Work Text:
Sharpness was sprawled on his stomach as he struggles to lift his face from the rough asphalt. His body is burning and being scraped open by the road.
“Fucking… bitch—“ he barely coughs out the words.
In hindsight, it probably wasn’t a very good idea to ride without protective gear, especially at night. But Sharpness knew what he was doing! The streets were entirely empty at this hour, illuminated only by the lampposts and traffic lights. It was supposed to be a quick errand for a friend, and most certainly not a trip to the hospital. He did not account for anyone else to present during the dead of night.
Apparently the guy strolling over to taunt him didn’t know that.
“What’s the matter? Top biker can’t keep up anymore, huh?” The tip of their shoe nudges him, "Arrogant little bitch.”
Sharpness grits his teeth and props himself onto his forearm, cursing at the way dirt and gravel compress into his pulsing wounds. “Th—the hell is your problem.!” He feels the heavy consequence of speaking once when his head spins with static and the heavy smell of gasoline in the air increases tenfold.
They crouch down to lean in over Sharpness’ personal space. His head lifts to meet big, dilated bug eyes that pierce through his skull.
“I don’t want you at the next qualifiers.” The corners of their lip twitch upwards, “I mean, someone’s already knocked you outta first so it’s not like you’ll last anyway.” The words fall out of their mouth dripping with condescension and mockery.
Fuck this guy! Sharpness hangs his head to stare at the hands struggling to keep him upright. Seriously, he places second once and all of the sudden everyone wants to shit all over him? If he wasn’t literally dying this jackass would’ve already been beaten to a pulp.
The crinkle of a water bottle followed by a snicker breaks his train of thought. He realizes too late.
A splash hits the back of Sharpness’ head and he actually flinches. The water soaks into his hair, clothes, and stinging bruises. All there”s left to do is stare vacantly at his trembling hands as the flash of a phone bursts around him for just a second.
In the first time in a while, he actually feels humiliated. Which is funny, because he’s undoubtedly been through worse. Sharpness knows his worth, some may say a little too much. However knowing this person will most definitely post that picture online brings another emotion he never deals with. After today the whole world will see him in the most pitiful way possible—soaking wet and bruised unable to move or counter attack.
Their car ignition roars. “Later, Sharpy.” The tires screech, leaving a dying Sharpness on the road.
The world takes awhile to stop morphing into colorful shapes. It makes him even more nauseous when he does eventually sit up. His bike is strewed to the other side of the road completely wrecked. Sharpness stares at it in silence; he doubts any mechanic would want to fix it, let alone his mechanic. Still, his body requires help as soon as possible. His weak attempt to stand succeeds, actively threatening to topple any moment.
The street he crashed on is thoroughly recognizable in an instant—it’s the same one Jude, his mechanic, works near. The very same mechanic who always seems to dread having him in his garage, constantly bickering, mocking, and having Sharpness run his errands in turn of repairs. He could never get a good read on Jude. I mean, he always berated Sharpness but would do a bunch of shit for him anyway! What was the blond suppose to think of that?
…Jude would help him, right?
Sharpness leans his entire weight onto the door, stepping inside to hear the familiar jingle.
“Sorry, we’re closed.” Jude slides out from underneath a race car once he doesn’t catch the door closing. “Sharp?!” The panic filling his face is clear, which is weird because Jude never seemed to care about him all that much. He rushes over to assure Sharpness doesn’t tip over. “Holy shit!”
It’s getting harder to stand and listen, so Sharpness tunes him out and focuses on how nice his voice sounds instead. Jude definitely sounds a little more distraught than usual but Sharpness can’t help when his eyes start to skitter over his built frame rather than his face, even when his vision starts to blur and ears start to ring.
His body slumps forward into Jude’s whilst his view starts to crowd with black. Sharpness doesn’t have time to panic, nor does he feel the need to.
The new raw pain of careful scrubbing stirs him awake.
Before the realization can kick in, he jumps to sit up. His right arm is being held by Jude—wide eyes observes as the bunny brushes the excess debris off the wound. His whole body is aching and frail from being thrown around by the road and sitting up right was making it worse.
“Sorry about that.” Sharpness turns his attention to Jude, who is already looking at him. He now notices the bandages on his left arm and the fact his hair isn’t sopping with water. He ignores what it must’ve meant.
The workbench he’s sitting on is scattered with various tools and items, along with the first aid kit by his legs. Jude’s workspace is a mess like always, yet everything’s been pushed aside to the edge.
