Calim
Legacy Name: Calim

i.It had been days since he had last seen Haize's eyes open. He hadn't forgotten their shocking hue of orange, but they startled him every time he found them glancing in his direction. Despite the mechanical dragon's recent ordeal, he had woken quietly, nearly motionlessly. Calim was the one who moved - he jumped out of the chair he had placed at the man's bedside and started forward, his hands outstretched. Reaching for what, exactly, he didn't quite know. At his motion, Haize turned his head ever so slightly to better see him. Despite several days of pain, many in which some of their companions believed he would not survive, he was as inscrutable as ever.

"Hello there," Calim said softly, settling himself on the chair once more as he calmed down somewhat, though his heart still raced. He was alive. After everything, Haize had survived.

Wordlessly, the man attempted to sit up. Calim once more flew out of his seat and gently placed a hand on the dragon's chest, pushing him back down into the bed. "Please be careful. You've been in dangerous waters for almost a week."

Haize's face did not change as he finally spoke. "I am well enough to sit up," he said nonchalantly, though he did not move to do so again.

Calim couldn't help but smile. "How are you feeling?" He asked.

The inorganic creature took a moment to answer, likely mentally assessing the current status of his physical condition. It took him a little bit longer to answer the more vague of his companions' questions. "I am not at 100% recovery," he answered finally. "I cannot seem to focus as well as I usually do, and my reaction time is slowed."

The earth-born nodded, taking this to mean that he was still light-headed and disoriented. "It is the third Tuesday of the month," he answered. "What is the last thing you remember?"

For the first time since he awoke, Haize's countenance changed. His brow furrowed, as if he were confused. "I remember looking up at you. My head was on your lap. The memory is... lacking." Calim took that to mean that his memory was foggy. The dragon glanced over at him. "There was an emotion. I did not recognize it."

"You were dying, Haize," Calim answered. The confusion on the dragon's face was like a knife to his heart, and he reached out to hold the man's hand. "It was fear. Fear of mortal peril."

"No," he said without hesitation. "I recognize the feeling of fear. I have felt it before. This was something else."

Calim couldn't help it when his eyes began to tear up. All at once, the terror of nearly losing Haize, the sleepless nights at his bedside, the relief of seeing him awake - everything seemed to rush into him at once. "Describe it," he said, after working to control the amount of emotion in his words.

Haize could hear the change in his voice and looked at him quizzically, but answered. "I felt fear, as I was alone. But then you arrived. I was not afraid because you were there."

Calim had to fight to keep his hand from shaking. "You felt comfort."

"Yes. But it was more than that," Haize said. He sat up in the bed, and Calim did not protest the movement this time. "It was... warm. Logically, I should have been monitoring my own condition. But somehow, it seemed more important to keep looking at you."

He could no longer stop the tears from spilling from his eyes. Haize leaned closer and placed a hand on his cheek, wiping away the water with his thumb. Calim shifted forward until his forehead was resting against Haize's. He could barely speak, his words caught in his throat. His hands were shaking, as if his body could not physically contain all of the emotions he was feeling. Haize gave the hand holding his a squeeze, a more hominid gesture than he would usually offer, and it seemed to steel Calim.

He swallowed past the lump in his throat, and his voice came out in a whisper. "I love you too."