A Certain Magic To Love
An art trade with @TheR3dPainter.
An arrow flew past Alok’s face and he winced. A thunk behind him and another arrow notched in front of him. He leapt to the side and rolled coming up to a crouch, an arrow flying wide. Ahead of him one of the bandits fought Jespar with a sword, a wall between Alok and the archer. He didn’t have a good line of fire on the archer, not with Jespar in the way. Something needed to change.
He kept his distance and circled the fight to keep the archer in as much danger of hitting an ally as he was in. He was relying on Jespar to give him the opening he needed.
Jespar lunged forward. The bandit with a sword stepped to the side and moved in for Jespar. Alok realized the mistake he had made as he did as well. Jespar continued his forward momentum and shoved the bandit with his shoulder, knocking him off balance, then took several steps backward.
Jespar yelled, “Alok, now.”
Alok extended his hands forward and a bolt of lightning arced across the gap to the bandit. He gasped and fell. But the lightning didn’t stop. Alok focused on it to bring it to an end, but the magic kept flowing from him. The lightning leader searched for a new target. A bush sparked and a rabbit yelped, but neither maintained the bolt. Then it met with Jespar’s right arm who dropped one of his swords.
Jespar screamed in pain. Alok pulled on his hand, but it didn’t budge for a moment, and then the connection was broken. Smoke rose from Jespar’s arm. The archer stared at what happened, then turned and fled.
Alok rushed forward and knelt beside Jespar.
He reached out his hand. “Are you ok?”
Jespar flinched away and got up. “I’ll make camp.”
Jespar stalked off and Alok stared at his hands. He hadn’t meant to... Tears flowed unbidden. He sat there on the ground for several minutes before he could compose himself. He went to join Jespar at camp.
A fire was lit in the camp by the time nightfall set. Jespar sat on a log, stoking the fire with a stick. He was using his left arm, not using his right arm. Alok approached the fire and sat by it, a short distance from Jespar.
“Do you...” Alok trailed off for a moment before continuing, “Do you want some help with your arm?”
Jespar stared at the fire in silence for several moments. “Yeah. That would be nice.”
Alok moved closer and examined the wound. The lightning had cauterized the hole it had dug into Jespar’s arm, but the blackness covering it was soot, not necrosis. It wasn’t good, but it would heal. He reached for Jespar’s sleeve, then stopped.
“May I?”
Jespar nodded and Alok pulled up the sleeve, careful not to touch the wound. He set some ointment and bandages out on the log.
“This is going to hurt a little.”
Jespar grimaced and his body tensed up. Carefully, Alok dabbed ointment on the wound. Jespar winced with each dab, but didn’t make any sounds. Alok rubbed more ointment onto the bandage itself then began wrapping it around his arm.
He paused the wrapping a second. “I’m sorry.” He continued wrapping. “I still don’t have full control over my magic, yet. But I would never want to hurt you.”
Jespar poked at the fire for a few moments. “Thank you. I don’t blame you for it. I guessed that’s what was the issue. It just hurts.”
Alok cut the bandage and tucked the end under the rest.
“I hope the ointment is helping with the pain.”
Jespar nodded slowly. “It is.”
Alok smiled. “I’m glad. I hate to see you in pain like this.”
He hesitated a moment and then kissed the outside of the bandage.
“A kiss to make it feel better.”
A slight blush entered Jespar’s face and he looked away.
“It’s feeling better already,” He said. “I can feel the magic working.”
Alok laughed and gently took Jespar’s hand is his own.
“There is a certain magic to that sort of thing.”
Jespar looked back at him. “What sort of thing?”
“To love, of course.” Alok grinned at Jespar. “There are few magics more powerful.”
They both stayed in place for a few moments, then Jespar kissed Alok on his forehead.
“Thank you.” Jespar hesitated for a moment. “I love you too.”
Alok’s face flushed and he buried it against Jespar’s sleeve, bundled up against his shoulder. It was the first time he’d said that.
They sat there hand in hand with the fire for the rest of the night and fell asleep against each other, happy.