lucetilogs | Being unconquerable lies with yourself; being conquerable lies with your enemy.

Shh; it's okay. It's okay.

[It isn't okay but Guy's not going to tell Luke that. The gel will close the worst of the wound, stop the blood from pouring out -which Luke's thrashing about isn't helping- but it wouldn't heal him completely. Guy would have to get Luke somewhere safe for some more attentive first aid. Bandages, maybe another gel; you can't use too many of those gels though, or people end up building up an immunity to them or getting sick or a myriad of other horrible outcomes.

God DAMN it, why couldn't he try harder and learn some of the healing magic of this place?

Guy brushes Luke's bangs back from his face with a hand smudged with Luke's blood. He'd lost his glove in a previous battle; there was a faint cut on his palm that had stopped bleeding hours ago. It only stings a bit as he passes it through Luke's hair, but he clutches him as tightly as he dares to keep him still as the seconds tick by agonizingly slow. The gel should be working.]

[It's hard not to thrash around when he's so terrified and hurt; Luke barely even knows what's going on around him - where were the soldiers? Why did everything look and sound so far away? Not to mention that he can barely hear Guy over the sound of his own heart beating so fast.

The coldness of the gel and it already working on his wound makes him shudder and cough and tighten his grip and curl up even tighter; he feels like he's going to be sick-

Only for it to pass almost as quickly as it hit him, though Luke doesn't realize that the blood isn't pouring out from the wound anymore, and he just shakes and opens his eyes to stare at the folds of Guy's clothes. Is this what dying felt like?]

[First things first, Guy had to calm Luke down. And to calm Luke down, he had to calm himself down first. So he just holds Luke, closing his eyes and breathing deeply for a few moments. Just a few seconds, and when he opens his eyes again they're clear and his hands are without tremors.

He smooths Luke's hair back again, deliberately slow, and speaks in a low tone, taking his time to enunciate every syllable.]

Luke? Just listen. You're going to be fine; I promise.

[Luke's breathing is fast as he stares with unfocused eyes, and it seems like Guy's words aren't processing for him. He's still scared, still thinking that he'll die soon, still thinking that they must be surrounded by soldiers, because they were on a battlefield... right?

After a few seconds, though, his gaze snaps to Guy as if he just heard him - or, at least, he just figured out what he said. He was going to be fine; he promised, Guy promised. Luke isn't sure if he should believe him, but it was a promise, and promises are...

So, he nods a few times, then squeezes his eyes shut and lets out another groan. It still hurt so much.]

[There are sounds coming from further down the hallway, and they don't sound the least bit friendly. Guy doesn't have any more time to wait.

Apologizing under his breath, he hefts Luke up into his arms as best he can and struggles to his feet, moving as swiftly as possible down the hallway and searching for an open door or alcove he can hide inside to give Luke the attention he needs.

The Jewel of Gardios lays behind, abandoned and glittering on the floor.]

[Luke let out another sharp cry upon being picked up, and he can only tense, clench his teeth and fists and do his best to hold back any other noise as the jostling from the running just makes it all the more painful. He can't ask what's going on or why they're running, lest it comes out as a wordless wail instead.

His own sword lays behind, too, not too far away from Guy's. But it seems rather dull compared to the forgotten Jewel.]

[Finally Guy happens across a room removed and tucks he and Luke into a crevice. He waits for the pursuing troops to pass by, holding Luke with a hand poised to clap over his mouth if necessary, until the danger is gone.

Relaxing with a weary exhale Guy settles back down with Luke half-draped over his lap and digs into the pouch at his hip for another gel. His lips are pressed firmly together and he turns his attention to Luke's face.]

Luke? Are you with me? Just nod, don't speak.

[But Luke does neither of those things; in fact, he doesn't even look at Guy. Instead, he looks around the room with wide eyes and a cringe set on his face, blinking hard to try and focus. Where was he? What was going on? Who was...

It's only then that he looks up at Guy as if he's asking what he just said. Soon enough, though, he has to give in to the urge to shut his eyes and give a low groan and acknowledge that yes, this hurts, much more than anything he's ever experienced.]

[Guy's no doctor or healer, but he knows that blank look and the lack of response is not good. Shock, most likely. Damn it.

Guy tears the packaging on an apple gel and breaks the casing himself, lifting it to Luke's lips so it'll just drip in like a mouthful of thick water. Remembering some tips from Tear he strokes Luke's throat to help it go down easier.]

[All Luke can tell is that there's some type of liquid being poured into his mouth, and he feels so dehydrated that it's a welcome gesture. It's thanks to Guy that he doesn't swallow too fast or take a huge gulp of the gel, but his quick breathing still makes him nearly choke on the stuff. Some of it gets coughed back out, but thankfully, most of it made it to the wounded area.

Again, Luke feels like he's going to be sick, but instead of pressing against Guy and curling up like he did earlier, he just leans his head back and groans weakly. Luke's tired and dizzy, and he doesn't want to move more than he has to. The gel seems to work, though, as Luke's rapid breathing starts to slow to a somewhat more normal pace, even if it's still faster than it should be.]

[How are you supposed to deal with shock? What should he-

Luke needed to drink something and he needed to breathe deeply. Guy had to get Luke to stop hyperventilating or he could pass out and die. Okay- All right.

Guy gently juggled Luke so he was more secure in his arms and pulled Luke's head against his chest, resting his ear above his heart and covering Luke's other ear with his hand. He'd heard somewhere that the sound of a heartbeat was soothing, so maybe if he could just calm Luke down with that he could get him stable enough.]

