Fragile as Ice (Oriel)

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It was fucking freezing. Phoenix stared blankly out the door as he waited for Oriel, completely smothered in practically all the clothes he owned. Yes, snow was pretty, and he could appreciate it, but it was so. cold. Even though he'd been putting on a little weight recently, he'd lost some during the week that Oriel had been in the hospital, and it wasn't enough to warm his thin bones. His beanie was pulled tightly over his head and ears, the collar of his jacket pulled up over the lower-half of his face so Oriel would have to tug it down if he wanted any sort of kiss. Overall, he looked poofy and squishy and ready to take on a blizzard.

"I'm gonna want a hot cup of somethin' and a lotta cuddles when we come back inside," he told his boyfriend, his slight scowl weakening already. Phen wasn't mad, really - he was just stubborn and liked being warm and comfortable. But if Oriel wanted anything, he would get it with only a little bit of resistance and some whining, especially since he was still healing from his bite.

Phoenix took a hesitant step outside, boot crunching in the white blanket covering the grounds. There were quite a few students playing, tossing snowballs and building forts and snowmen. Phen just balled his gloved hands into fists and huddled close to Oriel, his breath fogging in the cold air. "Whadaya wanna do?" he asked, cheeks already pink from the cold.

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Oriel was doing better. At least he was from his own point of view, but that could have just been his own inherent stubbornness. He couldn't stand being cooped up in his room any longer, so despite there still being a soreness in his foot, Oriel bundled himself up nice and warm to go for a brisk jaunt out in the snow.

His wavy locks were sticking out from the sides of his own black benie, and a scarf was wrapped and tucked into his jacket, which was zipped up nearly all the way this time. He could only manage one glove, on his right hand, while the left was left bare save for the brace which only had one more week of healing on it. And Oriel would never admit to anyone that he had on his pajama bottoms underneath his jeans for extra insulation. Though at least he didn't look like a giant marshmallow like Phoenix did.

And of course, he told him so with affection.

"I don't know," he said, his breath coming out white in the cold air. "Just a walk sounds nice, don't know if I can handle a full blown snowball fight." Oriel looked to the other students doing just that, hiding behind forts of snow as they tossed the frozen baubles to and fro between them.

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Phoenix was keeping a very close eye on his squishy, making sure he seemed to be walking without too much trouble and not pushing himself too hard. He knew getting out and about would do him good, but he just wished it was a bit warmer and not so... Wintery. Still, Phen wanted to giggle at how adorable Oriel looked all bundled up, not as much as himself but still delightfully puffy.

"I'm gonna enjoy taking that all off of you later," he grinned, giving his gloved hand a small tug. While their sex lives had been put on hold for the moment while Oriel recovered, there was still some things Phen could do for the enjoyment of both of them. Helping him wash and clean was just one of them.

"Walking it is, then," he hummed, wrapping an arm through one of his lover's as they began to do just that. "Snowball fights aren't exactly my thing anyway." He flinched as one flew nearby and hit a student, who yelped and dove into the fray. The snow continued to crunch under their feet as Phen led them away from the busy area towards a quieter location, glad to get away from the crowds. "How does your leg feel?" he asked, glancing over at Oriel with adoring eyes. "If we need t'stop or anythin', just say so, okay? I don't want you t'push it too much."

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Oriel had never minded the cold and today was no different. In fact, he enjoyed it, the cold air on his face was relaxing. It was familiar and reminded him of home; New York, that is. It usually put him in an out-of-sorts mood as he reminisced over nostalgic memories. But what was different, was that he had Phoenix around to share it with and distract him from those memories.

"Oh, I bet you will," Oriel smirked at his lover, a flirtatious glint in his eye. Meanwhile, Oriel had half a mind to keep all those bundles on Phoenix and violate him that way….though it was true that they hadn't had much opportunity for their normal romps and probably wouldn't until Oriel had completely recovered. It was distressing, but Oriel could probably deal.