A wet napkin is dabbed onto burning flesh to ensure the rest of the dirt wipes off. While doing so, Jude speaks up again. “What happened?” The sound of his voice is so soft it scares Sharpness.
“Uh.” Ignoring how safe the words makes him feel, Sharpness actually forms a thought as he recalls what happened. “Some asshole cut me off. They brake checked me n’ made me crash!” His throat is still scratchy but loud as always.
“…Doesn’t explain why you came here soaking wet.” Jude keeps working on his arm, “You came in like a wet cat drenched in water.”
Sharpness moves past the wet cat comment, his body tenses up and eyes flicker away from Jude in something he doesn’t want to acknowledge. “It was nothing! That guy just poured water on me and said he didn’t want to see me at the next qualifiers.” He hopes Jude isn’t chronically online, otherwise he’d stumble across Sharpness actually being a pathetic wet cat.
“Sharpness.” The loud sigh makes the biker frown.
“I get told to quit all the time, this isn’t any different—plus, that first qualifier was totally rigged! I’m gonna win the next one, I swear.”
Jude finally looks at Sharpness’ face, only it’s laced with suspicion, “Sharp, they went out of their way to cause you bodily harm. This isn’t just about the insults.”
He huffs, “Don’t know why you care so much anyway, I’ve gone through way worse.”
Jude doesn’t bother to respond but Sharpness swears he heard him mumble an “Are you serious right now..” to no one in particular.
A clear ointment is squeezed and spread along his arm before the meticulously applied bandages wrap around his arm. “There.” Jude releases the painfully gentle grip on his arm. “Anything happen to your legs? Your pants are pretty ripped.”
Sharpness slowly lifts his pant leg away from the skin, wincing at the way it sticks to the peeled abrasion. Once he pulls it around his knee, the sight makes it worse. The wound was a vivid scarlet littered with dirt and grime—very upsetting, to say the least. Jude didn’t seem to mind though. His hands went back to faintly treat his leg as if the blond were made of glass.
He would be lying if he said the way Jude was acting now wasn’t at least a little endearing. The way his attention was focused on Sharpness and nothing else, brows furrowed in concentration and caring for him with the utmost concern… The stupid purple hair that stuck out everywhere making him look even cuter—
PATHETIC!! Even pathetic-er and stupider than he already was.
Okay, maybe Sharpness was more than “a little” captivated by Jude, so what?? It wasn’t his fault he’s kind of attractive or the fact that his biceps were a little bigger than most people’s… But that was a completely, absolutely normal thing to notice!
He shoos the previous thoughts away and tries his best to ignore the heat creeping up his neck. Sharpness clears his throat, “How long did I black out for?”
“Eh, like a few minutes. Had to carry you to the bench.” Jude’s is still preoccupied with his leg, “You’re kinda heavy, you know.”
“Wh—“ Sharpness knows for a fact that he’s lying out of his ass, however is still immensely offended by the hateful comment, “Am not! Way lighter than your nerdy mechanical equipment.”
Jude snorts at him—after bugging him for a repair, Jude made him carry a ton of supplies into the garage against his own will. The boxes were heavy! Sharpness just doesn’t usually lug around that much stuff during the day.
“Dude, I almost forgot about that. You were barely helping me anyway, just whining and complaining. I swear your muscles are just for show.” Jude gets a flick to his forehead but the giggles filling the room don’t cease.
“I was tired! I don’t get why you couldn’t just carry all of it..”
“Sure, whatever you say princess.” Sharpness has to disregard the way his stomach twists at the nickname. He was never one for nicknames, unless they were slanderous or insulting but still, the ones Jude presents to him have an abnormal effect. “Seriously though, I basically had a heart attack. Why didn’t you call?”
“Don’t have my phone on me. And because I don’t really have your contacts saved…” Sharpness mutters the last bit under his breath as if Jude wouldn’t be able to hear it.
Bandages suddenly stop binding around his leg, “You what?!”
“I don’t have your contacts!!” Sharpness blurts out, prying his eyes away from Jude’s judging stare.
Disbelief stain his face and words, “Sharpness, I’m your mechanic! What do you mean you don’t have my contacts?”
“I forget, okay? A lot of people give me their numbers!” He lies, disguising the fact he’s really just too lazy to name the people in his contacts.
“Yeah, and last time I checked, I’m not a lot of people! I’m not giving you my number because I wanna get into your pants, I’m literally the one doing your repairs!” Jude groans as he realizes this is probably why Sharpness never responds to his messages and instead comes to irritate him in person.
