Musa didn’t see the dagger coming right up until the wizard she was fighting slid it neatly into her side.
The breath punched out of her as she felt pain rip through her abdomen but she kept her wits about her long enough to blast him backwards with a sonic vibration attack that would leave him with a headache for at least a week. Riven, oblivious to her wound, swooped in and cracked him over the head with the butt of his sword, knocking him unconscious, then set about securing him and the others they’d incapacitated.
The wizards they’d fought were part of a larger group set on seizing control of part of the Linphean forest and destroying it because they claimed the space was a sacred part of their dark rituals. So they’d been called in to neutralise them and protect the forest at all costs. The group had split up to slowly pick off the outer layers of security before they planned to reconvene and take on the most powerful of the wizards who were protected in the centre of their camp.
Which meant Musa had absolutely no time for this wound.
With Riven busy with the unconscious wizards, Musa kept one hand clamped to her side while she rifled through her pack with the other, finding a bandage and securing it to her injury. She would have healed it herself but she could already feel her powers waning and knew the worst of the battle was yet to come. So she was going to have to just deal with it and keep moving.
She transformed before Riven could turn around and tugged her t-shirt down over her wound, before crossing her arms and trying to appear casual. Riven finished with the wizards and turned around, arching an eyebrow when he took in her vanished wings and return of regular clothing.
“I’m saving my energy,” Musa said in answer to the silent question.
“Alright,” Riven said slowly, not quite sounding like he believed her. But he didn’t push further on the subject, merely asking, “Should we keep going?”
“Yeah, I think we’re clear, we should head to the rendezvous point.”
Riven nodded and they set off together in silence, traversing the leaf litter and tree roots swiftly. There was something not quite comfortable about the quiet between them. When they’d decided to split up, the couples within the group had automatically paired off, and Layla had elected to go with Bloom and Sky before Musa could catch her eye.
Which had left her alone with Riven. For the first time since their breakup and his return to the group.
“So, how’s the apartment hunt going?” she said, in part to break the awkward silence, and in part to distract herself from the pain still radiating from her side.
Riven cast a bemused look at her, but answered nonetheless, “Fine. Be better if it was going faster.”
Musa found it in her to smirk at that. “Don’t love living with Bloom and Sky?” she teased.
“I’m grateful, don’t get me wrong. But they’re… you know…”
Musa did know, and she knew Riven wasn’t being mean. Bloom and Sky were just recently engaged, just so in love, really there were plenty of options to fill the end of that sentence with. And it wasn’t a slight on their friends, but Musa knew what it was like to be around them, and the rest of the couples in their group, when you were painfully single.
“Yeah, I know.”
“Still living with Layla?”
Part of Musa thought that Riven was forcing himself to maintain the conversation, to be polite, but when she glanced at him, he was already watching her with bright, curious eyes. The thought that Riven had grown from who she’d once known him to be brought her up short, but before she could think of it further, her side gave a sharp stab of pain and she had to grit her teeth to keep from yelling out.
“Yeah,” she managed to say, when the pain had finally eased.
“Right,” Riven said quietly, and if Musa didn’t know any better she would have sworn that his feelings had been hurt by her shortness.
“Yeah, we are,” Musa said again with a gasp of breath, not wanting him to think she was brushing him off. “But, I don’t know, I’m not sure how much longer it’ll last.”
“You don’t like living with Layla?”
“It’s not that, she’s just been floating the idea of moving out lately. She’s never lived by herself before, and I don’t think she was ready to after Nabu, but I don’t know, I guess she’s finally ready.”
“What about you?”
“What about me what?”
“You don’t want to live on your own?”
“I’m not too fussed either way,” Musa said with a shrug that sent pain slicing through her abdomen.
“Oh, because I was thinking about finding a roommate. The rent in Magix is insane so if you’re looking for someone…” Riven shrugged it off like the idea was no big deal but Musa had a feeling it really was.
