Leo's grip on Lilyana's reins slackened as his breath hitched. The black pegasus let out a shrill whinny as he felt himself tumble from her saddle. He knew he shouldn't have been leading the Dark Falcons that day, but the fear of punishment from Garon for not doing it had driven him to it.
Was this really the end for him? To be so young, barely an adult in Nohr, yet to die from falling from his pegasus? Then again, he'd seen plenty of young recruits die over the past five years, but he hadn't expected it to be his own fate.
His thoughts stopped dead when hit something—hard—and spluttered. He tried to catch his breath, spluttering, but nothing happened aside from his lungs burning. He writhed a bit but, somehow, his muscles locked up, though his breathing returned to normal. Air still pushed against his face so whoever caught him had an advanced understanding of magic—
Oh.
"Gods damn it all, Leo!" Takumi's voice cut through the black haze as he struggled to move again. The Hoshidan prince's paralysis spell proved too much for him to unbind in his weakened state, so all he could do was sit there, left to whatever little mercy Takumi decided to show him.
"Having to defend you on the ground is bad enough, but catching you in midair? You're such a goddamn burden in battle; I don't know how your siblings deal with you on a daily basis!" Leo's breathing hitched again and a few tears managed to find their way down his face, though the wind carried them away. It wasn't the first time he had heard this from Takumi but…
He heard an exasperated sigh from the other prince and the sudden shift in the wind direction indicated they were heading for a landing. His suspicions were confirmed when he felt Takumi's pegasus touch down, though it was so soft he could barely believe it. He felt the magic lifted and opened his eyes, scrambling to dismount as soon as possible. However, Takumi gripped both of his shoulders and Leo froze dead, his eyes rounded. He caught a glimpse of Takumi's amber eyes searing into his, making the frail prince quake in his boots.
"Slowly. I'd rather not have Ryoma-nii tear me apart if he knew you got hurt." Leo's eyes rounded even further since this was so unlike what he was used to from Takumi. There was still an edge, but…
He put the thoughts to the side as Takumi released his shoulders and pushed himself out of the saddle, offering him a hand. "You're sick, right, I won't let you get hurt." Even more kindness? What had gotten into him? Leo hesitated before taking the other prince's hand and dismounting. Well, he ore fell into Takumi's arms, the fever sapping so much of his energy. He closed his eyes and heard Takumi's breathing, rapid and shallow like his own. But why…?
All he knew was that he was glad when the Hoshidan prince put a hand on his forehead, trying to help soothe the fever with ice magic.
A few moments later, he head several sets of footsteps approach and an explanation of surprise from Elise in Ician. "Prince Takumi, what…?"
"Just take your damn brother off my hands. I have a war to fight unlike someone." Even with his eyes shut, it wasn't hard for Leo to see the look of utter disdain on Takumi's face just from his tone. Leo shifted into a healer's grasp and it took every ounce of self-control he had to not reach out and cling to the Hoshidan prince. The only time he got ice magic for his fevers like that was when he visited Cami in the Northern Fortress and Felicia took care of him…
He heard the wingbeats of Takumi's pegasus leave, returning to the battle. With support, Leo returned to his tent where the fevered abyss greeted him once more.
A little bit of a shorter chapter, but I figured it'd make a good segue into Takumi's set of three since it showed off his character a little bit.