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“Excellent!” Levi grinned, sitting up a little straighter, “I’ve only met her a few times, and I never got very close with her. She is most definitely a remarkable woman. I wonder how she’ll react to seeing Johan so…” he hesitated, searching for the right word. Eventually he settled on “Different.”
Fi's own smile brightened at Levi's reaction, though it dimmed when Levi brought up the obvious issues with his plan. Johan wasn't a little kid anymore. "She really loves him," he finally answered. "She talked about him like he was her own kid, I think… even if he's different now, she will still think fondly of him. And I think he will think fondly about her too."
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Levi nodded. Silently, he wished he could witness their reunion, out of pure curiosity to see how Cora would react seeing Johan and his short hair. He wouldn’t ask, however. He had enough to worry about tomorrow. “He hasn’t mentioned her for a long time. I’m sure it would be good for Johan to see her.”
"He mentioned her to me." He wondered if Cora had taught Johan how to make fried bread or hand pies. He wondered if Johan knew she was giving him bits of knowledge from her home, recipes everyone picked up as children. "We were eating. He wanted to know how I liked her. She's a lovely woman, you should talk to her some times."
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“He did? That surprises me,” he hummed glancing off to the side. He felt himself getting drowsy, and made a mental note he would have to leave soon before he fell asleep here. “I’ll definitely make time to visit her,” he promised whole heartedly. If not for Johan’s sake, he would for Fiori’s.
"Really? It seems like he has a good memory for these kinds of things." Fi watched Levi start to drift off, nudging his shoulder gently. "I am glad you will visit Cora with me, but for now I believe the only thing you should be visiting is your bed. We can talk more in the morning, go get some sleep."
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Levi parted just lips in a yawn, nodding an answer for the short time he couldn’t speak. “I suppose I will be off to bed, then. I don’t want to keep Mordecai waiting too long,” he chuckled tiredly. Even though he’d taken longer trips away from Mordecai before, the reunion now was just as sweet.
Fiori laughed and slipped out of bed, pulling Levi up to his feet and escorting him out into the hall half because he was a gentleman and half because he feared Levi would fall asleep standing up if he didn't keep him moving. "Of course. Don't keep your lover waiting, gods know you've been away from each other long enough. Have a good night, Leviticus."
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“Oh, that’s for certain. You have a good night as well,” Levi hummed once again as he shuffled out into the hallway. “Again, Thank you for taking care of Johan.” He turned to offered his friend one more smile before began making his way towards his own bedroom. Luckily it was only a few doors down, and he could brush his hand against the wall to keep himself upright.
Fi laughed softly, waving at him when he turned back to smile. "Of course, my friend. It is a pleasure to be able to help you." He hoovered out in the hall for a few seconds, making sure Levi got all the way back to his rooms, and then he slipped back inside. Everything was quiet as he crawled back into bed, pulling the blankets up around his shoulders.
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Johan slept peacefully for the amount of pain he was in. His face, colorful with bruises, twitched every so often into an uncomfortable frown. Sometime in the middle of the night, whether he shifted in his sleep or had woken up for a fraction of a moment, he had wrapped his arms loosely around his torso.
Fiori slept like a dead thing. He'd always been a heavy sleeper but not like this, when his body practically shut down just to give it the chance to process everything. His body never moved a muscle, never tossed with discomfort and twitched with emotion even as nightmares tore through his mind. He woke up at the crack of dawn, panting and covered in a thin sheen of sweat. His hands, clean though they were, felt thick with blood.
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Johan flickered his eyes open moments later, and for a moment he believed everything was normal. He usually woke up at around dawn to get have an early breakfast and spar with one of the soldiers who seemed to always wake up the same time he did. Staring up at the ceiling, at at the rude reminder from the ache in his ribs, returned back to reality. He turned his gaze towards Fiori, letting out a disgruntled sigh upon seeing him there.
Fi didn't seem to see him at all, looking down at his hands with glossy eyes. He blinked and he could see them caked with Cadmus' blood and he blinked again and they were clean and when he rubbed them together with shaky fingers all he could feel were the rough callouses he'd worked so hard to build up. He wasn't shaking, not really, but there was something fragile about him as he stared down at his hands, something in the catch of his breath or the wet gleam of his eyes.
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Johan clasped his hands over his stomach, blinking away the rest of sleep from his eyes. He furrowed his eyebrows with confusion. Was Fiori…bothered by something? He couldn’t imagine what he would be upset about. Fiori wasn’t the one who had lost all of his titles and became a slave. He wasn’t necessarily worried about him, just curious. “Fiori,” he murmured tiredly.
Fiori swallowed, blinking down at his hands for a few seconds before he could bring himself to look at Johan. He could not cry. Even though He felt Cadmus' loss like a physical thing he could not cry because if Johan knew he was weak he would never back down and then Fiori couldn't help Levi. "Yes?" He was still rubbing his hands together, feeling scar and skin and no blood. No blood at all.
