Chapter Text
Blake isn't at the hospital.
This is weird, because they have an appointment. Sun's the first to admit that he's garbage at being punctual—she's the one who does stuff like set alarms, and get out of the house on time, and give herself extra wiggle room in case of bad traffic. He's such a disaster that she's started telling him to meet her half an hour before she plans to get anywhere.
Except that it's a pretty big day. The last day he'll ever have to bind, and if he gets his way, the last day he'll ever button his shirt. He's been waiting for this for years, and now it's actually today, and he may have gotten a little restless at home. So he took an early bus to the hospital, and spent an hour just sort of standing around in the parking lot. Now it's almost time, and Blake still isn't here, and he's starting to panic.
He restrains himself to only six frantic texts and four missed calls, but he's ready to abandon all pretense and just keep calling her until she answers. They won't operate on him if he doesn't have someone to take care of him afterwards. He'll lose his appointment for sure. But, more importantly, Blake's only ever gone dark like this once before, and that was... bad.
Finally, his phone rings. He pulls it out too fast, juggles it for a few seconds, then answers. "Blake?"
"Hey, Sun."
She sounds downright wretched. His heart sinks.
"I—I'm so sorry, but I can't pick you up today."
It hits him like a punch in the gut. He's spent so long imagining this week—a year ago he thought it would be awkward, since he was still getting over a seriously massive crush on her, but that's almost gone by now. What's left is his best friend, who knows how important this is to him. If she's bailing, there's a reason.
"What happened?"
"I might have gotten stabbed."
"Stabbed?"
"It's kind of a long story. I'm okay, but I'm on painkillers and I really shouldn't drive."
Yeah. This is the thing about Blake—nine times out of ten, she's the most reliable person he knows. The tenth time? It's always shit like this.
"Hey, no worries! Just stay safe."
"Is there someone else you can call? Maybe I could—"
"No!" he says quickly. "No, it's all good. I've got a backup plan!" He fakes a grin, even though she can't see it.
There's a relieved sigh on the other end of the call. "Call me when you get out, okay? And good luck!"
"Yeah!"
He ends the call. Breathes in... "Fuck."
Starr would pick him up, but she's still back in Vacuo. Sage and Scarlet are off backpacking in Mistral. Doctor Marigold is booked solid for months. And he's still off testosterone, and he won't be able to go back on, and he'll have to take another week off of work and—
"Okay," he says, and takes another deep breath. "Okay. New plan."
He glances around. The parking lot is mostly empty—it's six in the morning, so no one is here unless they have to be. But just as he turns, a guy with blue hair comes out the main entrance. Sun intercepts him on his way to his car.
"Hey!"
"Uh, hi?"
"I'm Sun." He sticks out a hand.
"Neptune," the guy says, and shakes it. "Can I... help you?"
"Actually, yeah. It's a really long story, but I need a ride from here to my house in, like... four hours or so? Oh, and if anyone asks could you tell them you're taking care of me for a week?"
Neptune stares at him. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah! Well, okay, not really. My friend had to bail on me, and it's really important that I get surgery today, so... all I need is a ride six blocks away, I swear! And a bit of lying to doctors I guess, but, uh... I can pay you?"
"No, no, don't do that! I'm not comfortable leaving you alone when someone's supposed to take care of you." He must see Sun's face fall, because he scrambles to add, "But I live around here! So. I could just actually check in on you if you want."
Sun fumbles for an answer. On the one hand, it's probably not a good idea to be alone the whole week while he's recovering. On the other, he'd be hanging around someone he literally just met while high on painkillers.
Decisions, decisions. Except the one option involves at least another month of binding, so...
"That sounds awesome," he says, and grins. "Just remember, my friend could kick your ass. Like, she was in a gang. Or maybe a cult?"
Neptune blinks at him.
"C'mon, man, I'm letting you into my house. At least act intimidated to make me feel better?"
"When you say cult..." His eyes go wide with alarm. Sun decides that's enough to make him trustworthy. (It doesn't hurt that he's pretty cute.)
They've been in the waiting room almost ten minutes when he realizes he still hasn't explained the whole surgery thing to Neptune. And he's not sure he has time to find someone else if he's not cool with it, which... damn, he never figured he'd top the pressure of coming out to Starr. He leans over and whispers, "It's top surgery, by the way."
