Chapter Text
As expected, Medkit was harshly reprimanded for showing up home an entire day late.
After listening to Sword ramble on and on about how worried he was and how he’d ‘thought something bad had happened’, Medkit had issued his finest apology.
Sword had agreed to accept it under the conditions he tagged along with him and Rocket for a nightly hangout where they would ‘fill him in on what he missed’, whatever that meant.
So that’s how he’d managed to find himself in a karaoke booth, practically third wheeling and still not filled in whatsoever.
Even if the place they were wasn’t exactly his style, he still relished in his friend’s company.
They’d managed to make the most dreadful thing in his opinion.. fun.
He will admit— he hadn’t exactly sat out the entire time.
He did sing along to a few songs he recognized from Sword blasting them throughout their shared dorm.
He may have happened to have held the microphone and sang his heart out,— but that was only for him and the couple to know, and them only.
He’d just blame it on the beer they’d been drinking if they ever brought it up again…
When they ran out of songs they could recognize on the list, they’d all sat down on the couch within the room.
They drank and chatted with one another, Sword’s arm slung around Rocket.
Medkit told them about his night out, jumping over and away from any mentions of Blackrock or Subspace’s exact name.
“So— After the bar where did you even go? You had to have slept somewhere..” Sword inclined, genuinely curious.
“We got a hotel, nothing fancy.” Medkit told.
“Damn Meds! A hotel on the first date!! I never would have expected that from you !” Rocket taunted.
Medkit groaned, pinching his now-reddened nose.
“Gods—- Don’t be insinuating things like that.. — Nothing happened—- we just slept .”
“Yeah.. slept together —“ Rocket tormented, a sly
smirk on his face.
“Urrgh—- Rocket .” Medkit pleaded, resigned to fully burying his head in his hands and regretting his honesty.
“But!!—-You’re not denying the date bit!!”
“Soo—- it actually was a date?! I knew it!” Sword drew conclusions and prematurely celebrated, happy for his brother.
“It— wasn’t a date…” Medkit removed himself from his hands to reply, blushing and avoiding eye contact.
Despite the fact they both would never believe him, he still persisted in his efforts..
It positively wasn’t a ‘date’ after-all.. right?
No matter how much they believed it was,
it definitely was not,—- he was overthinking things.
“Yeah right! Still— we’re happy for you man!” Rocket smiled, friendlily clapping a hand down on Medkit’s shoulder. Thankfully, he’d avoided using the metal one.
Medkit swatted Rocket’s hand away with a grin
“He doesn’t like me like that,— really. But thanks anyways.”
“He doesn’t.. But do you?”
Sword examined.
“Ah..—“
Medkit’s tongue was caught, the fault in his phrasing had not gone unnoticed, clearly.
“You do!!” Sword beamed, finally having found his confirmation.
He might as well be honest, there wasn’t any point in lying to himself now.
Or Sword and Rocket either for that matter— they’d put two and two together already.
“Maybe..” Medkit drawled.
Sword squealed like a teenage girl, shaking his brother back and forth.
“MEDS! it’s about time!! C’mon!— what’s his name? Me and Rocket can set you guys up or something!” Sword excitedly suggested.
“Yeah!! We can do— like—-a double date!” Rocket brainstormed.
“A double date!! That’s perfect!” Sword agreed, firm in his decision and ready to begin planning.
“Hah.. I appreciate your enthusiasm.. but I’d rather things take their natural course.”
Medkit politely declined knowing that even if he did want to, he couldn’t.
“I’d figured you’d say something like that..” Sword shrugged.
“No matter! Maybe one day!—- I’ve gotta meet this guy who has you swooning!!”
“Possibly.—- and I’m not swooning ….”
He snarked, somewhat agreeing despite his acknowledgment that it wasn’t plausible.
Still, it may have been nice to imagine.
“How did you meet him, anyways?” Rocket asked, curious.
Ah, and there was the question he’d been expecting.
Thankfully, he’d remembered the exact thing he’d told Sword— the last thing he wanted to do was contradict himself and get caught in a lie.
Even then, it’s not like he was lying — just omitting a few things.
“I met him during battle.”
“During battle! Medkit— don’t be getting reckless and abandoning your duties on us…!” Rocket messed.
“Me? Getting reckless! Who’s the one missing half his limbs and likely bits of his innards as well from when his stomach blew up?” Medkit snarked.
