#unbendable

Continued from here.

For a moment Argenta stared at the badgermole, frozen in awe until she remembered the more pressing matter at hand. She gave it a slight nod, in thanks--if Ren was right and the badgermoles had taken them to a safer part of the caves, she owed them.

Returning to her task, she applied the paste gently, slowly. Hearing Ren wonder aloud how he was able to make it on his own, she felt a smile tremble absurdly on her mouth. Because you’re strong, she wanted to say, because you’re kind and good, but those words got stuck in her throat. “I know the feeling,” was all she could say instead.

With painstaking care she finished bandaging his shoulder. Whenever he made a sound she tried not to flinch, thinking about the pain he was still in. Her fault. But he was still warm, and she felt the rise and fall of his breath beneath her hands. Alive. That was all that mattered.