Work Text:
A loud extended honk of a car horn then a crash echoed in the empty hollowed dirt path. It visibly being untouched for a pretty long time. The loud noise only to be drowned out by the sound of the wildlife peering between the trees.
Shit.
He hit something. Someone? It looked like somebody at least. Accardi would take a minute to clear his head and take another swig of his drink before stepping out to look at the damage. Other than a minor splash of fresh blood against the hood of his car, it was fine. In the haze of his buzz he finally noticed he wasn’t entirely alone as he looked at the splayed figure of the priest below him.
He gasped and looked at the body below him. That’s… the priest from earlier? No wonder he couldn’t see them, nonetheless if they were so insistent on the basilica, they should definitely take the curse seriously after this, if they wake up that is. The drizzling rain fell between the tall trees and the blood trickled down the car and the priest’s body, bringing an uncomfortable feeling to his mind as he couldn’t bare tearing his eyes away.
He still bit his tongue and squinted his eyes shut, fighting his mind and seating their unconscious body to lean against the side of his car, and check the condition of the little priest. Despite all odds they were definitely alive and breathing, their fresh blood diluting and trickled down to follow the drops of rain against them. It made Accardi’s mind race.
He hated the way his mind worked and how the sight of blood made him scared of himself, he still begrudgingly pulled out his phone and snapped a few photos. Cursing at himself in his mind silently. Once that was done with, he’d fixed them up a bit, pulling their turtleneck back down and wiping blood from their face. They looked bad. He felt awful for having not seen them.
He’d sigh and drape them onto the passenger’s seat and hop back into his own, taking a towel from the glove compartment and cleaning some of the worst of their blood off, they were still deeply bruised and he was at fault for that. He just shut himself up and turned the radio on a low volume as he made his way to the hospital, keeping his eyes on the road out of fear.
…
The rest of his ride had been quiet and his cold sweat gone before the priest had awoken and screamed. Accardi didn’t notice they woke up and slammed the breaks at their yell, smashing both their heads infront of them. Both parties groaning at their pain in unison.
— " You- AAAÏE!! My ribs. Oh god they hurt like hell. It hurts to breathe … "
The priest had hissed out through labored breaths, clutching their chest in pain as their eyes watered through the pain, not exactly crying but definitely not ok, as if that weren’t visible enough.
— " Ah, well … I’m so sorry. You yelled and it scared me, I never meant to hit the breaks so hard . "
— " Geez, I must’ve hit you good . Your bruises are turning purple and it’s only been minutes . "
Accardi would mutter nervously, a joking tone in his voice, but he was also very visibly concerned for the other.
— " So you were the one who hit me ? "
Ryker would say, breath still labored and weak through deeply hurt ribs.
— " I’m taking you to the hospital, to be fair I thought you were dead … but obviously not . "
Accardi had insisted, keeping his eyes on the sorry priest and feeling bad.
— " Ah, please don’t . "
Ryker would mumble, staring down at their turtleneck which was quickly soaking with blood.
— " You look miserable . You’re sure you don’t want me to ? "
Accardi offered once again, really surprised at how the little priest would deny help in such a state.
— " I’m not from here, I don’t have health insurance . "
Ryker groaned, their eyes half lidded as they continued holding themself together, their ears were ringing and it was a miracle they could understand Accardi through it all, even if it was barely. They took a shallow breath and look up at him again, noticing how jittery and pale he was.
— " Hey . Are you ok ? Is it the blood ? Are you weak to it ? "
Silence filled the car for a moment before Accardi muttered a 'Yes'.
— " Mhm . I’m sorry but there has to be something I can do . Health insurance or not you’re really beat up . Plus you’re not from here, just like you said now . "
Accardi said through a nervous sweat, really caring for the tourist.
— " Speaking that, where are you from anyways ? Also … could I get your name too while I’m at it ? "
— " Oh uh . Ryker, Ryker Dublin . I’m from France . "
Accardi was definitely pleased with that answer. His eye’s lighting up a bit.
— " Ryker, hm? And France now ? Parlez-vous français ? " (Can you speak french?)
Accardi had said playfully, clearly getting comfortable fast.
— " Oui ?? Can you ?? "
Ryker said, a bit bewildered but still in shock.
