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Miguel and Tulio had already endured quite a few hardships on their journey to find the fabled El Dorado. Losing their supplies, including what little food they'd been able to gather, getting caught in the eye of the storm, followed by getting stranded at sea. They'd been very much getting baked under the merciless sun, with no shelter in sight. Now stuck with Cortés' war horse, Altivo they were struggling to even stay alive. They had even considered eating a poor seagull that had landed on their little rowboat, only for it to be eaten by a shark. By some luck their boat had washed ashore, leading them one step closer to their destination and saving them from a certain death, or at least postponing it a little.
Miguel was over the moon, having pulled out the map that was supposed to lead them to the city of gold, if it actually even existed. The blond man was absolutely certain it did, but Tulio wasn't feeling quite so confident. This might as well turn out to be just some wild goose chase. But nothing could get Miguel's spirit to falter.
"Come on, Tulio! We'll follow that trail!"
Miguel exclaimed confidently, pointing in a certain direction with a sword he'd picked up.
"..What trail?"
his black-haired companion asked.
"The trail that we blaze!"
Miguel was so sure of himself, cutting off some of the lush green vines that supposedly were covering the entrance to this trail they were to follow. But as it turned out, the only thing they were hiding was a rock wall. Even Altivo looked confused by this. After a few seconds of silence Miguel, still in high spirits, pointed in a new direction.
"THAT trail that we blaze!"
However, Altivo had already had enough, so he whinnied while shaking his head, then turning and proceeding to get away from these two-legged weirdos. But Tulio wouldn't allow him to carry out such a plan.
"Oh, no you don't.."
He was quick to grab the reins and started pulling Altivo along with him, which was something the stallion didn't appreciate or agree on. To make his displeasure well known, he leaned in closer to Tulio and gave him a good chomp.
"YEOW! Your horse bit me in the butt!"
But it seemed like Miguel wasn't even listening or otherwise paying attention to his traveling companions at that moment because he was simply so greatly lured by the adventure of a lifetime. This left Tulio no other choice but to follow Miguel into the dense, possibly dangerous jungle.
It really wasn't Tulio's lucky day. As they wandered around while following the map, his actions led to him getting targeted by leeches and bitten again, this time by a fish. At least said fish became dinner thanks to Miguel.. Dinner that got stolen by a hungry armadillo.
And this wasn't even the worst of it. He realized he was sweating so much more than usual. Sure, it was a really hot and humid day, but it was still quite strange. There were also the moments of feeling faint. On top of this he felt tired and incredibly thirsty, all the time. But, not wanting to disrupt Miguel's groove, he chose to keep it all to himself.
Miguel was truly in his element as he kept leading Tulio and Altivo deeper into the uncharted territory. It was like he truly was made for this life, for all the thrills and adventures. Tulio had stopped trying to drag the horse with him. Instead he'd let go of the reins after realizing how the stallion seemed much more eager to accompany Miguel instead of him. Tulio was sulking by himself, keeping the rear, wondering just what trouble would come his way next. He was already sore and aching all over.
"This is it, Tulio! We're on the right trail."
Miguel's excitement was as clear as ever. But Tulio chose to stay quiet, simply following after the others, slowly falling more and more behind.
"Tulio?"
Miguel stopped and turned to look behind him. And what he saw was more than enough to pull his mind away from trying to find El Dorado.
"Hey, Tulio, are you alright?"
he asked, putting the map away and walking towards his partner.
"You really don't look too good,"
the blond continued. His desire for adventure had immediately been pushed aside by his worry and love for Tulio. The taller man had since then stopped. And even though he was only standing still, he seemed to be quite wobbly and unsteady on his feet.
"There is.. two of you right now, correct..? And.. three horses?"
he asked quietly when Miguel approached him. Not wasting any more time, the blond was suddenly right in front of Tulio, immediately touching his forehead which was sweaty beyond belief and felt way too warm to the touch. A few black strands of hair were getting stuck to the damp skin. The worried feeling continued to lift its head inside Miguel's mind.
"Tulio, amigo, look at me. How many fingers am I holding up?"
he asked, lifting up his hand and holding up a number of fingers right in front of Tulio's face. The wobbly man frowned, trying to make some sense into the whole situation. But his entire field of view had become really blurry, up to a point where it was near impossible to see anything clearly. On top of everything else he felt a nasty, piercing headache be on its way.
"..Seven?"
he finally asked, not sounding at all sure about his guess. Miguel shook his head and placed one hand on Tulio's chest, the other on his back in order to support him. Even his back was completely wet.
"Altivo? Come here, please,"
Miguel then turned to look at the horse who complied with a quiet nicker and walked closer, stopping right next to the two men.
"Listen, Tulio, I'm going to push you up on Altivo's back,"
Miguel said, taking over and coming up with a plan on the fly. Tulio was about to protest which prompted the blond to send a pleading look Tulio's way. Even through all the unclear, wavy dizziness Tulio was able to realize what was happening.
