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 Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 1:16 pm
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This was all a dream. A horrible, stupid dream. There were no crazed spandexed senshi in kitten heels, nor were there talking cats, and there definitely wasn’t a reason why he couldn’t move. Other than the fact that he’d been hit pretty damn hard in the face with a magic attack.
Okay, so this wasn’t a dream. This was just the cruel reality of being a senshi in the Negaverse. Kamacite had no idea how long it had been since he’d grabbed the laser shooting cat and teleported away from the alley, but he knew he was not where he last remembered being.
Everything was too bright. Clean. Industrial. Not like a hospital. Definitely not Negaspace. Absolutely not the park or his boyfriend’s cluttered apartment above the salon he owned.
Panic was just about as heavy as the pain that fell on him as he tried to move. He could only fully open one eye, the other side of his face felt like it was stiff and painful. And there was still the taste of blood in his mouth. His lip hurt. Had it been split? He couldn’t tell. He was trying to figure out where he was.
Kamacite whimpered pathetically as he made an attempt to push himself up and look around. He was still powered. And in a only vaguely familiar place, but he was too dazed to fully recognize it, his heart already pounding too hard, loud in his ears.
Where the hell was he? He could try to teleport again. If he had the energy. He would do that. He knew he would just pass out again, but it was better than being captured by the enemy, right??
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Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 1:45 pm
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Tiberius had been waiting for the corrupt senshi to wake up from his little beauty nap, so when he finally did, the massive Mauvian just slid his silky bulk down from the back of the couch onto his chest so that he couldn't escape easily even if he wanted to. "Hey there. Tiberius the cat. Mind powering down for me? I got my friend to bring you to his place~ You're safe now but...I'm tired and it's rude to stay in drag." Meaning, of course, that he wanted to stop having to block the kid's aura from anyone that might happen to be lurking about this undisclosed location.
There was a heavy clank, a clatter. The sound of an engine dying and a heavy door being shut, then the sound of steps.
By the time Tiberius was terrifying Kamacite, Lauri was turning a corner wall that separated a workspace from living space. "You look like s**t, Kamacite." Under one arm was a much larger first-aid kit that the one that was kept upstairs; Lauri's hair was tied up in a ponytail and out of his face and his state of dress was worn jeans and a tattered black sweater with an illegible band logo on the front. "Go on, power down."
No point dragging this s**t out, right? Lauri set the first aid kit down and continued on into the kitchen to get a glass of water for his guest and two beers. One for him, one for the cat.
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Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 2:02 pm
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Before he could even get up there was about twenty pounds of fluff on his chest, and Kamacite squeaked in surprise because the cat had been out of his line of vision. Tiberius?? Was it really possible that he’d met this cat before, as Yuuri? At the softball game, definitely. With Pasi -
But it was not Pasi who walked into the room just then. Instead it was one of the other Finnish men he knew (there were a surprising number of Fins he’d met in a short period of time), and Kamacite gaped wordlessly at Lauri, his otherwise pale face flushing because -
He was still Kamacite. And there was absolutely no way he could let someone know who he was. It would put both him and others in danger. Even if Tiberius seemed to know Lauri, it was definitely not safe to power down.
There was a feeble attempt to push himself up again, but twenty plus pounds on top of already being exhausted was a lot to handle. And it was not drag he was wearing!! Why the fates decided to throw him into an outfit like he was in, he had no idea. Probably a cruel joke.
Not as cruel of a joke for Lauri to see that he was actually the same person he’d had to help not too long ago. He still had scabs on his ankle from where he’d been caught in the fence, and it would probably scar.
“I can’t,” he squeaked, watching with increased panic as Lauri returned with water for -
Was he really giving the cat a beer??
“I’m not supposed to - in front - of people.” He was already acting as though he knew Lauri, wasn’t he? That was probably not a good sign. “W-who are you?” he asked in desperation to keep his identity hidd -
Wait. How did he knew his name??
“You know who I am?” he asked, his voice increasing in pitch with each word as he succumbed to his panic.
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Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 2:34 pm
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Tiberius looked pleased and smug and just really pleased with himself. "Sure you can. You know him. Thanks for the beer." The Mauvian got up off Kamacite and moved to the floor, where the Finn had set a cracked open can of beer for the cat to sit and drink.