"What?"
"For getting rid of... y'know." He gestures at his chest.
"...A rib?"
And then people are staring at them, because Sun's laughing his ass off and Neptune's the color of a stop sign. "Jugs," he says, in between snorts. "Melons, knockers, gazongas. Boobs, dude."
Neptune somehow manages to get even redder. "So you've got, like... a hormone thing?"
"I mean, I guess you could call it that." Sun has to clear his throat a few times to stop the snickers. This feels like it should be a more serious conversation than it has been so far. "Or you could call it a second X chromosome."
Neptune's expression finally clears. "Oh. Oh!"
Sun swallows a spike of anxiety. Blake did this, too—sort of froze for a second while she was processing. Then she made him tea and told him she was proud of him, which was nice. But the buffering thing is still scary as hell.
Finally, Neptune claps him on the shoulder. "Congrats, man!"
"Thanks!"
Neptune turns out to be the sort of person to take notes while he helps a stranger through surgery. And ask the surgeon tons of extra questions. And write down all her answers while Sun's bouncing his leg up and down with impatience. But it's probably good that someone's paying attention to all this stuff, because he's way too excited. And nervous. And maybe a little nauseous.
He's led downstairs, away from Neptune. Doctor Marigold draws on his chest with a marker. A nurse puts in an IV, and then they ask him if he needs the bathroom—which seems kind of backwards. And he does, and it's really weird trying to open doors with a tube in his arm, and when he finally gets back they ask if he's nervous. He says a little, and it turns out that means he gets drugged.
There are flashes of movement, on his back on a rolling gurney. Being lifted. A bright light up above him. An idle wish that they would have put a sheet over all the knives and junk, at least until he was out.
Then he's awake again, and very fuzzy, and he asks for water about four times because he's never sure if he just dreamed about talking to the nurse. They give him ice chips instead. Then ginger ale when he's a little less out of it, and finally he's clear enough to walk. Neptune's waiting in the lobby. Sun's still slightly dazed, so he doesn't think before falling against his side.
Neptune grunts a little bit with his weight. "Oh, um. Hi. Can you use your legs a bit? I need to get my keys."
The ride home sucks. Sun hasn't fully processed that it's over, and he's so sore and swollen that it's almost like it isn't. The seat belt hurts like hell. He keeps patting his chest to check that they haven't grown back somehow.
Then they're in his living room, and... huh. Neptune's making tea. He comes back in with two mugs, and Sun snickers. "You remember my friend?"
"The one who was in a cult?"
"This is hers."
Neptune goes pale. "I didn't know! I can, uh—"
"Nah, don't worry about it." Sun takes the mug. It's got a picture of a cat knocking a vase off a table, which he thought was hilarious when he bought it for her, and she's warmed to it since. "I mean, she had a good reason for ditching me, but I still think it means I get to steal her mug."
"What happened there, anyway?" Neptune asks, and sits down next to him.
"No clue. She just said something vague and terrifying about how she got stabbed, but she's totally fine."
"Damn. What's the scary lady's name?"
Right, whoops. Sun keeps forgetting that they've skipped most of the normal conversation that they should've had by now.
"Blake. And I never asked, but why were you at the hospital today? If you don't mind saying."
"Uh." Neptune runs a hand through his hair. "Well... my ex-sort-of-girlfriend's best friend's sister got hit by a car, and the two of them were visiting her. I was mostly there to carry flowers."
Sun stares at him. "Run that by me again?"
"Her name's Weiss, and we were like, kind of dating? Only it was mostly so her dad would get off her back, and we ended up being each others' gay awakening. She can be a bit... prickly, but we're still friends."
"Thanks, but I meant the hit by a car part, dingus."
"Oh, that. Still not sure what that was about. I think it was a hit and run, maybe? Weiss was super pissed off. I heard her talking about dismembering someone."
Sun bursts out laughing. "I'm starting to think I'm the one that should be worried about your scary friends."
"Just don't run me over and you should be fine." Neptune hesitates. "Speaking of which, you... definitely shouldn't drive. So do you want me to bring some groceries when I come by tomorrow?"
Sun fumbles for his wallet, but Neptune catches his wrist. "Don't worry about that until you're feeling better. How about I give you my number and you text me whatever you want? Or if you need me to come by. I'm only a couple minutes away!"