of Kalai’s shirt to stop his fall. Tossing the kettle aside, he tried to keep Kalai’s head from hitting the floor, but the added weight made his left leg buckle and they tumbled to the ground.
“Shit!” Tauran scrambled to sit. He rubbed his wrist, red spots already blossoming where the water from the kettle had splashed. “Kalai?”
Kalai’s eyes were closed. Tauran shook him by the shoulder. Kalai’s head lolled to the side with no resistance.
Tauran’s heart pounded when he lowered his head to Kalai’s chest. His heartbeat was steady and his chest rose and fell with even breaths. Tauran placed a hand against his brow. He felt neither hot nor clammy.
Skies damn it. Tauran wasn’t a doctor. He didn’t know what to do. He hesitated. Should he go outside and call for help? Was it even a good idea to leave Kalai alone?
Before he could decide, a soft groan made him look down.
Kalai’s eyes were narrow slits, but he was awake. His hand searched aimlessly in the air, and when Tauran took it, Kalai returned his grasp. His hand was surprisingly soft.
“Hey.” Tauran lay his other hand against the side of Kalai’s face to help direct his swimming gaze. “You collapsed.”
“Damn it.” Kalai’s voice was rough. He squeezed his eyes closed. He looked positively miserable. “I’m really sorry.”
“What? You couldn’t help it.”
“No, I mean... I should have told you.” He groaned again and pressed a hand against his temple. “This... happens, sometimes. It’s fine. I’m fine. Just... Oh! The tea!” He tried to sit up, but his muscles gave out, clearly not ready for that amount of movement.
Tauran caught the back of Kalai’s head before he could hurt himself. “It’s all right. I handled it.”
Kalai tried to sit again, slower this time. Tauran helped him up with a hand on his shoulder.
“Are you hurt?” Tauran asked.
Kalai shook his head. “Just bumped my elbow.” He rubbed it and sighed, averting his eyes. “I really should have said something. I’m sorry if I scared you.”
“I was only scared for a minute. No harm done,” Tauran said, slowly. He searched Kalai’s face, mind still reeling to catch up. “What happened?”
“It’s just... awkward,” Kalai admitted, covering half his face with a hand. That delicate blush spread across his cheeks again, and enough of Tauran’s anxiety had lessened for him to find it quite endearing. “I don’t... like telling people. I’m not contagious. I really am fine, most of the time.” Kalai said the last words firmly and searched Tauran’s face as if looking for evidence of Tauran thinking otherwise.
Kalai’s words touched something inside Tauran. “Trust me, I know what you mean.”
Kalai’s eyes flicked to Tauran’s left leg. Tauran knew he’d seen. It had been obvious when he’d stormed from the archive, and since returning, it hadn’t been on Tauran’s mind to hide it. But Kalai hadn’t looked at him weirdly or kept his distance. That thought filled Tauran with a kind of warmth he didn’t know what to do with.
Kalai covered a yawn with the back of a hand. The circles under his eyes were, if possible, even darker than before. “I need to lie down for a moment.”
“No problem.” Tauran glanced at the stairs. He wasn’t sure he trusted either of them to make it to the top unscathed. Instead, he searched the room for something at least a little comfortable, and spotted what looked like a low padded bench camouflaged by loose papers and scrolls.
Using the desk to pull himself up, Tauran tested the strength of his leg and headed for the bench, collecting the papers and placing them in a pile on the floor. He returned to Kalai, wondering if he might be opposed to being picked up. But then Kalai reached out, and Tauran slipped his arm across his back.
“I can’t lift you,” Tauran said, “so you gotta help me out.”
Kalai nodded, bottom lip rolled between his teeth in concentration.
Tauran grabbed the edge of the desk with his other hand and brought them to a stand with a groan. His leg gave a sharp twinge, but he didn’t let it show. He tried not to focus on the feeling of Kalai’s firm, slender body pressed against his side, how surprisingly small his waist was compared to Tauran’s own. This wasn’t the time for that sort of thing.
Kalai paused, adjusting his weight against Tauran’s side before nodding faintly. Tauran helped him to the bench and watched Kalai curl up on it. It wasn’t quite long enough for his body, but he