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Geralt had just left the three of them alone in front of the hut, they had found Dandelion in to continue looking for Ciri. Zoltan turned to Dandelion and looked at him evaluating his state.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
“Good, great, everything is perfect,” Dandelion answered.
“Horseshit, stop lying to me,” Zoltan snapped. Dandelion seemed fine at first glance but if you knew him you knew he was not fine at all. The way he was holding himself indicated that he was in pain, his eyes were empty and his answer had sounded so wrong. Zoltan let out a sigh.
“We have to get back to Novigrad somehow. You think you can ride? You can sit behind me,” Zoltan said. He would have preferred to just tug him into bed immediately but there was no way to do that.
“Of course, I told you I’m fine,” Dandelion replied. Zoltan rolled his eyes. Just how much not fine Dandelion was, became apparent as Zoltan helped him behind the saddle and the troubadour failed in suppressing a pained moan.
“We’ve talked about the lying,” Zoltan growled quietly as he got into the saddle in front of Dandelion. “But right now, we need to get you back, I’m sorry. Do you think you can manage?” Dandelion leaned forwards and pressed his face against the back of Zoltan’s head. He slung his arms around the dwarf and closed his eyes.
Zoltan had been right, Dandelion’s whole body was hurting it probably also looked horrible under his clothes. He tried to focus on Zoltan before him and the hand, lying on his own hand, giving him some security.
Zoltan brought his horse to a halt in front of the Rosemary and Thyme and helped Dandelion get down.
“Come on now, let’s get you inside and I’m having a look at you,” Zoltan said, as they walked to the door. Priscilla had left to her own room in the inn.
“I’m fine,” Dandelion insisted again.
“You’re not, we all know this, Geralt knows this, he only left because he knows I’m taking care of you and because he also knows you would insist, you’re fine, Priscilla as well. So that’s what I’m gonna do. You’re now coming upstairs with me,” Zoltan decided and pulled Dandelion inside and up the stairs. Dandelion gritted his teeth as he walked up the stairs. He felt relieve when he finally entered their room and fell on the bed.
“Are you gonna get out of your clothes by yourself or should I do it?” Dandelion opened his eyes and winked at him.
“Feel free,” he said, spreading out on the bed. Zoltan sighed.
“Like a big baby,” he said, ignoring the innuendo and started to push the doublet off of Dandelion. “At least sit up,” Zoltan groaned as he tried to get off Dandelion’s shirt. Dandelion pushed himself up and Zoltan peeled him out of his clothes, revealing a very bruised chest in all color skin could take, showing the different ages of the injuries. There were also some cuts over his chest but they seemed to be not that deep. Anger rolled up in Zoltan, torture was a preferred way to get a confession out of someone in Oxenfurt prison. He unlaced the trousers, scared what he would find there. The legs looked similar to the chest, covered in bruises and cuts. Zoltan took in the injuries on the inner thighs and wondered how Dandelion had managed to sit on a horse with these.
“Fucking sons of dogs,” Zoltan growled as he ran a gentle hand down Dandelion’s leg. Dandelion looked like he was barely holding to together.
“I’m getting some water and oils that will help with healing and the pain, I’ll be back in a moment, alright?” Zoltan asked, running a hand through Dandelion’s hair. The Troubadour nodded. He would have to hurry, there was no way he could leave him alone for too long. With a kiss he got up, wrapped Dandelion into a blanket and left the room.
When he came back Dandelion still lied in the bed, looking at the ceiling unmoving. It hurt to see him like that. Zoltan sat down on the bed and pulled the blanket back again. He let it lie on the lower body, it would probably feel better then lying here completely naked. He took a washcloth and started to clean him with gentle hands. Dandelion had probably not had the chance to wash in a while. After he was done with the chest, he applied the oils. Zoltan saw the tears glistening in Dandelion’s eyes but didn’t comment on it for now.
“Turn around, please.” This time there was no dirty comment, which worried the dwarf a lot. He worked in silence until Dandelion was completely cleaned and covered in healing oils. Just whatever damage the torture might have done to his mental state couldn’t be healed by some oils. He got up and saw a hand reaching for him.
“Zoltan,” Dandelion’s broken voice crooked out. Zoltan took the hand that was reaching for him.
“Don’t worry, I’m not leaving. Just getting you some clothes and I’ll be back,” he explained and let go of the bards hand. The hand fell back onto the bed and Zoltan went to the closet to get a shirt and a pair of comfortable trousers.
“Alright, come here,” he said and pushed Dandelion into a sitting position. The bard leaned into him but at least he put some effort into staying sat up. He had gone from pretending everything was right to being barely responsive so quickly. Basically, as soon as they’ve entered the room and were alone he had broken down. It was good, that Dandelion apparently trusted him enough to show how he was truly feeling but Zoltan felt concern as he watched him. The blue eyes were staring emptily at an undefined point in the room.
“Now the trousers,” Zoltan said and let Dandelion lie down gently. The bard lifted his legs a little and allowed him to pull the trousers on. Zoltan was thankful he didn’t have to manhandle him around.
“Do you want something to eat?” Zoltan asked as he put the blanket over Dandelion again. The poet shook his head and extended his arm to Zoltan.
“C’m ‘ere,” he slurred. Zoltan crawled into the bed and under the blanket, pulling Dandelion into his arms. And then the dam finally broke, Zoltan had expected this to happen any minute while he had been helping him.
At first the bard had started to tremble and a couple of tears had run down his cheeks, then came the violent sobs. Zoltan ran his fingers through Dandelion’s hair, trying to sooth him but this was something he had to get out. He had gone through a lot.
“It’s alright. You’re safe, you’re home, I’m with you. You will be alright,” he whispered. Dandelion’s face pressed against his neck, the tears wetting his skin and doublet but he didn’t care. “Just let it all out,” Zoltan said, holding him close. It took a while but finally Dandelion seemed to have fallen asleep from exhaustion. Maybe tomorrow he would feel better. If not, Zoltan would be there for him again. Zoltan extracted himself from the bed carefully, to quickly get some water and food. Dandelion would be hungry when he’d wake up, so having something close was a good idea. Finally, Zoltan got into the bed again, pulled the Troubadour into his arms and quickly fell asleep as well.