[Luke feels like he can't get enough breath, and every time he opens his eyes his vision gets even foggier, and he just feels so tired-

Then he's moved, and the pain gets worse, so he grits his teeth and tenses and just tries to breathe while someone- someone... Guy, wasn't it, he moved him against something solid and...

His own heart is beating rapidly yet weakly, so he can definitely hear the quick and strong beat of Guy's. Luke was never actually born, so he doesn't have that deep, emotional connection that normal people have with the sound of someone else's heart. But there's the foggy memory of his mother holding him close just like this, and even Guy did this several times when he was young, probably even more so than his mother.

His breathing slows.]

[If only Guy had thought about that replica thing beforehand. Oh well.

Luke is still calming down, so Guy reaches for the water jug next to his medicine pouch and pulls the stopper out with his teeth before holding it up to Luke's lips, tilting it slightly. He doesn't say anything; the trickle of water should be clue enough what it is, and if Luke is still too out of it to piece it together Guy can just feed it to him gently as he did the gel.]

[At first, the only thing that registers for Luke is the fact that there's something cold against his lips. Then as he opens his eyes a little - only to drift them shut again - he realizes that it's a canteen, and his mind slowly connects that it's water being offered for him.

He opens his mouth a little wider, because he's extremely thirsty and this is actual water. It's hard to swallow and he ends up coughing a bit of it out again, but at least most of what Guy offered is taken gratefully.

And the water plus the warmth and the heartbeat and the fact that he's still tired makes him relax so much that the fogginess takes over, and he slumps a little more as he loses consciousness.

Luckily, as soon as that happens, he's teleported in an instant back to the secure rooms, where the droids await to give him more medical attention without the threat of the Third Party looming around the corner.]

[And of course the second Luke vanishes Guy promptly freaks the fuck out. That is, until he recalls that that only happens when someone is being removed for emergency treatment. It's about time, Malnosso. Thanks for the speedy response time.

Guy returns to where their swords fell but finds them missing. There's blood all over the floor and the two bodies still further down the hall, and Guy tries to keep himself from wondering how much of the blood is Luke's. Well, he's weaponless; he'd better find somewhere to keep his head down until he's brought back to his quarters.

Luckily he'd already been in the field for a while, so it's only a few hours later until he's returned to the dorms. Guy ignores the bed, the shower, the food and everything else in favor of making a beeline for Luke's room and trying to force open the door.]

[By that time Luke is awake and feeling much better, with his wound in stitches and a long bandaged wrapped around the entire area. At the moment he's making a face at one of the droids who continues to try and force him laying position (he just wants to sit up a bit against the headboard with a pillow behind him, what harm could that do?) and insist to it that he's fine now, and that they can leave because quite frankly they're creeping him out. He can't help but wonder if these are the same droids who threw him up against a wall and kidnapped him just a while ago.

Then there's someone at his door, and Luke isn't sure who it is, but any company would be better than the droids. And they do open the door, only to try and usher whoever it is out in an attempt to leave the patient alone.]

Hey, cut it out! Let them in!

[His voice sounds weak, hoarse and quiet, but at least it's his voice.]

Edited 2010-12-21 08:15 (UTC)

[Guy gets some droids in the face for his effort and he struggles against them until he hears Luke's voice. The droids part to let him by and he just...sags in relief, stumbling over to a nearby chair to sit down and lean forward. He drops his face into his hands; he's still covered in blood. It looks like he didn't even bother to dress his own shallow cuts and bruises before coming over.

He's okay.]

[It's Guy.

Luke's memories of what happened on the battlefield are hazy from the moment his back was struck. But he knows that Guy was there, he knows that Guy took care of him until he was brought back here.

He knows that Guy saved his life.

And Guy looks so relieved and depressed and Luke reaches as far as he can to grab onto Guy's sleeve, even if he has to shift and wince as he does so.]

G-Guy, you're hurt...

Edited 2010-12-21 08:38 (UTC)

[It only takes a second for Guy to compose himself, just long enough for him to sit up straight and remove Luke's hand from his sleeve to push him back against his pillows before a droid can get to it.

Speaking of droids, one of them ambles over to Guy and attempts to treat him, and though Guy slaps its hands away it finally manages to wrench one of Guy's sleeves up to start cleaning a deep gash along his forearm.]

I'm fine, completely all right. Just a couple scratches here and there.

But-

[A lump forms in Luke's throat, so he has to turn his head away and squeeze his eyes shut to force it back down. Once he's composed himself, his eyes seem a little bright, maybe fearful and sad, but he still smiles the best he can.]

I got myself in some real trouble, huh?

You sure did. Good to see you're out of it though. [Guy gestures with his free hand.] You might even get yourself a sexy scar to impress the ladies with.

H-Heh... Yeah. And I'll have a cool story to go with it, too!

Yep.

[Guy can't muster the energy or the cheer to make for good conversation though, so he just rests his elbows on his knees and leans forward. The droid presses a cold pack over a welt on the back of Guy's neck and after some prompting he lifts a hand to hold it there.]

[Luke watches Guy for a while and realizes that the lump's returning to the throat. He can't believe that that happened, and he's still scared and still hurt and he can't make cheerful conversation, either.

He sits up just a bit, ignoring how his lips twitch as he looks at the droids.]

Can you please get out now? I think he'll be fine.

Edited 2010-12-21 09:14 (UTC)

[Guy glances up through his bangs- Ah. He recognizes that expression. Mustering a smile he reaches over to pat Luke's hand.]

Don't bother Luke; they're probably like fonbots. They have a set of commands and have to complete them before they can move on. Just let them finish with us and we can be alone.

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