I would never

Destry

It had taken a lot of convincing just to get Destry inside the medical tent once he had finally left the field. The knight continually insisted that he was fine, and to let him be. Still, the marshal had ordered that he be taken to the medics, and far be it from Destry to disobey an order. So, he had gone, willingly but begrudgingly all the same.

The shard of wood sticking out of his armour was quite impressive, at least thirty centimetres, with about a third of it buried deeply into the front of his left shoulder between the armour plating. A very lucky trajectory, just a little more to the right and it may have pierced his heart.

As yet it was still unclear to the medics if it had indeed punctured his axillary artery. The medics had enough sense not to remove the shard as yet. Even if they had wanted to, they would not have been able to.

Destry was on his feet, pacing around the tent, refusing to be seated much to the chagrin of the doctors around him. The knight was still running hot, his magic coursing through him like a flood, he could hardly even hear what they were saying. His inner rage was too great and Destry was only barely stopping himself from turning over the tables and beds or forcing his way out of the tent.

As if he were a caged, angry animal, the usually placated knight was pacing impatiently. He had not even yet lifted up his visor, and the visage of the mountain of a man thumping around the tent was enough to keep most of the medics at bay.

At least the heated emotions within Destry were distracting him from the pain in his shoulder, which he had not yet felt let alone recognised, this magic acting as adrenaline to his system and holding any physical feelings at bay.

Enn

Destry had been guided out of view for Enn as soon as he'd made his way to the fencing, silently cussing to himself.
He was stressed. Could feel it in every muscle, in his knee acting up, sending harsh spikes of pain through his leg. It made an easy task oddly complicated; finding the medical tents. He expected more resistance as he made his way over, but everyone's attention seemed elsewhere. And when he realized the magic radiating off of a paticular one, he also knew he had found Destry.

Enn dismissed the brief "hey!" that got called out to him for entering the tent, confronted with an odd scene; Destry, pacing around, and a bunch of unsure doctors discussing amongst themselves how to calm him down enough so he'd actually sit for them. His own mind went to a tranquilizer, preferably something strong enough that it'd take down a bear. 

"Destry!" Enn called out, thoughtlessly, and figuring that would do nothing; he tuned his magic into the knight's instead.
Hadn't he once asked him about using his magic against him?
Enn gave calming himself a good attempt first, before radiating the feeling out to Destry. The knights magic made it all a little easier to cover Enn's own stressed out mind, but it felt like a cover, and not a solution.
And Enn wasn't sure which emotion he would have the most control over.

Destry

At first Destry paid his name being shouted no mind, it had been called and yelled many times since he left the field. It wasn't until Enn's magic took some sort of effect on him that Destry slowed his pacing and finally stopped when he saw Enn from across the tent.

Even with his visor down, it was clear that the knight was glaring over at Enn. He didn't know why he was glaring. He should have been happy to see Enn. But he was still mad. Angry. At what? He had no idea. And that only served to frustrate him all the more. Destry struggled to clear his mind of the cloud of negative emotions, it reminded him of being a boy again, having fits of rage which he could neither control nor understand.

But he was no longer a boy, he was a man and Destry tried to remind himself of it. But gods, it was so easy to give into his feelings, like a deep sleep calling upon him, pulling him under into sweet oblivion.

His right hand rose to touch the side of his helm as he looked away from Enn and tried to pull himself back to control. Blood was slowly dripping from his armour and rolling down its shiny surface to the floor. 

Enn

Something about Destry staring him down like that sent a shiver down his spine, like the man was about to pierce that same lance he'd used on his opponent through him instead. And all he could read from Destry was anger, which, why? Hadn't he just won? Was Enn, somehow, reflecting this onto him?

The grip on his cane tightened as he could feel that anger wanting to take hold of him too. Instead, he pushed it back, deepening his breathing as he kept eye contact with Destry. Slowly, once more, some form of calm found him, sending it out to Destry best he could.

"Destry, you're hurt." He tried again, hoping maybe his voice would come through to him this time. "Let the doctors help you."

