Archive of Our Own

The room was filled with tension thick enough to make anyone sick. It was really just a matter of time until it all went to shit- soon enough, that door would swing open, and nothing but trouble would come out of it.

Jodio didn’t exactly consider himself a model student. He was about as far from studious as you could get. He didn’t have any subject that he felt he excelled at. But if there was ever trouble, he didn’t like making some big fuss about it and risk suspension. Not when it could get in the way of work.

He wasn’t so lucky this time.

That’s how he ended up here. In the school nurse’s office with gauze stuffed up his bleeding nose, and an ice pack he kept shifting to the different areas that would definitely swell up later. All because of some dumbass kid who tried running his mouth. Jodio never usually had that much of an issue teaching them a lesson, but this time, the asshole fought back…

He’d been suspended anyway- a whole damn week for roughing up some kid a little. At the very least, the school would ensure no legal action was pushed, but that still didn’t make Jodio’s situation at all desirable.

Even less so when that door did swing open, just as he’d expected. He felt almost ashamed as he looked up at his phone, his eyes meeting those of his older sibling. 

Not shame for what he had done. Shame that he’d allowed himself to get caught.

He watched from a ways away as Dragona urgently spoke with the nurse, before promptly marching to where Jodio sat, kneeling in front of him and yanking on his ear.

“Are you an idiot, Jodio?? What were you thinking, getting into a fight like this??”

Jodio winced at the tug as if he wasn’t already sore enough. He knew that look in his sibling’s eyes- their apparent anger towards the fight was just a front to hide what they were really pissed about. 

Great.

Jodio mumbled something incoherently, but Dragona didn’t seem to particularly care about what exactly it was he had to say to defend himself. Instead, he was shamefully dragged off by the hand, watching rather pitifully as each staff member eyed him like he were some criminal.

He was a criminal, but they didn’t need to know that, anyway.

Dragona had practically loaded him into the passenger seat themself- one Jodio wondered was stolen or borrowed. He gave his sibling a strange look as they got into the driver’s seat, which was promptly returned in an odd standoff.

“It’s not stolen.”

Good enough. Jodio sat back with a sigh- suspension was one of the worst outcomes of all this bullshit. Sure, the others would be pissed at the temporary roadblock for the business, and all because Jodio fucked up and couldn’t keep his damn temper in check- but there was also his mother to worry about. His mother, who would no doubt dote and fuss over his injuries, before being silently disappointed in him for his suspension from school. That will be tough to deal with.

The business was the least of his worries now, actually. If it were so detrimental, Meryl May Qi wouldn’t have let him get suspended so easily. Now, he was just stressed over his own damn mother and her broken heart.

“Your gauze is soaked.”

Dragona’s tone was quite harsh, not that Jodio particularly blamed them. They were probably thinking the same thing. He looked over at them, half expecting to see them glaring daggers at him- but they didn’t. Their eyes didn’t even meet at all. They wordlessly held out a small pack of tissues, which Jodio accepted a single tissue without a word of thanks.

He cringed as he pulled the wet gauze from his nose, painfully slow as if he had anything to worry about by moving too fast. A long string of blood stuck itself to the gauze from his nose, causing him to gag because God that was disgusting and-

Something else was pressed to his nose, and for a moment, Jodio began to panic- before tracing it back to Dragona, who held the tissue up to his nose for him. He began to bat their hand away and try to squirm out of their reach, now fully offended by what they were doing.

“Stop struggling, Jodio! You’ll make it bleed more!”

“ You stop treating me like a kid!”

“I’ll stop treating you like a kid when you stop getting into petty fights like a kid!!”

“It wasn’t just some petty fight!”

“ Stop struggling before I blacken your other eye!!”

The arguing continued for another several seconds before eventually, Jodio gave up, but not without snatching the tissue from Dragona’s grip.

“Don’t try to snort it up or blow your nose. You’ll make it worse.”

“I know.”