“Wow Medkit.. totally a sore subject…” Rocket exaggerated, jesting with a smile on his face.
“Unbelievable Meds..” Sword tuned in, joking along with Rocket, a matching grin plastered on his face.
“Oh come on!— If anything it’s a sore subject for me too— I’m the one who had to wriggle my hands around in there..” Medkit reminded.
“Jesus Med— don’t remind me.. it felt like butterflies in my stomach— but if the butterflies were razor blades..” Rocket winced at his own recollection.
“Urggh— can we change the subject? I’m getting queasy…” Sword quavered.
“That’s just because you drank too much!” Rocket joshed.
“Yeah right!” Sword retaliated.
“Oh!! Wait! Hold on—-I almost forgot!” Rocket mentioned, having just then recalled something important.
“Hm? What is it?” Sword wondered.
“We were supposed to tell him!” Rocket prompted.
“Tell me what..?” Medkit questioned.
“It completely slipped my mind! Thanks for reminding me Rocks—“
“I can’t believe we forgot— it was almost the entire reason for us coming here..” Sword face-palmed.
“Medkit, remember how me and Rocket put in that request to be roomed together?” Sword inquired.
“Yes?”
He did remember, Sword had complained to him for months about them taking forever to get back to him.
“Well they finally wrote me back! I’m moving into Rocket’s this week!” He announced.
“How wonderful! I finally won’t have to worry about picking up after your dirty laundry anymore—let alone cleaning your dishes..” Medkit kidded.
“Hah! Hope you don’t miss me too much!”
Sword quipped.
“Haha, trust me— I’ve had enough of dealing with you to last a lifetime.” Medkit assured.
“You wound me!!” Sword keeled over, clutching his abdomen in a melodramatic display.
Rocket giggled adding on a “I think I can attest to that!”
Sword fell back against the couch, letting his head loll and sticking his tongue out.
“Wait!—No!! Come back to us!!—- Don’t go into the light!!” Rocket shook him, holding back his laughs.
Medkit smiled, shaking his head in feigned disapproval.
Gods, they were idiots.
—
Subspace creaked open his door as quiet as possible, performing his returning-home rituals in near silence.
Through being unheard, he was staving off the reprehension from his brother for as long as he could. He wasn’t exactly willing to be at the receiving end of it.
He noiselessly observed the scene he’d walked in on, smiling as he took it in.
Hyperlaser was swinging a shoelace above Biograft’s head, jumping it about in what the cat had clearly percieved as a tantalizing motion.
The mechanical cat swiped and narrowly missed the lace, grasping at air and falling onto its back in defeat.
From there he lazily swatted from his position on the floor, barely grazing the string.
Growing bored, he rolled back onto his stomach, facing the door.
The cat looked up and met eyes with his returning owner, happily trilling and springing up from the carpet to welcome him.
Subspace cringed— so much for staving it off. nonetheless, he bent a knee to pet his exposer.
“Subspace.” Hyperlaser spoke in what Subspace took as a terrifyingly intimidating tone.
“..Yeah?” Subspace responded meekly, almost wincing.
Hyperlaser walked over to him, horribly ominous.
In an unforeseen act, Hyper pulled him into a strong hug, clapping a hand down on his back.
“Don’t scare me like that again.”
“Really, Subspace—- you meet up with the enemy and never come home— what else am I supposed to think?” Hyperlaser guilted.
“It’s not like you haven’t done the same exact thing to me?!” Subspace shot back.
“Eh- I wouldn’t say ‘exact’—” Hyperlaser pointed out.
“Practically!!” Subspace pressed on.
Hyperlaser held his brother at arms length by both of his shoulders, questioning him with a
“So what, this was meant to be your revenge?”
“Yup! You’re more than welcome to see it that way!!” Subspace urged.
Hyperlaser rolled his eyes with a smirk, just happy to have the reassurance now that his brother wasn’t dead in some alleyway.
He sat down on the edge of his bed, Subspace keying in and following pursuit.
“So… how did it go?” Hyperlaser cocked his head, eager to listen.
“It went great— better than I ever could have expected really..—-I didn’t even think he’d show!”
Biograft jumped up into Subspace’s lap, getting comfortable.
Subspace stroked the cat as he recalled the night to his brother, who intently listened, making sure to poke fun at him whenever he got the chance.
Subspace skipped over mentioning the handholding and flirtatious comments.
