Nodding, he smiled at Ax as the other man headed out of the room. "He's giving me time with you," he commented. "He knows I'm on shaky ground right now. I really hate his ability to read my thoughts. Drives me bonkers most days. At this moment, though, kinda glad he's got it."
"Same here," Lilly admitted to him. "I'm glad that he's giving us time together because I think that I needed it, too. I'm pretty sure that he knows that as well." Adjusting the plate on her lap, she looked up at him and smiled. "All right, come on Gav, eat. You need to eat. Food is a very good thing."
"Yeah, I know," he said softly. He picked at one piece of the sandwich for a moment. Lifting the piece, eventually he took a bite, but didn't look overly enthusiastic. He seemed to be chewing on automatic, his thoughts not on the food but elsewhere.
She watched him as he slowly ate, and felt bad for him. "I know that this is not what you want, I really do, but I truly do want you to stay healthy, okay? You and I both need to ensure that you remain healthy, right?" Just as he would demand that she stay healthy as well.
"Yeah," he muttered. He finished off one half of the sandwich but shook his head at her when she lifted the plate in offering to him. "I'm too tired to even think about eating that other piece. If you want it, though, go for it. It was very good, but I'm at that point of exhaustion where it's too much effort."
"I ate earlier." She moved out of his lap and held her hand out for him. "Come on, let's go and have us some sleep. Tomorrow is soon enough for us to start thinking of anything much more than simply crawling into bed. Tomorrow, the three of us will sit down so that we can discuss what needs to happen next, okay?"
Nodding, he stood up and took her hand in his. "Sorry, little mate, I'm just so fried right now that I don't know if I'm coming or going. I wish I was better company," he said with a lopsided smile. He followed her as she tugged him along toward the stairs and up to the bedroom.
"It's okay. Let's get you into bed and we will worry about everything else later." She hesitated. "Do you want your bed, or do you want to have all three of us in Artaxias's bed? Or is your bed as big as his is?" She hadn't been in Gavriel's room, so she didn't know. "Because I would rather have both of you with me, if you wouldn't mind terribly?"
"Mine's about the same size, not quite, but pretty close. It doesn't really matter where we end up, but I do need to get out of these clothes or else I'm never going to sleep. So that means a trip to my room at the very least, and then you can decide where we're laying down for the night."
"Well then, we will end up in Ax's bed so that we have all the room that we want and need. Go, do what you need. I will wait here in the hall for you, okay?" she asked and leaned against the wall. "Hurry. If you aren't out soon, I am going to come in looking for you."
"Likely a good plan, in case I fall asleep on my feet. Or fall over and fall asleep." He reached out to touch her cheek gently. "Thank you for looking out for me, Lilly. You are one hell of a woman and the best mate any of us could ever pray to have."
"What can I say? I'm pretty special, but so are you boys. We all belong. The three of us. Now go. I will let you hug and touch me when you are clean and we are in bed, okay?" she asked softly. "Go, or I'm going to ask Ax to go in with you and make sure that you hurry your rump up."
"No thank you, that is really unnecessary." Gavriel made a face and turned into his room. "I'm just going to grab clothing and then shower in his room. That way I can just collapse afterward. A hot shower will likely do me right the hell in."
"All right, then I will come in with you," she said without letting him argue. Instead, Lilly walked into his bedroom and waited on him to follow. "Come on already. Let's get this done so we can get you showered and in bed as soon as possible. Remember, I'm impatient."
"Just clothes from here, Lilly. Need to be close to whatever bed I'm falling into. Because once I'm out of the shower, it will be minutes before I collapse." He went to his dresser and dug around before turning to face her with something folded in hand. "Let's go." He waved toward the door.
Moving with him, Lilly wrapped an arm around him, her worry thick in the air for him. When they entered Artaxias's room, Lilly smiled. "We are all sleeping in your bed. He's going to shower and then, in his words, collapse onto a bed. So let's get up and into bed so that he can join us?"
Nodding, Ax frowned. "You sure you're okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, just tired. You know how it is when I'm there," Gavriel said. Smiling at Lilly, he walked through the room and into the bathroom, the door shutting with a small sound.
"Unfortunately, I do know how it is when he's home, well, his mother's home. He gets nearly no sleep, always going because, while he loves her, he doesn't want to be there too long." Artaxias looked her way. "If you want a shirt to sleep in, go and raid the closet."
"Thank you." Lilly didn't hesitate but instead went to the closet, pulled out one of the shirts, and stripped right there in the room with him. Leaving on her panties, she pulled on the shirt and turned to him. "What about you, aren't you getting ready for bed?"
"I will in a minute, I was just reading what little Briar was able to figure out so far." He held up his pocket data pad as he slid off the bed. "Looks like about eighty percent of the tattoo is just regular inks. But the part she thinks might be making you do things you don't want to do … " He stopped next to her and held out the little pad. "The ink contains trace amounts of the same material you found out compromised that shard. Odd little coincidence, don't you think?"
"Hurm, very interesting indeed," Lilly said with a frown. "I don't like it. Do we have any idea where this material comes from? How we can trace it back to its source so we can ensure that these asshats are caught, hopefully sooner rather than later?"
"Briar sent it off to the lab," he said as he headed into the closet. "She's hoping she has a full breakdown of the metals makeup sometime tomorrow. Once we know how many parts of this and that are in it, we can figure out if someone has a patent out on that particular mix. If there is someone, then we can go and knock on doors. Hopefully, someone there has some answers on just where they sent their metal, and we will have more doors upon which to knock." He walked out, bare chested and barefoot. All he had on was a pair of loose drawstring pants in what looked to be linen. Nice and light. "But now we need to sleep. Or rather, we need to remain conscious long enough to ensure Gav hasn't drowned, and then get some sleep."
She looked toward the bathroom again. "Should we check on him? And by we I mean you of course. I'm worried about him. He looked ready to fall down at an instant. I don't think that I can handle him taking this much on very often. I think next time I will go with him to ensure that he does actually sleep. I don't want him burning out before we have all had a very, very long life together."
"No, he's okay. He's washing something, I'm trying not to listen too intently though. As long as he's still moving around that's a good sign." Artaxias's chin went up a bit. "Water's off, he's getting out now. We'll give him a few more minutes before we go rescue him if he needs it."
"I'm a wreck seeing him like this, how can you stand it?" she asked quietly. "You care for him, he's been in your life a very long time so how do you handle it?" She wanted, needed to know. She knew that they shared a deep friendship, a kinship in knowing that they would one day share a mate and she wanted to know how Ax was able to handle Gav when he was in this state because it was breaking her heart.
"You can only do so much and you need to know your limits," he said. "I get away with a lot with him since I've known him most of his life. Hell, even his mother practically adopted me. Which was very weird, I have to say. But I also know that some things I can't fix. I can be there, support him, offer a stiff drink or a shoulder, but there are limits. I've learned to accept the limits as you will, too. It's not easy but if you do all you can and it's still not enough, then at least know you've done all you could for him and let him take the next steps. He's done," he told her quietly, pushing on her back gently. "He'll be out in a minute, get into bed so he can curl up with you, Lil."