Stitches
Nesta gets a small injury in training, and Cassian won't rest until she's healed.
Warnings: Mentions of blood, nothing gory.
Word Count: 1,639 | Nessian Masterlist | Read on AO3
a/n: Well...it's been quite a while since I've written/finished anything that can be posted! I think I'm kinda out of practice. I guess I need to be writing more. XD Prompt request can be seen here.
For Day 1 of @nessianweek
"I'm fine Cassian. It's just a scratch."
Cassian chuckled and let his gaze fall to Nesta. "I think we'll let Madja be the judge of that."
"You're fussing. Put me down!" Nesta demanded, wriggling in his arms.
"Why would I do that? We're fifty feet in the air, and I've grown to like you."
Nesta huffed loudly and grumbled under her breath. Cassian wasn't entirely sure what she said, but it sounded an awful lot like overreacting Illyrian baby.
"If the bleeding stops by the time we land, then we can skip Madja and go back home," he offered. As if there was a chance that was happening. Nesta had been slashed good during training. He'd told her the young priestess was too early in her training to be using a real sword, but did Nesta listen?
Of course not. She never did.
Fuck him, it was one of the things he loved about her.
Nesta nodded and sighed, "Fine. But even if I am still bleeding when we get there, I'm sure Madja will say it's nothing."
He flapped his wings and propelled them forward. It wasn't a long flight, but with each beat of the black leather, his heart grew louder.
His mate was probably right. It wasn't an awful cut, definitely something that would heal overnight. But with the blood flowing down her arm, dripping into the air beneath them, his hold on her was the only thing keeping him together. That and breathing through his mouth to avoid smelling the blood. Seeing it was more than enough to drive him crazy.
Cassian landed gracefully in front of the Healer's practice. Nesta attempted to wriggle out of his arms, but he held her firm as he rushed inside. The blood was still trickling down her arm, she had no way out of this now.
"Madja?" he called, entering the small building.
"Can I get down now?" Nesta asked.
He let out a small chuckle and set her down on a chair just as the small Fae walked in from an archway leading to her medical supply room. "Yes-oh! I see." The female eyed the arm Nesta was holding up with her other hand and then rushed back into her supply room.
Cassian flashed Nesta a smug grin. "Told you so." Nesta stuck her tongue out at him and then went back to examining the gash that just refused to heal as quickly as most injuries. He'd have to go check the sword when they got back to the House, make sure it was clean and there wasn't something else on it that could be affecting her.
Madja returned with a small box and some bandages. She didn't bother to address them or speak as she pulled another chair and a table over and began to set up.
"It looks like you're going to need stitches, dear," Madja explained, already threading a needle.
"What?!" Both Cassian and Nesta shrieked the word, Nesta also hopping out of her seat so fast the chair fell over.
Cassian looked over to Madja as he said, "I thought you'd just be able to give her a tonic or rub something on her arm to help her heal quicker."
"I'm not getting stitches!" Nesta added, not waiting for Cassian to finish.
"Calm down, dear. It's completely safe. And the fastest way to ensure you heal." Madja leaned over to pick up the chair and motioned for Nesta to sit.
Nesta shook her head and took another step away from the seat. "No way."
That wasn't a look on Nesta that Cassian saw often. The way her eyes widened and refused to blink, how they focused in on the needle, how her jaw clenched - Nesta was…scared.
"Nes," he breathed, walking over to her, standing between her and Madja for a moment. He placed his hands on her arms and started to rub them gently. He whispered, "There's nothing to be afraid of."
"I'm not-" Cassian quirked his eyebrow at her and she cut herself off, pulling her lips thin. "I don't like needles."
"You were just slashed by a sword," he pointed out, laughing breathily. "I think you can handle a little needle."
He tried to hide the way the small frown broke his heart. That every moment she spent staring at the needle in Madja's hand with those big, grey eyes was torture. That wasn't what she needed.
No, Nesta needed a distraction, and a hand to hold. And maybe a reason to do this beyond herself.
"Can't we just let it heal naturally?" she requested, leaning into him.
