#What happened to Falst Erin

[notasouleater]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAÀAÄAAAAAAAAAŪĀ

[comicaurora]

Wait wait wait

If Ferin souls are closed to the elements, and Falst can use light magic, and the Light Dragon is the equal and opposite of the Void Dragon ...

Does that mean Erin's plan just got a huge spanner in its works ?

I'm sure Erin would have lots of thoughts on what just happened if he had seen it.

[sunset-sunbun]

I find it very interesting that we know everyone's past pretty well in Aurora Except Erin's.

Like we've been with Kendal since day one, same with alinua (kind of sort of) and she gave us some more context throughout the comic. Tess, Dainix, and Falst gave us a rundown in varying levels of explanation but either way they all give us a pretty good picture about what happened and why they are where they are and stuff. ...Except Erin. We know his father was an emissary and Tess was bought into his family. and that he went to the soul shaper monastery once and got sealed. we know he wanted to do more to help Tess and was also pretty fragile....but that's it. we don't know much about his past other than some titbits of knowledge here and there that give us the frame but not the full picture as to what happened. but we know s o m e t h i n g (s) happened. and honestly I cant wait to see what it is

[the-mountain-flower]

Happy Day 10 of @crustables-fanart-week! Here's a one-shot:

Day 10: Hand Holding

Falst hates his claws, and Dainix provides some much-needed comfort.

Content warnings: body dysmorphia, self-hatred. unintentional self-harm

Falst was never not bitter about how useful his claws were. He’d just gotten good at ignoring it, pretending he wasn’t frustrated. He could worry about how it felt to use them when he didn’t actively need to.

He nearly laughed at the irony when carving into that large Life lacrima at Hilltop. Writing the part about removing them with the very same claws he wanted to be rid of, was nearly ironic enough to overshadow the discomfort. Nearly. He still thought of not having that part of him with something almost like relief.

He had lots of nightmares, he’d gotten used to that too. A reoccurring theme in his nightly fear was claws. Specifically those of a certain monster that had scarred him physically and emotionally as a child.

“First time I can remember hating these,” he’d told Dainix a while back, “like I was halfway there already.”

Most of the time he could ignore it. Brush it off or push it to the back of his head to upset him next time he slept, then move on. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a foolproof plan. Sometimes it was just... too much for him. He often couldn’t even tell what set it off, it just happened, and his bottled-up emotions would start overflowing.

He really tried not to let it get to him. He couldn’t afford to break down. It made him vulnerable. He needed to keep his guard up as much as possible.

He really tried.

But sometimes it was just too much.

It was a good thing Kendal didn’t need nearly as much sleep as the rest of them, and was pretty alert even when resting. Falst couldn’t manage staying alert right now, even if he tried.

Falst was lucky, he knew that. He had people he could trust. People who could keep watch for danger anywhere nearby, and that meant near Falst as well. He could actually be in a position of relative safety with other people, and not have to stay as vigilant as usual. It was something he was so, so not used to. Nor should he let himself get rusty, or start depending on them too much.

But maybe it was why it was so much harder to hold himself together this time. Because he knew, even if he didn’t want to admit it, that he didn’t need to stay vigilant this time. He didn’t have that excuse to try and hold it back. And maybe having friends for the first time when he was so unused to it, affected his emotions, too. And he knew they’d try to help him if they knew...

Godsdamnit. He couldn’t let any of them see him like this. He couldn’t look weak.

Which is why, after waking up in the middle of the night from another nightmare, he had positioned himself in the rocky terrain in a way that no could see him from the entrance of the stone tent-like structure Erin had made. He’d already opted to sleep outside of it, so it wasn’t too hard. Dainix was also sleeping under the stars- apparently the small, confined stone space made him anxious, which was understandable- but his stillness and slow breathing indicated he was still sleeping, and Falst was quiet enough not to wake him.

He sat with his back against a boulder, knees tucked against his chest, and tail wrapped around his legs. His vision was already blurry, and his shoulders shaking. He hated it, but he knew he couldn’t hold it in any longer.

Despite the tears rolling down his cheeks, and the heavy, staggered breathing from his heavy chest, he made very little noise. Over the years, he’d managed to make himself cry silently, for safety reasons. Which made it suck worse, given the first time he’d needed to be completely silent despite the tears.

