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It wasn't until they stepped into the sun that Jay started screaming.
The captains of the Riptide Pirates were making the trek back through the forests on Noctis after defeating Grimm. Gryffon had gone ahead, seemingly not too eager to make small talk with his new captains.
The fight with Grimm had been a long and hard one (with a lot of confusing revelations about all three of them in tow) but even with their triumph after defeating him, they all just wanted to get home.
Jay was stumbling a little slower behind Gillion and Chip, lost in her own thoughts. Noctis had certainly been interesting. Most of it had been a blur of murder mysteries and very odd townsfolk, but a few encounters had been memorable. She definitely needed to talk to Chip about a few of the things he'd mentioned during the fight with Grimm.
Most interesting had been Anastasia. Gods. Anastasia. Jay let out a little sigh as she walked. Chances were she'd very likely never encounter the raven-haired beauty again, so she was trying to etch every moment of their interactions into her memory.
Most of it had been a whirlwind of excitement and adrenaline, but she remembered every heartbeat of her first interaction with the mysterious temptress that was Anastasia- the memory of the failed pickpocketing, of the sinking into the swirling scarlet pool, of the sharp pinpricks in her neck that she didn't really mind.
The murder mystery had been a fun test of wit, although she'd spent most of her time sneaking glances at Anastasia while she talked and attempted detective work. Finally, they'd revealed Grimm's true form and defeated him in a long battle, and after a few hours of poking around they were finally returning to their home- to the Albatross.
Jay was quietly wandering down the dark path out onto the beach, squinting at the shadows cast by Gillion and Chip a little further ahead, before she finally stepped out into the sun, expecting the familiar comfort that came from the gentle rays of morning light.
Instead, it felt as if her skin was crawling. As if someone had released a swarm of vicious insects onto every inch of her skin that the light could reach, tiny creatures that clawed and bit until everything was burning and hurting and oh, gods, everything fucking hurt, and someone was screaming, Jay was screaming, and she needed to get out of the sun now, and-
A pair of cold hands grabbed her shoulders, shoving her roughly back into the comfort of the shade. Jay had never been one for the shadows- she was more of a fan of the gentle rays of the sun's warmth, personally- but right now it felt like she'd just taken every healing potion in Mana as she sank into the crumbling mix of earth and sand that was the end of the path, crawling back into shadow as she fought for air.
Her eyes were stinging as she squinted up at the two blurry figures that had rushed up, trying to see through the hot, wet tears that rolled down her cheeks. Jay tried to summon words but could only gasp and writhe as the remnants of blistering pain faded. Her skin was patchy and red, blisters bubbling up in random spots on her arms and legs. What the fuck's going on?
It was the sound of her friends' sharp, concerned voices that cut through the haze that surrounded her. "I- fuck- Jay?" Chip's uncertain call twisted into alarmed yelling as he grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her. "Jay, are you good? What the fuck just happened? What's wrong with you? I-" A strangled screech escaped him as Gillion yanked him away with a pointed stare. The Triton paused to study Jay for a moment longer before crouching down.
"Jay, do you know what's going on? Are you alright?" Gillion's voice, while still containing a notable spike of concern, was strained from his visible effort of appearing calm. His hands twitched towards her uncertainly for a moment, a spark of magic flickering at the edge of his webbed fingers before it vanished and he withdrew his hands.
Webbed fingers- cold hands. It had been Gillion who'd clocked the blistering sun attacking her and shoved her back out of the way.
Jay pulled her knees up to her chest quietly, trying to steady the shaking of her hands. Gillion rested his own hands firmly on top of hers, brow furrowed in concern while Chip hovered behind him in his typical mix of alarm and confusion.
"Jay. Tell me what you're feeling right now. What's wrong? Do you know why you're- burning? I haven't been up here for long, but I know that's not- that's not normal, right, Chip?" He whipped his head around to stare at their co-captain with beady blue eyes. Chip's frown deepened.
"Fuck, no, dude. That's, uh- not normal at all. What the fuck happened to you?" Chip barked, craning his head to peer over Gillion's shoulder and study the blistering on Jay's skin with an expression that suggested his concern had won over the emotions warring in his head.
Jay paused for a moment, trying to focus on the feeling of Gillion's hands, steady and cool against her own shaking, boiling skin. She opened her mouth to respond and blinked as a small bead of scarlet dripped from her mouth and rolled down her chin. Did I bite my tongue when Gill pushed me or something?
