While Sasha was sleeping well into the day, she eventually woke up close to mid-afternoon so she could get herself ready to greet her guest, who should be waking up any moment now from his stone sleep.
At one point, she went to check on him and took a look at his stone form. The way Brooklyn's stone coverage looked was quite fascinating; practically like real stone. Sasha pulled up the blanket just a bit to see where they broke his tail tip, frowning again at the sight. She wished she had the resources to fix it but she was no sculptor.
When sundown finally arrived, Sasha jumped a little upon hearing the stone crackling and the eyes glowing until at last he broke out of it, roaring. The roar scared Sasha slightly but she knew Brooklyn was only yawning. After that, Brook blinked his eyes a bit and tried stretching but winced from his weak muscles. His cuts were mostly healed from yesterday but sadly, he still felt very groggy and faint.
He looked around with fuzzy vision at first, wondering where he was until he heard a female's voice. "Brooklyn? Are you ok?" It made him jerk slightly but then saw the familiar gentle eyes of the one who rescued him. Sasha.
Oh. Still in Russia… Brook thought sadly to himself but managed to speak up, just barely, a soft blanket was wrapped around him while sitting up. "M'ok. A bit weak though. Stomach feels funny." For his belly had given an uncomfortable growl from all that awful food from before. One bowl of soup wasn't enough to help strengthen his sore belly muscles and fatten him up again, hence his ribs still present. He held his belly from the discomfort, a bead of sweat beginning to form on his forehead too.
Sasha noted that, the back of her hand on the gargoyle's forehead, which felt hot. It was a big change from him to be moved from a cold environment after weeks there to being in a warm home. Brooklyn gave a small sneeze from a cold that now was here as he laid down again, just feeling so sickly. Sasha hated seeing him this way. And his broken tail still looked rather awful too.
"You feel so hot Brooklyn," she proclaimed in a motherly way. "And you're still so very skinny. You won't go anywhere until I get you feeling better again." Brooklyn's face fell and struggled to agree. "W-want m'family…" he wheezed in a delirious manner, staring up at the ceiling. Sasha ran to get a cold washcloth to bring down his fever and placed it on his forehead.
Brooklyn flinched from the cold feeling. "C-cold!" He squeaked. He never wanted to feel cold again after all that. Sasha took the poor creature's hand.
"Easy, Brooklyn. Your temperature has to come down," she whispered. Brooklyn's head moved around, feeling miserable. "Hurts… hurts…" he mumbled, stomach churning horribly. He panted fast, feeling like he was gonna puke. Sasha saw that sign, going instantly running to grab a bucket, not wanting her floor to get puked on.
She returned, Brooklyn looking even more worse, leaning over the couch, heaving. Sasha instantly placed the bucket there, right as the gargoyle let it loose, causing her to cringe a bit from the sick hitting the bucket bottom. He didn't deserve all that. He needed to get better.
After a bit, Brooklyn stopped puking, whimpering, and laying back down again. He held his belly, looking at Sasha. "W-want… eat… settle…" He pleaded. Sasha nodded. She got some of the leftover soup from yesterday and heated it up, bringing it back over. Brooklyn looked so very pale and frail looking. He lay limply on the couch, unable to move.
"C'mon, big guy. Here's some food," Sasha encouraged, spooning some soup up and eventually feeding it to him like a child. Brooklyn weakly sipped the spoon, managing to swallow the soup down, flinching a bit from worrying about throwing up but it didn't happen.
Sasha kept up smiling though deep down she was worried Brooklyn would have a terribly slow recovery. But fortunately for her, he only threw up once and that was all. He continued to lay there, the blankets on him and the ice pack pressed on his forehead, shaking.
Brooklyn gazed up at her. "Miss… my family…" he admitted shakily, hating being sick and stuck in a country that was so far away. He wanted to go home. Sasha looked down at him. "I know, but you can't move anywhere right now until your body is better. But I want to know; is there anyone in your life waiting for you besides your leader and other family?"
That made the red gargoyle shut his eyes. It was a rather sensitive question. "Alone. I'm the second in command of my clan. Only one of my brothers has a mate. Lex, has been… taking care of… Xanatos' kid… no time… for a mate. But me…" He began to cry, thinking about his failed love attempts. Sasha didn't know what to say about that, other than that she knew it was the fever making him speak rather sorrowfully.
"Shh, don't think about it now. I'll get you more soup, ok?" She asked since it was now two days of recovery but was somewhat impressed that he was chosen to be the next leader. Brooklyn nodded numbly with tears down his face. The way Sasha spoke to him felt like one of his mother's voices. He watched the girl prepare his lunch with tired eyes, happy to lay on a couch and not in a cold, heartless cage. He shuddered when remembering that awful human, Yegor.
The smell of the soup wafted into his nostrils as Sasha helped him sit up to eat. He weakly took the spoon and ate slowly again, glad to be on a healthier diet. "Your soup is good," Brooklyn said quietly, giving a timid smile at her. Sasha smiled back though she had a look in her eyes that seemed a little emotional.
"My Mamachka showed me how," she said, still in her Russian accent and language. Brooklyn furrowed his brow. "Uh… what? Sorry, my Russian is rusty." Sasha giggled.
"It means Mother in our language, Brooklyn," Sasha explained. Brooklyn felt himself turn red from this, feeling stupid now. He saw her giggle again at the sight of his darker shade from his blush. "I think I prefer to say mother," he stated with a slight grin in a joke.
"That's alright. It may be pretty hard to sound it out at first." she said. But then Brooklyn had another question. "H-how did you get all that money to w-win me? I was the most expensive thing there in the animal market. And you beat that Yuri guy."
Sasha shifted herself on the chair a little bit. "I had received the money from my parents' will which allows me to be able to live in this house and be able to keep my taxes steady. But when I saw you in that cage at the auction, I just couldn't leave you there to suffer. Maybe after you feel better, I can show you around my house."
Brooklyn gave a tired smile. "I'd like that. And… thank you again, Sasha. My clan would've been grateful to you for saving me. I just hope Yegor or Yuri won't find you out and try to…" His heart suddenly began to thump hard against his chest, eyes starting to pop. Sasha felt her heart go out to him. Poor guy, she thought to herself. She hoped Brooklyn would feel better the next day.
She placed a gentle hand on his arm, making him jerk slightly, and then relaxed from the girl's gentleness. "I'll make sure they don't," she promised softly. "You can't go back to that awful place." Brooklyn's stomach felt chilled and he shook his head. Never again did he want to!
Eventually, it was nearly dawn and Sasha could tell already that Brooklyn's fever was about to calm down and he didn't look as shy as he used to be, being able to finish his whole soup this time around. He handed the bowl back to Sasha and she tucked him into bed right as the sun came along, turning into stone, hoping the sleep will finally cure him for good.