If he were more up for it, Oriel would love a snowball battle. But again, Oriel could deal without it. "Pretty good, actually," Oriel said, smiling up at the air. It wasn't a lie, his ankle was just a little bit sore, but he was able to walk more normally now. It'd just been like having a bad bruise on the sole of his foot, and it had healed much like one too. Oriel rolled his eyes, "If I need a wheelchair, I'll let you know." He squeezed his lover's arm, to show he was just playing. "Where should we go? The pond?" It was probably frozen over by now.

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The winters in Seattle, as far as Phen remembered, had been mild and mostly just rainy. He's always been thin and prone to getting sick growing up, so he tended to keep inside even then. If he ended up getting sick today, he would probably make Oriel bring him soup and tea and everything else.... Well, if his leg was up for it, that was. He was still fawning over the boy, and likely would continue to for a good while.

He returned the smirk (even if Oriel couldn't see it), reaching over to kiss his lover's cheek through the fabric of his coat collar. "Gotta get my needs out one way or another while you get better," he hummed, oblivious to Oriel's own plans. While it was a little difficult for the rather... Needy... Boy to be patient, his concern for his boyfriend's health outweighed his own wants and needs by a lot. And they could still get a bit frisky in other ways. They were just a bit creative.

A smile lit up his face enough to reach his dark eyes, which had thankfully lost their redness and the dark bags underneath now that he was back to sleeping and eating regularly. "Good," he breathed, reaching down to give the boy's hand a squeeze. Oriel seemed... Happier. More calm. Phen didn't know if it was the snow, or the day, or just the moment in time, but it made him happy, too. "I'll get you one if you do," he teased right back, leaning in against Oriel's shoulder as they walked. "The pond sounds good," he agreed. Hopefully it would be quiet. It didn't take too long to get there, even with their slowish pace, and Phen was pleased to see that not a lot of people were around. "Looks like it's frozen over," he commented, carefully approaching the edge. The pond wasn't deep enough that it frightened him, especially now that he'd been taking lessons from Wren. He glanced up at 'their' tree, smiling fondly at the memories associated with it. "I love this place," he sighed.

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If Phoenix got sick, Oriel would make sure he regretted it….or maybe not, Oriel would dote on him and take care of him like a good boyfriend. After all, Oriel liked taking care of people, especially those he liked. And loved.

Yeah, that was still weird, but at least Oriel was getting used to saying it; lord knows he said it enough at the hospital, though that'd been mostly because of the pain meds.

Oriel was appreciative of Phen's attentiveness, though he still worried that Phoenix might be ignoring his own well-being to look after Oriel. As such, Oriel was keeping a close eye on Phoenix and making sure he didn't go overboard too often. But….he still enjoyed the attention. And sure loved being on the receiving end for a change.

He shoved Phen lightly with his shoulder as Phoenix came in to lean on it. Phoenix would be right, Oriel was feeling a lot lighter lately, and he was glad for it. It felt good, not being so stressed out. Hell, Oriel didn't even care if there would be other people at the pond, as long as he was with Phoenix, he was happy. "Be careful," Oriel warned. The pond might be frozen over, but he knew very well that thin ice could exist anywhere. Oriel had enough experience with that back in NYC when he'd wander the park in the dead of winter.

"Yeah," he agreed. "It's always been my favorite place." Even before he met Phoenix, but now it was even more special to him.

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Phen hadn't expected the 'l' word to come from Oriel so soon, to be honest - he knew his lover had been on a lot of drugs at the hospital, and thought maybe he'd go back to his normal, teasing self (which he had, to a degree), but he still told Phoenix he loved him, which made the scrawny boy feel like his world was complete. To be loved by someone like Oriel, who hadn't loved before... He was nearly overwhelmed.

What had he done to deserve it? He would question it forever.

