Lysar felt a little awkward. Apparently a large serpent had broken in and attacked them while they were in bed, and the monster had been fended off by their partner and their nibling-in-law, and Lysar had slept through the whole thing. But clearly something had happened, because Lysar was oddly delirious. The world was spinning in an awkward manner, Lysar’s head hurt and they were still insanely sleepy.
What was more awkward though was that Lysar was currently being subjected to an experimental treatment for going Defensive Stance. Or rather, they were being used to treat it. They were being tightly held by their partner, who had gone Defensive Stance. The idea was that, by holding the person that the patient had gone Defensive Stance over, the patient would more quickly realise that they were not in danger and their adrenaline would drop more quickly. This was somewhat new tech though, and it was only being used because the person who had gone Defensive Stance was literally the High General of the Retha, and they needed to get back on their feet and back to full health as soon as possible.
It did seem to be working, at least. When Rethais had been found, collapsed in the bed next to Lysar, there were concerns that they might have suffered brain damage from being knocked out and getting a concussion while Defensive Stance, but Rethais was slowly starting to talk normally and they were showing signs of exhaustion and willingness to sleep. Still, Lysar felt off.
“Are you alright, dear?” Lysar asked as they tried to reposition a little. Rethais was holding them very tightly, almost to the point of hurting Lysar.
“Y-yes…” Rethais stuttered.
“Ah, good. Can I breathe a little, please?”
Rethais was lucid enough to work out what they were doing wrong, so they let go of Lysar and sat up straight themselves. They were covered in little sticky pads and wires, that were tracking Rethais’s health. A tube was embedded in Rethais’s arm, feeding them fluids and a light sedative. There were doctors all around, keeping an eye on things.
“Oh… Sorry…” Rethais sighed. They gave Lysar another big hug, then let go properly.
“You are not well.”
“I am…” Rethais glanced around before they finished their sentence. The doctors could tell that Rethais wasn’t right. So Rethais decided to be honest. “I am… scared. I was threatened by a monster.”
“I get that. But there is something else troubling you.”
“It is… something I want to talk privately about.”
Lysar turned to the nearest medic. “We need 10 minutes.”
“But-”
“Now.”
The doctors all glanced at each other. One of them came over and checked Rethais’s vitals, then grunted.
“Alright. The High General is stable. We will give you 10 minutes. But we will have someone outside by the door.”
“Thank you.”
The doctors all headed out and one of them stood by the door. Rethais wasn’t settled, Lysar wasn’t satisfied, but they understood.
“What do you want to talk about?” Lysar asked.
“What… what She said to me…”
“She?”
“I was attacked by the old Allbirther. Or… I… uh… She… she wanted something… I went… I went… weird… because I thought She was going to hurt you. But She… She wanted me… She…”
Rethais trailed off and didn’t finish their sentence. They looked away, away from Lysar. Lysar could tell that Rethais was trying to hide their emotions.
“You can be honest with me. And we all know that the Lady of Time spoke to you and tried to hurt you. After all, it was all caught on camera. We are very lucky that Litvir was around to protect us.”
“Litvir is a very good kid. I… I think I saw them wandering around… checking in on us…”
Lysar shrugged. “Probably. But something is genuinely bothering you… And I do not know if it is because you went Defensive Stance or not.”
“That…” Rethais rubbed their eyes. “That was my first time going Defensive Stance… And I hate it. I hate how I feel. I hate the awkward vague memories, I hate how I cannot sleep, I hate how I feel scared and want to lash out in order to protect you and I hate how my brain considers everything around me a threat. And that is made worse by what happened. What She asked me to do.”
“Admittedly, it is a miracle that you are lucid right now. But according to General Kaldoran, Bloodline Rethans tend to recover from Defensive Stance moments more quickly. And you have always been good at keeping down the bubbles.”
“I guess…” Rethais sighed. “The horrible thing is… the Lady of Time said to me… She would make me long-lived in exchange for me having lots of kids. Make me ‘god-touched’. But… I do not want kids…”
“Then do not have kids!” Lysar smiled. “If you do not want kids, we will not have kids! I am not particularly interested in kids anyway.”
“Sometimes I feel like I should have kids. Because of the stupid traditions.”
Lysar patted Rethais on the shoulder. “You do not need to worry about that. Because Relkir has that covered. I mean, we all know that Relkir does want a third kid, maybe even a fourth kid, in the future, and Relkir is secretly desperate to be a mother.”
“I suppose so… What bothers me more though is that… well… She implied… that you will not be as long-lived as me.”
“Ah…” Lysar didn’t reply at first. But after a while, they pulled Rethais into a hug. “Well, we all know our time is limited. And I always knew that, as a Bloodline Rethan, you would probably outlive most of us, and that I would die before you because I am older than you. But all that means is that we ought to live as much of our lives as possible, to the best of our ability.”
Rethais sniffed, then sighed. “You are absolutely right. By the Light, everything just feels so… messed up right now.”
“Because it is, Rethais. Your brain chemicals are not working right. But you are already getting better.”
“I am… Lysar, you are perhaps sick of me, but may you just… hold me for a bit? I need your calmness and your comfort.”
Lysar smiled, and hugged Rethais tightly. “Of course, my beloved, of course…”