He kept his hands clutched in tight fists, thumb beneath the other four. He wished he couldn’t still feel the surface of his nails against his skin. And he tried hard to keep his fingers in a position where the tips of his claws wouldn’t pierce the skin.

He hated it.

He tried so hard not to think about it. About how they were hard enough to be unaffected by basically anything. About how they were sharp enough to carve through stone. About how easily they could tear through flesh.

He hated them. He hated his claws.

He disliked most of his body. His nose that made every environment a sensory nightmare. His eyes with their slit pupils and predator-like appearance. His pointed ears that picked up every aggression and threat. His fur that looked deceptively subtle but was just thick enough to not be able to pass off as normal. His tail that provided an extra target and was the most obvious thing about him that shouted to the world that he was a ferin.

Most of it... wasn’t as strong as it used to be, though. Maybe Kendal was right.

He didn’t stop hating his claws, though. Because he’d been so scared of them. It was similar with his teeth, four of them sharp canines designed to tear through flesh, but they were easier to ignore. He’d once gotten so desperate as to start trying to pull his claws out of his fingers. An attempt that had lasted a few seconds at most. At one point, he’d had to talk himself chopping off his fingertips. That was probably the worst idea he ever had, or ever would have, and he knew it. That kind of thing was why the first thing he’d carved onto that Life lacrima, had been the segment about getting rid of his claws. Which he now knew was a hopeless endeavor.

No matter how much he ignored it, he’d never been able to shake the feeling that his claws were that of a m-

“Falst?”

Falst froze. Well, not ‘froze’ exactly, he was still shaking.

“Falst?” Dainix whispered from behind him. “You there?”

Falst swallowed hard, willing his throat to clear. He tried to sound normal when he responded, “Yeah. Everything’s fine.” Damnit, he definitely sounded like he’d been crying. He hoped Dainix didn’t come closer, or try to talk to him. He knew he was too tired to effectively hide his... emotional episode.

Those hopes were dashed when he heard the sound of footsteps in his direction. Then of someone sitting down beside him.

“What’s wrong?” Dainix asked gently.

“Nothing.” Falst’s voice still sounded faint and broken.

“Doesn’t look like nothing.”

“Nothing I’m not used to.”

“Falst-”

“Bad dream. That’s all.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“...Alright.”

Dainix didn’t leave. Instead he... he put his arm around Falst’s shoulders.

Falst’s first instinct was to push him away.

His next instinct was to lean in.

To his own surprise, he gave in to the second one.

Damn it, why are you like this?

He didn’t know how long they sat like that. The moons hadn’t visibly moved from their positions, so it couldn’t have been that long.

Falst... was starting to feel himself calm down. That was strange. Usually the presence of people during moments of vulnerability did the exact opposite. He really, really wasn’t used to having friends.

At one point, he even noticed his clenched fists loosen up a little, making it so his knuckles were no longer white with tension.

Which turned out to be a mistake.

“You’re bleeding!”

Falst lifted his head just in time to see Dainix grab Falst’s hands in his. Both of his palms had traces of dried blood on them. It was soon clear that he wasn’t actively bleeding, the skin already closed with little to no traces of scarring.

“It’s fine.” Falst insisted, voice still weak. “Just scratched myself a little.” he mentally cursed himself for somehow not noticing despite being so focused on the area.

Dainix clearly wasn’t having any of it. He looked down at Falst’s hands, with flakes of red on the palms and fingertips. Then he looked back up at Falst, and... for some reason it looked like he’d figured something out. Put the pieces together in the puzzle that was the truth behind Falst’s words.

“That bad dream you had,” he asked gently, “did it have anything to do with these?” He brushed one of his thumbs over the surface of one of Falst’s claws.

“How... you are scarily insightful, you know that?”

“Sorry.”

Several seconds of silence passed between them, before Falst’s damned emotions got the better of him again.

“It was.” he whispered.

For a moment, he wasn’t even sure Dainix heard him. Then Dainix squeezed his hands reassuringly.

It felt strange, being held like that. Nice, though. He wasn’t sure how Dainix managed to do it without making him feel trapped. Falst let his head rest on Dainix’s shoulders, strangely comforted when Dainix reciprocated the gesture.

“If it helps,” Dainix said softly, “I don’t think your claws are a bad thing.”

Falst scoffed, “Sure.”

