Chapter Text
The first clear thought Chance had for a while was of a ceiling. Not his own, no, he had dark gray ceilings. This one was black. Those may seem close, but they’re actually very different. Though it wasn’t an alien ceiling, Chance had woken up facing this ceiling multiple times. Not theirs though.
Chance opened his eyes to the ceiling, and blinked at the light. There was a little of it, lazy afternoon light pooling from the bottom of a curtained window. This window he also knew– it looked out on the city, just past the dingy back neighborhood where it was located. It was a beautiful view, really. Mafioso had shown it to him, once. Twice, maybe?
Mafioso. Where was he?
They remembered more clearly now, the kidnapping, the awful stint at the warehouse. But Eden had been there, then Mafioso. They had saved him. And then he didn’t remember. This was Mafioso’s room in the mafia compound. His bed. Where was he, then?
God, their head hurt.
There was now some sort of gauze, they could feel, wrapped to the side of it, and the pain wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been before, but that dull pounding was still there, so Chance couldn’t help but groan as he rolled over, to face the wall. They heard someone shift. Someone else in the room. Chance rolled over again, to the other side, and was facing someone, sitting on a chair next to the bed this time.
“Oh, you’re awake!” Soldier smiled weakly, looking down at Chance. “Finally.”
They paused for a moment, blinking again before opening his dry mouth, swirling his tongue around a little to try to warm their voice back up.
“Hi,” Chance said. “Uhm, hi. How long have I been out?”
“Errr.. all night. It’s around twelve in the afternoon now. You were semi-conscious when we fixed you up, but I think that’s it.”
Chance rubbed the back of his neck, sitting up fully. “I… don’t remember that.”
Soldier looked at them a little concernedly. “Yeah, you came here with boss and the waiter looking pretty… not good. He was carrying you. We helped get your cuts cleaned and stuff, nothing deep enough for you to go to the hospital, though we had to keep you somewhat awake due to your head getting hit badly. The waiter– Eden, found you some medicine or something for your head, then you were okay. We helped boss bring you up here, and he stayed in here, watching you.”
“Uhm, where’s Mafioso now?”
He glanced at the closed door. “We forced him to go take care of his own injuries. He’s probably still doing that, or talking with Eden. They’re still here, I think. Called the pizza boy and their friend with the bun about what happened.”
“Elliot? And Acorn?”
“Mhm, them.” Soldier stood up brightly, brushing himself off. “Well, I should probably go tell boss you’re up. He’ll want to see you. Take it easy. I left some medicine by the dresser if your head bothers you again.”
And then Soldier stood up, and made his way to the door. Chance was silent as he watched him go, and heard the footsteps. Their head did in fact hurt, but he was too tired to reach for the medicine Mafioso’s men had left. Speaking of which. Different footsteps. Quiet. Louder. In front of the door. It creaked open.
Mafioso stepped inside. He wasn’t wearing his usual suit or fur-lined coat, but instead a white tanktop, different black pants below. There was a medium bruise near his mouth, and bandages wrapped around his hand and up his arm. There was also what looked like black compression tape on his shoulder. Traces of blood were still here and there, especially in his hair, but it was mostly gone, and he looked clean. Mafioso stared at Chance for a moment, as if trying to process the fact that they were currently awake, and in no immediate danger. He then began to walk forwards, making his way all the way up to the chair that Soldier had been sitting in, and sat down. Chance raised their eyebrow incredulously, scooting over a bit to the side and patting the now-empty space of bed beside him. Mafioso looked at him, sighing, and moved, leaning back a bit. Chance smiled.
“How do you feel?”
“Not very good,” Chance hummed. “But better than before.”
“That’s good, at least.”
There was a bit of silence, and stillness. After an eternity, Chance moved their hand from their side under the covers, and on top. He grabbed Mafioso’s, which had been folded in his lap, in his, and said nothing still.
“You and Eden came to rescue me,” Chance said quietly, looking for Mafioso’s reaction out of the corner of their eye.
Mafioso looked back at him, hesitantly squeezing their hand back. “Technically, I was supposed to. Eden coming to get you was utterly not on plan. But it worked. And, what, you think I wouldn’t?”
Chance managed a small smile and one shouldered shrug. “I dunno, figured you’d be kind of mad at me for… you know, getting kidnapped.”
“I am, a little. You literally carry a gun around with you, and yet you still managed to get kidnapped.”
“Hey, he caught me off guard, okay?” Chance responded. “I went outside just expecting to text Elliot, maybe take a smoke, and then I got a gun barrel pressed to the back of my neck by some guy I’ve never seen in my entire life.”
Mafioso thought. “Maybe I need to… I don’t know, teach you to be faster with your hands.”
“What?”
“So you can draw the gun first.”
“... I-”
“Don’t.”
“Geez, okay, okay, I wasn’t going to say anything,” Chance said, laughing a little.
Mafioso bit his lip to suppress a smile. “Sure.”
“... Do you think he’ll come back for me?” they asked quietly. Mafioso glanced at Chance, looking him up and down– the gauze, the minor cuts and scrapes still there, the bruise on their chin, the sprained ankle, and the invisible terror of an almost concussion.
“Maybe,” Mafioso answered honestly. “I mean, I beat the shit out of him, kind of, so maybe not for a long while.”
Chance leaned their head on Mafioso’s shoulder, who straightened a little. “Good. I’ll be ready next time.”
Mafioso looked back over at him, as if to say something more, but he really didn’t know what to say, so he found himself being kissed. Chance simply leaned forward as his head turned, pressing their lips to his, quickly. He then pulled back, raising his eyebrows and smiling a little. Mafioso half-feigned a sigh, turning away, which made Chance laugh more.
“Oh come on, you deserve a reward for saving me. C’mere.”
“Later.”
Chance clicked their tongue. “Well, I guess Eden did do all the work.. no kiss for you then..”
“Eden– later. You’re injured,” Mafioso replied, trying his best to remain stoic and turn further from Chance, although he could feel his face heating slightly.
They faked a deep, theatrical sigh. “Fineee. Guess I’ll just have to lay here and cuddle you instead. Oh the wo.”
“I have work.”
“Later. You’re injured.” Mafioso frowned at him, and Chance started laughing again. All the laughter was really funny, because of everything that had just happened. But they were safe. For now. And honestly, that was all that mattered.