forum Are You An Angel..? / OxO / closed! Pm if interested!

Started August 06, 2020 by @ElderGodSwimwithGamers group

tune

"That's true, you could be," Matthew agreed. "We don't know. What we do know, though, is you need to rest."

"Mm… I don't want to be sleeping through every day, though…"

"Rest isn't always sleep," Matthew said after a moment. "It can be other things, too. Just as long as you don't push yourself."

Rowan sighed softly. "I dunno… it seems like everything is 'pushing myself' and it's really annoying…"

Matthew let out a soft breath as he held Rowan.
"I know you feel that way…"

Rowan huffed a bit and looked away. "Every time I try to do something, you stop me."

"Well, when what you try to do is get up and walk, or go off on your own in the forest, yes, I do stop you." Matthew let out a sigh.

"Oh, come on. I should be allowed to walk." Rowan scoffed a bit and looked away.

"Rowan, you were bit in the ankle. Walking is going to hurt you the most," Matthew pointed out. He was doing his best to reason with Rowan.

Rowan sighed, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. "But still. I can't just… not walk."

"Yes you can, Rowan…" Matthew let out a low sigh, leaning his head back with a bit of frustration.

"I don't want to just get carried everywhere, though. My leg muscles could atrophy or something…"

"Rowan, you can't be trying to walk twenty plus miles in a day! You'll strain yourself too much." Matthew shook his head.

"But you won't let me walk at all!" Rowan whined, looking up at Matthew weakly. "I'm just so useless… you might as well just leave me here. I'm only a detriment to the group…"

"You're not useless, and you're damn not a detriment to this group, Rowan," Matthew said softly. He pulled Rowan tight to his chest, not letting go.
"When I try to let you walk, you push yourself until you pass out, Rowan, you lied to say you could handle it and then you hurt yourself… but you're not a burden, and we're not going to leave you behind."

Rowan buried his face in Matthew's chest, drawing in a wavering breath and clinging tightly to him. Rowan's mother knelt beside them and gently rubbed his back. "We love you, Rowan. We would never want to leave you behind, and you're definitely not useless."

"I'm never, never going to leave you behind," Matthew said softly. He had his head tucked against Rowan's, voice scratchy as he tried to not cry.
"We really do, I really love you so, so much, Rowan…"

Rowan hiccuped weakly and tightly gripped Matthew's shirt, still trembling. "I just want to do something, but I can't!" He gritted his teeth, obviously upset. "I can't do anything!"

Matthew held Rowan tight to himself, wings curling close and blocking out the world.
"I- I know, Rowan," Matthew said softly. "I know this must be so hard…"

Rowan hiccuped again and sniffled, trembling violently in Matthew's arms. "I-I can't… do this…" He whispered shakily.

"I…" Matthew held Rowan tighter to himself, one hand against his head and the other on Rowan's back.
"I'm here to help you do this…"

"W-Why can't I just get better? Why's it taking so long? Why won't it go away?" He asked in a weak whisper, obviously upset.

"These things take time, Rowan… I promise, if you're not better by the time we get to the village, I'll have my cousin help you, okay? We're going to make sure you get through this…" Matthew held Rowan close to himself. If he was being honest, he wasn't sure why this was affecting Rowan so much.

"But… but how long is that gonna be? It could be ages, and… a-and I might not even be able to walk at that point! What if I get worse??"

"If it gets to that point, I'll make sure you're taken straight to the Healer. We usually don't bring anyone to her, but if you get to that point, we will." Matthew pulled Rowan closer, fingers in his hair.
"She can heal anything."

Rowan hiccuped and hid his face again, still trembling. "I hate this…" He whispered. "I h-hate this… I just… I-I wanna be able to do things again… I wanna be able to help…"

"I know, Rowan…" Matthew kissed Rowan's head, his wings folding around them more. "I know, and I'm so, so sorry these things happened… But we're going to make sure you're going to be able to go back to normal, I promise."

Rowan nodded weakly, his heart pounding hard in his chest. "I'm sorry…" He whispered. "I'm probably being stupid… I'm sorry…"

"You're not being stupid," Matthew said. He kissed Rowan's head again, large hand cupping the back of his head and holding him close to his chest.
"You're not, I promise. You've been through a lot, are still going through it. Of course you'd feel this way…"

Rowan relaxed a little bit at the reassurances, but still seemed very tense. "It's okay, Rowan… you're still healing, and we don't mind helping you while you recover. We want to help you. You won't heal as well if you keep pushing yourself like this." Rowan sighed shakily and looked away.