At least he was back to taking care of himself, even if he still tended to put Oriel's needs before his and probably didn't eat as much as he should be, and occasionally woke up during the night worrying about his lover. He was always fine, though - and Phen would lose himself watching his peaceful, slumbering face before he passed out in his arms again.

"Hey," he giggled, nudging right back, though it was so weak it did absolutely nothing. He latched his arm back around his boyfriends and wobbled through thicker patches of snow edging the side of the pond, nodding in response at the warning. "Think it's thick enough to stand on?" he wondered. Grabbing a nearby rock poking out of the snow, he hefted it up weakly and brought it down against the ice as hard as he could. The ice held firmly. ".... Maybe you should try too..." he mumbled, knowing his lightish hit might not mean anything. Sliding around on the ice sounded fun, though! "I think... It might be frozen solid though." It was awfully freezing.

Phen smiled and nodded. "Let's make even more memories," he suggested. Assuming Oriel would agree that the ice seemed solid, he stood and carefully stepped out onto the frozen water, testing his weight. It felt very firm. He took a couple more steps out before he promptly slipped and nearly fell on his butt, only managing to stay standing by whirling his arms around like an idiot. "C'mon!" he laughed, waving at Oriel.

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Oriel was sleeping better than he had in a long long time….actually probably the first time since he was a kid. He felt…good. Calm. Relaxed. Which was weird. It was strange, trying to get used to this feeling, but he didn't hate it. And the results were nights where he actually slept the whole night through. He'd even noticed that he didn't need Phoenix in order to get a full night's rest, though that certainly didn't mean he didn't want Phoenix there. He definitely did.

But as such, Oriel didn't notice that Phoenix was still watching over him in the night.

Oriel's grin only spread wider, chuckling softly as his boyfriend latched onto his arm. "I don't know. Honestly, I wouldn't chance it." It was too risky. One thin patch could spell doom for whomever stepped on it…or at least a very very cold leg.

"It ain't frozen solid," Oriel informed Phoenix with a roll of his eyes. He leaned down and pointed. "Look, you can see the fish still moving around under it. Might be a couple inches, if were lucky, but no more than that." At least he thought so. He couldn't even remember where he heard that before, but it was plainly obvious just looking at it.

But it did seem pretty thick. They'd probably be fine. Still, Oriel kept his eyes on the ice, looking out for cracks that came up suddenly. "Slow down, you're going to hurt yourself!" Oriel warned, taking a step himself onto the icy pond. He slid his feet over the ice, going slowly to maintain his balance, and moving forward with the balance of a skater, rather than walk step by step.

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Maybe Phoenix should get ahold of some of this sleeping stuff.... He could sure have used it the past few weeks, even though he didn't mind waking up to make sure Oriel was alright. He was just still pretty tired in the day, and it made it hard to concentrate on schoolwork. He was trying, though. And Oriel being there to do it with him made it a lot easier.

I wouldn't chance it... Phoenix pouted. Now that the idea had come to his mind, he really wanted to try. He'd never actually gone ice skating before. This couldn't be much different, right? And the pond wasn't deep. It'd be fine.

He looked closer, only now seeing the colored blobs moving under the ice. ".... Oh." He huffed out a puff of air. He felt dumb now. But then again, what was new? "Well.... It ain't gonna kill us even if we get a little wet," he decided. Sure he didn't want to get wet, freezing cold water on him but... Bah!

"I'll be fine," he shot back with a giggle, knees wobbling as he tried to keep himself balanced. He grinned over at Oriel as the boy joined him on the ice, glad to see him at least trying it. He waddled over and pulled down his collar to give Oriel a passing kiss, before sliding off in the opposite direction. It wasn't too hard, now that he was starting to get the hang of it... "This is fun!" he exclaimed, slipping and skating like he was on roller blades. "I've never done anything like this before." He'd missed out on so much fun the past couple years... Where had the time gone?