"Oh, not with the face again.."
he groaned. But this time there was nothing humorous about the look on Miguel's face, he was simply being sincere and concerned.
"Tulio, please, we need to find some place where you can rest,"
Miguel said firmly but softly. And so, Tulio let Miguel help him up on Altivo's secure back. Miguel then took the reins, starting to lead the big horse deeper into the jungle, keeping his eyes open for any kind of possible danger, and most importantly, a safe spot for them to take a break. He couldn't help but feel guilty. If he hadn't been so caught up in reading the map and thinking about their end goal.. if he only had paid some more attention to Tulio, he might have realized a lot sooner that something was seriously wrong.
Tulio sat slumped slightly forward, holding onto Altivo's long, silvery mane. He had to soon squeeze his eyes shut. Because even though the Andalusian was sure-footed and walking slowly with gentle steps, the slight swaying motion was enough to make him nauseous. And the very last thing he wanted to do was throw up.
Miguel looked over his shoulder only a few minutes later, a worried expression still on his face, seemingly there to stay. All dreams about adventure had been cleared from his mind, the only thing that mattered now was Tulio. Miguel caught a fleeting glimpse of the way his darling was grasping Altivo's mane like it was the only thing keeping him up there. His eyes were closed, almost furiously so, as he fought back the overwhelming waves of nausea. Miguel was only able to smile sadly before turning to face forward once more, forcing himself to focus on finding some place where they could stop. Altivo whinnied quietly and nudged Miguel's arm with his head.
"Hey, Miguel.."
Tulio suddenly said, almost whispering.
"If you could be a dear and tell the horse to stop swaying around quite so much.. I'd really appreciate that right now.."
The gentle swaying motion was a natural part of Altivo's gait, and there wasn't much either the stallion or Miguel could do to change it. Still, from that point on Altivo really seemed to try his hardest to keep Tulio's discomfort to a minimum.
The passing of time was something that Miguel paid very little attention to as he looked for a suitable place to take a break. They passed by some quite stunning sceneries and the blond man quietly made a mental note of them all. He was only saddened by the fact that Tulio didn't get a chance to appreciate them at all. They certainly had never seen anything quite like the lush, endless jungles or weirdly elaborate but stunning waterfalls back in Spain.
After some more frantic searching Miguel spotted a nice-looking spring a little ways in front of them. It was small but would fulfill their needs just fine.
"Tulio, look!"
Miguel called out with some careful but still clear optimism in his voice.
"I think I found us a place where we can stop and rest."
Tulio slowly opened his eyes after Altivo came to a halt and the swaying finally stopped.
"That's a good horse.."
he mumbled, carefully petting the steed's neck. As a response Altivo nickered, nodding his head like in agreement and accepted Tulio's gratitude. He then stood still, perfectly squared while Miguel came to help Tulio back down. Under normal circumstances he would have succeeded just fine on his own, but given his current condition Tulio was only relieved to feel Miguel's hands around his waist. He wobbled as soon as his feet touched the ground but Miguel was right there, not letting go. He steadied his hold of Tulio's waist and began to lead his partner closer to the invitingly shimmering spring. He had already tried the water and it was nice and cool, just the thing they desperately needed.
Miguel was sure to help Tulio sit down right by the edge of the spring.
"Try out that water, Tulio! I'm sure this will help you feel so much better,"
Miguel exclaimed with almost child-like wonder in his voice. In order to please him, Tulio dipped his fingertips in the cool water. Miguel was right, it felt so good on his skin even though all he'd done was test it out the tiniest bit. Miguel soon sat down right beside him as Altivo also approached the water, proceeding to drink from the spring. His tail was slowly swishing from side to side as he got to quench his thirst. Miguel then reached in closer to the water's surface as well and started to splash the water on Tulio's face as gently as he could, desperately needing for the other man to start cooling off. Miguel needed for him to start feeling better. Tulio's skin was still glistening with sweat and now also the pleasant-feeling spring water.
"Now, let's make sure you'll drink a little bit, as well,"
Miguel continued, completely fussing over Tulio.
"I'm capable of drinking on my own, Miguel,"
Tulio sighed in what was only surface-level annoyance.
"I know you are, darling, but just let me have this one,"
Miguel said back as he cupped his hands and dipped them in the cool water once more. A few short seconds later he pulled them back up, with little droplets dripping through his fingers.
"Fine, alright then,"
Tulio gave in with very little objection and leaned in closer to take a few sips from Miguel's hands. Despite of his choice of words, Tulio was secretly touched by just how much Miguel cared about him. The blond beamed with silly happiness. And Tulio really felt just a tiny bit better. Water had quite possibly never tasted nowhere near as good before.
"I take it you're satisfied now,"
Tulio said afterwards with a tiny smile making its way to his face. He had some little drops of water running down his jaw, with a few of them faintly sparkling in his goatee.
