>>144574a couple hours maybe. I’m a bit distracted at the moment, so it’s hard to do a big scene-setting reply>>144575Iron and White Sands - White Sands only with resistance from Cauldron - are taken back to Black Cauldron’s apartment
>>144576Iron was still extremely bummed out when they arrived, simply following along with absolute silence right behind Cauldron with a grimace.
>>144577Black Cauldron places Iron on the couch (the sand one he slept on a couple nights ago).
“Well? How do you feel now?”
She pulls out a vile
“May as well spend a couple of these.”
>>144578"...tired," Iron muttered as he made himself comfortable on the couch with a small frown. Although his heart yearned to have Cauldron console him in these dark times, he felt he wasn't worthy of such affection after what he had just done.
He blinked slowly as the zebra mare got around to fetch the vials, softly chewing his lower lip, as he was conflicted between sleeping it off now or drinking it to get back to action as fast as he could in order to get back into the fray.
>>144579“Not proud? I suppose you shouldn’t be. Nearly got yourself killed. Dragged her into this. May have dragged all of us into this...”
>>144580Iron simply exhaled as he slowly lowered his chin to the cushion, staring ahead vacantly while his lip chewing intensified.
>>144581“Here. Take this”
She hoods him a vial, and a second vial. She reluctantly extends one to White Sands as well.
>>144582Iron stared at it for a few awkward seconds, keeping his chewing up as he decided whether to actually take it or not.
"...are you sure?" he mumbled to Cauldron from down at the cushion.
>>144584Iron frowned softly, staring deep into the vial with a conflicted look to it: Is now really the time for second guessing oneself?
(Why do I get this feeling I cannot take it?) he questioned himself. (Why am I not strengthening myself back to my peak?)
Was he afraid of something...? He couldn't quite understand it yet.
>>144585"Iron? Are you alright? I know you're not alright but.."
>>144586"Uh..." Iron trailed off, stopping his lip biting as he kept staring at the vial Cauldron was offering for
him...Has he really done enough to warrant his recovery at her hooves? Has all his past deeds allowed him to rest here after potentially putting her and her family in danger? Putting Sands in danger? Hurting both of them in such unprecedented ways? Why shouldn't he be banished for his mistakes?
His features softened considerably at this barrage of self-doubt as his frame sunk deeper into the cushioning.
>>144587“Iron? I’m worried for you...”
>>144588"I... should not," Iron finally concluded as he shook his laid head.
No. There is no way he was going to become some sort of...
leech to her, to Sands or anypony. He
shouldn't be helped in such a way. He wasn't worth the effort. He'll recover with the bare minimum. No way he'll stoop so low as to drain the zebra he's grown to love out of her hard-earned resources.
>>144589“Iron? You’re hurt. I’m worried. Take it. Why won’t you take it?”
There is a fear and sadness in her voice. Her eyes water
>>144590Iron's eyes widened considerably, almost... confused at the sudden well of tears Cauldron was exhibiting at an alarming rate. "I... I can let my body heal by itself," he tried to excuse himself, still lying on the cushions, yet deep down he was still debating on whether he should actually do it.
This... this can't be right. Why is she crying right now? She should be angry, disappointed, anything
but crying.
(...I do not understand,) he thought to himself, perplexed at the display.
>>144591“Iron...”
She leans in, and hugs him, of tries to, rather, by placing her forelegs over him and resting her muzzle over his fur. Her coat is more coarse, and her legs former than White Sands.
>>144592Iron tries his best to face the somewhat hugging Cauldron with an astonished look on his face, ears finally spiking up in surpirse. "...why?" he simply asked in disbelief, failing to understand her motives to actually comfort him.
>>144594"B-but I made your life harder," Iron shakily replied in further disbelief. "Y-you may have to fight in a war
I caused. I-It does not make sense..."
His eyes quivered lightly ambivalently between hope and despair by this point.
>>144595"I know.." She says, placing her muzzle a little more firmly on his fur. She tries to wrap her legs around him, having some presence of mind to avoid the recent wounds
>>144596"T-then why?" Iron repeated with the faintest tinge of a snarl on his tone. "W-why do you subject yourself to me?"
It doesn't make sense! I
failed her. I should've died right when that big bull took me down and spared her this foolishness. Why in the gods is she
still with me?! The
one thing he was good at
failed him!
On and on he kept beating himself up in his head, as if the notion of him being cared for without some sort of return was criminal in his eyes. His breathing started to shake softly as his body started to tremble a bit like a wounded dog used to sleeping on the streets.