“No, really.” Dainix insisted. “I’ve seen lots of actually monstrous claws, and these,” Dainix raised Falst’s hands in his own so they were at eye level with Falst, “aren’t that. Because they’re yours. I’ve seen you use them to spellcarve, and to climb to otherwise unclimbable places, and I’ve seen you use them to protect yourself and those you care for. That makes them pretty amazing, and I hope you know that.”

Falst had no clue how to respond to that. He didn’t think anyone had ever talked about his claws like that, himself included. He was grateful that Dainix’s couldn’t see the blush creeping up on his face.

They sat there in silence after that. Falst didn’t know how long. All he knew is that he was very tired after his emotional episode. And Dainix was a very warm, very comforting presence.

He hadn’t meant to fall asleep leaning against him. He didn’t realize he had until the increased brightness provided by the sunrise woke him up.

And he realized he’d spent the night so close to Dainix, and at some point while sleeping their hands had changed from Falst’s being held by Dainix’s.

Now their fingers were intertwined to hold each other close, Falst’s hands laying perfectly to fit within Dainix’s.

Judging by the slow breathing, Dainix was still asleep. Which was good, because that meant Falst could let go and it would probably go unnoticed.

And... that he could hold on a little while longer.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This was meant to be a ficlet like the others, IDK how it got so long lol. Not complaining tho, I like how it turned out :)

Remember to drink water, eat food, take your meds (if applicable), and get enough sleep. Love you all, and have a great [insert time here]! <3

[narnianvalkyrieofberk]

New year, new me! ... Or at least continuing to try and build a me I like progressively more and more. Today's step? Starting to kill the part of me that fears being cringe by posting my @comicaurora self insert OCs even tho they're super self indulgent and occasionally lore-breaking (sometime because I misread/misremembered something from the lore page; sometimes because I use them in RPs and I like watching Erin lose his shit over something that makes no sense to him :P )

One of my earlier ones. Metalcaste because y'know. Wanting to be a cool metal lady like Tess. Ended up making an AU of the og version because the og version leaves Zuurith immediately after being released from prison and ended up being @nogenderonlyvoid's self insert's bodyguard. I wrote a ficlet that involved Icarus turning down Shrike's offer to take them to breakfast their first full day outside of prison, but Icarus turned her down and left Zuurith all together instead. Of course eventually I started wondering what if she took Shrike up on her offer and that's when the second version happened.

Can you tell I have a thing for wind-fire-lightning as a tri-element combo? :P

Oh hey, this one cursed out Caliban to his face. And for once we didn't do a wind-fire-lighting combo! Progress! Expanding to new horizons! :P

This one was a wind mage until I remembered that younger races don't do elemental magic. So she ended up obsessed with lacrima instead. Frequently mistaken for a freshman his entire time at the academy. Great way for me to vent my frustrations over how people responded to my baby face in college! May or may not have a starmetal dagger in their boot.

I keep doing AUs of this one. OG version was "adopted" alongside Tess and had to hide her full-leopard form because Galen was scared of it. Then did a version where The Ruunasers only knew about the leopard form and kept her as a pet until Falst enters the mix. And more recent AU has been "Snowspot" running away from the Ruunasers shortly before Tess sparks and running into Falst and chilling with him. Ruunaser twins (Erin and @nogenderonlyvoid's oc) don't find Falst's shifter buddy is Snowspot until Petrichor

Ah yes, nothing makes a possessed elemental magus trust you more than slapping a sealing cuff and ropes on him while he's passed out from fending off a primordial void dragon! In the Junior Champion's defense, they were badly injured from the battle and wanted to make sure the Void Dragon couldn't run away with his vessel while she trying to clean and bandage her wounds. Wrote a ficlet for this one that takes place shortly after he loses his status and his arm. Got to project my obsession with looking at the moon at night.

Narni Chaosbringer who I definitely did not forget to add until after initially posting :P ^^"" God of "everything fun" or "everything chaotic and destructive" depending on if you ask them or Zuurith :P Has one (1) emissary who is also an elemental magus because I reeeaaaally wanted to fuck with Erin.

[phoebastria-albatrus]

Anygays now that we've established that drawing with blood is fine and normal actually I think I should cover Falst and Dainix in blood next. I'd have to wait for a much bigger cut to happen though which would take a while, since I'm a rather careful person. Or Trusk's eyes are redish, right? hmmm Erin's turn red when he uses fire, but that's more orange. Or I continue with the running non-Aurora list. What do you think Divorce Lawyer.

divorce lawyer here. cover falst in blood

[sodabread]

Erin [writing a wind missive]: I need a fireman, my cat is stuck in a tree…

Falst: I AM NOT STUCK

Dainix: Here to help!

