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The smell of gunpowder faded as the last apparition fell, lungs finally able to breathe properly in what felt like hours and yet not quite at the same time. You inhaled, stale air filling your lungs as you swayed on your feet slightly, a headache that had been building the deeper you went thumping beneath your skin. The room spun, for a moment, through blurry vision before your gaze landed on the floor, limbs heavy from exhaustion.
Your hands were shaking, the outline of your fingers blurring at the edges like an afterimage as your sword disappeared from your hands, sliding back into your deck and leaving you grasping onto nothing but empty air. You swallowed, hard, throat suddenly feeling too dry and blocked as if something grew there and refused to go down.
You needed to get to the Healing Pad.
Arms –strong, firm, familiar– caught you when the ground disappeared under your feet, head falling against a chest and on your next breath you smelt sugar, an earthy scent, felt the lingering warmth of leather that had been out in the sun. “Griefer…?” You called out, a mix of confusion and something rough in your voice that made the name come out as more of a rasp than anything.
“H3R3.” He said, and something about the sound of his voice pushed out some of the tension in your body. Your shoulders slumped, you stood less on your own feet and leaned more onto him, eyes slipping closed as you shifted your face just a bit further against his shirt. His arms shifted, moving beneath your armpits and wrapping around your back, pulling you closer.
You didn't ask why he was still here.
You stayed there, for a moment. One moment turned to two, two turned to three, then three turned to four and four turned to five and five to six, then six to seven and seven to eight and eight to nine and-
And you felt bad, for keeping him here, after the fight was over. For making him concerned about you and even though he didn't say anything you knew he was. Or maybe that was just you, in your head, and you were far too selfish to think that he was automatically concerned just because you missed a step and he caught you.
Maybe you should have stepped back after that, should have gotten your feet back under you and continue lower to prove there was nothing to be concerned –thats if he was concerned– about.
How presumptuous of you, to seek contact you didn't need. To make Griefer stay behind instead of going back to whatever he was doing before you called him into battle.
“H3Y.” Griefer's voice broke you from your thoughts, hand slipping from you back and out from beneath your arm to instead rest softly on your cheek, to gently tilt your head back just enough as your eyes unconsciously slipped open. “YOU W1TH ME?” He asked, a softness to his voice that made something you never even noticed in your chest shrink and you blinked, slowly as you processed the question a fraction of a second slower than you should have as you looked at his face.
His brows were slightly furrowed, a downward tilt to the corner of his mouth that threatened to slip into a scowl but didn't and eyes that were nice, soft, yet grounding a way that was more than the ground beneath your feet. He wasn't entirely unscathed, a few scraps here and there, a slight singe to some parts of his jacket from when he helped take hits for you.
“I love you.” ‘Yea’ is what you had meant to say. A single word that had somehow been replaced by three that just slipped out before you could catch them, before they could even form as a tangible thought for you to grab hold of. Your face felt hot, not from the heat of flames that burned away at your body, as your brain caught up with what you had said. Your heart beat just a touch faster, a subtle and tiny bit of tension leaking into your shoulders as you became unnecessarily aware of the hand on your face, of the closeness of your bodies.
Griefer paused, for a fraction of a moment, before he softened. Brows smoothing out, the edges of his lips pushing up into something happy and soft while the corners of his eyes crinkled even as a blush formed on his cheeks. He pushed your head back a little more, hand moving down your back to wrap around your waist as he leaned down. His lips rested against the corner of yours, a ghost of a touch that was so warm.
“1 L0VE YOU T0O.” He whispered, and something fluttered in your chest as his thumb roamed gently across your cheek in a gentle circle. Lips brushed yours, and the weakness in your limbs turned to a different kind as you were drawn into the kiss, hands moving to dig into the sides of Griefer’s jacket as your eyes slipped shut.
His breath washed across your face, yours over his as your lips pushed against each other. Your eyes slipped shut, the tiny bit of tension melting away as you did, the thumb on your cheek an insistent but gentle pressure. Much more tolerable than the headache that still throbbed behind your eyelids, so you focused on that instead.
Then the moment passed, Griefer pulled back and before you knew it his arm moved down from your waist to just below your butt and just above your thighs before the ground disappeared from under your feet. He held you closer to his chest, your hands gripped his sides just a bit tighter as he lifted you up into the air. “TH4T'S ENOUGH 0F-” He rolled his head, using it to gesture at their surroundings. “TH1S PL4CE FOR TOD4Y, OKAY?”
His hand gave your cheek one last, gentle rub before it left. Moving to hold you up by your back for extra stability. You shook your head, softly, before pointing behind him at the hole leading further down, and his expression pinched when he turned to look at it. Eyebrow twitching.
“Safe.” You said softly, voice still a bit raspy and your throat felt scratchy. If you remembered correctly, at least, this should be the 50th floor, meaning it was safe and you could get a new card. Griefer glanced between you and the hole, for a moment, before he let out a sigh.