"Yes, I am, thank you very much,"
Miguel responded, barely able to do so as he was captivated by the near-godly sight only a few inches away from him. Tulio shook his head slowly, causing some drops of water to fall from a few stray strands of hair so stubbornly framing the side of his head. He looked mildly amused as he glanced at Miguel, with a warm glow in his deep blue eyes.
Once Tulio had been able to drink enough, with plenty of help from Miguel, he was pulled back on his feet once more. Miguel then walked him over to where Altivo was now resting, under a nice shade provided by the huge trees and their leaves which were hanging overhead. With unwavering sense of duty, the blond helped Tulio sit back down, making sure he was leaning comfortably against their steed's side.
"Rest up now, Tulio,"
Miguel said with incredible softness in his voice.
"You need it in order to get better. I'll be right nearby if you need help with anything."
Tulio allowed his eyes to close almost right away. Not that he had much say in whether it happened or not because his eyelids felt incredibly heavy and had a mind of their own. Within just minutes he was breathing calmly, his chest rising and falling in an even rhythm.
While Tulio was resting against Altivo, with the stallion watching over him, Miguel kept himself busy by picking a generous amount of the beautiful flowers growing all around the spring. Once he was fairly confident that he had enough of them, he sat down and started working on something, alternating between the white and blue flowers. He had his back turned to Tulio and Altivo, but the horse still had his head held up in curiosity, his ears perked as well.
After some minutes spent in calm silence the blond man stood back up and started approaching his compadres. Altivo still looked at him in surprise. From the first glance it looked like Tulio might have still been sleeping, but he shifted slightly and opened his eyes slowly just as soon as Miguel placed something on his head.
"What's this?"
he asked, instinctively reaching up.
"Well, I just.. made you a flower crown, mi tesoro,"
Miguel responded with some clear pride in his voice.
"And let me tell you, Tulio.. that you look incredibly handsome."
Tulio rolled his eyes slowly as a response to Miguel's so open and unabashed choice of words. Soon he already flinched, regretting the whole thing as the simple motion was enough to send a sudden, sharp sting of pain right up to his head. He began to lightly rub his temples, in an attempt to make himself feel better. Still, he gifted Miguel a warm smile.
"Muchas gracias, cariño,"
he responded softly.
Miguel then went to sit down right next to Tulio, reaching out to caress his cheek. Tulio reacted to the soft touch by blinking slowly, the incredibly caring nature of Miguel was something he didn't want to take for granted. A gentle smile remained on his face, lighting it up. That was the effect Miguel always had on him, no matter how much he might have been complaining about something or even freaking out. Deep down he was unable to resist the annoying but so tempting charm the blond man possessed. And this was something Miguel was well aware of. Choosing to further play into Tulio's weaknesses regarding himself Miguel placed an arm around him, lovingly pulling him close. The blond kept holding Tulio, wordlessly guiding the dark-haired man to rest his head down on Miguel's shoulder. Tulio complied, simply sighing in relief.
As Miguel had hoped and expected, it didn't take very long for Tulio to be fast asleep, snoozing soundly against Miguel. Altivo had also laid his head down but his ears kept flicking as he listened to all the sounds of the jungle; some exotic birds singing high up in the trees and the gentle flow of the nearby waterfall.
After a little while Miguel, wanting for Tulio to be as comfortable as possible, made the decision to carefully reposition him so that he was lying down, with his head resting on Miguel's lap. Feeling the temptation growing harder to resist, Miguel soon began playing with Tulio's hair and even brushed a few stray strands away from his face, tucking them behind his ear.
Altivo lifted his head back up as a few raindrops started falling down from the sky. Miguel also looked up and proceeded to shield Tulio from the light rain.
Tulio was prone to be a very light sleeper at times, but there was one thing that was guaranteed to knock him out: the soothing sound of raindrops. Because of this it was no wonder that he slept peacefully right through the cooling shower, even when Miguel shifted and made sure Tulio was still in a comfortable position. Nothing seemed to disturb his sleep which was something Miguel was incredibly relieved about. He wanted his partner to feel more like his normal self as quickly as possible. And it wasn't so that they could continue their search for El Dorado, no. It was because Miguel hated to see him be under the weather, rattled by the fever and headaches. Miguel touched Tulio's cheek again, gently wiping away a few drops of water. Reacting to the light touch, Tulio frowned for a split second, this change being so brief that it almost went unnoticed. Very soon he relaxed once more and continued to rest calmly with Miguel watching over him like his own guardian angel. And that's just what Miguel was to him. Constant and true, always there when Tulio needed him. They were made for each other and that would never change. He cared for Tulio, looking after his cherished partner the same way Tulio did for him. As much as Miguel and Tulio valued adventure and riches, respectively, what really mattered most to them was each other. As Miguel was staring at Tulio, admiring his features, some rays of sunlight broke through the leaves high above them as some raindrops were still coming down. The golden rays of light danced slowly on Tulio's face, making him appear to be even more at peace. Somehow more handsome, too. And as Miguel sat there, lovingly looking at the man he so cared for, who slept with nothing disturbing him, the blond was sure to thank his lucky stars for leading Tulio to him.