#i played around and made him open his mouth for no readon

[mintflavoredfemurs]

mint could i possibly get a dust in this trying time. looks at you with my big ole eyes

CW// Eyestrain + Blood + Cursing

im. A little late but here he is!!

if you want context for the words. urhmm...

yyeahhgh... i may or may not have been listening to that blasting in my ears the whole time so heres him YIPPPEEE!!

Dust Sans belongs to ask dusttale

[commander-orca]

COTW fanfiction

CHAPTER 4/? : WHITE THORNS

Suoh wiped his forehead with the sleeve of his garment and let the pickaxe fall from his hands, tipping flat onto the grass. He rested for a few minutes, his back curved, hands on his knees. The sun was weighing down heavily on the ship today and the slightest effort required twice as much concentration as on rainy days. But the young man always found a form of inner calm in gardening or caring for plants. The last days had been particularly rough. Suoh was starting to suffocate, caught between his responsibilities and his desire to bring peace to the people he loved dearly. Moreover, to this was added the pervasive fear of being attacked by their enemies. He tried convincing himself that taking part in war councils helped bring that peace; he and his advisers had concerted and made effective decisions to protect the civilians. Would that be enough?

It wasn't just that. What had merely been an idea tied to fantasy, to his imagination at the start, was mutating into obsession. Suoh bent down and began to remove the bad weeds with his bare hands. This presence he felt was not recent. It had been embedded in his heart for quite some time, a consequence of his many repressed emotions. Suoh began to apply more force in his movements for the deeper-rooted weeds. At first he had ignored it. Nothing could be done about it. When something whose nature you did not understand had settled within you, you had to let go. Time healed many things. Sometimes it was nothing. The grasses clung to the earth; Suoh pursed his lips and pulled them out one by one with all his might, despite the pain starting to slash his fingers. The things he had had to go through had been hard and gave a very valid readon for what he had been feeling. But the feeling had lingered in his heart for too long; for an anormal long time; and it was now fully awake. The awful sting in his fingers had intensified, feeling like his palm had been set on fire. Yes that feeling was fully awake; It had been screaming last night when everyone was sound asleep. It did not let go of his thoughts, made him wish alarming things ... which would have shaken more than one. Things which frightened even himself and in which he did not recognize himself. Suoh was, by now curling his fists into hands and snatching out the plants, annihilating them down to the root. His fingers’ phalanges had turned blue and from his severely scratched hands beaded a generous stream of ...

"Suoh?! But you're bleeding ...?! "

The young man stopped short, struck by surprise. Mouth open in suspense, he stared at the newcomer - who was none other than Chakuro -, then at his hands torn with slashes and thorns, blood dripping slowly down his arm. Suoh looked terrified for several long seconds. 

Then the boy's clear laugh put an end to the heavy atmosphere and to both of their shock.

"Care to explain why you are raking the roses?" 

Suoh stared blankly at him before also gaving in to the hilarity of the situation. After all, it was completely absurd.

“I was on the thistles! I didn't even notice it!

-You really do have your head in the clouds, Suoh!, his friend pointed out to him facetiously.

Given the injuries were minor, but not insignificant, the two young people went to the hut Chakuro shared with several other children. In the common room, one of the kids was cleaning crumbs with a patched cloth.

“Hey, Kikujin! Do we still have bandages in stock? Chakuro inquired, sneaking inside in front of Suoh.

"What you should start asking me is if you forgot your cleaning shore again", the other lectured.

The other boy clapped his hand against his mouth, looking mortified. Several apologetic bows followed.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" I forgot again ...

"I'm comforted to know that I'm not the only one head up in the clouds," Suoh pointed out teasingly.

-Oh that’s a real low blow, Suoh!”, Chakuro fake-whined.

Then, the boy remembered what they had come for.

"Sorry Kikujin, but the chore will have to wait. Our captain is injured. "

The young chief followed Chakuro to his room, where he kept, in a small cupboard drawer, old worn textiles which served as bandages. There was also a thin bottle of bamboo alcohol as well as wild cotton, extracted from plants that grew on the island. The two of them sat down on the lowest bed and Chakuro began to apply alcohol to Suoh's wounds cautiously, watching for his reactions. He did not have to wait too long for the captain immediately began to wince and whimper in pain. Chakuro finished cleaning the wound as quickly as he could, focusing a short while still so he could position the cotton in the right place, as Suoh had begun to wriggle.

After some time, the young boy began to scrutinize his friend even more carefully. Applying the old cloth around his fingers and wrist, Chakuro noticed the dark circles around his eyes and his worried look. The young captain was always in a happy mood, but it seemed to him that he had rarely seen him at such a worrying stage of exhaustion.

"Is there anything I could do for you, Suoh?"

Suoh jumped slightly, drawn from his thoughts. Processing the words, he gave his friend a grateful smile.

"That’s nice of you Chakuro, but you're still treating me right now." And that's already a lot for me. Thank you, so much".

Chakuro frowned even harder. Suoh might merely not be getting enough sleep, worried about various matters related to the war against the Empire. Or it was the paperwork ... The leaders didn't seem drained for nothing. The number of boring things they were given to read was huge.

"I'm worried because ... You look really exhausted.”

Suoh forced a smile on his face, his weary expression blending in with all the gentleness he possessed. Holding his gaze, he put a soothing hand on his young friend's shoulder.

"I'm fine, Chakuro".

Chakuro looked into his eyes. He could only believe Suoh and hope he was okay. He blinked once, and slowly, slowly, began to nod.

"What about you... Are you all right?"

The boy lowered his head to his large apron and began playing with both ends. Was he really okay? The past few days had been grim. They had constantly been jumping from hopes to major disappointments and people had died. 

He had spent the first few days of the week overthinking, wondering how much injured or emotionally abused the captives would return and the wound he had received at Amonlogia had made him hallucinate, nailed down to bed with a severe fever. And yesterday, seeing Orca again. Orca, the brother of one of the people he cherished the most; Orca who was however and mainly the one who had ordered the death of the girl he had been in love with. Had been? He did not know. He didn't know if the feeling had passed, if he was still filled with love for her or if he was currently navigating a smoky in-between, with no landmarks whatsoever.

Yet he had thought he would succeed in getting over it, in mourning properly: not torture his heart for too long, without forgetting Sami. He had felt proudness to be able to laugh and smile again, a few days after her death. But now his suffering had returned. And he knew where it came from. He knew why his heart suddenly hurt so much.

"I'm fine too. Thank you Suoh, ”Chakuro breathed.

The two young people stared for a moment longer, smiling compassionately at each other. Their expressions, however, spread in the small room, a bitter mist which was beginning to make them choke. Chakuro slipped away with the excuse of having to assist Kikujin with household chores. But both of them knew that there was a lot of unspoken words left between them.