The feeling of air rushing over your body from dropping to the next floor was familiar, but you were pleasantly surprised to find Griefer landed easily on his feet despite your added weight. Your heart skipped a beat. You pointed to the green pad laying on the floor, directing him over to it before you felt that familiar rush of energy alongside a soothing sensation caressing your body and sagged a bit more against Griefer.
He moved towards the pedestal, and a moment later your fingers gently grabbed hold of the card. A cyan colored card with a familiar shield etched onto it with a green plus sign on the bottom right corner. It was a perfect copy of the other one in your possession, and brought a soft smile to your face.
Your brain short-circuited for a moment –just a brief second– when lips rested against your cheek, before they peeled open and teeth bit down gently. Gnawing softly at your cheek as the skin pulled. You let out a low sound, a wordless mumble to air out your grievance of no actual substance and was enough for him to let go. “Y0U'RE 4DOR4BLE.” He said, far too casually and far too serious as the card disappeared into your inventory.
You hid your face in his shoulder, far too hot, and decided not to comment.
“B4TH’S R34DY.” Griefer’s voice broke you from your thoughts-well, not thoughts as it was mindlessly staring at the floor from where you sat on his bed, a nearly empty bottle of water cradled between your hands. You looked over to him before nodding, standing up and leaving the bottle on the bed as you followed him into the bathroom.
The room was a bit misty, probably from the water used in filling up the bathtub, with steam settling over the room like a light blanket. It was a normal bathroom, all things considered, with a sink and mirror, a toilet, a bathtub and a towel rack. The only slightly less normal thing about it was the size of it, bigger than any you had that was for certain.
Griefer pulled off his jacket, soon followed by hands pulling up his shirt and revealing the white of his stomach and more as it was pulled up–and you quickly averted your eyes. Instead, you pulled off your own shirt, folding it into a neat square that you placed on the counter before stepping out of your pants –which you folded, too– followed by your underwear. That you also folded, and placed with your shirt.
You stared at it, for a moment, before placing your shirt on your pants and your underwear on your shirt. It was a little, innocuous thing, but it brought you a little satisfaction.
“Y0U DON3?” Griefer asked, breaking you from the moment and causing you to turn your head, only to immediately turn your gaze away. You heard a snort behind you. “WH4T? N0THING YOU H4VEN’T S33N BEF0RE.” He said, and you did know that and could imagine him rolling his eyes. “JUST G3T 1N THE B4TH BEF0RE 1 C4RRY YOU 1N MYS3LF.” He said, and you took a moment to steady yourself before you turned around.
Your eyes did not wander, did not drop lower, as you steadily made your way over to the bathtub and only then, did you let your eyes drop. It was a normal bath, all things considered, filled up halfway with water and-
You blinked, slowly, before tilting your head.
-Filled with foam?
“WH4T, N3V3R HAD A BUBBL3 B4TH B3FORE?” Griefer asked from beside you and when you turned to look at him with nothing but silence his brows furrowed, before his mouth dropped. “N0 SH0T.” He said, and you didn’t know why he was so surprised at the fact you’ve never had one.
You usually took showers, anyway.
“G3T 1N.” Griefer said, with that hard kind of tone he used when you first met –though distinctly lacking that mocking edge– that meant there was no arguing and if there was he didn’t want to listen. So you lifted one foot, placed it in the bath and lifted your other up into it too before slowly sinking down onto your knees so as to not upset the water.
Griefer entered with less care than you, some water splashing around and out as he practically dropped in.
The water was pleasantly warm –not too hot, not too cold, just right– and foam clung onto your skin from where it was moved when you and Griefer got into the bath. Then, you saw it. It wasn’t anything special, not at all compared to the things you’ve seen on your adventure but your eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to it when it floated in front of you.
It was a turtle–green, small, plastic and covered in bits of foam.
You grabbed hold of it gently, the toy feeling firm but squishy beneath your fingers and gave it a soft squeeze.
The sound it let out made you giggle.
So you squeezed it again, and again, and again. Each sound accompanied by soft, breathy giggles that came from your chest as you felt your lips pull upwards, stretching your face out into a smile. Then, out of the corner of your eye something else came floating towards you and you turned your head to look at it.
It was a duck. A small duck. Completely red with beady black eyes and an even tinier pair of red horns sprouting from the sides of its head. It was a ducky, an evil ducky and by the Swords somehow it was one of the most adorable things you had ever seen. You gently rest the turtle on the water, letting it float across the surface as you reach for the duck. It felt firm and squishy just like the turtle, and the sound it made was around the same.
But it was evil ducky, and you liked evil ducky more than the turtle you realized, so when it squeaked you giggled. A warmth in your chest that you honestly shouldn’t feel because you weren’t a child anymore, and this was a child’s joy but it made you feel all fluffy and floaty and made you want to do that thing with your hands but your hands were full.
