It was silent for a long...long time...
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
Feeling returned to your numb limbs, a consciousness to your aching mind. Laying still, you let the atmosphere absorb in slowly through your senses. Warmth was all around you, encompassing mainly the upper half of your body. Where the warmth lacked most was around your legs and feet. Such were wet. Most of your clothes were dry, but your socks and shoes especially weren't. Your baggy brown pants and navy blue shirt were for the most part dry. Only here and there were they still a little damp from the night before.
--The night before!!
Your body convulsed as you remembered what had all gone down the other night. The fear. The death. The running. Your frantic breathing picked up, heavy eyes snapping open. Though you were in no condition to move -- heck, you were on the verge of fainting again -- you prepared yourself for running if you had to. Your uncertain eyes landed on mostly teal. A blueish teal. The color reminded you of Herobrine's shir-
"-M'rrrrr..." A deep tune vibrated against your body. Herobrine growled a warning as his arms gripped you tighter. He pulled himself closer to you, folded over you in his lap like a taco. Your breaths ceased for a moment as the realization came that the source of the warmth was in fact the man's own body heat. The one who had just killed your friends the other night and almost killed you was now sitting criss-cross, you sitting sideways in his folded lap. His skin was much warmer than what was typical for even him. And not to mention, his chest was pressed so snugly against yours that you could feel his soft heartbeat. Your left arm struggled to lift itself. When it had finally reached a high enough point, you used the stiff limb to tap the man's head of hair. One arm flung outward, snatching your hand. "Stop moving." He growled again. You startled by the suddenness. Herobrine sighed, calming himself after seeing what he had done. "Hhhh.... Sorry. I am glad you are conscious again... It is mid-day." Your eyes widened slightly.
"H-ho-ho...how..?"
"Shhh, shhhh... Preserve your strength... You..can barely keep your natural temperature as it is..." Herobrine sorta half whispered. Slowly, he lowered your hand back to your side. Your muscles relaxed a little, the warmth of his embrace both needed and unwanted at the same time.
"...'M tired..."
"Then sleep.." The answer was so simple... So easy... But you didn't really want to. Instead, you just listened to the leaves shaking a little under the weight of the invisible wind. Small birds chirped and flapped around, living their lives as normal. Were you in the same place as last night? If so, did that mean the bodies of your friends were still laying lifelessly nearby..? The thought alone sickened you. Existence itself sickened you.
You started squirming. "Mmm..wanna go house..." You groaned. Herobrine squeezed you tighter to hold you in place, careful not to touch the right side of your body.
"We will when I don't have to worry about injuring you while teleporting. Stay still so you can heal faster." Herobrine growled back.
"Bu-walkin'?" You pointed out.
"Still too much movement."
"I feel fine!" You wined your little protest, pushing weakly against him. The thought of losing his heat though wasn't the gayest(old def), since you were so frigid, your own skin barely producing enough heat on its own!
"Mmmhhhh.. Fine... But I'm going to be very slow and gentle with you..alright?"
You couldn't help but smirk weakly. "Mmh, that's what he said- heheh." Your short laughter quickly turned into pathetic whimpers of pain. Herobrine lifted his upper body from you, frowning for two reasons.
"Do I really have to ban jokes, too?"
"Noo.." You groaned, leaning your head back down on the man's thigh. After a silent moment given to the two of you mentally preparing, Herobrine shifted his arms around you and moved his underneath. Then, he was up, holding you like a poor child. You diverted your eyes from the bodies. They were still there...
One foot extended, and carefully it landed. Herobrine made sure not to walk too quickly as to not jostle your aching form. You stayed still, every muscle you had control over stiffening. Through the shrubs the man trudged, over the grass he trampled. Everything was still dewy and wet from last night's storm, making it appear as though every surface was sprinkled with glitter. Your eyes fought to stay open. Your mind fought to stay awake. Noticing your struggle, Herobrine frowned faintly down at you.
"Just sleep."
"No." You whispered.
"Hhhhh..." The man then shifted one of his arms to touch your head. "Sleeep..." He calmly whispered. A strange power overtook you. The world around you darkened. Perhaps...if you were back to your normal health...you could have fought it...but you were too tired for that.
--------------------------------------
You drifted out of your sleep slowly at the sound of new voices. Prying your eyes open, you saw Manfrid was standing nearby, directly facing the man holding you as the two spoke. Their voices were too muffled to hear what either were saying properly. You blinked the blurriness away. You felt a small holding one of your limp ones. Struggling to life your head, you tiredly smiled down at the little girl. The talking suddenly stopped as everyone noticed you were awake.
"...She needs water most of all...and maybe another healing potion, though.. regeneration potions might work better for her condition." Herobrine spoke softly, his voice just barely vibrating against your skin.
"I have only one regeneration potion right now... It's pretty faint. I- I'll get to making another, though." Manfrid offered. Herobrine simply nodded at the idea.
"That would help a lot. Thanks." Then, the man sat with you slowly on the couch. You were seated beside him, leaning against his warm body since you were still so cold. Ava quietly followed you two, staring at her aunt like a little puppy. She started to climb up the couch to join you, but Herobrine growled at her. You slapped his chest. "Whaat? That's your injured side."
"You could just tell her that instead of rudely growling." You huffed at the man. He sighed, seeing your point.
