Carter continued to brush his hands through Arria’s hair gently and he didn’t stop Arria’s kisses. He wanted to tape this shattered reality back together. He wanted to do something right for once, he wanted to help Arria. They suffered so much for so long, Arria more than Carter… He just wanted to make things happy again, to make Arria feel good for just a little bit, rather this unending grey.
The kisses traveled back up, along the other side of Carter’s neck. He would have gone further, would if he didn’t feel like he was about to pass out if he didn’t get something to stop his migraine, “Carter…” He pressed his face into his neck, arms wrapping around the human’s body to get closer if physically possible.
“Arria…” Carter whispered back, wrapping both his arms gently around Arria. “What can I do for you?” He whispered, caressing Arria’s back and letting his hand drift down over Arria’s scales—being hyper cautious of accidentally hurting the merman. Use me, Arria, use me, Carter silently urged, tightening his arm around Arria’s back. He owed this merman everything and more.
Arria twitched slightly under the touches, though it wasn’t from pain, “I need… you and… and… painkillers.” He mumbled. The painkillers were more important for his health, but Carter was more important to him at the moment.
“Will you be okay if I leave you here while I get painkillers from the city?” Carter asked softly. All it would take was one word, and Carter would find another way. Just one word, that word being ‘no’. Carter wasn’t going to leave Arria if he didn’t want him to leave. He just didn’t feel comfortable dragging Arria along to the city with him, where he could get hurt worse from that trip alone.
Arria was quiet for a moment, tightening his grip on Carter before he let go. He didn’t want Carter to leave, not when they had been apart for so long but he knew that it wouldn’t be for long. He nodded, “Yeah… I’ll be okay…” He slowly and cautiously pulled away from the human.
Carter took a deep breath then regretfully turned and walked halfway in the water to slip off his clothing and toss them ashore, then he quickly downed the potions that would give him just enough to get to the city and back. He couldn’t have swam any faster. The stinging of his own wounds hurt like hell, but he knew Arria’s wounds were worse, and that’s what kept his stamina up. It mercifully wasn’t long before he reached a medicine shop.
There was an elderly woman sitting behind a countertop as carter entered the store, looking at a book as some potion bubbled next to her. She looked up when Carter entered with a small smile, “Hello there, how may I help you?”
“Hi- uh,” Carter paused for a second, gulping in breath, “I need lots of stuff to heal wounds. Painkiller as a priority, please,” He got out, his heart racing in his chest. He needed to get back to Arria as fast as possible. It didn’t sit right with him, knowing that the merman was sitting in their cave all alone, where someone could get to him and then next thing Carter knew would be that he can’t find him again and- Carter tried to shove away those fears, he tried to calm down enough so he could get what he needed and go right back home.
“Oh of course,” She turned to a cabinet behind her, pulling out a small shell box and handed it back to Carter, “What injuries specifically are we looking at? Your arm looks fairly bad do you want me to patch that up for you while you’re here?” She asked.
“No, no, I’m good, thank you though. It’ll heal up on its own,” Carter brushed it off, much more concerned about Arria right now. All his arm was was an annoyance. They could fix that later, maybe tomorrow or the day after. Just not now when Arria looked so bad, and he just needed to do something right for once. “I need stuff for ripped scales, bruises—lots of bruises, cuts. Anything to relieve general pain, whatever it quickest,” Carter told him, tapping his fingers anxiously against his tail.
The mermaid nodded. She turned around, going back to rifling through her draws and pulling different boxes and containers out and setting them aside. She could sense Carter’s worry and made sure she grabbed things quickly. A moment later, she placed them in front of Carter, “There you are dear.”
“Thank you, what’s the cost?” Carter asked, but a feel of dread quickly settled in his stomach. He didn’t have anything. “Can you send me a bill or something for it later?” He added, biting his lip in worry. He didn’t want to steal this at all, but Arria was back at home waiting for him…
“Free of charge,” She winked at him, turning back to her book, “If I don’t see you leave with it then I can’t charge you.” The mermaid new she was probably being too lenient, but she could tell the other was in a panic and a rush.