"Seriously, power down kid. I'm tired."
After supplying the cat with a beer, Lauri cracked open his own and took a long pull before cracking open the first aid kit and giving Kamacite a 'get on with it' look.
"Calm down, I'm Aue."
The cat chirped that Kamacite was probably not going to believe him, so Lauri sighed, powered the ******** up in his own home for a moment, stood there in a cloud of freshly over-grown corrupt senshi hair, and then powered the ******** down.
"Now. Power down, Yuuri."
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Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 3:28 pm
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Okay so, maybe he wasn't handling this as well as he could have. But, in his defense, he'd been buried deep in work when the cat had called and it had been pretty inopportune okay. So he was a bit frazzled. It didn't help that now Yuuri looked like he might be sick.
Tiberius got up and dragged his half empty can out of horking range, "Good job there, sour puss. I think he's going into a fugue or something. This is better than Maury reruns."
Once both of the senshi were powered down nicely, he could totally relax and chill and all was good. A short rest and he could skip back out and return to his posh home with Stroud, get some good pets from Laz. Shed in his mouth,
if he were unlucky enough to have fallen asleep with his mouth open again, perhaps.
Now that they were both back in street clothes, Lauri knelt next to the couch so he could take a look at Yuuri's injuries. "It was the Finnish for the Wolfe." He wasn't going to lie, even if it might have made Yuuri feel better about things...unfortunately, with his packmate curled up on the couch like a stressed out child, he couldn't do anything to help, so Lauri sighed, scooped him up and sat down with Yuuri in his lap. Obviously he needed some care, and while it was not his forte - at all - there was no one else to offer it.
"I planned to tell you in a calm manner, not after a battle with you already frightened and upset."
Tiberius licked his lips and stretched, beer can sideways and emptied, "But you already knew him anyway, chicken boy. That was Pasi." Not that he knew from first-hand that Pasi had been the White Moon incarnation of Aue, but Bob had told him. And so, watching the two weird humans, he provided another service in handing over that nugget of information - especially since it seemed like the Yuuri guy was upset at not having known that lemons was lemons....even though he did know.
Or something. Wow, chugging that beer maybe hadn't been the best idea.
A stream of colourful sounding Finnish invective hissed out over Yuuri's head at the Mauvian, ending in English with "You're drunk, go home or go find somewhere and sleep it off."
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Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 4:08 pm
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He knew he had a problem with trying to stay calm when things like this happened, but when things like this were always happening it made things kind of difficult. How was he supposed to just accept that everything was perfectly normal and fine and that Aue was Lauri and it was Yuuri’s attempt at Finnish that had blown his cover??
Yuuri let out a startled yelp as he was picked up from the couch, immediately tensing as Lauri pulled him into his lap because he didn’t know what to do and was already causing trouble for both Lauri and Tiberius who had saved him from that horrible senshi in the stupid outfit and he still couldn’t breathe properly and was making things worse because thinking about not being able to breathe was making it more difficult.
And then Tiberius said something absolutely ridiculous. Because not only was he the same cat that tackled him for chicken at the softball game with the other cat named Bob, but Pasi -
“You’re Pasi, too??” Yuuri wailed, not looking at Lauri because his hands were still hiding his face, but that would make so much more sense, even though he couldn’t tell. Instead of meeting three separate Finnish men, they were all the same person. He’d heard very briefly in passing about how when people were corrupted from the white moon, they were given different identities, but he hadn’t expected the magic to be so powerful that he couldn’t even recognize Lauri as Pasi or vice versa.
He only pulled his hands away when he pressed too hard against his lip and hissed in pain. So the senshi had busted it, which meant there was probably blood all over his face, which meant his face was going to bruise, and his hands were scraped up, and he felt sore and achy. Not wanting to get blood on Lauri, he tugged at the collar of the longsleeved shirt he’d pulled on before going out, trying to wipe at his lip without causing himself too much more pain.
And yes, he was ignoring the fact that he was sitting in Lauri’s lap right after he’d seen him naked from transforming. He was just going to focus on breathing and nothing else. Not even the fact that Lauri might actually be Pasi who was also Aue who had been burned by Yuuri with coffee.
