Nearly There Nicely 20

Nearly There Nicely 20
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It didn't take too long for Will to settle down to sleep once again in Crow's bed. It was very unlike the hard flat bed he'd been sleeping in the last four years as a servant. It was soft and cushy, but very firm, like a brand new bed might be.

Crow's dreams were forgotten nightmares of his past, the ugly he hid away. He slept lightly, always on the brink of waking due to the unsettling nature of his dreams; Tormented by his father and his life. The only thing that allowed him to sleep were brief glimpses of happy memories.

While his mother was usually the focus of his memories, one that Crow would never recall in the morning was a time when the family had been invited to a birthday party of a high-ranking noble's son. The event was apparently a big deal because the king was to attend. Dressed in his fanciest attire made of cotton, for young boys to play in, Crow had stood at his mother's side. She was tall and regal looking, but very humble with her gentle motherly smile. Her long hair was down for the occasion with her bangs pulled back into braids and the hairs framing her face had been curled. With just a coral lipstick and curling to her lashes, she had such an air of beauty about her. Crow was proud to be standing next to his beautiful mother, his hand in hers. His father, dressed in some fancy get-up that made him look stiff at the collar was forcing a smile while mingling with a General and Lieutenant.

The birthday party was hosted by the family at their very own large manor, like an estate, out in the gardens. The father and mother of the birthday-boy were seen talking to the King, while the young boy was sitting in a mock king's throne up in a gazebo looking rather quiet and shy.

“Honey,” Crow's mother had said to him in a sweet loving voice as she knelt down to him, her gown floating down like a butterfly around her legs as she did. “Why don't you go say hello to the birthday-boy?”

Crow made a pouting face, “I don't want to.”

His mother just had a sweet smile that grew ever larger, “Now that's not very nice. You're here as a guest. And as such, a gentleman would at least go and offer best wishes.”

Crow just kept up his pouting face, like all little boys do when they don't want to do something.

“I urge you to. He's very nice I'm sure.” She said, ruffling Crow's dark wavy locks around. “And I'm sure he has a smile as beautiful and strong as you do.” That made a small smile sneak it's way onto Crow's face. She smiled again at him reassuringly. “Go on.” And she patted his head, straightened up and walked away from him.

It would be the last smile of kindness she'd ever give her boy.

Crow had wandered over to the little boy, not too sure how to say hello. At first, from a distance, he had thought the pink on the boy's head was just some sort of hat or scarf he had been forced to wear. But as he got closer, the noticed it was the boy's hair, that confused Crow on any kind of compliment he could give. For who could compliment a boy with pink hair honestly?

Still, Crow tried his best. “Hello,” he had said in a strong yet happy welcoming voice. The little boy had glanced up at him, not saying anything. His bright blue eyes were obviously surprised that someone had come over who he didn't know. And their luster and sheen caught Crow off-guard, so much that he just gawked. “Wooooooow~” Crow had said staring at the eyes as he came closer. “Your eyes must be made of the sea!” He had said in a baffled tone, his own light blue eyes staring back.

The little boy, surprised at the comment had tried a smile when he noticed that Crow's eyes were just about the same blue as his own. “Maybe... the same sea as yours.” He had said, in an equally baffled tone, though much softer and shy.

Crow's face grew a grin and he smiled widely at the little boy. Still nervous and reserved, the boy did smile back nearly as wide.

The dream shattered like glass at the sound of Crow's name being called softly by the same boy, only this one much closer to his ear.

Crow shifted a bit, rolling his head over to glance toward his bed. He made a sleepy grumble to offer his unapprovement on this notion of being awoken from a rarely-given nice dream.

“Crow. Are you awake?” came the Will's voice through the dark in a soft whisper. It sounded desperate and near tears.

Crow inhaled slowly, closing his eyes and let out a sigh. “Yeah... I'm up.” He shifted some to get comfortable enough again to sleep.

“I can't-- I can't feel my leg!” Will's voice answered in that same tone.

Crow opened his golden eyes, blinking them a few times. “Can't feel it?” He rolled over and shifted up. He saw Will was sitting up on the bed looking pained and afraid. Crow got up and went toward the bed. “Here. Swing your legs over.” Will did as instructed, wincing at the stinging and immense pain. “Which one?”

“My left.”

Crow took the bare ankle into his hands and began to massage and apply pressure upwards and downwards. “How far up can't you feel?”

“Uh... a-about halfway up my thigh.” Will answered, watching Crow with wide eyes.

Crow moved his hands toward the knee and massaged the calf, then the thigh, up and down, and then back to Will's foot. And then he worked his way back up, gently but firmly massaging the skin as if pushing and pulling the blood inside.

Will winced and gasped, “My foot's hot.”

“That's the blood.” Crow answered, blinking briefly to wake up more. “You must've laid in a way that cut off the circulation to your entire leg, which the lack of blood or something woke you up.”

“Oh...” Will answered, feeling more then slightly pathetic now. He winced again as Crow pushed and pulled at Will's thigh toward his knee and started back at the knee and worked down. “How did you know what to do?”

Crow shrugged a bit. “You learn a lot of medical crap being a...” Crow's words trailed off and he acted as if he had finished his sentence.

Will waited a moment before asking, “Being... A?”

“You must remember your mom a lot, huh?” Crow asked suddenly.

Will nodded, “Uh, yes. I guess. … Why?”

“My mom died when I was just a kid.” Crow answered, kind of bluntly.

That made Will start to shift to pull his leg back, but Crow didn't let him. “I-- I'm sorry to hear that.” He paused, looking down at Crow's hands. “How did she...?”

“Not sure.” Crow flatly said. “My...” He stopped, seeming to force down an anger that was coming up. “My dad said, she went crazy. The gods got mad at her for being so beautiful. And they killed her.”

Will frowned, opening his mouth to say something, yet he couldn't think of a comforting thing to say. After a moment of silence while Crow continued to massage his leg, Will leaned down and stroked Crow's head ontop of his bandana. “Judging by your charm, I'm sure your mother was extravagant.”

“Heh.” Crow let out an airy silent laugh. Then, he let out a heavy sigh. “Yeah.” He paused, his hands stopping at Will's ankle. “She was.” He smiled a tad at that thought. Then the frown returned.

Will straightened up a bit. He wasn't sure what to say to cheer Crow up. Then after a few seconds, he realized Crow was still holding it's leg, even though now it was tingling back with full feeling restored. “You... can let go now.”

Crow blinked, staring at the leg before him with a kind of sadness. “No.” He mumbled softly as his eyes drifted down to the foot, his hands grazing to the ankle. Lifting Will's leg up, one hand under his foot and the other at his ankle, Crow brought the top of the foot to his lips and gently placed a soft kiss on the sensitive skin. He heard Will let out a soft short gasp. With his eyes closed, Crow removed his lips and whispered against the skin, “I will protect you.”

Will shivered, letting out another bit of air. “You don't... Have to.”

Crow thought to himself, You're wrong. I have to. I have to at least try. Without a word aloud, he let go of the leg gently and shifted back to his pile of blankets on the floor. “Your leg should be okay now. Let's get some sleep.” And he pulled the blankets up and burrowed back into them again.

Will pulled his legs up and back under the covers. He sat a bit dumbfounded for a few seconds before looking over to Crow's back. “Uh, good night.” He said softly, almost a whisper.

Once Will was laying down nice and comfortably in the blankets, and just shutting his eyes, he heard the soft response from Crow in the dark.

“Night.”