She tried to move her tongue around her mouth and bumped into a sharp edge. Her teeth weren't normally that sharp, that was for certain.
Jay's blue gaze just flicked up to stare at Gillion and Chip helplessly, as red droplets trickled down her chin and the light caught her newly sharp canines. Gillion's eyes widened and Chip's muttered, 'holy shit!' didn't escape her attention.
"What the fuck? Did that-" Chip paused as if cogs were finally turning in his brain while Gillion studied Jay's bleeding mouth with an intensity she'd rarely seen on him, squeezing her hands gently. Chip gasped quietly. "On, shit! That vampire chick fuckin', uh- did she turn you into one too? That's cool as fuck! I mean-" He seemed to catch himself at Jay's uneasy expression. "I mean, not cool- like, in practice. But- yeah, no, not, uh- not cool. Sorry."
Jay glanced over Gillion's shoulder and past Chip, to where the Albatross was docked and waiting, swaying calmly amidst the small waves that splashed against its side. She could see Ollie up on the top deck, holding up a broken spyglass to his eyes and yelling something to Earl.
Jay paused to cough, tugging one hand free from Gillion's concerned grip and moving it up to wipe her chin. "I better not be a fucking vampire." She rasped. "I need to get back to the ship."
Her co-captains exchanged a long glance before Gillion shrugged very slowly. "Maybe it was a… fluke?"
"Side effect." Chip offered helpfully.
"Probably a one-off." Gillion agreed. "You wanna try again?" Immediately, Jay shook her head. She'd been through a lot of painful shit in her life, but nothing had hurt as much as the simple rays of light on her skin only moments ago.
"No. No? No. I don't- I can't- that fucking hurt, dude. I don't wanna- burn. If I'm a vampire. Y'know? That-" Jay trailed off into quiet wheezing. Now that she'd managed to finally catch her breath, it was kicking and struggling to escape from her lungs as her panicked breathing increased in pace. Immediately, Gillion's hands moved from Jay's right hand to her shoulders, his gaze firm.
"Okay, what about this? You go out into the sun. If it's still… attacking you, I'll be right behind you to pull you back. And then I can use my newfound cape-" Gillion reached one hand back to hold up the tattered remnants of Grimm's cloak, waving it towards her a little. "To cover you as best I can. I'd try and heal your current injuries, and your- vampiric nature, but I'm all out of juice magic-wise, I'm afraid."
He dropped the cloak, wiggling his free hand as another spark of failed magic sputtered up into the air and died. Gillion's round blue eyes stared deep into Jay's. "But we can get you back to the ship. Do you trust me?"
It didn't even take Jay a moment to think before she nodded, swallowing her unease and trying to get to her feet. Gillion still held onto her hand and Chip, after a moment of staring back at the Albatross, scurried to her side to grab at her other hand. It was a stark contrast on either side of her- Gillion's grip was firm, and icy in a way that managed to be comforting, and Chip's hand, while sweaty and twitchy, managed to hold on just as tight.
Gillion took a moment to step behind her in a way that left their connected hands at an awkward angle but still close, nodding reassuringly. "It's okay."
Jay took a moment to stare at the grains of sand that she'd scuffed with her shoe when she'd been pushed back before taking a deep breath-
And stepping into the sunlight.
As soon as the warmth hit her, as her skin began to writhe and crawl and itch, a scream ripped from her throat and her knees buckled. Almost immediately, before the screech from deep inside her had a chance to ring out onto the beach, a cold hand pulled her back into the shade, sending Chip stumbling back with her as she collapsed against Gillion, wheezing.
For a moment, the only sound was the chirping of the birds overhead and Jay's agonised caterwauling as she tried to claw at her own skin. It hurt so much worse this time. Immediately, Gillion yanked one of her hands back while Chip clasped onto the other, eyes wide.
"Jay! Don't fuckin'- gods!" She could feel Chip's hands shaking as he scanned her with furrowed brows. Gillion wrapped his free arm around her, trying to steady her as she writhed and wailed and kicked.
After a few minutes, she finally settled down, melting against Gillion with a quiet sob. She felt his chin rest on her head as he rubbed his scaly thumb across her hand quietly, his voice ringing out into the gap left by the absence of her screaming.
"So. Cape?" Gillion paused, letting go of her hand for a moment and straightening to tug Grimm's tattered cloak from his back. There were a few moments where all she could hear was Chip's foot tapping and the sounds of Gillion fidgeting with fabric. Then her vision went dark as Gillion tossed his tattered cape over her head. "Okay- this might not cover everything, but I'm sure we can figure out a way to cover the rest of you. Just- follow our lead, okay?" Jay tried to nod and Gillion swiftly moved to hold the cape in place.
