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Skur's affection for Andi had grown to... Incredible levels. Skur had never felt this way before, even with the other women she'd been intimate about. None of them had been as delightful and vivacious as Andi was, and none of them had inspired such profound, tender feelings in Skur. After she'd expressed her preferences for women Andi had been a little withdrawn at first, but then she'd opened up, and become even more friendly and affectionate, though still scandalized by Skur's occasionally vulgarities and manner of dress.

She'd been a little stumped in what to do about her feelings, not having experienced it before, so she decided to return to her roots. Maybe it would be easier to present her feelings if she had a trophy to go along with it, something to show her dedication and the depth of what she felt, so she wouldn't have to struggle with putting it into words.

As it turned out, going after a huge, deadly creature on her own barely a month after skirting death was a foolish errand, and she just barely managed to escape the beast before it skewered her, and she managed to limp far away enough that some centaurs picked her up and carried her back to camp.

She's been going in an out of consciousness for the whole trip, but she's awake when she sees Traenan's face hovering over her, frowning and mouthing words she can't quite hear. She slips into the darkness again before she can make sense of what he's trying to say to him.

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It had been over a month since the Zephyrite crashes, and as such Andi was no longer using her ship to pull people from burning wreckage. She still opted to stay in Dry Top, however, even after learning that her mother and sisters had not been on any of the crashed ships, and that her childhood home was still safe, afloat elsewhere in the sky. These were still her people, and she couldn't abandon them now, so instead of returning to Divinity's Reach she had made herself busy tending to the wounded, handing out rations, and protecting the refugees in any other way she could.

Besides any obligation she felt towards her fellow Zephyrites, there was another compelling reason she had stayed at the Dry Top camps. She and Skur had become very close; she spend most of her waking hours at Skur's side, tending to her wounds or pretending to for an excuse to be closer to her, and she wasn't eager to part ways with her. So when she awoke one morning and Skur was not on board her ship, she immediately took notice. After checking with the rest of her crew and fighting down a thread of panic when Vorgga tells her she had seen her limping off the ship in the earliest morning hours, and rushes off the ship into the base camp near where they were stationed. The first people she thinks to check with are Bjorn and Traenan, and she makes her way towards their medical tent as quickly as she can.

"Traenan?" she calls urgently as she enters, skipping her usual pleasantries, "Traenan, I'm looking for Skur, have you seen --"

It's only then when she recognizes the patient lying on the pallet on the ground in front of them, and she swears she feels her heart stop beating.

"Oh, merciful gods, Skur!" she cries out, both hands coming up to cover her mouth, "What did she do, what has she done?"

Traenan startles at Andi's sudden presence, though realyl he'd been expecting as much, and he holds his hands out to her in a placating gesture.

"She's all right. The centaurs brought her in a couple hours ago, they found her bleeding out in the desert. Her injuries are mostly not serious, but she did lose a lot of blood. As far as we can tell she went off on her own and caught up with something she wasn't ready to fight. Mostly because she wasn't totally healed from her last adventure," he sighs, reaching up to scratch at one of his branches, "She should be up and about by tomorrow morning, but I might keep her longer if she's just going to run off and get herself killed." Traenan's attention is called by one of the other medics, and he waves at them.

"I've gotta go. You can keep an eye on her, she should be awake soon," he says, walking off.

"Wait, why --" Andi starts, but Traenan is already walking away. She hovers over Skur's unconscious body, wiping furiously at the nervous tears that were starting to spill out of her eyes. She lifts up her shirt to check her wounds as soon as she's sure the bleeding has stopped, and the sight is enough to make her gag and stumble back. She covers her back up again, letting out a sigh of distress and, after glancing around to insure that she was truly alone, tenderly brushing her thin dreadlocks away from her face and combing her fingers gently through her hair. As she does, she feels something on Skur's head, a tiny, raised lump, and there's a small amount of blood on her fingers when she draws her hand back.

"Traenan!" she calls out, "Traenan, come back, I think there's something wrong with Skur! I think you missed something."

Traenan startles again, sharing a glance with the other medic he was assisting, who gives him a nod. He rushes back to Skur's side, a lump in his throat. He was sure he'd thoroughly checked Skur, but maybe he'd missed something.