When Subspace told him about the hotel room, He left out the complications regarding the singular bed.
If Hyper knew, he would never let him live it down.
Still, Hyperlaser could tell enough that he was leaving some things out, if the blush on Subspace’s cheeks as he spoke was anything to go by.
“I’m glad to hear your date went well.” Hyper teased.
“ It wasn’t a date!!! ” Subspace retaliated, red as wine.
“Mhm. Sure.” Hyperlaser smirked.
Hyperlaser could always see right through him.
—
—
—
Burning, everything was burning.
His lungs stung, his legs ignited in pain.
He persevered, keeping headstrong through his fatigue, he would never let himself stop— even for a single breath.
Blackrock had attacked during the night, they’d charged into lost temple territory, artillery at the ready.
The alarms had shook him from deep sleep, and before he knew it, he was already on the battlefield.
It all was a familiar feeling, they’d all felt being caught off guard before, but it’d been a while.
that must have been the reason why so many demons needed healing.
It felt as if Medkit needed to be in two places at once.
Shouts left and right beckoned him over, pleading for healing, some quick bandage-work, anything.
Medkit’s head was absolutely splitting at the stress, Lost Temple’s population wasn’t especially dense with healers.
This meant that he needed to be on top of everything, or all else would crumble.
Luckily, Blackrock hadn’t managed to get close to any civilian populated areas.
They’d only succeeded in making it just past a weak point in their borders and into the vast expanse of non-occupied hills and dunes.
Throughout the battle’s raging, Medkit had to have already healed dozens of demons. With it being so short into the battle, that absolutely couldn’t have been a good sign.
He had to redirect his focus to the job at hand multiple times all the moments he’d seen any minuscule flash of pink from the corner of his eye.
He tried not to let his mind wander to what had been concerning him— whether or not Subspace was okay.
He hadn’t actually seen the man of his perturbances, which had only served to trouble him more.
He needed to remember where his loyalties lied— or rather, where they were supposed to lie.
He had work to do, which meant his own anxieties had to be pushed aside for now—- no matter how much they tried to pull him from his tasks.
He continued to push on through his exhaustion, shooting at groups of both enemies and allies as he stuck mostly to sidelines, avoiding close combat at any costs.
His group of teammates had previously been protecting him from said close combat, but he’d lost track of them a while back while healing one of the downed.
He’d left the direct line of site of any colleagues, which meant he needed to move,—and fast.
If any enemy decided to attack him now, he’d be almost completely defenseless— he was an open target.
His bullets weren’t going to do as much damage as they usually would. He was under direct orders from his commander to bring his ‘healing gun’ as opposed to his typical pistol.
Sure, his healing gun could do some damage to opponents despite its mending abilities to his partners, —but it didn’t yield much.
Tonight, he was only supporting, it was all he could do.
So, he ran— he ignored the burning and ran.
He was almost there, a few yards away and he would have been there.
But, he wouldn’t get there.
His path was blocked off by a singular demon, His uniform branded with the blackrock insignia.
His heart fell through the floor as he aimed his pistol at the unfamiliar man.
He wielded a two-sided blade, which he twirled in his hands as he approached.
He smiled a twisted smile, knowing he’d found his perfect target.
Medkit kept up a stoic expression, eager to convince his opponent that he wasn’t as helpless as he seemed in the moment.
“Don’t you know not to bring a sword to a gun fight?” Medkit ragged, a quick-thought distraction.
“And don’t you know…—-not to enter a battle where you can’t win..?
The man hissed.
Medkit didn’t listen for his reply, he instead desperately searched his surroundings for a way to run, seeing one as the demon continued his walk towards him.
Medkit stepped back as he did so, before twisting on his heel and darting away as fast as he could.
He wasn’t fast enough.
The wind was knocked out of him as the demon tackled him to the ground, Medkit struggled in his hold, growling. He tried to kick and twist to pull from his grasp.
It was too late, he’d been caught—-
and his perpetrator took advantage.
Hot, searing pain made its course through his veins as the demon stabbed a blade straight through his abdomen.
Dreadful warmth dripped from the terrible gash, Medkit could only choke on the blood he felt pooling in the back of his throat as the blade twisted .
The demon held that crooked grin, cracking open his crusted lips to ask in a derogatorily sultry tone
“Hm.. what’s wrong little fawn~?… You’ve gone still.”
