Chapter Text
“It’s snowing.”
…
“A-Yup!”
Medkit glances outward to the white city, a stark contrast to the dark night’s sky. Lone cars painted in a thick coat of pale dust, the same which now covered his clothes, a small road trail and the shop’s neon lights is all that could guide them.
“Where are we going?”
he asks, mindlessly taking a step forward-- snow crunching under his boot; Banhammer’s strolling close by, head craned upwards as gentle snowflakes caress his face.
“I dunno’.”
Plain, blunt and frustratingly endearing- just like him, Medkit sighs silently. Still, despite what had happened, nothing feels complete yet. For once in his life, he really wants to give Ban the key to the lock in his chest, let him see what’s inside, maggots and glitter and all perfectly ugly.
So he walks- they walk, he’s sure the warden usually moves faster but he seems to have slowed down to his pace. Lingering on that any longer might just make him cry, better not.
“I don’t want to live like this.”
Can something be considered a mindful slip-up? For once honesty isn’t at his own surprise, but Banhammer stares at him for a few seconds, carefully tugging up his blindfold, hand moving as if he’d never used it before.
“...Like what?”
Medkit sighs, hopefully to relax the tension in his shoulders.
“Like I’m fighting against everything and myself to keep going.”
A quaint “oh.” hisses its way from banhammer’s lips, features softening into a look of understanding, or at least a vague attempt of placing himself in his shoes.
“Do ya-...Do ya think I can help with that?”
The warden inches closer, Tentatively placing his large, callused hand over Medkit’s coat covered shoulder; Medkit can notice that, as he thinks, his palm slides lower to softly squeeze his arm.
“Do you want to?”
There’s never any hesitation when it comes to this.
“DUH!!”
and yet-
Medkit lets a strained smile envelop the corners of his mouth, eyes crinkled by bittersweet feelings.
“I’m sorry...I- Well...I..”
“Medkit.”
The deer’s face goes slack, eyebrows high in surprise as he breathed in the crisp, cool air. His full name, no stupid cute little abbreviations, not an asset, not a prize, not an object to be passed around conveniently-- just Medkit.
“I wanna’ be by yer side, always. I just...”
Things are becoming much more sentimental than quiet actions of acknowledgment; admission had always been hard for both, it was difficult to rip out the words out of one’s own heart to lay them pulsing for the other to see, a special type of trust that went beyond a kiss or a hug which could be easily taken back-- pretend they never happened.
“I love ya. I wanna help. And...I don’t give a rat’s ass of what it takes, m’kay?”
Words are burned in the mind, they can’t be forgotten.
Banhammer pulls him close, Medkit grasps at his jacket, both now coddled by each other’s warmth.
“I love you too, I love you- I love you so much.”
a lone tear paves its way down and along Medkit’s jaw, Ban’s face is a wet mess of salty crystals dripping onto the snow.
“Ya scared the shit outta’ me!- You, You...fuck.
I can help ya through it, and yer gonna let me.”
Medkit nods, still buried in Banhammer’s embrace.
“Always.”
Despite the snow, despite the darkness, Medkit feels more assured that a wonderful sunny day is there waiting for him, waiting for him to look beyond the clouds; and that if it ever rained, Banhammer will be there holding an umbrella to shield him from the water.
Everything would be okay; this time bandages wont’t be needed to prove it.