Destry

"Enn?" Destry mumbled, as if walking out of a fog, he moved his hand to lift his visor and squinted out at the other man. As though the sight of Enn seemed to ground Destry, he relaxed a little and felt his rage slowly ebbing away. The heat receding as if touched by a cooling salve.

As he regained his awareness, Destry glanced around at the annoyed, frustrated, even partly frightened, faces inside the tent. He could do nothing but feel ashamed of himself. "'m fine," Destry muttered, but then he actually took a look down at his left shoulder as he felt a terrible jolt of pain, it seemed his emotions were no longer blocking out the feeling and Destry swore lightly under a breathy exhale.

"What the fuck," he said as if genuinely surprised, giving his wooden friend a little poke for good measure, he hissed as if he had expected some other result than pain. 

Enn

Hearing his name brought him such relief, Enn exhaled audibly, letting go of the tension that'd been bubbling under his surface. Today had been messed up enough, if he also had to fight Destry he'd never have survived.
Watching Destry realize he actually had a piece of wood sticking out of him was an experience. Enn hadn't realized he'd blocked it out entirely like that, didn't know he could. Adrenaline had brought him far many times during the war, but he was always aware something was wrong. 

Enn blinked in surprise when Destry outright poked it, and that seemed to be the que for the doctors to come forward and actually try to help the man now he'd calmed down too. Behind Enn, the guard who'd called out for him had peeked through the curtain of the tent as well, and in an attempt to not need to deal with that, Enn strode in towards Destry.

His background in healing was haphazard, but not without merit. Especially on-the-spot battle wounds, he'd seen plenty of those. "Get that armor off of him, at least around the wood," Enn directed, obviously with the same ease he commanded the people around him at the Sangre Mar. 

Destry

Destry allowed himself to be guided over to a seat, but was told to stay standing for the moment as they took off his armour piece by piece. As the doctors did so, Destry turned his attention to Enn.

"What are you doing here?" Destry asked, confused and much quieter than he usually was, likely due to the pain he was trying not to exhibit.

As one of the medics removed Destry's pauldron from his shoulder, he held very still and tried to watch them from the corner of his eye without turning his head too much. As they took away his breastplate, a very red and bloodied padded undershirt was revealed.

Enn

"Helping, it turns out." He shot a brief glance to the entrance of the tent, where the guard was looking quite unhappy, but also unwilling to interrupt. 
"Suppose no one here has the magic to calm you down otherwise, Destry, what was that?" He had the urge to whisper back on the same tone as the knight, his eyes glancing over to the bloody mess that got revealed. Would it be better to knock the man out? Destry kept himself still, and Enn bet he wouldn't squirm at all.

It'd have to do.

His undershirt was soaked in blood, and it made Enn visibly cringe for a brief moment. "Well. Maybe we talk about your outburst later." There was no taking off that shirt, it'd have to be cut open, and Enn felt he should leave the actual medical stuff to the doctors instead of his own haphazard on-the-field methods. But still, he watched curiously, his hand finding its way to Destry's other shoulder. "Do you often lose yourself in competitions like this? Or, I suppose you don't get the opportunity to compete this way often."

Destry

Lose himself? Destry frowned at that. To him, it felt as though he had found himself for that short while.

He felt a sinking feeling in his chest, had it really been that bad? To make someone like Enn, someone who had seen war, shocked? Destry's feeling of shame grew and he shrugged Enn's hand from his shoulder as he sat down on the edge of the medical cot to allow the doctors better access to his wound.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to," it was five words which he had been reciting since he was a child, a poor excuse for avoiding accountability. It was never really true. His magic had meant to, and his magic was part of him.

Destry glanced at the medics around them and offered another hushed apology. He hated this feeling. The shame. Of being who he was. It happened each time he embraced his magic, and each time it was a reminder to him of why he kept it repressed.

The medics unlaced his padded covering at the shoulders and, as Enn had noted, began cutting it away from the wood shard, peeling back the sticky blood-soaked material.

Enn

Enn tried to school his face to not show the brief hurt at being shrugged off, but he would keep his hands to himself. "Don't mean to chastise you. This just, surprised me, I guess." Should he have been surprised? That likely wasn't the word he was looking for- Enn had been scared.
But he wouldn't be admitting that.

