a distracting enough target long enough for Logan to get to safety.
Duck.
Dodge.
Swing.
Roll.
Strike.
Block.
Feign left, jab right.
He lost himself in the battle, but no matter how hard he fought, his opponent never seemed to slow down. He silently conceded that perhaps Logan had been right; combining creatures that themselves were already combinations of multiple creatures was not the wisest move.
The thought of Logan spurred him onward, and with a defiant cry, he swung his sword in a wide arc, slashing the creature across its chest. He darted forward before she had the chance to recover and plunged the sword deep into her side. The blade glistened red as he pulled it back, and for a moment, he was sure he’d won.
That assumption was promptly proven false as another swipe of claws came seemingly out of nowhere, and Roman was sent flying backward. He groaned and tried to sit up, but fell over almost immediately, curling in on himself as the fresh slashes across his chest screamed in protest.
He reached blindly for his sword, but just as his fingertips brushed the hilt, pain shot through his ankle and he was dragged backwards. With an undignified yelp, he was lifted straight up off the ground and dangled by the leg in front of the glaring griffin-sphinx’s face.
“You have been a thorn in my side far too long, Prince Roman,” she said, and Roman hated the way his name sounded on her tongue. “But no longer...at last, I have- AAARgh!”
She shrieked in pain, and then suddenly Roman was falling, landing hard on the forest floor with a groan. Pain shot through his shoulder an his entire body ached, but he would not be beaten now! He pushed himself to his hands and knees, then froze as a figure stepped in front of him.
Logan had blood trickling from a cut on his cheek and a wild look in his eyes as he planted himself between Roman and the monster. His stance was wide and awkward and his grip on Roman’s katana was all wrong, and he looked absolutely enraged.
“Lo-” Roman coughed, then winced as the action sent pain shooting through his chest- did he have a cracked rib? “What are you doing? Just go...”
“Get back, if you know what’s good for you!” Logan shouted at the beast, ignoring Roman’s protests.
He raised the sword clumsily, and the griffin-sphinx laughed, leaning closer with a smug expression, presumably to taunt him. Logan grit his teeth, planted his feet, and swung the sword like a baseball bat, slashing her across the face.
She reeled back with a pained howl, but Logan didn’t let up, charging at her and hacking wildly. His form was absolutely terrible, but in her already wounded state, there wasn’t much the creature could do against his frenzied attacks. Eventually she hauled herself into the air, eagle’s wings beating unevenly as she staggered away in retreat. Logan watched her go, panting from exertion, before finally letting the sword clatter to the ground.
Roman wheezed, and Logan spun around in an instant, rushing to his side.
“Roman!” he gasped, easing one arm around Roman’s shoulders and propping him up. “Are you alright? What am I saying, of course you’re not alright, you’ve sustained multiple injuries and are bleeding profusely, that was foolish of me to ask–”
“Logan,” Roman interrupted, and Logan’s mouth snapped shut. “What– what were you thinking you could have been killed–”
“What was I thinking?” Logan asked, his voice rising in pitch. “I am not the one who created such a dangerous creature in the first place!”
Roman winced sheepishly.
“Okay, I admit that a griffin-sphinx was a bit...over the top,” he said, pushing himself to his feet. “But in my defense, she wasn’t–ah!”
He cried out, doubling over in pain as his vision swam...maybe standing hadn’t been the brightest idea. Distantly, Roman could hear Logan shouting something, but he couldn’t bring himself to focus on the words. He tipped forward, and the last thing his mind registered before everything went black was Logan reaching out to catch him.
Roman woke to a damp cloth being pressed against his forehead. He groaned, and heard a sharp intake of breath beside him. He cracked open one eyelid and saw Logan’s face hovering above him. His eyes were wide, his brow creased with worry, and Roman felt the need to say something, something comforting, something eloquent, something important.
“Hnnnrrrghh…”
Nailed it.
“Easy, Roman, don’t try to talk,” Logan soothed.
Roman swallowed, and glanced around. He was surprised to see that they were in Logan’s room...they were in Logan’s room and he was lying in Logan’s bed, blood from his wounds staining Logan’s pristine white sheets.
Roman frowned and tried to prop himself up on his elbows, but Logan placed a hand on his chest, gently pushing him back against the bed.
“Don’t move too much,” he chided. “I haven’t finished bandaging your injuries.”
“Are you okay?” Roman asked, and Logan looked surprised.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You fought that...that beast, with no experience using a sword, by the way, which was incredibly stupid of you.”
“I’m the stupid one?” Logan countered. “I’m not the one with lacerations all over my torso and a nearly dislocated shoulder. You lost what was not an insignificant amount of blood in that fight; I’m not surprised that you fainted. More shocked at how long you remained conscious at all.”
“You still shouldn’t have tried to take that thing on all by yourself.”
“How is me doing so ANY different than what you were doing?”
“I have experience fighting monsters in the imagination, Pocket Protector, I at least know what I’m doing.”
“Yes, and you were doing such a fine job of it too.”
“You could have died, Logan!”
Logan froze, the words hanging heavy in the air between them. Roman looked down, and fiddled absently with the edge of his blanket.
“You could have died,” he repeated, his voice barely a whisper. “And it would have been my fault. I’m the one who brought you to the imagination in the first place, and I’m the one who put you in that monster’s path.” He looked back up at Logan helplessly. “You should have run when I told you to. Why didn’t you run?”
Logan was silent for a moment, and Roman wondered if he’d said something wrong, but then,
“If our situations were reversed, would you have simply left me there?”
It was Roman’s turn to freeze, and Logan raised an eyebrow. Roman eventually shook his head, and Logan nodded.
“I thought as much,” he said, then his expression softened. “You would stay by my side, and fought to protect me. How could I not do the same for you?”
“I don’t want you to die for me!” Roman exclaimed, and Logan took his hand gently.
“I understand,” he said softly. “I also do not wish you to die for my sake. That would distress me greatly. I just want you to understand why I did what I did, and that I do not regret it.”
“Some prince I turned out to be, huh?” Roman asked bitterly, staring at his hand entwined with Logan’s. “I couldn’t even keep you safe in my own realm.”
“You cannot blame yourself for not having perfect control over the imagination, Roman.”
“But what if that happens again?” Roman cried. “What if something happens and I can’t protect you and you don’t get incredibly lucky like you did today?!”
Logan paused, and Roman knew by the frankly adorable scrunch of his nose that he was thinking.
“Perhaps...you could teach me to protect myself?” he suggested, and Roman blinked.
“You...want me to teach you to fight?”
“If it would alleviate your anxiety over us going to the imagination together, then yes,” Logan agreed. “Would...you be alright with that?”
Roman thought of Logan, standing defiantly between him and the griffin-sphinx with a sword in his hands and fire in his eyes, and he smirked.
“If you think you’re up for the challenge,” he teased, and Logan raised an eyebrow.
“I assure you that I am.”
“We’ll see, my knight in shining amor,” he crooned, and Logan rolled his eyes.
“Alright, that’s enough out of you,” Logan scolded, but his lips were twitching up in a smile. “I still need to finish examining your injuries.”
“Then you let me help you with yours,” Roman added, reaching up and brushing his thumb under Logan’s eye, where a bruise was starting to form.
Logan huffed and rolled his eyes again, but later he allowed Roman to sit him down and wipe away the blood crusted to his cheek.
And if Roman couldn’t stop himself from peppering Logan’s face with kisses while he did so? Well, that was nobody’s business but his own.