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Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 4:36 pm
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Tiberius waddled himself off into the kitchen to see if he could perhaps dig out some cheese or something from the fridge - the door was actually set up to accommodate feline manipulation (with an assistive device like one would utilize with a service animal) - so he wasn't really paying attention as Yuuri had an anxiety attack over learning that Lauri was Pasi was Aue. He'd cause some delightful chaos, as cats were wont to do, and now had moved on to bigger and better things...like the cold cuts.
"I'm eating this chicken!" Whatever Lauri said, Tiberius wasn't listening, he was piercing the plastic container with fangs and backing out of the fridge, fat fluffy butt first, wobbling it shut, and then sitting on the kitchen floor to tear open the package and ingest the pale, pre-cooked meat slices folded within.
Archer Farms ain't so bad..
Lauri had more important things to worry about than Tiberius raiding his fridge, Yuuri's pulse was racing and his breathing was erratic in a way that suggested panic attack, none of which was good. Still, he tried to calm him, by rubbing his back in what were supposed to be soothing circles. "Yes. I became Lauri when I was brought to the Negaverse officially. They said no one would recognize me as Pasi, once it happened. There was no way for you to know without being told."
Even seeing the small scar on his inner thigh might not have done it. Glamour magic was no weak s**t to be messing with. Lauri would have liked to experiment with it more someday, to test the limits of it, but that wasn't really his place - nor was it the time to wonder about such things.
Yuuri's tugging to dab at his split lip - really, he should insist on treating his injuries soon - brought another injury to view, one that made Lauri suck in a sharp breath. A mark on his packmate's neck to match his own. Wolfeite...
Biting Yuuri. Biting this frightened young man who had barely known anything. Marking him without giving him the resources or knowledge to even deal with himself. His General did not always make choices that were sensible from his purview, this would be one of them. Marking Kamacite - Yuuri - unless he'd agreed to it and understood the meaning behind it - made his teeth ache.
"You should let me tend your wounds, Yuuri." Lauri couldn't resist, he touched the bite mark.
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Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 5:10 pm
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Yuuri felt bad because he knew that Lauri was trying to help him, and Tiberius had helped him, but he was just making a mess of things. He was trying to calm down, but it wasn’t exactly every day that someone was trying to help him. And while he knew Lauri didn’t mean him any harm, since he’d saved him before, it was difficult to relax when he barely knew the man. Or anyone. He barely knew anyone. Which really wasn’t helping him to calm down, he realized.
He was hearing the words Lauri was saying, about when he was brought into the Negaverse, but he didn’t know what to think. All this time… Pasi hadn’t even existed any more. And that was surprisingly more distressing than Yuuri had expected it to be. He’d only caused Pasi problems, but it wasn’t as though the man had been horrible to him. Scary, yes, but not cruel like he could have been. And he’d helped him when he didn’t have to. And he wasn’t sure if Lauri even remembered or if the part about losing memories was true.
A touch to his neck didn’t phase him at first, but even in his state of panic he recognized the path Lauri’s fingers took, because his own fingers felt the scar there several times a day.
“I’m not hurt there,” Yuuri said breathlessly, his hand shaking as he pushed Lauri’s away so he could cover the bite, his other and pushing at Lauri’s shoulder so he could try and get out of his lap. “I’m - fine,” he insisted as he gasped for air.
Until his blood ran cold as his gaze moved past Lauri’s neck. With his hair pulled back, there was no hiding a similar scar.
Yuuri stared, dazed and aching, the momentarily calmed breathing growing increasingly more frantic to the point of hyperventilation. Because he couldn’t handle this. The more he learned, the more he realized how little he knew, and how pathetic he was, and useless, and it was eating him alive.
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Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 5:40 pm
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Softly, a snore could be heard coming from the kitchen. Tiberius lay passed out, head cushioned on the now-empty plastic container of cold cuts. Lauri would be getting no help from the Mauvian corner.
"You're anything but fine-" How in the hell was he supposed to deal with someone so illogical and irrational? So emotional? This was absolutely not his forte and all Lauri really wanted to do was find some way to fix the problem in Yuuri's coding that was causing him to error out like this, but no...that wasn't how people worked. He knew better.