Enn peeked over to the wound that got revealed, feeling his jaw get tighter again at the sight. "That could've so easily landed worse," he sighed, concluding that jousting was not a sport he paticulary enjoyed. Seeing people so enthusiastic was almost contagious, but the bloody results weren't exactly his thing.
He bet Swan would've enjoyed it tremendously though.

Realizing this was going to hurt, Enn peeled his eyes away from the wound to focus on Destry instead. "Who was your opponent? Looked pretty incredible in his golden armor too." He hadn't paid tooo much attention to what happened after he got hit on the ground, but he remembered him getting up alright.

Destry

“The dragon mage you saw at Namarast,” Destry answered, using his right hand to grip his helm, he pulled it off and his sweaty hair underneath flopped over his eyes.

“Just pull it out already,” Destry grumbled to the medics who seemed to be hesitating, “I won’t be ended by a little splinter. Not this day, nor any other.”

The medics exchanged glances but, as Destry had requested it, got on with it. It took a strong armed medic to grip the shard and begin pulling it out. As she did so, Destry let out a cry between a whimper and a growl and the medic stopped what she was doing. “Too slow,” Destry grumbled through gritted teeth.

Enn

Ah yes, he did remember that mage. Wished he'd gotten a chance to talk to him more. Maybe some other time. The tourney had really turned him off from being social for the coming month, at least. 

Enn helped him put the helmet away before his attention was forced back to the medics trying to pull the shard out. "Come on," Enn frowned now, especially after Destry's comment, the thought of his friend being in any more pain than strictly necessary making him near snarl at the medic. 

The second time the medic stopped, Enn moved to put his hands on the shard himself. "Hold him instead," came the command, as he steadily pulled the wood out. He didn't rip it, but above all, he didn't flinch every time Destry made a noise. 

The revealed hole was.. Well, very quickly blocked by his hands and some bunched up bandaging. There was no way to stitch that with the way it bled, and they had to make sure there were no splinters. "Sorry, Des." Enn sighed shakily. This hadn't been on his wishlist.

Destry

Giving a loud groan of pain between gritted teeth, Destry grabbed onto Enn’s hip to brace himself as the shard was pulled out.

He held onto Enn tightly and gave a few pants of heavy breath as he calmed himself.

“That feels much better, actually,” he said in a breathless, yet genuine, tone. Destry sat back and let the medics get to work on his shoulder.

Enn

He caught himself breathing almost just as heavily as Destry at that wood coming out, sweating from his own anxiety. With the relief of the shard being out, and Destry confirming this was better, Enn let his calm demeanor slip a little. The facade was hard to keep up after the whole of the day, and his face betrayed the stress he'd been holding. 

Enn clutched on to Destry's hand on him, and even when he stepped aside to let the doctors do their job, he kept his hold on Des' hand. Likely more for himself than for the knight, as he watched the wound being treated.

"Don't think you'll be allowed to do much fighting or training after this for a while." Enn mumbled, trying to distract himself. "Can you handle that, Destry?" 

Destry

"Ha!" Destry laughed suddenly at Enn's suggestion, "I'd like to see them try to stop me," he muttered a little more seriously.

"Here," one of the medics offered Destry a small cup and at his questioning look explained, "For the pain."

Destry shook his head, waving the offer away. He looked to Enn then with a frown, "I sense you've had quite a day... What's happened?"

Enn

Enn frowned a little at that reply, not laughing with him, a concerned look on his face. His attention went to the medic with the pain medication who got waved off. "Bring him some water instead," he suggested, watching them leave.

Enn had no doubt the knight could sense Enn's agitation, hence his question. Emotions would always be hard to hide around him. "Of course the man who just got skewered like one of the market foods would prefer to talk about my day instead of his own. I don't think I should talk about it with the Namarast authority like this, though." Giving Destry's hand a squeeze, a slight smile on his lips. "You might turn me in."

The medic returned with some water for Destry, and if he wouldn't take it, Enn would hold onto it for him.