Medkit was rendered speechless. All he could focus on was the horrendous pain that seemed to seep to every tissue in his body, biting at his nerves with sharp and gnashing fangs.
The demon pulled his blade back out with a nauseating squelch.
Medkit was reeling, the pain nearly making him delirious. He couldn’t hold back his yelps and gasps anymore, as embarrassing as they were. It couldn’t have possibly mattered by now.
His brain insisted he couldn’t just sit there, he wasn’t dead yet— he needed to do something .
Adrenaline fueled him, blocking out the agony that came from the darkening gash in his stomach and allowing him to act in an instant. He elbowed his attacker in the side of the head as hard as he could.
The stretch it’d put on his stomach was unbearable, but it gave him an opening.
The demon stumbled back, his mouth curling as he snarled.
Medkit slid backwards and jumped onto his feet. As soon as he did the demon was charging towards him, blades held up in the air.
Medkit threw his gun to the side, it was practically useless anyways—- it’s not like he could use it to heal himself.
Going off of nothing but his persistent adrenaline, with his now-free hands Medkit countered. He held the demons blade wielding arm back, punching him in his gut and making him lose his grip on his weapon.
He kicked the weapon as far away from them both as he could.
Pain shot through his nose, his vision going fuzzy as a second blow was delivered.
He tried to steady himself, but the blows were hard.—- He was already bleeding out, which only served to make it infinitely more difficult.
It took him a moment, but he fought back and struck the demon down to the ground, continuing his assault as the demon laid beneath him.
His lungs dried out at a strong knee to his abdomen,—-hitting him straight in his open wound. He still attempted to swing another punch— but he fell short as his first was caught.
The demons own fist collided with his jaw in a sickening crack.
Medkit grunted out in sheer unadulterated pain, trying to regain the upper hand.
But the man was strong, and although Medkit was as well, he couldn’t compete in his state.
He was thrown onto his back, he felt something tear—- he screamed,—- it was agonizing.
Before he could even attempt to regain his bearings, bruising hands were wrapped around his neck.
He couldn’t move, the mans knees pinned him to the floor.
He tried to pull at the hands, choking for air.
He clawed, drawing blood, but the man didn’t waver.
He gritted his teeth in effort, continuing to try to break the mans grip on him,—-but nothing came from it.
The demon chortled a sickening chuckle, Medkit could barely hear it over his heart pounding through his skull.
This is how he was going to die.
“Say goodnight, little deer.”
His vision began to blacken at the edges, his hands slowly fell, losing their strength.
Goodnight . he bitterly humored
everything went black.
—
A gut feeling had reeled Subspace in.
Something had brought him to the side of this insignificant hill— telling him he needed to be fast— that it was almost too late.
For what?—-At the time he wasn’t sure.
A certain demon fighting on the enemy lines had been one of his first thoughts, admittedly.
He had been right.
It felt like fate, standing where he stood.
The scene he walked in on— it wasn’t rare to see on a battlefield.
Usually, him and anyone else there would have turned a blind eye.
But he didn’t—- he wouldn’t.
He recognized those teal horns— the choked off voice, gasping for air.
It all happened quickly— and it happened as soon as he’d seen who this demon’s hands were choking,—-Medkit.
He’d stood in boneshaking anger— mindbreaking terror—-watching Medkit— his Medkit’s eyes slip closed in a simple manner of seconds.
The disgustingly impish smirk on that demons face,—-he was smiling at what he’d done, still holding his suffocating grip.
He didn’t hesitate to shoot.
The tip of his gun smoked, the air stunk of gunpowder a lot more than it usually did.
Infact, the gunshot had been a lot louder than it typically was.
That man— he had no idea who he was, just that he was from Blackrock —- he was supposed to be on his side.
He didn’t regret what he’d done at all.
He’d shot him straight through the skull—- he watched him fall, croak his dying breath.
He would do it again if he could.
He wanted to do it again.
His gut churned in worry— in anger.
His veins pulsed with pure anxiety, drowning in the rush.
He ran to Medkit’s side.
He kicked the limp body of the blackrockian from the top of him, discarding it carelessly to the side.
He noticed the dark red pooling at his sides on the floor, there was too much—- way too much.
The first thing he did was check if he was breathing, he prayed to every god above that he was.
His thoughts were nothing but chants of
‘Please be alive, please be okay.’
He let out a breath he didnt know he was holding.
Medkit’s chest rose in a slow rise and fall, labored— but there—- existing.
