Reunited and it feels so good

Strong arms caught Perry before he kissed the floor and eased him back down on the bed - couch? He still wasn't sure. He squeezed his eyes shut and gasped as pain shot through his arm and back. 

"Perry. Perry?" Through the painful fog, Perry recognized Mal's voice. But that couldn't be him because Mal didn't seem the type to frantically call out someone's name. 

Which, by the way, had he really just called him Perry instead of Your Highness?

"Where were you?" Perry asked through clenched teeth. He wasn't mad at Mal, not really. Moreso at the whole situation. 

Okay, maybe he was a little mad at Mal for having simply disappeared on him. 

Mal exhaled, long and slow. "I was caught up. Trapped. Forgive my delay."

Perry nodded and winced when even that small movement hurt. "What time is it? Is the hunt over?"

"Almost sunset." Mal's fingers gently fixed the blanket around Perry and he forced himself to stay still despite feeling hot and clammy. The less he moved, the better. "I must get you out of here."

"Great minds think alike. What's our plan?" Perry asked. 

"I could fashion some form of stretcher and drag you back to the Palace."

Perry scrunched up his nose. "That sounds highly uncomfortable. For both of us."

"My thoughts exactly. Then I shall simply carry you."

"All the way back? Won't that be too much? I'm not questioning your physical prowess or anything, but I'm not exactly a wilting flower here." Although, at that moment, Perry struggled to find a better description for himself. 

"Your weight shall not hinder my progress. How is it you believe we made it to the supply cabin in the first place?" Mal eyed the window and the fast approaching darkness. "Carrying you will be quicker. The sooner you are seen to by a healer, the better. Besides, I have eliminated but one threat to your life."

Perry grimaced at the memory of the girl being decapitated. "You mean whoever shot that arrow at me is probably still out there? Yeah, the thought did cross my mind." Mal eyed him with a raised brow. "What? You know, despite all evidence to the contrary, my brain does work sometimes."

"I was not questioning your intelligence," Mal said.

"Sure. So when do we leave?" For Perry, the sooner, the better. 

"I am debating if it is better to wait for the cover of darkness or leave while the hunt is still in progress. Whoever is after you might be more reticent to make a move if there are nobles prancing about the forest."

Perry focused on Mal's smooth voice to distract him from the pain. Or how uncomfortable he felt in his own skin. He chuckled. "I like when you use words like 'prancing'."

Mal frowned and leaned his face closer to Perry's. "Most of the dreamroot should have made its way out of your system by now." He paused, considering something. "Tell me, is it snowing?"

Perry frowned. What kind of question was that? "No, of course not. Wait, when does it snow around here? Myran said something about two springs, but I didn't understand a lot of what he was saying." 

"Your pupils are slightly dilated. How is your pain level?" Mal asked, pressing two fingers to Perry's throat to check his pulse. 

Perry squinted and tried to catalogue his body. "Now that you mention it, not too bad. I mean, I'm still tempted to rip my arm out and beat you over the head with it. But overall, not too bad. I'd give it a six out of ten."

And then, to prove his point, Perry lifted five fingers. Mal did not look impressed. 

"Then let us take advantage of that and not delay any longer. We move now."

"Sir, yes, sir." Perry chuckled and did his best imitation of a sloppy salute. Mal still didn't look impressed. 

With surprising gentleness, Mal tucked the blanket carefully around Perry and lifted him easily into his arms, holding him so that his good arm and not his injured one pressed against his chest. His very hard chest. 

"You're very athletic," Perry observed, trying to find the right balance between being immobile and pliant enough so that Mal didn't struggle to carry him. 

"Yes," Mal answered. "Open the door, Your Highness."

Perry wriggled his good arm free and reached for the doorknob. He paused before turning it and glanced up at Mal. "Wait, shouldn't we check the surrounding area, establish a perimeter or something before we venture out into the darkness?"

Mal tilted his head to the side for a moment, then blinked down at him. "I hear nothing save for the wildlife."

