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“Ow,” Scott intones.
Abolish gives him a flat look. “You can walk, I’m not carrying you up the stairs.”
Now that’s just rude. “It still hurts,” he whines, making his eyes as wide and pleading as possible.
“Yep, I imagine it would when there’s a knife sticking out of your shoulder,” Abolish says with a roll of his eyes, as uncaring as ever, then inclines his head. “C’mon, the sooner you get up, the sooner I can take care of it.”
Scott sighs and averts his gaze to warily stare at the stairs. Sure, he’s already climbed a mountain to get up here—who thought it was a good idea to build on the edge of a cliff again, oh right, Scott did—but his clothes are already ruined, blood is making everything sticky, and he’s both exhausted and in pain. Truly, Abolish should show him some pity and sympathy, but nooo, the bastard is just getting him home safe and helping take care of his injuries, how miserable.
“Fine,” he mutters, ignoring the way his shoulder aches in protest as Scott makes his way over, Abolish right behind him.
It’s frankly been a miserable experience, one he doesn’t like to repeat any time soon. Every deep breath he takes makes his chest throb painfully, and Scott is left panting when he finally gets to the top and drops himself down in one of the chairs.
As inviting as his bed looks, Scott does not want blood on his sheets thank you very much.
Abolish goes back downstairs again without a word, then returns a little bit later with some cloth and clean water. “Hold still,” he says before wrapping his fingers around the handle of the knife. Scott barely has the time to grit his teeth before Abolish slides the blade out of his shoulder in one smooth movement, no further warning, no hesitation at all, and Scott can’t prevent the whimper that leaves his lips at the flash of pain that shoots through him.
Pressure builds behind his eyes, and Scott shuts them for a moment, breathing sharply through his nose as Abolish presses down on the wound. It’s not the worst pain he’s ever felt, but it’s by far the longest it’s been drawn out.
He’s relieved that Abolish allows him some time to get himself back under control, then opens his eyes back.
“I’m gonna have to cut this off to be able to clean the wound,” Abolish informs him.
Scott’s face drops. Well that’s going to hurt more than the knife, he spent days working on these clothes, and now he’ll have to spend another few days making something new. Couldn’t Apo have stabbed him somewhere else? “Do we have to? I mean, we heal quite quick in these lands, surely it’s fine to just—”
“To just let it get infected?” Abolish questions dryly. “Do you really want to risk getting sick?”
He pouts. “Can we even get sick here? I think you just want me to undress myself for you.”
Abolish rolls his eyes. “Yep, that’s exactly what I’m trying to do, Scott. Now keep still.”
“Fine, fine, go ahead, but I’m not happy about it,” Scott replies petulantly, dropping his head back as Abolish uses the knife he’s just obtained to cut the fabric away from the wound. There’s a pause when it slides off his chest, and Scott’s mouth twists into a grimace. He refuses to look down and see what Abolish is staring at. “I know it’s ugly, just ignore it,” he mumbles.
“What?” Abolish questions slightly distracted, then shakes his head. “No, that’s not— does it hurt to breathe?”
Scott frowns a bit confused, then cokes his head down and nods slowly. “Well, I mean… yeah?”
When yellow eyes flit up to meet his gaze, Scott finds they’re not filled with disgust, but rather with disbelief. “And why exactly didn’t you tell me that?”
“That it… hurts? I’ve been saying that the whole time,” he mutters grumpily.
If possible, Abolish looks even more incredulous. “You were complaining about your shoulder, not your chest. Oh my god, how are you like this.”
He gives him an affronted look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Scott lets out a surprised yelp when hot fingers press lightly against his chest, and he flinches away from the touch. “It means that you probably broke a rib, Scott,” Abolish replies, agitated.
Huh.
Well, at least that explains why his chest hurts so much, especially when he breathes— and he’s been breathing this entire time. And when Scott glances down, he does see that a bruise has started to form right over his ribcage.
“...The knife felt more urgent,” Scott admits reluctantly, then lets out a hiss when Abolish wipes a wet cloth over the wound, not necessarily gentle, but still with enough care that Scott knows Abolish doesn’t actually want to hurt him.
“The knife felt—” Abolish casts his eyes up to the ceiling for a moment, inhales through his nose, then slowly exhales, pressing his lips into a thin, annoyed line. “I’m not a physician, but if this had been any worse, it could have punctured a lung, and you’d be dead right now, Scott, do you get that?”
He’s very much aware of that, yes. “But I’m not, so it’s fine,” Scott dismissed, just to see Abolish’s jaw tick. He got the blessing like Aeolus wanted him to and now a handsome man is taking care of him? Scott is doing just great, actually.
“Oh for goodness sake,” Abolish mutters in pure exasperation. “You know what, If I’d known you’d broken a rib, I would actually have carried you up those damn mountains.”
Scott perks up instantly. “You can still carry me to bed,” he suggests.
Abolish inhales sharply through his nose. “Scott, I don’t know how you managed to, but you're simply the most infuriating person I’ve ever met.” And yet, once he’s finished cleaning up and dressing the wound, he still slips his arms below Scott’s back and knees, lifting him up. It does hurt, but not enough to deter Scott from enjoying this.
The pain is definitely worth being carried by a hot man.