His cold hand took her left hand once again, and Chip squeezed her right shakily. She heard the shuffling of footsteps as both of them moved in front of her- presumably to block any spots of sunlight that the ripped cloak wouldn't cover- before tugging her gently into the sunlight.
Every fibre of her being tensed, ready for a rolling wave of agony, but it never came. She could feel the slight breeze, and she could hear Chip cursing as he tripped over Gillion's tail while they moved backwards, but no crawling under her skin was present, no aching need to rip at her own flesh to avoid the sunlight. Her tongue flicked over her pointed canines once more as her fellow captains lead her back up onto the ship.
Gods, Jay could only pray and pray that Gillion would wake up recharged, cast a healing spell and all of this would be over. Jay Ferin lived for the sun and all that came with, and to live without it was a possibility she couldn't even begin to contemplate.
She heard the thud of wood under three pairs of feet as Chip yanked her the last step inside (or maybe up a ladder? She wasn't too sure), and Gillion guided her into the shade away from the prickling heat that she could feel dappling her body even through the fabric.
Suddenly all was bright again as the cape was tugged from her face, and Jay found herself blinking at the bright light of a lantern, flickering on the wall next to her and illuminating the concerned faces of her co-captains.
"Was that okay?" Chip poked her arm. She quickly slapped him away and he mouthed a sorry before continuing. "Any more burny shit?"
Jay shook her head. "No. Uh- thank you, guys. Seriously. I don't- I mean, I don't exactly know what to do now. I doubt I'll be much use as a captain if I can't- step in the sun, y'know?" Chip and Gillion exchanged an uncertain glance.
"I mean, I'm sure once Gill's all fucking- juiced up again, he can fix you. Right, Gill?" Chip's elbow made a sharp connection with Gillion's ribcage, and Gillion scowled at Chip before looking back at Jay, his expression immediately shifting to be softer.
"Of course I can." His voice was steady, brows furrowed in determination, but she could see the twitching of his tail that she'd grown to recognise as uncertainty. He knows if that'll work just as much as I do. Which is not at all. It was a bit of a sickening realisation, but false hope was better than no hope, Jay supposed.
She rubbed at her eyes, chewing on her lip. She felt a small pop and a bead of blood rolled down her lip, prompting a grimace from Chip, but she paid it no mind.
"I think… I think I just want to sleep." Jay mumbled. Now that she thought about it, her body felt heavy. She felt like she was going to fall over at any given moment, exhaustion clawing to pull her down at any movement. She took a few stumbled footsteps down over to her hammock, slumping onto it.
Gillion watched her every movement with an intensity that was somehow rare from the most intense person she knew, while Chip still managed to hover with an uncertain air. Jay waved a sluggish, dismissive hand.
"I'll be fine. I'll just sleep it off. Or, if that doesn't work, I'll sleep through till tomorrow morning. So Gill can, um- fix me." Her voice wobbled a little and Gillion's intensity softened. He nodded quietly as she reached out to pull the curtain around her bed. The last thing she saw of them was Gillion's furrowed brow and Chip's shaky hands before she finished pulling the fabric sheet back and slumped down onto her hammock. Almost as soon as her head landed somewhere soft to rest, she was asleep.
Jay spent the rest of the day in a deep sleep, so deep that Gillion would peer around on occasion to poke her and make sure she hadn't died in her sleep. But, as a rule, she seemed fine, if vampiric and exhausted, and so the crew left her to sleep before all eventually settling in to sleep themselves as night eventually drew near.
Gillion went to sleep the latest of them all, spending a good while pacing by the curtain that separated Jay from the room before relenting and slinking into his barrel to fall asleep.
His dreamless sleep was interrupted by a thud against the side of his barrel. Gillion's eyes opened, a dull glow illuminating the inside of the barrel as he looked around. He could hear sounds from outside of his sleeping spot, but it was muffled by the water he submerged himself in every night, reduced to a dull echo that rang through Gillion's body.
Slowly, cautiously, the top of his head breached the surface of the water, gaze flicking around the room for half a second before it locked onto a shaking figure dripping scarlet onto the wood beneath them.
Curled up on the floor next to his barrel was none other than Jay. In the pale moonlight that filtered in from the roof (they'd blocked off the windows when they'd gotten in during the day, but they figured there was no harm during the night), her pale skin and desperate expression only illuminated by the pale glow as she looked up ever so slowly to meet his eyes.