Unfortunately for him, Sharpness doesn’t back down, “Really? Cause I swear I saw you staring at my piercings a few minutes ago…”
Jude’s reaction is priceless, his face flushes immediately and his ears jump up from the embarrassment of being caught, “I was not.”
Sharpness rolls his eyes but his smile is blooming with pride, “Sure you weren’t. Whatever you say.”
Jude tries to ignore the last ten seconds of his life, “Give me the other one.” Sharpness obliges and rotates himself so his legs are hanging off the table. From this angle, Sharpness can get a much better view of Jude’s face as he turns and twists his limb to assess the damage, “This one isn’t that bad, I’m just gonna clean it. Did that guy do anything else?”
He grumbles, “Dunno why you’re so worried about that ass. Would’ve told you by now.”
An unimpressed expression is plastered on Jude’s face, “Yeah, because making someone crash and pouring water on them is a totally normal insult. Say that again, I dare you. I’m literally tending to your wounds right now.”
Sharpness whines—at this point, Jude is just being dramatic! Sure, he can’t really lift his arm up for long, and yeah, maybe he does flinch at the way the alcohol pads singe his skin, but it's fine. He’s broken bones before, so this really isn’t anything to worry about.
“That dude is literally just a nobody!” Sharpness squawks, “They’re just jealous I know I'm good—I get second place once and everyone just want to taunt me. They wouldn’t even have the balls to come face me un-injured!” Jude's belief in him doesn't increase one bit. Sharpness sighs, “I can deal with insecure pricks myself, Jude—you know that! I would’ve broke their hand if I hadn’t tumbled onto the road.”
Jude is fully aware of that, he knows how aggressive and pompous Sharpness can be. That doesn’t stop him from seeing the flicker of concern that flashes over Jude.
“It wouldn’t hurt to at least try and be more careful.. I mean, how’d you even get brake checked in the first place? That’s like, the lamest way to crash ever.”
“Cause I swerved! I tried to pass, and he was getting on my nerves and I ended up losing control, it’s literally not even my fault!” His arms cross in entitlement.
“There,” Jude said, patting his leg but still reinspecting his work, “all done.”
Though for some reason, the magenta eyes refuse to stop inspecting him, more notably, his face, long enough to make Sharp nervous. “…Wait here for a sec.” Jude hops off his chair, walks to the sink, and grabs a towel—running it under the faucet.
Sharpness’ legs still dangle off the table while he stares into space. Why is Jude doing all this for him? It’s not like he owes anything, so why would he do this free of charge? He could’ve just called someone else to take care of him, and it’s not even like Sharpness tips! He worms his way out payment 50% of the time and Jude doesn’t bat an eye.
If he’s so irked by Sharpness, why does he acting like… this? He’s been so gentle and considerate and all that, handling Sharpness as if he was the most important thing in the world.
He really doesn’t get it. Maybe Jude was just awfully weird when it came to people he didn’t like, because there’s no way someone would do all this for nothing.
Before Sharpness can dwell on it any longer, Jude walks over to him with the wet towel in hand, standing above him.
Then, Jude grabbed—no, gently lifted his chin to face up at him.
“Stay still.”
And Sharp—
His brain short circuits.
He seems to have forgotten how to form any thoughts, let alone breathe.
So he holds his breath, afraid that the slightest movements will deter Jude’s comforting hands away from his face.
The warm, damp towel lightly drags against Sharpness’ face, rubbing at his nose, cheeks, and forehead.
By the time Jude is done, the face he’s holding is already flushed a rosy red. Sharpness hardly realizes when the hands pull away from his cheek.
Jude’s gaze is forced back to the opened first aid kit to reorganize the supplies. Yet, Sharpness’ eyes never leave his. Their faces are closer than usual—Jude is wearing that unreadable expression he has whenever talking to Sharpness. Despite that, this time appears differently; he doesn't have that aloof or cool feel. Instead, his attitude is significantly softer than usual. his eyes are more relaxed and his ears, usually pinned to his head, are upheld unusually high. Sharpness even thinks that if he focuses hard enough he can see a faint pink stain his face.
...Maybe it is getting too late. He was certainly making up nonsense.
The one-sided gaze is stopped by Jude once again in a hushed tone but perfect clarity. "I really don't get why so many people hate you."
What?
Sharpness' reality twists as he registers the words and what they imply.
Considering how Jude normally acts, it wouldn't be too far off to say he hated Sharpness.
Would it?
