64 !!
Xephos was holding his torch in a vice grip.
“You might want to put that out,” Lalna mentioned as he walked back over.
Xephos turned to him and stared like he had just asked him to kiss one of the sheep upstairs. “You’re mad,” he said bluntly.
Lalna idly scratched the stubble on his cheek. “Well, there’s probably a limited supply of oxygen in here, and the torch is gonna burn it up-“
He trailed off as he realized this was evidently the incorrect thing to say as Xephos’ face drained of color.
“Oh, gods,” Xephos moaned, wrapping his arms around himself.
Lalna scrambled to correct himself, reaching out for the other’s arm. “I mean- I could be wrong! There might be a source of air leaking through here somewhere- there’s probably plenty of air…” he trailed off weakly, sounding unsure and very much unhelpful.
“Honeydew will find us soon,” Lalna concluded, feeling like an absolute failure of a comforter. His companion didn’t reply, his eyes having obtained a glassy look to them.
Xephos slid down the stone wall, placing the torch beside him, his body having gone very taut except for subtle trembling. His jaw was visibly tightened, with his lips pressed into an almost invisible line. Lalna recognized his expression, Xephos always looked like this when he was trying very hard to hold back a breakdown.
Lalna carefully sat down next to him. Keeping his movements purposefully slow and obvious, he wrapped an arm around the smaller man and pulled him closer.
Xephos’ breathing picked up, closing in on almost hyperventilation.
“Shh,” Lalna attempted to soothe. “Don’t do that. It’ll use up more air.” He might not be good at comforting, but if there was a language he did speak, it was logic.
Xephos nodded and inhaled. “Right.” He said, his voice strained. His breath was still quickened and uneven.
“Just… follow me, yeah?” Lalna said, dropping his voice to a near whisper. Xephos swallowed, nodding silently again. Lalna focused on keeping his own breath steady, shifting an inch closer so their shoulders were touching. He absentmindedly began stroking his thumb back and forth over Xephos’ shoulder.
It took several minutes, but Xephos’ breathing slowly returned to a regular pace, save for an occasional hitch.
