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clickerflight · 4 months

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Clove: Part 15 - Quiet Pains

Hello hello! I swear I'll get back on my writing game soon. I have learned I need to write before I draw. And definitely before playing minecraft lol.

Masterlist

Part 14

Content: Sunburns, grief, watching a friend get old without you. Honestly a soft one for you guys this time.

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Hyrum woke up, still held in Ephraim’s arms. It would be nice if pain wasn’t still radiating from his skin. It was not the worst pain he’d ever experienced, but it was scary either way.

Hyrum stirred a little, stretching out his legs, kneading at his stomach until he was satisfied with the stretch in his muscles. He loosened again, and while he was a little tired still, he was more tired of sleeping.

He rolled in Ephraim’s arms to get away, but the grip only tightened as Ephraim stirred awake. Hyrum whined and Ephraim chirped at him, pulling him a little closer and nuzzling against Hyrum’s head, still chirping.

“Ephraim,” Hyrum whined, wriggling to get away.

“Go back to bed, Benny,” Ephraim said softly and Hyrum realized Ephraim was still somewhat asleep. “It’s still day.”

“Ephraim, it’s me,” Hyrum said, rolling again so he could bat at Ephraim’s face.

The vampire opened his eye, the other still glued shut, his hair a mess. “Mmm? Oh….” he let go of Hyrum as the werewolf sat up, stretching again on all fours.

Ephraim sighed heavily before he sat up, running his hand through his hair. “Are you alright?”

“Yes. My skin is hot.”

“Yeah. Looks like you got a sunburn, bud.”

Hyrum hummed. “I don't like it.”

Ephraim chuckled. “No, I imagine not. How about you put your clothes back on and we can see if there is still food from last night we can have and go talk to Margie.”

“Why would we need to talk to Margie?”

“She would have some creams to soothe your burns,” Ephraim said as he got up, rearranging his own shirt, tying the collar a bit tighter.

Hyrum nodded eagerly. He liked Margie’s potions and creams. He didn’t itch nearly as much and she did have things that really soothed his pains when he had them, even if he didn’t really like her.

He grabbed his clothing and put it on, discovering a new sensation of pain as it brushed over his burns.

He came out to a sandwich made with leftovers, the bottom wrapped in a cheese cloth to keep everything together. He took it happily as Ephraim finished eating his own sandwich as he put his shoes on. He held his hand out for Hyrum, who took it while eating his sandwich with the other.

They stepped out into the morning sunlight where people were out and about, working on their morning chores. They waved at the two of them as they passed.

“Good morning, Ephraim,” Anna called, her eldest hanging off of her skirts sleepily.

“Good morning, Anna,” he replied. “I should be moving up to my cabin again today. I’ll have your Dimitri’s blanket done soon after that.”

“Oh, thank you, Ephraim. Don’t feel like you need to rush. I know that children require extra time,” she said, smiling at Hyrum who smiled back hesitantly.

“That they are,” Ephraim said lovingly, squeezing Hyrum’s hand gently. “Have a good day, dear.”

“Thank you,” she replied with a smile.

They walked past towards Margie’s cottage. It was a little more weathered, one of the older cottages in the villages. Ephraim walked up and knocked as Hyrum took another bite of his sandwich. He waited until he heard Margie inside shout, “I’m decent!”

He rolled his eyes and opened the door, coming in with Hyrum close behind him, still holding Ephraim’s hand.

“Good morning, Margie,” Ephraim said warmly. “We’re here for some balms or creams for Hyrum here. He played out in the sun for a bit too long today.”

Margie sighed from where she was sitting at a long table smack dab in the middle of the living room picking out herbs and crushing them in different mortars. “Yeah, I should have something for that in the pantry.”

“What container is it in? I can go grab it,” Ephraim said, moving as if to do so, but Margie put her hands on the table, hauling herself up.

“No no, I’m not that old quite yet, Ephraim,” she said in a scolding tone of voice. “I can get you things from my own pantry.”

“Of course,” Ephraim said, though Hyrum saw the way his eyes trailed after the old lady, as though worried for her safety as she left the room.

“How old is she?” Hyrum asked curiously, taking another bite of his sandwich.

Ephraim sighed. “Nearly seventy.”

“Is that a lot?”

“Yes,” Ephraim said wistfully. “It is a lot. Vampires live until they are killed, werewolves tend to live for about 4 centuries if they do not die from disease or battle before that, and humans only live for about 80 years. Less, if their lives have been tough or if they get sick in their later years and no one is there to care for them. And out here, away from the cities, it is usually less. I worry about her.”

Hyrum hummed. Margie did look rather fragile. “So, she did not always look like that?”

“Oh, no, my dear. She used to be a force to be reckoned with. She still is. Just in different ways now.”

“Oh… okay….. Ephraim? How old am I?”