— " Ha, no. I wish . It’s a beautifully romantic language y’know ? My name’s Accardi Florentino now that we’re introducing ourselves though, I’m an Italian . "
— " Ugh, god nevermind . Wish that crash knocked me out longer . "
— " Aha , you’re cruel . I did want to ask of you though, since you aren’t going to the hospital, could I offer my space in my home for you to recover till you’re better ? I’m no devote follower but I wouldn’t be able to live down hitting you with my CAR . "
Ryker paused for a moment, a bit bewildered once again. They figured it must just be mistranslation but no, sure enough they heard Accardi.
— " You’re kidding . This is the first time we’re actually talking outside of full on stranger interaction . I didn’t mistranslate something now did I ? "
Ryker said, not wanting their hopes up for something so kind from someone they hardly know.
— " I mean it, Ryker . I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I dumped you somewhere . Now, yes or no ? I don’t want to do anything you aren’t comfortable with . "
He’d insisted, letting the priest take their time in their decision.
— " Ok ok, fine . Thank you Accardi, you really didn’t need to … "
Ryker had sighed and leaned back in the seat. Beginning to trust Accardi they let themself get comfortable, it felt a decent amount less painful not being as tense anymore.
— " I know I didn’t, like I said though, it’s the least I could do after wounding you like this . "
Accardi had replied as he watched them shift in their seat. A light grin warming up his face as he saw them begin to trust him bit by bit.
Just like that, the rest of the car ride was mainly quiet aside from Ryker’s pained, shallow breathing, and the radio playing some sort of muffled true crime podcast. Ryker was focused, yet nodding off, but Accardi hardly even noticed. it was pretty late after all, the both of them were tired.
— " Forgive me for saying something so sensitive, you don’t need to answer, but when did you last eat ? When I checked on you your ribs were … broken of course, but really thin . "
Ryker was zoned out for a bit, their tired mind crossing between translating what Accardi said and the podcast, they shook themself awake to respond, looking back up at Accardi.
— " You don’t need to spoil me now, it’s alright … if you have leftovers of something I’ll eat that, but don’t make me anything big and fancy, I feel bad . "
— " Well bad for you .. don’t have leftovers . Good for you is that I don’t have anything fancy, so I’ll just make pastina for the both of us . "
Accardi would say through a yawn, a smile visible as he spoke.
— " Gonna pretend I know whatever the hell that is … thank you though, really . "
— " You’re more than welcome, Ryker . "
Something about Accardi saying their name made them happy, it’s nothing special but they haven’t heard their name called in genuine positivity in years, it helped them feel like they had a friend again.
After a few minutes and a few more moments of nodding off they began to feel the skidding of Accardi pulling into his driveway. They stretched instinctively only to painfully remember their condition and hiss out swears at themself.
— " Merde … " (Crap …)
— " Did you say something ? "
Accardi said, turning his car off and turning to face Ryker.
— " Oh, nonono I just stretched and forgot that I was in a wreck . "
Accardi chuckled playfully at their unfortunate situation but sighed and replied.
— " Ehehe, please be careful with yourself alright ? Anyways, we’re here . Do you need any help walking ? "
Ryker stammered a bit then chuckled, almost denying their pain. It was hilariously concerning.
— " I think I’ll be fineee Accardi . You treat me like I learned to walk yesterda— !!! "
As they stepped out their side of the car, Ryker unsurprisingly was cut off from their word, their knees immediately buckling under them, Accardi noticed from the absence of speech alone and quickly pulled Ryker up by the hand. It hurt Ryker visibly and he felt bad but he knew them falling flat on their ass would be worse.
— " QUOI BORDEL—, ACCARDI !! " (WHAT THE FUCK—, ACCARDI !!)
Ryker had groaned out, not expecting to get grabbed so abruptly. Oh well, Accardi’s reasoning was a big help.
— " Sorry sorry, guess I do need help then . Thanks again . "
They’d mutter, just letting Accardi do whatever by now, much to his happiness. He’d wrap an arm along their waist and walk with them slowly, letting them walk at their own pace and using his other hand to unlock the door.
— " Here hold on … just stay by the door for a bit, alright ? "
Accardi said before getting a black towel and putting it over his couch for Ryker to sit comfortably.
— " Just stay here, I’ll make us a midnight snack, non-fancy just like I promised. "
With that, Accardi would make his way to the kitchen, and Ryker silently admired the place, and took in the fact they were guided so gently by Accardi. The couch smelled faintly like his cologne, a really distinctive comfortable smell that really suited him. It felt weird thinking about that from a stranger though so they shut themself up and analyzed all the pretty, well cared for plants in the living room and kitchen.
