Cubs of War | Young!Garulf & Young!Hallam
GĂĄrulf started slightly at the otherâs movement, before relaxing and beginning to card his hand through the otherâs hair. He paused briefly, as if asking for permission, when the questions came, and his heart sank.
The honesty, the sincerity, seemed to draw the sarcastic, cynical veil back and reveal a young man, little more than a boy, who did not want to die. Gårulf had never had the chance to be a support for other people - he was too young when his father died to know what his mother and sisters needed, too young to understand. But he could do it now - make up for what he had missed.
"Aye, youâll be just fine once youâve rested a little. I promise - and I promise Iâll stay with you as long as you need me." Not as long as he was wanted - people like the young man in his arms didnât know what was best for them, needing people like GĂĄrulf to show them.
Hallam scolded himself for showing such weakness in front of a stranger and yet he had never been more glad that in this very moment he had laid down all defenses and allowed himself to be in the capable hands of someone he seemingly trusted. It was not as if he could have treated his wound himself, especially since the world still spun around him.
"Ughh..." he groaned and shivered as he gathered all his strength to turn onto his side. The little pride he had did not allow the other to stare directly into his fearful eyes. His movement caused his vision to go black for a short while, but it also revealed the blow to his head to his caretaker. It was bloody and bruised - a cut through the flesh though no bone was damaged - and clearly the cause of the young man's need to lie still. On the battlefield vertigo was caused either by massive blood loss or a concussion and Hallam's case was clearly the latter since the wound on his shoulder had not bled all that much.
"What'll happen if I close my eyes?" Hallam felt too tired to wait for the answer. He closed his eyes and drifted into sweet sleep that took away his worries and woes. The night itself was far from peaceful as the nausea caused by the concussion kept waking him up from time to time. After each time he clung tight to the other until sleep helped him relax again.
