"You're doing really good. That's it." Nolan encouraged. He brought his other hand up slowly, so he wouldn't scare Ayce, and started to run his back soothingingky. He was mindful if his wounds and avoided them as best as he was able too
"W-why are you helping me?" Ayce whispered, blinking. "I-I know Jalaan, h-he wouldn't have included this in y-your orders…your orders would o-only have been to bring me back…" He spoke hesitantly, shaking slightly. His body had gone stiff at the touch of Nolan's hand against his back. Wouldn't have ordered this so why why why why why.
Nolan caressed him softly, reassuring. Ge wanted Ayce to be comfortable with him. "Because you're hurting and I want to help you stop hurting. No one deserves to go through what you did. No one." He watched Ayce. "What kind of flowers would you want in your world? What colors would they be?"
Ayce's eyes flickered shut for a moment, then opened again as he looked at Nolan. "Fireweed and forget-me-nots." He whispered. "And Wild Roses. The bush ones. My…my sister used to love them." He admitted, looking away for a moment. "And trees." He added, chewing on the inside of his cheek slightly so that he wasn't biting his lip.
"Of course. There would be lots of trees. As far as you can see." Nolan grinned down at him. "What kind of home would you want? A cottage, a palace, an aparment?" He asked. "What kind of things would you want in it?"
Ayce blinked. "Something small." He replied quietly. "But…open. I…no small spaces." He shook slightly, remembering his cell in Raifa. How tiny it had been. No. No no no no he couldn't do that again. Not a tiny space not a little one. "Books? I-I don't know…"
"I thinknwe couod make something just for you. Cozy and open. I like that." Nolan watched him. "What kind of books wouod you want? What genre is your favorite?"
Ayce chewed on the inside of his lip for a moment. "I-I don't know." He replied. "It's been 100 years since I w-was last able to read a book…" He trailed off, shaking slightly again. Dark so dark so so so dark and bored and everything hurts and everything is so dark. He tried to push away the memory.
"That's okay. We'll read every kind of book until we find your favorite genre. We can start when we get to the base, how does that sound?" Nolan stroked his back softly when he shivered. He wanted to reasshre him that he was there for Ayce.
Ayce swallowed, and nodded. "O-okay." He stammered. Won't be able to we'll get back to the base Jalaan will want the spell he'll want everything i have to give and he'll want it now and I-I can't…
"We can read in the garden, how does that sound? We could lost in the words and stay up well into the night just reading." Nolan pressed a soft koss to his brow. It was instinctively. He wasn't sure what had come ober him
Ayce nodded. "Okay." He looked at Nolan, biting his lip again. What was that for why is he…I don't understand. Why is he doing things like that i really don't understand I don't…
Nolan once again pulled Ayce's lip out of his teeth. "Don't bite your lip." He murmured. "Are you ready to get some sleep? I want you to be well rested before tomorrow."
Ayce nodded. "Okay." He said softly, closing his eyes. He was still curled into a ball, facing Nolan. His eyes flickered slightly, and he drew closer to Nolan, feeling cold.
Nolan, after a moment of hesitancy, wrapped his arms around Ayce lightly. He pulled him close to his body. He sughed in content as he tried to relax on the bed
Ayce fell asleep after a few minutes, obviously used to sleeping just about anywhere. His black and white hair was messy, as usual, hanging into his face and across his shoulders, spread out on the bed.
(Time skip to morning?)
(Yeah.)
Nolam woke up early tge next morning, before the sun had even began to peak over the horizon. He smiled as he noticed Ayce still sleeping in his arms. He stayed still, not wanting to wake the fae.
Ayce was curled up beside Nolan, still sleeping. He hadn't had nightmares this time, or if he had, they hadn't been nearly as bad. Maybe it had helped, having someone sleeping beside him. Not being alone. Or maybe it had just been from exhaustion. Either way, he had slept deeper, and mostly dreamless.
It wasn't until the sun was rising that Nolan gently shook Ayce awake. "We need to get going. Do you want a little bit of food before we hit the road?" He asked gently. He was stroking Ayce's hair again, to keep his calm.
Ayce blinked awake, staring at him. He nodded slightly, slowly sitting up. "Please." He said softly, looking at Nolan. He felt hungry now, though he hadn't felt hungry yesterday. He tucked his knees to his chest yet again.
Nolan nodded. He grabbed the jerky from his bag and handed Ayce a piece. "Small bites so you don't make yourself sick." He instructed. He grabbed the water and took a sip before stretching the canteen out towards the fae.
Ayce nodded, taking small bites out of the jerky. "Thank you." He said softly, taking the canteen. His eyes flickered to Nolan's face, then away again. He took a sip from the canteen, then set it down to the side.
Nolan ate bits and pieces of the jerky. When he finished his piece he got out of bed and got ready for the day. That mostly meant that he was strapping his weapons to his body. "Are you ready to go?" He asked Ayce
Ayce nodded, finishing his piece of jerky. He stood, swaying a bit. He wasn't used to standing anymore, and he stumbled slightly. "S-sorry." He stammered automatically, biting his lip. He hated this. Hated that he was so weak hated that he needed help for every little thing.
"You're doing just fine. We'll take it one step at a time okay?"Nolan gently placed a hand on his shoulder steady him. He packed away the few things he had laying around. He extended his hand towards Ayce. "Alright. Let's get going." He gave him a reassuring smile. "We'll go as far as you can okay?"