#whumperless whump event: day twenty-five

[oncemorewithwhump]

Rating: T

The ambulance doors shut, and the engine rumbled as it rolled off, taking Rebecca Bryant off to the hospital.

It was that moment when Reid collapsed.

For the @whumperless-whump-event

Prompt: We Didn't Start the Fire

severe burns / "I know it hurts. Breathe."

[qiuthewhumps]

It's every day bro: [04/07/2024]

Chronic pain / Massage / “I'm used to it.”

[KLEIO & SHOU AU] — 1459 words (really soft tbh not that angsty)

CW: may be wrong portrayal of chronic pain (sorry in advance)

@whumperless-whump-event

☆…━━━━━·:*☆…━━━━━·:*☆…━━━━━·:*☆

The first sign that something is wrong is the time. Kleio stares at the clock, blinking once, twice before tilting his head at the damn thing like it has insulted him.

9:00 a.m. Just right for breakfast. Too late for Shou not to be up.

But he pretends it isn’t. He slumps against the counter, waiting and idle. He gazes at the table, as if doing so will magically manifest his lover. The food on the table is still fresh, two omelets plated on the table as any other Saturday morning for the last two months has been. He waits like he has been for the last fifteen minutes before the clock has hit nine.

Fifteen becomes twenty… Twenty becomes twenty-five minutes.

Kleio is tapping his fingers against the counter, impatience slowly settling. He never likes waking Shou up since he knows that the architect tends to work late into the night, but Shou is usually up and about by nine at the latest. It was 9:10 a.m. already, is it—

A meow breaks Kleio’s thoughts. Qiu, their ginger and white mainecoon, is staring at him from the cool tiles that make their apartment floor. She sits there like she owns the place, meowing as she nudges her silver bowl to Kleio. Her tail flicking across the floor, waiting for attention. Oh, has he fed her today?

Maybe not. Kleio sighs as he takes the bowl back to the corner of the dining room. He fills the bowl up with dry food before placing it down, quietly watching as Qiu starts taking small bites of her given portion. He’s halfway to putting back the cup they use as a scoop for Qiu’s dry food before realizing Qiu’s awake. She’s walking around the apartment even. Qiu doesn’t get up until both of them are awake as an excuse to stay in their bed.

So, Shou’s awake. That simply raises more questions as Kleio finds himself already heading to the bedroom. He knocks on the door before promptly deciding to just let himself in.

Kleio makes a small little hum for Shou to notice him as he closes the bedroom door. He walks over to the edge of the bed, taking a seat on the end of the soft mattress. He observes how Shou is hidden under the comforter, hiding maybe. From what? He wants to ask, but instead all that comes out is, “So?”

A shift from the covers. A pause before the ball on the bed made of the comforter simply curls more into itself. A muffled mumble that’s incoherent is Kleio’s reply.

“Love? You have to speak up.” Kleio slowly moved closer. He sees where a tuft of white hair peeks out. He comes closer, a hesitant but gentle pat to the head. Scarred fingers easily combs through the white bed hair. The ball under the cover seems to relax the slightest bit which makes Kleio make a soft sigh. “Can I remove the covers?” He asks instead when he receives no repeat.

There’s a silence, and Kleio takes it as permission as he carefully lowers the comforter, giving Shou all the chances to hide himself again. The comforter falls around Shou’s neck and Kleio hums as he stares at the man he loves. The tired eyes; an almost pained expression with the way his eyebrows quirk. “Why are you still here, Shou?” A soft question. He makes sure none of his impatience before shows. It’s almost so easy to change his voice if it’s for this one albino man.

The silence is stiffening but Kleio doesn’t back down as he gently ruffles his lover’s hair with the tips of his fingers, waiting. He’s a patient man… Usually… Perhaps only for Shou… And maybe Qiu.

“It’s nothing. Just the usual, y’know? I’m used to it and all,” Shou mutters out in a quiet voice. However, Kleio isn’t dumb. He can see how the other curls up into himself. How he looks like he wants to just hide in bed. Kleio can’t stand it, and he has to say it, or they’ll pretend the elephant in the room blends in with the floor and walls.

