Chapter Text
The first time it happened, Nom nearly had a heart attack.
Scott was one of the new people, a mage to be specific, so Nom was showing the elf around what used to be their glorious kingdom, but had fallen to ruin during the fighting. Scott seemed nice enough, though he was quiet for the most part and largely watched from the sidelines. His magic was still very useful in replenishing their wheat storage and growing carrots. They didn't have to worry about food anymore, as Scott's ability to instantly grow some from seeds kept their storage nice and full.
“So.. This is where the old mage tower was”, the knight said, walking up the path while Scott followed. “Oh, wow.. Really took a hit, huh..?” the blonde mumbled absentmindedly, drawing a huff of laughter from Nom. “Everything kinda did. You could probably talk to Eloise and the queen about rebuilding it”, he mused. “I'm sure it'd be pretty, you strike me as a good builder”, he said, shrugging absently. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see the tips of the mage's pointed ears flush red and flick. “..thank you..”, the elf mumbled, visibly flustered. “Don't get your expectations too high, though..”, he said with a slight laugh, and Nom chuckled.
“To be honest, anything is an improvement”, he said simply, glancing back at the ruined tower for a moment. “Shall we head back towards the gate? I'm sure the others have finished showing the queen around by now”, he suggested, getting a small nod in response. “Oh, um.. By the way..”, Scott said quietly, clearly almost reaching for his hand but deciding not to. “..thank you. For showing me around without.. Everyone there..”, he practically whispered. Nom smiled, gently resting his hand on the mage's shoulder. “Of course. And you're welcome to pull my sleeve any time you need a bit of space, okay? I'll take care of it”
“Thank you..”
“Let’s go join the others, yeah?” Nom said, getting a small hum in response. They started walking down the small bath, and as they walked over the stepping stones on the small stream..
Nom quickly turned around as he heard a small thud and splash, expecting Scott to have tripped. Instead, he found the elf face first on the ground, clearly unconscious. “..Scott?” he asked quietly, frozen for a moment before quickly kneeling down to lift Scott’s face out of the stream. “Scott!” he called, face twisting into a worried frown, trying to shake the mage awake. “Come on- wake up..” Nom mumbled, groaning as he lifted the mage up further, trying to wake him up. What was he supposed to do now?! Scott just- Passed out randomly! “Okay, it's okay, just.. Check his vitals, yeah, his vitals!” he said, taking a deep breath and pressing his finger to Scott's neck. Eventually, he ended up with the result of Scott’s pulse being practically normal.
What could it be then?! Nom's heart pounded in his ears as he took another few deep breaths to calm down and carefully lifted the mage up, making sure his head wasn't hanging at an awkward angle and instead, resting against his chestplate. He didn't know what to do. They didn't have a healer and barely a monarch right now, nor was there really anywhere good enough for someone ill to rest with the state of every building here. Not to mention, Scott was a completely new person and everyone here barely knew anything about him, so if this was some serious medical thing, they wouldn't know.
Okay, calm down, what was the least damaged building with any semblance of safety or comfort? Not one of the townhouses, definitely not, and probably not the castle either.. The blacksmith? Nom could probably.. Spare his own bed. Last time he'd checked it hadn't been that bad in terms of damage, right? Yeah, okay, the blacksmith. He'd take Scott there, hopefully the others would be there or come there, and they'd help figure out what to do! Great, he had a plan now. He carefully stood up, holding Scott tightly in his arms, and started to walk down the path. He felt a lot more secure once he reached the stone path, since now there was a much smaller risk of tripping and accidentally injuring the mage in his arms.
Walking to the blacksmith, he saw Graecie and Mae talking. Nom let out a breath in relief, walking up to them. “Nom? What- What happened to him?” Graecie asked, immediately concerned. She reached out for Scott's arm, but hesitated and pulled her hand back before she actually touched him. “I don't.. I don't know, he just passed out suddenly!”, Nom said, slightly out of breath. “Hey, calm down, he'll be okay.” Graecie said, taking on a slightly sterner tone, one she had used when Nom was a kid. Like always, that tone snapped Nom out of his thoughts, and he nodded slightly, though his grip on Scott's unconscious body did tighten slightly. “She is right, we will figure it out”, Mae said, softly putting her hand on Nom's shoulder and giving him a smile.
“Yeah, it'll be fine.. I'll go lay him down on my bed for now..” he mumbled quietly, and Graecie nodded. “That's a good idea. He probably just had a rough travel here”, she said gently. Nom nodded slightly, taking a deep breath again. “Right..” he mumbled, walking into the remains of the blacksmith and laying Scott down on his bed. He grabbed the small blanket and covered Scott with it, sighing and crouching down beside the bed. Nom didn't really know what to do now. “I'm going to go tell Owain and the others”, Graecie said, patting Nom's head softly. “I'll see if one of the other mages can grab a healing spell and see if it helps”, she continued, giving Nom one more glance before sighing softly and leaving.
Nom just sat there, watching Scott's chest rise and fall with every breath, hoping he'd wake up. He felt a bit weird, just watching Scott lay there, unconscious, but what else could he do? He didn't know what had happened in the first place, so helping with whatever was happening wasn't really an option. Thankfully, soon enough, Scott stirred slightly, snapping Nom out of his staring. “Scott?” he asked gently, while Scott slowly opened his eyes and rubbed them slightly. “..what happened..?” Scott mumbled quietly, slowly sitting up. “Be careful- Uh, I'm not sure, honestly”, Nom said, messing his words up a bit. “You.. Um, passed out. I brought you to my bed to rest”, he explained quickly, suddenly feeling really awkward about the whole situation.
Scott was quiet for a moment. “..oh, right. I.. Forgot to mention that, didn't I?” he asked quietly, catching Nom's attention. He raised an eyebrow, curious, and nodded. “Yeah, I think you did. Considering I never heard you mention anything about fainting”, he said, shrugging slightly. Scott sighed softly, clearly a bit embarrassed. “It's.. A condition..” he quietly explained. “Just kind of happens..” Scott whispered, leaning slightly back on his arms and looking away from Nom.
Nom was quiet for a moment. “Oh.. Well, that's a relief”, he said, letting out a breath in relief. Scott seemed a bit surprised, and he quickly looked back at Nom, the tips of his ears red now. “I mean, I thought you were somehow seriously sick”, Nom quickly added, now also a bit embarrassed. Luckily, before either of them could say anything else, Graecie came back with the queen. She peeked into the room, clearly surprised as she saw Scott awake. “Oh, you're awake?” she asked, while Shandrea peeked in from the doorway. “Yeah.. I should probably explain, shouldn't I..?”