Almiron started to pull out of their embrace as the medical staff came in, 
but M'tan closed his arms tighter.

"Please," he whispered.  "Please don't leave me Almiron."

"I--" Almiron faltered.  "I need..."

"I think I love you."

Almiron felt the shock of it like a bolt of lightning through him.  M'tan, 
the one man he wanted so desperately, loved him.

D'neor and his lover left the room, then, leaving them with the orderlies 
and the strange girl.

Almiron was still hanging dumbfounded on M'tan's last words.  Finally, he 
pulled himself out of it.  "M'tan, we must get you to Medical Center."

"No, don't leave me," M'tan said, grasping him harder as he tried to move.

"I won't.  I will stay with you tonight, I promise.  But you have to let go 
so we can put you on stretcher."  He comfortingly stroked M'tan's hair as 
he said it.

The Alpha Wingsecond finally let go.  Almiron turned to the medical 
staffers.  "What are you waiting for?  Take him."

"But..." the burly one started, glancing at the girl.

"But what?  Did you not come here to bring him to Medical Center?  Is that 
not your first responsibility?"

It was and they knew it.  The burly one motioned toward the girl.  "Come 
hold her, then.  I don't want him getting angry at me."

Almiron complied, smiling at the girl as he gently took her arm.

D'neor walked in as the orderlies were settling M'tan on the stretcher.  
Upon seeing D'neor, the bigger one paused for a moment, looking mildly guilty.

D'neor waved a hand dismissively.  "Go on, take him back with you.  It's 
better for him that he be in the Med Center anyway.  And you," he turned to 
address Almiron, "thanks for keeping him alive.  I owe you for that."

He faced away, then turned back as if he'd forgotten something.  "Girl, 
don't worry, I'm not going to have you arrested.  In fact, you're free to 
go, as long as you don't hurt anyone else.  Now get out before I change my 
mind."

Silently, D'neor turned around and began to strip the blood-soaked sheets 
off the bed.

Almiron shrugged and watched as the orderlies carried M'tan out to the 
waiting dragon.  The injured man had fallen unconscious again, but Almiron 
had promised him he would stay with him tonight, and he would, though the 
temptation would burn hotter tonight than ever it had before.  No, he 
wouldn't give in to it.  M'tan still loved Aleta, though he himself 
couldn't see it.  And, Almiron knew, he himself loved Darlea.  He couldn't 
ruin M'tan's and Aleta's lives any more than he already had, and couldn't 
surrender what he had just found.

<Pet, my hatchling says her human has passed out inside G'far's apartment.  
She is worried.>

Almiron's eyes flickered from the barely-visible form of his dragon to the 
apartment door.  <I will see to her.>

She was in a heap just inside the door.  Though she was small, it was no 
small feat to carry her out to the waiting Darshan through the already-deep 
snow.  Almiron was none-too-large himself, and had weak abdominal muscles 
from the injury Darshan's mother had given him those many years ago... and 
his knee ached.

Darshan bugled as they settled near the Medical Center.  Almiron handed the 
girl down to the people who dashed out into the blinding white to him.

"What's wrong with her?" one asked.

"I do not know.  I think, however that she is just exhausted."  Still 
somewhat aroused by his encounter with M'tan, Almiron had gotten brief 
flashes of sensation from the girl as he carried her, and had also asked 
her dragon questions through Darshan.

"Okay.  We'll take care of her."

Almiron nodded, then grimaced as he impacted with the ground, sending pain 
shooting through his knee.  "Do you know where M'tan is?"

"Contagious diseases section, room 9.  They don't know what went on, but 
they're not taking any chances."

Almiron nodded and made the trek all the way through the center to M'tan's 
room.  He sat next to the bed, gently patting M'tan's hand.  The older 
man's eyes flickered open and he took Almiron's hand and pulled weakly.

"No," Almiron said, trying to be gentle, but firm.

"Please, Almiron," M'tan said weakly.  "Please."

Almiron sighed, then pulled off his boots and coat and slipped in beside 
M'tan, slipping his arms around him.  "Now, sleep."

M'tan did, soon followed by Almiron himself.

Respectfully submitted,
 Lynette R. F. Cowper
  Almiron and Darshan

---
|   Lynette R. F. Cowper  *  Official INWO Rules NetRep & Goddess    |
| http://www.io.com/~lcowper  *  lcowper@io.com  *  lcowper@indy.net |
|  "If people never did silly things, nothing intelligent would ever |
|                   get done."  -- L. Wittgenstein                   |