Cass’ eyes fluttered for a long time before they finally opened and he was staring up at a familiar, and foreign ceiling. He’d woken up like this before, and as his chest heaved, his body trembling and shaking, he felt the sudden urge to vomit.
Alarmed, and barely able to hold himself together, Cass tried to turn on his side, his stomach gurgling.
Soft hands, tender touches, and Cass found his hair pulled back as he threw up. He could barely tell what he was throwing up into, or on, but his body didn’t care. He could barely hear the soft whispers of others, his body jerking painfully, his throat feeling raw.
It was only after he had thrown up that he felt it.
The emptiness.
A horrifying feeling overcame him as he realised that Cassian had taken up a rather large spot inside of him. Without him there, even when he was silent, Cass wasn’t sure what to do with himself. He knew that the man was there. He was inside of Cass. He didn’t know how he knew, but he did.
Cass had passed out before he could speak to the gods, and from how his body was acting, he was too weak to speak to them again.
"Sh. It’s okay." Cass wasn’t even surprised that the hands that were touching him belonged to Edgar. He was surprised that Gideon wasn’t also there, but the heavy, dangerous presence above him told him that someone was there. That was a surprising turn. He did not expect that his perception of others would change.
Even Edgar felt...scary in a way, and that was something he hadn’t expected. Was this how humans felt around these two? Scared and jittery? Cass wanted to laugh, but couldn’t even manage that.
Cass’ mouth felt parched, his throat raw. He had a feeling it was from all the silent screaming that he had done. His bones and muscles felt weak and like jelly, and now his mouth tasted horrible. Cass coughed, and that led to him coughing more.
The gentle hands of Edgar helped him sit up, wiped his face and Cass’ vision slowly became more focused as he was cared for. He felt like a newborn baby, and as his eyes slid around the temple chamber, catching Edgar’s hands, and Byron’s eyes. Cass almost flinched when he looked up at him, the deep, dark eyes shocking for the first time since Cass had ever seen them.
Well, if he had any concern that he hadn’t changed, that was a clear sign that he had.
Byron frowned at the small twitch, clearly able to tell that something was wrong, but he didn’t step away. Cass was thankful for that.
"Are you alright, my lord? Anything wrong? Uncomfortable?" Byron asked quietly and Cass gave a nod. There was something that was wrong, something that made him uncomfortable. Cass tried to gesture towards his throat, but his hands were trembling too much. However, Byron was used to observing Cass and was able to pick up on what he was saying. Byron nodded once. "I’ll go and procure something to drink." He said, glancing at Edgar who was holding Cass up before he dashed off.
Edgar held onto Cass, and Cass realised that the trembling? It wasn’t just his own.
"You were still for so long." Edgar whispered. It was a broken sound that left his lips, and Cass wanted to turn, comfort him, but he was still shaking like a damn leaf. He only squeaked when he opened his mouth so he couldn’t even soothe him with his words, either. So, all Cass could do was turn and lean his head against his shoulder. Edgar bent, his breath shaky as he exhaled and pressed his face into Cass’ shoulder.
Cass wanted to apologise for how this hand affected Edgar, but Cass was barely able to grasp what was going on himself.
That was when Byron came back, trailed by a few priests. Cass was a little surprised to see others, especially when he was sure that he looked rather poorly, but the priests seemed to have steeled themselves. They were carrying a few things, water, a few strange cakes, and Edgar shifted, holding Cass closer.
"He can’t eat those." Edgar rasped, defending Cass when he couldn’t speak for himself. Byron shook his head.
"They aren’t blessed. Your father made sure of that." Byron told him. As Byron came closer, the feeling of the dragon in human skin threatened to overwhelm Cass. Cass hated that. He’d been okay with Byron for so long it actually was making him pretty upset that as soon as he was more of himself, his body was betraying him. He hadn’t realised that his body, his soul would make him weaker.
He did not like that.
"Oh, okay." Edgar backed down as soon as he was aware it wouldn’t hurt Cass, while Cass watched Byron take a further step away from him. That made Cass frown, but he couldn’t even express himself right now.
The priests came closer, and Cass could finally tell that the things on the tray were safe. Cass relaxed and that made Edgar relax as well. Byron helped, grabbing the things, the water in particular, and while Edgar held Cass up, Byron helped him take a few sips of the water.
As soon as the cool liquid hit his sore, swollen throat, relief washed over him. Cass let out a little thankful sigh, drinking the glass of water completely before leaning back into Edgar’s hold, closing his eyes. He just needed a second to breathe and recover.
