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“Master,”
The word was soft, like an endearment on Lancelot’s lips.
“Kariya, Master, I need to move.”
“Ngh,” It’s a muffled half syllable. Barely audible. Namely, because Kariya was still splayed across Lancelot’s chest. He had no idea how sleeping face down could be comfortable after vomiting quite that much, but Kariya had been so exhausted that Lancelot had given up after rinsing them both off and had just picked him up after shuffling them both into something clean. And after the healing he’d performed there, he was glad he’d stayed.
Lancelot smiled, too soft to act with any escalation when it came to his Master. Kariya had worked so hard. He was well within his rights to be exhausted as his body tried to sort itself out. After a full year of intensive bug invasion, being free of them and most of the damage they’d done had to be both exhausting and overwhelming. Instead, he gently carded his hand through Kariya’s hair and pushed it back off of his face. The Master shifted again, burying his face against Lancelot again in an effort to try to escape from the concept of waking up.
“Kariya, Sakura’s bus is going to be here any minute. You need to stay in bed. You’re not well enough to stand and it is safer for you to stay here.”
He couldn’t help but hold his frail master a little closer, even as he was starting to shift.
“What- what time is it?” Kariya groaned, leaning in to the affection from his servant. He blinked open, slowly, and picked his head up off of Lancelot’s chest just enough to catch a glimpse of his face. “Lancelot?”
“Yes, I am here. I got you.”
“Mh, good,” And then- “You’re not wearing a shirt.”
“No, I am not,”
“M’not wearing a shirt either.”
“Observant of you.”
“M’laying on your chest.”
“Yes, and you can keep laying on me as soon as I go get your child.”
Lancelot insisted, stroking his hair again. Somewhere downstairs, a door opened.
“Ugh. Fine. Come back.” Kariya was still only half lucid, but it was enough for Lancelot to slip out from under him and shuffled a pillow under his head to replace where he’d been. It was simple enough to snatch a notepad and a pen off the bedside table before sliding out the door. He could feel Kariya watching him as he stepped out the door, shrugging his shirt back on as he did.
Out of the range of his master, some of the mist reformed around him, but he fought it, trying to keep at least the armor off. Kariya seemed to like it when he didn’t have it on and perhaps Sakura would appreciate it as well. He could trust her with his face.
“Hello Berserker!” He walked downstairs to find her hang up her coat and immediately did a small doubletake. “What happened to your armor?”
Lancelot waived to her, and then took a moment to write the response on the notepad. He quickly handed it to her, and she received it and read it out loud, in a small but sure voice. “I thought you might be more comfortable around me without it.”
Sakura quickly looked up and smiled at him. “Thank you! But I think you are friendly both ways!” Then she looked back down. There was more writing on the notepad. “Kariya is upstairs. He is very tired. We took the bugs out of him today. We should get a snack and then go see him.” Sakura looked up at Lancelot again after finishing the note and gave him a brilliant smile. “I don’t need a snack! I had the cookies that you packed me on the bus ride home. We can go see him now! But I don’t want to make him tired.”
Lancelot merely shook his head and offered her his hand. Sakura handed him the notepad. Because of course she did. He tucked that away, and then held out his hand for her own again, and motioned to it so that hopefully she would understand.
“Oh! Yes, I get it! Can I go put on my comfy clothes first?” She asked, tucking her hair behind her ear as she looked up at the Berserker still shrouded in mist. He gave her a nod, and gave the hand she put into his a gentle squeeze. He walked her to her room and then motioned that he was going to go down the hall. Kariya was stirring again, he could feel it through the bond. It would be better if he was there for that initial wakeful moment to address anything that Kariya might not want Sakura to hear.
She nodded in understanding and slipped into her room as Lancelot turned and moved towards Kariya’s. Thank goodness for well-behaved children. The Servant managed to slip into the room just as his mage was blinking awake again. Kariya still looked like death warmed over, but he still reached for Lancelot with about as much enthusiasm as he was capable of. His Knight made quick work of sitting next to him on the bed, in the space he’d occupied for the last few hours.
