Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Relax, Bladie~ I'm almost done," Kafka assured him, running one hand through his hair as the other plucked another spider lily from his wounded flesh.

He winced, her spirit whisper doing little to minimize the pain. He didn't blame her for that, of course; she had used up much of her strength in the battle before, the rise of his mara having thrown an unexpected wrench in their strategy (one they had used to great effect in killing off the last of their targets, at the cost of making his current condition worse).

The fact that she was extending her influence at all was something he was nothing but grateful for. Every bit of control he had for himself was being used to hold still and keep his breathing steady.

Admittedly, he wasn't very successful in that, the removal of a particularly long stem entangled within his veins causing his entire body to tense and air to halt in his lungs. Anger rose in his mara-striken mind, its effects still present despite both of their efforts to soothe and suppress it.

He didn't allow it to consume him, though, especially not after Kafka moved her hands to his shoulders to steady him, then to his face, leaning forward so she could look him in the eyes.

"Breathe, darling...breathe..." It wasn't a command, through her spirit whisper or otherwise, just her soothing voice and calm expression to ground him. In the time it had been since he met her, it had become easier and easier for him to listen to her. When he was with her, he felt the closest thing to rest—the closest thing to sanity he may ever experience.

Even with most of her energy spent, as it were, she still did everything she could to make sure he was comfortable. The spider lilies would be pushed out on their own as he healed, yes, but it would be an agonizingly slow process; removing them by hand hurt more in the moment, but it would make healing from the wounds they bloomed from quicker and easier (at least enough so that the extreme amount of painkillers needed to have any sort of effect on him might actually work, giving Kafka the chance to recover her strength).

With his head in her lap, her thumb caressing his cheek, it was so incredibly easy to leave his entire being in her capable hands.