Although Kamacite knew others wanted to be around Aue, like Faustite who prowled like a young cat in heat, he’d somehow ended up being the one to help get Aue back into somewhat workable shape before the next match.
Probably because he could keep his mouth shut and focus on the task at hand instead of asking stupid questions or being rudely blunt about observations.
Aue had made a passing comment about how it was lucky the Captain’s blades had been sharp. Cleaner cut meant smoother lines and if Kamacite didn’t ******** up, the scaring might not be that bad.
Kamacite wished Aue would just go to the hospital instead of eating starseeds and let himself be tended to by someone who barely knew what they were doing, and what they did know they’d learned from Aue.
He also wished Aue had lost his fight.
It was selfish, he knew. His concern for the other senshi was probably unnecessary. Many seemed to have a lot of faith in him being able to come out on top, and while Kamacite did as well… there were too many variables to consider.
“Should you really be drinking before your next fight?” the words came out before he could stop himself. He tensed, pausing as he carefully smoothed out a piece of gauze over the already sutured skin of Aue’s arm. Kamacite frowned at his packmate’s back, and the blood that stained his hands and got under his short nails. He compulsively smoothed at the edge of the bandage with his fingers, his other hand resting lightly on Aue’s back.
“I think you should sit out of the next one,” he mumbled quietly, brows furrowed in frustration because he knew Aue’s response before he even said it.
Since he couldn't really get to the running wound that spanned his left shoulder down his arm, Kamacite had been instructed to handle that. The gash across Aue's middle was a bit easier to take care of himself, he could clean it and field dress it while crunching on one of the strangely bitter but ridiculously addictive starseeds. It was like the entire world came into sharper focus, probably the best high to be found - a crystallized life. Extremely precious and he knew he'd have to ingest more than one with how badly Seraphinite had sliced him up, but it was Aue's hope to keep the number as low as possible.
Kamacite was strangely quiet, in that 'thinking loud thoughts' sort of way that made the Finn want to shake him until whatever it was that he was worrying at like a bone came free and was spoken. Instead, he took a swallow of whiskey and picked up the skin stapler he'd gotten from a veterinary supply offline and proceeded to use it it to close up the gash in his belly, hissing out Finnish swears each time he pulled the trigger and pausing after five to take another pull from the whiskey bottle.
His packmate had asked if he should be drinking, Aue gave him a baleful glare. "Should I be drinking. You are telling me. To staple and sew without, mm? Sadist." Granted, he knew that he must look a fright, bloodied and battered, cut up like a Christmas Ham. Of course Kamacite would be concerned - that was why his tone wasn't cutting, just pained and grumpy as per usual.
'I think you should sit out of the next one' came soft, mumbled at him like Kamacite knew that Aue wouldn't be pleased to hear it, would react poorly to it, and wouldn't consider it at all. Five more staples. Ten more. A long track of them sealing what had been an open wound, now cleaned and treated with powder and ointment.
When he was done with the skin staples, there was a fine sheen of sweat over body and a slightly ashy cast to his skin and he hadn't even used as many as he should. A second starseed between his teeth, crushed and washed down with more whiskey set him back to looking more human. "That is impossible, Kamacite. You already knowing this." ********, but he was tired. Still, to step down now would be an insult to Seraphinite, to the General running this tournament, to his General, his Packmates, to his allies - to himself. No, he would continue on and if he lost, so be it. If he managed to pull another win, it would be through using his brains, his environment. Or luck.
Moving position to look at Kamacite set the staples to shifting unpleasantly - that was going to be a problem. He'd have to remove some of them, but that might be fine. He could feel parts healing - the deepest places already less tender. How long did he have to rest? Maybe a cat nap was in order. Powering down and back up certainly was, to have a costume again, but that was for later.
He didn’t take offense to the glare. He would be glaring too if he was in pain and needed to get stitches and staples and eat starseeds and deal with everything else. Every time Aue’s muscles tensed or he swore had Kamacite tensing as well. He could imagine the pain. Maybe not as clearly and horrible as it really was for Aue, but he could piece just little bits of how it felt to have his back slashed like that.
The best thing about Aue was probably also the worst thing about him. He was steadfast in a way that meant he was always working towards something, always purposeful. His loyalty was purposeful, his patience and cleverness as well. But that also meant that he was stubborn when he didn’t have to be. Or at least when Kamacite didn’t think he had to be.
Just because it was expected of him to continue didn’t mean he had to do it, and selfishly, because Kamacite knew it was selfish of him to want Aue to not fight, he wished his packmate had lost.
