Chapter Text
Coil; Hound of the Underground, that’s what everyone knew him by, famed prodigy of Her– And yet, he found himself getting beat to the
ground by one of Craterdust’s many stray gangs; ‘The Mutts’, they called themselves, it was a fitting name, for how ratty and dirty they all looked, except for one, with a seemingly brand-new suit and well-kept white horns, decorated with black tattoos.. ‘’ Coil. ‘’ They snarled, their horns glinting in the moonlight, drops of snowfall sticking to the keratinous appendage. ‘’ You owe us, bigtime. ‘’
‘’ Yeah, what th’ boss said, bigtime, pal! ‘’ None of them looked like they fit in, it was genuinely a melting pot of different accents and gears ‘’ Do ‘ya ever shut your trap, Vilethorn?? ‘’ And by the way they fought among themselves, they weren’t very organized– Truly, it was a funny sight! None of them could stand eachother, and yet, they banded together to attack a ‘wolf’.
The great Coil himself; the very same Inphernal who had stolen from Korblox themselves, ambushed by stray dogs who ripped and scavenged for any morsel of bux they could get their mangy paws on.
‘’ I said I’d get you the shit eventually, you waste of carbon! ‘’ Coil didn’t physically fight back today, he knew when to pick his battles, and this was one he couldn’t win, so, he decided to focus on protecting his vitals, and went for verbal mockery instead.
Unfortunately, that didn’t turn out all too well for him, it just made his attackers angrier. With each kick and gunshot, more and more blood covered the scene, that strong coppery-iron smell clinging to the Mutt’s clothing.
‘’ See? Look at what happens when ‘ya mess with the Mutts, pal. ‘’
The white-horned one chimed, grinning with pride as their boot rubbed along Coil’s face, before kicking him hard in the jaw
Great. That was sure to bruise.
‘’ Ey, Luger, lay off on ‘em a bit, we only want the goods. ‘’
Luger. That was their name, regardless, they crouched down, grabbing Coil’s chin and looking him in the eyes with an expression that Coil could only read as pure disgust. ‘’ You used to be a pillar of greatness for us, stealing from the fuckin’ elites. Now look at how far you’ve fallen. ‘’ They spoke, before standing up and dusting their suitjacket off.
‘’ You fuckin’– You’ll pay for this, bastards, all of you– You’ll all pay! ‘’ Coil shouted, turning his head to spit out one of his teeth. ‘’ I have connections, people that won’t let this sl– ‘’
Another kick. It was straight to his temple this time, knocking him out.
And then finally, after a brutal ~40 minutes of beating his ass in the dead cold, the gang had stripped Coil of most of his belongings, they scampered, snickering as they ran into the cold darkness, the dim light emitted by their horns eventually fading into the pitch black.
He regained conciousness, coughing heavily into his hand and choking on that of his own crimson, rolling over onto his back as he softly sniffled. Now, this type of violence wasn’t uncommon in Craterdust– But it’s started ramping up, they’re getting braver, less secretive, more violent.
Eventually, he decided to swallow his pride and stand up, his legs– Well, leg, the other one was fucking useless, having been shot clean-through by that Luger motherfucker.. His lame leg could only carry him so far, so he ended up relying on his speed forme to hopefully make it to the house of the only Inphernal he trusted, and when he surprisingly made it without dying of blood loss, he collapsed, his body harshly crashing against the frigid concrete, probably snapping a rib.
When Slingshot heard the crash, he rushed towards his front door, summoning his gear and narrowing his eyes, slowly opening it with his slingshot– his namesake drawn taut, ready to fire, before he realized who was at his door, saw the state he was in- And then he had to double take.
Slingshot knew that Coil was never the type of guy to show weakness, and he would rather die ask for help. So, when he showed up heavily wounded and bleeding out right at Slingshot’s doorstep, coated in snow, dirt, and blood, the calico Inphernal had no idea what to do.
‘’ Pup’s got himself into a tizzy, hasn’t he? ‘’ Slingshot mused, before his expression softened, holding out his hand. ‘’ … Another fight? I told you not to engage with them– ‘’
‘’ I didn’t engage /shit/. ‘’ Coil snarled, taking Slingshot’s hand to lift himself up. ‘’ They jumped me for no damn reason. Just fuckin’.. Just help me out here. Before I die on your living room floor and leave you to deal with the cops. ‘’ However, Slingshot obviously didn’t believe that… Nobody would dare attack Coil without a motive.
‘’ Come o, be honest.. What’d you get yourself into now, Puppy..? ‘’ Slingshot sighed, taking his arm over his shoulder to guide him to the bathroom, having him sit down on the toilet with the seat closed as he rustled in the cabinets.
‘’ I didn’t– Fine. I owed the wrong people money, and they sent their goons after me– Holy fucking Swords– Gentle, please. ‘’ He whined, his half-cyan, half-orange horns glowing, signifying his pain when Slingshot pressed his fingers into the wound, slowly pulling out a gnarly golden bullet.. Two more where that came from. He then grabbed a hunk of gauze, pressing it to the now-weeping wound, minimizing bleeding, and then wrapping it up with a moist roll of bandages, and then coming back to wrap it once more with a dry outer layer.
