Gilgamesh wanders through the ravine from the den in the moor where Sakana and Nimbus were keeping him. While he enjoyed the open air of the surrounding fields, he had a sudden inkling to see his permanent treehouse. His memory was beginning to fade of it, and that much wasn’t a surprise. They had only just moved when Modesty had suggested taking Siduri to the Hallows for treatment. Hell, the treehouse had barely been finished being built when they had taken off for Auster.

The boys had told him no stairs though. Standing on the ground beneath the wide tree that hosts their home, he looks upward, head fully tilted backward. From his position there, the stairs didn’t seem all that bad. There were really that many of them so Gilgamesh figured why not? He wouldn’t know if he was able to do it until he tried, and try he did.

The first few steps around the trunk weren’t bad. Nothing more than his walk up the ravine had been. But once he makes it about halfway up, he begins to feel it. His lungs strain, his head begins to swirl and feel woozy. He grits his teeth together, push through the building pain as he continues on to the top. Surely he would get a talking to from the boys by the time he made it back to the moor, but for now, he would at least make it to the treehouse. Having to stop more than once, it takes far longer than it should to get there.

Once he does manage to get past the stairs and onto the deck, he can feel his muscles tremble, his bones shaking. There is a loud wheeze to his breath as he tries to catch it. Lungs are all out of sorts and if he’s not careful with the rib situation, he very well could puncture one. Taking a few cautious steps, he barely makes it to the door and through it before he’s collapsing on a nearby fur. Legs splayed out on all sides, chin thumping against the wooden floor as he shuts his eyes for a moment.

Working through the pain, Gilgamesh is silent for awhile. He’s not sure if anyone else is even in here. Knowing Modesty and Jael both they wouldn’t be just lounging around, no. They were working women that preferred to keep moving, keep their mind going, but maybe just this one time… One of them could be here to help make sure he was at least still alive.

The Raid King, Gilgamesh

table coding by bunni ♥

To have him ripped away and then returned... Jael doesn't know what to make of it. There are too many things to be bewildered about, even if she has infinite time to dwell. For as much as she'd like to sit by his bedside and worry, it's no life for the little dog. She'd only make herself sick, she'd only stress herself out. Stress. Fuck, what a constant companion stress was. Modesty, Gilgamesh, the state of her... their pups. How the fuck had that happened? Jael couldn't explain it, and why did that lack of explanation make her feel so much shame? Loyal like a dog, and scarcely out of Modesty's sight. Hell, like she'd let anyone lay a hand on her. For all she knows about science, about nature, it shouldn't have been possible.

Wrapping herself up in work, letting the distractions take her over. Light work, things she could do or direct the others to do. Oddie tending to the sheep with Ken's dogs, under her careful eye. Preparing goods for the spring markets, even if that was ages away. Making sure everything was stored properly, kept together and just... fuck it, she's keeping herself distracted, okay? Don't call her out like this.

The space she's been working in this afternoon isn't that far from home. Close enough that she can hear an almighty thud inside the treehouse, leading her to set down her tools and quickly make her way back. Jogging back home, pausing at the base of the stairs-- momentarily winded, in her current condition. Sniffing at the fresh scent trail, knowing it can't be anyone else. "Gil?" Jael's voice is gentle as she calls up the stairs. Brow furrowing, she knows he's not supposed to be climbing like this yet.

Climbing the stairs with some effort of her own, Jael is as quick as she can be. Rounding the corner, seeing him sprawled on the floor. If nothing else, there's fight in him. She knows better than to condescend, but there's worry in her face. "Can I make you lunch? A drink?" Moving to carefully sit beside him, though Jael is too unsure of herself to reach out and touch him. Instead, she settles beside him-- paws tucked tidily under herself, gaze gentle.

He hears her voice call from the bottom of the stairs. Normally, he would have done something, called back, but his current condition forces him to stay silent. His ribs ache, a nearly searing pain that shrivels up his lungs and make it far too hard to breathe. Instead, he focuses on those breaths. In and out, in and out, don't die, don't suffocate. Stars swirl before him, lighting up the dim light of the treehouse where the afternoon sun filters in from outside. He nearly passes out from lack of oxygen when he hears her paws against the wood of the treehouse floor.

Blinking slowly, Gilgamesh scuffs his chin across the floor to look at where Jael sits beside him asking if he wants lunch or something to drink. "Water," he rasps, hardly able to swallow, let alone speak. Thanking Abraxas above for the luck of having Jael at his side, Gilgamesh closes his eyes once more. Waiting for Jael to return with anything to help the pain go away, he rests.

The Raid King, Gilgamesh

table coding by bunni ♥

He's in sorry shape, Jael's gaze resting on him for a long moment. Croaking voice, rough shape. She couldn't let him see her worry, right? She could only let that lower lip tremble away from where he could see it. He's still Gil. He's still alive. That's what Jael clings to now, even if things are rough inside her head. Anxieties taking different shape, different worries rattling around between her ears.

She's quick to return with water, quick as she can be when she's this round, setting it down beside Gil's head. Gently, Jael reaches out to run her claws through the mats in his fur. Places he can't reach, softly teasing apart the places where dirt had collected. Behind his ears, around his crystals. It's careful, tender. "Did you need something up here, or did you miss your own bed?" The words are gentle, a little humor hanging in them as well.

His eyes are still closed as Jael toddles off to fetch him some water. Upon her return, he doesn't waste time reaching out to quickly lap up the cool and refreshing liquid. As soon as he's parched, he pushes the bowl away and places his chin upon his paws. With Jael working her claws through the mats in his fur, he can't help but stretch out and invite the small dog to continue. He's a prideful man after all and keeping up a good appearance was part of the whole thing.

Releasing a pleased rumble from his chest, he glances at Jael from the corner of his eye. A small raise of the brow in question at her humored teasing. Old Gil would have fallen for it, but new Gilgamesh instead smirks lightly, a hum reverberating in his throat. "Or is it that I know my girls miss me?" He replies, baiting Jael to see if she'll tell the truth or if she'll brush it off. Did they miss him or had their own company been enough?

The Raid King, Gilgamesh

table coding by bunni ♥