Tourmaline had promised victory, and she had been right, but the whole time she held his hand in comfort, Kamacite couldn’t help but hope and pray to whatever deity or phenomenal cosmic power was listening that Aue would lose.
He’s already known Aue would continue to fight. And Aue knew that he knew that as well.
Kamacite was silent again, this time as he worked on cleaning more of the blood from Aue’s skin so he could finish patching over the wound.
“What happens to me if you--” he finally tried to ask, knowing it was a horribly selfish thing to think and to ask and to put Aue in that position. And Kamacite couldn’t even finish. If Aue died, what happened to him? Wolfeite scared him in a way that the thought of being turned into a youma, if only to be kept in the country, was almost as horrible of a thought as something happening to Aue.
He had nowhere else to go. And he was selfishly piling that weight onto Aue.
He wouldn’t be surprised if Aue shrugged him off after that, anxiety medicine be damned.
Once again, Kamacite fell silent. Aue wrapped his mid-section with gauze and secured it in place as he waited for the other senshi to figure out what he wanted to say. Pushing Kamacite wouldn't make the words come out any sooner, if anything his packmate would clam up and go mute for longer if pressured, so the Finn just sat, taking a bottle of water and a power bar and making use of his time. He needed to clean off his face and doctor the myriad smaller abrasions and wounds, see to his nose and make sure it was actually in place to heal, but for the moment getting something on his stomach other than human souls and whiskey seemed like a good idea.
Waiting proved fortuitous as usual, for it didn't take long before the actual issue was brought to light and his packmate spoke - or started to, but stopped, likely because continuing to say what he'd started was pretty selfish and also put some weird sort of pressure on Aue with regards to how he interacted with Kamacite.
He waved one blood-stained hand dismissively, not because it wasn't a pertinent point, but because it wasn't something to be discussed currently. Not here, not now. "Nothing will happen to me."
Aue reached out to grab Kamacite's wrist, strength still there despite his weariness and wounds. "Everything is to be fine. This is a series of spar tournaments. Not real battle. I have been through much, much worse." The training their Generals had put him through, before. The things he'd gone through with Tourmaline when Labyrinthite had disappeared and Wolfeite had hidden away to deal with whatever demons chased him had been far harsher, had molded him into sterner stuff.
Seraphinite had given him a beating, taken quite the pound of flesh, but Aue would not be dying any time soon. Kamacite would not be without his senshi instructor and shield. "Have I lied?"
Worrying like he was, he knew, was stupid. Aue was right. It was just a series of spars, even if it meant getting beaten and bloodied more than necessary. That didn’t mean Kamacite had to like it. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t worry, even if he knew Aue could hold his own and if things got really bad, he would know when to retreat or call for help.
Maybe.
Kamacite liked to think that he would, but if something really happened to him, not in a tournament setting, what would Aue really do? Would he stubbornly continue to fight until the bitter end? Would he escape narrowly with his life? Would his pride keep him from running?
As much as Kamacite liked to think he knew Aue, he really didn’t. And even still, despite being terrified of him the first time they’d crossed paths, and still rather intimidated by him a lot of the time, Aue’s presence has become something of a pillar for him. Maybe because he’d shown him the slightest amount of compassion, or because they happened to be packmates, Kamacite wasn’t sure why. Just that he was. And if the senshi of lemons was removed from his life…
But his train of thoughts were interrupted by first Aue’s words and then his hand grabbing hold of his wrist. He tensed out of habit, but didn’t try to pull away. The weight and warmth of his hand, even discolored by blood… and lack thereof under skin… was a comfort Kamacite was embarrassed to even mention.
Stupidly, he felt heat color his face, and he ducked his head in an attempt to hide behind some of his equally stupid long black hair.
“Would I even know if you lied to me?” he asked quietly, a hint of accusation in his voice that quickly dissipated as he let the tension in his shoulders go, and he slumped miserably. Picking fights with Aue was not something he wanted to do. If anything, he wanted to drag his packmate to the hospital, but that was not likely to happen.
“You should rest,” he added, a distraction. A peace offering, really. He would leave Aue to rest, and Kamacite would stand guard for as long as he was allowed, as ineffective as someone who lost their own match was.
“Is there anything I can get for you?” Because he might as well make himself useful.
In a real battle, if pressed hard enough, Aue would retreat because his life was worth more than some misplaced sense of dying honorably on the field of battle. That s**t didn't matter, what mattered was living and continuing on, being able to contribute and do the things he wanted to do, balanced with the s**t he had to do. Aue was nothing if not practical in that way, it was why he'd sided with the Negaverse in the first place, practicality and a dislike for the pitifully chaotic and ineptly named 'Order' side.