He didnt think of any consequences, he only thought of getting Medkit somewhere safer— somewhere he could help him.
He hauled him into his arms, all the while pressing down on the laceration to slow the bleeding.
He began running for some sort of cover— anywhere remotely safer.
He ran, and he hoped.
His prayers were swiftly answered.
A stone wellhouse stood yards before him. it likely hadn’t been touched or even seen for years, if he was going off its appearance.
It was practically buried underneath dried grasses, tangled in the arid undergrowth.
it was far enough from the battlefield, secluded enough.
He pursued, calves burning and lungs heaving.
He picked up stirring from his arms,—-was he awake already?
“Urggh——-“ Medkit rasped, reaching up for his throat.
Subspace couldn’t help but smile,—- thank the lords he was okay.
—
Medkit was yanked from absolute darkness. The only way of describing it was as if Illumina’s hand pulled him up the darkest depths of the underworld.
He was immediately made aware of the terrible pain in his throat. It came with the ghosts of bruising calloused fingers around his esophagus.
But, it was barely comparable to the stabbing ache that was his abdomen. Every movement felt like the wound being made all over again— he almost couldn’t take it.
He tried to cover his wound to prevent further bleeding, only to find a hand already there—- he couldn’t be bothered to move his away following the discovery.
He breathed in each breath of air like it was his last, he savored every sting that came with the stretch of his lungs.
He gasped on the chilled night air, living.
He was alive——-
But how?
He slowly became more lucid— recognizing he was being carried by someone, so that was the movement.
Vignette plagued his sight, while vertigo plagued his mind.
He began to slip back under, until he heard a voice.
“Getting deja vu?” the familiar voice asked.
“Sub..space….?” he croaked.
Was he hallucinating, or did Subspace really have a death wish?
He remembered a blasting noise before he had fell unconscious.
Subspace couldn’t have possibly thought it wise to kill his own team member for the enemy, right?
For Medkit of all people?
Surely he knew how dangerous it was—- he wasn’t dumb enough to risk being caught doing something so obvious.
Right ?
So how was Subspace here ?
How was Medkit alive ?
“H—-how?” he needed to know, he needed his suspicions denied .
“He’s dead—-you’re safe now.—-We’re almost there.”
Subspace panted through breaths, unaware of the seething anger that now flowed through Medkit’s veins, hidden for now behind clenched teeth.
He was a dumbass, an absolute dumbass.
They’d arrived beneath a stone structure— likely their destination.
Subspace gently set Medkit down, rushing to lift his shirt up to get a real look at his wound.
Subspace got an eyeful of it, his face scrunching into a cringe.
Not even Medkit had seen it yet, but he could imagine.
He took a glance down at the lesion, only to nearly throw up at the sight.
Blood was everywhere—-he couldn’t see his skin beneath it.
He was positively bathed in crimson, his abdomen nothing but a red smear.
Clots formed around the wound, which was surprisingly small for how much had been pouring from it.
In Medkit’s medicinal knowledge, he could easily tell the stab hadn’t pierced anything vital.
It just narrowly missed any organs or arteries, instead diving straight through muscle.
Still, it definitely wasn’t soothing to feel or see—- no matter how ‘lucky’ he’d gotten.
“Medkit—- materialize your gear!!” Subspace ordered.
He summoned it reluctantly, not wanting Subspace to think he agreed with the decision he’d made.
But it was too late now, it’s not like he could refuse.
Subspace dove for it, messily throwing it open and digging around within it.
He found a flask, just what he’d been looking for.
“This’ll sting!” Subspace told, uncapping the flask and preparing to pour its contents onto the wound.
“You think I don’t know tha—-U- URRGH-—-!“
He gritted his teeth, cursing under his breath as the alcohol lit his skin painfully alight.
“Phuck.” was all he could muster as the pain slowly dimmed down, still there but not as excruciating.
“Any broken bones?”
Subspace questioned recalling his own past experience.
He was being really dilligent, wasn’t he?
Medkit managed to shake his head no.
Thankfully, his jaw hadn’t been broken in the scuffle.—- Even if he did hear it crack.
Subspace reached back into the case, grabbing a crystal.
He shattered it on the ground beside Medkit, stepping back and letting him absorb all its effects.
Feeling his skin mend itself together was not as relieving as one would believe.
He clawed at the ground, holding back yowls at the tormenting sensation.
