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When Simon had first arrived on Erid, everything was fine.
In fact, he and Ryland had gotten along pretty well. Ryland had taught him things, such as gardening, and allowed him to share the same room with him. All in all, they had gotten pretty close; Ryland was quite happy with it.
But he had failed to mention his disorder to Simon. It had never come up in conversation, and when he was having a seizure, Simon wasn’t around. So, he never had the chance to explain what they were.
In hindsight, he should have done it sooner.
“Stay safe, kids!! And stay out of trouble!!” As the last pebble skittered out of the makeshift classroom, Ryland let out a deep sigh. The class had been particularly rowdy today; most of them refused to listen to him, resulting in him becoming increasingly frustrated.
He wanted to take a good, long nap. But he had some things he needed to straighten up first.
“Grace okay, question?” The all-too-familiar voice of his best friend broke the silence, startling him. He spun on his heels, facing Rocky now. Rocky could see right through him; he was an open book around him.
Was he okay? He was too busy to take a break today, so he never had the chance to check. He felt fine, a bit off, but mostly fine. “Yeah, pal! I’m okay!” He placed his hand on Rocky’s carapace, rubbing against it softly.
Rocky tilted up at him, a worried look, before whistling something he couldn’t understand. “Grace confusing,” with a final wiggle, Rocky had wandered out, leaving Ryland alone to gather the rest of his things in solitude.
The walk from his classroom was filled with him humming to himself, he was glad to finally be finished for the day. He loved the pebbles, truly, he did. Today was just hard; he was exhausted, and he wanted to relax.
Halfway home was when it all started.
It was subtle, that restless feeling in his bones. It was making his skin buzz to life; he knew it from anywhere. Ryland shook his head, turning to face the crashing waves. He liked the waves; they always calmed him. Maybe he’d take a small break here before he went home.
The sand sank beneath his feet as he walked to a spot he deemed nice enough, and slowly he moved to a sitting position. It always felt nice here, being surrounded by the sounds of the crashing water.
Then the feeling got worse.
His eyes became blurred; he wasn’t sure where he was anymore. It felt hard to breathe, nothing made sense anymore. He was still a bit away from home, so it wasn’t like he could get there quickly enough, especially not in this state.
He’d just have to tough it out on his own; hopefully someone would find him. His body moved on autopilot; one moment he was sitting up, and the next he was lying down. Everything was muffled to him; the sounds of the waves crashing were the only thing he could recognize.
And just like that, he was out. He wasn’t sure how long it lasted; time moved so slowly when they happened. When he came to, he was aware of a few things. His body hurt, he was exhausted even more than usual, and Simon had found him.
“Ry? Ry, are you with me?” The sound of his voice was still a bit muffled, but he could make it out. He tried speaking, but it came out as a slurred mess. He felt sensitive now, like everything was on his shoulders suddenly.
“Hey, try not to speak too much, okay? I’m here.” He nodded slowly, closing his eyes. He couldn’t feel his glasses on his face; Simon must have removed them for him. Another thing he noted was that he was on his side this time, another thing Simon must have done.
Ryland could feel the gentle pressure of Simon’s hand on his back, it was soothing, and it kept him grounded. Simon never stopped speaking, he couldn’t fully understand him, but it was nice to hear his voice.
“M fine.” His speech was still a bit slurred, but he could speak properly now. And wow, he had a headache, that’s gonna be hard to deal with. Simon helped him up slowly, the gentle pressure on his back never leaving.
Simon’s hand began to rub in a circular motion now, that felt really nice. “I’m sure you are, but I still want to make sure there’s nothing seriously wrong.” His voice was so gentle, it made Ryland cry. He slunk forward, resting his head onto Simon’s shoulder and letting the tears fall.
It felt nice, being taken care of by an actual human again. I mean, sure, he had Rocky, and he was forever thankful for him. But his best friend could only do so much for him. The feeling of having skin-to-skin contact was nice, it felt really good after years of being alone.
“I’m sorry, this is childish.” He hiccuped, pulling away with a sniffle. The soft laugh that Simon let out made Ryland cry harder, he felt silly about this all. “You don’t need to apologize for this, it’s okay.” That reassurance alone broke everything, causing Ryland to collapse back into Simon.
He allowed Simon to hold him, the tears continued to fall over and over again. And, after what felt like an hour, he calmed down. Pulling away for good, wiping away his tears, and shaking his head. He felt better, still weak, but a lot better now that he cried it out.
“C’mon, let’s get you home.” Standing up was an issue, his legs felt like jelly, and he still had that wicked headache. He held onto Simon’s arm, trying to balance himself as much as he could.
Simon never left his side as he hobbled the rest of the way to their shared house. He made a noise of appreciation as his companion opened the door for him. Ryland let Simon lead the way in, he made sure to stay near the wall in case walking became too hard for him.
“I need a nap.” He mumbled, mostly to himself, as he shuffled to his room. Simon hummed in agreement, gently guiding him to sit on the bed. “I agree, but first, we need to get you changed.” Ryland groaned at that, he just wanted to lie back and sleep like he wanted to.
“I know, you’re tired, you’ve had a long day. But think, you’ll feel so much better in new clothes.” Ryland made a move to stand up but was swiftly stopped, Simon wouldn’t let him get up. “Si, I’m not a child, I can do it on my own.” He shook his head, face heating slightly with embarrassment.
He felt Simon place his palm against his cheek, the pad of his thumb brushing against it. “I know you can, but you’ve just had a seizure, let me handle it just this once.”
Ryland allowed himself to lean into it slowly, he wasn’t entirely accustomed to being taken care of. A sigh escaped him before he caught it, then he nodded. “Fine.” He’d give in, just this once. But only because he hadn’t gained his strength back, that was the only reason there was.
His shirt came off first, the warmth of the room felt nice against his skin. Then the pants, Simon made sure to go slowly with that part, something he was thankful for. “Arms up.” He complied hesitantly, a bit embarrassed by the whole action, it felt childish in a way.
“You can ask for help and still be strong.” Simon kept his voice soft as he slid on the new shirt for him, that very sentence was something Ryland had told him when he first came to Erid. His skin prickled, Simon was right. He was still strong.
So, he nodded, finally accepting the help. He watched as one leg was slowly slid into one pant leg, then the other. And finally, he was all dressed, he could nap now. With a huff, he fell back into the softness of their bed.
He could hear shuffling from the outside of the room, then slow footsteps as his companion entered the room once more. “Here.” It hurt to open his eyes, the headache was still too much for him. But after opening them, he felt grateful.
Simon had brought him medicine.
“You didn’t have to do that.” Despite his words, Ryland still took what he was handed. It felt weird, allowing himself to be cared for. Usually, he was the one taking care of others. This was an odd change of pace. Not unwelcome, but odd.
“You’ve taken care of me plenty of times before, allow me to do this one thing for you.” Simon’s hand was gentle as he pushed him back into the bed, the warmth of it all surrounding him. He had a point as well; he was the one who nursed him back to health when he arrived.
Ryland let out a sigh as he nodded, he was too tired to fight back. The bed dipped as his companion slid in behind him, gentle arms wrapped around his midsection. This was nice, this was very nice. He could get used to this.
He’ll explain everything when he wakes up later. For now, he just needs a nap.