"That doesn't mean there's no one out there," Perry reasoned. Then he thought back on what had happened earlier in the day. "But you can catch an arrow with your bare hand, so I trust you with my safety. Lead on, good sir."

Perry turned the doorknob and flung the door open. Mal exhaled through his nose and didn't bother asking Perry to close the door behind them as he climbed down the few steps that led up to the cabin. 

Perry craned his head over Mal's shoulder to peer at the cabin behind them. It was small, probably just one room, and stood in the middle of a clearing. Wildflowers grew all around it and, under different circumstances, Perry thought it would make for a nice getaway. 

"It's a miracle no one found me during the day." Perry eyed the chimney. There was no smoke coming from it, but Perry thought he remembered seeing a fireplace and a lit fire at one point. Honestly, the whole day was kind of hazy - or just blank. 

"Truly." Mal's jaw ticked, and he looked like he wanted to behead someone. Again. 

"Are you angry?" Perry asked.

"Yes."

"At me?"

There was a pause. "Partially."

"Because I approached when you said not to?"

"Partially."

"Is that why you're being monosyllabic?" 

"I am attempting to be silent as we move through a forest possibly teeming with enemies hellbent on murdering you."

"Right. Sorry," Perry whispered. He tried to hold in his words, but his mouth refused to obey him. "Sorry for not listening to you and getting us into this mess. And for speaking when you're trying to be silent. And for speaking again right now. And-"

"I understand," Mal said. 

"Cool, cool." Perry pressed his lips together and did his very best to hold in the flood of words that suddenly wanted to come pouring out of his mouth. What was that about? 

Oh, right. The dreamroot. Mal had mentioned something about him seeing, saying, and doing things he might not normally do. An absurd thought occurred to Perry. He opened his mouth to speak but then closed it. His tongue itched so he rubbed his teeth over it. 

Mal exhaled through his nostrils again. "You may speak," he said in a low tone. 

"I thought this was meant to be our quiet time. You know, because of assassins and the like," Perry whispered. 

"I am alert and will tell you to be silent if a threat approaches."

"Oooh, like a safe word?" For some reason, that made Perry giddy. 

Mal shifted his body and walked sideways in between two trees, barely jostling Perry in the process. He really was good at this whole carrying people around thing. It made Perry's insides go all fluttery. 

"Most words are not safe," Mal observed. 

Perry gently patted Mal's cheek with his good hand. "You've had a grim life, haven't you?"

Mal looked like he wanted to sigh out loud and barely refrained from doing so. "Yes, terribly tragic and filled with tear-inducing tales. I often wonder how I managed to find anything joyous before meeting you."

"Aw." Perry felt touched. Mal deserved another cheek pat for that. "You're scary, but you can be nice when you want to." Mal paused, and Perry glanced around, looking for whatever danger surely lurked around the nearest tree. 

"You find me scary," Mal said. 

It wasn't a question, but Perry nodded. "Sure, you talk about 'taking eyes' and 'eliminating targets' like you're reciting your grocery list. Not to mention, I have recently seen you… you know." Perry slashed his hand across his own neck. "So there's that. Also, you're crazy accurate with a spear for some reason. Oh, not to mention the whole grabbing an arrow with your bare hands. Though, those last two were pretty badass."

He patted Mal on the chest with the back of his hand and smiled goofily up at him. Then another thought occurred to him. "Then again, you do go around rescuing me, so there's that. Thank you, by the way. For…" Perry tried counting on his fingers how many times Mal had already rescued him in the short period they had known each other. "Rescuing me twice?" There had been that one time during the competition, then once with the arrow, then with the girl, and then with the carrying him around the forest so he wouldn't have to squirm his way back to the Palace on his own. "No, four times. Yes, thank you."

He patted Mal's chest again and smiled up at his bodyguard. The other man's expression was blank, and Perry thought maybe he might not have heard him. Should he repeat himself?

"Under normal circumstances, you might not have thanked me," Mal said. 

"I would," Perry countered. "Okay, so maybe it would be a grudging thank you, but I would have." 

"And here I thought you spoke a lot before the dreamroot," Mal mumbled.