As the wound had finally sealed itself over, he panted, exhausted.
Subspace saw the cut close, sliding to his side and helping him sit up against the stone wall.
“You alright, Meddy?” he consoled, hand resting on his shoulder.
He smirked, anticipating the praise to come— proud of his job-well-done.
As Medkit fully came back to himself, his anger rose tenfold.
Medkit grabbed Subspace by the front of his uniform, seething in his face.
“Are you an idiot ?!”
“What’s wrong with you—-?!! I saved your life !! You should be thanking me!!”
Subspace fired, immediately matching his anger—-pushing Medkit back and off of him.
He was dumbfounded by Medkit’s unplanned outburst. He’d risked everything to save him—- what could he possibly be mad about?!
“Did you even think of what could have happened?—What if someone saw you doing what you did?!—-You’d have gotten the both of us killed!” Medkit snarled, angrily gesturing between them both.
“If I hadn’t done anything you’d have gotten yourself killed!!”
“Not to mention, clearly no one saw us Medkit!!— How in the hell is any of this relevant now?!”
“I don’t think you’re understanding Subspace— it’s nothing short of a miracle we didn’t get caught tonight!!”
“Well what was I supposed to do?? Let you die?!”
“You might as well have!—-Instead of putting us in a position where we both could have died!!”
“What if I said I couldn’t live without you?!”
Medkit almost hesitated at his admission. He ignored the soaring of his heart, which was much too elated after having heard that.
Disregarding what he truly felt, he continued his onslaught.
“Then I’d call you insane —! We practically just met!!” he criticized, ignoring the cries of his heart that screamed otherwise—- that screamed he felt the same.
“Well then maybe I am!! I saved you because im crazy Medkit!! I guess I’m crazy for caring about you!!”
“I—-!”
“…”
“—-Subspace..— what are we going to do—-“
Medkit asked, his resolve crumbling.
Subspace fell back from his defensives at Medkit’s change in tone, worriedly listening for him to continue.
“We can’t keep going like this—- we’re risking our lives doing what we’re doing!—- Going to battle against each other and still trying to keep everything under wraps—- it’s impossible, Subspace..”
“So what..—-you’re saying that we have to split off—-to act like this never happened—- like we never knew each other in the first place?!”
Subspace asked for clarification.
Medkit solemnly nodded, a sheen of tears glazing his eyes
“We don’t have another option, Subspace.”
“it’s that, or we die.”
Some less logical part of his brain pleaded
‘I couldn’t care less, I’d die for you.’
but he could never subject Subspace to that mess.
He couldn’t put him in that kind of danger.
It was the same type of danger Subspace had put himself in today— doing what he did.
Medkit wasn’t worth that.
“But— can’t we—!“ Subspace tried to think of something—-anything.
“No, Subspace. We can’t.— there’s nothing that we can do.“
“I could leave.” Subspace offered
“..Leave?” Medkit didn’t understand, leave where?
“I can leave Blackrock.” He decided.
“Subspace— that’s a huge decision—-“ Medkit was astonished. He would really consider leaving Blackrock and joining the enemy— all for him ?
“I don’t care. There isn’t anything there for me.—-I could leave them behind and never look back.” Subspace knew the decision he wanted to make was the right one— he saw no alternative path.
“Where would you go?” Medkit pondered. Would he leave for a neutral territory of some sort?
“Lost Temple.” Subspace disclosed.
“You really are insane—-!” Medkit went to deny that idea, it was utterly nonsensical. He was disappointed that he believed for a moment he had a genuinely graspable plan.
“Medkit— we could make it work—-!“
Subspace attempted to console.
“How could that ever work?!— Are you trying to get us both killed again?!” Medkit provoked.
“I could change my appearance!—-Maybe if I carved my horns— dyed them— anything—- nobody would recognize me!!”
“I could leave and live in your dorm. I can go during the next battle- they’ll all think im dead! None of them would even miss me, Medkit.”
He did happen to have a newly vacant spot in his dormitory… but still, there was much too many things that weren’t being considered with this plan. Enacting it couldn’t be plausible.
“It’s wishful thinking.” Medkit asserted, and it was.
“We can make it a reality.” Subspace persisted, headstrong in his decision.
“I can’t lose you.” Medkit couldn’t. He couldn’t even begin to think of losing him, in departure,—or in death.
Walking away from what they’d built together would mean losing him, but so would being discovered.
