Work Text:
Legs was running out of space in his void chest for potions.
He had been doing nothing but alchemy the past few days, popping in and out of his storage chest that he'd placed conveniently in the Alchemy classroom, trying to get back into the flow of things.
The large, empty chests that lined the two sections of his void chest were brimming with full glass bottles, and he had too many for him to feesibly use.
It didn't help that the recipie available at the school for the Swiftness potions weren't as effective as coffee, leaving him with three entire chests full of the potions that he had no use for.
He sighed, flopping down onto the bed he kept in the void chest, rubbing his eyes. No matter what he tried, catching sleep was an endeavor that kept getting harder and harder for Legs.
He kept seeing the rope every time he closed his eyes.
Legs rolled onto his side, staring at the wooden wall across from his bed. Gadget was back in his room, sleeping on his normal bed, last time he had checked in.
…When was the last time he had checked in?
The hours and the days had been blurring together for him between all of the alchemy and occassional runs to the resource world and rifts in order to replenish certain potion ingredients.
It wasn't like there was anything else for him to be doing. Dungeons were the last thing he wanted to do, and his village…
He didn't want to go over there.
So Alchemy it was. It was what he was good at.
Maybe he could give the potions to other students, whenever he found them next.
He could give some to Juniper, when they got back with Osteon. Whenever that was.
Legs knew he should trust Juniper, but he was starting to get worried. She had been gone for almost two weeks at this point, almost longer than he had been gone.
Is this how it was when he left?
…Probably not. He was worrying too much. They had Osteon, and while he didn't exactly trust her, he knew they'd be capable enough.
Hopefully.
Footsteps carefully padded on the carpet near the center of the voidchest, and Legs sat up from where he had been, eyebrows raised. "Hello?"
The footsteps stopped.
"…I know you're in here." He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and rose, stepping out from the small alcove. Nobody stood in the direct center, but Legs could see the faint imprint of footsteps in the direction of his chests, more recent than his own.
He held back a sigh. Knowing that his only void chests were in his room and the Alchemy classroom made him less worried, but he didn't necessarily have the energy to engage in whatever antics were going on that required someone to sneak around in his chest.
He stepped into the storage section of his void chest, his gaze sweeping the area and immediately landing on Lukey, who was not-so-subtly trying (and failing) to blend in with his chests.
Again?
"…Do you just go into every random void chest you come across?" Legs raised his eyebrows at Lukey.
"…No?" the blond tried, almost shrinking back and trying to melt into the wall of chests behind him.
"So just mine, then."
"Also no. I just have really bad luck, apparently." he blinked. "…Is that a new tunic?"
Legs looked down at himself. He knew that orange wasn't really a color that he wore often, but it wasn't that-
Oh.
Legs was wearing one of his sleeveless tunics. He had been beginning to overheat while making potions, so he had dug it out from the bottom of his bag. The bottom hem was a bit torn, and it was a bit small on him, which was odd, considering not that long ago it was loose.
More importantly; Lukey could see all of his arms.
Legs didn't see why this was an issue. Lukey had seen him without a shirt on, very recently after almost dying. He knew the blue was weird, but considering what they encountered on a daily basis, surely it wasn't that weird.
Right?
"An old one, actually." He blew out a breath, poorly disguising his exhaustion as he went to the other side of the storage area, opening one of the double chests. He didn't actually need anything from it, moreso just wanting to appear busy.
He wasn't exactly sure why he felt like that was necessary, but he was too tired to reason with himself otherwise.
"…Right." Lukey stepped forward, away from the wall of chests on the other side of the space. "Your chest is in the Alchemy room, by the way."
"I know."
"Right."
Another pause.
"…Are you okay?"
Fine.
Legs was fine. Everything was fine, he was just… tired.
That was the word for it. Tired.
"I'm fine, Lukey." He ended up pocketing a few glass bottles from the chest before closing it, looking back at him. "I'm fine."
"Are you telling me that, or are you telling yourself that?" he asked, crossing over closer to him, hands clasped behind his back as he rocked back on his heels.
Legs paused. "…I'm fine."
"…Right."
Another pause.
"How's your neck?"
Legs bit back an almost frustrated sigh. "It's fi-"
"Use a word other than fine, please." Lukey tried, giving him a look.
"…It's healing. Still hurts a bit." Legs looked away from him, resisting the urge to reach up and touch the healing burn that still encircled his throat, no doubt fully visible.
"Healing's good." Lukey stuck his hands into his pockets. "Soo… What've you been up to?"
"Alchemy, for the most part. All of the potion recipies here make no sense."
He snorted lightly. "That I can agree with. I have no idea what the Sun Kingdom is doing with their recipies, but it's a lot more complicated than it should be."
This earned a small laugh from Legs, and he could see the triumphant smirk on Lukey's face from the reaction.
"…Is that the only reason why you're here?" Legs asked him.
"Nope," Lukey stepped out of the storage area of the chest, flopping down to sit on Legs' bed in the Void Chest. "Now I just wanna chat." he patted space on the bed next to him.
He bit back a sigh, pausing before crossing the space and sitting next to him on the bed. "Did Megii put you up to this?"
"No."
"…Did Amber?"
"Nope."
"…Juniper?"
"Can I not have my own motives?" Lukey gave him a look, his shoulder brushing against Legs'. "I may not be the most observant person, but you've been… off. Look, I don't know what happened, but-"
"It's not hard to piece together," Legs cut him off. "You've already seen this." he gestured to his neck. "That's damning enough as-is."
He was far too aware of the fact. It was one of the reasons he kept the collar of his tunic pulled up higher then before.
Lukey paused, looking at him. Legs could feel his gaze, travelling from his face to his neck, and he refused to look back.
He didn't want to see the pity, or the concern, or any of it.
He just wanted to go to sleep.
Legs felt Lukey's hand brush against the side of his face, moving a few strands of hair from his cheek. "How long have you been making potions?"
His eyebrows furrowed, finally looking back at him. "What?"
"Like, today. How long have you been up making potions?"
Oh.
Legs paused. "…What day is it again?"
Lukey pressed his lips together into a thin line. "I think that answers my question. Alright, come on."
"What?"
Before he could fully question what the hell he was talking about, Lukey wrapped an arm around Legs and pulled him down onto the bed fully so that the two of them were lying down, facing each other.
Legs bit back a startled sound at the movement, freezing up and staring at Lukey, unblinking.
Lukey, meanwhile, was grinning like an absolute idiot.
A very cute idiot.
No, shut up.
Lukey poked the tip of his nose. "You tired?"
He blinked, a small wave of confusion passing over him. "Uh…"
Legs was, in fact, very tired. Not quite exhausted, but that was just semantics.
"Well?"
He hesitated, before sighing. "Yeah…"
"Then sleep," Lukey gaze softened slightly. "I'll be here when you wake up."
Please don't leave.
Please, gods, don't leave.
"…Promise?" Legs hated how small his voice sounded.
"…Promise."