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Some days Helmeppo woke up in the morning, the training from the day before barely noticeable in the almost comfortable ache in his bones. He would get up, get dressed, have breakfast and go right back to his training.
Other days he would wake up, barely able to open his eyes without sharp pain shooting all throughout his body, making him wince and sometimes even yelp should he dared to move a single muscle.
Today was one of those days.
He knew it was bad when he woke up and barely felt his legs, his entire body tingly, throbbing, every fiber of his being begging him to not move an inch. Trying to get up regardless, ignoring the clear signs his body is giving him, it quickly backfired, Helmeppo crashing back down on the bed, a pained whimper escaping him.
Apparently, his pathetic display was loud enough to cause Coby to peek his head out the bathroom, looking at his boyfriend with worried eyes.
“Meppo? Everything alright?” He asked, his voice soft, concerned, just like it always sounded when he knew something was going on with Helmeppo.
Sometimes, the blond hated it, hated how well Coby could read his emotions, although at times like these, it wasn’t hard to see that Helmeppo was in severe pain.
“E-everything is just grand” Trying to sit up, he quickly realized it was a terrible idea, his vision going black, his arms giving in as he hit the mattress with a pained grunt, Coby immediately running over to him, putting one cool hand on Helmeppos forehead to check for a fever.
“Don’t move!” He blurted out, slightly calmed down by how the blond was seemingly not running a fever, which meant this was just a severe case of sore muscles, nothing too serious. “You overdid it a bit, didn’t you? It’s okay, just rest today” Coby smiled at him, an understanding smile, but somehow that smile made Helmeppo furious.
“I can’t ‘just rest today’! We have training!” He tried sitting up a second time, quickly collapsing under the stabbing pain shooting through his entire body again. Tears were filling up his eyes, angry tears at his inability to just get up already.
He was weak. Nothing but a failure.
His father was right.
“Meppo, it’s okay! It’s just one day! I’m sure Bogard will understand, he-”
“Just go!” Helmeppo squealed, barely able to throw his arm over his eyes, blocking out the light from the room, as well as his tears from falling. Coby shouldn’t have to see him like this. No one should.
He didn’t deserve Cobys kindness.
“Oh- I-... Alright. Try to sleep a bit, okay? I’ll check in on you later..” Coby stammered, quick footsteps leaving the room, silence now engulfing it. A silence Helmeppo had grown to hate a long time ago.
He must have fallen asleep eventually as he was later woken up by the sound of the door opening again, strong footsteps walking in, directly towards the bed Helmeppo was curled up on.
Barely opening his eyes, he saw the unfocused image of a gray suit, knowing immediately who it belonged to.
“Do you mind explaining why you haven’t turned up to training today, cadet?” Bogards voice was low, his arms crossed in front of his chest, his eyes nearly drilling holes into Helmeppo as the younger one shot up in surprise and also fear.
“Officer Boga- ARGH” Helmeppo screamed out in pain, falling back onto the bed, his arms wrapping around his stomach, as if that would help the nauseating pain that quickly overtook him.
He could barely stand it.
Pressing his eyes shut, he didn’t see how Bogards glare turned from annoyed to concerned, terrified even as he quickly crouched down, pressing the back of his hand to Helmeppos forehead just as Coby had done mere hours before.
Only now, Helmeppo was indeed running a fever.
“Oh. We really overdid it yesterday, didn’t we?” Suddenly, the officer's voice was a lot softer, a lot calmer, as if his sternness moments ago had only been put on, now clearly worried for Helmeppos wellbeing.
“Can you roll onto your stomach for me?” He asked and Helmeppo dared to open his eyes, watching the older man take off his coat and hat, placing them on the floor, taking off his suit jacket as well and rolling up the sleeves of his dress shirt. As he turned back towards Helmeppo, he saw the confusion in the others' eyes.
“Your muscles are hurting, aren’t they?” Helmeppo managed the tiniest of nods. “So I will care for it. Care for you. Now, can you turn onto your stomach?”
For a moment Helmeppo considered it, but quickly realized what other choice did he have? Yes, it was weird seeing Bogard like this, so nice out of seemingly nowhere, so caring, but what else could he do? Say no? Leave? He could barely breathe with the amount of pain he was in.
So he nodded again, putting all his energy, all his strength into doing as told and managing to roll over, his body screaming at him to please, for the love of everything holy, please just stop moving, yet he refused.
When he was finally on his stomach, he collapsed, exhaustion nearly overtaking him once again, but when he felt Bogard pull the blankets away, leaving Helmeppo in nothing but his underwear, fear once again bubbled up inside of him.
There was a moment of dreaded silence as Bogard no doubt stared at the scars covering Helmeppos back. The gruesome display of his fathers hatred, the pent up anger for his son, Helmeppos inability to fight back, to protect himself. The symbol of Helmeppos failure.
There were no words leaving Bogards mouth, instead cold hands placed themselves on Helmeppos thigh, starting to massage the aching muscle.
It hurt at first, Helmeppo biting into his pillow to keep any noise that might escape him inside, when finally Bogard talked again.
“You can whimper if you need to. Hell, I whimpered back then. Screamed, cried even. Once I tried to bite Yoshimiko when he was massaging my shoulder.” There was a slight chuckle coming from Bogard, the first time Helmeppo heard the man laugh.
Somehow, he believed Bogard. Believed him it was okay to show that weakness. After all, Bogard was helping him right now.
Moving his head to the side, a whimper finally escaped him.
It took a while, Bogard taking his time, making sure every inch of Helmeppos legs was finally relaxed again before moving on to his back. There was another short moment of silence before those hands got to work, massaging his shoulders, his spine, cracking tired joints and releasing pressure from them.
It felt horrible and wonderful at the same time. Helmeppo could feel his muscles relaxing, the pain finally subsiding.
“It was your father, wasn’t it?” Bogard suddenly asked, the boy below him immediately freezing, staring at the wall in horror.
He couldn’t answer, couldn’t admit to it. Not yet, not like this.
“You don’t have to say anything. I know. It’s okay.” It was as if the officer could read his mind, feel his emotions, his fear, his terror. “I never liked Morgan. Ever since I met him I knew he was unfit for his position.”
After this, it was silent again. Small whimpers kept escaping Helmeppo until finally Bogard was done, the blond being able to move his body without severe pain again.
Sitting up, Helmeppo watched as Bogard put his clothes on again, pulling his hat deep into his face and walking towards the door, giving Helmeppo one last bit of advice.
“Take a hot bath. It will help your muscles relax more.”