Unlikely Friends: Chapter 5

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“Wake up.” 

Icarus jerked awake with a start, head snapping up as he clambered to his hooves. He blinked several times as he swayed on unsteady legs and searched for what had woken him. He looked down to see a metal bucket on the floor in front of his bed. It was full of cuts of meat and it didn’t smell warm anymore. 

“We don’t have a way to keep this from spoiling, so you either eat it now or it gets tossed,.” 

Icarus looked up to see Milarose standing above him with a scowl on his face. 

“You’ve been asleep for a day and a half. If you starve to death in my barn I’m going to be pissed,” Milarose growled. “Eat. Drink some water. Pull yourself together, you’re old enough to do this yourself.” 

“I’m sorry,” Icarus said, his voice faint. His eyes wouldn’t stay focused, and he felt his tail lash in an effort to balance himself before he staggered and fell to the floor again. 

Milarose watched the kainu fall, throwing his hands up in frustration. If it wasn’t one thing with Icarus, it was another. 

“What was that sound?” Sammal asked, running through the barn doors and skidding to a halt. 

“Nothing, just go back outside and play with the others,” Milarose said. “He was awake briefly. I’m going to make sure he stays awake this time.” He picked Icarus up in one arm and used the other hand to pick the bucket up before he turned to look at Sammal. He added, “If anything happens while I’m gone, get everyone inside and close the doors.” 

He kicked off the ground and flew the short distance to the river he had pointed out to Icarus when first they met. Itw as the same place he would fill the trough for the children each morning. Milarose touched down on the grassy bank and set the bucket aside. Then he held the half-conscious and mostly limp kainu over the slow-moving water and promptly dropped him.

Water droplets sprayed Milarose as Icarus fell and then splashed violently as he thrashed in the shallow water to get his hooves under him. The kainu’s golden eyes were wild, his mane hanging down in tatters around his face as he staggered toward the shore, his back end falling back into the water in his struggle. 

“What!” Icarus howled, staring up at the dracus. “What are you--how *dare* you--!” 

Milarose couldn’t hear the tirade ICarus flew into over the deep belly-laugh he let out. HIs shoulders shook and he threw his head back, all but howling himself with laughter. Tears blurred his vision as he lowered his head again, drawing short, gasping breaths. He saw Icarus watching him still, and he watched the dirt that had accumulated in his fur turning to mud that ran in thin rivulets down his body. 

“You look like a wet rat,” Milarose giggled. 

“I can only imagine why,” Icarus said, his teeth clenched in anger. 

“Oh come now,” Milarose scoffed. “I’ve had to watch over you all this time, the least I should get in return is a laugh, don’t you think?” 

“I don’t,” Icarus said, finding his footing and stepping out of the water. His tail dragged on the ground and he had to lock his knees to keep from falling again as he swayed. 

Milarose picked up the bucket and held it under Icarus’s snout, saying sternly, “Eat now. If you fall down again I’ll not help you up and you’ll have to crawl around like a worm from now on.” 

“You are a thoroughly unpleasant drakiri,” Icarus said, but he didn’t move his face away from the bucket. His nose twitched and he chose a cut of meat that he all but inhaled after a couple of famished bites. Milarose was glad that he’d taken the time to remove the bones before presenting the bucket. 

“My job is not to be pleasant,” Milarose said, holding the bucket steady. 

“Who decides what your job is?” Icarus asked between bites. “How did you end up with a veritable hoard of orphans to begin with?” 

Milarose raised a brow at the question. Icarus had gone from barely conscious to an inquisitive pain in his ass in approximately no seconds flat. Was he acting more fit than he really was? Or was he just that capable of bouncing back from the edge of death?

“They’re not all orphans,” he said gently. “Some of them just have nowhere else to go. I gave them the chance to come with me, where they would have food in their bellies and a warm place to sleep or they could stay whereI found them. Usually they were cowering in some alley or other forgotten place. Rubin actually rammed into me, but he was half the size he is now. Giada acted like he was interrogating me, such an aggressive child.” 

If that answered Icarus’s question, Milarose couldn’t tell. He just watched the kainu eat every morsel in that bucket and even start to lick the bottom before he remembered himself. 

“Thank you,” Icarus said, pulling away from the bucket and lifting his leg to try to discreetly rub his muzzle against it. 

“Get back in the river,” Milarose said, tossing the bucket aside into longer grass. “You’re a mess and it doesn’t stop at your chin.” 

Icarus stiffened visibly and opened his mouth as if to defend himself, but when Milarose stood up, he scampered away into the water. 

“I’ll help you wash,” Milarose offered. He raised a brow then smirked slightly and said, “It’s the least I can do, right?” 

“Couldn’t you have come to this decision before you dumped me into the river?” Icarus asked, narrowing his eyes as the dracus joined him in the cold water. 

“Probably,” Milarose admitted as he used his large hand to scoop water up and splash it over the kainu’s back. “It wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun, though.” 

They fell into a surprisingly comfortable silence, Milarose running his hands over the kainu’s back and sides. He took his time and even ran his claws carefully through the other drakiri’s mane to untangle it. He reached out to hold Icarus’s chin between his thumb and forefinger, using his other hand to rub the dirt from the kainu’s cheeks and nose. He rubbed his thumb just under Icarus’s eye and smiled a little when he saw the other struggling to keep his eyes open. 

“You’re not going to fall asleep on me again, are you?” Milarose asked, though his voice was calmer than before. 

“It’s your fault this time,” Icarus mumbled. “I’ve never been handled so gingerly.” 

“Don’t get used to it,” Milarose said, releasing Icarus’s chin and standing up to head toward dry land. 

“Can’t blame me if I did,” Icarus replied as he followed, shaking himself to get rid of as much water as possible. His mane and tail were still sopping wet, but he simply held his tail up off the ground. “You’re good with your hands.” 

Milarose rolled his eyes and flicked his own tail a few times. “You’re a flirt, aren’t you?” 

“I wouldn’t say so,” Icarus said, though his tone certainly betrayed him. “I just know what I want and how to ask for it. Do you?” 

Milarose went still at the question, his heart thudding hard in his breast. He closed his eyes and took a few careful breaths. 

“Oh,” Icarus said. “Oh I’m sorry...I’ve struck a nerve.” 

“It’s fine,” Milarose said. “It’s a fairly new wound, it opens sometimes of its own volition. Sometimes I’m reminded it’s there. It’s no one’s fault, least of all yours.” 

Icarus came to stand beside him, their sides touching gently but continuously. He said, “I understand. I’ll be more careful about what I say.” 

Milarose felt a pressure behind his eyes that warned of tears and he let out an angry snort at his own foolishness before he said, “Let’s get back. I don’t like to leave the children alone too long without locking the door.” 

“Your barn is so far out of the way of most everything,” Icarus reasoned, cocking his head to the side as he watched Milarose pick up the bucket and walk toward him. “What are you afraid of?” 

“Many things,” Milarose said, picking Icarus up once more. “We’ve already had an incident, and you found us after following a floating light halfway across a continent. I have reason to fear, especially when I have so many others counting on me to protect them.” 

Icarus was quiet during the short flight back to the barn, closing his eyes to just enjoy the feeling of the wind in his face. When they touched down again, he stepped away from Milarose to give the dracus the space he needed. He watched the large, blue drakiri pad away toward the pasture where Sammal sat with Azrinal curled against her side. Milarose picked the child up and held him close for a long time, and Icarus was content to watch from afar. He was starting to like these folks…

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