Chapter Text
Avid did not enjoy this pain.
He and Water were walking through the corrupted town while Gracie and Marm waited, trying to find anything of value to bring back, or maybe Water was just looking for anything at all to steal. Avid wondered what the man might consider valuable. Gold? Food? Fabric? Trash? Ten years ago they would've thought everything but the gold would be worth taking, but on his travels he quickly learned that food and fabric were worth far more than gold. Being able to eat and repair their own clothes was a top priority, right next to liberating oppressed people, so he wondered if Water, and all their time being homeless, knew even more than he did about the usefulness of what looked like trash. Maybe Water knew how to weave trash into blankets or how to talk their way into a deal. That man was smarter than Avid, so he didn't doubt that they knew more tricks.
Oh how he made their heart ache. A dull ache that needled its way into their heart and lingered longer than felt necessary for someone he only met recently. Water just reminded them too much of him.
The corrupted dust sat heavy in his lungs and back of his throat, a more welcoming pain than heartache, but certainly not the best, he preferred the sharp stabbing he felt in his chest whenever the dust made him cough, although he couldn't remember when or how he had broken his rib, but he recognized the pain well enough to identify the bone. He coughed again and readjusted his skull mask.
His mask was filtering some of the dust, but it didn't stop the dust from touching him, slipping through the fabric and soaking into his skin, into his injuries. It hurt in a way he wasn't used to, it reminded him of the electricity, it felt like it was burning him. He carried on anyway, he couldn't leave Water alone in their current state.
They slipped their mask off and handed it to Water, who was practically choking the whole time with how bad his coughing was. “It helps keep the dust out,” they said when Water gave them a look. It was hard to describe their face without Avid getting at least a little rosey, but it looked like they wanted to kill him for showing even slight concern and empathy, if they even took as that not him treating Water like a child or dog. Again.
“What about you?” Their tone lacked obvious concern, more practical than emotional, because apparently they might just die if they show an ounce of emotion to Avid nowadays, not that he blames them. “It's fine, we can take turns wearing it. Unless you break it, which I'm going to ask you not to do, please?” Avid spoke with his usual indifference, although he felt like his voice wavered a little too much, his throat was already getting scratchy from trying not to cough, what if Water saw right through his artificial demeanor?
“Are bones really that easy to break?” water asked as he put on Avid's beloved skull mask. “Oh yeah, trust me, I've broken so many!” They smiled with false glee. “Others or your own?” Avid noticed that Waters' voice was already sounding less strained, and maybe a bit less irritated? No, they were imagining things. “Both!” They wanted to make a joke about their rib, but it was getting hard to breathe and they didn't feel like embarrassing themself in front of him. So they ran off giggling, leaving Water with their mask, hoping he wouldn't break it out of spite.
He ducked into one of the many crumpled buildings and began to cough and choke, every inhale caking his lungs in dust and making it impossible to breath right.
The stabbing pain became a constant as he slumped against one the more sturdy walls to keep his balance, anything to stay on his feet. He'd rather die by lightning than let them see him in a crumpled heap, coughing on the floor of a broken and ruined house. Likely even more broken than the house itself.
The pain was getting worse, it felt like the corrupted dust was soaking not only into his current injuries, but ones long healed. It was no longer just his heart aching with an unwelcome sting, but his whole body. He closed his eyes and tried to block it all out, he reached for his mask but his hands found nothing. Water had his mask, his one constant comfort. What an idiot, giving away the one thing that calmed him. Instead he grabbed his knife, he needed some control over the situation, something familiar, so he blindly rolled up his sleeve and dragged the tip over his palm. He found brief peace in this action, doing it over and over again, up and down his forearm like he usually did on particularly bad days.
Then the dust soaked in again, and it hurt too much.
They didn't open their eyes, in fact they shut them painfully tighter, but still, hot tears began to slide down their face. They felt the world shift around them and then more pain all along their right side, they didn't know what had happened, but they still wouldn't open their eyes. If Avid opened their eyes that meant more tears would spill and they would be forced to look at the situation they were now in. They could acknowledge it in a minute, but not now.
So they sat like that, eyes closed, choking down coughs and sobs, vaguely aware of his bloody arm, and that no one was there. Water probably left them, he probably didn't think twice about leaving, maybe he even saw Avid's current state and decided to just leave him. Maybe that's for the best. Avid scares Gracie, they make Marm uncomfortable, and they annoy Water.
They probably would've completely given up if there wasn't that little voice in their head telling them to check and make sure everyone was safe.
They didn't know how much time passed, a few minutes? Hours? The whole day? But they had managed to stop crying for now, so they opened their eyes to assess the situation. They were on the ground, when did they fall? It didn't matter. They needed to get up and find Water and the others, make sure everyone is ok. They sat up and looked down at their arm, the pain was agonizing, but at least the dust had stopped the bleeding, so they wouldn't have to worry about it staining their sleeve. They couldn't deal with prying questions about blood right now. They could have stopped to think about the medical concerns of having an evil dust directly on their injuries and in their blood stream, but unfortunately Avid is a pretty single minded kinda guy, and right now they're thinking of Water. That heartbreaking bastard that Avid unfortunately likes.
He picked up his bloody knife, rolled down his sleeve, and stood up. Someone might see the blood on the floor and get super worried in the future, but that's a later problem. He leaned against the wall for about a minute, or at least he thinks it was a minute, before actually walking. He didn't have the energy to stop himself from coughing into his sleeve anymore, and at least the fabric made a half decent filter. He was worried Water might be in a similar state to him earlier, crumpled on the ground in agonizing pain, but of course not, how foolish of Avid to think he and them were on the same level. He only had to walk a little bit to see Water climbing out of a busted window, skull mask still fixed to their face. Now he kinda wished they were experiencing the same pain as he was.