Erin: Fireman not fire man—

Dainix [holds out arms]

Falst [pounces down]

Dainix [bridal carries Falst away]

Erin: ….well fine then

[falst]

KENDALS SELF DESTRUCTION HURTS EVERYONE AROUND HIM THE SELFISHNESS OF SELF SACRIFICE *SHAKES YOU*

[incorrect-comicaurora]

Falst: What the FUCK happened to you?!

Void!Erin: I HAD A CASE OF THE MONDAYS

Falst: ARE YOU HAUNTED?! ARE YOU FUCKING POSSESSED?!

Falst: YOU USED TO BE MY TEAMMATE

Void!Erin: ᴵ ᴴᴬᴰ ᴬ ᶜᴬˢᴱ ᴼᶠ ᵀᴴᴱ ᴹᴼᴺᴰᴬʸˢ

[comicaurora]

but actually like, initially I didn't have an answer to this, but without realizing it I've actually been thinking about the broad strokes of this for a while. I like comics so much because they're a deeply visual medium that lets you slip in a LOT of details that aren't central to what's going on in the plot, which is part of why I struggle so much writing prose - I love peppering in visual details and cues and little hints of what a character's really feeling by way of how they look at the time, rather than just getting inside their head or doing something more elegant in their description, but prose is not designed for this form of storytelling and it ends up cumbersome. Comics let me do a lot of cute visual storytelling, but animation is the apotheosis of that. There are so many things I think are fun little character details, but they're below the granularity of the static comic medium, but animation would let me pepper them in. Stuff like-

Kendal never moves unnecessarily! Blinking, shifting weight, even breathing seems optional for him. He goes so still it's like he's part of the landscape sometimes. Nobody else in the group does this! Not even Vash does this!

Falst may not be intentionally emotive, but his pupils, ears and tail expose how he's feeling

Alinua has a subtle but noticeable effect on any and all foliage around her, like every movement she makes sets off a breeze

The stars visibly drifting at night! Starstreams! Drifting auroras!

When Erin casts, a radiating pulse of energy flashes through the material he's controlling, centered on him or the specific point he's focusing his will on

Dainix's crucible transformation has some complex elements, namely what happens to the rest of him when the fire breaks through. It doesn't just crack or vanish, it sort of crumbles inward and flows towards his heart

tess makes metal sounds literally every time she moves

Do you have any weird specific things you'd want to put in aurora if you adapted it into an animated series?

more 👏 subtle 👏 ear 👏 movements 👏

[the-mountain-flower]

Spoilers for the webcomic Aurora page 1.22.50

Falst worried about Dainix

-----

A) This is badass

B) Their FACES

-----

Dainix: flamethrows the glort out of his lungs

Alinua: what the FUCK just happened

-----

Erin: Falst isn't dying, Dainix can breathe, NOW I can show off!

This is why we stan SickTats McHubris

[incorrect-comic-aurora-quotes]

Dainix: But what about Falst?

Erin: Don't worry about him.

Erin: I once watched him fall down 5 flights of stairs, stand up, and keep eating his hotdog like nothing happened.

[narnianvalkyrieofberk]

Boy howdy did I get extremely lucky a few days ago.

Be me, a bored adult at work with access to little more than a pen and a note book to entertain myself with between tasks

Starts writing Aurora fanfics at work because why not

Make a joke about making a Dainix/Falst arranged marriage ship fic

Realize Erin's position in canon makes him far more likely than Falst to be in an arranged marriage

Somehow end up deciding to make a fic where the canon lore has been beaten to bloody pulp and put in a blender with some random stock tropes and other things I enjoy just to see what happens also I decided Falst has two hands and all three of the bois are engaged now

It's barely started yet is somehow already my longest fic on AO3 (this is not a surprise, I write very short fics)

End up thinking "What if Erin/Falst/Dainix but omegaverse?"

Sit on that idea for a while

Go to work

Can't work on A Ferin, an Elemental Magus, and a Fiery Carrot Walk Into a Chapel because I'm stuck on a scene that I need to do some research to finish

Finally give in and start working on the fucking polyamourous mpreg omegaverse fic. AT WORK.

