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Grian was awoken by the blinding sunbeams coming from the window. The moment he opens his eyes a sharp pang shoots through his head, causing him to bring his palm to his temple, wincing.
He slowly tries to sit up, vision blurring at the movement. Once his vision re-adjusts, he looks out the window across the room from his bed. The cactus border that surrounds him & Scar’s base is full of gaps, he notices. The damn Lifers must have been trying to break through again. That’s gonna be today’s chore, he guesses. Reluctantly, he stands up and his knees buckle. His wings stretch out to keep his balance.
Grian stumbles down the sand-dusted stairs, sounds of water running faintly from the kitchen. He turns a corner and is greeted by Scar. The taller man is in front of the sink filling a pot with water. The morning light perfectly traces the silhouette of his scarred face. He appears to have heard Grian thudding down the stairs, and turns to greet his boyfriend.
“Morning, birdie!~” Scar beams, Grian rolls his eyes at the pet name. “You’re up late.”
“Mm…hey, Scar.” he croaks, now aware of the scratchiness in his throat.
Scar immediately turns around at the sound of his voice, eyebrows now furrowed. “You're sick.”
Grian is slightly surprised at the taller man’s quick realization. He knows that once he admits he is, in fact, sick, that Scar is going to lock him in the house and spoon-feed him soup or something. He’s too busy to deal with that today. “No, I’m fine. It's just a sore throat.” he tries to speak in his best I’m-Not-Sick voice. It fails miserably.
“No you’re not! you’re pale as hell, Grian.” Scar turns off the sink and walks over to the shorter man, cupping Grian’s face in his hands. “And you’re burning up!”
“We live in the desert, of course I am! I’m fine, Scar!” Grian swats his hands away. his wings flap in frustration. Well, sort of. His muscles are so sore that he can barely lift his wings.
“If you say so,” Scar sighs. “Are you hungry? I was about to make breakfast.”
The thought of eating right now makes Grian’s stomach churn. He politely declines. “I’m not hungry right now, but thank you.” The bird man exits the kitchen and makes his way to a chest, pulling a stack of cactus out.
“And where do you think you’re going?” Scar questions, leaning against the kitchen doorframe.
“I need to patch up the border. It's got gaps everywhere.” Grian states as he pulls a chest plate off of a nearby armor stand. “I don’t need you following me around with soup and blankets all day.”
Scar walks up to Grian after a moment. “Fine.” he sighs before pressing a kiss to his forehead. “But I'm coming with you. And I'm bringing food.”
That’s good enough for Grian, as long as he can actually do stuff. He’ll just have to deal with his boyfriend at his heel for a few hours.
Now fully geared up, the heavy armor making him dizzy, the bird man steps out the door. He’s immediately greeted with the blazing heat of the desert. Great.
-
The sun high in the sky, Grian walks along the cactus border, filling in any gaps from other Lifers breaking through. His armor now feels like it’s burning into his back. Sweat drips down from his face and runs along his chest plate.
He’s about halfway around the border, many gaps still scattered along the stretch of land in front of him. They’re taunting him, Grian thinks. ‘Look at all these gaps, Grian! Fill in the gaps in fucking 120 degree heat, Grian!’
His bones feel heavy now, he can barely lift his arms without shivering. His wings are carelessly splayed out behind him, he doesn’t have the energy to tuck them away.
The bird man is occasionally reminded of Scar trailing behind him as he chimes in, asking if he’s okay from time to time.
“For the last time i’m fucking fi-“ Grian snaps, but he’s cut off by an overwhelming wave of nausea churning in his stomach, causing him to keel over.
“G? You okay?” Scar rushes over to the shorter man’s side, kneeling down to get to his current level.
Grian is suddenly aware of every sensation; his hot metal armor pressed against his body, the pooling sweat blinding his vision, the bile rising in his throat. He could go on. He’s miserable.
The nausea eventually overtakes him. His stomach cramps up and he pukes into the sand, tears pricking in the corners of his eyes. Scar rubs his back, murmuring comforting words to him “It’s okay, you’re okay, I'm here, I got you,”
Grian sits up, shivering. “ough- ‘m-sorry…” he mumbles, wiping his mouth.
“Don’t apologize, babe.” Says Scar, pressing a kiss to his temple. I’ll take you home.” The taller man cups Grian’s cheek in his hand, wiping away a tear that managed to escape his eye.
Scar gently hooks his arm underneath the bird man’s knees and effortlessly picks him up, holding Grian to his chest.
-
The two eventually arrive home. Scar carries Grian upstairs and gently places him down in their bed. The taller man then assists Grian in taking off his armor, carelessly setting it on the floor for now.
“Mm…thanks, Scar.” The bird man mumbles. He’s finally giving in to the weakness in his muscles, slowly drooping until he’s laying down.
“Of course, Birdie.” Scar sits down at the edge of the bed. “Do you need anything?”
Grian thinks for a moment. “Can I have some water?” he looks up at Scar, who immediately nods and gets up to go to the kitchen.
Scar returns, glass of water in hand, along with some ibuprofen. He hands Grian the water, making sure he drinks it all.
“Thank you.” He mumbles once he’s finished, flopping back down onto his pillow.
“No problem, sweetheart.” Scar smiles gently. “Anything else?”
Grian hesitates before taking notice of the sensation of itchiness. “Do you think, maybe, you could preen my wings?” he mutters, trying to lift one of his wings to gesture to the taller man.
Scar’s eyes light up at that, an excited smile stretching across his face. Grian rarely ever lets him touch his wings, so he would 100% jump at the opportunity. “Of course!”
“Don’t let it go to your head.” The shorter man grumbles.
“Oh, I will.” Scar beams, crawling over to position himself behind his partner, laying down on his side so Grian doesn’t have to sit up.
Scar begins sifting through his boyfriend's wings, picking out any loose feathers. It's incredibly comforting to Grian, having the thick pins in his wings being slowly broken away. Scar has always nagged him for not letting the taller man take care of him, and he’s kind of forgotten how good it feels to be pampered.
Once his wings were preened, they felt ten times lighter. His muscles were still sore, but it felt way less painful to move. Scar then wrapped himself around Grian and let his hand card through the bird man’s hair, peppering kisses to the nape of his neck.
“You know you’re gonna get sick too, being this close, right?” Grian chuckled.
“Yeah.”
“…so…are you going to move?”
“Nope.”
“Okay.” he sighed.
Grian just lay there, his Boyfriend wrapped around him, nuzzled into his shoulder. He let himself be engulfed in Scar’s warmth.
The moon eventually greeted them, the cool air of the night blowing through the window as if apologizing for the fiery heat of the sun. He let sleep overtake him, his body finally fully shutting down after working it to its limits.
-
Grian arose with the sun the next morning, taking note of the empty spot beside him. It didn’t take much wondering where Scar was before he heard the sound of retching coming from the bathroom.
“I told you!” Grian calls out to him, giggling.
“Oh, fuck off!” Scar’s hoarse voice echoed through the hall.