Dew

Dew suffers from focal aware seizures.

Dew was sitting on a grassy cliff overlooking the ocean, watching the sunset. He had walked here for some alone time. He was thinking of something he thought about many times before.
I yearn to fly and see lands far from here.. To explore, but I-


Dew paused, he heard something behind him. Glancing back, he saw a very large dragon, rather large compared to himself, a pale blue ridgeback sitting down a few paces from him, a concerned half-smile on his face, his head cocked to the left.
"I- ah-" The ridgeback shifted and sat more upright. "My apologies for eavesdropping, I couldn't help but overhear." He gave a guilty smile. "Your name is Dew, is it not?"



Dew blinked in surprise. "Yes, my name is Dew. I do not fault you for listening in.. I do not have a uh.. inner monologue I believe it is called? Or rather, I lack a voice inside my head. If you do not mind, may I ask who you are and why you know my name?"

"I am North, I come from a clan within the Viridian Labyrinth, called The Mallard Glades. I.. I don't mean to intrude.. but.." North glanced away and fiddled with a vial around his neck.
"A dragon, her name was Melon, I believe, she heard of our clan healer and her specialist cures. She requested that someone come out and see if this tincture would reduce the frequency of your seizures." his eyes making their way to lock with Dew's.

Dew paused.
Melon... "..Do you think it could help?"

He shook his head.
"I do not know yet. We would have to try and find what works for you as an individual." Gently unclasping the necklace around his neck containing the vial, cradling it in one glimmering jade hand, looking at it fondly. "Without this tincture, I would at times, struggle to breathe." He looked up at Dew. "I sincerely hope we can help you." He put it back around his neck and stood up. "Our healer, Nova, she herself, is back at our camp, we could walk there, it would be a 10 minute walk. She has all sorts of plants and medicines with her."


"I shall walk with you." Dew said as he stood up, softly pushing two antennae out of his line of sight.



From there, North and Dew walked to the camp, talking all the way.
Upon reaching the clearing where Nova had set up camp, she began her assessment of Dew and began a treatment plan.

He used to have a seizure roughly once every day, but in the fortnight he had stayed with them, he had three total. This would take some getting used to, yes, it was a positive change, but for as long as he could remember he'd had these seizures.
He still had to be cautious, but he took his first flight of many with North, gliding high over a meadow at dusk. To feel the wind beneath his wings felt wonderful, it felt freeing and accepting, like the sky was embracing him, welcoming him into it.

Dew had made up his mind. He wanted to go exploring, hopefully, with his new friend, North.
He said his tearful goodbyes to his old clanmates, promising to visit them regularly. He was sad to leave but happy at the same time. It was such a strange feeling.



As he was settling into the new clan, he was a bit nervous, but that subsided with time..
However, he had one thing that didn't go away, in fact, it had gotten stronger.
He felt nervous. In particular, around North. He enjoyed his company, but he was just so anxious around him.



He talked with Nova about it, who suggested something he had never thought about.


"..Dew, my dear, do you think it's possible you could be infatuated with North?"




Dew stared at Nova.
..could that be possible?? It makes so much sense.. but how do I tell him? Do I even tell him? I don't want to make things awkward.. Dew thought outloud.

Nova smiled and shook her head at him, chuckling.
"It is up to you, but I believe you should broach the subject to him. Do you think of him the kind of dragon who would throw away such a close friendship over something like that?"


Dew shook his head quickly, No. Nova's right. He wouldn't do such a thing..





While the two were bathed in the silver glow of the full moon, quietly enjoying each others company,
Dew told North of his feelings for him. North smiled at Dew and spoke softly to him, explaining that he felt the same way.

North dug out a cave for the two of them to live in, on the outskirts of the Mossy Glade. It is their pride and joy, carefully decorated and cozy.

---

Basically the tincture is a mix of like plant traditional medicines, and the tears of one of my dragons who has ~*special*~ powers,,, basically they amplify the effects of the.. active ingredient? i guess.
He took the plants before which reduced the seizures, but the tears make the medicine more effective. idk really how to explain,,
Like this isn't modern medicine, but it's more than like.. eating a plant..
like eating willow bark for aspirin, if you ground up the willow bark and added the tears it'd,,,speed up absorption and make it more effective.. oh my god i think i just wrote caffeine into my lore. i take aspirin with caffeine to make it work faster.. no way. dragon caffeine tears.

Thank you for reading this!!
I did not just flat out erase his disability because that's just not a good message, ya know?


I really do not know that much about seizure disorders other than my own, but I tried my best to find one that's similar to my own, with some research.
If this was an inaccurate depiction, or was incorrect or ableist in any way, please let me know.


(FYI, I have non epileptic seizure disorder, from what I can tell, focal aware seizures are quite similar to what I experience, minus the actual brain activity of a seizure..
I chose him to have a epileptic seizure disorder, since for me, my NESD is trauma based, and I didn't wanna traumatise him. D: I don't know if they can exist without like,, an event or trauma, from a quick read online, they only really mention it being trauma-based.
also seizure meds don't work on them so it would just be dew getting therapy and maybe anxiety meds? ..plants..?)