Work Text:
Pop!
1 cipher left…Victor, Andrew, Vera, and Emma were in a match, the hunter being Jack. They were in “Sacred Heart Hospital,” which was an odd setting to be in, but the whole manor wasn’t normal anyways. Victor had been kiting most of the match, getting hit by The Ripper’s foggy blade once. He’d been doing oddly good this match, maybe he’d been getting better at this “game” he was invited to. His teammates had been sending encouraging messages while he was containing, giving him some form of positivity while running for his life. He’d been able to send a few decoding letters to the others, but he had to assist himself a couple of times too. A few seconds later, Vera pinged “Cipher machine primed!” insinuating that he could get hit again. Victor had never liked kiting while a cipher was primed, it was very stressful. But as long as he was helping his teammates, it didn’t matter all that much. He got hit through a pallet, so he could stall a bit after the cipher popped. Jack sliced him right through the leg, pain overtaking him for the few seconds he waited for the pop. With borrowed time, the pain mostly went away, as the adrenaline overtook him. The cipher popped, and he sprinted out of the hospital he was currently kiting in. Emma and Vera were opening one gate, while Andrew was decoding the one closest to the blonde. He rushed to the gate’s direction as the gravekeeper pinged “The exit gate is open!” Victor tried to avoid a foggy blade coming his way, but he was hit while putting down a pallet. Jack brought the postman into his balloons, and placed him into a chair. Both gates were opened, so Victor thought that since it would be a win, they’d just leave. It was the logical idea, after all. But contrary to his thoughts, the gravekeeper dug into the soil and made his way to the chair. Jack’s detention was over, so rescuing wasn’t completely out of the picture. Jack hit Andrew while he was in the ground, and the gravekeeper rescued right after. Since nobody had gotten chaired yet, he still had tide. Andrew still had a shovel, so he bodyblocked while the Victor ran to the gate. Jack hit Andrew out of the ground, giving him a slight speed boost. He looked back at Victor, who was slightly behind him, limping. Since Jack hit him after borrowed time, his injuries weren’t completely gone. They still had tide though, so they rushed to the gate while Emma and Vera waited at the other gate, making sure that they would escape. Victor was still a bit slowed, so in the moment, Andrew grabbed his wrist and sprinted to the gate. He was a lot faster than Victor was in the moment, so it really did help. They ran to the end of the gate, so Jack wouldn’t be able to hit them anymore. As they left, so did Emma and Vera, seeing that they were okay, making a win. They were all teleported back to the manor, Emily waiting to see if anybody was injured. “Welcome back! Is anybody hurt?” She walked over to the four, Victor slightly leaning on Andrew, as he was still limping. “Um, Victor’s leg is injured, but the rest of us are okay..” The gravekeeper mumbled. “I see. Can you help me take him to the clinic? He seems a bit tired.” Emily looked at the blonde, who was breathing and blinking awfully slowly. “Oh, Um, Okay..” Andrew didn’t mind too much, as he and the postman were already friends. They bonded over silence, finding comfort in each other. Andrew put his arm around the other for support, Victor still leaning on him, seemingly dozing off. They finally got to the clinic, Emily finding Victor a bed to rest on. “Are you also hurt? I was spectating and I saw that you got some shovel hits. Do those hurt you?” Emily asked, concerned. “They don’t exactly h-hurt, but they shake me up a bit.” Andrew replied. “Do you think you need to stay in here, or are you alright?” Andrew thought for a moment. He’d feel bad just leaving Victor alone in there. Or does he like to be alone? Andrew was a bit sore though. Maybe he’d stay. “I feel kind of sore from being hit out of the ground twice in such a short amount of time…I‘ll stay in here for a while.” Emily nodded. “Alright, rest as long as you need. I’ll be right back, I need to go check on Demi, she says her stomach’s been hurting. Tell me if there are any problems.” Emily walked out of the clinic, leaving Andrew and Victor in there. The postman must have been really tired, he was out like a light. To be fair, he