Slain Among Ice And Fire {Fairy Tail}

Chapter 36- Still Here

"It's been about eight days now." He replied levelly and Hora stiffened a little at the answer. Rufus shook his head faintly, his shoulders sinking a tad. "You've given us all quite a scare, Hora... Up until last night we still weren't completely sure you would pull through." He pointed out quietly and Hora grimaced a bit,

"... I'm sorry..." She murmured, but he shook his head at it.

"Please don't be." Rufus told her coolly, another smile making a reappearance on his face, and a much more steady one this time- and even sort of relieved too, though she wasn't sure why. Rufus straightened up a bit, some of his usual refined posture coming back and shaking off some of the weariness and worry that had had his shoulders sinking beforehand, tilting his head toward her a bit. "You needn't worry about scaring us, or anything of the like. Truthfully all that really matters is that you're doing better now, Hora." He told her lightly, his words echoing similar to those assurances Lixue had given her, and Hora bit the inside of her cheek for it.

Rufus smiled a little more at the way she seemed to hesitate though, "Our worry will be easily forgotten with you on the mend, and you having worried us at all is not an issue either. You are our friend, and family, it's natural we worry. And you needn't feel sorry, so please do not linger on it, hmm?" He pressed, and Hora hesitated a second longer, before nodding stiffly.

"... alright..." She relented, before forcing another breath and shaking her head at herself almost imperceptibly.

... I say that, but I'm still gonna feel awful about it all...

She cast the thought off and shifted, her hand falling onto the bed and gritting her teeth as she started to push herself up without warning. Rufus jumped faintly as she started, before the blonde wordlessly moved his book out of his lap and set it down on the nightstand beside him, before quickly climbing to his feet and reaching for her. He said nothing spare mumbling 'careful' under his breath while helping her sit up, stacking the pillows up behind her and so she could lean against them instead of keeping herself straight all on her own, once she was up all the way.

Sitting up at all hurt, unsurprisingly. All her muscles felt cramped and rigid, and they didn't wanna cooperate with her moving. Even her bones even seemed to groan under it too, but the worst of it was a sharp stab of pain running through her left side (which was still bandaged) and radiating through her chest. She even cringed slightly for it, before letting out a shaky sigh as it began to fade and just ended up throbbing.

Hora leaned heavily against the pillows and headboard with it, holding her breath a moment to try and ease the intensity of the throbbing... but hey, she was up, and stayed up without sputtering, or struggling to breathe to boot.

So that's kinda a plus, yeah...?

Rufus' hands hovered slightly as she settled again, watching her intently in silence as the little show of pain she let slip faded again. Once she seemed relatively steady enough on her own, his eyes moved away and his hands did too- reaching for a pitcher of water and a cup on the nightstand he'd set his book on. He filled the cup and handed it her way, Hora casting the glass a sort of uneasy look, before taking it from him in both hands and mumbling a small 'thanks'.

Drinking it didn't sound all that pleasant in that moment, her stomach was in knots and all tense just like her muscles felt- and she was sort of afraid she might retch the water up as soon as she drank it... but her throat was dry as hell, and she didn't need to end up coughing if she could help it, so she had to give it a go.

Hora took a few tentative sips, her eyes down on the water itself and not Rufus. The blonde settled slowly back into his seat while she took a few drinks, watching quietly all the way through and up until Hora lowered the cup and her hands into her lap.