“That sounds a lot like… Bullshit.” It garners a rough laugh from Shou.

“I’m fine, I promise.” Shou turns his head at Kleio, giving a soft reassuring smile—strained. Kleio can only seem to focus on how the other looks. Tired, Pained. Exhausted. Fatigued. It doesn’t sit right to Kleio at all. If anything, he finds himself disliking it more than he probably should.

“Is it worse today?” Kleio presses the issue, taking his hand away from the other’s head. His eyes narrow at the lack of a response he receives. His gaze is evidently being avoided. There’s that tense silence before Kleio bluntly asks, “Where?”

“Nowhere,” Shou replies with hesitance, and it wins the most obvious lie Kleio has heard in the last month. Kleio lets the silence sit between them, waiting for his lover to crack. A minute passes, maybe two. Then, a third before an uncomfortable sound that’s a mix of a grunt and whine from Shou. “My back…”

“Okay, and?” Kleio continues to press as he gently and carefully pulls down the comforter from his lover. He makes a light laugh at how Shou is holding a pillow close, arms and legs wrapped around the soft pillow.

A grumble. “My legs…”

“Lovely,” Kleio sarcastically replies as he slowly tugs the pillow away from Shou. They have a tug of war over it before Kleio tosses it to the ground. “Lie on your stomach. No, you don’t have a choice.”

“Lovely,” Shou repeats in the same tone. He moves to lay on his stomach as his hands hold on to the pillow that was originally under his head.

Kleio stares before sighing. The things he does for this man. He gets up on the bed, positioning his knees on either side of Shou’s figure below him. He gently tugs Shou’s shirt up before starting to press his fingers into the tense pale flesh that makes up Shou’s back. He receives a few flinches in reply as he continues to try to ease the other, but no outright complaints.

They don’t say much. Kleio simply hums as he pushes and tries to ease the other’s muscles. Slowly, carefully. It isn’t the first time they’ve done this, but Kleio is more than aware that Shou is all too ashamed to admit when his chronic pain is worse.

That’s fine, Kleio likes to think. Their routine reveals all the things they don’t want to say but need to be addressed.

He works his way down, careful with the amount of pressure as he starts pressing into the muscle and skin of Shou’s leg. He can still feel the discomfort that fills his love, but this will have to do till they both eat something.

9:45 a.m. Kleio absently notes when he finally gets off of Shou. He sits on the edge of the bed again, offering a hand for Shou to take to help sit up. He watches as Shou struggles a bit, but is able to sit beside him. The albino lays his head on Kleio’s shoulder; he doesn’t find himself minding.

“I love you,” Shou mumbles out after a moment. Three words. Three syllables. Eight letters. That’s all it takes to make Kleio smile at the other. All it takes for a sweet lopsided smile to grace his face. It’s almost pathetic, Kleio thinks. He doesn’t find himself minding again.

“I made breakfast,” Kleio replies instead of repeating those three words turned into four. “Qiu is waiting for us,” he adds as he nudges Shou to lift his head. He doesn’t stop smiling at Shou. He feels warm. The same way he’s been feeling for the last two months.

Shou huffs at that as he stands up almost reluctantly. He offers his hand to Kleio this time. Kleio doesn’t hesitate, taking the offer to stand up. They walk to the dining room together. Their hands are intertwined as they walk the short distance. Qiu is waiting for them by the kitchen window. She immediately jumps off the counter she got herself on to rub herself on Shou’s legs, meowing for attention.

A few caresses and head scritches later, they’re sitting at the table together, eating while their cat soaks up the sunlight from the window. Then after, Shou will have to take his medicine, and then it falls back into some routine they’ve made for themselves over the days without a word. It’s quiet, peaceful, and boring even to some.

Kleio looks over to Shou with a soft expression. He doesn’t find himself minding this at all.