Chapter Text
Legend kicked the wolfos’ corpse off his Tempered Sword, the slick blade sliding from the monster’s chest with a wet squelch. Panting, he nearly knocked himself off-balance with the motion, but he managed to stay upright as he swiveled around to see a grim Warriors sheathing his own weapon, a second hacked-up wolfos at his feet.
“Took way longer than it should’ve,” Legend remarked. He tried to ignore the dark speckles winking around the edges of his vision as he mopped black blood from his sword.
Warriors pawed through the pouch where he carried his medical supplies. “Shit. I don’t have any more potions. You?”
“No. Why? You hurt?”
The Captain graced him with an incredulous look. “Not for me. For you, idiot.”
“For what, my back?” Legend keyed in to the unsettling sensations of hot blood slithering down bare skin and soaking into the remaining tatters of his tunic. “It’ll be fine ‘til we get back to camp.”
Warriors rolled his eyes. “Just sit down, okay? You look like you’re gonna pass out.”
“I’m not gonna pass out. Don’t overreact.”
“Just sit down, Vet,” the Captain ordered as he closed the gap between them, medical dressing in hand.
Legend narrowed his eyes. “No, it’s fine. We’re not that far from camp.”
“Actually, we are, and those cuts are deep. We have to staunch the bleeding.”
“They’re not that bad. I can wait, and then I’ll just drink a potion.”
“Uh, no. They really are that bad. Why are you always so weird about letting us wrap your wounds?” He reached out, and Legend sprang backwards, triggering a surge of light-headedness that he stubbornly discounted.
“I’m fine,” Legend insisted. “I can wait.”
Legend glared, and Warriors glared right back. “Now is not the time for your bullshit. Sit. Down.”
“No. Save your mother cucco-ing for the Sailor.”
Heaving a long-suffering sigh, Warriors muttered, “Din’s sake, Vet. You are exhausting sometimes, you know that?”
Legend prickled and crossed his arms, cupping his hands around his sides in unconscious imitation of a hug. He could feel the blood from his back smear across his fingertips. “So let’s just go back to camp, and then you won’t have to deal with me anymore.”
“We could be done bandaging your stupid cuts at this rate, you know that?”
“And we could be back to camp by now, too.”
“No, we couldn’t!” Warriors groaned, dragging a hand through his hair and disheveling it further. It was strange to see it so carelessly mussed. “You’ve been unreasonably bullheaded over some petty shit before, but this is by far the most imbecilic hill you’ve chosen to die on. Listen, if I was bleeding this much, you wouldn’t hesitate to treat the wounds.”
“Sure I would. You wanna bleed out, that’s your choice. Not my problem.”
The Captain gritted his teeth, patience depleted, and absently rubbed at his pauldron-free shoulder, which was no doubt in pain from when the wolfos had tackled him to the ground. The longer they dallied, the longer it was before either of them could take a potion.
Legend sighed, balling his fists. He knew Warriors was right, anyway; the wolfos’ claws had sunk deep and ripped a decent chunk of his flesh out, and they were at least a thirty-minute walk from camp.
“Okay, fine,” the Vet relented. “Just be quick about it.”
Warriors blinked dumbly, baffled by this abrupt change of heart, as Legend distanced himself from the dead monsters and plopped onto the ground. He instantly tensed when the Captain settled behind him, and he flinched as soon as cloth was firmly pressed to his wounds to stem the bleeding.
Acutely aware that some flimsy layers of fabric comprised the only barrier between his skin and Warriors’ hands, Legend jammed a knuckle into his mouth, biting down lightly to suppress a shudder. He tried to give himself an internal pep talk—you can handle it—but when the Captain’s bare fingertips grazed Legend’s skin, he instinctively pulled away.
“Am I hurting you?” Warriors asked.
“No,” Legend grunted, muffled by the knuckle stuffed between his teeth. “Just hurry up.”
When Warriors resumed, Legend flinched again and cursed himself for it. He expected some snide remark about his jumpiness, but none came.
Strained minutes felt like hours as Legend endured the disquieting scratchiness under his skin, radiating from all the spots Warriors touched. He blinked hot, stinging tears from his eyes, aware of his back muscles coiling tighter and tighter.
When bare skin brushed bare skin again, Legend couldn’t suppress a choked whine, and he bit down harder on his knuckle.
“You need a break?” All frustration and irritation had drained from Warriors’ tone, replaced only with quiet concern.
Legend could only shake his head. He jumped when Warriors reached around him to gently grasp his wrist. “You’re gonna hurt yourself doing that.”
Reluctantly, Legend unclenched his jaw, allowing Warriors to tug his hand away from his teeth. He wouldn’t look at the Captain, but he could sense the worried frown radiating off the older hero.
“I’m almost done,” Warriors informed him softly as he took up his task again.
His touch was warm and gentle, yet it aggravated scars carved into Legend’s spirit long ago, when his uncle died. Year upon lonely year had passed since Legend had felt a tender, caring touch, and it hurt, and it terrified.
Warriors finished and pulled his hands away, leaving in their wake a painful tingle, like the aftermath of an electric shock. Legend sat still as Warriors put away the medical supplies. When the Captain stood, he circled around to Legend’s front and reached out a hand.
Legend’s throat was still raw with unshed tears as he defiantly disregarded the offered help and wobbled to his feet on his own.
Warriors rolled his eyes again, mumbling, “You’re always so damn stubborn.”
Legend opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off as he was suddenly dragged into a hug. His entire body went rigid and his mind, overwhelmed, blanked out.
Swallowing thickly, Legend murmured with as much spite as he could muster, “What the fuck are you doing?”
After a beat, Warriors said, “It’s okay to let people love you, you know.”
Stiffly, cautiously, Legend latched his arms around his friend and closed his eyes, desperately trying to forget that one day, he’d be alone again.