It was obvious now that his body had changed in some way, but from how no one was looking at him like he’d grown two heads, it must have been mostly internal. That made sense, even if it was annoying. He didn’t want his poor vision from his old body. He was quite content with the better vision, the better hearing, and the magical powers that he received when he had transferred over into Cassian’s body.
Did he dislike that he wasn’t as strong as he used to be? Yeah, that was annoying, especially right now, but he could change that. He just needed to strengthen himself further, but with the neglect he’d been suffering for years that was going to take a while. A few months wasn’t going to change everything immediately. This was years of damage he was talking about and he was only now getting fully fed.
One of the priests held out a cookie-like thing and Byron took it from them, carefully holding out a hand underneath the cookie to catch the crumbs that were going to fall. Cass took a few bites, the butter in the cookie making it not as dry as it looked. Cass ate it in slow bites, the taste far better then what had coated his mouth only a few minutes before.
Cass finally felt more like himself after that. He could feel the strength coming back into his limbs and he was finally able to speak.
"I’m okay." Cass rasped. Byron stared at him, really looking at him.
"Are you?" He asked and Cass felt his lips curl up slightly.
"It went well." Cass told them. He wasn’t lying, but they didn’t need to know about how much it hurt. How much he’d had to endure. He had a feeling that they could gather that from how he’d thrown up as soon as he woke up.
Byron shifted, his energy growing more dark, heavy. It wasn’t dangerous, the man was just emotional. He was a baby dragon. He would have a hard time controlling himself, and Cass knew that. He was just frustrated that he hadn’t noticed it before and hadn’t been able to prepare himself for this.
"Do you want to stay here a little longer? I’m sure the gods want to make sure you’re okay." Edgar asked Cass, but didn’t put any pressure on him.
"We can bring you to one of the waiting rooms to rest if you’d like." One of the priests offered. It was rather...kind of them, Cass thought. Cass sighed.
"I think I’ll feel better after another glass of water and another cookie. I don’t want to leave the others in limbo for long." Cass told Byron and Edgar. Byron’s expression softened slightly.
"Sam and Sir Gideon are dealing with a small disturbance, but nothing you should worry about. It feels like Sam is almost done. Take the time you need. We would rather you feel calm, and collected over your concern for our feelings." Byron told him seriously. Cass nodded, even if he didn’t fully agree with him.
Sam and Gideon were dealing with a small disturbance? That could mean pretty much anything. Byron knew that the frown on Cass’ face was from what he said as he reached for another glass of water. He was smiling.
"I promise that it is just a small disturbance. Sir Gideon ordered us to rush ahead so that he could deal with it." Byron told him kindly. That gave Cass very little understanding of what happened.
"His family has a mole in the house." Edgar whispered quietly. Cass froze. He didn’t say anything until after he finished his second glass of water. He could feel the liquid moving through his body, filling him up. It felt good, powerful. He was already feeling better.
"You let him face them alone?" Cass asked, and felt Edgar flinch. Byron smirked.
"He had Sam with him. He was not alone, and Sam was angry enough for all of us. Sam seems rather impressed with Sir Gideon after he handled them as well. I think it was a good bonding moment for them. Sam doesn’t get to bond with him all that often." Byron said, as if he was able to bond with Gideon more.
Cass said nothing to that, just sighed carefully.
"No one’s dead?" Cass asked and Byron gave a bark of laughter.
"No. That would only cause you more problems, and I doubt Sam would take that route." Byron told him, smiling. Cass was grateful for the confirmation. Not that he doubted the two, but it was a relief to hear someone else say it out loud.
"Good. Can I have another cookie?" Cass asked and the tension in the room shifted. Even the priests seemed mildly amused by how Cass was taking the news. Cass had no idea it was because they had been watching over everything, able to feel the shifts in power, the full force of holy energy that had entered Cass’ body as soon as he stopped breathing to keep him alive, keep him in one piece.
They might not know the full truth as minor priests of the temple, but they weren’t idiots. Cass was important to the gods, and while some of the priests were brownnosers because they wanted to get farther in life, they were far more interested in those who were loved by the gods. Cass was clearly one of them, and with the instructions that the whole temple had gotten from the Head Priest, they saw no reason to hold onto any hostility. Not when the man was still oozing holy power like a leaky pipe.
Red eyes or otherwise, the man was important, powerful, and he’d just done something serious. Those were the only things that they needed to know.