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Lukey found himself once more forcibly awaking in his bed in the hidden room under their base. He stretched, groaning at the lingering phantom pain in his limbs. Dying and respawning, no matter how often he went through it, didn’t get any easier.
At least, he was getting pretty good at gearing up again after dying. The chest next to his bed was filled to the brim with everything he might need – food, tools, weapons, gear. Though none of it was fully enchanted it was far better than running around with nothing until he could get back to better armour.
Grabbing one of everything, Lukey quickly realised what was missing. While he had armour to wear, he didn’t have any clothes to put underneath, all his white shirts ripped and bloodstained from previous deaths.
Except for the one he was wearing. Yes, it was covered in mud, sweat, blood and who knew what else, but at least it was in one piece, protected by his chestplate. It had been a blow to the head that had been the final hit this time, sparing his shirt. Reaching up, Lukey could easily detect the lump on his temple from when he’d been knocked down.
Taking off the shirt, Lukey accepted that he would be running around shirtless for a while until he could get everything back in order. Which sucked, because it wasn’t exactly warm around their base. Already, Lukey could feel goosebumps forming on his arms, and even wrapping his arms around himself in a hug was not offering any warmth.
If Pangi found him outside with only half his armour, Lukey knew that he was gonna kill him. Or at least never let him hear the end of it. Let alone if someone else was to stumble upon him. It would basically be a free heart for the taking.
So instead of taking his shirt down to the river like they usually did with their laundry, Lukey was left with the small water source in the potion room. It was far from ideal but he would deal with it. At least the brewing stands would be able to offer some much needed warmth.
Quickly, it became clear that he might have bitten off more than he could chew. No matter how much he scrubbed, the stains became lighter, yet simply wouldn’t fully disappear. But Lukey was nothing if not persistent. Gritting his teeth, he kept scrubbing.
That was how Pangi found him a little later, shivering from the cold and fingers red from all the scrubbing. “And dead”, he announced his entrance, the blade of his sword tapping against Lukey’s neck.
Lukey didn’t even have it in him anymore to protest, to point out that him being down here was him being careful. He just hung his head and accepted defeat.
“Lukey, are you okay?”, Pangi asked urgently, immediately noticing something was wrong when Lukey didn’t argue back. The blade disappeared from Lukey’s neck, replaced by Pangi’s hands gripping onto his shoulders and turning him around.
Lukey stared up at Pangi without unseeing eyes. “I died again. This is my last shirt so I thought I’d try to clean it instead of throwing it away like the others”, Lukey explained, void of any emotion like he was talking about the weather and not his own death.
“Okay. Okay.” Pangi sounded stressed, Lukey noticed distantly. “Come on, give that to me, Lukey, I’ll handle this. You just died, you should be upstairs, resting.”
“I’m fine. I can keep going”, Lukey protested instinctively, holding on tightly when Pangi tried to reach for the shirt.
Pangi abandoned the movement, his hand cradling Lukey’s face instead, forcing eye contact. “I know that. What I’m saying is that you don’t have to. That’s what teammates are for, dude. You’d do the same for me, wouldn’t you?”
“Yeah, but –”
“No but”, Pangi interjected. “As your teammate, I’m putting my foot down. You’re done for the day. Go to bed.”
Lukey opened his mouth to protest, but was quickly shut up by Pangi’s hand covering his mouth, making talking impossible.
“Shhh”, Pangi sushed him, ignoring Lukey’s halfhearted glare. “I got you. You can go to bed and when you wake up your shirt will be as good as new. Can’t go through years of this without picking up on some things. I know a sure fire way to get blood out of clothes, trust me.”
Reluctantly, Lukey felt his resistance lowering. He was just so tired. But also so used to being alone, it felt impossible to adjust to not having only himself to rely on. Slowly, Lukey let go of the shirt, peeling off one finger at a time.
“Good boy”, Pangi grinned, smile growing at Lukey’s muffled, yet halfhearted protest.
Lukey wanted to stay mad, he really did, but slowly but surely he felt himself relaxing into Pangi’s hold. Somehow, they had managed to move so that Lukey was basically cradled in Pangi’s arm, his other hand still on Lukey’s face.
Now that sleep was within reach, Lukey was really starting to feel the exhaustion in his limbs. He had been able to ignore it while he had a task to focus on, but now even the thought of having to get up and walk all the way to his bed felt overwhelming. Maybe he could sleep down here, listening to Pangi work. Or even better, right in Pangi’s arms. At least he wouldn’t be cold then. Lukey allowed his eyes to flutter closed, adjusting until he found a comfortable position.
“No! No!”, Pangi protested when he realised what Lukey was doing. “What do you think you’re doing? You’re such a hamster! You can’t sleep here, are you serious?”
“But I’m tired”, Lukey whined, doing his best to look absolutely pitiful. Not that he had to try very hard for that, not when the other person was Pangi. “Can you carry me?”
“Bro”, Pangi groaned, even as he was already getting the both of them on their feet. “You’re lucky I love you.”
“I love you too”, Lukey chimed back, looping his arms around Pangi’s neck so he could carry him upstairs.
The stained white t-shirt laid on the floor behind them, forgotten for the moment.