Every empire’s burden of a ravaging creature seemed to lift at once; to see such a large and destructive beast disappear so suddenly, as if made of vapor, both stunned people and had them bursting with joy. The panic was over, the muse of their fear was no more! Unfortunately all aftermath of the events did not vanish as well, property still destroyed, people remaining missing, wounded, or dead. It took more time to gather themselves before many were able to return home (or have some form of home to return to).
Carmi’s visit to Itarus forced him to remain there longer than he would’ve preferred, although he was glad overall that he had chosen to come. The poison that was slowly spreading throughout his insides diminished as he took proper baths, alongside choice medicines, courtesy of the empress. He was surely weaker than he should be, but at least he could travel back to Melcio through the use of a royal portal and get to helping again… with more caution this time, obviously.
It had been a very rough string of months. The future for everyone seemed to be shrouded in uncertainty, and there would be plenty of work to do before anybody in said future could live in a comfortable manner. Fixing all of this would take money and time—the latter was a term he continued to struggle on, being so incapable of focusing when it came to the hypotheticals. Perhaps he could take out loans from allies, and figure out how to repay them when all problems became settled.
Two weeks after his homecoming, soldiers sent afar were brought back in groups, a process that continued long after sundown. Carmi started out greeting and welcoming them all home, but found himself in medical tents more and more until he stayed there completely. Busy, busy, busy, too busy to show his face to those he’d sent fighting for another country besides their own. Having learned his lesson the king didn’t strain his body, taking breaks outside or using alternative methods besides water.
On one of these breaks in particular he was met with a momentous body slam from behind, yelling in surprise before familiar cold hands (almost unfamiliar, given their state of disrepair) wrapped themselves around him. Immediately he had pulled them off to turn, but they quickly went and cupped his face. Their temperature had nothing to do with the cry he let out next, anyone in the neighboring tents hearing the reunited couple make incoherent noises of relief and euphoria as they clung tightly to each other. There was laughing, there was crying; being in the presence of his beloved had emotion literally pouring out of him in the form of tears.
They progressed toward his personal tent only after calming down long enough to walk over there. A cot, a desk, two chairs, and an assortment of boxes for things such as clothes, medicines, and other necessities was all he possessed at the moment. The flap of his tent was secured and Carmi had his partner sit on one of the chairs, then pulled his closer, an arm loosely taken into his grasp. He winced in response to Selen’s similar action—his frost bite was incredible. Pain would be something he couldn’t remove from healing, no matter how badly he wanted to ease it. Maybe he could have his knight focus on something else. His sitting position was adjusted and he frowned slightly as he worked, both his hands occupied as water covered the skin of Selen’s arm.
Voice low and gentle, he posed the conversation topic. “Hey, tell me more about Acirus. Was your ice any good against their monster?”
The sensation of water against chapped skin slowly soothed, but it wasn’t without initial searing pain masked behind gritted teeth. He did a foul job of it, really. Not that he needed to put forward a persona–Carmi was here. Here, and holding him. Rather than settling on the miracle of healing (he’d inspected the state of his arms and hands far too much lately), eyes were transfixed on those welcoming aqua eyes.
Selen’s own eyes softened at the sound of that velveteen voice. But their attention was sent elsewhere upon taking in his king’s words–one word specifically–settling on his boots in… was that shame? “Yeah. Yeah, it worked a treat. We’ll have to visit Acirus again once things are back to whatever normality can be recovered there, it’s a nice place. Just–”
His stomach churned. Not from being healed, he couldn’t have been further away from the present. Almost literally. The stare at his shoes came to a crawl. His words ejected of their own volition, as if vomiting guilt, interjecting Carmi before he could say his own piece.
“I wasn’t ready. You weren’t to know, I should’ve been more transparent to you, but I tried using it and I… Carmi, I was as good as useless out there. I snapped at people I shouldn’t have. All the time I used it, it felt so–I wasn’t right and it wasn’t right, and I let everyone down. Especially you.”
turnnoffyourmind
romaincrisis
andulkaphoto
discoholicmusic
