averynye:
While it was true Avery was shaken, mortified, and overall disturbed by what had happened, he couldn’t place the blame on Oscar for it. There had been someone responsible, and now that he was slowly but surely recovering, he wanted nothing more than to end them. For now, he didn’t want to look into Oscar’s eyes, just because he’d rather drink in his closeness and tangle with his familiar loving mind before meeting the eyes that had gazed upon him with a gleeful desire to kill. That wink…he so dearly loved when Oscar winked at him, and now, he didn’t think he could bear to see it anymore, not without remembering what had very nearly happened.
Avery’s lungs were still burning, and every so often he would give a weak cough and grimace at the taste of salt in his mouth. His eyes were reddened and uncomfortable too. A lake that had brought him such peaceful solitude was now a place he greatly hated, and he no longer desired to come here. Damn the Mers too for that matter.
“Shh, you have no need to apologize to me.” Avery said immediately as he felt and heard the sobs finally tearing through. Oh when he found the one that decided it would be fun to toy with everyone’s bodies…
“It was at no fault of your own. There was no way you could have recognized me, and no way for me to reach you as my telepathy was lost.” He felt so tired, and for what he wanted to drop into his bed and sleep for the next three days straight, he wanted even more to dig his blade into the flesh of his now most hated enemy. His drive urged him to return to the site of the party and demand answers, but Oscar was right, they needed to get out of these clothes else they would remain weak.
“I don’t think I can walk. And I really wish it was due to other activities that I would be saying that after a night with you.” Avery quipped, attempting a small joke in hopes of drying those tears and lifting that guilt, but he knew there would be a small cautious rift between them, at least for a little while. This wasn’t going to be something easy to forget or get passed. Oscar would mark the first that attempted to kill Avery and would receive no act of vengeance in return, but it was because of that love for him it would be all the harder to move forward. Trust, for a small while, was shaken. Even now as Oscar kept his arms around Avery, there were terrifying images of being dragged back into the water and forced under again–but while Avery knew this was ridiculous and that Oscar was once more himself–his position, training, and ingrained caution warned that this could happen again.
“Let’s go home, love…” Avery said tiredly, wrapping his arms around Oscar’s neck and continuing to lean into him. “We have much to do after we get some rest.”
Oscar didn’t dare close his eyes, terrified of what might be on the underside of his lids, but the desire was there. This whole month had been exhausting and now this - this was a blow far too big for them to withstand currently. Part of him wished Avery’s knife had found his gut, had stopped him from ever being in a position to harm him again, but his ridiculously-too-good-for-him love was chiding him about apologizing and simultaneously fitting himself back into Oscar’s head. Hopefully, Avery could feel all the things Oscar couldn’t find words for and know just how deeply his very soul was entwined with Avery’s, how he’d be less than half a person with him gone.
“I have many needs to apologize to you,” Oscar countered petulantly. “But point taken for now. Let’s just get you home, okay?” This time Oscar didn’t think a hot bath would be so well received and would probably resort to leaving him a hot towel or two and leaving the room for him to clean himself and the very thought of it hurt. If Avery decided he was worth sticking around for then this would not break them, they would never allow such a thing, but it was certainly going to test them. Another flare of surprise went through him as Avery made a joke - about sex! with him! - and further lessened some of the panic Oscar’d been feeling.
“I wish it were too.” Oscar agreed, but the quip seemed to have taken the last of Avery’s strength so taking the arms around his neck as permission, he gently lifted Avery bridal style and called some warm gusts of wind to wrap around them, keeping him securely held in case his own strength began to fail. Then began the long trek back to the forts.
So help anyone who tried to stop or hinder their progress in any way - Oscar had no patience for it - but luckily for the forest dwellers, no one approached them until they got close to the Forts. Tightening his grip on his love, he hurried through the halls, ducking as many curious stares and half-asked questions as he could until he was safely depositing Avery back on his feet and leaving him briefly to find new clothes for the both of them. Awkwardly, he backed out to let Avery shower the salt off, kept busy preparing them both very strong drinks, before taking his own record quick shower and changing into something that felt like it wasn’t melting his skin off.
Freshly showered and with a wine glass in hand - he should have felt more like himself but truthfully had never felt less like himself. His skin felt wrong, his stomach was in knots and keeping him from even sipping at the glass as he struggled to wrap his head around what had happened and what was going to happen next. Taking a seat at the foot of the bed, he finally looked at Avery again and decided to lay the cards on the table. “I don’t want this to break us.” He stated calmly. “So, tell me how you want to proceed and please know you’re free to change what you want at any time. Do you want me to use my own rooms for awhile? Do you want to go extinguish the mer colony?” Falling silent for a moment, he stared down into his glass as he warred within himself before looking back at Avery. “Luca Marcello saved my life from a mer once and I owed him a life debt. I’m calling that debt repaid by refraining from killing his son tonight. I don’t know what, if any role, he played in tonight’s bullshit, but when I’m certain I won’t attack on sight, I’ll find out what spell it was, who knows it, and keep it from ever being used again. Unless, you get there first, of course. I’ll make no move to stop you.”