Unfortunately, every attempt to sooth Yuuri had so far gone to s**t, spectacularly.
And now, Yuuri was staring at his neck with some sort of unknowable, panicked expression and he could only assume that it was due to Wolfeite's mark. Yet another thing the General hadn't bothered to expand upon for his packmate, and apparently enough of a shock to send him somewhere between hysterics and catatonia.
Wonderful.
At this rate, Lauri wouldn't be able to look after Yuuri's injuries at all.
Leaving the cat to his own devices, Lauri shifted his hold on Yuuri and rose from the couch with his packmate held in his arms. "You are no good like this, come Yuuri." He could think of nothing helpful beyond maybe trying the bathroom - perhaps stepping right into the shower was a bad idea. The water might help pull Yuuri back into himself.
Or it would just send him further into panic. Lauri really didn't know. Couldn't know as he toed off his shoes in his bedroom. Yuuri's shoes would be a casualty, unfortunately. If he had to, he'd replace them.
Jaw set in determination, Lauri walked into the large, glass encased shower and turned the water on, gritting his teeth against the immediate chill and held onto his packmate. I am getting nothing done tonight. But the Pack is everything...if I can help then it is worth it. Damn that irresponsible Wolf.
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Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 6:00 pm
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Yuuri knew it was selfish and egotistical to think that he was special in any way. He’d thought that maybe he really was something unique when Wolfeite hadn’t killed him in that alley, when he found out that he was a senshi, that he had magical powers, that he was needed to be kept alive, that he belonged to something more important than his own life. He knew Wolfeite only cared about himself. He’d been told as much. He knew this and he still hoped that his fears wouldn’t cave in on him, that everything he’d done to build himself up into something that might be worth keeping around wouldn’t come crashing down.
First it was Aue. Another senshi, a White Moon senshi that Wolfeite had taken under his wing, to work for him and get him information. Kamacite had been utterly unconvinced that there was any way that Wolfeite wouldn’t have told him there were others. He’d thought that he’d been an exception to Wolfeite’s rules of not taking recruits, and yet he’d been wrong.
Then he’d tried proving himself and almost drowned for it. He’d done his best to keep Wolfeite from getting hurt and nearly died, but his reward had been a promotion with more power and a mark on his neck that proved that he belonged to Wolfeite.
But that was all he was. Just a possession. Just like Lauri… Aue... was a possession. Yuuri knew there was no real control in his life, but he’d hoped that maybe, with this Pack thing that Aue had told him about… maybe there would be something there for him -
Yuuri gasped in surprise at the shock of cold water spraying his face, and he turned away to hide it against Lauri’s shoulder, his arms instinctively lifting to wrap around his shoulders, trying to hide from the cold if nothing else. He hadn’t even realized he’d been taken away from the couch until that moment, and now he shivered and sputtered as water fell over not just him, but Lauri as well.
He didn’t know how long Lauri stood there with him, but eventually, once they were both completely soaked and shivering, or at least Yuuri was, he mumbled, “I’m sorry.”
It wasn’t as though he meant to get like this. And now he’d inconvenienced Lauri, who was clearly just trying to help him.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered again, pointlessly gripping at the soaked fabric of Lauri’s shirt, because he didn’t know what else to do.
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Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 6:38 pm
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Lauri, happily, had no idea the mental turmoil that Yuuri was going through. It might have caused him to implode. Or ingest a great deal of liquor, which he already wanted to do. Even now, with a large chunk of his life missing, Lauri did not suffer from a lack of self-esteem; he could not relate to the suffering that his packmate was going through. The self doubt and feelings of worthlessness just didn't click with him.
That wasn't to say that Pasi had never felt alienated and as though he weren't enough - puberty during high school left none unscathed, of course - but he'd come out of such things knowing his intrinsic worth, something that had passed along to Lauri. Yuuri didn't seem to have that...or perhaps had had such things abused out of him, there really was no way of knowing without having been told.
With Yuuri clinging wetly to him, Lauri just held his packmate, letting the water do what it could to bring Yuuri back to his senses while also patting himself on the back for having turned the water slightly warmer than frigid, since he had to stand there as well. Slowly, he began to rock Yuuri, something his - Pasi's - mother had done when he was sick as a child, humming tunelessly as much to help himself ignore the misery of being cold and wet as to soothe the sopping man in his arms.