“Do you think that’s a good idea? You know, given everything- oh, fuck, fuck, fuck-” Muse broke off with a hiss and clutched at her side, no longer able to hide the waves of pain that were coursing through her.
Riven, surprisingly, didn’t seem surprised, and merely raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms. “I was wondering how long you’d be able to hide it.”
“Hide what?” she snapped, bending over with a whimper.
“Whatever the fuck you did to your side. You hurt it back at the fight with the wizards, right?”
“And you just let me walk around in pain, trying to hide it,” Musa hissed at him.
Riven shrugged, the picture of calm, even as Musa thought she might pass out from the pain. “I learnt long ago that there was no point trying to get you to do or say anything you didn’t want to. Besides, I'm not your boyfriend anymore.” Musa wasn’t sure how that was relevant and was about to say so, but Riven had already continued, “So I figured I’d just wait until you couldn’t take it anymore.”
“You’re such a fucking ass,” she yelped.
But they were both distracted when she pulled her hand away from her side and found that her t-shirt had completely soaked through with blood. Riven’s amusement disappeared and his eyes went wide.
“Musa,” he said, all serious now. “Let me see.”
“Screw you,” she bit out. “Forget it, we need to keep going and go help the others.”
“Musa,” he said again and she found herself looking at him. He looked pale and more worried than she thought she’d ever seen him before. “Let me see.”
Despite his obvious concern, she still wanted to tell him exactly where he could shove it, when her knees buckled. The only thing keeping her from crumpling on the ground was Riven’s arm looping around her waist. With one smooth movement, he lifted her into his arms.
“Riven,” she whimpered.
“It’s alright,” he said soothingly, even as he broke into a fast walk, looking for somewhere he could put her down and examine her wound. “I’ve got you. You’re gonna be alright.”
She clutched at his uniform, trying to control her trembling as he found a fallen log to deposit her on. His fingers slipped under the hem of her t-shirt but he paused, glancing at her for permission.
She gritted her teeth and waved him on. “Not like it’s anything you haven’t seen before.”
So Riven pushed her top up and peeled back the bandage, swearing viciously at what he saw. “This is bad, why didn’t you heal this?” he demanded.
“Told you I needed to save energy.”
“No point saving energy if you die in the process.”
The pair glared at each other for a long minute, each waiting for the other to relent.
“I’m calling it in,” Riven finally said. “They’ll have to deal with the wizards on their own, while you heal this and I mix you some hero’s brew.”
“You are such a stubborn ass,” Musa spat, but she seemed to accept that maybe he had a point because she sighed and flattened a hand on her side, light flaring briefly. There were no healing powers in her bloodline so she couldn’t heal the injury completely like Bloom would have been able, but she could do enough to stop the bleeding until she could see her friend. She busied herself with a new bandage while Riven finished talking to the others through the comms device on his wrist. Once he signed off he dug around in the bag, gathering all the ingredients to mix the hero’s brew, a potion developed by heroes to speed the healing process.
Musa watched him work in silence for a while before, with a growing smirk, she ventured, “So, living together, huh?”
Riven’s eyes flicked to her before darting away again, concentrating on his work. “Yeah. Just as roommates, of course.”
Musa hummed thoughtfully, before accepting the cup he offered her, both of them noticing as their fingers brushed against one another. “Could be fun,” she finally said, smile just develish enough that Riven couldn’t help but wonder what he’d gotten himself into.
It was complicated, what they had. Hughie had Annie, Frenchie had Kimiko and if life were simple, then that would be that. Their life wasn’t simple though. It had started off as a coping mechanism when they were trapped in the basement, hiding from the world, when frustrations and anxieties were at their peak. Hughie had needed pain. He had needed to not exist, to lose his mind in physical sensations, a release for all of his worries and woes. Frenchie had needed control, when his life had been pitched into utter chaos.
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shibari, polyarmory, rope bondage, minor violence, angst, fluff
