Larksong Grotto Imaginary hands folding over you

For either @Mireille or Lestan, not sure what you might have in mind <3

Kelsier was faithful in his vigil over the wounded man while Erzulie was away. He spent a lot of time studying him, taking stock of each bruise and scrape he could find. The guy was pretty torn up. Kel felt bad for him, but at the same time he dreaded what was ahead of him. Staying here, waiting for this stranger to wake up, waiting to see if the creature which had wounded him might appear.
How long would he be kept away from Riverclan? He busied himself with arranging flowering plants around the sleeping man. Soothing scents for him to wake up to. A pretty place to heal. These were things The Evergarden would have provided, and so Kel felt compelled to live up to that standard. Anything less would have been an insult to his upbringing.

he dreamt he wept he babbled he spoke he cried out he screamed he slept.
the kaleidescope of images danced beneath his fervent eyelids.
but wake from dreams lestan did not — not yet.
not for some hours, and then he came vitally alive with a gasp and an aching plead for "water."
he scrabbled weakly in the dust for the deer-bone.

The stranger's sleep was not peaceful, and when he woke, it was all at once. Kel stood immediately and moved to bring him water, but not before uttering a single firm word: Chill. Whether or not the man listened, he did not move to intervene. Instead he brought him water, and stood back while he waited for him to calm down.
You're safe, Kel thought to add, because he wasn't sure he would feel safe after waking from an experience like this. Not at first. He'd barely been able to accept peace when Crowfeather found him, and he hadn't been nearly as messed up as this guy.

"reverie. the golden doe, with the blue eyes. she came to me, rev, she is —" and he was holding the man's forearm, shaking him a little, when a spasm of muscles clutched his body and he fell back, insensate.
when lestan returned to himself, it was in chagrined lucidity. he peered around for the man again, finding him quite flesh and blood. the bone felt solid in his paw. "where am i?"

He was speaking nonsense. Kelsier only nodded along, taking in this information in stoic silence. A golden doe with blue eyes. Reverie. It sounded like something from a story, or perhaps from the legends of The Evergarden. But it was not real, and he pitied the man for his feverish delusions. He was very still while the wounded stranger gripped him, but stepped closer with ears pulling forward in concern when he fell back.
And came awake again, normal. Seemingly normal. A grotto, Kel explained, watching him closely. You're badly hurt. A cat did it. Do you remember? He would need to know exactly how damaged this man's mind was, if he would be a danger to Erzulie. There was no doubt in his mind now that the stranger was unfit to have ever even taken his trial. But Kel couldn't judge.
He hadn't either.

a cat;
her purring, velveteen french!
julien — lestan nodded. "i remember her. we spoke about the golden deer. my — my — reverie, she was bleeding, you see, and — i went out, i went out to find this god. but i found the cat instead."
queen of shadows.
he drew a quavering breath. "i'm lestan mayfair, of swiftcurrent creek. and you are? and — there was one other, wasn't it?"

Kelsier resisted the urge to frown as the man went on. It was worse than he'd hoped, but not quite so bad as to be dangerous, he thought. The man — Lestan — seemed harmless enough, if a little touched. But Kel was having a hard time making sense of his story, and knew from experience that most mad tales held some hint of the truth.
Call me Kel. The other one's Erzulie. She'll be back, Swiftcurrent Creek, he'd said. Kel would have to ask Erzulie if she knew of the pack when she returned. Tell me more about Reverie. He prompted. A doe, bleeding. Had Lestan done it himself? A hunt gone wrong maybe, a blow to the head — that would make sense.

"she's — gold, like the deer. i knew her before, when i lived beside the lake that burned. and the doe, the one here, well — they're the same. they're," and his voice trailed.
it was nonsense! wasn't it? wasn't it?
erzulie. he didn't know the sound of the name, and laid back in consternation.
"how long have i been here? and you?" kel.

It was nonsense. Kelsier was beginning to suspect that Reverie was not really a deer, but then, what was she? A figment of Lestan's imagination, or a wolf like them? If she was a wolf, and he had left her bleeding, then she would need help too — and that was a stressful thought. One Kel wasn't ready to face just yet.
Not sure. Found you earlier today, He lingered on the words for a moment before he continued. Where did you meet the cat? And can you tell me where Swiftcurrent Creek is from there? Kel thought it best to leave this talk of the deer, or whatever she was, behind for now. If Swiftcurrent Creek was nearby, this whole situation could be sorted quickly, and then Lestan's delusions would not be his problem at all.

lestan frowned. "i'm not sure." and he really was not. a long-suffering sigh broke from his throat. "i don't have any answers. i know that i ran and ran and ran."
he moved a paw to touch his hip, then pull the bone closer. "this is all i have to prove i was ever there," he muttered rather nonsensically.
lestan was suddenly quite exhausted. he asked for water once more, eyelids fluttering weakly.

Kelsier was only fully qualified to provide one of the two things Lestan needed right now, and he had no desire to give that kind of help. It was a life he'd left behind in The Evergarden, so long ago now that he'd hardly thought of it before Erzulie stirred that old resentment in him. Now he was reminded of it in every aspect of this strange long encounter.
Willowspire had been his last true home, but what would they make of this deteriorated version of the man they'd called family? Kelsier sighed to himself as he brought more water to Lestan, who knew nothing. A tattered and confused man who babbled about gods and a golden doe. But there was something soft about him, something genuine.
Don't worry. I'll get you home. Try to relax, Kelsier told him, and decided he needed more herbs. So that was what he would spend his time on, until Erzulie returned.

relax. home. reverie.
lestan faded; he tried to hang on, to focus the face of his savior. to memorize it.
but he was weak.
this time, however, there were only watercolor dreams and he breathed easily once more, no longer so tormented.
the doe opened her eyes behind the vision of his mind and communed with lestan.