They didn't see him immediately as he hobbled over, which he was thankful for. He already felt foolish enough, he didn't need them seeing him struggling to do something as basic as walking when they seemed perfectly fine.
Avid managed to get behind him, then they coughed and Water turned around, he took off the mask and handed it back to Avid, they put it on without hesitation, glad to have his comfort back. Waters’ expression was almost bored despite the dust that was no doubt filling his lungs now. He was either so damn stoic, or the biggest jerk ever.
“Nothing worth taking,” he grumbled. “Let's call it and get out of here then,” they suggested as confidently as they could manage. Water nodded and led the way as they struggled to keep up. They hadn't broken any part of their legs in a while, and yet the pain felt fresh and constant. It was like every step fractured their bones.
Avid hurt the whole day.
He kept calling it the best day in his life, which would've been true if not for the pain. There was so much adventure and he barely had to put on his mask. If the pain was different he would've absolutely loved it, unfortunately heartache and corruption dust don't feel good.
So Water was right when claiming Avid wasn't being honest when proclaiming it was the best day ever. More like a high A tier to a low s tier day.
Finally he was alone in his bedroom, Killie sleeping on his bed, curled up like a dog, and Avid was inspecting his injuries.
The cuts all along his forearm were red and irritated and the cuts weren't scabbed up right, it looked too glossy. He knew they were infected, now if it was some magical infection or just a regular one, he had no idea.
It didn't matter to him, he'll just clean it like normal and if it gets worse then he'll just die. He had a good run, made some friends, and killed a lot of people.
Although, at the thought of killing, he couldn't help but worry about Killie. If he dies, they die. So he can't. He has to live to keep his dragon alive.
He decided that the bathroom he and Marm had found would be a good place to wash the cuts off.
The walk there wasn't interesting, he heard the sheepie talking in a hall so he walked the long way to the bathroom, he didn't want anyone seeing him limp around like this, he looked so pathetic but he barely had any energy left to act normal.
It didn't help that Marm pushed him off the ledge and shocked him earlier, it was just the bad pain on more, already bad pain. Now if he wasn't already in pain and she had simply pushed him off? That would've been great. He tried to think more about that as he limped, but unfortunately the idea of pain at the moment, surprisingly, wasn't making him feel better.
Finally he made it into the bathroom, standing just in the entrance when Water bumped into him, he caught himself on the wall and tried to calm himself as more shockwaves racked his body. He heard them sigh and looked up to see them glaring. “Gracie said you were going to bed, but I guess that was another lie you told.” He didn't feel like responding, so he just glared back. “Why're you here then? Come to talk to me alone again?” He wanted to tell them no, he wanted to tell them the real reason. But what's the point? Avid didn't think they would believe him again, if they ever believed him at all.
“Mind your business,” Avid snapped at him. They shoved past Water and started for the sink, only a second later a hand roughly grabbed their shoulder and suddenly they were being punched. Of course they fought back, even if the pain held them down a bit, they weren't going to let themselves be beat up in a real fight, not now.
They weren't laughing this time, they were just trying to not cry as they grappled and punched and kicked and bit and clawed. Both of them were fighting like animals on a dirt bathroom floor. It hurt so much. Everything hurt so much. They felt so cold and so tired and so so hurt. Hurt by Water emotionally, hurt by the dust, and hurt by water again, physically now.
It stopped when Water punched him in the throat, making him cough and choke, then they separated, both leaning against the sinks a few feet apart.
He noticed that Water was only putting a little of their weight on it, meanwhile he was hunched over and leaning heavily on the counter. Pathetic.
“So, why are you here, Skull boy?” Water spat.
He didn't answer, this time instead of simply not wanting to, it was because his throat hurt.
Water walked over and shoved their shoulder. “Hello? Avid?” They wished he sounded concerned, but he didn't. He was fed up with Avid and they knew it.
“Sink,” they mumbled. “I came in here to use the sink.” Water was still glaring at them. They felt so cold and tired, but his stare didn't help. “You are such a liar,” he shouted. “you just can't help but lie, can you?”
He looked away from Water, instead looking at the sink with a sigh. They already hated him, so what if they knew about his cuts? He was too tired.
He turned on the sink and rolled up his sleeve, the cuts looked more irritated, and now accompanied by fresh bruises. He stuck his arm under the water. Maybe they had a reaction to his injuries, but Avid wasn't paying attention as the pain continued to stab at him.
He roughly scrubbed at the infected cuts, rubbing off the scabs, fresh blood staining the water red. He had always imagined it to be a mini storm of blood rain.
The water was meant to be warm, but he still felt cold in comparison. He reached out and turned the temperature up, even when his skin began to turn red.
Another hand turned the water off. He was confused for a moment, then he realized that Water was still there, looking at him with a funny expression. Concern? No, that can't be possible, he was just too tired to properly see.
Waters' hand came up and rested against Avid's forehead, they so desperately longed to close their eyes and lean into the contact, but they couldn't. That would be weak.
He hummed in displeasure before taking his hand away, Avid thought they might start begging Water to just keep his hand there, but then something better happened. Something that broke Avid's brain.
Water leaned down and pressed his lips to Avid's forehead.
It definitely wasn't a kiss, but boy oh boy was Avid flustered. “You have a fever,” he said as if he didn't just break a man's brain. “You should actually go to sleep and maybe have Gracie take care of you, I'm sure she'd love to help you out.”
This was the final straw. Avid was in pain, cold, tired and now flustered. Too much was going through their poor, gay little head.
The world spun and they fell backwards, vaguely aware of Water yelping and being caught before it went dark.
Sleep sounded good.