Page 26 of Inferno
Human skin appeared at the ends of his fingers and toes, creeping upwards towards his chest as the magic took effect. He heard the heavy thuds of Yorin’s boots on the step outside and he reached for the blanket. Gods above, this was going to be a close one. The door opened, even while Nerik could still feel the magic filling in the skin across his chest and over his face, and he kept himself turned away from the door, buying himself a last few seconds for the spell to take effect. The instant it had, he yanked the blanket back over his body, hoping that Yorin wouldn’t complain about him letting himself get cold…
But as he turned around, he saw that Yorin was still occupied at the door, setting down the armful of logs he’d brought in so he could take off his coat and boots, leaving them both by the door to avoid tracking more water through the house.
Given that he had a few more moments to play with, Nerik shuffled over to the wood rack, carefully setting another log into the fire. Yorin had put two in, just minutes ago, and though it was entirely possible he wouldn’t even notice the missing log Nerik had taken, it might be better to prevent the issue coming up.
Once he’d put the log on the fire, he fiddled about, adding a few more smaller sticks and poking things about to help them burn better.
“Let me do that,” Yorin admonished him gently, coming to crouch beside the fire as he set his armful of logs into the rack. “You just rest.”
Nerik lay back, biting back a groan as he did so, grateful once again for Yorin’s willingness to help. The log he’d so hastily shoved inside himself was spitting and hissing in the damp wood, generating more steam than Nerik was comfortable with. Maybe if he just lay still for a few minutes, the churning inside himself would settle down.
The next thing Nerik knew, there was a hand on his shoulder and he was opening his eyes, rising from a light doze that he didn’t remember falling into. “Nerik?” Yorin said, and Nerik blinked and peered up at him. Yorin was crouched beside him, a steaming bowl in his hands. “I made some stew. I know you’re probably feeling terrible, but it would help warm you up if you could eat something.”
Nerik felt a rush of warmth at the idea of Yorin cooking for him, of taking such time and effort to care for him. But at the same time…
“Not stew,” Nerik said, wincing at the very thought. The stew contained enough water that in his current state, a single mouthful would kill him.
“No?” Yorin set the bowl down, then placed a gentle hand on Nerik’s forehead. The heat in the man’s hand was sublime, and Nerik couldn’t help but press into the gesture, for all that it might be considered inappropriate. “You really should eatsomething,” Yorin said, concern thick in his voice. “You must be exhausted. Is there something else you’d like?”
Gods above, Yorin was going to make him think, when all he wanted to do was sink into the ground and pass out. Nerik racked his mind for something that he would be able to eat. “Toast,” he muttered, latching onto the first idea that came to him. “Hot toast.” Bread was a workable food when Nerik was at full strength, but even that would be a bad idea right now. Toasting it, however, heated up the bread and evaporated more of the water, leaving a husk that was just about dry enough to burn as fuel. “And butter,” he added, as an afterthought. Butter was mostly fat, and fat burned… yes, that would be a good combination; minimal water to douse his fire, scraps of fuel that he could burn, and nutritional enough from a human perspective to keep Yorin happy.
He lay back down, watching Yorin through half-lidded eyes as he bustled about, fetching bread from the pantry, a knife from the counter, and then placing the toasting iron over the fire. His feet passed in and out of Nerik’s view, and the sight of Yorin padding about in just socks drew a smile to his lips. It was the most informal he’d ever seen the man, and it brought to mind more images, of Yorin fresh out of bed, wearing nothing but a nightshirt. Of Yorin dressing in the morning, trousers on but without a shirt yet. Would he ever get to see such things? Would he and Yorin ever make it to the point where they knew each other well enough, trusted each other enough, to be allowed to see each other unclothed?
Well, Yorin had well and truly seen Nerik without clothes on, Nerik admitted to himself, but under the circumstances, he considered that this might not really count.
Once the toast was done, Yorin buttered it and helped Nerik to sit up a little so that he could eat, and then a second slice followed, and then a third, while Yorin helped himself to the bowl of stew he’d prepared earlier. Nerik ate slowly, paying close attention to how his fire was reacting to the food. The log he’d absorbed had dried out some of the dampness in the rest of the fuel inside him, but it still wasn’t particularly hot. The butter on the toast fizzed and spat, bursting up in little fits of flame, but it wasn’t enough to produce any real heat.
But even so, the little ember at the centre was burning brighter now, no longer at imminent risk of going out, and so Nerik supposed he would be able to last until morning, and then sort out his fire properly once he convinced Yorin to go home.
Until then, all he could really do was get some rest and wait.
◊ ◊ ◊
About two hours after Nerik had arrived home, Yorin was feeling an urgent need to visit the outhouse. He’d been putting it off for as long as possible, not wanting to venture the few metres to the little hut in the pouring rain, but it was getting to the point that he couldn’t avoid it any longer.
He knelt down near the fire, wanting to check on Nerik before leaving him alone, even if it was just for a minute or two. Nerik was still pale, huddled up beneath the blankets. Yorin put a hand on his forehead, then cursed softly. “You’re still far too cold,” he said, when Nerik cracked an eye open.
Nerik nodded weakly. “Yeah, I’ll just… I’ll just stay near the fire.”
“I need to go outside to the outhouse,” Yorin explained. “Will you be okay until I get back?”
Nerik made an effort to appear a little brighter, pushing himself up onto his elbows. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. You go. I’m okay.”
It was touching, how even in his sickened state, he was trying to reassure Yorin. A small, affectionate smile played over Yorin’s lips, then he patted Nerik’s shoulder and stood up. “I won’t be long,” he said. He shrugged into his coat and pulled his boots on, then braced himself before opening the door. He glanced back quickly to check on Nerik one last time, and saw that the man was watching him like a hawk. “I’ll be okay,” he reassured Nerik. “I’m not going far.” Though in this weather, even a few metres could potentially be hazardous. With that, he boldly pulled the door open and stepped outside into the storm.
Two minutes later, Yorin battled the wind as he crossed the short distance back to the front door. A gust tried to rip his coat from his shoulders, and he tugged it back into place, head bent forward against the wind. He staggered up the steps to the front door, then the wind blasted him from behind, causing him to thump into the door before he could step back and open it. It took two tries to get the thing open, and then he had to spend a couple of seconds making sure the door didn’t slam shut again and break the frame.
By the time he turned around, Nerik was up on his elbows again, a bold attempt at a smile on his face. “You made it,” he said, then made a grumbling sound. “You’re wet.”
“Just around the edges,” Yorin said, noting that his shirt sleeves and the lower edge of his trousers were damp, though the rest of him hadn’t suffered too badly, thanks to his coat. He took it off and hung it up on the back of the door, then slipped his boots off again. The fire seemed to be dying down, so he went over and added another couple of logs to it, then checked Nerik over again. “You’re looking a bit brighter,” he said, both surprised and pleased by the discovery.
“Had a bit of a nap,” Nerik said. “I think it made a difference.”
“Do you want anything else to eat? Something to drink?”
“No, I’m fine. Thank you. Um… hey, so… you should probably spend the night here, right? I mean, it’d be crazy to try getting back to Minia in this storm.”
“Well, I don’t want to be too much trouble,” Yorin said, “but yes, I was hoping that would be okay.”