“Thank you,” Carter immediately responded. He wouldn’t forget this, the kindness that this woman was offering him. He snatched up the items and was back to swimming at full speed back home, the thought of Arria at the forefront of his brain. He needed to fix this horrible mess that he made, and thankfully it wasn’t long before he popped his head out of the water and was scrambling to get on the sand so he could treat Arria.
Arria was curled up on the sand, tail wrapped around his body as best he could for protection. Even though he had been alone it was instinct now. His face was tear stained, breathing hitching every so often and his eyes were closed. He didn't looked up when Carter swam in, half asleep and so, so exhausted to notice.
“Arria?” Carter said softly as he crawled up on shore, fighting off exhaustion for now. He dumped all the medicine he gotten onto the sand, fishing out the painkillers first and holding them out for Arria to take. “I got a lot of stuff. Painkillers first though.” Carter’s own wounds weren’t doing so good, he wanted to know Arria was okay before he did anything to fix up himself.
Arria sat up, breathing slightly heavily and wiping at his face quickly, "Oh yeah, thank you." He took the painkillers, two small beads that almost looked like pearls and swallowed them dry, "You should rest, you look exhausted." He couldn't give a shit about himself. Couldn't care less about the other wounds as long as his head stopped pounding at least a little. Carter on the other hand? He wanted to make sure he was taking care of himself just as much.
“Not exhausted yet,” Carter countered quietly, scooting closer as he picked through the medicines to try to find the thing to help Arria’s wounds in his tail, with the missing scales. Now he just had to wait til his damn tail disappeared so he could treat Arria better. “My shit can wait. You’re dealing with worse,” Carter muttered, finally thinking he picked out the right cream for Arria’s tail.
"Oh come off it Carter," Arria frowned, "I can see you're exhausted. Just because I have a migraine and some bruises doesn't mean I'm blind. I just needed the painkillers, I'll be fine." He knew he was brushing his injuries off as well, they were pretty bad, but being more concerned with Carter and that fact that he didn't give a shit about himself would do that, "I am fine."
“You are not,” Carter countered, “You have a lot more that just bruises and a migraine. And I’m not resting until I know for sure that you aren’t going to get any infections and you’re all patched up.” Carter crossed his arms over his chest, stubbornly ignoring his own pain and exhaustion. He wasn’t going to do anything to help himself until he knew Arria was completely okay.
Arria rolled his eyes, just as stubbon as Carter was, "I've been dealing with this bullshit for three years, I can wait another half an hour while you rest." If one thing had stayed the same all these years it was the fact that they were both stubbon pricks when it came to taking care of each other. And even though that could have been a good thing, right now it wasn't.
“Well I’ve been screwing up and failing you for the past three years,” Carter retorted, a nasty bite in his words that he quickly regretted. His tone was much softer when he spoke again, “I- I’m sorry. I just want to do this one thing right. I…” Carter looked at the sand, at his arm. The stitches and the cut took an ugly look to them, but it felt insignificant now that it wasn’t stinging with salt water anymore. Another reason why it could wait.
Arria was taken aback by the tone Carter used with him at first, almost - ad too be honest he probably did - shrink back ever so slightly. He new Carter wasn't Maria, but the tone was similar to the one she always had, "You didn't fail me, Carter. You.. You had it just as hard and Maria was just too good at what she did. Keep us separate." He said, voice only just above a whisper.
Carter clenched and unclenched his fists. His eyes caught how Arria shrunk, and it only added to the guilt weighing heavily on his chest. He fucked up, Carter fucked up so badly. “I wasn’t the one captured and tortured by a psychopath,” He said softly, staring at the ground. Carter dragged his eyes up to Arria’s, saying quietly, “Please. I’ll rest afterwards, promise.”