Yuuri didn’t know how long he’d slept. It was still dark when he opened his eyes to the unfamiliar room. No, it wasn’t entirely unfamiliar. He knew where he was, but it wasn’t somewhere he would consider himself comfortable.

Then again, Yuuri wasn’t sure if he ever felt truly comfortable anywhere.

Right now, he was especially uncomfortable because his head felt like it was going to burst, and he felt weak and so very sore.

It took him a moment to remember.

He’d fought as Kamacite. A senshi had attacked him, hit him with some magic in the face, swung a wooden board at him. Yuuri had barely escaped, and that was only thanks to Tiberius showing up when he had. If it weren’t for him -

And Lauri. If it weren’t for Tiberius and Lauri helping him, Yuuri wasn’t sure if he would have survived. He didn’t know what that senshi planned on doing, but he’d obviously held no sympathy towards him.

A small whimper escaped as Yuuri tried to move. His body felt like it was going to break apart if he tried moving too much. And his eyes hurt. He could barely see out of one because he was certain it was black and blue and by now, but he’d also left his contacts in. There hadn’t really been anywhere to take them out and leave them, but that meant he’d have to deal with his eyes being irritated.

He was also warm. Not just from being tucked under the covers of the bed, but because there was the heat of someone lying beside him. He didn’t know how quickly he’d fallen asleep after getting stoned with Lauri, but his host didn’t seem to have any issues with letting Yuuri sleep in his bed. Again.

This was happening more frequently than it probably should. And for that reason, Yuuri was glad that he’d actually followed through with getting assigned a dorm room. One, because as much as he liked being around Adrien, he could be entirely too distracting when it came to trying to get school work completed. And two, because Yuuri still had his Negaverse obligations.

Shifting again, Yuuri held his breath and gnashed his teeth together against any other sounds of pain, not wanting to wake Lauri, who seemed to be sleeping quite contently. Just in case he’d woken his packmate, Yuuri mumbled something about the bathroom, hoping that was a good enough excuse to not cause a fuss.

He did have to relieve himself, but that wasn’t an easy process. His arms felt like jello, and his legs weren’t much better. There was a heaviness that had settled over him from the pain, his head aching and making him dizzy. One leg over the edge of the bed, and then the other a few moments later. He had to grip onto the mattress to keep himself upright, his breathing a little heavy from exertion.

He’d been in fights before, but not with anyone as violent as the senshi he’d met. All the times before, he’d been able to escape. But this time he’d been stupid and had no energy left to teleport as he normally would have at the first sign of danger.

It was more of a struggle than he would have liked to admit to make it to the bathroom. His hand shook as he closed the door behind him and turned on the light, only for the sight that met him nearly causing his heart to stop.

For a moment, he didn’t realize it was himself he was looking at in the mirror; disheveled with his hair sticking up in places from sleep. But it was the stark contrast of his normally pale skin turned black and blue and purple, his lip red and swollen where it had been busted, that bothered him the most. He usually bruised easily, but if he didn’t know any better, and if he couldn’t feel the pain, he might have assumed it was makeup with how horrible he looked.

But it wasn’t makeup, as much as he would have liked to believe it was. It was very real, and very much the result of a fight cut short.

Yuuri lifted his hand to his face. He could see the way his fingers trembled in the reflection, the way his hands were scuffed up and raw from when he tried catching himself from falling on the ground. His arms weren’t that much better off. The short sleeves of Lauri’s tee-shirt he’d been lent did nothing to hide the bruising up and down his arms, nor did it hide the way his neck and jaw had been bruised as well.

It was a fight that ended because Tiberius showed up.

Because he, because Kamacite, wasn’t strong enough to fight on his own. Even against a basic level senshi, he was still struggling to even get to his feet. And the crazed look in the other man’s eyes, the joy he seemed to get out of causing him pain.

A hand clutched tightly to the counter, his other against his chest as his heart raced. He would have died if it wasn’t for Tiberius being there. Yuuri was sure of this. He would have been left, broken and bloody in the alley, or worse.

His stomach churned uncomfortably, and Yuuri barely managed to shakily push the toilet lid up so he could heave over the bowl. He hadn’t eaten since much earlier in the day, so there wasn’t much that came up, but it still left him feeling weak and shaky, a cold sweat breaking out across his brow. He knelt there for what felt like forever, coughing every so often, before he finally lifted his still trembling hand to flush.

He didn’t get up. Instead he just let himself collapse onto the floor beside the toilet, pressing the more painful side of his face against the cool floor.

Pathetic. He was pathetic. One hand still clutched to his chest as he tried desperately to stop himself from breathing as unevenly as he was, curled up on his side half behind a ******** toilet. He acted as though his life had any great meaning to it, as though he was more than just a disposable pawn in the great scheme of things. Yuuri had always been aware that he was not meant for greater things, that he struggled just to get by with being alive in the first place.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to live, it was just that there was no real purpose for him. There were very few who would even be concerned if he was gone, and for how long? Adrien would move on. Wolfeite would get a new recruit to replace him. Lauri wouldn’t have to be bothered taking care of him.

Right now, all he was… was a burden. He wanted to be useful, he wanted to live and maybe find worth in his unremarkable life. But in that moment, on the floor of Lauri’s bathroom, all he felt was the fear and despair and self-loathing that had been embedded into him since he was just a child.

Dramatic. Over exaggerating. Just wanting attention.

Yuuri’s head throbbed painfully and he closed his eyes to try and keep the tears from welling. They were right about him and always had been.

Why Wolfeite let him live and took him under his wing, he would never know. How Adrien looked at him and saw more than just an awkward, shy college student, Yuuri didn’t know either. And whatever had convinced Tiberius to help him out, and Aue to consider him one of his pack…

Much like waking up the first time, Yuuri wasn’t sure how long he’d been lying on the floor of the bathroom when he heard the door open. He felt guilty, knowing that Lauri probably needed to use the bathroom as well, and that he was taking way too long to figure out what the hell he was doing.

Yuuri made to push himself up, an apology on the tip of his tongue -

But Lauri had brought the first aid kit with him, had already knelt down beside him, and a strong but gentle grip on his upper arm helped pull Yuuri up to sit against the wall.

He felt like crying again.

This time for an entirely different reason than pain or frustration or fear. He wanted to ask Lauri why.

Why bother with him? He could have easily dropped him off at the hospital if he wanted to make sure he was okay. It was usually what people did when he had his anxiety attacks. The overnight clinic on campus knew him by name now. It would have been easy to just pass him off to someone whose actual job was to take care of people like him.

Instead, Lauri was giving him some more aspirin and water, was checking him over to make sure his injuries didn’t show signs of severe internal damage, in spite of the superficial bruising on the surface. Lauri was taking time he could be using for himself and using it to make sure Yuuri was okay.

Was this really what the pack did for each other? It wasn’t like this with Wolfeite. He was more content to let someone else make sure Yuuri was okay than to tend to him himself. And Yuuri thought that was fine. But for someone to personally take it upon themselves like Lauri was…

Yuuri didn’t fight as he was scooped up from the bathroom floor and into Lauri’s arms, nor did he argue about being tucked back into bed.

There was no need for words, but Yuuri also didn’t know how to express his gratitude.

When he fell asleep again, after Lauri had returned to the bed as well, Yuuri couldn’t help the strange feeling of being just a little more content than he’d felt before. It was one of the first times he could recall feeling as though someone cared about his wellbeing, even if it was just for the pack.

It was… nice… and wasn’t something Yuuri wanted to give up any time soon.


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