The room was quiet, illuminated by sunlight passing through the stained glass. The curtains swayed with the wind, and the sound of demigods following their routines outside mixed with the light breath coming from under the bed.
Cale was sitting on the floor, his back against the wall, watching the small body wrapped under a small blanket. A book from the class of ancient languages rested on his lap, his indicator marking the page where he had stopped reading. He should be studying, since it was a subject of his interest. However, his attention continued to be stolen.
The golden-haired dragon, with his wings retracted and his muzzle still dirty with dry blood, seemed to sleep deeply, but his muscles trembled with the tension of wounds that had not yet healed completely.
There was something strangely intimate in that scene.
"I didn't think I'd see you like this" Cale muttered, his fingers gliding lightly on one of the dragon's paws.
He did not know if Aries heard him, but it didn't matter. Words needed no ears, only space to exist.
But his paws were soft. Cale wanted to squeeze them a little more, despite the risk of getting a tail in his face again.
Since Cale had carried him in my arms, a part of him seemed not to have returned to the place. As if, by touching Aries in such a helpless form, something had moved within him and remained suspended.
It was scary.
And, at the same time, inevitable.
Aries, the respected guardian, the unbeatable warrior, was now... that. A wounded dragon cub, lying on his pillow under the bed, accepting care that he probably would not have asked for in any other circumstance.
Cale had spent hours cleaning his wounds, changing bandages, doing what he could to ease the fever. And now, even tired, he still could not move away. Something was there, as if his presence were a wire holding that body to reality.
"I should find this absurd, right?" he continued, turning his face to stare at the ceiling. "A famous and arrogant guardian... who turns into a pup bleeding in my lap" he laughed, without humor. "But everything about you seems to defy logic."
Silence.
Cale stood up slowly and went to a nearby basin, picking it up and withdrawing from the room. Looking around, he thanked for the absence of the other demigods, who should be in class — unlike him. Going to the outside to get clean water from the well, Cale sighed. There was a very important reason to cheat the divine law class of instructor Sigrid.
Moistening a new rag, Cale turned to the side of the bed as he entered the room again, pulled away slightly from the blanket and pressed the fresh rag against the side of the dragon's neck. The puppy's breathing accelerated for a second, then stabilized.
Cale realized then that the greenish eyes were watching him.
Open and silent.
"Ah, I see you're still alive."
The dragon moved lightly over the pillow, seeming to narrow his eyes in a clear sign of wounded pride and indignation. Still, he let Cale take care of his wounds again.
"You could at least pretend gratitude" he said, pulling the cloth away with a sigh. "But no. Of course not. You are you."
The dragon crawled out of the pillow, Cale even extended his arms to prevent him from stumbling and falling — not that he was too tall for it. The dragon just ignored him and continued to crawl into space next to the bed, and then... he turned back into a human.
The transformation itself surprised Cale, since it was the second time he saw Aries doing that. And it still seemed surreal!
I mean, it was a human turning into a dragon! His reaction was even delayed, after all the worry was heavier. But now he could see intently how the little dragon was welcomed on his own wounded wings and a white light covered him until the image of the broad-shouldered man appeared.
The little blanket was barely able to cover the nakedness of the man sitting on the floor. Aries barely moved, his muscles seemed stiff and the bandages crumbled because he could not cover his body.
"You talk too much", mumbled Aries with his hoarse voice.
"And you get in too much trouble" Cale rebuffed in hesitating, his eyes stuck in his.
Don't look down, Cale Arkalis.
Keep your eyes on his. Don't you dare look down.
A heavy silence was imposed. The tension between them seemed almost physical.
However, there were stains of dry blood on his muscular... arm. Cale swallowed it dry and leaned to wipe with the damp cloth. The atmosphere was tense in silence, which bothered Cale. Mainly because it seemed clear his attempt not to look away.
"You're not used to someone cleaning your blood?" whispered Cale, wiping the last stain gently.
Aries did not answer. He just looked away, his jaws clenched.
"That's strange" continued Cale. "I thought the gods were used to being revered."
"Why did you do that?" Aries asked suddenly.
Cale raised an eyebrow.
"I did what?"
"Helped me. Took care of me without hesitation."
Tilting his head, Cale wondered the question.
"Because you fell into my arms. I was there, so I just helped you when I saw that you were hurt. Nothing too much."
Aries stared at him for a long time. Whatever he expected to hear, it was not that.
"Didn't you feel fear when you saw me?"
The way Aries looked at him seemed to gauge sincerity in his words, as well as a certain insecurity. Cale recognized that, since he was doing the same when he was going to get scolded by his parents as a child. A tip of protection and insecurity, while maintaining the seriousness not to look childish.
My goodness, Cale was paying attention to Aries beyond what he imagined.
Taking a deep breath, Cale stood up slowly and approached. His fingers touched Aries' shoulder with kindness, almost reverence. To his surprise, the guardian did not move away. He stood there staring at him waiting for his answer.