Her teeth were buried deep into her own wrist, beads of red dripping down to join the scarlet cascade that poured down her arm, which was also scratched up- although it wasn't easily visible through the blood. The bloody fingernails of Jay's other hand suggested it was self inflicted.
Gillion took only a second to process the painful sight before quickly clambering out of his barrel, hitting the floor with a wet thud and crouching down next to Jay. His first instinct was to pull her head away from her arm but he decided against it, instead gripping her shoulders tightly.
"Jay! What are you-" He paused, mindful of the people sleeping around them. Normally he wouldn't lower his voice, but this felt like a sensitive situation that he didn't want others disturbing, and so his voice grew softer and quieter. "What are you doing? Stop that." She just stared at him blankly before her jaw loosened and her arm dropped to dangle by her side.
Gillion shifted to hold Jay's arm gently, wincing at her hiss of pain as he studied the bloodied flesh of her wrist. He tried to wipe away some of the blood as gently as he could, studying the scratched up skin and the deep bite marks with a sinking heart. First of all, he needed to wrap up her arm to try and stop it from bleeding. Jay's arm was swollen a little more than anything, but scarlet beads still rolled down her arm slowly before dropping onto the floor with a sound that sickened Gillion.
His gaze searched the room for any scraps of loose material he could bind with and, failing to find any, he grabbed at his sword (which he kept next to his barrel, of course) and leaned over to Jay's curtain. With a swift swipe of the blade, a chunk of fabric came away. Gillion scrambled to catch it for a moment before moving back to wrap it tightly around her arm. Jay let out a pained sound and he mumbled an apology.
Gillion finally looked back up at Jay's face, studying her red, puffy eyes and running nose, her own blood around her mouth, for a moment before sighing. He nodded at the door, tilting his head quizzically. This didn't feel like a conversation to be having in the same sleeping quarters as all of their other crewmates.
Jay looked around slowly, staring at every other sleeping form and taking a moment to stare at Chip's strained expression (his nightmares hadn't gotten any better, it seemed) before looking back up at Gillion and nodding slowly. She let herself be helped up, and Gillion tried his best to prop her up against him as gently as he could before leading her outside.
For once, the upper deck was calm and quiet. The only sounds were Jay's ragged breathing and the quiet lapping of waves against the side of the boat as they stepped into the moonlight. Jay's twisted expression of pain was only highlighted further by the dull light washing over her, and Gillion frowned at the sight as the pair stumbled a little further out onto the deck.
After propping Jay up against a wall- she seemed capable of walking but she was so shaky that he didn't want to take any chances- Gillion stepped back silently, brows furrowing even further in concern.
"Jay. What was that? I thought you were sleeping until tomorrow." Gillion said quietly. Jay didn't meet his gaze for a moment, staring down at the bandaged arm that she was cradling.
When she finally spoke, her voice was cracking and shaking, and Gillion's heart ached in kind. "What the fuck do you think it is? It's the fucking- it's the vampire- thing- it's not-" Jay paused for half a second, gaze wild as she rubbed at the dry blood around her mouth before continuing.
"I just woke up and everything hurt so… bad. Worse than the sun. I needed to bite- something. Someone? But I didn't wanna hurt anyone, y'know? So I just-" She waved her bandaged arm desperately towards him, lip trembling. "I'd rather hurt myself than one of you guys."
"Oh, Jay." Gillion could only look at her miserably. "You could've woken me up. I would've found a way to help you." Jay's tired expression shifted into annoyance.
"How the fuck would you have helped me? You're all out of fucking- magic juice till morning, so you can't fix this, and even when you do get your magic back we don't know if your healing spell will fix the fact that I'm a fucking vampire. And I'd never bite you. I don't wanna hurt you." Her hands waved wildly as she spoke, audibly fighting off sobs.
"Jay… you could bite me, stab me, kill me, whatever it takes. I don't want you to hurt yourself." Gillion insisted, his own strained tone raising to match Jay's at his friend's willingness to harm herself for the sake of others. "You can bite me now if you want! If you- if you promise that you aren't going to go back to bed and then hurt yourself again, you can bite me all you want! I don't care! Do it!" He urged as Jay's expression somehow only fell further, and when she responded her voice was small, and quiet.
"Gill. Please don't ask me to do that." Jay stared blankly as Gillion reached out and took both of her hands in his own. "Please don't." Her nails dug into his palm but he didn't waver, squeezing her hands gently.
