Chapter 109: Yeah, we got matching tattoos without you, Draken
Cass felt his body shiver as the cold air of the study washed over him. Everyone paused.
"Are you alright, my Lord?" The Doctor asked, and Cass let out a breath.
"Just a bit chilled. Happens when one takes off all their clothes." Cass joked and Draken sighed.
"Sam, switch places with me." Draken ordered, and Sam turned to Cass. Draken spoke again before he could ask him permission. "Sam, I know you care about him, but I have no intention to hurt or touch him right now. I have a condition that means my body runs hot. I would rather not see my husband shiver to death right now." Draken growled.
Sam, bless his heart, still looked at Cass for confirmation.
Cass wasn’t quite sure if he wanted Draken this close while he was naked. He wasn’t sure if he wanted anyone this close while he was naked, but he was cold. This whole place was pretty drafty. He blamed it on the like, 10 foot ceilings. That, and his body was probably in shock. Mm, if Cass was honest with himself, it was the whole body, his brain included, that was in shock.
He couldn’t get mad at himself for this, even if he’d felt a little strange with Draken being close to him earlier. He was sure it was just a one time thing, and also, he was fucking freezing. If the man was offering himself up like a portable heater, Cass should take advantage of that, and then toss him to the side.
Use him and let him go. Treat him like he wasn’t worth the trouble.
"My Lord?" Sam’s voice shook him out of his thoughts, and Cass realised he’d gone radio silent as he’d had those thoughts. His face flushed, and he coughed.
"Oh, uh, sorry. I-" Draken raised his hand, cutting Cass off. He was ready for him to say something mean, or unhinged, but instead Draken stared at Cass with emotion.
"You do not need to justify yourself, Cassian. It is clear that whatever you went through caused you great pain, and if you need a moment to drift away from that, it’s okay. May I...come closer? I truly can’t watch you shake and tremble because you had to take off your clothes to get examined. Why you aren’t doing this in your den, I do not know, but I also understand. I don’t like people in my den either."
That wasn’t exactly the reason why, but Cass appreciated that Draken was attempting to draw a connection between them.
"Sam...you can let him come closer. As long as you agree to move away when Sam needs to help me." Cass said, speaking to Draken. Draken nodded. The Doctor patiently waited as the two switched while Cass tried to think back if he found Draken’s body heat significantly different. He hadn’t, at least not with every other interaction he’d had with him.
Cass was about to ask about it when Draken sat next to him again, his now naked body rubbing up against his side and then suddenly it was like someone turned on a heating fan and pointed it directly at him.
Cass gasped, and everyone froze.
"Are you okay?" Sam asked, Draken going pale.
"Does it hurt? Is it too hot?" Draken asked, flustered while the Doctor waited patiently again.
"I am fine, you two. Just surprised. That should be a party trick, Draken." Cass mumbled, the heat coming off of him very soothing. So soothing, that even as the Doctor checked out the more delicate parts of him and the damage he’d done, he had to fight off sleep.
His eyes were closing at an alarming rate, his head bobbing as he tried to remain conscious. Everyone could tell what was going on, but no one made a comment on it. It was clear that he had to remain awake so that if the Doctor had any questions he could answer them, but they also understood.
Or at least, attempted to. Cass couldn’t outright tell them that he didn’t think he slept for those five days. He had no clue. Everything was such a blur of lust and fear that he couldn’t quite remember. He barely remembered eating, so sleeping? Who had time for that?
It was one head bob that nearly got him in trouble. Draken had to catch him so he didn’t fall forward and onto the Doctor. His warm arm across his shoulders, gripping onto his skin had Cass letting out a soft sigh.
"I had no idea you would like it this much." Draken murmured. "I should have tried this first." Cass let out a snort.
"It wouldn’t have worked. I don’t like people that close to me. This, right now, is an exception." Cass told him plainly and Draken chuckled. Cass could feel Draken’s gaze roaming over him, and tried to remain semi-conscious as he did so. He didn’t know what the man found so fascinating about him. He was just a man.
They both had the same body type and shape. Albeit with a lot less muscle mass on Cass’ side, and Draken was more broad then he was, but they essentially had the same stuff going on. Cass was telling him that at the same time until Draken made a discovery.