Ephraim looked down at Hyrum in surprise. “Oh, I am not too certain. Do you remember how many winters or summers you have experienced?”

Hyrum frowned and shook his head.

Ephraim nodded, judging Hyrum’s features. He was starting to look much younger than he had seemed at first now that he was healed and fed, but Ephraim was not very sure he could guess an age. The scars made Hyrum look so much older. There was something in his eyes that spoke of sufferings untold.

“Well…. You don’t look as hold as Isaac. Perhaps… Simon’s age? If I remember correctly he should be coming up on his 15th winter here shortly.”

Hyrum thought about it for a moment before he realized it didn’t really matter and he shrugged, going back to finishing his sandwich.

The two waited in silence for Margie to come back, listening to her faintly moving things back and forth and grumbling things to herself. Hyrum, with his big fluffy ears, was learning a lot of words he didn’t really know the meanings of. They sounded like hexes so he would likely have to be careful speaking them.

Margie finally came back with a small tub of something, giving it to Ephraim. “Now get out,” she said with a grumble.

Ephraim frowned. She was getting grumpier in her age, but this was a lot more grumpy than he was used to.

“Margie? Are you alrig-”

“Get!” she barked. She groaned as she sat back down. “My knees are aching and I don’t want to talk to anyone until I’ve had enough willow bark tea to actually get to my chores.”

That made sense. It was early in the morning and she did tend to be pretty grumpy when she was in pain. Ephraim thought about asking her why she didn’t let him go into the pantry, or if there was anything he could do, but he knew not to ask at this point, so he nodded, said a quiet goodbye and left, tub in hand.

They went back to Guntar’s house and Epraim had Hyrum sit down, pulling the lid off the tub so he could get some of the cooling cream out with his fingers and rub it into Hyrum’s skin.

Hyrum had finished his food and was folding the cloth as tightly as he could before letting it spring back out, kicking his legs and swishing his tail as Ephraim applied the medicine.

“Who’s Benny?”

Ephraim’s cool hands froze. He stared down at the pup before he slowly continued in his work. “Where did you hear that name?”

“This morning. You called me Benny.”

Ephraim winced. He’d had a dream he was taking care of Benjamin when he was just barely fledged.

He cleared his throat and said, “Ah, Benjamin. He was Margie’s brother. He and I were friends.”

“Oh. Did he get old and die?”

Ephraim wondered how much to tell. He wanted to lock the topic away, to keep trying to grieve and heal in silence like Margie had, but he was feeling nostalgic. He could still picture Benjamin’s smiling face in his mind, his fangs shining in the sun. two pairs of them instead of the regular set. Ephraim had been so proud of the power Benjamin demonstrated nearly right away, at how quickly his fledgling took to being a vampire.

“Not quite…. He would leave the village and go on adventures. He would come back with wonderful things, but he had an accident coming home one day. A tree fell on him and he was going to die. I decided to turn him into a vampire so he could keep living. He agreed.”

“Oh, you can make vampires?”

“Yes. All vampires can.”

“Could I be a vampire?”

“I am…. Not certain. Being a werewolf might mean you cannot be a vampire.”

Hyrum huffed, disappointed. “Well, where is Benjamin, then?”

Ephraim took extra care rubbing the cream on Hyrum’s face, avoiding looking into his golden eyes. “He… Margie and I had to fight some fae to get back a child of the village and Benjamin helped. We got the child back but Benjamin was taken in his place. The fae…. Do not like vampires. He is likely dead.”

“Oh. Was it… sad?”

“Yes,” Ephraim said in a heavy tone. “Sadder than anything else that has happened to me.”

Hyrum stared up at Ephraim in shock. Ephraim had lived a long time, so a lot of sad things probably happened if Hyrum’s own life was anything to gauge from. That was hard to imagine. The two must have been close. Hyrum wondered if Ephraim treated Hyrum the same way he treated Benjamin.

“Can you ever forget how sad it was?” Hyrum asked. He was wondering for himself as well. He had been through many many sad things. Through things that hurt him in all the different ways he could possibly be hurt. Could he ever forget it?

Ephraim sighed. He cupped Hyrum’s face in his hands and said, “I will never forget how sad it was, but there will always be things that can help me remember how happy I am too. Like you, dear Goldenrod.”

Hyrum leaned into Ephraim’s touch and closed his eyes with a soft sigh. He was pretty sure he was beginning to understand that.

Part 16

Clove Taglist: @wolfeyedwitch @the-blind-one-speaks @whumpsday @extrabitterbrain @inkkswhumpandstuff @honeycollectswhump @whump-blog-reblogs @pigeonwhumps @mj-or-say10 @percy-frayer

#whump #writing #clove #vampire caretaker #werewolf whumpee #sunburn care #grief #old age whump #the inherent angst that comes with outliving your friends

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