#gulgg

“Gulgg?”

“Mmm?”

They held her close and buried their face in her hair. Ursh could feel their own heartbeat, far too fast; but they could feel hers too, and it was slow and strong and soothing. 

Gulgg in general was strong and soothing. Now, as she turned her face to speak, her voice was as low and slow as ever, but with an edge of concern. 

“You’re shaking. What’s wrong?”

“Just a dream,” they said.

She slowly sat up, and they moved with her. “Should we talk about it?”

They leaned into Gulgg. As it always did, the immediate fearfulness faded with waking. Their heart rate was slowly returning to normal and everything else would follow. Ursh knew all of that, but dreams don’t spring out of nowhere, especially not the recurring ones. There were elements burned into their mind- a few images, a series of impressions. 

“This time, you weren’t there. But he was,” they said carefully. “He drowned.”

“It’s still not your fault,” she ran her fingers through their hair. 

“I know. It’s just some part of my brain doesn’t, you know? I know that so many people died and there’s no way I could change that- not with Garlin, not with anyone. But Kriv saved my life.”

Gulgg was quiet for a moment, but just having her there helped. When she wasn’t Ursh usually went to Floral, or sought out their mother, but neither of them were a physical presence. Neither of them were warm. 

“Okay,” she said at length. “Andry’s bound to be doing something fun. Probably something illegal. Should we find her, or should we haul drunken guests out of the front room?”

Ursh wasn’t really in the mood for hauling guests. “Andry sounds good.”