“And don’t throw your bloody gauze on the floor! I have to give this car back, y’know!”

Jodio groaned, clearly prepared to flick it onto the floor, but stuffed it in his pocket instead, earning a disgusted cringe from his sibling. He looked more ridiculous with a whole tissue stuffed up his nose than some gauze, but neither commented on it. At least mildly satisfied, Dragona finally started the car and left.

Jodio just wanted to go home. His mom wouldn’t be home for another few hours, meaning he had some time to think of an excuse that wouldn’t hurt her too badly. Maybe he could try to explain that it was self-defense…

Jodio anxiously scratched the back of his hand beneath his glove, his mind racing to try and think of any kind of excuse that could sound believable- and other than a clear sigh of acknowledgment, he received no input whatsoever from Dragona.

But instead of going straight home, like he desperately wanted to, they stopped in front of a drug store.

Jodio watched as Dragona began to get out of the car- but as he moved to follow suit, they muttered a quick “stay”. He’s not sure why he obliged without thinking. Maybe he just didn’t want to feel more embarrassed than he was.

He waited as Dragona ran in, tapping his foot anxiously as he continued to rack his brain for more ideas. An accident in gym class? No, she’d know it was a fight. Some punk was harassing a kid half their size? No, that’s no good, either…

Before he could think of anything else, the car door opened beside him- Jodio’s gaze shot over, staring wide-eyed at Dragona, who paused awkwardly upon seeing how their brother stared at them.

“...You’re way too stressed out over this, Jodio.”

It came out as a soft sigh, and for a moment, he almost thought they sounded worried. They sat down with a small bag, but Jodio couldn’t see its contents.

“I don’t know what to tell Mom.”

Dragona’s look seemed concerned after that- not that they hadn’t been expecting that answer, but rather, the way Jodio had said it almost made it sound like he was ready to cry or something.

Not that he was. He quickly huffed, crossing his arms and turning away from his sibling. He heard Dragona sigh again, and gently placed a hand on his bruised shoulder.

“She won’t be mad at you, Jodio.”

“She’ll be disappointed and worried, and y’know, that’s worse.”

“Well, I got you something that should help.”

He heard Dragona rummage through the bag and curiously looked over, seeing them pull out a small, travel-size pack of painkillers and a water bottle.

“First, take these. You’ll hate yourself slightly less.”

He accepted them with an open hand, examining the package for a moment before fumbling to open it as Dragona pulled out more things from the bag.

“If she asks, just say you were trying to break up a fight between two other kids, and no one believed you. I know it hurts to lie, but she’ll believe you.”

Jodio looked over as he took a sip of water, seeing his sibling holding another roll of gauze.

“Take out that tissue. This is more absorbent.”

Jodio obeyed without question, but before he could stuff it in his pocket again, Dragona emptied the rest of the contents of the bag onto the console and offered it as a trash bag. The rest of what they had bought was clear- it was makeup, but not the super pretty posh shit they usually wore. It didn’t even match their skin tone.

“I’m gonna help you cover those bruises up,” they explained upon noticing Jodio’s curious gaze. “It won’t help you feel better, but mom won’t worry as much if she doesn’t think the damage is as bad as it is.”

He looked back up at his sibling, and though he didn’t say much, there was some form of an appreciative glint in his eyes. Dragona set it all back onto the console before starting up the car again, and Jodio was just thankful the air felt considerably less tense than it did before. 

Once they got home, Dragona dragged a chair from the kitchen to the bathroom and ordered Jodio to sit in front of the mirror. Once he did, they put their hands on either side of his jaw, as if measuring his face.

“Let’s see…would you want to go for a sharper look or something to highlight your softer face shape? We’ll make you gorgeous, so allllll the kids your age will flock to you.”

Dragona began to giggle at their own teasing, but it only made Jodio groan. “Shut uppppppp!! Just cover up the bruises so I don’t look like I got my shit kicked in!”