'I'm sorry.' At first, he didn't catch it. Words quietly spoken into his chest, but Yuuri repeated it, gripping his damp sweater and sounding kind of angry. Anger he could deal with, that was fine. Lauri huffed and reached out to turn the water off with the arm not supporting Yuuri's weight. "Nothing to be sorry for, hush."
Carefully, mindful of the ankle that had been injured, Lauri set Yuuri down on the wet tiles. "It's been a s**t night for you. I get that. It's a lot to take in, you had a bad fight. One thing at a time is best." Lauri touched Yuuri's chin just a little bit, able to get a look at the split in the light - the shower had rinsed it pretty well - it didn't need stitches, but it was definitely swelling. Ouch.
"Strip, Yuuri. I'll get towels and something to wear." Lauri wasted no time peeling out of his soaked, clammy clothes, leaving them in piles as he went for towels. Yuuri had seen Lauri do this before, when his ankle had been hurt. He had a towel in hand before he remembered - Yuuri was shy and probably hadn't moved to strip - likely wouldn't until he left.
"I'll leave you to it." Two towels, one for modesty and one for warmth, were left on the sink for Yuuri after the Finn wrapped one around his waist; he could dry off in the bedroom and put some tatty sweats on. Find something for Yuuri to wear like last time. Maybe fetch up the first aid kit from downstairs, check on Tiberius to make sure that fat ******** was either gone or hadn't eaten himself into a coma.
This being nice thing was...becoming a habit.
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Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 7:58 pm
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He hated the way he felt, and he had no idea how to fix it. Even if he tried to force himself to think one way or another, it never worked. He still felt the fear and dread and anxiety creep up on him, threatening to eat him. Sometimes he thought that it had already succeeded. That he was just a shell left of what he was supposed to be. Maybe he wasn’t supposed to be anything at all.
Yuuri was a lot calmer now, resigned as Lauri set him down. It seemed as though he remembered his ankle too, because he was careful not to hurt him or let him try to gain his balance on poor footing. His shoes were soaked. All of his clothes were soaked. It was probably bad that this was the second - no, third time Lauri let him borrow some of his clothes. He still had the shirt Pasi let him borrow. Did it matter if he gave it back now?
As Lauri stripped and pulled a towel around his waist, Yuuri stood and waited with his head down, eyes on the tile of the bathroom floor. There was no real reaction other than that. And some faint flush in his face. Being overdramatic, as he always was, didn’t help anything. It just caused more problems.
He nodded to indicate that he’d heard him and once the door was closed, he pulled off his wet clothes, wrapping one towel around his waist and the other around his shoulders. He didn’t bother waiting in the bathroom, but instead gathered up his wet clothes to be neatly hung over the empty towel rack, hoping maybe his shirt, underwear, and dark grey khakis would dry enough to put back on later without it being too uncomfortable. His shoes and socks were left as well.
Once that was done, he opened the door to make his way to where he’d been brought before, and went to wait, sitting at the edge of Lauri’s bed, not wanting to get it too wet.
Lauri would insist on looking him over for injury, Yuuri knew. The least he could do was make things as easy as possible for him.
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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2017 6:48 pm
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Yuuri had gone from frantic and hysterical to the opposite end where his aspect was nearly flat and emotionless, which was actually not much better as far as Lauri knew. Easier to deal with, by far, but probably not better from a psychological stand point - unless it was just that he'd finally exhausted himself to that point...or maybe that was the same thing.
When the bathroom door opened and Yuuri stepped out, Lauri was pulling a thin white t-shirt over his head, hands pulling the hem down as he frowned at the empty expression on his packmate's face; on the bed was another pair of black drawstring sweatpants (much like the ones that the Finn was currently wearing) and a Sonata Arctica shirt obviously meant for his guest to wear.
Lauri padded over to kneel at his packmate's feet, he hadn't managed to go down and check on Tiberius or bring the first aid kit up, but that didn't matter. He could start at Yuuri's legs and work his way up, then go back downstairs for the kit and ice while Yuuri was dressing.