>>144597"You would have done it for me"
Is her simple, unhesitating answer
>>144598At first, Iron stared at Cauldron, practically dumbfounded at her answer before it truly started to sink in: He would.
He would actually fight in a war she created, he would've healed her after every battle, no matter how stupid were the reasons. He would give her a place to stay in an unforgiving, unknown landscape if she needed to... because he saw the potential in her. He saw something to cherish... to love
The stallion's ears drooped once again and closed his eyes shut, sniffling unintentionally. "I-I..." he stammered out, voice practically quivering.
>>144599For the moment, Black Cauldron merely stands over Iron in silence, still truing to wrap her forelegs around him, and place her muzzle into his back. He can hear her breath, with a sudden inhale that sounds almost, though not quite, like a sniffle. She shifts her body around, and digs a hoof underneath him.
>>144600Iron decided to properly connect the hug, shuffling his body gently so he was laid on his back rather than his stomach before firmly yet carefully wrapping his forelegs around her crest.
He didn't say much of anything aside from sporadic sniffling for a while, riding through the emotional wave barreling through his debilitated system.
>>144601The shifting of position helps Black Cauldron greatly, who moves in to almost lay on Iron, wrapping her forelegs around, still standing on her hindlegs. Iron manages his legs around, feeling her coarse and firm, yet very much receptive
>>144602Iron's heartbeat rose in intensity at the encroaching mass of coarse, firm coat that Cauldron brushed against his own, feeling himself blush the tiniest bit at the position as he inadvertedly hugged her tighter.
"Y-you are a silly zebra, you know that?" Iron croaked out with a small, thankful smile on his features before sniffling softly.
>>144603"Heh" She gives a small giggle, though it sounds as if she is near crying. Her coat carries little smell, but Iron can make out a trace of a flower smell.
>>144604Without further ado, Iron finally leans up a bit so that his head was neatly nestled next to hers, nuzzling her crest tenderly. "Thank you," he softly whispers in her ear, stroking her withers lovingly. "I do not know where I would be without you."
>>144605"Heh heh." She seems a little calmer, and tries to turn her head and eyes to meet his, although she's so close, there isn't the room to move her head completely. Still, he can see her blue eyes looking back at him
"I have some ideas. Probably cut up and wounded. Mauled by a tiger and a shotgun."
She smiles
>>144606Iron couldn't help but chuckle slightly himself at the many routes he may have taken, nuzzling her cheek. "You were not supposed to answer that," he amusedly replied with his own, far warmer smile than before.
>>144607"And you were not supposed to get yourself cut up again" She says, smiling and moving a bit at the muzzling. Her voice sounds more playful.
>>144608Iron held back another chuckle at the response. "What can I say?" he answered with his own mischievous tone. "The cuts come to me naturally."
>>144609"You find them. That is for sure." She says, with a moderately soft tone
>>144610"You know what else I am good at finding?" Iron followed up with a smirk. "Lots of stripes... mostly because they find me first."
>>144612Iron simply taps at Cauldron's side, particularly at her stripes on her coat.
>>144613"Oh. Hehe. I guess I did find you."
>>144614Iron stifled another chuckle at her reply. "Yeah," he replied with a calmer smile, setting his hooves a bit further into her back, just past her withers. "You do not mind if we stay like this for a while, right?"
>>144615She looks back, and then into Iron's eyes
"Heh. You.. you should take those potions." She says
>>144616"I really should," Iron agreed with a nod, soon looking to the sides to see where they were set.
>>144617She picks them up and produces them with a hoof, after having previously set them on the couch
>>144618Iron's response was to rest his head against the cushion, lightly open his mouth with a playful look and gesturing her with his head to pour them into it.
>>144619She smiles and goes along with this.
"Careful"
She pops the first vial open, and pours it into his mouth. Then the second. Both times she makes sure Iron does not choke on it.
>>144620Iron patiently allows Cauldron to slowly pour it into his mouth, swallowing the contents in a series of calculated gulps until they both go down with a serene look on his face, waiting to feel its rejuvenating effects.
[2d8+2 = 16]<Healz
>>144621Iron can feel it working through him, making breathing easier, and releasing pain on his chest. He feels much better
>>144622In response, Iron took one big, deep breath, puffing his chest up a bit, before calmly exhaling it out again. "That... does feel better," he admitted softly with a relaxed smile.
>>144623She pulls back a bit, looking down at Iron and trying to gauge the effects of the potion.
"You look better"
She says
>>144624"I also feel better," Iron added with a more powerful smile, revitalized almost to the extent of a common non-Earth stallion. "So much better, in fact, that I can lift you up right now."