Before Sharpness can stop himself, he's already uttered his thoughts aloud, "I thought you hated me?"
And Jude,
Jude has the absolute gall to at genuinely shocked before snapping out of it, "What makes you think that?"
…There's no way he just asked that!
Why doesn't the person who hates having Sharpness around hate him?
He stammers, "Well! I mean—you..." he looks away from Jude's face to try and mask his nervousness, "You're always like scolding me and teasing me and shit!"
The silence that follows guarantees that Sharpness will kill himself before the regret does. He braces for another long and winded argument about how Jude apparently never hated him and how Sharpness is delusional and dumb. Instead, he hears something much more pleasant,
JudeLow is snickering--it's at Sharpness, but it makes his heart race all the same.
"What're you laughing at?!" He practically screams, face becoming impossibly brighter. In turn, it only makes Jude double over.
"Oh my god, Sharpness! Is that really what you think of me?" Jude tilts his head to the side and his ears prop all the way up.
"It's true though!" Realizing how close his face actually is, Sharpness instinctively backs up.
“Cause that’s the only way to get things through your thick skull!” Jude smiles sweetly before stiffly coughing, trying to erase what happened. “I don’t hate you, for the record--You're… tolerable.” He rushes to mention the tolerable part, ensuring that Sharpness knows he definitely doesn’t like him. “You’re loud and egotistical and I heavily dislike you, but I don’t—“ Jude’s eyes dart away from Sharpnesss face, “I don’t exactly hate you.”
Mixed signals hurl at Sharpness in every which direction, though a part of him is oddly relieved from the whole interaction.
Earlier lingers in his head, Jude was holding him a bit too intimately for someone who “disliked” Sharpness, though he probably shouldn't think too much about it.
Jude helps him off the workbench and places another stool beside his for Sharpness to sit on.
The garage is quiet—the only sound being the scratch of a pencil scribbling on paper. Sharpness finds himself leaning into the table observing as Jude sketches something onto a piece of graph paper. His mind is floating, drifting in the smell of the pungent, automotive odors that linger in the air. He should be reflecting on the precious bike he left on the road, the qualifiers, paying Jude back. But for whatever reason he can't find it in himself to care.
Sharpness yawns, and being the annoying bastard he is, Jude notices it almost immediately. "I'll take you to your place after I finish this. Unless you need a place to crash tonight?"
Dropping his head down to the table, Sharpness melts into his crossed arms. That was odd of him to ask, Jude knows where he lives. But then again, Saparata probably wasn't going to be awake at this hour. Better not to bother him. "Doesn't matter, anything's fine."
"Alright. This'll take a bit, though."
Being here with Jude is akin to a fever dream—especially tonight. This is the latest he’s ever stayed and Sharpness doesn't feel like himself—much less acting like himself. If this were any other day, Sharpness would've told Jude to hurry the fuck up, complain and nag him until his eardrums eventually exploded. Still, for some unknown reason, he stays quiet and is content with merely watching.
As various things get written down, Sharpness gets curious—not about what's on the paper, of course not, but the way Jude's gaze is fixated on his work.
"What's that?" He asks, not even elaborating on the question. He's already zoning out as more thoughts come to him at a snail's pace.
"Oh, the extra? That's..." Sentence after sentence starts to stream when Jude rambles. The words come out as a blur and Sharpness wholly concentrates on his voice instead.
What was he doing here lazing around? He doesn't know what'll happen to his bike, he's not even able to walk that far! So, why does the appearance of Jude seem so much more important to him right now? The glint in his eyes as he talks about his design, the way he looks back at Sharpness with that dopey smile even though it's evident he's not paying attention. The nasty oil that smudges his face only making him more attractive, he’s covered in grime yet it only makes Sharpness swoon.
He really shouldn't be indulging in what his mind has to say about Jude. The situation he's in is bad enough already.
Despite that, Sharpness doesn't feel all too troubled.
“…arp? Sharpness, hello?” Jude leans his head down to level Sharpness and the same beautiful eyes actually gaze back, “you alright?”
He’ll deal with everything tomorrow.
“Mmh. Uh huh. Just keep..talking ‘bout…” his voice begins to slur together and taper. Jude doesn't even seem to mind. His mouth shifts into the fondest smile Sharpness has ever gotten before he continues to yap.
Sharpness wants to engrave that image into his mind so it lasts forever.
Somewhere along the way, his eyes flutter shut and he allows Jude's voice to lull him asleep.
He'll indulge in himself just this once.