"Hm. I don’t know,” Scott says innocently, “all I hear is that I make your heart beat quite fast, handsome.” And Abolish’s heart is beating louder than it should, to Scott’s satisfaction.
He rolls his eyes again. That’s the second time in short succession, Scott must be doing something right. “Yep,” Abolish says dryly. “You truly know how to get on my nerves like no one else can.”
Scott grins, then lets out a soft hiss when Abolish lowers him down on the bed. Ow. “Well good, I do like being special.”
A sigh slips past Abolish’s lips. “Yeah, yeah, that you are.”
Frankly, Scott doesn’t care if it’s sarcasm or not. “Awww, aren’t you just the sweetest!”
Abolish completely ignores him in favour of cleaning up the bloodied fabric. He disappears down the stairs for a few minutes, and Scott forces himself to relax while Abolish is gone. When he returns, the mess cleaned up, he places down a glass of water next to his bed.
“You know,” Abolish starts after Scott gives him a grateful smile. “You’re taking this surprisingly well, the stabbing, the killing— I mean, compared to actually dying yourself, that is.”
Right, talking, he can do that when it’s Abolish.
“Well… I mean, I guess it’s easier to watch someone die than to be the one who’s doing the dying.”
He snorts softly. “Sure, but there’s a difference between watching someone die and being the one to kill them.”
There is, yeah, but does the difference really matter when neither of them are a particularly pleasant experience? Scott doesn’t like watching people die as much as he likes to be involved in it, but it’s not like there was much of a choice— at least if he wanted to stay alive…
“I was protecting myself,” Scott says defensively.
“Obviously, I know you were,” Abolish replies matter-of-fact, far more confident than Scott feels. “But you still managed to take down three people in the end.”
Scott’s eyes go wide in shock. “Three people?” he repeats, heart leaping up in his throat. Apo had been the only person who’d contested the blessing, and sure, her allies had tried to help her, but he didn’t— Apo was the only one Scott knowingly killed, and that was because she was trying to kill him first!
Who could possibly be the other two? Or… does it even matter?
“Yep,” Abolish confirms with a shrug, then sits down on the edge of Scott’s bed. There’s a smirk on his lips when he glances over. “I guess those two underestimated the dangers of suffocation.”
That’s… He’s not exactly wrong, but Scott is surprised that it worked that well. He’d used it to defend himself, but they must not have realised the situation they were in until it was too late, and Scott hadn’t even noticed.
But Abolish had.
“I suppose so,” Scott says slowly, still baffled. “I just— I just didn’t realise I’d done it.”
Abolish hums twice, then tilts his head. Fluffy brown hair falls in his eyes, and Scott resists the urge to reach out to touch it. “Either way, this does put a target on his back.”
Scott lets out a groan, dropping his head back into the pillow. “Ugh, don’t remind me. All five of them are probably going to vote for me now,” he says sullenly. “And who knows, maybe someone else will vote for me too, I mean, Nikos already has.” Scott’s definitely not still feeling petty and bitter about that, definitely not.
He raises an eyebrow. “I thought you two were okay now.”
“We’re fiiiine,” Scott dismissives, but he can’t help but pout. And they are fine, Scott’s just not about to invite Nikos into his bed again, at least not any time soon. “That doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten about it,” he adds grumpily.
Abolish gives him a skeptical look. “Alright, sure. That’s still about half the votes, regardless of whether Nikos votes for you again or not.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know, obsessive fans, they’re just the worst, am I right?”
He blows out a surprised breath of laughter, and Scott shoots him a winning grin. “Yep, they’re definitely the worst.”
“Glad you agree!” Scott says with a wink, then sobers up slightly. “I do hope it goes just a tiny bit better than last time, though.” It’s not a guarantee that he’ll go into the arena again tomorrow, but Scott isn’t going to bet against it either.
“It will,” Abolish says easily, his yellow eyes watching Scott with that intense focus again. “You’ll give us an entertaining fight, and then you’ll win it.”
A smile flits over his lips before he lets it fade. “I’m still not much of a fighter, handsome, I mean, I still can’t use the hammer properly.” Scott had tried to use it against Apo, but if anything, it had been more of a detriment to him than anything else. “You should probably just keep it for now, just to be safe.”
Like any weapon you gave Abolish, he handles it masterfully. It’s something else to watch him train, but especially when he was in the arena against Owen, Scott couldn’t keep his eyes off him. Truly, it’s unfair how good Abolish is with his hands, it leaves a guy wondering.
“Fair enough, that was a rather bad showing.” Okay, so he didn’t have to say it like that. “We’ll train some more after the arena fight, whether you’re in it or not. But first, you need to get some sleep,” Abolish says pointedly.
“But it’s still so early!” Scott protests with a whine.
“You need to heal,” Abolish says, but there’s a smirk on his face as if he’s enjoying Scott’s suffering. Oh, why must Scott be tortured by hot, cruel men. “Get some rest, Scott.”
Scott groans loudly. “Can I at least get some wine first?” Oh, the additional torture of being faced with a man who’s not at all taken in by his amazing charms and good looks and beautiful smile and pleading, forest green eyes. “...Or maybe some lotus flower, pretty please?”
Abolish rolls his eyes up to the ceiling, like he’s contemplating his life choices. Then, he lets out a sigh. “Fine, but only one.”
Aha! Maybe Abolish isn’t completely immune after all!