At least maybe with this plan of his, there was a chance of them slipping by unnoticed,—-a chance of them sticking together.
“Then you wont have to. We can fight— side by side.” Subspace offered.
It sounded like everything Medkit could ever ask for.
“I’d like that.” He admitted.
Subspace clasped Medkit’s hand in his own hands. He looked at him with pleading eyes, a genuine smile.
“Then help me.”
Medkit squeezed his hand, reflecting that same grin.
“How could I say no?” He chuckled, unable to deny himself or Subspace with what they both knew they wanted— what they needed.
Subspace threw himself into Medkit’s arms,
burying himself in the crook of his neck.
He squeezed him suffocatingly, all too happy at his agreement.
Medkit stood still, shocked at the notion for a moment.
He loosened, embracing the touch.
“Medkit— I thought I’d lost you tonight!-” Subspace disclosed—- He really had, in more ways than one.
“You don’t know how glad I am I didn’t.”
“I’m glad I didn’t either, Subspace.”
“We’ll stick together from now on—- you’ll get out of that place.—we won’t have to worry about these battles pitting us against eachother anymore.”
He promised.
Subspaces tail swayed rapidly side to side, face beaming.
“Meddy!!—It sounds perfect!!” He giggled.
“Hopefully it is” Medkit grinned.
They both needed it to be.
Subspace pulled away from the embrace, sitting next to Medkit.
Their shoulders touched, reminding them of the other’s presence.—-Reminding each other they weren’t alone in this.
“We’ll be waiting the rest of the battle out here, then, huh?” Subspace realized, definitely not eager to head back.
“Yup. It’ll be a while.” Medkit affirmed.
“I’ll be ready to go by next battle! I’ll just need to gather my most important cargo—- and cue Hyperlaser in, of course!!” Subspace informed, finding himself giddy at the barest mention of their plan.
“If you trust him with that information..— I will as well.” Medkit declared, admittedly a bit nervous about the idea.
“Don’t forget about that disguise of yours..” He reminded.
“Of course! How could I??” Subspace chimed.
“It’ll be so soon…”
Medkit observed, mostly to himself.
Medkit broke the hush with a question.
“Subspace, did you ever think you’d end up here?”
“Hm?!—Absolutely not!! I’d have assumed something like this happening to me of all people was impossible!!
“Hah. Me either.”
“Although,—I’m not surprised.” Medkit acknowledged.
“You aren’t??” Subspace raised an eyebrow.
“When I first met you, Subspace—- I knew something about you was different.—One thing led to another and it only makes sense that we’d have made our way to where we are now..—- We couldn’t have stayed how we were forever.”
Medkit pointed out. It was the truth— what they’d been doing wasn’t exactly sustainable.
“I think I could say I felt the same!!—- I just.. never really considered anything long-term. I don’t know what I was expecting.” Subspace shrugged.
“Subspace—- You should know..- I’m glad we’re here.”
“Thank you… for everything.—- I would’ve died then and there.—- But you saved me.”
Medkit expressed his true gratitude, guilty for not having properly expressed it sooner.
“And you repayed me by screaming in my face!!”
Subspace accused, pulling out Medkit’s exact subject of guilt for him to look at.
“You have my sincerest apologies for that— but can you really put me at fault? I was losing myself to bloodloss—- plus you took a huge risk—-“ Medkit attempted to justify.
“The entirety of what we have is a huge risk, Med!—Surely you know that??” Subspace brought to light.
“Still, it doesn’t make what you did any less perilous. What you did was dangerous—- it really wasn’t a risk you should have taken.”
“But.. even with that—- I still thank you, I’m only alive because of you.” Medkit persisted.
“I’d do it again!” Subspace preached.
“How moronic..” Medkit cringed.
“You mean heroic?! I did risk my life to save you after all..!!” He boasted.
“Maybe it was both.” Medkit gave him some credit.
“I’ll take it!!” Subspace declared.
The two sat in comfortable silence, which Medkit was hugely grateful for. His head was pounding, likely from the strain on his body from the night’s events.
Medkit peered up at the star-filled sky, its full glory seen through the broken roof of the wellhouse.
He nearly lost himself in their light, scarce but blinding.
He watched from the corner of his eye as Subspace followed his gaze, looking towards the slowly-brightening sky.
“Do you know any constellations?” Subspace wondered.
“I don’t.” Medkit told.
“I only know one.” Subspace supplied.
