unreality, part one

anders and alex are @whump-sprite ‘s ocs.

“Please…” Lux whines as he’s moved, pulled up limply from the floor back up to the chair. “Please, don’, don’t.”

He’s boneless in their grips on his arms. Someone puts a hand into his curls and pushes so his head tips to the side; he feels a pinch at his neck. The needle slides back out, and Lux feels that dizzying fog clogging up his mind. It’s so disorienting, he barely registers the light touch at his temple. Something’s pressed into his hand, after the manacles click shut around his wrists, and someone whispers in his mind, It’s Alex.

Lux’s vision swims, and he sees his friend, the healer, collapsed on the floor. His skin is gray, dark circles etched under his eyes, shallow breaths huffing out from his nose. Lux falls to his knees next to him, hands hovering in worry.

“Alex - Alex - what happened?”

Lips drained and pale form the breathless words, “Healed ‘em… healed too many… people, needed my help…” in a faint whisper. Alex is shivering with the cold of having rooted out too much magic.

“Okay, I’ll - Alex, I’ll help, I’ll give you some of mine, don’t - don’t stop breathing.” Lux takes his friend’s frigid fingers in his hand and focuses hard, starts pouring his magic into the healer.

“Please… please, they - they’re gonna -” Alex trembles. “Ran out of magic… gonna hurt me.”

“No, nobody’s gonna h-hurt you.” Lux shivers, once, beginning to feel cold himself. “Nobody’s gonna hurt you, I promise, I’ll - you need more - no, I have, I have lots of m-magic, you’ll be okay…”

The caretakers, in their uniforms, watch Lux to make sure he doesn’t kill himself yet as he pours his magic into the gem. He’s one hell of a power source. The woman who slipped easily into his mind stands behind him, one finger brushing against his temple now and again to whisper encouragements in his mind, painting the image of Lux sacrificing his strength to save a friend.

“‘onna help y-you, I - I prom-mise,” Lux slurs deliriously, eyes lost. His magic flows slower and slower, into the crystal, until it’s taken from him and he frowns in confusion.

You healed him, whispers the mind-strider, and Lux sees color return to Alex before him, sees Alex breathing better and muttering, “Thank you, thank you, Lux.”

Lux gives a wobbly smile, relaxing in the chair he’s strapped into. Then, another crystal’s pressed to his palm, and his fingers are pressed down around it to keep it there.

It’s Anders, he hears in his head, and everything warps before him. Now, Anders is crumpled on the floor, his leg twisted and mangled, his chest hitching in agony.

“Lux,” He pants, eyes wide with pain - he looks like that when Maura’s hurt him - Lux can smell the burns, can see them around the edges of Anders’ back where it’s pressed to the floor.

“Lux, f-fuck - please.”

With a cry of distress, Lux thrusts his palms toward his ruined friend and pours healing magic into him, gasping at how deeply it hurts, how cold he feels, like he’ll never be warm again. Anders is begging, his voice cracking - Lux’s magic, in healing that leg, cracks and twists it back into place to set it straight, and Anders starts crying.

Lux starts crying too, so someone whispers, It’s working, it’s getting better, and Lux sees Anders sigh in relief as his leg finally clunks into a position that doesn’t grate nerves between shards of bone. Both of Lux’s hands are over that leg, pouring and pouring magic, mending and weaving - Anders hisses, “My back, it’s - fucked, it’s -”  So Lux scoots forward and turns him onto his side, apologizing, then trying to repair the wrecked burnt up skin there.

“I’m so s-sorry, Anders, I know it hurts, I’ll fix it,” He promises. But then his vision swims, and his stomach drops as the hallucination melts away.

“W-what…” Lux blinks drowsily, looking around for Anders. He’s gone now. “He - he’s…”

“You healed him,” A woman answers calmly, patting his cheek. Lux flinches. “You healed his leg, and the burns. You did a good job, Lux. You saved Anders.”

“I - s-saved him? ‘s okay?”

“Yes, you did.”

“Is he m-m-mad at me?”

“No, no, he loves you very much. You’re a wonderful friend. You even saved Alex.” Lux’s cold fingers are held in very warm hands as the metal releases his wrists and his limp arms are held so he can be lifted to his feet. He sways, and is lowered to the ground, where he doesn’t even bother to curl up. “You saved your friends.”

Lux chokes back a dry sob of relief. The room is emptied of people he didn’t notice yet, and she doesn’t look back. Lux presses his forehead against the floor and breathes shakily, curling his fingers into his shirt so he can try to warm them. “‘s okay,” He whispers to himself. “‘s okay, did - did a, a g-good job.” Alex and Anders, they’re alive, they’re healed, they’re not aching with depleted magic or crying with the pain of burns and shattered bodies. “‘s okay.”