#ves/kurt | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

queen-scribbles · 4 months

Note

[ HUSH ]: while standing close to one another and hiding from pursuers, the sender reaches up and places a finger against the receiver’s lips to prevent them from speaking and revealing their location. For Ves/Kurt 👀

*shows up 8.5 months later to start the new year with (sorta tweaked from the prompt) hurt/comfort fic and sincere apologies to Kurt*

ALSO a yecht fradi term I borrowed from my beloved @haledamage

---

The undergrowth crashed and cracked behind them, and normally Vesper would've worried about leaving a trail. But she had more pressing concerns than broken foliage, no matter the potential pursuit and their plans regarding her.

Namely, in ascending order, the ragged edge to Kurt's breathing, how heavily he was leaning on her, and the massive bloodstain spreading down his leg that was responsible for the former two.

He stumbled and her heart skipped a beat, grip instinctively tightening on his belt. "Almost there," she panted, scanning for the familiar landmarks.

Vesper all but dove into the cave when the vague promise of its mouth materialized through the treeline. She sent up a prayer of thanks the tenlens hadn't moved back in as they stumbled toward the far edge of the first chamber and she eased Kurt down to sit on a small outcropping, half-hidden in a niche along the wall.

He pulled a hissing breath, voice rough when he spoke, "Are... are they still coming?"

"Not sure." Vesper had already hit her knees next to him, attention more on the deep gash across the outside of his thigh than the entryway. "Maybe. Or maybe that last grenade did the trick."

She'd owe Aphra effusive thanks if that were the case. Maybe her own laboratory.

Kurt leaned his head back against the wall and gave a quiet growl--whether pain, frustration, or some mingling of the two Vesper wasn't sure.

She was sure this wound was a bigger threat than any pursuing group of bandits, no matter how tenacious or well-equipped. Her hands were slicking with a frankly alarming amount of blood, especially considering how much he'd already lost. "Kurt-"

"We shouldn't count on them being gone," he grit out. His gaze darted around the cavern, lit with recognition--and remembering the detail that made it so appealing a hiding spot to her. His fingers circled her upper arm and he tried to tug her to her feet. "You should keep going--"

Vesper slipped his grasp--too easily; he was stronger than that--as she shook off her doublet. "No."

"You can... get out one of the back ways, a-and I'll-"

"You'll what?!" she hissed, struggling out of her shirt while keeping one hand pressed to the wound. For all the good it was doing.

"They're after you, Green Blood, I can slow them down-" Kurt sucked in another sharp, pained breath even as he tried again to push her toward the passageways out and staggered to his feet.

"How, you can barely stand," Vesper snapped. She yanked him back down by his belt and balled up her shirt against his leg. "Sit still. I'm not leaving you, anyway."

He gave her a look, sharp, almost desperate, a muscle in his jaw working as she pushed more firmly, and reached to trace his fingers down her cheek. "Ves. It's my duty as your bodyguard--"

Vesper's heart was pounding as she pressed a finger to his lips to shush him(instead of flicking him in the forehead, which was very tempting when he was like this). "It's your duty as my husband to be here for me," she retorted. Even in the dim light filtering through the cave entrance she could see how pale he was and it terrified her. "How're you planning to do that if you're dead, falaig wis?"

That shut him up.

Of course, given that they hadn't been discovered by ransom-minded bandits and there was no way potential pursuit was this far behind, they were probably safe regardless. That wasn't the point here. The point was Kurt's damnable determination to die for her and how it equally frustrated and scared her(he was not worth any less than her; she didn't want to lose him).

Silence stretched between them, broken by the rasp of his breathing--labored from more than their run through the woods--and a couple worried hums from Vesper.

"Kurt?" she finally nudged.

She didn't like the amount of effort it took for him to straighten and focus on her. "...mm?"

"Pressure alone isn't doing the trick." She bit her lip. She hated to make him move, especially with where the wound was, but the bleeding hadn't stopped and she was not losing him. "We need to elevate it."

Probably should have done that from the first, but she'd had a few problems she was trying to manage simultaneously. Besides, Kurt would never have agreed while he thought there was an active threat. Maybe now she could convince him, since no threat had materialized.

To her vast relief, Kurt nodded and started shifting toward the edge of his makeshift seat. "Guess... guess we're safe enough if they haven't followed us by now..."

"At least from that," Vesper murmured, helping him get settled as best she could while still keeping pressure on the wound. She rolled up her doublet--clumsily--to serve as a pillow, and braced his leg against the ledge he'd been sitting on for elevation. "Talk to me while I work, love, hmm?" She tried to keep her voice steady, upbeat. "Don't fall asleep." Not yet.

"Yes'm," Kurt mumbled with a faint smile at her admonishment. There was a beat, and then, "Do I wanna know what... falaig wis means?"

This smile was genuine if shaky as she looked (in vain) for a clean portion of shirt to press against his leg. The whole thing was already crimson. "Rocks for brains. Roughly."

He chuckled, shifting his shoulders in search of a more comfortable position on the cave floor. "Learn... learn that from Síora, did you?"