"Now, let's see you." Calloused but gentle, Lauri's hands started with his companion's small feet and slender ankles; the injury from before was healing nicely, so he left that alone, and there were a few new scrapes but nothing truly serious beyond some tender spots as he made his way up Yuuri's legs with a clinical thoroughness. Pushing the towel up gave Lauri access to the upper thigh, and he could maneuver the upper part of the towel Yuuri had about his waist to check that area while still preserving his packmate's modesty.
It was the upper body that seemed to have taken the most damage, he could tell even just from the way Yuuri held himself, so the towel would need to be removed completely for a proper - if amateur - examination. "Not so bad, so far." Lauri lifted his hands to Yuuri's shoulders to push the towel from them, letting the damp terrycloth pool behind him for a clear look at any damage left by the senshi attack on bared flesh.
The Finn sucked in a short breath, there was already some ugly bruising - Yuuri must have tangled with a brute of a senshi, offensive magic, definitely. Thick brows furrowed as he explored Yuuri's arms, chest, stomach, and shoulders for tenderness; it was not a pleasant thing to have done, he knew, but it was important even above cleaning out the scrapes. If something was broken or bleeding internally...well, that was beyond his purview and would require a trip to the emergency room. They needed to know. "Let me know if I hurt you and how much, it is important Yuuri."
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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2017 7:51 pm
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He hadn’t expected Lauri to still be in the bedroom, but there was only a moment of hesitation before he’d sat down, waiting for at least his face to be inspected, since that was what probably hurt the most. Yuuri had forgotten to get a look at himself in the mirror in the bathroom, so now he wasn’t entirely sure what Lauri might be concerned about if he looked him over.
As Lauri knelt by his feet in front of the bed, Yuuri tensed. Which was stupid, because Lauri had proven that he was just trying to help. Even as Pasi, he was never rough, despite being carried off to his apartment. Still, even in his exhausted state, he couldn’t stop the heat from rising in his face as warm, work worn hands carefully felt along his feet and ankles and up his leg.
Yuuri watched, because he couldn’t help himself, the way Lauri’s brows furrowed in concentration, the way his fingers sought to test for injury, but he was still thoughtful enough to not try and hurt him. His knees had been scraped up in the process of trying to escape the senshi, but his legs were mostly uninjured. Shakily, which Yuuri would blame on the cold, he moved his own hands to hold onto the towel over his lap, finally closing his eyes as his upper thighs were examined.
Breathe. Don’t be stupid.
He was one of Lauri’s pack. He felt nothing more than probably irksome obligation towards Yuuri in the first place. And while Lauri was nothing like Wolfeite, Yuuri knew that the importance of his health was more on the lines of checking on an investment, rather than anything else. He was part of Lauri’s Pack. He was useful. That was why it was important to make sure he was okay.
When hands moved to the towel over his shoulders, Yuuri’s eyes shot open, his whole body tensing, his heart stupidly pounding in his chest as his face flushed darker.
Not because he thought any ill intentions from Lauri, because someone like Lauri could clearly do better and not waste his time on someone who wasn’t Pack, but because… he was embarrassed. He was not like Lauri, or Adrien, or others he’d seen in the locker rooms in school. He was scrawny and thin and his shoulders were bony and nothing anyone could say would make him feel like he didn’t look as gross as he felt.
He knew his arms were bruised. The board had hit him hard in his upper right arm, and the magic had hit his left shoulder and side of his face. He was pretty sure there was going to be bruising all up and down the side of his chest too. He closed his eyes once more, focusing on keeping himself calm as Lauri touched and prodded, looking for sign of injury beyond what he could see, and Yuuri hissed and released short, pained breaths as he touched somewhere that was particularly painful.
Most importantly, he kept his calm because if he tried to jerk away, he might have to explain why he was more embarrassed about his back than anything else, even his inability to gain weight.
“My shoulder hurts,” he said, keeping his eyes squeezed shut, feeling heat along his chest and neck and wondering if he was breaking out into a nervous rash. Stupid. “My face hurts. My lip hurts,” he said, the words coming a bit quicker, because the faster he got this over with, the faster he could pull on the clothes Lauri brought for him.
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