24. A few stories at once

                                    

                                          

💧 




"Had a nice sleep?"
Nayan wakes up feeling more refreshed than he has in the last seven days combined. But he also wakes up feeling a whole lot of embarrassment at the fact that he does, indeed, feel refreshed, and that he did, indeed, sleep through the entire evening, night and morning, too.
A real soldier wouldn't sleep for this long. A real soldier would keep his focus on the mission, and the sister that he is trying to find. Instead, he has slept like a child for over fifteen hours, his head feeling heavy and fuzzy but eyes wide and energy high. It's not his fault, he tries to console himself. It's not his fault that he crashed and burned so violently, sleeping for so long. Fairies need at least seven hours of sleep every night. During missions, four to five hours are normal for fairy troops. Goblins sleep about half of that same amount, so naturally they haven't slept much and neither has Nayan.
Well, this night of sleep will last him through the week, certainly. He'll just have to be careful not to crash and burn again. Eang and Dieq might leave him behind next time if he does. Fifteen hours of staying in one place and not moving towards their goal must've put them all behind. He feels sorry for that. He does. But he also does feel thankful that they didn't leave him behind, like he expected them to. 
"Yes, I'm sorry for crashing like that. I was so distracted that I didn't even notice how tired I had gotten."
Dieq sighs, nodding his head. "As long as it doesn't happen again..." Nayan smiles bashfully and nods. It definitely won't happen again. He has a conscience too, not to mention an ego. He can't let people see him in such vulnerable positions, especially not goblins, his natural enemies. Thankfully, they seem to be getting along now well enough for Eang and Dieq to take it lightly.
"We have to get going now." Eang snaps, a sour expression on his face. Nayan frowns and turns to look at him, memories suddenly rushing down.
Leaning back in Eang's sturdy hands, falling asleep softly. Hearing his voice rumble against his back, loud and angry but somehow incredibly comforting to his sleepy self. Feeling safe and protected, knowing how rare that is for someone who is usually the one who protects and makes others feel safe. Makes his entire country feel safe. But with Eang, despite the fact that he sounded so angry, he felt strangely comforted and at ease.
Now, though, the memory is nothing but an embarrassing truth. He fell asleep in Eang's arms... like some pretty damsel in distress! Nayan's cheeks grow pink and he looks away bashfully. Dieq kind of glares in Eang's direction, and Nayan can't help but notice the tension around them. But he doesn't care about that right now. All he cares about is how he's ever going to be able to talk to Eang again, or Dieq for that matter, without thinking about the fact that they saw and held him in such an embarrassing position just a day prior. 
They get up on their horses in silence, Eang and Dieq having had packed everything quietly before he woke up. The horses are well rested and strong, so it doesn't take long before they get to a rather fast speed down the river road. Nayan tries to keep himself stable on his steed as he glances over at Dieq, seeing the pinched frown on his face. Eang looks the same, but perhaps a little more angry than frustrated. The two of them are in a really, really bad mood, it seems. Nayan wonders what they fought about yesterday.
He tries to remember. Eang's angry words mix up into an unintelligible mess that he can't decipher. Dieq's stern responses and yells are not any more understandable. Most of what he can remember are the yells, shouts, anger and heavy emotions that kept him awake for those last few seconds.