Destry

Destry gladly took the water with a nod of thanks to both the medic and to Enn, it meant having to let go of Enn's hand to take it, his injured arm was a wet noodle in his lap for now. After chugging the water, Destry set the cup aside and wiped his lips with the back of his hand.

"Oh, you mean me?" Destry seemed genuinely surprised at someone calling him an authority, "First of all, I'm hardly an authority. Secondly..." he gave Enn a look between suspicion and curiosity, "What have you done that would warrant any turning in? Now you really must tell me."

Enn

As Destry let go of him, Enn unconsciously leaned closer to his side, seemingly having a hard time letting go of the knight entirely. 

"Hardly is still enough for me." He replied, trying to wash the smirk from his own lips at Destry's expression. "Should I remind you again that I am an anarchist, no matter how nice you make me act? Though it's nothing really like that." He'd started fiddling with a button on his vest in absence of Destry's hand, still trying to soothe his anxiety. "I guess I can say I've not been adhering to Agathias' assignment of turning in wild mages, while seeing plenty. I don't think he exactly expected me to do so willingly though." His gaze turned to the people around them in earshot. Perhaps the thought of telling Destry he'd been meeting friends wasn't such an impossible one, but he didn't need anyone else informing Agathias. "I can talk about it later, perhaps?"

Destry

Though he wanted to know more, Destry agreed that it was not the right place to discuss such things, and nodded in understanding at Enn’s suggestion.

“How did you—“ Destry cut himself off with a silent wince as the medics picked out some smaller splinters from his wound, he managed to keep any swearing at bay. This time.

“How did you know to come here?” Destry tried again, “And why, did you come here? To this tent, I mean,” he motioned to the floor to point out which “here” he meant.

Enn

Enn couldn't help but wince alongside Destry, impressed by how well he kept his pain contained. "Want to squeeze my hand?" He offered, half-joking, half kind of needing that himself.

"Well I was watching the competition?" His expression curious, had Destry not expected that? "Didn't I tell you the only thing I looked forward to was watching you at work? And I mean," Enn waved a hand dismissively, "I can locate you quite easily. Your magic signature was radiating strongly off of this tent. And I find your magic is pretty unique amongst many mages here, or I've just, been the closest to it as of late." 

There were always people he recognized easier because he was looking out for them on a frequent basis. Swan, for his magic kept him pain free, Harrow because he'd NEVER met another mage who breathed moths, and now Destry for pretty much being Destry. The only person he wanted to bump into at Namarast. 

Destry

"Stop it," Destry said insincerely at the offer of Enn's hand, he smirked and gave him a soft shove.

"Oh..." Destry became more serious at Enn's words, "I thought you were joking, or flirting. Didn't think you actually... Cared?" It was said not as an insult to Enn, but from someone who didn't have many close companions who would care enough to want to seek him out in such a way.

Enn

The smirk made Enn grin as well, happy to see Destry smile after all that. 

"I can flirt and care. Both of those things can be true." He shot Destry a soft smile, a little worried by the question. His hand found its way back to Destry's lower arm, though he didn't grip on. "I've had many opportunities to leave Namarast entirely, today. If I didn't care at all, I absolutely would've."
Destry certainly wasn't the only reason, but Enn couldn't deny some part of him wasn't yet willing to leave him behind.

Destry

"That's kind of you," Destry said, almost sounding a little surprised, "I appreciate it, in fact I--" he cut himself off with a yelp as the medic poured a disinfecting tincture over his wound.

"Hells!" Destry hissed through his teeth, "That hurts," he said to the medic. She just shrugged.

"Are we done yet? Really, all this bother over nothing," Destry grumbled.

Enn

Enn startled a little at Destry's exclamation, but then mostly had to hide the grin on his face. Destry deserved that, a little. "Come on. You can sit through some care. Suffer some now, and your recovery will be faster." Enn reassured, trying to give it some positive spin.

He watched as the medic dressed the wound now they were done, giving it a little pat for good measure. Oof.

Destry

In reply Destry gave a heavy exhale from his nostrils, but conceded to Enn's advice all the same.

When the medics were done bandaging his shoulder, Destry mumbled a thank you to them before collecting his gauntlets and helm as he stood.

