In Each Other

It was strange, this being dead business. Once the pain had subsided and his muscles had relaxed again, Norris had assumed that was it. He had been ready to surrender himself to peaceful oblivion, to go to the rest he so richly deserved. It had not come, however, unless one could name a myriad of memories and disjointed images oblivion, and Norris found it all immensly confusing. Surely the afterlife wasn’t just a never ending reel of confusing pictures and words…

There had been blackness, at first, and he had thought that was it. His conciousness would eventually melt into the darkness and Norris would be no more. It had given him a little thrill of panic at first, but that had quickly quieted into serene acceptance. Fighting would do him no good. Besides, what was there to fight for? The world was crumbling around him and he had betrayed his country. And, unlike some, Norris had no earth-shattering love or even the hope of one to sustain him in the void. So he had surrendered peacefully, trusting that Karsh would honor his last request. That, at least, was a small comfort to him.

But then, out of the darkness, an angel had come for him. An angel with a low, rich voice and cool soothing hands that had cradled him in her arms and spoken encouraging words. He could smell her in the darkness, sweet and fresh like water lilies in a pond, and almost instinctively, his mind had grasped at her. Perhaps death wasn’t an oblivion after all. Perhaps he would go to a better place. A place where the sun soaked the world in its rich golden light and where angels walked the hills and valleys along with the dead.

But she had gone, replaced by another, a male angel. Older, Norris thought, for his voice was gravelled with time and burdens and yet still comforting. He smelled of woodsmoke, and his grip was strong and sure. He did not come alone, for shortly after he showed up, another joined him. Male, again, but younger, with a sad ring to his speech. Norris could sense that the sadness wasn’t for him; rather, this angel bore it like a horse bears a rider. His touch was gentle and knowing, and Norris took comfort in the attention.

The angels left him, eventually, and he sank into strange dreams. His past flashed behind his closed eyes, out of sequence and hopelessly confused. There were his pains, his triumphs. His first love, his first hate, his parents, his younger brother…They were all there, waiting for him. He relived the most momentous times in his life, bothd and and bad, all the while wondering if this was some sort of test he had to undergo. He wanted the angels to come back, to hold him again and make the world go away, but they did not return.

His life stopped eventually, and he found himself lost in a strange dreamscape, wandering black fields alone. The sky above him blo blood red, but he could not see the sun or moon. Sombre, heavy clouds drifted by, putrid yellow in color and bursting with precipitation. The air was humid with the promise of rain, but nothing fell from the sky and the ground was as dry as a bone. There was no scent, no breeze, no sound, and Norris walked wearily through the land, searching for something familiar.

He found it, eventually, although it wasn’t what he had been looking for. His toe nudged something hard and he knelt to examine it, curious. There had been no rocks in this place, but to the best of his knowledge that’s what he cupped in his hand. It was covered in black powder and was as big around as his fist. Norris rose, brushing the thing off, and gasped at the first hint of color. Amber.

He polished it frantically on his pants, leaving sooty marks all down them, for once not caring. It gleamed in his hand then, flawless and golden. Norris stared at it, a smcurvcurving his lips ever so slightly. It reminded him of something…something important. Something that he knew he should remember, but no matter how he tried to grasp it, it slipped away from him. He did not know how long he stood, staring at the orb, but since time didn’t seem to matter in this place, he did not rush.

There was something caught in the depths of the amber, but no matter which way he turned it, he could not discern what it was. Small and black, it hung suspended there, and Norris got the feeling that it could stay there for all eternity and be blissfully happy. He wished, fervently, that he could join it. It looked so warm and safe there in the amber; to be cradled, protected, was all he desired and as he gazed longingly into the clear golden depths of the orb, he remembered.

He remembered a pair of sharp yellow eyes watching him distrustfully. He remembered them taking him in, sizing him up with one quick sweep. He remembered how they had softened gradually until, when they thought he wasn’t paying attention, they held an almost fond regard. He remred red watching them day in and day out, and wondering what it would be like to gaze into them, to kiss them closed, and to wake up next to them every morning. And he remembered their name…

“Karsh,” he murmured, the first word he had spoken since he’d come to this place, and the dreamscape shattered around him and he fell. Weakness seized hisbs, bs, held him immobile, and he struggled to open his eyes. They seemed crusted shut and when he tried to reach up to pry the eyelids apart, a warm hand caught his wrist and guided it back to his side.

“Just hold still, kid,” a familiar voice murmured. It was the third angel, his mellow tone finally given words, and Norris recognized him as the man from Guldove, the one everybody called Doc. “I gotcha taken care of.”

A warm, damp softness brushed across his eyelids and he could feel the stuff holding them closed dissipate. He managed, slowly, to crack one eye open and immediately shut it again. The light was far too bright, and he moaned and shook his head weakly against it.

“Yeah, I know,” Doc soothed. “The light’s gonna hurt at first, but you gotta get used to it.” There was a measure of relief in the do’s v’s voice, and Norris took strength from that and pried both eyes open. The light stabbed him like a thousand knives and he thought his head would explode in the rush of pain. Slowly, slowly, the pain receeded and Norris could see again.

