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Clancys irises contracted as he looked right at the sun that stood high at noon on the soft blue winter skies. He raised his hand above his head to shield himself from the light. Nevertheless, he was happy, if not even ecstatic that he could finally see it again after the months he had spent in a place full of darkness. He was not even sure if the sun rose in the city, were the walls to high for the light to shine onto the stone floors of his cell? In his time, he had had worse things to ponder about. His own life had not been the focus of his thoughts, no, all his minds’ strength had been used to hope that the Torchbearer was still alive and out there, making the journey to free him once again.
He had imagined his torch guiding the Banditos through the wilderness of Trench, especially in this rough season, he had hoped that the wind calmed down during the night so that they could sleep without having to worry about their belongings being blown away by the strong gusts. Clancy had had a very particular image of the Torchbearer in front of his minds’ eye, his hair longer and put up behind his ears as a bun, but still covered by his ever so yellow, if not faded a little, beanie. He would have worn the green hoodie Clancy had grown to love, even though the torchbearer would have felt the cold down onto this skin, he wouldn’t have taken a jacket because there could always be another Bandito that needed it more than him.
His fingers were covered in black gloves, and his boots would leave behind big footprints on the cold ground. Clancy had hoped that they had some kind of fabric to lay down on in their tents, he did not want them to have to lay on the freezing earth. Wasn’t it ironic that that was what he thought about while being locked in this cell, without sunlight and warmth? Torchbearer had always called him selfless for a reason.
He was just a few steps ahead of him, talking to some other people that clancy was not able to recognise right away, he scolded himself for that quietly, although he knew that he was not at fault. His thoughts were still hazy, his memory not quite caught up to the most recent developments in their plan, he only knew, step one had been successful, he was with them again.
Clancy had seen the plans on the floor of their tent, well torchbearers’ tent, his temporary tent, the tent he was currently sleeping in every night, the tent where torchbearer was not currently sleeping in. He did not know if it was because of him, or if the other man just had so much to do that, he was not getting any sleep. Either way, he hoped that the situation would better soon, he knew that he needed to become more self-sustaining again, he would not depend on the torchbearer for eternity, he was not a little child that needed supervision.
The torchbearer knew that of course, now he only needed clancy to realize that as well, he was not a burden to anyone here at the camp, they were all just happy that he was back, more of less unharmed.
Form the outside it almost seemed as he had never been gone, well, only for anyone that didn’t look to closely. In a moment of peace he had changed into more comfortable clothes, some clothes that felt like he was home again, his body had almost folded into itself when he had undressed, bones prominent and his ribs sticking out of his upper body. He had tried to reassure the torchbearer, who had helped him pick out a hoodie from his own, that he was alright and that his weight would bounce back as soon as he was getting some normal food rations. The other man had not been quite convinced and had now been quietly sneaking him some of his portions to get some more meat on his bones.
Especially during the cold season, it was important that his body was able to survive the lower temperatures, food would now become rarer as well. If he was honest to himself, the torchbearer was a little scared of this winter in particular. He did not let any of that fear show as he was discussing their hunting plans with the other banditos. His own hands fiddling with the strands of his hoodie, the tape was starting to peel, as he saw Clancy stepping out of their tent from the corner of his eye.
The sun hit him in the eyes, and he held a hand above his head, it looked quite endearing to the torchbearer and he let out a soft chuckle but didn’t let himself get distracted from the conversation, his mind followed the course of their plans, but his thoughts wandered to the other man. He had disappeared from his peripheral view, he did not like it when he did not have an eye on Clancy, so he turned around to follow him with his eyes as he made his way to the fire, that was set up in the middle of their camp.
“Torch, are you listening? If we don’t go hunt today, we might have a shortage of food soon, as long as the sun is still up, we should take the chance!”
Ash, one of the other Banditos, asked him with a hint of amusement in her tone of voice. Not entirely listening torchbearer turned around to the woman and answered a little confused “Yeah yeah, of course, go ahead and take Kyle and Leslie with you, they need some exercise anyway” he pointed to the two young Banditos that were wrestling on the ground, their clothes covered in mud. The two of them of course noticed the way their leader was staring at them, they scurried apart and tried to blame it on one another. “It’s not my fault, they started it!” Kyle declared loudly. Torch just cocked his head to the side, he knew that Leslie was not someone to cause problems, Kyle on the other side was known for his shenanigans. He gave Ash a knowing look and she just chuckled as well, he knew that she was able to control them.
Torchbearer made his way over to the other man, he had sat down on a log in front of the bonfire and was warming his hands. He looked quite cozy, wrapped in his hoodie with his hair still tousled from sleep, he must have just woken up. Clancy noticed that someone was approaching him and scooted over to the side to make space for the other person. When he recognised who it was, he smiled up at him.
The torchbearer sat next to Clancy and laid his head down on his shoulder, his eyes drifted up to the others’. Their gazes met and he let out an exhale. The weight of the world slowly falling of his shoulders.
“You alright?”
Clancy asked, his voice still a little groggy. He was worried about the man, he had noticed that the dark circles under his eyes were becoming more prominent.
“Yeah man I’m fine, just need some sleep”
The Torchbearer answered. He nuzzled into Clancys neck, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt a hand reach into this hair and start to slowly stroke through the strands, he almost felt as if he wanted to start purring. Torchbearer closed his eyes and was close to drifting away when he heard Clancys voice again
“Torch oh Torchie, you really need some rest, proper rest, lets get you to bed”
He grunted and grabbed at the hoodie Clancy was wearing to stop him from standing up and leaving.
Clancy giggled, “You look like a tiny angry cat”.
He was not entirely wrong. He felt the body under him move and two hands grabbing at his sides, his eyelids slowly blinking open again.
Clancy dragged him over to their tent. “Duck” he instructed as they crawled into the warmth of their little space, torchbearer had not been in here for a while, at least a week.
He saw his cot on one side of the tent and Clancys’ on the other, he saw a blanket laid across it and the clear imprint of a body that had just been laying there moments ago. Since Clancy had returned he had not had a proper night of sleep, he had given the other man his blanket to keep him warm.
Torchbearer felt himself being led to his cot, as soon as he felt some kind of solid surface behind him, he let himself fall down backwards. He turned to his side and looked into Clancys’ eyes, he saw the man in front of him through his sleep deprived eyes, his vision a little unclear, but still he knew he was smiling at him.
“Lay down with me?” he asked pleadingly.
He grabbed at Clancys hoodie and pulled the other man down onto the mattress with him. Clancy reached for the blanket to cover them both, he shifted his gaze to the Torchbearer and murmured, “Only for a few minutes, I need to do stuff, you need to sleep, I’ll take care of everything”
Torchbearer slung his arms across Clancys’ waist and pulled him closer, within minutes he was fast asleep.