"Hey...wait a second. Why do you and Fiona have the same mark?" Cass froze, any sleepiness he had fading immediately. Why did-Oh god, where the hell was Lady Fiona’s mark? And why did Draken know what it looked like?
Cass spun his head towards Draken, knowing that his already sallow skin had to have sunken more. Even Sam looked terrified, while the Doctor just kept doing their job. At this point they were making notes, having checked Cass out completely. Cass was sure they were two steps away from pulling herbs out of their bag and making shit.
"How do you know that?" Cass asked and Draken tsked. He stared down at the worried expression on Cass’ face, before tilting his head and looking at the symbol on the back of Cass’ shoulder.
"You’ve seen it too, Cassian. When we went-oh right, you didn’t come swimming with us. She has it almost in the exact same spot on her back. It’s not quite the same, but very similar. She said it was her hero mark." Draken seemed proud of himself for remembering what it was, until his face froze, and something began to turn in his head.
Cass swallowed thickly.
"Wait. If she has a hero mark, and you have a hero mark..." Draken trailed off, his brows furrowing. "Why the hell can’t you be healed by the temple then, Cassian? If the gods chose you as a hero, why the hell can’t they take care of you the same way that they take care of Fiona?" Draken sounded really upset. Furious, actually, while Cass was surprised.
He jumped right over the fact that Cass, no, Lord Blackburn was also a hero, and jumped right into how he was being discriminated against by the gods? Cass was...shaken, to say the least. He couldn’t help it as his body began to shake. Everyone clearly feared for the worst, but Cass was just trying to stop himself from laughing.
In the end, he failed, and he lowered his head, laughing as Draken fumed beside him. He ended up choking on air, and coughing and hacking, but Draken’s outrage really made him happy.
"That’s what you say right away? Not, when did it happen? Why didn’t you tell me? Those kinds of things?" Cass asked, Sam helping him wipe up any spit from his lips. It was humiliating that he needed someone else to help, but the Doctor had given him a death glare when he’d attempted to raise his hands.
Cass didn’t want to fuck around and find out what this world’s Doctors could do to patients that didn’t listen.
"Why the hell would I ask those questions? It’s none of my business when you got in contact with the gods. I don’t even like them, but that doesn’t mean I can ignore the fact that they play a big role in everyone’s lives. I don’t follow the temple’s way of thinking of them, but that doesn’t mean I don’t believe in them. It’s originally thought that the first, uh, one of my kind, who lived in this world was a fallen god, so you could say I’m a distant relative." Draken’s words were more and more shocking, the more he heard.
Had the man turned over a leaf? Who the hell was this Draken? The pushy, forceful Draken who’d pinned him against the desk behind them was gone, and in its place was this slightly awkward, rather adorable oaf of a man.
Cass didn’t trust this.
"Anyone else would. Lady Fiona, Lady Ava, Vespertine, Lord Ridgewood. Hell, I’m sure the Doctor would ask more questions if they could." Cass and Draken glanced at the Doctor for clarification but the Doctor didn’t appreciate being brought into this.
"My Lord, I try not to pry into things that would only get me into trouble if certain people came knocking." They said and Cass respected that. Where the hell had Sir Forsythe found them? Cass would need to investigate.
Draken sighed, running his hand through his hair and looking away from Cass for a moment.
"Maybe I just...I’ve lived a long time, Cassian, and asking questions doesn’t always get the results that you want. So what if I asked what you said I should? What would that get me? I have a feeling you’d stonewall me if I did, and that’s not what I want. I just saw that you had a similar mark as Fiona, and wondered about it. I didn’t think it had any deeper meaning at first." Draken shrugged. "Thought you two got matching tattoos while I wasn’t looking. Honestly, I was pretty upset until I connected the dots in my head. The lily gave it away." Draken muttered. "Fiona’s isn’t covered in...thorns? Is that what it is?" Draken asked and Cass sighed.
"It’s something called barbed wire." Cass told him. He wasn’t sure if it had been invented here yet, and clearly it was a nod to where he came from. Him. Caspian Spencer, not Cassian Blackburn.
"Huh. Interesting. I’ve never heard of it before. Those gods work in mysterious ways." Draken murmured. Cass wanted to argue with that. They could, maybe, but one thing was clear.
They just didn’t want to get their hands dirty.