Nik laughed a little bit, though it was a melancholic sort of laugh. "Ah. And if they do not let you rule…the peace could fall apart. Godsdamnit." he kept his gaze on Kaylum, a bit dismayed by all of this. "And we are soulmates, surely that must count for something. Human or no, I am your soulmate."
“I hope so,” Kaylum said, giving him a grim smile and shaking his head. “Gods, I hope so.”
He sighed. “So, yes. Tesh is only protected because the system of rulership is different than Kevra’s, but due to the circumstances, now may be the easiest time to take it over.”
Nik frowned, shaking his head for a moment. "Why must everything be so complicated?" he mumbled to himself. "Well. We should try to get out of here as best as we can, but…" he trailed off. "I am afraid that I am not going to be all that useful." he couldn't stand, much less walk, and too much movement would make all of his wounds worse.
“No,” Kaylum agreed, “but you will be. I am a foreigner here. Your knowledge of the area will be vital if we escape. I can more likely get us out, but you will be able to keep us out. Which is why you can’t die, among a million other reasons.”
He started fiddling with his hair again. He had never thought of it as a nervous habit, but now he was beginning to suspect it was.
Nik grimaced. "I'm not exactly an expert in the local forest." he said, a faint laugh leaving his mouth. "Though I might be able to get us to a town or city." he opened his eyes to look over at Kaylum again.
“Better than being a foreigner,” Kay shrugged. He twirled a dreadlock around his finger. “Ah… how’s the leg, now?”
"It still hurts." he replied, clearing his throat softly. "It won't stop hurting for a long while, or at least, I assume it won't." he sighed, turning his head and resting his cheek against the floor.
“Mmm,” Kaylum nodded. “Maybe you could… well, maybe we both should try getting some rest.” But then he moved his his finger from his dread to his chin. “Although, I do have a… personal question for you, if you don’t mind my asking.”
Nik inhaled softly, then nodded. "Go ahead and ask, then." he said softly. "If, ah, you want to." he didn't know what Kaylum intended to ask, and he was a bit worried that the question would be one he did not want to answer.
Kaylum placed his hand in his lap. “Um… do you know how exactly you were cursed? How exactly does one become cursed in the womb?”
It was an honest question. With all the abilities they already had, no one in Tesh practiced magic in the way humans sometimes did.
"Uh…" he trailed off, clearing his throat softly. "I don't…it's complicated." he replied slowly. "A mage did it. While my mother was pregnant. What happens is that, ah…it usually happens when someone tries to curse someone who is pregnant, without knowing that the second person is pregnant. Spells have to be constructed differently when there is a pregnancy, and if they aren't constructed properly, the developing baby absorbs the curse rather than the one carrying them. Which is what happened to me."
(Hello Future Me voice: a wizard did it!)
(hfgkdjbhg oof)
Kaylum listened attentively, looking at him with focused eyes. When Nik finished, he nodded.
“I see. Quite fascinating.” He didn’t ask any other questions, he knew it was better not to go further than that. He already must have ruined their chance of resting by now.
He nodded faintly. "It was supposed to be my mother that was cursed, not me. But, it ended up being me." he frowned faintly, shaking his head. "I wonder how much could have been avoided if my father had followed his own laws." the final comment was quiet, more to himself than to Kaylum. This was a question that had tortured Nikolas his entire life; how many people were dead that would still be alive if Theodore had had Nikolas killed at birth the way he was supposed to?
Kaylum’s mind was abuzz with questions, but did not want to cross any lines. He was quiet, a little unsure what to say now. “Mhm… um… it just popped into my mind. So I thought I’d ask. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
Nik nodded again. "It's fine." he said softly, shifting and then wincing when the shift tugged at the wounds on his back. "I don't mind answering questions." he took a deep breath, just trying to cope with the pain.
Kaylum just gritted his teeth, asked no questions except, “Are you sure there’s nothing I can do for your back?”
He cleared his throat. "Nothing. It's…there's nothing you can do about it. I'll be fine." he had to be. He had a high pain tolerance, he could handle this. He swore he could. He had ot be able to handle it. If he could not handle this, then…well, it did not bode well for the future.
He let out a soft, shaky breath. He was useless, that's what he was. "If you say so." Kay then avoided the man's eye, saying, "Why did… Why did someone want to curse your mother? And… what exactly does the curse entail?"
Nik grimaced. "It's…" he trailed off. "It's complicated." he didn't know how to explain. Almost didn't want to explain, really. It was all so difficult and complicated, and it would change the way Kaylum saw him.
This was what Kaylum had been afraid of. “Then you don’t have say,” he amended quickly, despite the curiosity now burning in him.
He sighed. "It was meant just as a way to get back at my parents. For…I don't know. For ruling?" he let out a faint, dry laugh. "As to what it was meant to do…I would guess turn my mother into some sort of monstrous creature. And it affected me, instead."
At first, Kaylum didn’t respond. “I said that you didn’t have to say anything…” he said quietly. “You did not have to continue on as if you did.”
He did not ask anything else. More questions arose, but he did not think it would be good to continue this conversation. Nikolas was in pain, and more than that, he did not look particularly comfortable with the subject matter.
He nodded slightly, clsoing his eyes. "Right. Okay." he said softly, taking a deep breath and just trying to survive. The pain was a lot to deal with, but he knew it would get worse later.
Kay watched him, a frown tugging at his lips. After a few seconds, he moved a bit closer and set his hand on Nik’s shoulder. “Rest. Please,” he murmured.
Nik just tried to breathe, and he nodded faintly. "Okay." his voice was quiet, and he kept his eyes closed, hoping he could get to sleep soon.
(You can have Seren show up if you want)
(mm i was actually considering doing a timeskip instead?)
(Sure, that’s fine with me)