Perhaps Cale should provoke him, as he have done? Or should he be sincere?
Staring at those green eyes, Cale felt that connection connecting them beyond the imaginable. The choice was made even before he became conscious.
"I'm afraid of what happen here means" he said, his purple eyes shining in the gloom of his hood. "But I'm not afraid of you."
The touch remained, making Cale lose track of how many seconds he was already doing that.
Why?
Why was he always pulled to Aries? Now his hand seemed to have a life of its own and touched Aries' bare shoulder with gentleness and softness. The purple eyes protrude from the face of the guardian, decorating his features which he could see for the first time so closely.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Aries' voice sounded like a fearful whisper. It was laughable as someone like him could sound so... small and frail.
"You feel it, don't you?", whispered Cale, raising his fingers up to Aries' neck until touching his hair. "I always end up coming to you. I always see you around and feel that I am pulled into your shadow. But I do not understand this mysterious feeling."
A shiver rose through the skin of Aries.
"Are you falling in love with me? That would be ridiculous."
"Passion? Well, I'm not sure if I feel like kissing someone as arrogant as you."
A nerve vibrated in the forehead of Aries. Oh, maybe Cale provoked him too much.
"Arrogant? Me? Since when am I arrogant, you ungrateful newborn baby."
"N-Newborn... born?" Cale paralyzed stunned. "Who? Me?"
"And who else would it be?!" snared the guardian. "You barely lived twenty years, and when you was helped by someone, can't even be thankful!"
What was he talking about? Cale kept pondering, leaning back and creating space between them. Taking his hand to the chin, he tried to remember if at any time it offended him, although some moments seem to fit in that gap.
"Hm... it sounds like you're pretty spiteful."
"I'm not resentful! I'm just noting some facts about your lack of character."
Wow, was he really angry? Cale blinked stunned and then let out a low laugh.
"Are you really mad at me because of some things I said to you? Or minor, things I didn't say?", Tilting his head, Cale watched him carefully, perceiving the wounded pride in those emeralds. "Gee, I did not know that you held me in such esteem, to the point of caring for my words."
Immediately Aries choked, shocked.
Ignoring the obvious discontent of Aries, Cale continued what he was doing with an annoying calm. The bandages had been released with the transformation, revealing the still fresh cuts that crossed the body of the guardian, as poorly closed scars. Dry blood on the edges, a slight febrile glow on the skin, signs of someone who definitely did not know how to rest.
Cale let out a frustrated sigh, picking up the tip of the loose bandage.
"Seriously you're just going to leave it like that?" murmured "You're going to pretend to be tough until you disintegrate, is that it?"
Aries did not answer. He sat and looked to the side as if he could ignore the world, or perhaps just ignore Cale.
Cale knelt down and started trying to put the bandages in place. It was not the first time he treated someone hurt, but it was the first time he did so with a proud and stubborn dragon disguised as people.
The moment he tried to reapply the bandages, Aries stood up abruptly, as if the touch had activated some combat reflex.
"Hey!", Cale exclaimed, trying to hold him. "You'll open it all again if you keep moving like that, idiot!"
"Get your hands off me!". Aries growled, trying to get up.
The clash of the two was ridiculous in its own way. A warrior of almost two meters trying to escape from a demigod of one meter and eighty, wearing a hood, who refused to let go of the piece of cloth. Aries took a step back, his leg banging on the bed and making him fall backwards onto the mattress, and Cale off along, falling over the wide breastplate of the guardian.
For a moment the time seemed suspended. The sound of the wind from outside ceased. The room plunged into silence.
Cale held his breath. His body stiffened in shock, his eyes wide when he realized that Aries' arm held his waist. When Cale looked up, those emeralds were there, so close that he could see the reflection of himself in his pupils.
The tension between them was thick as fog.
Aries released him in the next second, turning his face with brutality, as if that proximity burned him.
"This was a mere accident caused by your stubbornness, boy" said dry, avoiding looking at Cale.
"Huh? My fault? I'm trying to be a good person here and help you."
Aries said nothing more. But his eyes did not leave Cale for long after that.
Something had changed. Something subtle, but definitive.
And neither of them knew exactly what to do with it.
"Now that you have managed to return to your human form, it's time for me to go to class." Cale walked away, forcing to ignore the feeling that pulled him to Aries. "I recommend you look for someone to see your wounds better. Unless you wish me to continue taking care of you."
Aries peeped in his eyes, puffing.
"Humpf. Take care of your own problems."
Opening a smile, Cale waited for that acidic response.
Watch the guardian just pull the cover of his bed and curl up in it before jumping out of the window, Cale blinked stunned before running to the window. Looking down, he didn't see a shadow of Aries. Cale had no idea where he was.
"My god... imagine if he had not hurt. Your little thief of blankets."