Thankfully, not the smut bits. But there are very clear references to omegaverse and the fact that there is an M who has been Pregged on the page

Keep notebook closed when around other people

Get hit with a bunch of work

Run around the building with my little wheeley-cart putting out metaphorical fires

Realize my notebook is missing

PANIK

Realize I can see it on the floor up ahead

KALM

Realize it's open on the floor and my manager is about 10 feet away

PANIK!!!!!

Thankfully, grab notebook before anybody else notices it and quickly stash it away where this won't happen again as I finish up putting out fires

Do my usual tear the page out and stuff it in my pocket to smuggle it home at the end of the day so I can transcribe it onto my computer later

[anaurorafanblog]

#whispers#aurora comic#While I'd love to pretend this is me back on my typical bullshit#I am le fucking terrified. Harrowed#Fix what Erin#What happened to Falst Erin#Does he have void in him Erin can you actually fix it stop making these expressions I am WORRIED#How have you managed to make me unable to even be like ah worry for friends WHAT IS HAPPENING#WILL HE BE OKAY#ANSWER ME MAN#man if hes hunger void corrupted Falst is gonna be pissed

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAÀAÄAAAAAAAAAŪĀ

[the-mountain-flower]

Spoilers for the webcomic Aurora (@comicaurora) Chapter 19: Petrichor

Erin: so how did you two get that far underground anyway?

Falst: a creepy robot with a taser butt dragged us down there

Erin: very funny. Dainix, how'd you guys get down there?

Dainix: Actually... that's exactly what happened

Erin: excuse me wtf

[the-mountain-flower]

Set after the events of Chapter 22: Daybreak.

Finished writing between 1.22.35 and 1.22.36 releases, so if this contradicts what ends up being canon then sorry.

(Let me know if you catch the Legend of Zelda reference (p.s. you can pry amputee Link from my cold, dead hands))

Dainix and Falst are safely out of the caves, and finally have time to rest. Falst needs sleep, and Dainix needs to process what happened to his arm.

Sitting in the ruin his new friends had set up camp in, back against a stone boulder, Dainix stared at the fire in the center of the camp.

He and Falst probably hadn’t spent long in that underground bunker. Still, after that experience it felt good to sit in front of a campfire without the worry of burning up all their oxygen, hitting a gas pocket, or completely burning himself out. He could just, sit here. He could appreciate the warmth and light of a small fire. When was the last time he could do that? It probably would’ve been when talking with Erin earlier, but he was still pretty wound up from their encounter with Tynan back then. Before that, it must’ve been back in the Rauan Desert, before he’d destroyed so much with an entirely different kind of fire.

Dainix shook the thought from his head, trying to dislodge the remaining guilt and homesickness he still struggled with. If Erin’s lead was correct, he could soon discover exactly what he was. From there, he could learn exactly what he was, how to use his abilities safely, and hopefully, return home.

Deep in thought, Dainix rubbed at his left arm, where he'd temporarily taken off his glove and vambrace. In that cave, it had completely burned out. He’d tried to get it back by regrowing his flame arm, hoping to transfigure it back to its original form. He'd succeeded, but the minute he felt the limb return and saw what it looked like, Dainix knew it hadn't quite worked.

To his surprise, it seemed to function just fine. On the surface it looked like a complete regrowth, minus the gray, soot-like color of his hand that didn't fade until near the elbow.

That didn't mean it felt like it was just fine. It ached viciously in a way different than any other muscle, and it felt like he'd permanently dislocated his shoulder. Looking at the darkened limb, it looked fine, but felt like someone else's arm had been stitched in its place. He knew amputees back home who'd spoken of "phantom pain," when it felt like there was a sensation in the limb that was no longer there. He supposed this was sort of similar to that, though he had no personal experience to go on.

When he and Falst were safely back at camp with the others, Alinua and Erin finally got a chance to look at their injuries (mostly Falst's, the ferin was in really bad shape). When they'd asked what happened to his arm, they were both surprised when he said it had completely burned out. Both of them told him that there wasn't any physical indication they could find that it had been gone, even though it had. They came to the conclusion that Dainix, as a Crucible, ran by different rules in this situation than any other ignan.

Losing the arm didn't sting too much. Hell, he'd somehow managed to regrow it, which he didn't really think would work when he tried.

What really stung was why. His arm looked and felt the way it did because he'd burned it out. After hours of being as careful as he could to not create fire in those caves. The anger he felt, and the desperation to save Falst, had caused him to transform into something volatile he still didn't understand.

