Heartbeat (2)

Rays of sunlight broke through the curtains as Blank ran a hand through Royal's hair. Sly and his group had left just before dusk for the challenge but it already felt like forever.

Blank grimaced at how cold Royal was too his touch. He glanced at the space heaters again. Even on the max setting they were hardly doing anything. Or maybe it was because he was a fire type and heat didn't bother him. Wait what if he accidentally roasted Royal while trying to keep him warm!

He shifted his weight on his side of his bed and looked at Royal again. A circle of his flames surrounded him like a blanket. He glanced again at the thermometer in the room to try to keep the optimal temperature Sly had mentioned.

Suddenly the blankets shifted slightly startling Blank. He removed his hand as Royal shifted his weight slightly. He didn't want to hurt him on accident. Could he accidentally hurt him if he moved to much or ... darn Blank should of just pursued being a doctor as a career so he wouldn't have this issue.

"Blank." A slightly horse voice whispered barely audible.

All of Blank's attention immediately focused on the pair of blue eyes that had blinked open.

"Royal! How are you feeling? How's your body? Are you…..in pain?" Blank's hand trembled slightly as he traced the edge of Royal's stomach where the robe had come undone.

Blank glanced over at some of the medical salve Sly had left earlier. He did say to apply it in the mornings and evenings.

"I'm okay." Royal shifted slightly and a grimace formed on his face for a moment before he hid it from Blank.

Blank carefully applied a small amount of pressure to the area next to his injury and Royal immediately flinched and tensed up.

"Liar." Blank whispered.

Blank moved his fingers again careful to apply no pressure as he traced the edge of Royal's injury again. It was still so dark and made him want to cry inside. Just watching him, Blank could tell Royal was having trouble breathing. Even though he was also clearly trying to hide it from him.

Why did he always have to act like some kind of tough guy hero? Couldn't he just let Blank take care of him for once? That was it Blank decided. He was going to spoil Royal to the best of his ability when he got better. He refused to even consider any other outcome. Royal would be fine, he would make sure of it. Even if he had to stay up 8 weeks straight to make it a reality, Royal would be okay again.

Blank slid his other hand over and undid the robe completely. He pulled apart the top part so he could see the entire damaged area. The dark scar like feature greeted his eyes making his chest clench up even further.

"Sly left some cream." Blank said quietly taking the salve container and showing it to Royal. "I'm just going to apply a little okay? Let me know if it stings or anything okay?"

He undid the cap and dipped a clean cloth into it before carefully dabbing it onto Royal's stomach. He paused for a moment to get more of the cream before continuing. He observed Royal's face for any signs of discomfort as he worked.

"..s feels kinda nice." Royal mumbled closing his eyes.

Blank let out his breath in relief. He might not admit it but he was super worried it would hurt him more. He couldn't stand seeing him in pain. Blank smiled and made sure to carefully coat the entire area before stopping. Then he capped the container before turning back to Royal, only to find him sleeping again.

Blank was careful not to wake him as he wrapped up a bandage around Royal to keep the cream applied properly. A ray of sunlight fluttered onto Royal's hair making it sparkle like fresh snow. Blank nearly chocked for a moment. Royal was just go beautiful, a truly perfect person.

A small smile crossed Royal's lips. He looked so peaceful in his sleep. Blank felt his heart flutter. If Royal wasn't injured he would have hugged him and never let go again. He had promised before to set everything right with Royal, and now he just wanted to make Royal as happy as possible for the rest of his life, which would be years, no way was he allowed to die yet.

"Just get better soon for me okay?" Blank whispered leaning over and kissing his forehead.

Blank's gut clenched as he once again felt how cold Royal was. Blank debated wrapping more blankets around him, then just settled for wrapping his flames more firmly over him.

Royal twitched around slightly again. He might have been able to hide it while awake but his pain was clear to Blank now. He would even occasionally shiver in his sleep. A few tears moved across Blank's face before he wiped them away.

"Come on Sly hurry up." Blank whispered.

His gaze turned to Royal again, "You have to get better, got it, you're not allowed to leave me after you decided to save me. That's not fair."

"Shoot" he hissed to himself as more tears continued to evade his control.

*** Meanwhile in a certain side challenge ***

"Hey Deck for goodness sake focus! You're going to end up getting yourself hurt if you can't focus on what's right in front of you." Sly growled as he decapitated another money monster in the temple.

Sly had known Deck might be a bit distracted, but at this point he was starting to be more of a hindrance than a help.

"Look I know you're worried about Royal, but it's not going to do any good if you worry and end up in a hospital bed yourself. So either focus or wait on the side." Sly grumbled as he reached down grabbing Deck's hand and pulling him to his feet.

Sly leaned over and planted a kiss on Deck's lips. "I wouldn't be able to give Royal any attention if that happened."

"Hey you two coming? We're supposed to be hurrying!" Winter called, "The boss is just ahead, the garden after that has that fruit you wanted right?"

"Yep." Sly called back as he half dragged Deck behind him.

As a healer his strength was limited, but there was still no way he would let anything happen to Deck. Which also included his friend Royal. Even if he had to listen to another of these silly monkeys playing banjos, and he didn't even want to think about how annoying the boss ape with a tuba was. Seriously what kind of music teacher came up with this side challenge anyway? It was like they were trying to kill a person's ears.

He turned Deck toward him so that he was looking him straight in the eyes.

"FOCUS." Sly growled before letting go of him and starting a magic array.

This monkey chose the wrong day to spawn in its own challenge.

"Hey Winter, you still have one of those spark exploders right?"

"Yeah whyyyy?"

"Use it."

"You sure? Those things are rather….. unstable."

"Yeah just take down the whole room while we wait here. We don't need anything from the boss, just the room after him."

"Okay but don't blame me if we end up burying the thing or something."

Winter tossed a round object into the boss's chamber. Then covered his ears as it started flashing.

Sly grabbed deck pulling him against one shoulder while covering his ears and Decks.

...….. CRASH BOOM WACK SPLAT CRUNCH.

The place had turned into a rock slide. It would have been a historical disaster if the temple had been a true normal world one. But Sly could care less about other world game temples.

Ah yes monkey sausages. Now about that FireFruit. Sly turned toward a small room where the monkey boss had come from. A flowing garden met his eyes. In the corner was a certain tree with orange leaves and red fruits.

Sly walked over a picked up the whole tree putting it into his inventory.

"Let's go." He said once again grabbing Deck.

Besides once he finished treating Royal, he and Deck could have some alone time without Deck worrying about Royal. A slight grin formed on his face. Yep, LOTS of adult alone time.