I wait outside the medical tent for a time. From outside, I hear occasional wincing which pains me. But it was the long dawdling stretches of silence which haunted me the most.
How stupid was I to inflict such hate at someone so undeserving of it? Now, the grass where he had stumbled is stained red, and the tent is filled with screams.
...
I walked into the tent once that night, having bitten my nails to bits and needing to reassure myself that the silence was not as ominous as I had imagined. My life could not be tainted so early on.
He was the only one occupying a bed. His curls rested peacefully above his brows. His eyes were closed and lips lightly parted.
I sighed with relief as his smooth chest heaved up and down with sleep.
Yet by his side, a thick pale gauze was wrapped tightly all the way up his arms.
His arms.
I blinked.
My fingers unwillingly traced the cloth bound against his skin.
I flinched.
What was I doing?
It was guilt. Definitely guilt that had wrecked my brain and made me feel so hollow and warm and... strange.
My heart pounded like a beating war drum as I left the tent, my steps quickening as I heard something, or someone, shift in the silence.
...
"Patroclus?"
He didn't appear for a long time. During his absence, I paced my dorm and muttered under my breath like a crazed fool. My eyes twitched and bore the weight of sleepless nights. My movements were lazy in combat practice and more than once led to swords pointing at my throat, chest and thighs.
On the second week of his absence, his name had begun to seem foreign in my mouth, almost as if I had imagined him, divined him and his broken gaze with witchcraft and magic. After all, it was near impossible for someone as .... strange.... as him to exist.
I had nearly recovered, thoughts of him had all but subsided, my meals became more frequent, my nights more restful, my steps more steady, until a shadow appeared one night on clay walls.
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Olives - Achilles x Patroclus
Fanfiction"It's hard to love him. And it's hard because I think about him all the time. Patroclus. Patroclus. Patroclus." The love of Achilles and Patroclus told from Achilles' perspective. Starting from their first meeting till their descent. Separate from...