It was clear Accardi took pride in caring for himself and his surroundings, he was already a very gorgeous man in appearance alone but his house really outshined it. The smell of garlic, cheese, and pasta took them out of their thoughts and had them remembering it’d been a good few days since they’d last eaten. Gladly enough Accardi came to them with a bowl and they looked at the food for a bit before gratefully eating like it were their last meal, it warmed them up like the sun on a snowy day and melted their anxieties away.
— " This is amazing … thank you Accardi ! "
— " It’s only pastina, Ryker … it took 10 minutes . If that was so good to you then I really feel bad for you . "
Accardi had chuckled, eating his own bowl beside Ryker. Watching how happy they were from such a simple meal and grinning.
— " Also, we should really get you in some new clothes . I don’t want your blood staining … not to mention the mud and rain water . I can guide you to the bath and get you a towel if you need it . "
Accardi said, finishing his food after Ryker.
— " I’d probably need that a lot right now, yeah . "
Ryker mumbled, putting their plate in Accardi’s and staggering to stand up. Accardi quickly took their hand and guided them to his restroom, Ryker being a bit more awake for once had them a bit nervous at the fact Accardi had his hand in theirs, they’d been noticeably quieter and looking anywhere but Accardi’s gaze.
— " Everything alright in there ? "
Accardi’s voice intruded their thoughts and snapped them back.
— " Oh- Yeah I’m fine . Sorry, was distracted . "
— " If you need it I can help you out with cleaning yourself, It probably won’t be eas— "
— " NO no . Wait, sorry . Not yet … I’ll let you know but for now I don’t want to overburden . "
They’d insisted, a warm dusting of blush on their face from how bold Accardi’s request was. That was definitely a strong request but they didn’t know how to word themself correctly and didn’t mean to respond so strongly.
— " Sorry sorry I just- I’ll let you know ok ? "
Ryker said, feeling a little bad over their nervous outburst, they didn’t want Accardi to think they snapped at him, or if they were upset or something.
— " It’s all fine Ryker, no need to worry so much alright ? I’ll get you some new clothes, they’re going to need to be some of my old clothes but it’s better than nothing while I wash your others . "
Accardi said, seemingly not minding Ryker’s surprise at all, and handing them another towel.
Ryker would close the bathroom door behind them and stagger to get their turtleneck off, it was uncomfortably crusted over their body from their blood and reeked of death. Nonetheless after lots of effort they still found way to strip their dirty clothes, and folded them onto the bathroom sink’s counter by the door for Accardi to take when he wanted.
Ryker still yawned and stammered to the tub, they shut the curtains and turned on the water, dirt and grime washing down their body comfortably despite their skin stinging, their legs hurt too but they wanted to wash themself off as well as possible, the basilica had them filthy. They started lathering their hair first, the shampoo smelling a lot like accardi, that brought them the same flustered feeling as earlier.
— { God, I can’t be thinking this much about him he’s only a stranger . We only officially met eachother days ago and that was only in town . }
They thought to themself quietly as they slipped a bit, interrupted by their legs giving out and slamming them into the wall of the tub. They’d yelp uncomfortably at the heavy additional pain and hug their knees as they hissed back curses.
The noise brought Accardi’s horror though, he was more than terrified for Ryker at that moment and knocked loudly on the door.
— " Jesus christ are you ok, Ryker ? Can I come in? "
Accardi had spoken fast, his tone more urgent this time, it was clear he really did care even if this night together happened in an unfortunate way. There was no way they’d safely get up again for a while anyways.
— " Yeah . "
They’d speak through a shaky, tear stained voice.
Accardi walked in quickly, pulling the shower curtains back in a sense of urgency Ryker never saw in him before, it felt really nice that he cared enough this early onto their friendship. Nonetheless Accardi didn’t mind the fact they were so vulnerable and open in front of him, all he cared about was Ryker’s physical state, and that in itself really helped them feel comfortable with him.
— " You can bathe me then if the offer still stands … It hurts really really bad . I don’t know if I’ll be able to stand I’m so sorry … "
— " Don’t apologize please, amore mio. You never meant to fall, I’d be more than happy to help you . "
Accardi insisted, turning the showerhead off and letting the tub fill with warm water. He’d knelt down and began gently lathering Ryker’s hair. Something about being able to care for Ryker really made Accardi happy. Ryker themself had even pressed themself further into Accardi’s touch and sighed, their face unmistakably warm. Not just from the touch, but Accardi’s little sudden nickname for them.
