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Lomedy was suddenly awakened by the sound of knocking on his front door—Which was odd because it was still dark outside. He grumbled in protest but still, he slowly put on his slippers and sleepily stumbles in the dark before finding the light switch, turning it on, and then trying to reach the door to open—
And was met with a very familiar face, "Flame... what are you doing..." Lomedy's sharp tone was unmistakable—A classic telltale sign that he was about to scold the blaze again despite him not being fully awake. His right hand was still holding onto the doorknob, and his other hand moved to sleepily rub his eyes. The long loose sleeves of his shirt falling and collecting on his elbow, exposing his forearm before he stops rubbing his eyes, putting his arm back down with a yawn—Until his eyes actually focused and took a complete look. It was Flame, undoubtedly—But he was covered with injuries and making a bloody mess on Lomedy's porch, concern immediately flooded the bunny's mind. The strong metallic scent of blood suddenly registered to him, briefly giving a sense of whiplash, and instinctively making him take a step back to scrunch up his nose and frown.
Letting go of the doorknob, Lomedy spoke up as he was making space for Flame to go inside, "What happened...?"
"Ummm yeah... I fought Wemmbu." He tries to flash a sheepish grin—So stupid. Lomedy almost wanted to punch him in the face. He gives him a deadpanned stare before saying, "Are you serious?? Wait here… Don't get my couch dirty." It was useless anyways, no matter how much Lomedy tried to hide how much he cared for Flame he couldn't help the worry stewing in his heart.
Flame awkwardly stands in Lomedy's living room, his hands moving to fidget with his nails, mindlessly picking at his cuticles until the bunny comes back, bringing a basin of water with a washcloth and his usual medical supplies. Lomedy stared pointedly at the floor and Flame immediately caught on—Slowly lowering himself to sit on the hardwood flooring. The bunny slowly took off his blindfold, "Why'd you fight him?" His hands skillfully moved to soak the cloth in the water before gently wiping the injuries on his face.
"Well, I just. I came after him you know like—"
Lomedy was caught off guard—His grip on the washcloth tightening before saying through gritted teeth, "You were the one that came to him???" Picking fights was one thing but it was as if he needed complete monitoring in order to not do someone so reckless. He sighs exasperatedly, "How could you be so dumb. I leave you for a bit and you're acting up like this? Can't do anything without me there huh?" His words trailed off into a mumble, but the tranquility of the night allowed Flame to completely hear it—His head drooped down as if in self-reflection.
"Tsk. Lift your damn—
So dumb… you promised this, that, whatever. And here you are,” Lomedy's movement of wiping Flame’s face turned more aggressive as if he was instigated, before taking a deep breath, slowing down his movements, and settled on letting it out by furrowing his brows instead.
“It's not unnecessary, I mean like. I still have to fight to improve my combat skills.”
Lomedy feels so scared—Staring at Flame's increasingly pleading eyes, this whole thing feels like a hallucination. He really looked like a kicked, sopping wet puppy—Except the puppy gets in fights and shows up unannounced on his doorstep at god knows what time it is right now. “Why don't you give yourself a break? Work life balance is a thing, very important.”
The foolish bunny fell for it again—Of course. He can't really ever be mad at the blaze. ‘Fool me twice shame on me’ right? And he's willing to take all the shame for constantly indulging into Flame’s antics all the time. Crazy how love can change one individual this drastically, Lomedy really was so thoroughly foolish.
He lightly tugs at Flame’s shirt with a sigh before saying, “Take it off.” He stands up and looks away to pace around the living room, so ridiculous. He doesn't really want to see the amount of injuries on the other’s body—Everytime he runs his fingers on a jagged scarred piece of skin that's littered all over him, it makes his heart ache in a way. And it's going to be worse when he looks at the burn marks from Wemmbu’s nukes or the way his mace smashed on his body, the thought of it makes him wince even. But he has to finish the job. Otherwise, well. He'd seen how the blaze worked when he ‘took care’ of his own wounds—Let’s just say it’s a miracle he hadn't gotten an infection then.
Flame loosely grabbed the hem of Lomedy’s pants, making the other finally look back at him, still sitting on the floor. He sighs whilst pulling his leg away from his grasp before finally turning his body to him—And was promptly met by Flame hugging his legs and muttering, “I was wrong, I'm sorry.”