And then you remembered Griefer was here too. So you turned your head towards him, found him occupied with scrubbing foam onto his body and barely a thought formed in your head before moving forwards on your knees with your cargo clutched in your hands.
“Evil ducky!” You said, excitement clear in your voice as you held out the duck to Griefer. You didn’t know why but it just… Made you excited in a way you couldn’t explain, and you wanted to share that excitement with the nearest person who would entertain you. Griefer blinked, slowly, hand paused where it was on his arm, before his eyes went down to your hands and back up to your face.
“Y3A.” He said, nodding with a smile so soft and loving that it made your heart skip a beat then another and another. “3V1L DUCKY.” He repeated, and you couldn’t help but giggle as you felt that warmth in your chest expand and made everything seem so floaty and gave you so much energy that made it hard to sit still.
So you placed the evil ducky down, letting it float on the water before you flapped your hands back and forth a ways above the water to avoid splashing it everywhere as you giggled. You wanted to do more, but you were in water and you couldn’t do that cause that would be rude and-
“H3Y.” Griefer spoke softly, taking most of your attention away while the rest was focused on your hands. He tilted his head back slightly, beckoning. “C0ME H3R3 FOR 4 SEC.” He said, and you moved forwards knees towards him and, when you got close enough he motioned for you to turn around which you did. A hand pulled at your waist, and you were gently pulled down until your back hit Griefer’s chest. “1 N33D YOU T0 ST4Y STILL, 0K4Y?”
You nodded.
Griefer reached out for a pile of bubbly foam, scooping up a handful before bringing his hand to your hand and slathered it onto your hair. The force –however gentle– sent you swaying for a moment due to it being unexpected, but soon enough you relaxed, sinking back against Griefer’s chest as he gathered up more bubble foam to rub into your hair and it felt… Nice. Really nice.
Made that warmth in your chest go from fluffy and floaty to sticky and gooey. Practically oozing out through your limbs to the rest of your body and made you not want to fight anything. Fingers roaming gently across your hair, nails scratching softly at your scalp as soap was rubbed in.
Your eyes slipped shut, and you just melted.
“L1KE TH4T?” Griefer asked, a soft whisper in your ear as his hands worked magic and you couldn’t help but nod along. A soft, satisfied sigh being pulled from your lips as that energy inside of you faded little by little, dismantled by an overwhelming wave of peace and satisfaction. “GL4D YOU D0.”
And then his hands moved from your head, rubbing along your neck and shoulders down to your chest and over each arm. Gently pressing as flesh in ways that made you gasp softly or a soft giggle to leave you as he rubbed soap onto you. This was nice, you decided. Evil ducky was nice, you decided. Griefer was nice, you decided.
You loved Griefer, you decided.
“I love you.” You said, pressing back onto his chest while tilting your head back to look up at him. You didn’t know what kind of expression you were making, but you felt like you were smiling and you liked it because everything felt so warm and sticky and gooey and fluffy and floaty and- “I love you.” You repeated, again, giggling softly as your feet began to kick softly beneath the water. “I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you-”
You repeated, over and over, again and again until you couldn’t, until your lungs began to beg for air that it couldn’t get between your giggling and your sudden declarations and forcing you to pause, to actually breathe in and not explode into a pile of goo.
“1 KNOW, I KN0W.” Griefer said, face somehow turned even softer after each word you spoke as his arms wrapped around your middle, holding you close and making you giggle all over again before he leaned down and planted a soft, gentle kiss on your forehead. “I L0VE YOU T00.”
And you giggled, again, more so than you have in a while because everything felt so nice and fuzzy.
“I love you.” You said, and Griefer planted another kiss on your forehead. “I love you.” Another kiss on a different part of your face. “I love you.” A third kiss, this time at your temple. “I love you.” A fourth, on your brow. “I love you.” A fifth, on the corner of your right eye. “I love you.” A sixth on the opposite, the corner of your left eye. “I love you.” A seventh, on your left cheek. “I love you.” An eighth, on your right cheek. “I love you.” A ninth, on the right corner of your lips. “ I love you.” A tenth, on the left corner of your lips.
“1 L0VE Y0U.” Griefer said, before you could say it, and this time his kiss landed right on your mouth. Having your head tilted back just to feel the way his lips brushed against your own, to feel his breath wash over your face and having his arms you just made it all feel better.
And when you parted, you giggled, looking up at him through squinted eyes as he looked back at you with nothing but warmth and your feet kicked beneath the water and your hands joined in the fun.
“I love you.” You whispered, not for the last time because there would never be a last time. You felt, in that moment, that you could part with everything else in that moment just for to last. Griefer let out a hum, low, distinctly amused and all too fond.
“I L0V3 Y0U T00.”