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They'd given Oriel about two weeks worth of those sleep aids, to help him while he finished recovering. They…were a lot more helpful than Oriel had originally thought they'd be. After the fist night of his stay, Oriel had so much trouble(or rather had been so much trouble) that there really wasn't any other choice. It was that, or be too anxious and in pain to sleep ever. He'd left the hospital with that prescription and advisement to follow up with his doctor.

Of course he had no intention to. Besides, he was home now, back at Hammel. Oriel was going to be just fine, he didn't really need the help anymore.

Oriel had gone ice skating before. And by ice skating, he meant he snuck a couple or more slides across the ice at Central Park or the Rockafeller Center or one of the many other outdoor skating areas the NYC had…it was only in his sneakers most times, but it was still skating. "It ain't just getting wet. It's the cold. You fall in full body, you can drown 'cause it's too damn cold to swim." Then if you sink, then you can get trapped under the ice because you're panicking too much to find the hole you dropped in on.

He giggled, watching Phen slide around like a kid. The korean boy had so little experience with so many things, it was a wonder to watch him discover it all as if he were a child again. "Be careful!" Oriel warned him again. "Don't overdo it, or you'll slip." And ice was harder than earth. It hurt like a bitch.

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Had Phoenix known what the people at the hospital had told Oriel to do and knew he wasn't planning on going through with it... He would have made sure Oriel would. He was still worried about his lover, which he was sure was pretty obvious, and he trusted the professionals to know what they were doing. If they told him to see a doctor, then Phen would make him see one, dammit!

But since he didn't know... All he really noticed was that Oriel seemed calmer and more.... Stable than usual. Which was a little strange, but not unpleasant. Phen just wasn't sure how long it would last.

He paused in his slipping and sliding as Oriel further explained the danger, eyes widening as he realized what could happen. Drowning was still a very serious fear of his, and he almost fled back to the edge. "D... Don't let me drown," he mumbled, deciding to stick closer to the edges where the ice was more thick. He trusted Oriel to keep him safe.

It was all going fine, Phen sliding around like a child while Oriel watched, sporadic giggles escaping his throat, when his foot caught on a particularly slippery patch. He wheeled his arms around, trying to stay upright, but this time he'd taken too much of a risk - he was going down. Suddenly the fact that landing so hard on the ice might break it shot through Phen's head, and in a jolt of terror, he unconsciously forced his wings out of his back as he yelped. Unfortunately, the several layers of thick clothing kept the appendages from fully expanding, and they folded in with a sickening crackle, having nowhere to go but collapse in on themselves.

Pain laced up Phen's spine, making him gasp, but that wasn't all that happened.

The rock he had hit against the ice earlier was just by his feet where he tripped, and as Phoenix landed, his right shin landed heavily on the hard, blunt object. He could have sworn he heard a crack; then, agony shot through his leg, making him scream and jolt back, clutching his leg as he whimpered and wailed. He'd broken bones before; they were already weak due to a side-effect of his ability. This felt just like that. "Oriel!" he sobbed, curled up on his side with his back oddly lumpy from the awkward mass of collapsed wings under his clothing. He could hardly see through the pain in his leg and spine.

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Yup, Oriel was juuuust fine. He didn't need no help from noone or nothing, nope.

Phoenix, on the other hand, was going to break his neck if he wasn't careful. "Don't worry, I won't," he reassured Phoenix with a smile. Man, he was just too adorable to watch, Oriel was half wanting to just jump in himself and join him. As it was, he was just standing there like a parent watching their kid play.

Then he saw him slip, which was fine, it would just be a hard fall if he did….but then he saw Phoenix panic. He flailed about and cried out, as expected, then landed hard on the ice…as expected. Oriel was concerned, but probably not as much as he should have been. From where he was watching, it just looked like a bad fall. Phoenix should be fine, right?

But that scream.

