Chapter Text
You’re fading in and out of consciousness, being jostled as you’re carried quickly down an echoing temple hallway. All you can hear are the distant, muffled thumps of footsteps, and your own weak breathing as your eyelids flutter half-open.
Gale is holding you limp in his arms, running towards the camp the two of you had set up before embarking on the day’s quest. You remember barely making it 15 minutes out before being ambushed by a cluster of goblins. Normally, this would’ve been an easy win (goblins aren’t known for their magical prowess), but one of them attempted to use a scroll and it had… clearly gone awry. You had immediately been drained of your energy, falling to the ground in a crumpled heap. Your body was getting sapped of its power, as if it were shutting down. You felt no pain, only a dark blanket of sleep and weakness washing over you like a wave.
Gale had tried to heal you in the moment, but the scroll’s magic was so complex that he knew you needed more than a Healing Word. He had furiously stunned the goblins before scooping you into his arms and fleeing towards the temple. Thankfully, none had followed, but it was clear to you then (and now, even with your mind fading into black) that Gale was frantic. You wish you could’ve told him it would be okay, but even you didn’t know that for sure, and now you can barely form a coherent thought. Your friendship has always been a strong one, and you deeply care for one another. As friends, of course. Nothing more, though you often find yourself wishing it were. Ever since you’d met him on the Risen Road years ago, you’d slowly grown fonder of him. You never thought you’d fall in love, but you couldn’t help it: the way he smiles coyly at your jokes, the expression on his face when he stares thoughtfully at the stars, the light in his eyes when he casts spells with meticulously perfect form… you have found yourself submersed in every part of him.
Sometimes, he looks at you a certain way, or does something unintentionally attractive, and you find yourself jolted with a spark of arousal. When he emerges from bathhouses with damp hair and few clothes… when he sprawls out after sparring with heavy breaths and flushed cheeks… gods, do you wish you could have him. You hide it, afraid of ruining what you have with your only adventuring partner. Your seemingly unrequited longing is a fair price to pay to keep a wizard of his power and company around.
As your mind shifts back to the present moment, you realize you’re closing in on the temple camp. Your body feels weaker and weaker, but the warmth of his embrace is enough to keep you awake for a few moments more. Looking up at him with half-lidded eyes, you worry that you may never get to confess your admiration. All of the reservations you’d had before disintegrate before the panic rising in your chest. You can’t tell if the scroll’s magic is making your mind falter, or if this sudden realization is all you. You try to speak, but all that escapes you is a muted squeak.
Still jogging, Gale turns his gaze to you with a furrowed brow. He’s panting from the exertion of sprinting with your weight in his arms, and there’s panic in his voice, but he manages to speak between breaths: “I… can’t lose you… can’t revivify, no… no scrolls left… heal you at camp…” He focuses back on the path ahead and slows briefly to turn a corner. Your heart flutters in your chest at his words: can’t lose you. If you had any energy left to do so, you would’ve smiled. Looking back down at you, he says, “Everything is going to be okay… I’ve got you.” Your cheeks flush, and you try to say something, anything, as a confession of your love. You can feel the sleepiness overwhelming you like a deadly current. Looking up at him, his eyes focused ahead, you take in his face for what may be the last time: a soft but clear jawline, framed by a scruffy beard; hooded hazel eyes under tense brows; his straight, strong nose; lips that you’ve wanted to kiss for months. You almost whine.
You open your mouth to speak as the darkness overtakes you and Gale hurries into the camp room. I love you is on the tip of your tongue, and with your last breath of energy, you whisper, “I-” before lolling your head back over his arm and going limp, your consciousness having been finally pulled under the waves.