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(I feel so bad for Fiori)
Johan studied his expression through squinted, curious eyes. He uncurled his hands from his stomach and braved them on the mattress to inch carefully away from Fiori. “What are you doing with your hands?” He itched to be able to get out of bed already. He rarely slept beside anyone, most nights preferring to have the bed to himself. Being in bed beside a foreigner, who was supposed to be his master, especially put him off. But he knew there wasn’t anything he could do about it now, not when he could barely stand on his own.
(yeah, my poor bby needs some hugs)
Fi's gaze flicked from his hands to Johan's face and back again and he slowly let them come to a stop. No blood. He could see that now. There had never been any at all, had there? "Nothing." He squinted towards the window, watching the sun claw itself up over the horizon. It couldn't be later than six. Even so, he clambered out of bed, wiping his hands off on his pants just to be sure before he tucked the covers back around Johan. "It is barely dawn. Go back to sleep."
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(He deserves all the hugs)
“What are you talking about?” Johan huffed, pushing away the blankets he had just been tucked into. “I always get up this early to train.” Granted, he knew he wouldn’t be able to train with his injuries for quite some time. He slid one leg off of the bed, and then the other. What proved most difficult was the stiffness in his joints and torso. Johan grimaced as he attempted to push himself up to sit.
(thank you for your pity)
"Johan." It wasn't a plea, but it was close. Fi tucked him in more firmly, sliding his legs back under the covers as smoothly as he could and pushing down on Johan's chest until he buckled and lied back down. "No." Fi would've preferred it if he could keep Johan in bed all day, still and safe and not aggravating his ribs, but he already knew that would be impossible. The best he could do was stall. "Get your rest. You need it to heal."
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(yw)
After attempting to struggle out of Fiori’s restraints, Johan finally let out another sigh and begrudgingly fell back in the bed. He curled his lip in frustration, glaring down at Fiori’s hand. “The only way you can keep me in bed—in this room—is to tie me.” And even then he would do all he could to yank his hands out of the ropes. He supposed he did need to heal if he ever wanted to fight again, but he would rather take care of himself on his own terms.
Fi managed a snort, keeping his hand firm on Johan's chest. "You are uncreative in the extreme, prince." He wished he could just trust Johan to take care of himself but no. That would be too easy for someone as proud as him, someone as eager to start a fight. Fi wished he didn't see so much of himself in Johan. "There are many ways for me to keep you down, chief among them asking politely. I do not want you hurting yourself. Why is that so hard to accept?"
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“Because I don’t want to be trapped in my rooms with an Usigen like yourself,” Johan snapped, “Let alone be under the hand of one.” He pressed his hand against Fiori’s arm in an attempt to dislodge it off his chest. “Get the hell off of me.” His eyes were much brighter than they were last night, more willing to put up a fight. Even bedridden, his spitfire personality seemed to be returning.
Fi pushed down harder. He didn't have the energy to fight today. He didn't have the energy to do anything at all really, but he had obligations. This wasn't his home. He couldn't just take a break when he wanted to anymore, he had to push through. He had to keep going. "No. It is my job to take care of you and if that means forcing you to stay in bed long enough to heal then that's just what I will do."
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Johan grit his teeth, but relented enough to let his arms fall back to his sides. “You’re going to have to get food for me eventually. And you’ll either have to leave me here alone or take me with you.” He could figure out how to get away from Fiori if they went out into the hallway. He still hurt, but he could manage in desperate times.
Fi patted his chest and let up on Johan, flopping back down on the bed with a sigh. He was going to be a handful today, wasn't he? "Yes." Normally he would speak or threaten or… anything, but he didn't have the energy to way. All he wanted to do was sleep. He wasn't hungry, wasn't worked up, wasn't anything but exhausted, really. "Stop plotting. You'll get hurt."
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Johan let out another long breath as he reached up to run a hand through his hair, instantly stopping when he remembered the length of it. He lifted his gaze absently to the ceiling, and then back to the man beside him when his thought from earlier returned. Fiori was different today, only slightly from yesterday, but different nonetheless. “What are you thinking?”
Fi didn't move much once he slumped over onto his back, letting his eyes fall shut. He should be watching Johan. He should be taking care of him. He groaned quietly and draped an arm over his face, doing his best to break away from that train of thought. "Nothing, I just… I want you to go to bed. Can you think about someone other than yourself for once?"
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Johan’s expression twisted, contorted into surrender with particular bad grace. He rested his head back onto his pillow, but not without glowering at the ceiling and anything within eyesight. “Not like that’s worked out before,” he muttered under his breath. He hadn’t meant for it to be audible, more like a thought to himself. The longer he stayed awake the more his ribs ached, and stung like claws wrapping around his gut. If it weren’t for that he would have tried to stand again.
Fi didn't so much as glance at him, though he relaxed marginally when Johan didn't immediately get up just to spite him. He snorted at Johan's little remark, mustering up enough energy to toss him a disbelieving look. It was half covered by his arm, but at least he'd managed to move a little. At least he could do this much. The relief was muted, but he could feel that relief and wasn't that something? "Sure."