"Aw, admit it, you-"

"Like your talking? I will do no such thing," Mal interrupted him. 

"See? You even finish my sentences for me. We're like on the same brainwave or something." Perry patted his cheek again. It felt nice. 

"Or something indeed," Mal grumbled. "And you need not be scared of me. Not in the least. In fact, I do believe you are the only being in all of creation who may lay claim to that."

"Oh. Thank… you?" Perry wasn't really sure how to process that. 

"The dreamroot has made you very liberal with your gratitudes," Mal said dryly. 

Perry sighed and slumped his head against Mal's shoulder. He smelled kind of nice, like something cold and breezy. "Honestly, it sucks."

"Were your hallucinations disturbing?" Mal asked. 

Perry forced his brain to go back and revisit what he'd seen while under the influence of the dreamroot. The images felt blurry and out of focus, and he felt like he was physically standing too far to properly make out any of the details. 

"I think it was snowing. And there was a fire. But I also saw the ocean?" He sighed again and slumped more heavily against Mal. "It's all kind of foggy."

"Hm." The sound rumbled in Mal's chest and against Perry's face. His arm gave a painful throb, and he winced. "We are almost there."

"Really? Earlier, it felt like we were walking around for hours," Perry mumbled. 

"That is because you are out of shape and not accustomed to physical activity. Something we must correct as soon as we can."

"Is that your roundabout way of calling me lazy?" Perry asked. 

"Yes."

"It's like you know me or something."

There was another pause. "I am beginning to."

Perry felt his eyelids grow heavy and shook his head, lifting it off of Mal's shoulder. He did not want to fall asleep again and risk having strange visions. He couldn't risk being even more vulnerable when Mal was trying to literally carry him to safety. 

"Talk to me?" Perry asked. 

"What do you wish to discuss?"

"Anything. I just don't want to fall asleep and see…" Perry shuddered and winced as pain lanced up his arm. Even though he couldn't remember his hallucinations, no part of him wanted to go through that again. Ever. 

"What is your home like?" Mal asked. 

Perry considered his question for a moment. "I don't think I know. Home is where your family is, where you feel safe, isn't it? All I've ever known are houses." He thought about how to best describe the place he was from so Mal would understand. "It's loud. There are a lot of people and way too many buildings. People fight with each other, and animals and kids suffer. It's not really that great."

"That does not sound very different from here," Mal observed.

"Eh, I guess. The magic here is kind of cool, though. Well, maybe, I'm not so sure. The only magic I've seen is of the entertainment variety, and the one I've personally experienced is… not so friendly." Perry scrunched up his face, remembering being controlled by two different men and having his face altered against his will. 

"I will also teach you how to get around that type of magic."

"Aw, aren't you gracious." Perry petted his chest again, letting his hand linger. Through his confused and sluggish brain, one thing became very obvious. He shouldn't ask, should he? Would it be better to leave things in the gray or lay everything out in the open? His mouth decided before his brain could come to any kind of logical conclusion. Perry blamed the dreamroot. "So I guess there's no point in pretending I'm the real prince anymore?"

Mal glanced down at him. "You can if it will make you feel better."

Perry sighed. "Nah, lying is exhausting."

"And you are quite terrible at it."

Perry scoffed. "Excuse you, I will have you know that I have successfully managed to convince many a people that I am something more than just absolutely unremarkable."

"Truly?"

"No," Perry admited, tempted to rest his head on Mal's shoulder again. "But it's nice to pretend."

Perry's back and arm began to throb painfully. He did his best not to squirm too much and make Mal's job even more difficult. 

"I hear movement ahead," Mal murmured but didn't stop.

"I'm guessing they're not a threat?" Mal wouldn't have just kept on going if they were.

"They seem to be searching for you."

"Oh, goody." The sun around them had all but set completely and Perry guessed that meant the hunt was nearing its end. 

Sure enough, as soon as they crossed the treeline, a concerned chorus of 'Your Highness' greeted them. 

Perry never thought he would be so relieved to see all those people scurrying about to serve him.