“She alright?” His words were quiet and slow, as if every syllable was an effort to pronounce.
“Perfectly fine. She is changing into comfortable clothing before she comes to see you.”
Lancelot settled a hand on his cheek, tracing a line across his cheekbone as Kariya leaned into the touch. There, almost imperceptible to touch and entirely invisible to sight, the remnants of the paths that the Crest Worms had taken were present. There had been damage done. But luckily no more damage than had already happened. But it was still a mark of what they had done together, and Lancelot treasured it for what it was.
“Oh, good. M’glad.”
“She seemed very insistent upon coming to see you.”
“I'm not surprised. She worries about me, with good reason. We used to spend a lot of time together,” Kariya explained, slowly starting to drag Lancelot back down onto the bed with him. As if Lancelot’s mere presence could help with whatever was going on. Perhaps it could. “Down in the pit. All we had was each other. We couldn’t- we didn’t really have anything else and she’s so small.”
“What did you two do together?” Lancelot prompted, allowing Kariya to drag him back onto the bed fully and fling the pillow he’d been using onto Lancelot’s lap.
“I told stories. A lot of them. I’m actually pretty good at it. From everything I could get my hands on. Movies I’d seen, books I’d read, things I would just make up, all of it. Sometimes she’d sneak back into my room afterward and I’d finish my stories there. Course, she was at school for some of the time and I was-well-” His fingers tightened on Lancelot’s leg, and Lancelot reached to soothe him in return.
After the mass expulsion of dozens of bugs, and what had followed, physical contact felt significantly more organic. There was no hesitation in Kariya reaching for him or making himself welcome in the haze of mist that was his personal bubble. Lancelot belonged in it, and, slowly, Kariya was starting to belong in it as well.
The knock at the door was expected this time, and Kariya didn’t jump away from Lancelot. There was no panic, no rush, he merely picked his head up and called for her to enter. A set of cute pink pajamas and purple hair quickly made an appearance, and Kariya quickly waived her over.
“Are you hurt?” The words felt far too familiar coming out of her mouth. Like she’d said them too many times.
“No, just tired. Do you want to come up and sit with us? I just woke up.” It was a lie. Lancelot could feel it just as well as Kariya. Everything hurt and there was precious little strength left in his frame. But she patiently climbed up on the other side of the bed from Lancelot and did her best not to jostle him as she snuggled in as well.
“Why are you hurting? Is it because of the worms?” Her soft, plum-colored eyes stared at both of them as she settled under the blanket and grabbed her own pillow to prop herself up on.
“Tell her the truth, we’re going to have to do this to her too,”
Lancelot advised, helping Kariya readjust to be able to see Sakura as they talked.
“I’m alright, really, I promise,” He reached out and took her hand. “Yes, it’s because of the worms. I’m going to be just fine tomorrow. But we need to get them out of you too. It won’t be that hard, and it’ll be over quick, I promise.”
“Can you promise?”
Kariya nodded, quick and silent to his servant, and then tentatively pushed a thought of his own at Lancelot. “There won’t be many in her. Three, maybe four. She’ll throw up twice and be fine as long as you can keep the mana under control.”
“Her body is equipped to handle it far better than yours. She will find it easier than you did.”
“I can do it. I’m brave! Just like you are!” Sakura’s words interrupt their little conversation and they make Kariya smile, wider than Lancelot had ever seen him smile before. Genuine joy washed through the bond. She brought him hope and strength, just as he brought the same to her through their long year in the pit downstairs. Nothing could come between that.
She kept him sane for long enough that Lancelot had gotten his own chance to make things right. For that, he owed her everything. He would have protected her with every fiber of his being, even without such incentives but now? The Champion of Camelot would go above and beyond for her, and for his master.
“You’re way braver than I am! Who do you think you’re talking about? You’re Sakura! Mighty Princess of Glittervale!” The words made Sakura dissolve into giggles and snuggle further into Kariya’s side. “You’re the bravest Princess in all the land, and we all know it. But you’re going to have to be brave for just a little while longer, alright? We’ll rest up for a little bit here, and then we’ll go get them out of you too.”
“Okay! I can do it!”