"How're you feeling?" Falst's voice yanked Dainix from his thoughts.

Dainix looked at the ferin in surprise. Why was he asking how Dainix was feeling, when Falst himself had been so badly hurt? He was still bruised in several places, and had bandages swathed around his midsection where he'd been injured multiple times. One of his arms was bound to his shoulder with a makeshift cast that Dainix and Erin had made from the first aid materials they had. Alinua could only do so much, since it had already been broken in the fight in Zuurith several hours ago; and thanks to ferins' natural fast healing, it was more difficult to safely help with life magic.

Falst still didn't want to admit how badly he was hurting, especially since they were out of danger now. Dainix had convinced him to open up about it earlier, but that was solely for tactical reasons.

"I'm doing okay." Dainix responded as Falst sat down beside him on his right, and decided to leave out that his arm still felt awful. "What about you?"

Falst shrugged nonchalantly, but held back a wince that came from the movement, hoping Dainix didn't notice.

He did notice, but didn't say anything.

"I finally got the others to stop fussing, they really need sleep." So did the two of them, but clearly that wasn't happening right now.

"That's not what I asked." Dainix insisted. "How are you feeling?"

Falst paused for a moment, then pursed his lips. "Honestly, I feel like shit. Not as bad as before, though. I'll be fine."

"Really? Because you look like you're gonna pass out any minute now."

Falst glared at him, but there was no malice behind the expression. He just looked tired. "Don't go thinking that all the near-death stuff means we're friends or anything."

"Uh-huh," Dainix responded cynically. He hesitated before deciding to say what he was thinking. "For what it's worth, I do think of you as a friend."

Falst didn't know how to respond to that. Eventually he settled on a casual "whatever," and looked away to hide a smile that, once again, Dainix still noticed.

"You should probably sleep, you just went through a lot and you need rest." Dainix suggested.

Falst's smile dropped. "I don't need your advice." He turned back toward Dainix with a sharp look. "And you went through a lot too." He gestures towards the blackened arm. "That looks like it hurts."

Dainix winced at the bluntness of Falst's statement. After a moment of thought, he almost didn't give a full answer, but it felt wrong to encourage openness while closing himself off.

"It doesn't feel great, I'm not going to lie. Apparently there isn't anything that's physically wrong, and it works just as well as before but… it still aches and, it does hurt a bit to move."

"I'm sorry, that sounds rough." Falst said.

"Don't worry. Having a dangerous job means I knew disability was likely, even before losing my eye. Either my arm will heal or it won't, and if not I'll just have to get used to it."

"You're weirdly chill about that. Is it easier the second time or something?"

Dainix gave a small laugh, which surprised Falst. "I doubt that's it. I think I just haven't fully processed it yet after, well, everything that just happened. I'll probably have to come to terms with it again later."

"Do you think you'll come to the same conclusion then?"

"Probably. That's part of how I coped with this," he pointed to his eyepatch, "and that was amidst a lot of life upheaval." Dainix felt the now-familiar sinking in his chest that indicated homesickness return, and took a deep breath to try and calm himself down before spiraling.

"Heh. Nothing like past trauma to inform the next one, right?" Falst joked.

"Hardly."

The two laughed at the sheer absurdness of their situation. Gods, they were really tired.

Both of them fell into a comfortable silence. Whether minutes or hours passed, they didn't really care. It felt good to be able to really take a breath for as long as they needed.

Dainix felt something heavy fall onto his shoulder, and looked over to see Falst there, with his head resting on it and eyes closed.

Dainix was a little surprised, Falst didn't seem like he'd willingly do that. He must be too tired to notice.

Dainix smiled, and with his still-aching hand, grabbed a blanket from the nearby pile. (He still needed to ask how Erin fit so much in that bag.) He draped the blanket over Falst. Then gently, so as to not nudge him off or awake, he wrapped his right arm around the sleepy ferin's shoulders, and moved closer to try and make him more comfortable.

Warm, mostly asleep Falst thought. He moved closer into the comfortable warmth as he drifted off into sleep.

Soon, Dainix fell asleep too.

The two of them slept through the rest of the night and most of the next morning. No one who was conscious (which were few at any given time,) was willing to wake either of them up. They'd all had a very difficult day, and Falst and Dainix had endured an extra adventure, they needed their rest.

Plus, while Dainix cuddling was no surprise, no one had known Falst was one to cuddle too.