You pick a fine time to find your backbone, Kamacite. Actually, it wasn't a bad time to express displeasure - Kamacite was feeling his existence, as far as he was comfortable with it, being threatened. He'd been getting used to things going one way, having a bit of a routine and settling into his life within the Pack and on medication and now there was this Tournament pushing the one that had provided this stability into an uncertain point. It made sense that Kamacite was lashing out like an angry child, sulking, pouting and having flashes of anger. Aue would not smile about it, but it was progress.
"You know the answer to that." The Finn rolled his eyes, not bothering to reiterate that he kept to honesty as a policy with his packmates for reasons, something Kamacite knew but was busy having a tiny tantrum over because he was scared.
Wetting his sash so he could wash some of the blood from his face, Aue sighed heavily. "I should. I can't remember how long between matches." Another starseed? No. Realistically, it would help. Closer to match time, not before. It will give me a better idea how far my healing has come. "You've done plenty, Kamacite." Aue powered down to Lauri for a moment, staggered to his knees, then powered back up so that he would no longer be in a blood-soaked uniform. Immediately he removed the top to make sure he wouldn't bleed out onto it accidentally and so he could use it as a pillow.
"When this is over, I'll go to the hospital like you want, if it will make you feel better. But not until then." I'll need to, dammit.
He bristled and tensed. Kamacite had cautioned a glance up at Aue’s face just as he’d decided to roll his eyes, the coloring in his face darkening with frustration on top of embarrassment.
Did he know the answer to that? Either Aue was saying he was a bad liar, or he was really a good liar and playing off Kamacite’s naiveties. Both were possible. A more reasonable voice in the back of his head tried to suggest that maybe Kamacite already knew that Aue wouldn’t lie to him because they were Pack and it was important to be honest to each other if they planned on surviving this bullshit world.
Averting his eyes once more, Kamacite was tempted to turn around and leave. He’d done as he’d been asked and now surely Aue would like some time to himself, or with someone else, it didn’t even matter.
But he couldn’t quite stop himself from immediately reaching out as Aue fell to his knees, hands outstretched in an attempt to keep Lauri from collapsing completely to the ground, if his energy had suddenly run out on him.
The almost panicked concern that widened his eyes shifted quickly back to an expression of frustration as Lauri powered back up and removed the top of his magically mended uniform. Kamacite’s own decorative robe was discarded somewhere, soaked in Aue’s blood from when he’d given it to him at the end of the match.
Kamacite eyed Aue skeptically when he promised to go to the hospital, not knowing if he believed him or if he was just saying it to appease him.
Or if he knew he’d be carried out in a stretcher at some point.
“I’d like to stay until your next match,” Kamacite heard himself say, still frowning, still frustrated, still scared. If something happened to Aue, Kamacite knew he would regret not staying by his side just a few hours longer.
He couldn't convince Kamacite of things, only tell him his truth and the wait for this packmate to decide what part - or parts - he was willing to believe and accept. That part was up to the red-faced corrupt, not Aue nor anyone else.
"Stay, then. I don't mind." He was just going to lay down and close his eyes and rest until it was time to get up and see whom his next fight would be with, determine if he needed another goddamn starseed or not to go with the one Tourma had given him in the ring, and the two he'd taken outside it on his own. It was dangerous, but he didn't want to go in so severely handicapped that he couldn't manage to put on even the most basic of shows.
That would reflect poorly on him, on his Generals. On his pack.
Aue refused.
"You can keep the rabble away." From subspace, Aue pulled out sunglasses and put them on in a slow, pointed gesture before stretching out on a bench and laying his head on his pillowed tunic.
He watched as Aue settled down on the bench, and then the way he pulled the sunglasses from subspace and put them on.
Kamacite stared almost incredulously, the heat in his face not even attempting to cool at this point. Keeping the rabble away, huh?
A breath he didn’t realize he was holding slowly released, his expression settling and the tension leaving for the moment. Quietly, so as not to disturb his resting packmate, Kamacite made his way over to the bench so he could settle down on the ground in front of it, carefully pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them.
Even if he couldn’t do much to help Aue at that moment, he could keep him company and if anyone tried to harass him unnecessarily, they would be receiving the worst migraine they’d ever experienced.
He might have lost his own match, but he still had plenty of magic ready and waiting.
Syrie
Fin! Thank you!