"Anna, as long as you don't touch Aunt (Y/n)'s right side...you can sit on her lap." Herobrine said, his right arm scooting closer to rest on your shoulders and warm them as well. Anna happily followed along with that plan, jumping up onto your lap she scooted against chest, trapped between leaning away from Herobrine and staying clear of your largest injury. After some shifting around, the little girl found her place and laid the back of her head near your collarbone. You happily placed a little kiss on the top of her head. Herobrine flinched beside you. You turned your head to him in confusion, catching a faint shade of pink on the man's face.
"..What was that about?" Squinting. He didn't turn his head to show he was paying you any attention, though you had a feeling he was watching you through the corner of his eyes.
"The noise probably startled me."
"The noise? It was so faint."
"It was still a noise, wasn't it??" You laughed, ending in more pathetic whimpers. Herobrine's hand landed on yours and gently squeezed it as you convulsed with pain. Once you were finished, your eyes rose to the man again, smiling curiously up at the man.
"You....genuinely care about me...don't you..?" Immediately, Herobrine released your hand.
"Y-you are a powerful asset, is all... It would be difficult to find a replacement." Purposefully moving his face away from you so you couldn't view it. You didn't know what you wanted more... To believe him or to not believe him... You decided believing him would be easier. Simpler. Less muddled and ridden with confusion. You sighed, leaning against the man for neck support.
He wasn't opposed to it.
Ending the bittersweet moment, Herobrine the bitter, Anna the sweet, Manfrid arrived with a dark pink potion in his hand and a large glass of water in the other.
"For the lady~" The old chap kindly offered the water first. Your arms reached out, surprised by how heavy something as simple as a glass of water was. Nevertheless, you had little trouble pulling it to your mouth and drinking about half of it before you had your fill. Then you were handed the awkwardly shaped, rounded bottle of potion. This one wasn't quite as thick, nor as magical looking. When in your mouth, the taste startled your tongue. It fizzed inside your mouth, small bubbles hopping around happily. After you had swallowed all you could of that, you waited..then burped. Anna giggled on your lap. You wanted to laugh again, but knew how that would end. There was no immediate feeling of improvement. A little disappointing, but, oh well.. that's just been your life these past few months...
Though your sitting up position was a little uncomfortable, you started to doze off. Realizing you were doing so, Herobrine's head turned to the enderman who was standing in the kitchen, washing dishes with two large rubber gloves on.
"Do you know where we could lay down?"
"We?"
"Uhm... I guess Anna's bed is large enough." The elderman spoke from out of sight.
"Thanks." Herobrine then lifted Anna off of you, picked you up carefully, and carried you into the one and only other room. The space was decently sized. In the center of the room facing the door was a longer thin bed with two night stands on either side. Along the left wall was a door to the bathroom and along the right was a curtained area. Herobrine pried past the lavender curtain to reveal a very differently decorated space. The center of the room was all dreary, grey, and simplistic. Beyond the curtain, however, was an explosion of color. Stuffed animals...everywhere! An entire corner was dedicated to the little girl's stuffed collection. You were impressed. The girl was getting downright spoiled here.
Herobrine kicked his shoes off and with one socked foot brushed some of the stuffed toys off of the little one's unmade twin size bed. The balancing act he pulled off was honestly impressive. Herobrine sat you down on the bed to take off your shoes as well.
"Wai-wai-..wait. We're not seriously going to sleep together, are we?!" Your eyes began to widen. The man answered with a huff.
"Feel your body right now..? You can't create enough body heat in to possibly heal quickly enough." He said as he yanked off your socks. Then he teleported away, returning shortly after with newly washed hands. "Blankets will only hold in the heat you can produce... You could get sick, or worse, if I don't join you.." His logic...at least made some sense. Anna arrived in her room just as Herobrine was urging you to get under the blankets. He stood over you holding a corner of the blanket, one knee resting on the mattress already.
The little girl covered her eyes with her hands, mumbling, "Mommy and Daddy told me grown-ups aren't supposed to be in the same bed unless they're married..." A few of her fingers pried apart to watch the two of you awkwardly standing or sitting.
"...This is the exception." Herobrine spoke.
"Oh.." Your niece in innocently stepped back.
"Hey, Anna." You grabbed her attention before she could flee. "You can join me if you want." You offered. Anna smiled widely again. Herobrine stared down at you.
"Really?!"
"Hhh, really?"
Herobrine scooted past you and laid down with his back against the wall. You laid down on your side, hissing only a little as you forced your right side to lay on the mattress, and Anna laid down on her side as well in front of you. You wrapped your arms around Anna and Herobrine laid an arm over you. He draped the thick, soft blanket over the three of you. The man behind you's temperature started to rise higher than average again.
Anna was happy to see you again. It was sad how much she had to worry for you. She never thought about how bad fighting can be. All the blood and pain... Maybe she didn't want to be a soldier like her aunt, after all..?
Herobrine was confused. Though all seemed well, that terrible, gut wrenching feeling had returned. The same one that had lead him to flee from 303's palace in the first place! That feeling of weakness was stronger than ever now. Yet...at the same time...he felt oddly..safe? Such a primitive feeling he had come to expect he would never feel again.
And you... Though mentally you were uncomfortable, physically you were in pain, and emotionally you were in shambles... You were alright. Things were looking up for once...sort of.
Despite the discomforting warmth the man behind you brought, you found yourself drifting into the dark nothingness of sleep. Eyes slipping closed again, you rested.