Fevered Dreams

Zedekiah

Zed had woken several times through the night, though it wasn't anything out of the norm, this is usually how he did things, just making sure the fire stayed burning, and kept the rabbit from doing so as it cooked through the night. he checked on the fevered fool often, and when he was worried of his condition, wrapped a bit of snow in a piece of cloth to cool his head, and staying up to keep an eye on him while doing something to pass the time- from the looks of it, he had a bundle of stretched out deerskin strips, and was weaving them together for something.

at the time, zed could only tell it was starting to turn day by the hint of light other than the fire, as he took a chance for a snack, since the rabbit seemed thoroughly cooked and in fact, very flavorful and tender from the slow stew overnight. but zed would save the meat of the rabbit for the other guests, instead claiming the favorite part for himself- the head, which came off rather easily considering the meat was nearly falling off the bone at this point, as he let it cool and cracked it open for the brain, and nibbling off the meat along the face and neck. by the time he'd picked the bones cleaned and sucked the skull dry, it was considerably lighter, and it seemed like his 'patient' was starting to stir again.

he had kicked off his covers, and was tossing a bit in his sleep, which zed figured wasn't a good sign, delirium in fevers usually meant infection, more than just treating his wounds could help. he'd need antibiotics to combat this kind of sickness. he figured going outside for some mushrooms would be the best bet, but the second he took a step out the door, a strong wind came through and slammed the door shut, forcing him back, and a heavy crumbling thud as suddenly the windows were blacked out-

"are you fucking serious?" he was tempted to kick the door in frustration, but then thought better of it, considering his luck he'd injure himself. well, there had to be another way out of here, anyhow. hearing the sickly man call out distracted him from his current task.

now, the man was shivering- most of that due to the fact zed just opened the door, and that zed never bothered to re-dress the man, just leaving him snuggled under the blankets. at least he had his long johns, and zed sighed, shrugging off his coat, he was just the same, only long-johns and the previous coat, his boots temporarily slipped on because he knew there was some mushrooms out there somewhere close-by.

"stay down, you old fool." zed quietly scolded the man, not caring who's name he was calling out. "you need rest, now quit kickin off yer covers. do you want some tea, rabbit stew? it's sure to warm you up."

he hoped he could find a way out of here, between this man's illness and being snowed in, he'd never make it back to his own shelter. it was not secure or secret in the slightest, and he really hated the idea of someone getting inside, god knows what they'd find...

Zed Severin

zed could sorta tell the man was trying to make sense through his delirium, but still things came through like static. apparently, this man thought he was this 'shane', which zed really didn't pay too much attention to, in the back of his mind thinking, 'an old friend.' considering he'd gotten diddly squat from this man as far as info went, this would be the closest chance zed had to learning anything.

"Yeah yeah, i'll get you some, then. just give me a sec. yer furs are ri-" zed was just retrieving the covers the man had kicked off, but before he even had the chance to cover the man, he found himself being grabbed instead.

"whoahwait-" things happened suddenly, and the small boy found himself pulled down on top of the man instead. he was a bit startled, to say the least, his cheeks burning rosy as he was dumbfounded as to what to do next. practically pinned against this man's chest with both of them mostly naked, zed was at least a bit thankful he'd gave the man a quick wash up with a rag before treating his wounds.

a minute or so later, zed recognized the pattern of lucien's breathing change- he was asleep again... zed gave a soft sigh, deciding his best option was 'fuck it' and just deal with things... it wasn't so bad, after all, as awkward as it was, it was warm, snuggled under the furs with this strange, muscular older man... despite his discomfort with the situation at first, zed found himself chilling and nodding off for a bit as well.

it wasn't long until something stirred zed awake, though. he was a light sleeper, so it wasn't a surprise to him, but now he was actually a bit disappointed. things were snugly and warm, he didn't want to move... but as the man below him began to thrash, he quickly realized that wasn't an option, and was kinda wondering what was going on. it took him a moment to think- maybe nightmare? he wasn't awake- zed did the first thing he could think of.

"shh, shhh.. it's ok! i've got ya, yer safe.." he'd whisper to the man softly, trying to press his shoulders down in hope that'd keep him there, but that quickly didn't work out whatsoever. zed was easily overpowered, and suddenly the two of them tumbled off the couch tangled in the fur blankets. zed thudded to the floor, a very heavy Lucien on top of him. zed felt dwarfed, and crushed, compared to the man's size, thoroughly pinned under his weight.

"unf... g-git off, yer crushin me..."he gave a rather weak push to the bigger man. despite himself, he could feel his rosy cheeks returning, his heart starting to flutter, followed by a dull pain in his chest on certain beats, he questioned if they were just passing palpitations, or because he was straining to get this man off of him.

Zedekiah Null Severin

as the man finally lifted off of zed, he gave a relieved breath of air to have the weight off of him, it was a bit tight on his chest. still, he was a bit stunned for a few seconds as his brain caught up to speed and his fluttering heart calmed. he awkwardly watched the mostly naked man heft himself up and make it to the couch before flopping down, after that his brain clicked back into place.

"oh! uh-" he scrambled to untangle from the blanket and get to the tea he'd kept warm for when he woke up. "easy there, i want you to stay off yer sprains. here, drink this tea. it's rosehips and dogwood berries, it'll help take the edge off the pain and such."

he looked up to see at least a bit of the darkness outside of a window being smudged away- something was nuzzling through the snow, revealing to be a curious deer snout.

"oh, wolfbane's still out there, he probably wants- ...food." he paused in his speech as the snow tumbled down and the room brightened by the outdoor light. it wasn't the light that surprised him, but the silhouette that lied beyond it.

a black deer stared back at them, antlers dark as ebony, one eye scarred and whited over, the other eye slightly clouded and on its way to becoming like the first- the deer likely didn't have the best vision, probably why it had wandered out on the ice in the first place.

zed wondered how he could've possibly missed this fact before, but thinking back, it was getting dark, very foggy, and his fur was wet... it kind of made sense now, in his mind.

"black deer... that's kinda creepy." he muttered as he tore his gaze away, instead picking the blankets up off of the floor, draping them over the shivering man.

"yer awake now, right? if you could just remain semi-conscious, that'd make me feel ten times better. like i said, i have stew, it'd be good to keep yer strength up.."