Archive of Our Own

Osteon blinked, pausing in their writing about the newly graduated dragon riders' performances. A faint pulse hummed through the Agony Crystal in their pocket. They pulled it out, focusing on it. One of the Agony Crystals was pulsing... 2/2 entities (as in people and their dragons)... 1/2 entities. But it wasn't that the person had left. It felt like they were fading. With a bit more focus, Osteon figured out that it was Juniper's Agony Crystal. They sighed, leaving the academy to go call WI.TH.ER. Their dragon landed in front of them. They climbed on his back and took flight. 

Upon landing in Arboria, WI.TH.ER let out a snarl. There was an answering roar (albeit soft) from the beach. Pinecone. WI.TH.ER lashed his tail with another, softer snarl. Osteon started running towards the beach, knowing full well that was the reason for their dragon's agitation. They skidded to a halt, sending a spray of sand where their heels dug into the beach. Pinecone was lying on the beach, lifting his head and letting out a small chuff as WI.TH.ER gently nosed his side. Osteon was too busy staring at the lake. About a third of the way to the center was a large mangrove tree. That had definitely not been there before. It was actively dying, leaves falling at a far too rapid rate to be natural. Their gaze flicked down. Tangled in the roots lay Juniper, (hopefully) unconscious. Her face was just above the water, scarily close to it. A single larger wave and her head would be submerged. So, that was why the Agony Crystal was going off.

Juniper was dying.

Osteon had a very bad feeling as to how she'd gotten there. 

They took off their half-cape, tossing it aside as they dove into the water. They couldn't risk flying WI.TH.ER that close to a tree. Luckily, they'd learned how to swim. They had found an old sketch of them and their sister, the latter teaching them how to swim.

...Osteon wished they could remember the moment.

But alas, a sketch would have to do. At least they remembered how to swim.

As carefully as they could, they pulled Juniper out of the roots. As they did so, a branch snapped off the tree, nearly cracking open their skull. The moment Juniper was out of contact with the tree, it faded, branches falling but dissipating before they could touch anything. Osteon shifted her to a position that would be easier to carry and started swimming back. It was frustratingly slower because of the added weight, but the two still made it back. Osteon gasped as they emerged from the water, both of them soaked. WI.TH.ER nudged his rider with worry. Osteon absently patted his head and lay Juniper on the beach, far away from the water. She still wore the dress from the ball, but it was now torn and ragged. Bruises and scrapes littered most visible skin, and they had a feeling there were more bruises unseen. It looked like she'd fallen off a cliff or something. 

Osteon racked their brain for whatever they could remember about drowning procedure. Step 1... Step 2, then what...? Whatever, just Step 1 for now. Arboria was too far for them to call much help, especially since most everyone was either asleep or too drunk to give valid assistance. Oh, they remembered Step 3! As they followed the procedures, pressing the heel of their hand into Juniper's chest, each step came back to them. They tried to avoid as much physical contact with her as possible. Still, a part of them itched to gather her into their arms, listen to her heartbeat while praying she lived. The same part of them that missed their family, their sister, the others. The same part of them that remembered days before the wither. The same part of them that wanted, so desperately wanted, to embrace the compost mentality.

...Perhaps...?

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Juniper woke up with a gasp. Immediately, she started coughing. Ow. Everything hurt and there was water in her lungs. She expelled all the water she could from her lungs before taking deep gasps of air. Okay. What happened? (Hell if I know).

"Juniper!" 

That was when she realized she was not alone. (Nope!). Osteon was cradling her in their arms, supporting her head and back for her. They looked incredibly worried. Their half-cape lay discarded on the sand.

"...Osteon?" 

"Juni, thank gods," Osteon mumbled.

"Juni?" Juniper echoed.

Osteon winced. "Apologies. Juniper. Thank goodness you're awake."

"I... yeah," she rasped. "That's me. I'm awake. What happened?"

"The Agony Crystal went off and I found you in the middle of the lake, about to die," Osteon answered bluntly.

"Oh. T-that sounds ab-about right." 

Fuck. She was really cold. (You're also shivering). Osteon seemed to notice and picked up their half-cape, dusting the sand off and wrapping it around her shoulders.

"Y-you didn't have to," she mumbled.

"You'll get hypothermia," they pointed out.

"True," she muttered.

"Can you be honest with me for a moment?" 

Osteon's tone was very serious. Oh, no. They hadn't found out, right? (No, probably not, maybe they'll ask if you love them!). Not helpful, Sui.

"Sure," Juniper said.

"Juniper Penrose, was this an attempt at suicide?" 

What? (WHAT?!).

"I— what?" 

"Did you. Attempt. To commit. Suicide?" Oh, shit, their tone was even more serious now.

"No— no! I'm— I'm many things, but I'm not suicidal," she answered honestly.

"Are you sure?" 

Juniper nodded. Yeah, she was pretty sure she wasn't. Not usually, anyways.

"Very well. Then we shall speak more soon. We should dry off first," they said wisely.

"We should," she agreed.

She tried to sit up and immediately fell back into Osteon's arms. Gosh, the day had taken a lot out of her, hadn't it? In her defense, her wounds hadn't healed at all. Osteon looked mildly concerned as they helped her rebalance.

"Do you want assistance?" They offered.

"No, I'm fine," she replied on instinct. 

Their fingers pressed very lightly against a bruise on her arm and she hissed. 

"You don't look very fine to me," they pointed out.

"...Fine," she grumbled. 

Osteon swept her into a bridal carry, standing up. She wrapped her arms around them with a tiny shriek. They carried her all the way back to her main house in Arboria. 

"You really didn't have to do this," she said.

"Yes, and you can walk perfectly fine," they replied sarcastically.

"Okay, rude," she complained.