“You're getting your blood all over my pajamas—Let go.” Lomedy couldn't help to let out all his grievances with sharp words, which was also amplified by the sleep deprivation. He was lying anyway, all the blood had already dried up. Even if it wasn't he wouldn't be mad. And he can't see it, but he can imagine the way that the blaze frowned before letting go of his legs—Which makes Lomedy feel like an asshole, he lets out another sigh before squatting down to pat his head.
“Just stop being so reckless,” The bunny uses his thumb to gently smooth the creases on his forehead, and the stare he gets in response is enough to make his whole heart melt. Nobody warned him that dating the ‘immortal demon’ would result in sleepless nights, yes. But also getting to see a whole other side of him—The gentle vulnerability that barely anyone had ever seen.
Lomedy continues to methodically work, gently wiping away the grime on his body, hearing Flame wince at the pain, he sighs. He can't help but move slower—At this rate, he's not going back to bed anytime soon.
As if reading his mind, Flame quickly spoke up, “Don't mind me—Just do it…”
“Don't mind??? You think I was the one who woke someone up in the middle of the night?” He scoffed before rubbing his temples.
“Mmmm… sorry. Thank you Loms,”
“Whatever.” The words coming out of Lomedy's mouth are one thing, yet his hands had never stopped patiently taking care of the other. He applied a medicinal salve over the wounds before properly bandaging him, staying in focused silence whilst Flame is staring and looking at his every movement—The way he flinches when his body tensed up from the pain, or when he gently blows on his wounds as if it'd magically cure it.
His gentle tenderness made Flame feel incredibly guilty—He didn't really want to go to Lomedy after the fight. Desire paths, or something, even though that's not what it means. Well, inventing a new meaning: he walked down the familiar trail to Lomedy’s now renovated farm because he missed him and desired to see him. Between the two choices that was sloppily taking care of himself and being properly taken care of by Lomedy with a side of scolding, it was glaringly obvious what he would've picked.
But he feels guilty. Of course Lomedy had been busy working on the farm, and he woke him up in the middle of the night—Not to mention him being added to his list of worries. It's quite selfish of him to demand all of the bunny's attention for himself.
“Flame,”
He finally looks up from his trance, Lomedy was standing up now—When did he put away all the stuff… “Hm?”
“Have you eaten?”
“Uhhh… just some golden apples y’know.”
Lomedy sighs, going back to the bedroom and pulling out a change of clothes from his closet before coming back out and throwing them at Flame, “Come on I'll cook.” He moves to the kitchen, turning on the lights and looking into the fridge. The blaze obediently listens, putting on a new shirt and stumbles to put on the pants, going into the laundry room and putting his dirty clothes on the floor and then sitting at their kitchen island, watching Lomedy figure out what to cook.
“Want me to help?”
“No.” He replied dismissively whilst pulling out some ingredients from his fridge and freezer. Getting a saucepan, he pours in some chicken broth he'd made the previous day, turning on the fire before making a cornstarch slurry to slightly thicken the broth. Cracking a few eggs into a bowl, adding a little bit of water and lightly scrambling them. He slowly pours the eggs into the pot, waiting for the eggs to slightly cook before stirring the pot, creating silky ribbons of eggs. Adding some extra salt and white pepper, he decides to add some frozen dumplings he has in his freezer.
The fragrance coming from the pot already filled Flame’s entire body with comforting warmth, admiring the way that Lomedy moved to cut some green onions thinly before putting half of them into the pot and then placing the used dishes in the kitchen sink. He stood up to wash the dishes until his arm was grabbed, “Just sit down…”
“No, let me do them.”
“I'll do them in the morning just eat okay?”
“It's not a big deal I can do it right now—”
“Yeah it's not a big deal so stop fighting me to wash dishes??” He was getting annoyed—They’re both stubborn but Flame definitely outmatched him, so all he can do is sternly scold him. Ridiculous. It's one thing to show up at someone's door injured and get them to patch you up, but it's another thing to not be cautious when said person had spent so long bandaging the injuries—Any sudden movements could and would tear open all the wounds he'd meticulously taken care of.
Thankfully, he does listen. Lomedy places the saucepan on top of a coaster to prevent burns, garnishing with the rest of the green onions before getting a clean spoon for Flame to directly eat from the pot—No use for dirtying another bowl really. Still steaming hot, he stares at the pot before grabbing the spoon from Lomedy’s hand.
They've shared many meals before but not like this—Eating soup directly from the pot together in the middle of the night after a bloody ordeal, a little exaggerated. It was enough to fill both of their stomachs and warmed their bodies during the cold night. Pretty nice, even at the cost of a full night sleep.