"I won't make you. But I'd much rather you hurt me than yourself." He admitted quietly. He wasn't entirely sure what wasn't clicking for Jay here- surely, this was a much better alternative. Jay didn't get hurt and Gillion got to help a friend.
Although- 'friend' had never felt like quite an adequate descriptor for the depth of his care towards Jay, but he'd always been too busy to pay any mind to those feelings despite Chip's taunting and Earl's snapped advice about asking her 'out' already (what did that even mean? They spent most of their time together outside anyway).
But that was irrelevant. What mattered now was that Jay was hurting herself ,and she wasn't taking the way out that he was offering, and Gillion had no clue why.
"But I don't want to hurt you!" Jay hissed, voice so strained it must be growing painful. "And- and what if it turns you into a vampire? Then we're both fucked! Does your healing spell even work on undead people? Vampires are undead!"
"I can make it work. Or we'll find something that does." Gillion said firmly. "As for the vampire part- I'd much rather accidentally get turned than have to watch you hurt yourself, Jay. That is a risk I am willing to take. I don't- I don't get why that's so hard to understand! Just- I don't know, fucking bite me! Or something." Jay just stared at him, and he could see the clench in her jaw that meant her brain was working overtime as she fought off far too many trains of thought.
He squeezed her hands again. "Jay." Her gaze snapped up. "Just do it. I'll be fine. I'd take that risk for you any day." Gillion rubbed his thumb quietly across the back of her hand. "Trust me. I've been hurt a lot worse than some pinpricks in my neck."
Jay's lip wobbled but she quickly disguised it by chewing at her bottom lip before nodding very, very slowly. "Okay. Fuck me, dude, I guess I will. If you insist- so much." She paused. "Are you sure you're okay with me-" She faltered as Gillion tilted his head, neck angled for easier access.
"As I, uh- understand it, vampire bites are traditionally on the neck. If you're going to bite me, at least do it right." There was a light amusement in his tone that faded as she hesitantly leaned closer. "It's okay, Jay."
"You're so fucking stupid, Gill." Jay croaked, eyes watering as her face disappeared from his immediate view, his gaze instead landing on the back of her head as she leaned over his neck.
Gillion opened his mouth to say something else- something reassuring, probably, the usual comforting words he'd try and spout in a moment like this- but the words failed him as an unimaginable pain pierced his body. For a moment, as ice filled his veins and he spotted the telltale trickle of blue dripping down from his neck, his vision swam, black dots dancing across everything in the vicinity. His legs wobbled a little, hands flying up to grab at Jay tightly.
Jay seemed not to notice his pain in her apparent desperation (and to her credit, Gillion was trying as hard as he could to remain silent and stiff, to not show off any signs of pain that would spook Jay out of biting him and result in her harming herself again), her jaw clamping down harder as her hand grasped at the other side of his neck to steady herself.
Despite his efforts to remain stoic, Gillion couldn't hold back a small gasp of pain, nails digging into Jay's back, but although Jay faltered slightly she didn't pause. He wasn't sure why this was so painful, but it didn't matter. This was trivial in comparison to other things he'd done for Jay- he'd taken an arrow to the heart for her, for gods' sake. Gillion would do anything for Jay and this was no different. Even if it did hurt like a bitch, as Chip would say.
Gillion could feel hot liquid dripping down his chest, splattering across his neck and shoulder, but he continued in his attempt to remain strong, managing to croak out a small, 'Keep going,' before another pained sound overtook any other words that may have followed.
How long Jay spent attacking his neck in a fervour, Gillion wasn't quite sure- it was hard to keep track of the passage of time when his life force was being drained, his vision was dotted and blurry, a sharp ringing was drowning out any other ambient noise, and Jay's nails were clawing at any unbitten skin that she could reach.
Before too long, however, despite his stoic mask, Gillion felt his legs wobble and it was only a moment before they buckled and the pair went crashing down onto the wooden flooring together.
It was this that finally prompted Jay to pull away, and it felt as if the heaviest weight in the world had been lifted from him as her sharpened canines left his neck. Even through his distorted vision and the blue that covered Jay's face, he could tell that she was absolutely sobbing- nose running, tears streaming down her face, body shaking violently as her hands switched to his shoulders and she shook him with a force he didn't quite know she was capable of.
When Gillion finally managed to muster a groan, Jay just rested her face on his chest, sobbing. Though the scenery around him was still swimming, the ringing in his ears began to fade and the sound of her sobbing cleared his dazed mind.