She knew. Two years together, there's no way Nesta didn't know. Leaning against him like that, with so much of her body touching his…Cassian could practically feel his will melting away. That perfect scent of a winter's sunrise mixed with embers completely engulfed him, luring him away from reason.
And then the scent of the blood took over, and he was right back in that healing practice, an injured Nesta in his arms, a small healer watching them and waiting.
"The problem is that the cut is so deep, your body is struggling to heal itself," Madja explained. "You need something to help your body find its way, so to speak. That's what the stitches will do, just like they did for Cassian during the war."
"This wound is nothing like that."
Madja's expression didn't alter at the rebuttal. She simply patted the seat again and waited.
"Please, Nesta," Cassian begged. "You can still spend the afternoon recuperating. Maybe curl up with a book in the library. I'll have the House whip up an extra chocolatey cake for you."
Nesta rolled her eyes and huffed, "The House would do that for me anyway."
"Okay. How about you do this, and I'll join you in the library and read a smutty book of your choosing?" Nesta's eyebrows raised, her interest piqued. "And then maybe I'll draw us a bath after dinner?"
"With bubbles." It was an order as much as it was a request. She walked back to Madja and took her seat, and Cassian followed close behind, taking her hand so she'd have something to squeeze.
He lifted his other hand and pulled her face so that those crystal, blue grey eyes were on him. "Look at me, Nes. Don't watch Madja, it'll only make it worse." Nesta nodded, her eyes dropping to his chest as they started to shine. He pulled her head into him and kissed the top of it softly as he watched Madja work.
The healer broke the skin, and Nesta whimpered into him. He kissed her again, brushing his fingers through her hair and softly encouraging her through the process. Cassian wasn’t sure what else he could do, but this seemed to pacify Nesta. It was rather bittersweet, to be able to help her like this. It was nice knowing that he could. But he hated that he needed to.
She remained fairly still, only jerking slightly each time the needle had to pierce the skin again, but soon enough Madja was tying off the stitches and cleaning up the wound again before bandaging it.
"Is it over?" Nesta asked quietly.
"Yeah, it is. And you did so well, Nes," Cassian sighed, pulling back to smile down at her.
Nesta shook her head at him slightly, laughing under her breath as if she found his encouragement amusing now that Madja was done.
Using some fancy solvent, the healer sealed the bandage to itself so that it wouldn't fall right off and then cleared her throat to get their attention. "Now that you have the stitches, the healing will speed up quite a bit. The stitches should dissolve by tomorrow morning, and you'll be good as new by tomorrow night, no scar or anything."
"And I can train tomorrow morning?"
"Absolutely," Madja replied. "You may feel some pain tonight, but that should also be gone by tomorrow. Maybe a touch of soreness, but not much more than you're probably used to."
Cassian stood from where he'd been squatting. "Thank you, Madja. I really appreciate it."
She nodded and waved the gratitude off, focusing instead on cleaning and packing up the materials she'd brought out. "When you get the chance, can you please remind Rhysand he is no longer welcome at Nyx's check-ups? I cannot work with the way he hovers."
"I think you'd survive reminding him far more than I would," Cassian chuckled. He looked over at Nesta and found her wearing a restrained smile, as if she were trying extremely hard to not laugh. "Ready to go?"
She took the hand he held out for her. "Thank you, again, Madja."
"It's not a problem."
The two females nodded at each other. Nesta and Cassian made their way out of the practice and into the bright light of Velaris.
"So, where to next?" Cassian asked.
"We're going back to the House, to the family library. I'm going to pick out the filthiest book for you." Nesta's smile had turned into a conspiratorial smirk that had Cassian already regretting his offer.
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and started walking down the street. "Yes, and we will do that. But I thought maybe we could stop by that bakery you love so much. Pick up some desserts for tonight."
"On top of the extra chocolatey cake?"
"On top of the cake," he agreed, pulling her in close as she wrapped her arm around the small of his back. He couldn't help but smile widely as they continued making their way to the shop Cassian spent too much of his money at these days.
Nesta looked up at him from the side of her eyes. "Sounds good. But I'm getting a snack for this afternoon, too."
"I figured."
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