Forever and Always

19

"Could I suture him?" Samuel asked, gently.

"No," Alfred replied, "fixing one cut will cause another to open, and the second will be worse."

"It's all on the same scar," Samuel realized, his eyebrows narrowing, "that entire scar is all civil unrest."

"Yes," Alfred nodded, "he's been through a lot because he's cursed with having assholes for rulers."

"Like the hot guy nobody remembers the name of?"

"Like the hot guy nobody remembers the name of," Alfred smirked, before brushing the hair from his husband's face, as he watched the sweat start to bead from his forehead.

"Will he be okay?" Samuel asked, and Alfred gave the slightest of laughs.

"I feel I should be the one asking that question, but yes."

Samuel nodded politely, stepping away to go grab the mop.

Alfred sat down on the bed, giving a large yawn before looking over to his beloved, running his hands through his hair and telling him it was okay. Ivan was losing his consciousness, but Alfred felt no need to worry, since they could not die from something like this.

"Darling, how bad is it?"

"Why are they so angry?" Ivan hissed, and Alfred shrugged.

"Nobody is ever angry," Alfred said, "they are either afraid or miserable, and who knows the difference- those two go hand in hand."

"Will you be here when I wake up?"

"Of course, my dear."

Ivan was no longer conscious, and Alfred leaned over him and pecked him on the lips, taking off his scarf so it wouldn't get any more ruined.

"Can I have a basin of hydrogen peroxide?" he asked, and Samuel nodded, going into the back room. He returned a minute later with what he asked, and Alfred dunked the scarf into the liquid. Immediately it bubbled, and he winced as it bubbled around his fingers.

He mixed it around, the peroxide turning a shade of pink as it soaked the blood away. He left it alone then, standing. The two other people in the room looked up to him as he left, before looking between themselves.

"You think he's mad about dad getting hurt?" Florida whispered to him, adjusting her sling. Samuel shrugged.

"These days he seems mad about a lot of things. I think this was just the icing on the cake."

Alfred sighed, picking up Klemintina and shushing her as she whined. Akilina was crying as well, and when Alfred walked over, he saw that her neck was bleeding. It was small, like a papercut, only bleeding plasma, yet it was still there.

He frowned, before looking to the mini fridge. He pulled out a few containers of applesauce and baby food, and fed the two. They ate almost four times as much as a normal baby, which tended to make things difficult. Akilina was still crying when he was trying to feed her, taking long, deep breaths into her tiny lungs.

He frowned, and wondered if he should call Rulyn or Samuel. The poor child seemed distraught, so he cuddled her against his chest and tried to comfort her the best he could, trying to get her to eat something.

After an hour, it stopped. Suddenly, she stopped crying, and fell asleep. He was able to wake her up after a couple minutes, getting her to eat before he picked her and her sister up, just deciding to hold them.

"Sir, it looks like Ivan's going to be waking up soon."

"Thank you Samuel," he said, releasing his hold on the button on the walkie-talkie, before standing.

The downstairs was alive, as it was getting to be near dinner, but he managed to slip by the casual chaos and into the medical ward. Ivan's scarf was hanging from the bedframe, seeming to be a darker shade of pink, and Florida and Samuel were out of the ward.

Alfred sat down next to Ivan's head, petting his forehead. He didn't have a fever, which made Alfred let out a sigh of relief. It was just enough to release Ivan from his doze, and he looked up at him and smiled.

He pushed himself up before he coughed, and Alfred put a steady hand on his back.

"Are you okay?" Alfred asked, pressing his forehead against his. Ivan nodded, pressed a kiss against his lips.

"It's okay," Ivan paused, "I mean, I'm used to it- it's happened before."

Alfred shook his head, cupping his cheeks. Akilina crawled into her father's lap, the tears starting to fall again.

"She was crying for a long time," Alfred said, somewhat fondly, "poor thing."

Ivan paused for a second.

"Her neck."

"I noticed that too," he sighed, "seems it runs in the family."

"No..." Ivan sighed, his face etching into a frown, "I hoped my children would get your demonic powers, not my scars."

Alfred laughed, "Hey, the powers didn't come at a cost. I had to learn to use them, and someone as overpowered as me had a tendency to burn entire forests to the ground and then not be able to regrow them."

Ivan let out a breathy chuckle, leaning his head on Alfred's. He could tell he smiled, and he watched Klemintina reach out for him, wanting him to pick him up.

"My dear, aren't you hungry?" Ivan asked, pushing himself up. He carried Akilina in one arm, and Klemintina in the other.

"Yes," he shrugged, standing. The two little children giggled, Klemintina reaching out for him.

"What?" he asked, taking her from Ivan. She reached up to him, and he kissed her on the forehead. She giggled, and nuzzled under his chin, "All her shoulder fur grew in," he noticed, "and Akilina's too."

"Hmm... how long do they have that?"

"Until maybe May," he shrugged. Klemintina gave the reminisce of a kiss to his chin, so he kissed her on the forehead again, "they just don't want to be cold."

"Well, it sure isn't cold here," Ivan said, wrapping his scarf around his neck even though it still seemed to be damp, "c'mon."

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The election stress is getting to me, how are y'all doing?