"Derdre, actually, if you want to be technical," Vesper said, repositioning the compress and wincing in twined sympathy and apology when it earned a pained grunt. "Though knowing it now, Síora did mutter it under her breath several times about us both while we were doing our pining but I refuse to admit it dance."

"Ah." Kurt was quiet for long enough she almost poked him to make sure he wasn't drifting off. "Are... Aren't you cold, Ves?"

The words had her abruptly, acutely aware of the gooseflesh across her shoulders and down her arms in the chill cavern. "I'll be fine," she said, suppressing an ill-timed shiver. "And I mean that. Hold still and let me take care of you, you can worry about me later."

"I don't recall you ever being this demanding b'fore, Green Blood," he commented, and it would have sounded like a joke if not for the ragged strain tugging at his voice.

"Yes, well, you've never been bleeding to death around me before," Vesper said dryly. It had dripped on her trousers, she noted, after they changed positions, small scarlet stains setting in the fabric. This entire outfit was a loss and she didn't give a fig. "New circumstances and all that."

She peeked under the bloodstained shirt. It looked to have finally stopped. Vesper nearly collapsed back against the wall, shuddering in relief.

Kurt started to move again, reaching for the doublet-pillow as if to offer it back to her.

"Don't. Move." It was halfway between an order and a plea, her hand on his shoulder to push him back down. "The bleeding finally stopped so I can do something about it. If you move it might start up again."

"Something?" Kurt parroted, though he did relax. His eyes drifted closed, but opened again before she could prod him. "You bring along a healer's kit I missed somehow?"

She shook her head, tucking back loose hair as she set aside the ruined shirt. Today was supposed to be for them, a stolen moment from her duties, not a mission of any sort and definitely not whatever it had devolved into. "The healing, from my bond to the island. With the bond stronger now, the healing is, too." She gently wiped drying blood away from the wound, wincing again at how deep it was as she cupped her hands over it. "So I can handle more serious injuries."

He nodded and watched her silently, the golden glow of her work turning his eyes from grey to something molten in the dim cavern.

The warmth of the magic seeped through her, banishing the shadowy chill, and Vesper gave a convulsive shiver when it faded.

Kurt levered himself up to sitting with a grunt, draping her doublet around her shoulders. "My turn to worry and insist you stop being stubborn," he murmured, before she could protest, brushing a kiss to her temple. "Especially on my account."

"But it's part of my duty to be stubborn on your account," Vesper countered, slipping her arms in the sleeves. It felt odd to wear the doublet with nothing but a breastband underneath, but her shirt was far beyond redemption. "As your wife." She turned her focus to her handiwork. She would've like to check it before he moved, however the wound looked healed. It had left its mark, though; a thick, viney scar angled up the outside of Kurt's thigh. She traced a finger along it. "As was this."

He was watching her with a mingle of so many emotions in his eyes she couldn't parse them all, but fond amusement won out. "And tellin' me I have rocks for brains? Is that another of those duties, wife?"

Vesper laughed, giddy on fading adrenaline now that all forms of danger were past. "Only when you're acting like it, husband."

He was still worryingly pale from all the blood he'd lost, but there wasn't much she could do for the beyond make him rest. Fortunately she knew a way to make that a more enticing prospect. Vesper shifted to lean back against a relatively comfortable section of the wall and tugged him with her.

"Mind, I might not be able to argue it for today," Kurt muttered as he complied, settling in with his head on her chest. "I lost my sword, in the mess of things."

She snorted. Oh, yes, that's what makes you falaig wis from the past couple hours. Not trying to get me to leave you while you were bleeding out. But she kept the glib thought to herself.

"It's child's play to get another, Kurt," she said instead, with a small fond laugh. Half the blacksmiths on the island would trip over themselves to say they filled a commission for New Sérène's legate.

"You bought that one," he mumbled into her chest.

"Is this sentimentality I hear?" she teased lightly, least-bloody fingers tracing circles on his temple while she tried to rub the other hand clean against her trousers. Go sleep, love. "It wasn't a gift, or a special occasion, or anything that should trouble you about replacing it, darling." With that hand reasonably free of blood, she ran her fingers through his hair before settling her arm around his shoulders. "But if you're attached to the old one and would rather retrace our steps and look for it, we can. After you rest."

"Mmm." She wasn't sure if the rumbling hum was agreement or thanks or something else entirely, but given he relaxed more heavily against her a moment later, it was irrelevant.

Vesper smiled and curled forward to kiss the top of his head. "Sweet dreams," she whispered, then settled back to enjoy the quiet of the cave and the weight of her very much alive husband pinning her down until he woke.

They could work out getting home then, once she knew what sort of shape he was in. For now, she was going to focus on the rise and fall of his shoulders as he breathed and be grateful circumstance or duty hadn't claimed him.

And start planning out that laboratory she almost definitely owed Aphra in thanks.

#queens fic #eyes emoji prompts #vesper de sardet #kurt #kurt greedfall #ves/kurt #greedfall #thought process: only way these two would be running is if one of them was hurt -> but which one? -> *flips coin* ->#yeah he's probably happier this way tbh -> deal with vesper-muse panic attacks

8 notes · View notes