Nathaniel started coughing and clutched his chest. "Agh…!" He gritted his teeth, the strain on his broken ribs hurting like hell. He didn't seem to hear Ilya as he trembled uncontrollably, his arms still folded over his beaten and bruised body.
Fuck, that probably wasn't good. Ilya pulled Nathaniel's arms away from his body, pinning him to the bed so he wouldn't jostle his ribs any farther. He snapped his fingers behind him, summoning a bottle of painkillers from the bathroom and pouring a few pills into his hands. "Open your mouth."
Nathaniel struggled against Ilya's grip, but eventually allowed the other to give him the pills. He swallowed them and started coughing again, blinking away pained tears. He couldn't even take a full breath without it hurting, so coughing fits were near unbearable.
"You need to breathe, okay? I know it hurts but it'll hurt worse if you pass out right now." Ilya wiped his tears with a gentle hand, rubbing the back of his neck in an attempt to calm him down. "Those will kick in in a couple of minutes, just take shallow breaths until then. You'll be okay."
Nathaniel started hyperventilating, his shaking getting worse. Even breathing shallowly hurt, and he was honestly sort of hoping he'd pass out just so he couldn't feel the pain anymore.
"Fuck. Fuck." Ilya was really out of his depth here, but he might have something that could help. He just wasn't looking forward to using it. "Okay, let's try something new. Grab my hand and hold it. Tight. I'm about to siphon off some of your pain."
Nathaniel hesitantly took Ilya's hand and gripped it tightly, not entirely sure what the fairy planned on doing. Everything hurt, and Nathaniel couldn't move.
Ilya took a deep breath, starting to dull the pain in Nathaniel's body by transferring some of the damage over to himself. He let out a long hiss as his ribs cracked softly and a cut opened up on his chin, dripping fresh blood. "Holy shit," he breathed out in a pained whisper, squeezing Nathaniel's hand. "I just healed your ribs halfway, how do you feel?"
"S-Slightly less shitty…" Nathaniel managed to choke out, his heart pounding a mile a minute. "What… What did you do?"
Ilya let out a sigh of relief, yelping when it jostled his freshly broken ribs. "Just some magic. It'll go away if we stop touching though, this isn't a permanent fix. But… I guess I stole your pain, kind of? I took some of the damage from you and gave it to myself."
"W-What?! No no no, you don't need to take my pain. You don't deserve it." . Nathaniel tried to let go of Ilya's hand to stop causing him pain.
Ilya squeezed Nataniel's hand, not letting go. "First of all, please stop pulling on my arm because I did kind of break my ribs a little and they hurt. Second of all, I want to help you. You were choking earlier. I was scared you were going to die."
"But… but you shouldn't have to be in pain because of me…" Nathaniel's grip on Ilya's hand was weak, as he wanted to take it away. "If I die, I die, right? It'd be my own fault… it's always my fault…" He whispered to himself, unable to make eye contact.
Ilya frowned, gripping his hand more tightly. "No! Your life has meaning, Nathaniel. I'm not just going to sit by and let you suffer just because you don't think I should intervene. You don't deserve to be in pain!" He turned to Nathaniel earnestly, trying to make eye contact. "Look at me?"
Nathaniel flinched at Ilya's tone and looked up at him, his eyes shining with tears. "Why does my life have meaning? I-I'm just some stupid angel who can't fly and keeps getting himself hurt. The world could easily do without me."
"I don't think so," Ilya said, softening his tone so he wouldn't upset Nathaniel. He reached forward to wipe away the tears. "I think you're angry and I think you're a little lost, but I don't think that means the world can do without you. I think it means that you need a little time to sort things out. Can you let me give that to you?"
"I-I… um…" Nathaniel looked down, biting his lip a bit. Don't cry. Don't you dare fucking cry. "…okay.." A couple of tears fell from his eyes and he quickly brushed them away with his free hand. Fuck.
Ilya gave him a soft smile, squeezing his hand comfortingly. "That's great. Thank you for trusting me." Ilya paused, checking the time and then gently pushing on Nathaniel's shoulders to make him lay down. "Let's go back to bed, okay? We can talk about this more in the morning."
Nathaniel nodded and closed his eyes. He hardly seemed to notice Ilya still holding his hand, but he figured they had to stay like this if he was supposed to be able to sleep. It took a little while, but he eventually managed to drift off again. He moved closer to Ilya in his sleep.
Ilya smiled at that, playing with Nathaniel's hair as he settled in for a long night. Faries didn't really need to sleep so Ilya rarely did, preferring to wander the forest or tend to his garden. When it was time to wake up, he shook Nathaniel gently. "It's time to get up. You need to eat."
Nathaniel groaned softly and lay his head on Ilya's chest, his wings quivering. He was still pretty much entirely asleep and wasn't aware of what he was doing.
Ilya laughed quietly, running a hand through Nathaniel's hair. "I know, I know. But I magicked up some breakfast, doesn't that sound nice?" He shook Nataniel a little harder.
Nathaniel wrapped his arms around Ilya, still asleep. He sighed softly and huddled close to the fairy for warmth.
(His subconscious wants to cuddle XD)
Ilya rolled his eyes, but he wrapped his arms carefully around Nathaniel's waist and let himself be cuddled. He'd just wait for Nathaniel to wake up, it wouldn't take that long. Hopefully.
After about ten minutes, Nathaniel opened his eyes. It took a few seconds for him to process what was happening and he immediately jumped back, his face flushing bright red. "Oh god, I-I'm so sorry! It was an accident, I swear!"