Work Text:
Cleo gently tucked a strand of Dift’s hair behind her ear, moving their hand down her body and to her back, lightly running it up and down, ensuring that she was truly sleeping. The night was rough. The arena fight was way more brutal with 3 champions losing obols and Sausage later crying in the arena after the fight. The alcohol did help, but both Drift and Shelby had a bit too much and needed to be carried home. Cleo finally got up from the bed when Nikos knocked on the door and quietly opened it, poking his head in.
“Is the little one sleeping?” His voice was rough and a bit slurry, clearly a bit tipsy himself, but doing way better than the girls. Cleo nodded, walking out towards him.
“Yes, she was out quite quickly. How did it go with Shelby?” She asked, fixing a stray lock of hair on her face. Nikos smiled a little. “Oh the blind one told me many stories, it was fun.” He laughed. Then, quieter, “I made sure she was safe.”
They settled down for a bit, listening to the quiet chirp of animals around them. Then, Cleo turned to Nikos. “Thanks for the help.” It was tender and sweet, every world truly meant. Nikos nodded. “Of course! You held your own well, you know.” Cleo smiled sheepishly. “Dionysus taught me a lot of things. One of them was to keep up.”
They spent some more time together, deciding to sit on the edge of Drift’s cliff, dangling their legs down and telling silly stories from their lives before becoming champions or just bantering about nothing. When all the light left the sky and only the moon shone down on the two of them, Cleo yawned and started to settle down on the ground.
Nikos caught the yawn right away. “Ah, time to get you to bed too. Hold on, scared one.” They didn’t even protest, too tired so they just wrapped their hands around him and held on with all the strength they had left.
Nikos focused, summoning Zeus’s thunderbolt and pulling back to throw it far enough, when the wound that stole his first Obol stabbed his back. He let out a sharp hiss and accidentally let the bolt go near his lap right between the two of them, throwing Cleo back towards the house. She took a bit to catch her breath and get back to her feet. When the ground cooled down and they could get close enough to Nikos, they crouched down, a worried look on their face.
“Are you okay? I think you wanted us to fly in a different direction.” Nikos was breathing heavily, not even acknowledging the satyr’s sarcastic remark. When he could finally breathe without his back feeling like it’s going to split open, he spoke. “I’m okay scared one…, just the wound on my back reminding me of how big of a coward the bird is for not ending me herself.” He scoffed.
Cleo hesitated before she gently laid her hand onto his back, trying to soothe him. They immediately pulled it away when he flinched. Her hand was slightly bloody. She hummed for a second. It can’t be comfortable. It’s been hours since Pyro stabbed Nikos and it’s still bleeding. They sighed in their mind. So much for ‘don’t get attached’. “Okay, you are coming with me, I need to wrap that wound.”
He tried to protest but the look they gave him was enough to stop him in his tracks. He nodded with a sigh and slowly got up. It was painful to stand up straight and he had to clench his teeth together to not hiss again, but he made it up. They slowly started to make their way down.
While walking, Cleo tripped on almost every rock, trying to hide the fact that her own reminder from the underworld hasn’t stopped bothering her. Nikos noticed, catching them when they nearly tumbled down one of the smaller cliffs. It pulled the wound on his back again, but he ignored it.
“Steady, scared one.” He snickered, helping the satyr back onto the path. Cleo bent down, massaging the muscles above one of their hooves for a moment. The fall that ended her first life in this realm was not pleasant. She could barely stumble to Charon’s boat. When she got back, the pain subsided a bit, but never fully. A cruel reminder.
They walked slower after that, taking their time. The poppy field that was oh so familiar now appeared and Cleo instantly relaxed. This was her space. She pet all her animals as they passed them, quiet hellos escaping her lips. Nikos couldn’t help but smile.
Cleo directed him up onto the raised piece of land where her supplies were. On the edge of the small cliff was a little circular space, moss on the bottom and around the edges. Cleo pushed him down onto it.
“Stay.” They stared him down before starting to rummage in their chests, looking for some cloth that she found with some other offerings that appeared in chests all over the realm. When she finally found some, she carried a bucket of water closer to him, dipped a piece in it and pressed it down to his back. He flinched away with a quiet shout, gripping the grass in his fists.
“Mhh. You could have warned me.” He grumbled. Cleo gently cleaned the blood from the edges of the deep cut. “You can take it, big guy.” They sat mostly in silence, occasionally broken by a grunt from Nikos. When Cleo deemed the wound clean enough, they placed a bigger piece of cloth over it and secured it with some string and a long piece of leather.
“It’s not much, but it should help you at least a bit.” She was just about to pull away when he caught her wrist. “I think it’s your turn now, scared one.” He meant it as an invitation to swap places, but Cleo missed the meaning. She almost instinctively tried to get out of his grip, a little panic surging in her eyes. Nikos was quick enough to catch it before she cast her eyes down again and let her go. “Sorry. I’m not going to hurt you.”
She took a deep breath and sat down opposite to him without a word. They wouldn’t meet his eyes. Nikos sighed and laid his hand down on their lower leg and this time, asked. “Can I?” Cleo didn’t move at first, her mind fuzzy and blurry again. When the request finally got to her, she nodded, hesitant. He gently took her leg and probed around the swollen part just above her hoof. She let out a quiet whine.
“It was worse before I got back.” They whispered, still not looking at him. Nikos reached behind him for another long piece of leftover cloth and straightened their leg. Then, he wrapped it, trying to support the aching bones and muscles. He made sure it wasn’t too tight or too loose and secured it with a knot at the top.
“There. Now you can run around again.” That got a laugh out of Cleo, finally brave again to meet her tired eyes with his. He smiled at her. “Sleep. I will guard.” She tilted her head to the side. “I need guarding?” Nikos got up from the moss bed and sat down a little further from her, leaning on some chests. “No. I do.”
Cleo decided not to question it more. They laid down, curling their hands under their head.
“Good night Nikos.”
She closed her eyes. There was no answer at first. Only when sleep pulled her under did she catch a faint voice.
“Good night, Cleo.”