“Which is it?” Medkit entreated, turning to face the demon.
Subspace analyzed the cosmos, silence pursued for a short few minutes before he brought a claw up and pointed.
“There!” he pointed towards a cluster of stars, from what Medkit could see, it looked just like any other.
“Cygnus!” Subspace announced.
“Ah, and what’s it shaped as?” Medkit pondered, unfamiliar with the name.
“A swan!!” Subspace imparted.
“Hm.” Medkit tilted his head, attempting to make it easier to see the shape.
“I don’t quite see it..” He frowned.
“It’s fairly hard to see—- here!!”
Subspace wrapped his arm around Medkit, scooting closer. He pressed his head to the side of Medkit’s, trying to see things from his perspective.
The arm wrapped around Medkit was brought beneath his chin, tilting his head ever so slightly.
“It’s there, do you see it now?”
He pointed to the exact location of the constellation, the swan still obscured to Medkit.
He wasn’t exactly able to focus given his current situation, anyways.
Taking his silence as a no, Subspace began tracing the constellation, explaining its formation as he did.
“Look!!— That star there is its head, it traces down to its neck—- then its wings. It ends with Deneb— its brightest star.”
He couldn’t see the shape yet, but he did see the particularly bright star in the area.
“I see Deneb..”
“Follow it upwards, you’re sure to see it then!” Subspace instructed.
So he did, and the shape took life. The stars came together to form the swan in flight, its head cocked, as if to look at him.
“I— I see it!” Medkit rejoiced, proud of the new discovery.
“Heh- now you’ve got it!!” Subspace pulled back, returning to his previous position. Medkit found himself missing the feeling—- he blamed it on the lost warmth.
Subspace sighed, turning to Medkit.
“I always used to try and find it as a child..—on nights when I couldn’t sleep. It was a nice distraction.”
“It watched over you, then?” Medkit noted.
“That’s a nice way of thinking about it!” Subspace settled, smiling at the waves of nostalgia.
“Who taught you the constellation?” Medkit lilted.
“I.. I don’t remember. I was pretty young!— Somebody taught me it, some kid my age who knew a lot about constellations.. I don’t remember his name—- I don’t think he ever told me it before he died.” Subspace shared.
“Gods Subspace— I’m sorry about that.. how old was he?” Medkit squniched, almost mad at himself for asking.
“We were 13, I think.” Subspace sighed.
Medkit winced— he could already assume how he’d passed.
“During battle?” Medkit presumed.
“Yeah— it always is.” Subspace affirmed.
Medkit found it all too terribly familiar.
“One day… I want to escape from here” Medkit began.
Subspace turned his head to look at him, a silent plead for him to continue.
“I’d gather everyone I care about,—- we’d leave someplace— anywhere but here—-and we’d never look back.”
“I hate living like this—- living to fight. It’s all I’ve ever known, anticipating the next battle— hoping no one I love dies.”
“I just— I’d like to live life outside of that—- I want to know what it feels like to truly be alive .” He confided.
Medkit didn’t hold back any of what he thought, he shared everything that had been on his chest— comfortable in his company.
“How is it that you always say exactly what I’m feeling?” Subspace wondered.
“You feel the same then?”
“I guess we’re just alike, in that way.” Medkit put out.
“We should run away together.” Subspace suggested, a true desire of his.
“I wish it were that easy.” Medkit yearned.
“I do too.” Subspace agreed.
A comfortable stretch of silence blanketed them both, allowing them to bask in its familiarity.
Medkit leaned his head on Subspace’s shoulder, truly exhausted.
Subspace leaned his head on top of his, slotting their horns together in a loose tangle. Their predicament felt natural, Medkit noted.
Comfort engulfed him, safety radiated from the warm body next to him.
Medkit’s eyes had slowly slipped closed in the darkness, but before he could drift off to sleep, Subspace asked him a question.
“Even with all that happened..— we’re still going out on Friday, right??” Subspace brought up.
“Is that really what you’re worried about?” Medkit jeered.
“Yes or no?!”
He sighed defeatedly with a
“Yes..”
Before Medkit fell asleep against Subspace, he found himself thinking to their plan.
He just had to anticipate nobody would recognize Subspace, and that he’d be able to sneak away.
If they could do just that, maybe they’d finally be free from the shackles that had brought them together.
So, as he sat there, he hoped.
He wished and wanted, and finally—-he slept.