‘’ There you go. Took you a while to tell the truth. ‘’ Slingshot grimaced slightly, his frown deepening. ‘’ I’m sorry, it’ll be okay. It won’t hurt long, poor thing– Are you tearing up? ‘’
Coil was, infact, beginning to tear up, white-knuckling the sink basin and gritting his teeth as he tried to not let any more tears fall. ‘’ N-No..?? M’not.. ‘’ Slingshot, on the other hand, lightened his touch, sighing as he grabbed a new, non-bloody hunk of gauze to press to his arm this time. ‘’ It’s okay to cry. You’re safe with me. I promise. ‘’
Coil paused, his breath caught in his throat, before he just.. Nodded. ‘’ Right.. ‘’ And then he paused, his leg nervously shaking, ‘’ You… You mean it? ‘’ He mumbled, his voice oddly meek, less confident– Slingshot just signed off his behavior as nothing but delirium from bloodloss. It wasn’t too unlikely, he literally had not *one*, not *two*, but *three* gunshot wounds. ‘’ I mean it. With every ounce of spirit in my gear. ‘’
‘’ …Thank you. ‘’ Coil looked Slingshot in the eyes. Hoping for something.. Some kind of romantic spark, some kind of fire, like in those corny mangas he snuck and hid underneath his mattress.
But, Slingshot looked away.
Of course he looked away, he couldn’t handle emotional connection, he even pulled away from his own siblings. It’s not like Coil knew that, of course.. An awkward silence settled between the two, before Slingshot spoke up.
‘’ You know you’re probably not going to fully recover from these, right? ‘’ He mumbled, gesturing towards the bullet wounds.. Left arm, right leg, stomach.. Gnarly places.
‘’ What..? ‘’ Coil started, his vision slightly blurring as he tried to stand. ‘’ No— No\! No, no no I can’t. I need to get out there and phight- Wolf’s gonna be pissed with me dawg, I can’t– I need– ‘’ His breathing quickened as he staggered towards the bathroom door, eventually tripping, landing in Slingshot’s arms.
‘’ Hey, hey, look.. It’s okay, you’re okay, calm down– You just– You should stay with me for a while. It’s just.. It’s safer that way, Coil, with everything going on. ‘’ Slingshot desperately tried to calm down the doglike Inphernal, rushing a little.
‘’ Calm down??? You can’t just fucking tell me to calm down after saying shit like that?! ‘’ Coil shouted, trying to push Slingshot away, but the other Inphernal didn’t budge.
‘’ Please, please just listen to me– We can make dinner together, like in those comics you read! ‘’ He hurriedly spoke, not really thinking before talking, his tail puffing up and curling around his leg.
Coil paused. ‘’ How.. How do you know about that…? ‘’
‘’ .. You aren’t very secretive, now please, stop moving, you’re getting blood everywhere and you’re going to cause more bleeding– ‘’
‘’ Fine. ‘’ He spat, turning away, before sitting back on the toilet with a hiss of pain, every muscle in his body ached. ‘’ I want the bed tonight. You can take the couch. ‘’ He stated flatly, with minimal room to argue.
‘’ Or.. ‘’ Slingshot paused, considering. ‘’ We could.. Share? ‘’
‘’ Excuse ‘ya? ‘’
‘’ It was just an idea. ‘’
‘’ Yeah, a shit one at that. ‘’
There was a moment of silence once again, but, it was lighter this time.. Happier, less awkward.
‘’ So you.. Don’t want to share a bed..? ‘’
‘’ .. I didn’t say that, Sling. ‘’ Coil sighed, brushing his curls back behind his horns, wincing as his arm tweaked slightly.. Right, he was wounded. he hated that he felt so vulnerable, so weak.
What would Mama think?
Coil didn’t really want to dwell on that right now. It scared him.
‘’ Right, ehm.. Let’s just get you to bed, you really should sleep. ‘’ Slingshot blinked, lifting up Coil with surprising strength, before bringing him to his hammock.
… Big enough for two, odd. Coil didn’t really question it, he just rolled his lazy ass right in there, shimmying over for Slingshot. ‘’ You comin’..? ‘’ He asked, one eye closed. ‘’ Yeah, yeah- Sorry, just gotta.. Scoot in. ‘’ Slingshot sighed once he finally made himself comfortable.
It was a nice atmosphere, actually.. Calm, relaxed, it didn’t really have any tension, only serene quiet. Safety.
Coil drifted off to sleep not too long after, he thought Slingshot had also fallen asleep..
Until he woke up an hour later, with Slingshot cuddling into him like some kind of koala.. Coil didn’t complain, no. Infact he pulled Slingshot closer, breathing out.
As he then fell back asleep.