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"I'm fine! I'm fine!"
"Are you sure? Let me see."
"It's fine, you don't need to-"
"I insist!"
"Look, there's no scrapes."
"Does it hurt?"
"..."
Lemon Zest didn't say anything else. He knows what just happened. He got into an accident, suddenly being brought into the infirmary, sitting on the edge of the bed, and now getting stripped off his clothes, except for his cloak, just to check for no additional injuries. He was being careful after all, so there's no scrapes on him. He can walk fine too. But Crushed Pepper seems to want to double check.
"Does it hurt?" The redhead asked again, lifting the blond's arm gently, lightly pressing parts of it, checking for something.
"..."
"This one?" He then pressed his fingers gently on the torso.
"..."
"How about here-" Hands pressed against the right thigh.
"Ack-" An involuntary gasp came out.
"So here." The redhead hurried in making a cold compress to place on the injured thigh. "You know we're the only ones here so you can tell me if you're hurt."
"..."
"You don't have to pretend you're fine."
"Pepper, I'm really am okay." Lemon Zest managed to say something. "I can still walk." He felt something cold touched his thigh and he jumped a bit, only to calm down when recognizing familiar hands holding the compress onto the skin of his thigh.
"Zest, I saw you about to collapse. I had to catch you."
"I may have gotten a bit dizzy momentarily."
"You said your vision turned red, and you're blinking and yawning too much."
"I'm already fine now..." The blond trailed off, he couldn't deny the fact he was stumbling after standing up from the accident. His vision momentarily became static before slowly turning to red, making him blink too much, eventually shutting his eyes tightly to make it go away. He felt strong arms wrapped around him, making him feel a bit drowsy. And when he opened his eyes, his companion is there, supporting his body as his vision returns to normal and then carried him to the infirmary.
"Yes, but what if it gets worse? It's luck that you came out unwounded. But this would definitely leave a bruise and pain for a week." Crushed Pepper responded. "We both know I can't heal, but this is the best I can do for now."
Lemon Zest recognizes that it's not the right moment to say a witty remark. Seeing the redhead trying to take care of him with that concerned look on his face makes him relent and obey instead of refusing the treatment. "You really do care about me." He reached down, touching the other on the face.
"I do. I have to protect you. I don't want you to get hurt."
The blond chuckles a bit. "I'm a knight. I'll eventually get hurt either way. And you're an heir to an important family. Shouldn't it be the other way around?"
"I don't care about our statuses. I just saw you as you, and you got hurt." The redhead looked up, meeting their eyes. "So, let me take care of you."
"Ah..."
"Besides, if you're going to protect me, who's going to protect you then?"
He only knows that if he gets hurt, he'll deal with it himself. Refusing others help. It makes it look like he's showing weakness. That's why he kept saying he's fine. But with his companion showing such care in treating him, it makes him want to let himself be treated nicely. To be vulnerable.
"Ah, the ice melted quicker in my hands. Let me just-"
"Pepper..." The blond slowly stands up, causing the other to stand up as well.
"Yes?"
Lemon Zest approaches Crushed Pepper slowly, eventually wrapping his arms around the other, nestled his head onto the other's chest. "Thank you... For worrying about me..." He whispers, not caring the fact that he's only dressed in his cloak and nothing else.
"Of course..." The redhead replies, pulling down the cloak hood to place a soft kiss onto the blond's head.
"Is it a bad time to mention other than wearing a cloak, I'm literally naked while hugging you?"
"AH-I FORGOT." The redhead blushed hard, breaking the embrace and hurriedly looked for a robe. He eventually finds a cream colored robe and hands it over to the blond. "I'M SORRY FOR SUDDENLY STRIPPING YOU. I WAS JUST CHECKING IF YOU HAD OTHER INJURIES." He apologized profusely.
"Ahahaha! It's fine, it's fine! I was just messing with you." The blond laughed, taking off his cloak and wearing the robe. "I just want to see your face." He opened his arms, expecting another hug.
And he was scooped into the other's arms and they sat on the edge of the bed, appreciating each other's presence and warmth in silence until topaz eyes slowly closes off to sleep.