They couldn’t help it, they hadn’t felt cared for like this in years and it felt so special to be held like this. Ryker had teared up a bit at all of this happening so fast, silent tears rolling down their face as they stared at their hands and let Accardi continue what he wanted.
— " Ryker, you deserve better than what you have . "
Accardi blurted out, still tending to Ryker and using an old cup to rinse the shampoo off them. Then doing the same steps over for conditioner.
— " I’m not sure why you’re here, or why you’re so insistent over the basilica, but if there’s anything I believe in, it’s fate . And I’m glad it led me to you . "
— " Accardi, what brought this on ? "
Ryker mumbled, like Accardi said something impossible, all still while open and vulnerable to Accardi and his eyes alone. It felt really weird, yet comfortable. Too fast for their… second? third meeting? They didn’t remember but still. A very recent meeting for him to be something so special like this for them.
— " Nothing ? Not every word needs a motive or reason to be said sweetheart … I just think you deserve better, really . "
He’d asserted as he finished scrubbing and rinsing the conditioner from Ryker’s hair, it felt astoundingly softer than it had before, making him silently hope this wasn’t a norm for them.
— " Right, I’m going to wash your body now, tell me if anything and I promise I’ll stop ok ? "
Ryker gave a nod at Accardi’s reminder, rubbing their eyes one last time. Accardi took a washcloth and some bodywash, gently starting at their shoulders, putting a little bit of pressure to massage them in a way.
Ryker had cracked smiles every now and then and leaned into his touch, wanting to show their comfort without speaking. The warmth of the water felt amazing, stinging at first from their fresh wounds but felt better as it relaxed them.
The atmosphere was warm. Well, of course it was with the temperature with the water but Ryker’s mind was too fogged in wondering what Accardi saw in them to treat them like this. Even with Accardi scrubbing and massaging them gently they were lost and distracted in their own mind.
It was only one specific touch that snapped them out with a hiss and biting their tongue, their ribs … right. Accardi flinched and quickly fixed himself, keeping his touch softer and gently tracing the outlines of their bones to keep mental note of which were broken and which weren’t.
To Ryker’s enjoyment he’d quit jabbing at their ribs and focused more on scrubbing everything else, their back, arms, and legs, doing a careful mix of scrubbing yet massaging the tender flesh at the same time, their skin was smooth and well kept which surprised him considering their current ... homeless status.
— " We’re done now, can you stand ? "
Accardi beckoned, holding a hand out to Ryker once he fully rinsed the soap off of them. Their face was dusted with a drowsy blush as they shook their head in a no. Accardi frowned and took their hand to help them sit against the edge of the bathtub.
Accardi would then take a towel and tenderly dry their wet hair off with care, then wrapped it across their body before grasping and holding them in his arms. Despite so many little things running through their mind they were too drowsy to fight back and let him do whatever he needed.
Accardi set them down on his bed gently and handed them a pair of his old clothes, they were still surprisingly soft and silky despite Accardi not wearing them anymore.
— " I’m going to change, just stay here and try to put the clothes on and I’ll put your clothes in the wash and help you out. "
Accardi took a pair of clothes from his drawer and walked off to the restroom and left Ryker to themself for a bit. They still had mind fog from the amount of questions they had but got dressed nonetheless, the clothes oversized against them as they put the top on, they’d unsuccessfully fumble to button it but gave up and put their shorts on instead.
Accardi came back a few minutes later in similar pajamas and helped button their top up the rest of the way before lying beside them. He quickly got comfortable and pulled the sheets over the both of them.
It was nice and quiet, Accardi turning his TV on to drown out the heavy rain but overall the overlap of both sounded amazing, at least to Accardi, that was till his train of thought was being pleasantly interrupted.
— " Accardi, you’re sure you’re letting me stay ? "
They’d mumble, a little incoherently as they curled up beside the other, their eyes half lidded and hardly awake as they crawled over to lean against Accardi.
— " Just rest already Ryker, it’s alright I promise . "
Accardi had said as he invited them to his side with a grin, holding them to his chest as he lied on his side, for once there wasn’t any hesitation from Ryker’s end, only them drifting off in what felt like seconds.
It made Accardi chuckle, they clearly needed that rest, nonetheless he was more than happy with an opportunity like this with Ryker, something so simple yet perfect. He’d hold them tight and play with their hair, thinking of and admiring every little thing about them until he was the one nodding off next.
Bad first impressions or not, for once the night, and their minds, were perfectly quiet for once.