A beat later both of us are chuffing, hers in her usual dulcet tones that soothe the last part of my rage.
"Do you think the slimes lied about prey not being able to hurt each other?"
I consider her question. "No. I think there's just some of us it won't work on. Unfortunately, we found one with a paw fetish."
We're chuffing again, this time with a manic edge to it. I decide that if I'm well enough to chuff, I'm well enough to climb, so I go retrieve her.
She doesn't balk for even a moment at the blood and grime coating me and starts running her hands over my chest and mane as soon as I'm within range.
Then she pulls herself to me in a tight hug.
"I'm so, so glad you're alright. When I heard you hit the ground, I thought my heart was going to break."
54
Ree
"Does that actually happen to humans?"
His voice is so sincere I can't help but laugh.
"Not exactly. Extreme sadness can kill us, but it isn't common."
"It is the same for my species."
My hands are still shaking and I can't seem to stop touching him. "I think I should use wound spray on those gashes."
He looks down at his chest. "You're probably right. No sense in making the nanites work harder. That male was disgusting."
"The smell is pretty overpowering, yes."
In fact, it's so bad my eyes are watering.
I get to work and it takes less than a minute, though I'm itching to use the stitch clipper.
So far his wounds have closed on their own, but he has several feet of gashes in five long, jagged rows.
"Are those too big to close on their own?"
He looks down at himself.
"No, but we should find a place to wash," he comments.
I nod absentmindedly as I continue my inspection of his wounds.
Then he's gathering me up and climbing down. He's much slower than usual. A testament to how much pain he must be in, even with nanites.
When I see the multiple punctures along his back I don't want to climb up on it, but he insists.
He walks us toward the nearest stream where I help him rinse out his fur in a deeper section of the frigid water before dunking myself for a quick scrub.
He shakes himself off, water flinging everywhere, leaving him with a profile I'm not used to seeing.
If he didn't look so beaten down, it would look comical.
"It's nice to be rid of that smell. It was overpowering."
He snorts out several times, then uses his hands to rub at his nose. I'm still scrubbing when his body tenses.
