How Divine is Thou?

Forever 4

"Nyx!" I looked back, happy to see Ulixity standing there. Tholnia and I had been looking for him after he ran through the fire. He looked like absolute shit. He was covered head to toe in a thick layer of soot and ash. Somehow, his natural golden shine managed to shine through the dirt and grim.

His eyes were bright as normal, a strange contrast to the rest of him, but it was still him. "Fiamma!" Tholnia said delightedly, running out from where she was digging. "You're alright."

"Of course I am," he said with a slight frown. If he considered covered in grim, alright, I guess he was fine. Somehow, his old shoulder wound had reopened somewhat and was bleeding. It was nothing major, but enough to worry.

"What happened to your shoulder?" I asked, going behind him to check out the wound.

"What? Oh. I don't know. Didn't notice." He seemed distracted, distant. He gingerly touched his shoulder, wincing slightly and sucking in a quick breath.

"You should get that checked out. It looks pretty bad," I told him.

"I fine, Nyx," he said pointedly, hugging his wounded shoulder close. "Umsin said you two were looking for me?"

"We just wanted to make sure you were okay," Tholnia told him. "But Nyx is right. You should have someone look at your shoulder."

"Later," he growled shortly. "Is that really all you needed?"

"We hadn't seen you after you ran through the fire. We were worried something had happened," I told him gently. "So, what happened?"

"It was some prick of an old God, and before I could do anything, Hyzotz showed up and said that the Titans had been looking for him and tore him apart at the seams," he sumerized quickly. "Also, I'm in good with the cheif, his brother, and his children."

"How did that happen?" Tholnia asked at the random add-on.

"I saved them, nothing too big. Don't worry about it," he responded. Something was different about him. I was still deciding what and if I liked it.

"You should take a break. I'll bandage your shoulder," I told him, trying to leave no room for argument. I wanted this to know this was not a request.

He sighed deeply and grumbled but sat down nonetheless. Tholnia ran off to grab some medical supplies.

"What's going on with you?" I asked quietly, grabbing a wet rag from nearby to clean his wound.

"Nothing. I told you, I'm fine," he replied sharply.

"Please don't raise your voice," I told him calmly. "And I can tell you're not fine. You've been carrying around burnt bodies for hours. No body would be okay after that."

"You're okay."

I couldn't help but snort at that. Was I that good of an actor? How could he think that I was fine? "You really think that?"

He watched me, a look of confusion written on his ash covered face. His eyes looked more fire like than their normal blood red. "Of course. You look fine. You're acting normal."

"Because I have to," I told him. "What am I supposed to do when a sobbing family comes to identify their only child? I can break later. Right now, though, I have to put on a brave face for them."

"How?" He whispered hoarsly. "How do you distract yourself from," he waved around, "all this?"

"I don't know. It's like, for just a few hours, I can shut off all facial reactions. But it doesn't last forever. Ever facade falls eventually. Some days, you just have to pray you're alone when it happens. Other days, it's nice to have someone there to hold you and reassure it's okay. Everyone has different reactions."