“Whatever you say, Captain,” Dragona teased further, grabbing one of their own makeup sponges and the cheap makeup they had bought earlier. They wasted no further time and started applying it to one of the larger bruises on Jodio’s jaw, masterfully and efficiently blending it into the skin and bruise. Jodio winced, even the light contact stinging his nerves, but he trusted his sibling. He had to trust the process.

Next, the sponge moved to hover over his black eye. “Close.”

He listened. But as Dragona began to apply the makeup, Jodio hissed and pulled his head away, one hand raising to block Dragona’s. They carefully pushed his hand down before steadying the back of their brother’s head with their hand, adjusting him so his head was straightened again. “Did that hurt?”

Jodio huffed, clearly starting to get a little worked up now. “What do you think?”

“I’m sorry. If you’d rather not cover that one up, then-”

“No, just- just do it, okay?”

The look Dragona gave their brother showed all the concern they didn’t say aloud, but they just continued to cover up the black eye- keeping their hand on the back of Jodio’s head in case he tried pulling away again.

“It’ll probably still look swollen, but I can cover up the worst of it. Just be prepared to get funny looks.”

Jodio muttered something but didn’t clarify. Nor did Dragona ask for him to speak up.

And Dragona was right- he still looked like a freak. But the purple that had bloomed all around his eye was gone, and that was the worst of it. 

“Is that everything?”

Jodio looked back up at Dragona, staring for a few seconds before snaking a hand up to his neck. He pulled back his hood a little, which he had wrapped around his neck earlier, showing Dragona the large bruises across his neck. “No. The bastard strangled me, too.”

Dragona stared at the bruises on his neck, trying and failing not to grimace. They hovered over the bruises with their own hand- they were notably larger than their own hands. “Jesus Christ , Jodio, how big was this guy??”

Dragona didn’t waste any time covering those up. “I don’t know. Close to Paco’s size, maybe?”

“And you beat him??”

“Yeah.”

His scrawny ass did not look capable of beating someone that big, but Dragona wasn’t sure they wanted to know how he pulled it off. Both were silent again, and Jodio just hoped that Dragona didn’t think it was bad enough to tell their mom. The last thing he needed was for her to know.

It felt like ages, but eventually, Dragona finally set the makeup aside and stepped back. “All done. What do you think?”

Jodio turned to look at the mirror again, admiring his sibling’s handiwork. It was…really well done, actually. Aside from the swelling, it was impossible to tell there was a bruise in the first place. “Oh…wow.”

Dragona smirked, ruffling Jodio’s hair slightly. “Better? I know it still hurts like hell, but it’ll go away soon.”

Jodio was too busy admiring the work his sibling had done to respond with anything other than a nod. Dragona sighed, but there was no malice behind it whatsoever- instead, they smiled, crouching down beside Jodio and placing their hands on his shoulders as if he were a much smaller child. “And I know Mom will be upset about it, but you know know what to say to her, right?”

Jodio finally turned to look back at Dragona, nodding again. “That I broke up the fight and nobody believed me.”

“Good. And next time, if kids are giving you a hard time, you tell me, okay?”

Jodio broke eye contact for a moment, very visibly embarrassed- but nodded again. “Okay.”

Dragona pulled their brother into a hug, and the gesture was instantly returned. Jodio rested his head against their shoulder, exhausted from the excitement of the day- they stayed that way for a while before Dragona’s hold on Jodio tightened, and in turn, so did his own- and carefully, he was hoisted up by his sibling, and carried away from the bathroom.

“You don’t have to carry me like I’m a kid,” he mumbled into their shoulder, but didn’t struggle to be put down.

“As far as I’m concerned, you’re still my baby brother.”

No way to argue against that. He deflated further into his sibling, simply letting himself be whisked off to his room, and deposited onto his bed.

“Get some rest, Jodio. I’ll make sure Mom is taken care of until you’re ready to see her.”

A beat of silence, and then a gentle kiss to the forehead before he was left alone to sleep.