"What? Show me where," he says, his voice more authoritative than it usually was. Andi shows him the small bump and, for a second, Traenan thinks she's joking. He glances at the expression on her face is terrified.

"She's fine," Traenan breathes, partially reassuring himself, "She must have bumped her head when she fell. Scalp injuries tend to bleed a lot, even when they're minor." He puts his hand over the bump, and it glows faintly for a moment before fading, "There. All healed." He pulls back, hesitating for a moment, looking at the scared and relieved expression on Andi's face, and he can't help but smile a little at the expression because he's sure that's the same face he'd been wearing when he'd been tending after Bjorn, several years ago.

Andi heaves a shaky sigh, touching a hand to her chest and kneels back down onto the ground beside her. After a moment she lightly touches Skur's arm, despite the fact that Traenan was still in the room with her, and dabs at her eyes with one finger, sniffling heavily.

"God, you reckless --" she stammers, her voice shaking, and she turns to Traenan, blinking more tears out of her eyes, "Why is she like this? Do you have any idea what in the world she was trying to do? I just can't --"

She removes her hand from Skur's shoulder, balling it instead into a fist in her skirts.

"I can't imagine what compels her to do things like this!" she blubbers, "Treating her own life and safety with such little regard, without a thought for the people who care about her and would--"

Her expression hardens a bit at the look on Traenans face, and her pitch escalates significantly.

"Why are you giving me that look?" she asks, "I haven't said anything. Not that there's anything to say, there isn't. Of course I care about her, there's nothing -- stop it!"

Her wet cheeks flush darkly, and she turns her face away.

"A-and even if there were more to it than that," she stammers, swallowing a lump as her heart thuds in her chest, "Which there isn't, but there's nothing -- it isn't -- I can't -- don't you have other patients to attend to?"

Traenan's eyes go wide at Andi's raised voice, opening his mouth to answer, but Andi seems to carry on the argument herself.

"I... Yes," he says, a little stunned. He'd known of Skur's affection for Andi, but had been less sure of Andi returning it, that is, until this moment. He takes half a step back and then hesitates, turning back to Andi and biting his lip.

"I know it's not... my business, but... She cares a great deal about you," he looks past Andi, to where Skur was still passed out, "I don't think she meant to worry you."

Andi's flush darkens, and she opens her mouth to say something biting and dismissive, but swallows her comment, simply nodding instead.

"I'm...sorry I called you away from your work," she says, looking at him out of the corner of her eye without turning to face him, "You can...leave us. I'll watch her."

Tentatively, she slides a shaking hand down her thigh, taking Skur's much larger hand gently into her own and pulling it into her lap, her eyes fixed on the ground as she lightly strokes her dainty fingers over Skur's palm.

Traenan can't help but smile down at Andi, warmed by her antics, and he nods.

"I'll leave her in your care," he says, and as he walks away he thinks about finding Bjorn and taking a little break.

~

It's a few minutes before Skur starts to stir, groaning and shifting a little on the mat. Her eyes flutter open and the first thing she sees is Andi, a wide, almost delirious smile growing on her face.

"I think we've been here before," she says, her voice hoarse and gravelly, "Am I dreaming?"

Andi feels a great wave of relief when Skur rouses, mixed with the most intense frustration she'd ever felt, and the two of them combined bring big, wet tears spilling down her cheeks.

"No, you're not," she half-shouts, her voice broken open, "And you're lucky you're bedridden because if you weren't I would throttle --"

She can't finish the sentence because she knows she doesn't mean it, not in the least, and her grip on Skur's hand tightens.

"Are you in much pain?" she cries, wiping her eyes furiously, "What in the world were you thinking, Skur, you ridiculous -- just -- why?"

Andi's shouting startles Skur out of her daze, and she blinks at Andi, whose tone softens almost immediately. Skur frowns at the tears in Andi's eyes, squeezing her hand and then reaching out to cup her face, wiping away a tear on her cheek, feeling guilty for putting it there.

"I'm sorry for worrying you," she says, dropping her hand back down to the bed, "I... Feel all right." She doesn't mention the constant, sharp ache, and she looks away, considering how to answer Andi's other question. She doesn't want to say what she'd been doing, and admit to her failure, but... She looks back up at Andi and the expression on her face convinces her to tell the truth.

"I was... Attempting to get a trophy," she says haltingly, "...For you."

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