We were sitting in one of the many sitting rooms, eating, when the vision hit. I managed to catch Astral before he hit the floor.

"Help me," I growled, and Keefe hurried around the table, grabbing Astral's legs as I held his upper body. We got him down on the floor together and I quickly shoved my arm in his mouth before he managed to bite his tongue.

"Is there anything I can do?" Keefe asked, looking endlessly worried.

"No, we just have to wait until it's over. Then we can try and get him back to bed," I explained and then clenched my jaw as Astral bit down hard on my skin. His body was shaking, and I felt his body temperature spike way too fast. He was barely breathing, making the weird sounds again. As if he was trying to force air down and then out.

And then, he stopped. He had passed out. I gently forced his eye open, finding it back to normal and not glazed over with white.

"Alright, he's back but we need to get him back to the room-"

Astral interrupted me with a groan and looked up at me. He muttered something incomprehensible, and then his eyes slid shut again.

"Hold on, I've got him." Keefe looped his arm under his knees and put his shoulder in Astral's armpit. My friend was entirely limp, but Keefe didn't look at all bothered. How strong was this guy?

We got Astral back to the room followed by the curious stares from the other patrons. I quickly left again to find some boiling water and returned to the room, brewing some tea for when Astral awoke again. He was already running a fever, so I knew this was a bad one. And it was probably not the only one he'd get that day either.

He was awake by the time I had finished the tea. I had sent Keefe and Zeke away, knowing Astral hated having an audience for this.

"Mars," he said with the smallest voice in the world.

I came back to the bed, sitting down on the edge. "Are you in pain?"

He grabbed my shirt, his hand shaking. "I saw the trees. They were burning. And I was burning."

"You were burning as well?" I asked and frowned. "You've never had a role in this vision before."

"I know," he whispered, looking endlessly scared. "I can't do this anymore, Mars."

I leaned forward and placed a kiss on his forehead. "I know, love, I know," I murmured against his skin, running my hand over his hair, smoothing some of the unruly curls down. "Do you want some tea?"

"Yes, please." I hated how his voice sounded tiny. Astral wasn't a small person. He was larger than life and he usually wielded a voice that demanded attention. I loved the sound of his voice because he had a dialect that sounded like he was singing. It was soft and he rolled his R's in the smoothest way. And despite not having lived in the mountains since he was a small child, he never lost his dialect. He knew I loved it. He'd sometimes make it even thicker just for me.

I handed him the tea, helping to sit up. "Are you in pain? How's your body?"

"I just feel so cold," he murmured and took a sip of the tea. I had put extra honey in it this time.

"You're burning up with a fever," I said and put my arm to his forehead.

He grabbed my arm and brought it down again, looking at the bitemark. "We need to find another way for this, Mars."

It had broken the skin and it'd leave a mark, just like so many other times. My skin was littered with bitemarks now, but I didn't mind. I could survive swallowing my tongue and suffocating on it – Astral could not.

"It doesn't matter," I said softly and leaned forward, kissing his forehead again. "Don't worry about it."

"It's not fair to you though."

"I'll live."

He shot me a very tired look. "You're not as funny as you think."

"You think I'm absolutely hilarious."

"I think you're ridiculous."

"Ridiculously hilarious."

"I feel like we've switched roles here."

"Someone has to compliment me when you refuse to," I said and pointed my nose to the sky.

He grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me down, kissing me. "You're very lovely."

"And hilarious."

"And hilarious," he repeated and kissed me again before letting go of my shirt.

We didn't get to leave the city first thing in the morning. Astral had had visions all night with very few breaks, so neither of us had slept and he wasn't done with the visions by the morning either.

At noon, Zeke came to our room with some food, right in the middle of one of his visions. I was holding him against my chest, my arm in his mouth. Zeke looked sympathetic and sat down next to us on the bed.

"How much sleep has he gotten?"

"Not much," I muttered, tiredly.

He groaned loudly, trying to throw his head back, but all it resulted in, was him getting even closer.

"He seeks you out though, while this is happening." Zeke nodded towards him and the fact that he had his hand balled in my trouser leg.

"I guess." I cringed as he bit down hard on my arm, his own arm flailing upwards and hitting me in the face. I wrapped my free arm around him, pinning his arm down.

"I've never had seizures this bad," she said then. "Is it normal for them to be this bad?"

I shook my head. Astral's body became limp again, indicating he had passed out. I gently ran my hand through his hair, and he opened his eyes looking wildly disorientated.

"Hand me the tea on the table, will you?"

Zeke rose and went to the table, retrieving the mug. She handed it to me, and I helped Astral take a small sip or two. He was running another fever and it was impossible to get medicine in him when he was seizing. So, I had to force it down whenever he wasn't.

"A little more, Astral, we have to get your fever down," I tried.

Astral didn't open his eyes but he let me bring the cup up to his lips, barely staining them with the tea before he turned his head away.

"It's not usually this bad, is it?" Zeke asked with a low voice.

"No, it's only getting worse the older he gets," I muttered and took a washcloth from Zeke, putting it on Astral's forehead.

"Will... It get this bad for me?" she asked quietly.

I glanced at her. "Probably not. Astral's the only one I've known with The Sight, who gets this bad. But it's not uncommon, it's just not common either." I sighed deeply. "He was getting seizures when he was your age too. And younger. They've often been bad, but they at least didn't last long. Now they seem never ending."

"They hurt like a bitch too," Astral muttered and repositioned a little, opening his eyes again.

I brought the mug back up to his mouth and he wrinkled his nose.

"You have to drink a little," I said.

"I don't want to. It tastes bad."

"Does not. There's loads of honey in it this time. Drink some."

"Yes, mother," he muttered under his breath and let me get two more sips in him. He leaned the back of his head against my chest, his body shivering a little.

Zeke pulled the blanket up further, tugging him in.

"Thank you, mother number two." It sounded less snarky this time. He did sound a little grateful, even.

"You're lucky having such caring mothers," Zeke bit back and took the cloth from me to refreshen it in the small basin on the table.

"I'm acting bratty because I'm hurting." He tipped his head up, looking at me. "Make excuses for me."

"No, you're a grown-up. You're fully capable of making up your own excuses."

"I'm terribly sick, though."

"Not sick enough to not run your mouth," Zeke said and returned with the cloth, handing it back to me so I could put it on his very hot forehead.

"You both make terrible mothers. It's like you don't even care about me," he whined dramatically.

I rolled my eyes and gently pressed the cloth to his cheek.