Work Text:
It happened fast. One second Buddy was chasing Taro around the grassy part of Uncle Alan’s backyard and the next second his nii-san’s foot hit a loose stone and crashed to the ground.
“Nii-san!”
He raced up to his brother's side, as Taro pushed himself up.
“I'm okay,” Taro said brushing his hands off, "don't worry.”
Something coursed through Buddy's mind leaving a metallic taste in his mouth.
“Nii-san you're bleeding.”
“Huh?” Taro looked down at his knees to see the sluggish drops of blood against his skin. Buddy watched his brother touch his knees, the red drops smearing. That metallic taste worsened and he could feel tears falling.
“Buddy, what’s wrong?” His daddy was there because whenever Buddy cried his Daddy was there. No longer did Buddy have to cry into his pillow because his Daddy was away.
“Nii-san-” he hiccuped, vision blurring as he gestured to Taro.
“Oh no,” Kim was there too. Which made sense, since Kim liked to follow Daddy around when not racing, “What happened Taro?”
Tucked into Daddy’s side, Buddy felt his tears slow, able to watch the way that Kim handled Taro. Kim had forced Taro to sit back down as he examined Taro’s leg. Taro stared straight ahead, “I tripped.”
“We should get you cleaned up then, right?” Kim didn’t wait for an answer before picking Taro up. Buddy felt a whine bubbling up but Daddy was already moving to follow Kim with Buddy in his arms. They went into the little building that sat behind Uncle Alan’s big house. Even though there was a lot of room in the big house, Uncle Alan still let them stay in the tiny house, which Buddy liked. It felt safer, it was quieter, it smelled like their room back at grandpa’s but better because Daddy’s scent was a lot better. It was also nice that Kim was there, he had a nice scent and made Daddy smile a lot.
There was one little washroom that had a nice warm light and was a pretty blue colour. It was a bit cramped with all of them in there but they made it work. Buddy clung to Daddy keeping his eyes on Kim, watching the way he sat Taro on the counter. When they got hurt with grandpa, grandpa would look down from where he towered over them, often telling them to get up.
Kim crouched down, gently taking Taro’s leg in his hands. Buddy whined, causing them all to turn to him.
Daddy jostled him to look at his face, “Are you okay Buddy? Did you get hurt?”
Buddy didn't know how to say that he was scared for Taro. Kim was bigger than him and if he wanted to he could make nii-san’s injury worse. Grandpa’s men weren't great at taking care of them.
“I'm okay Buddy,” Nii-san said, “it's just a scratch.”
“It is,” Kim declared, “but we still need to wash it and get a Band-Aid on it.”
“Are you going to use the stinging stuff?” Taro asked, a frown on his face.
“Stinging? Do you mean peroxide?” Kim shook his head, “that stuff isn't great for cuts. Better to just clean it with soap and water.”
Even while still glued to Daddy’s side, Buddy didn’t move. He didn’t think Kim would hurt Taro, but there was a chance. Inside him Buddy could feel the steady beats that didn’t belong to him, he wasn’t sure what they were but they were slow which kept him calm. Kim cleaned out Taro's cut and true to his word Kim used a cloth and warm soapy water to wipe away the blood and dirt.
“Alright, now for a Band-Aid,” Kim reached under the sink to pull out a brightly coloured box. It looked nothing like the generic boxes that would be tossed into their room when Daddy was hurt.
Taro took the box, “Pokemon?”
Buddy perked up. Daddy's scent went a little weird, probably confused as he stepped forward to look at the box, “You got them character Band-Aids?”
“Well yeah,” Kim shrugged, “who doesn't want a Pikachu to cover their scrape. You want to pick one out?”
Taro inspected them, “The bulbasaur one is fine.”
“I did try and find a bonsly one but they didn't have any,” Kim explained, gently sticking the Band-Aid over Taro's cut, “I hope this is okay.”
The bright colours caught Buddy’s attention when Taro flexes his knee, and he actually sees the Pokemon.
“I want one.”
Daddy blinks at him, “One what?”
He points at the box, “I want a Pokemon sticky.”
“It's a Band-Aid,” Taro corrects, “and you're not hurt.”
“I want one.” He wiggled in his Daddy’s arms, “Daddy put me down.”
“Buddy…”
“Here,” suddenly he's being plucked from his Dad's arms and dropped down next to Taro. Nii-san put his arms around him as Kim held out the box with a grin, “go ahead.”
“Kim…” Daddy's voice didn't sound like he was mad at Kim but there was a tone that Buddy didn't recognize.
“They're Band-Aids, they won't hurt him. He's four, let him indulge.”
Buddy tuned out the conversation as he happily opened his prizes, sticking them on his arm.
***
“Wow Buddy, you lost a fight?” Uncle North laughed as he and Uncle Sonic came in for dinner.
“No,” Buddy frowned, he didn't fight.
“Then what's with all the Band-Aids?”
Kim laughed, dropping a hand into his head, “He wanted to match with Taro.”
He held up his plushy, “And Mimikyu!”
“Yes, and Mimikyu.”
Buddy had stuck a Band-Aid where Mimikyu’s nose was supposed to be. As for himself he had stuck them basically everywhere. He was probably more pokemon than Buddy at this point.
“Wow Buddy,” Martin came running up as Uncle Pete and Uncle Way came in, “that’s a lot of Band-Aids.”
“They’ve got Pokemon on them!” He held out his arms to show his new cousin all the ones he selected.
Above him Uncle Pete was talking with Daddy and Kim, “How many pictures did you take?”
Kim laughed, “You have no idea?”
“Mama,” Martin pointed at one of the Band-Aids “which Pokemon is that?”
Uncle Way just blinked, “How would I know?”