Oriel was already sliding across the ice to go help him up, when he realized that something might've been wrong. "Phoenix!" he called, quickening his pace to reach his lover. He knelt down and cradled the boy. "You ok?" Of course he wasn't. "Wh--where's it…? What's wrong? Phoenix?!" Oriel leaned in to hopefully hold the boy upright, allowing Phen to lean back against him.

Shit…w-what was he supposed to do?

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My wings... My leg...

Phen was deeply regretting the decision to slip around on the ice now. He had had no idea he would have reacted the way he did when he fell, with his wings practically popping out on their own despite te barrier; and that, along with the hard fall on the rock, was enough to send him almost into shock. The cold from the ice quickly sunk through his layers of clothing and he started shivering, even as Oriel reached him and demanded what was wrong.

"M-m-my leg," he chattered, his voice cracking as he continued to cradle the injured limb. "I think... I think it's broken." He cried out as Oriel lifted him more upright, the shattered wings pressing against his lover's chest painfully. "And my w-wings!" he said too late, eyes squinted shut as he whimpered. "Th-they came out... When I fell.... I-I think they broke too..." He managed to turn so he was resting sideways against Oriel, his injured leg twisted awkwardly outward as he shivered and shook. "It r...really hurts...."

In fact, a wave of freezing pain ran through him again, up his leg and ending at the base of his wings, and Phen's vision flickered for a moment as he gasped and fell limp in a moment of unconsciousness. He blinked a moment later, then whispered,"I'm really cold..." How were they going to get back to the building? Were they going to have to call an ambulance? Fuck, Phen didn't want to be in the center of attention....

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A long overdue wave of panic started to well up inside Oriel as he realized that his Phoenix was really hurt. Suffering even. He looked around, hoping that somebody would come and take care of this for him.

Shit shit shit shit shit...what do I do what do I do?? Those words repeated over and over in his head as his own breathing started to sharpen.

No! he scolded himself. Oriel couldn't lose it here. He reached into his pocket and pulled out that small round pill that'd been helping him the past week or so. Crunching it between his teeth, Oriel swallowed it hard and forced himself to take a long deep breath. Just knowing that "help" was on the way calmed his thoughts enough to think of what to do. "Ok...Ok, Phoenix, this is probably going to hurt, but...I need you work with me, ok?'

He took another breath.

Oriel crawled over to Phen's side and arched his arms around him appropriately. "Um...I need you to roll over and put your arms around my neck, I'm going to pick you up, Ok? Can you do that?" Hopefully, he could do it without rolling over his back...though it might take a moment before Oriel could get a grasp where he wasn't putting pressure on Phen's wings. Oriel took another breath.

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Phen was too far into his own pain to notice Oriel's panic; normally, he'd reassure Oriel that he was fine, that it wasn't anything to worry about and he'd get over it. But this was serious, and he was terrified too. Not to mention distracted by thinking about what his wings must look like and what had happened to his leg.

He vaguely heard a small crunch and twisted his head up weakly to see Oriel chewing on... Something. His head was foggy and he didn't register what it was, so he brushed it off as nothing, even though later he'd probably think more about it. Phen was shaking hard in Oriel's embrace, but he nodded jerkily when the boy spoke. "O-k-kay," he stuttered, holding back a whimper at the fact that this was 'going to hurt'. How could it hurt more?

Phoenix tried to take a deep breath, but that hurt, too, so he resorted to quick, shallow breathing that probably wasn't helping anything. He turned teary eyes to Oriel, trying to take strength from his words and presence. "Okay... Okay..." Phen shifted his hips and slowly pulled his arms up to wrap around Oriel's neck, trying to keep himself from hitting his wings. He grimaced as his leg sent a pang upwards, but managed to stay quiet. "I'm... I'm ready," he breathed, though he remembered a moment later..... "W-w-wait, what about your leg?" he stammered. Could Oriel carry him? Or... Even if it hurt, was he going to do it anyway? "I d-don't want t'hurt you!"