"Jay? What's wrong? Did it not work? Are you still-" There was a brief pause as he searched for the word. "Hungry?"
Jay just sobbed quietly for a moment, and despite his shaky state Gillion still moved a hand up to rub her back quietly. He could faintly heard the sound of his blood dripping down onto the deck but it seemed as if the bleeding was slowing.
Finally, Jay managed to spit out some words, straightening so that she was sat up instead of lying on him. "One, you taste like fish! It's so- fucking gross." She sobbed, wiping at her running nose. "Two- I thought I fucking killed you! You just- dropped to the floor and said nothing!" Jay wailed, and Gillion groaned.
"You didn't kill me. I'm fine. I just need to lie down." Gillion's expression then brightened, lips curling into a grin despite himself. "So- did I help? Did it work?"
Despite her sobbing, Jay managed to nod, grabbing one of his hands and squeezing it tightly. "Yes, it worked, but I didn't- you fucking fell over! Did I hurt you bad?" She added anxiously.
"All that matters is that it helped." Gillion tried to sit up, blinking and resisting the urge to scratch at the bite mark on his neck. "In the morning, I'll heal it up. And then I'll heal your arm, and your vampirism. And all will be good." He shifted a little under Jay's unreadable stare.
"Are you sure you can fix me?" Gillion's confidence wavered slightly.
"Well- I… you know what? No, Jay. I'm not sure that I alone can fix you. But- if I can't fix you, I know that I and the rest of this crew are willing to scour every inch of Mana for a way to get you back to normal. And even in the absolute, worst case scenario that we can't fix it-" His hands shook a little at the thought. He wished there was more problems his friends had that could be solved by something easy, like slaying a large monster. "It doesn't matter. You're still Jay. You're still my best friend. You are the same person I would die for at any given moment."
Jay's grip on his hand tightened. "You're a fucking idiot, Gill." She mumbled. "But… thank you. I mean, less of that dying for me nonsense, I hope that doesn't happen. But I really appreciate everything you've done for me." His friend paused for a moment, hovering, before leaning over and, much to Gillion's surprise, pressing a kiss to his lips.
Gillion- and this would be a surprise to many- didn't exactly have much experience in the area of romance and kissing. He tended to ignore those feelings in favour of facing whatever the current threat was and keeping his friends safe. But this- Jay kissing him? It was actually kind of nice.
When she pulled away, Gillion could taste a small amount of salt, probably from the blood still around her mouth, but instead he could only stare at her blankly. Immediately, Jay paled and mumbled an apology, but he squeezed her hand with a small nod.
"Do not, um- say sorry. For that. That was- nice. That was nice." Her nervous expression softened into the first smile he'd seen on her face since they'd left Noctis. "Very nice. But I do think I'm about to pass out. So we should probably head back to bad. But we can definitely circle back to this in the morning." He added hastily.
Gillion was rather glad, all things considered, that Jay had been the one to make any sort of first move, but he felt like now wasn't exactly the best time to get into a long heartfelt discussion when it felt like his insides were trying to become his outsides and every limb was heavier than a very large rock. Which was, to say, heavier than Gillion's limbs normally were.
Jay nodded with a shaky laugh, letting go of his hand. "That's- yeah! That's fair enough. Come on. Let's- you help me walk, and I'll help you walk." Gillion finally pushed himself into sitting up fully and Jay slung her arm around his back. He returned the gesture in kind as he pushed up to his wobbly feet and the pair began the stumbling walk back to the sleeping quarters.
By the time they'd said their goodnights and Gillion had lingered long enough to make sure that Jay was definitely asleep before slinking into his barrel, he was feeling a lot better, all things considered. The agonising, clawing ache on his neck had dulled to the occasional thrum of pain when his hair brushed past the swelling mark, but he was thinking a lot less about the bite and a lot more about Jay now.
Gillion was very glad that he'd been able to help Jay. He'd always rather he be injured than his friends, of course, and he hoped with every fibre of his being that he would never have to see Jay so distressed again. But the genuine emotions shared in the midst of the stings of pain and gutwrenching sobs hadn't gone unappreciated either. It was at least mildly comforting to know that the fluttering that grasped at his heart when Jay talked or laughed or existed near him presumably reciprocated in some sense.
At the same time, that was an issue for tomorrow Gillion. His order of priorities right now (or for the next morning, at least) were to heal Jay's arm, fix Jay's new status, sort out the wound on his neck and then maybe sit down for a heartfelt romantic conversation.
But for now, his top priority was to sleep.