He was lying in bed, curtained off from the rest of wherever he was by bright blue and green cloths. There was a small stool beside the bed and a table, which Doc worked off of. On the table lay a bowl of what was probably water, some medicine, and several washclothes.

“I-“ he croaked. “I want to…” He had to pause to take a breath, the effort of speaking almost too much for him. “Karsh. I’d like…to speak to…Karsh.” He turned beseaching eyes on Doc, who smiled and patted his shoulder gently.

“No problemo, man.” He rose, straightening his long vest and tucking a strand of pale hair behind his ear. “He’s been lurking around since we brought you in.”

“How long?” Norris gasped, frowning. Doc handed him a glass half full of water and pressed the back of his hand to Norris’s forehead. Nodding in satisfaction, he answered.

“Bout a week and a half. You were in bad shape.” He pushed aside a bit of the cloth and winked over his shoulder to Norris. “Karsh’ll be in in a few.”

Norris sat in silence for a moment, forgetting all about the water glass in his hand. A week and a half? Gods, what had happened to him? Had it really been that long? He hadn’t been able to keep track of time when he was…wherever it was. But surely it had only been a day at the most! Surely…

The cloth flung inward and a white-clad figure bounded into the small space, filling it easily. Norris managed a weak smile at the sight of the Dragoon, and Karsh beamed down at him. He was almost aquiver with energy, a bad thing in such a small space. His broad shoulders practically took up the entire room. With a delighted roar, Karsh flung himself onto the side of the bed, wrapping Norris in a bone-crushing bear hug. Water sloshed out of the glass and down the Deva’s back, but he seemed hardly to notice.

“Damn, its good to see you awake!” he crowed, finally releasing his hold and settling back. His amber eyes sparkled with joy and, for the first time in his life, Norris felt the bubbling of unrestrained laughter in his chest. “We thought you were dead, you shifty little bastard. Lady Riddel was…What?” Karsh cocked his head and, unable to stand it anymore, Norris burst out laughing.

“You!” he wheezed between fits of mirth. “You…look like a huge…puppy!” Karsh pulled a mock offended face, but Norris could see his mouth twitching with surpressed humor. “I swear…if you had…a tail it’d be…wagging!” Karsh threw back his head and laughed, his rich baritone echoing off the walls and reverberating in Norris’s chest.

“I may be a puppy,” he chuckled finally, tears streaming down his face. “But you, sir, are an invalid.” Norris made a face, and Karsh gave him a feather-light tap to the jaw. “You’ve been laid up so long we won the war without you!” A flash of panic seized Norris then, and it must have showed in his eyes, because Karsh grinned broadly and patted him on the head. “Just kidding. Calm down, kiddo. Not a damn thing has happened s you you went under.”

“No, but since I woke up you’ve managed to mess up my covers and spill all my water,” he muttered, his voice devoid of any venom. Karsh grinned brightly at him and snatched the glass away, tossing it over his shoulder.

“I’ll get you more then!” he boomed, rising. For some reason, the thought of Karsh leaving produced aepineping terror in Norris’s chest that set him to shivering and, without pausing to think, he reached out and grabbed Karsh’s hand. The Dragoon’s brow furrowed and he settled himself on the edge of the bed again, reaching out to press Norris’s cheek with his free hand. Norris leaned into the contact, knowing full well that Karsh had merely been checking him for fever and not caring a whit. The Deva’s larger-than-life presence was comforting on some base level, and Norris wasn’t quite ready to give it up yet.

“Don’t go,” he whispered, rubbing his cheek against Karsh’s palm like a cat. His eyes roamed over Karsh’s face, taking in the shock in the Deva’s amber eyes and the way his lips had parted ever so slightly…

Using Karsh’s arm as leverage, Norris forced himself upright and hooked his free arm around the Dragoon’s neck. He had eyes only for Karsh’s mouth; the other man’s stern lips were a hundred times more tempting than the forbidden cherries he had stolen in his youth and, he fancied, a thousand times sweeter. He captured them easily, savoring their heat and hardness under his own mouth. He felt Karsh’s shoulders shudder under his arm as the Deva took a deep breath but, to Norris’s surprise, Karsh did not pull away.

A strong arm circled his waist, tugging him forward until he was nearly sitting in Karsh’s lap. The other, easily freed frorrisrris’s feeble grip, reached around to support his shoulders and cup his head. Karsh’s tongue brushed out, hesitantly caressing the soldier’s lower lip, and Norris smiled into the Dragoon’s mouth, pulling back slightly to look into his eyes. A warm satisfaction washed over him and his heart fluttered in his chest as his gaze met Karsh’s. He hardly noticed his field of vision narrowing or his muscles attempting to give out. Every shred of his conciousness was devoted entirely to thch, ch, warm gold of Karsh’s eyes.

Right before he blacked out, he smiled. He knew now that the speck in the amber had been himself, curled up warm and safe, and that the amber itself had been Karsh. Surrounding him and protecting him…and loving him…