did kite for 5 ciphers straight. His injuries didn’t look too good. His leg was mangled, and he had scars ripping through his back. Andrew’s hess. softened a bit. He liked that Victor had so much trust in him to keep him safe. If Andrew wasn’t there, it’d probably have been a lot harder, or more awkward getting to the clinic. Victor had always been so calm, so seeing him so scattered while kiting was an odd sight. It makes sense though, most people would be a bit worried while running for their lives. Andrew was relieved to see Victor calm again though, even if it’s just because he was resting. As Andrew sat on the side of the bed, he wondered how long it’d take for the other to heal. He usually didn’t think about those things, but he always seemed to worry about Victor, most likely because he was his first friend at the manor. He’d made other friends, like Aesop and Emma, but he’d always been closest to the postman. He heard a knock at the clinic door, so he opened it to see Emma. “Hey, Andrew! Is Victor in here?” She asked. “Yeah, but he’s asleep. E-Emily went to go check on Demi.” Emma nodded, and trotted over to Victor’s bed. “Oh geez, I didn’t realize how bad his leg looked…is he gonna be okay?” She looked at the gravekeeper, concerned. “I-I hope so, there’s been worse injuries that Emily’s treated.” Andrew looked at the blonde again, still silently resting. “Yeah, you’re right. Well, tell him that he did super good today when he wakes up!” The gardener waved as the gravekeeper gave her a light smile and a thumbs up. She’d also been very nice to him ever since he arrived. He walked back over to the bed once Emma was gone, hearing Victor stirring. The blonde sat up, noticing Andrew and smiling. “Hi, Andrew! Did you get hurt last match?” The blonde signed, with concerned eyes. “Not badly, I’m just a bit sore. Is your leg feeling okay?” Andrew asked, Victor looking down at his leg. “It’s not ideal, but I think i’ll be fine. It could be worse, and Emily’ll probably be able to heal it when she comes back.” Victor smiled. He’d always tried to be positive. “That’s right. Emma wanted to tell you that you did good last match by the way.” Victor let out a silent laugh. He looked nice when he laughed. “That’s very nice of her! I’ll have to thank her when i see her next.” He signed. Andrew nodded and sat back on the side of the bed. “She was right though, you really did do well last match.” Andrew stared at the ceiling. He didn’t give compliments often, so this caught Victor off guard. “Really? I guess i didn’t pay attention to how long i was containing for, since I was so distracted.” Victor sighed out of his nose. “Yeah, I can see why you were so tired.” Andrew lightly laughed. He liked to be able to laugh and talk without the fear of being judged, since Victor was always so nice and understanding. “Yeah, I kind of blacked out at the end, sorry about that.” Victor blushed a bit. The postman remembered leaning on Andrew, and nothing else, making him flush a bit. “Don’t worry, you’re fine. You should probably get more rest though, I can tell you’re still not feeling well.” Andrew looked at Victor, who lightly nodded. “Well you should lie down too, it’d be boring just sitting in here, wouldn’t it?” Victor chuckled. The bed was wide enough for the both of them, and they’d had “sleepovers” with the other survivors before, which were mostly just excuses to get drunk, so it wasn’t all that strange to share the bed. Andrew didn’t want to overstep anything, so he lied down near the corner. They settled into the bed, Victor almost falling asleep instantly. He must’ve not gotten enough sleep from that couple of minutes after the match. The blonde buried his face in Andrew’s arm, causing the gravekeeper to stiffen. Victor was asleep, so it’s not like he knew that it was Andrew that he was next to. He was probably just having a dream. Andrew eventually fell asleep too, but it took a while. It was hard not to pay attention to the other, because Andrew would never say it, but the blonde was really cute. It was an embarrassing thought, but it was difficult to get out of his head. Before falling asleep, he couldn’t help himself and held the other’s hand. Victor probably wouldn’t notice. And Andrew wanted to indulge himself in something since he was too afraid to tell the other how he really felt. Maybe one day he’d muster enough courage. For now, this was enough.