Once they'd gone inside, Juniper had gotten slightly stronger. At least strong enough to stand and limp to her room to dry off and change. She hung the half-cape up to dry. She'd return it later. She fumbled with the zipper of her dress, wincing at the awkward angle her arm had to twist into. Eventually, she managed to unzip it, changing as quickly as she could in her current state. A simple nightgown would do for now. Her hair was a mess. When she tried to reach up and fix it, about six different parts of her arm started throbbing. (GET HEALED!! NOW!!!) Calm down, Sui. When she returned to the main room, Osteon was starting a fire in the fireplace. 

"Thank you for saving me," Juniper said.

"Of course. It's my duty," Osteon answered, almost out of habit.

She sat down in front of the fire. The warmth helped with the ache in her bones. 

"Here," Osteon said, handing her a mug of tea.

"Thank you," she said.

Taking a sip, she found that it was pleasantly floral, with just the right amount of sugar. Hibiscus? Something along those lines. It certainly wasn't her tea.

"How did you even make tea?" She asked.

"I carry some around with me, just in case," they answered.

"Cool. What kind of tea is this?"

"Hibiscus infused with Ros's apples for healing," they said.

The tea turned bitter on Juniper's tongue. As she took another sip, trying to stop the feeling, Osteon sat in front of her.

"May I ask how you ended up in the lake, then?"

Um. (quick, you have to deflect!) No shit, Sui. How would she explain why she was... like this? 

"Okay, um. Uh. Let's see. So, we were saving the Capital, right?"

"Indeed."

"And then I came back here. To, y'know, sit for a bit before this next chapter in my journey. That makes sense, right? I just needed some time to relax and heal. You get it, right?" 

Gosh, she was monologuing now. Osteon nodded slowly.

"Okay. So, then I saw a Storm Raven—"

"You saw a what?" Osteon demanded, cutting her off.

"A Storm Raven," she repeated.

They stared at her. "...Continue."

"Yeah, so then I wanted to chase it, right? And I— I got on Pinecone, but he was too— too tired and couldn't fly. So I jumped off and started chasing it on foot. I took a few tumbles—hence the scrapes—and ended up at the lake. Around that point, the adrenaline wore off, and I kinda just... collapsed? And then I woke up and this happened."

"You didn't think to call me? Or anyone else?" Osteon asked.

"I didn't have time! It was too fast. I couldn't catch it if I called someone. Please, you have to understand, I was tired, I wasn't thinking right," she pleaded.

Osteon shook their head. "Your logic was fair. Just... try to warn someone next time."

"Okay. Okay, yeah, I can do that," Juniper decided with a small sigh of relief.

"Good," they said, standing up and moving out of her line of sight.

She stared into the flames for a moment. (You dodged a bullet there). Yeah, she could tell. She shook her head slightly to clear it, to refocus before she revealed something she shouldn't. She got very dazed around Osteon sometimes. She winced as one of her braids whipped around and whacked her in the face. She lifted her hand to push it out of her face and cursed under her breath as the pain spiked again. She elected to pick up the tea instead and drink more. Just because it used Dawn apples didn't mean she had to hate it. (That's right!! Clock it!!!!)

"Do you want help with your hair?" Osteon asked.

"I— yes, actually," she said. "Can you do that?"

"Indeed," they replied.

Right. She took a sip of the tea. There was a shuffling sound as Osteon settled behind her. Their hands were surprisingly gentle as they started undoing her complicated braids (You do realize they also have long hair, right?). Doing bubble braids had been a very bad idea. Luckily, Osteon seemed to at least somewhat know what they were doing. Every so often, they'd pause to rake their fingers through a tangle. It was quiet for a little while, just Juniper sipping the tea and Osteon braiding her hair. She didn't like the quiet. She started humming absently, a random song. One of the waltzes from the ball or something. (It's called Bop Bop Bop.) Thanks, Sui.

"You seem pretty good with hair," she said at a pathetic attempt to initiate conversation.

"I've had a lot of time to experiment with my own," they said. "Sadly, since I can't really touch people, I don't get to do much about it."

"Oh. At least it works on me?"

"That is fortunate indeed," they agreed. "We do need to figure out why I can only come into contact with you at some point."

"Later," Juniper mumbled with a yawn.

She was really tired. (Get some sleep) Not yet, not while they were here. (Your loss) Shut up. She winced as Osteon tugged on her hair slightly.

"Apologies," they murmured.

"Mm. It's fine," she said.

She closed her eyes, setting the empty mug of tea down. 

"You'll fall asleep here," noted Osteon.

"Mhm," she mumbled.

She was... so sleepy... hopefully she wouldn't do anything embarrassing...

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Osteon was too focused on not pulling on Juniper's hair that they didn't notice her actually falling asleep. The moment they'd finished unbraiding her hair, she leaned backwards into their chest. 

"Juniper," they began.

"Tired," she countered. "Stay?"

"I really shouldn't," they said.

She shifted to wrap her arms around them. "Stay."

"Juniper, please—"

"Mmm," she hummed in annoyance. "You're comfy."

"You're delirious," they noted.

She shook her head slightly. "...you delirious."

"I don't think I'm delirious," they said.

Juniper pressed further into them. "I like you. Stay."

"...Okay." Osteon finally caved.

It wasn't a smart idea to leave her in this state alone. That was all. Osteon pulled her closer, leaning back against the couch to be slightly more comfortable. They honestly couldn't be bothered to get onto the couch. Juniper was really warm. And she was so cute when she was sleeping. And they hadn't realized how much they missed being able to hold someone, hug them, press their lips in a chaste kiss on their head.

Osteon drifted into sleep with Juniper in their arms, mostly just glad she was alive after everything.

"de·vo·tion

[dəˈvōSHən]