#pitcest

From what he understood, it was several days before he woke up. Once he regained consciousness, he could barely breathe without coughing. His throat was raw and pounded with every pulse of his heart. Viridi told him the hypothesis she and Palutena had come up with for his condition. She wasn't sarcastic nor cheerful as she spoke. 

"When the Chaos Kin's remains attacked you, a portion of them attached to your lungs." She frowned, "We tried to remove them, we really did, but it's fused with your flesh. It'd be impossible to get rid of it without killing you in the process."

"Does Pit--" Dark began, his hoarse voice swiftly cut off by the goddess. 

"No, we haven't told him." Viridi looked him in the eyes, "He's preparing for his final battle with Hades. He needs to be focused."

The angel nodded in agreement. His mind was swimming in so many thoughts that he couldn't figure out what to say. Finally, his mind fell onto the three years he lost, and the several days just now, "Will I die?"

Viridi was silent for several moments. She looked away, trying to find a way to dodge the question. When she found none, she spoke, "Yes." her eyes were sad, "You will, but it won't be quick."

"Will it...will it keep hurting this bad?" He hated the fact that he sounded like a small child. He sounded like someone who didn't understand what was going on. 

"I'm already looking into medicine to mitigate the pain and symptoms." Viridi seemed to pick up on the internal crisis, but didn't mention it, "Palutena's going to help me once Hades is dealt with."

"You should help them too..."

"I am. I don't want you to suffer, though." the goddess walked over to a shelf and grabbed something, "For now, take this. It'll make you drowsy, but it'll relieve the pain. We'll make sure you have something that actually keeps you from coughing your brains out as soon as possible."

Dark grabbed the bottle when she extended her hand. There were two pills inside. He stared at them for a long moment before Viridi handed him a glass of water, and he used it to help him swallow them. He stared at the empty bottle now.

"If you want to tell Pit how you feel, the next time you see him will probably be your chance." Viridi walked to the room's door, grabbing the handle, "For now, get some rest."

The words churned in his stomach a while. He thought about telling Pit how he felt again, but instead of making him feel silly, each attempt at imagining a scenario filled him with dread. What If Pit were to feel obligated to say yes to him because of his condition? 

A quick answer solved that problem. He wouldn't tell Pit until he had to. And...if he said no anyway, Dark would have to deal with the rejection. He supposed that somewhere in him, that was always the plan. If he said no, Dark would just disappear to do whatever he wanted, forever remaining unbound by anyone. He liked that idea. But he couldn't run away from Pit. Not now, after being saved. Even if it was all for naught.

He leaned back down onto the bed, growing more tired by the moment. Whatever Viridi had given him was strong stuff. Maybe too strong if he had a say, but he didn't know the extent of the damage that the Chaos Kin had done, and Viridi did. He thought again about Pit. Maybe, even if he was rejected, he could settle for having a friend in his short, pathetic life. 

It continued like this. Coughing fits and medicine that knocked him out in between. Viridi would give him updates on the upcoming battle with Hades as time passed, as though Dark could tell how long it had been from inside the confines of this room. Even when offered food, he barely ate, and Viridi didn't say anything about it. She could understand just from the angel's silence on the subject that he wasn't ready to know more about his current state. 

Palutena had been relaying back to Viridi about Pit's concern for the other angel since he wasn't one to be so silent without reason. The last time it had been his injury. Dark would always insist that he would be the one to tell Pit, though, and not until after Hades was defeated. It was that much that made it to Palutena.

What barely made it to even Viridi, though, was just how bad Dark was feeling. Even the medicine didn't entirely keep him from feeling the pain in his lungs. That burning, searing pain that made it so he could barely think about moving for most of the day. He knew he was losing weight, too. The clothes that had once fit him well now hung limply off of his figure. 

Once or twice, he had made it to a hot spring that Viridi had prepared in an attempt to help heal him, but there was no luck even in that. Dark had even passed out and nearly drowned once or twice. Getting water into his already damaged lungs certainly didn't help him. He stopped going to the hot spring after that.