"At least tell me what you thought of the show," Destry asked Enn as he looked down at him, a little wobbly on his feet but otherwise looking quite well.

Enn

He was already standing?? Enn had half the urge to command him to go lay down, but Destry did look alright, and they likely needed the beds for whatever dumbass would come in wounded next. This tourney would see plenty of them yet.
"What I thought of the show?" Enn parrots, clearly having nearly forgotten there'd been a reason Destry had been embedded with wood. "It was very impressive. I've never- I don't remember seeing jousting like that before." Enn corrected, truly unsure if he had or not. "It's certainly not something I'll ever be trying."

He'd found it kind of terrifying, if he were to be honest. Was that age? Knowing it was a friend on the field? "But you looked amazing Destry. Truly a force to be reckoned with." His head turned for a moment as he looked around the tent, a clack of his tongue before looking back at Destry. "Do you have your own tent to rest in or something?"

Destry

Destry couldn’t help but feel a small glimmer of pride in himself, apparently Enn’s opinion mattered more to him than he realised.

“Huh? Oh, yeah,” Destry answered, the knight wobbled a bit more as he headed to exit the medical tents. The usual ambiance of his magic was a lot fainter it seemed, as if a dying ember rather than its usual healthy flame, and though Destry seemed strong enough to walk out of the tent alone, there was a definite sense of his magic being drained from his exertion.

Enn

Enn couldn't help himself, he knew offering his cane would be of little use to Destry with how much taller he was, but he offered his free hand anyway- or his shoulder, worried by how wobbly he seemed. Destry's magic felt subdued, perhaps the two were linked in some way.

"I do think you should rest, Destry." Enn's concern was all over his face, even with how impressed he also was with the other man after the competition. Fifteen years ago Enn would've barked at Destry to walk it off, but it seems he too had changed over the decades. 

He tried to make sure Destry didn't start walking faster, lagging behind a little bit himself. "That was your last competition though, right?" Enn asked, looking at the tents Destry was leading them to. His tone of voice implied he was heavily hoping that was the last one. 

No sound alerted him, but Enn suddenly stopped, looking vaguely in the direction of where some other competitions were being held. An odd, heavy dread felt like it was swallowing him, his breathing suddenly feeling labored. "Do you feel that?" Feel what? He could hardly explain it himself.
When the sound of screams echoed from the direction he was looking at, Enn realized something was very wrong.

Destry

"I hope not," Destry began to answer Enn's question about his competitions, but trailed off as a shudder went through him. Of course he could feel it. That sense of dread, foreboding, what was that?

Destry went to answer Enn, but his attention was drawn away again in an instant by the distant screaming. A hand gripped Enn's arm, the other reached for his sword, and he swore under his breath. It wasn't part of his jousting fit, of course. Destry shoved his gauntlets and helm into Enn's chest, "Hold these a moment," he said hurriedly as he started pulling his chestpiece back on.

With some kind of praticed speed and efficiency, Destry had his chestpiece, his gauntlets and helm all back on again in a few moments and was glancing around for the source of the concern.

"What's happening?" he asked with surprising calm to his tone.

Enn

Caught off-guard by having gauntlets and a helm shoved at him, Enn nearly stumbled, but held on as asked. "Destry-" Ah, there was no stopping this man. Before Enn knew it, he was fully armored again.

The screaming had sent a shiver up his spine he couldn't shake off, made worse by the screaming having stoppedalmost as abruptly as it began. The field was quiet, eerily so, but the feeling of dread only grew. "I don't know-" Enn replied, realizing they were slowly getting caught up in some kind of fog. 

And oh, he was tired. He squinted at some round shapes in the distance, but the squint almost immediately turned into Enn zoning out, and falling to the ground.
Fast asleep.

Destry

"Enn!" Destry yelled as he saw the man start to fall, he reached forward and caught the man as he fell, lowering him gently to the ground.

"Enn? Wake up!" Destry tried to rouse the man as he realised he was unconscious, "Wake... Wake..." Destry suddenly felt a deep drowsiness wash over him. He didn't even remember falling asleep, only that he was awake one moment, and the next, he was in a very different place.