He was directed to Shidou's bedside which he approached with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension. His eyes swept over the sight of Shidou, lying asleep in the hospital bed clad in a flimsy hospital gown. Sae took in his appearance. It was exactly how the doctor had clinically described and yet it was also not at all.
Seeing made it feel entirely different, more vivid, more real than any clinical words could capture. They were not at all what Sae had expected, not just a list of symptoms or an orderly collection of wounds. They were raw, unsettling, and far more brutal than the cold, detached language of medicine could ever convey. It was as if all the noise in the hospital, the talking, the beeping, the footsteps slapping the floor had turned into a distance buzzing white noise as he looked at Shidou.
He had dark bruising under and surrounding his right eye, Sae could see the edges already tinged with unnatural yellows and purples stark against Shidou's warm skin. Sae found it striking and sickly all at once. His lip was cut, stark and raw against the otherwise delicate curve of Shidou's mouth.
His right arm was almost entirely encased in layers of white bandages, their pristine fabric stained here and there with faint traces of red, hinting at the severity of the injuries hidden beneath them. Or was it severe? Sae could remember being told it wasn't, but that felt like extremely conflicting information in comparison to the sight he was seeing right now. The bandages wrapped tightly around Shidou's wrist, extending over his hand and leaving only his fingers exposed, their dark hue stark against the whiteness, moving slowly, wiggling almost as though they were trying to break free from its suffocating cocoon, yet struggling to find the strength.
Sae just stood staring, examining his injuries, taking it in. He had not been prepared. What had happened to him? Sae looked around as though the answers would miraculously appear in front of him, but of course, there was nothing. Nothing but hospital machines, curtains and a sealed bag, which, upon closer inspection, seemed to contain Shidou's wet clothes. Sae gingerly returned them to the small table by the bed. Sae rolled his shoulders back, looking straight ahead, and breathed in and out slowly. There was nothing to be done other than to wait. The beeping from hospital machines and background noise began to slowly return as if someone was carefully turning up a volume dial.
As Sae turned to take a seat he stopped, movement catching his eye in the periphery. Shidou was blinking himself awake, groggy and disorientated. Despite the day he was having Shidou still seemed to radiate an undeniable energy, as if his very presence defied the sterile, clinical environment. His absurdly styled hair was slightly askew, his ridiculous "antennas" as he'd heard them be called now falling in front of his face. The pink tips of his hair, the bright pink of his strange eyes a vibrant contrast to the dull whites and greys of the room. It was striking, the way Shidou stood out, a force of chaotic vitality in the calm, controlled space. Sae was struck again by just how different Shidou was from anyone he had met.
Sae settled into the chair at Shidou's bedside, watching warily as Shiodu slowly moved his head around as if surprised at his surroundings, taking in the hospital. Shidou's eyes flickered onto him, bright pink, looking hazy and disorientated. Shidou reached out an arm, brushing Sae's wrist as his arm flopped down limply by his bed. A grin suddenly spread across his face, wide and unabashed as he kept eye contact with Sae.
"Is tha you pretty lashes?" he slurred grinning widely at him.
"They must have given me the good shit, I'm dreaming" "You come to kiss me all better? Silver lining for me there's a lot for you to kiss better", he snickered dazedly.
Sae looked at him appraisingly, "What happened to you demon? Finally picked a fight with the wrong person?"
Shidou's grin faltered a bit before he shrugged nonchalantly smiling "Somethin like that yah".
"Where are your parents?" Sae asked.
"What parents?" Shidou snorted, giggling weakly as his grin returned and he went back to surveying the hospital.
Sae observed him, laid out on the hospital bed. He seemed so out of it and more docile than Sae had ever seen the demon. It was quite unnerving. But then Shidou lurched forward at him with an alarming speed. Sae tensed at the unexpected contact.
"It really you lashes? You really here?" he slurred, as his hands moved over to Sae's wrist, attempting to feel more of his arm pushing forward into Sae's space, so much so he almost toppled out of bed.
"Christ demon you're going to give yourself another head injury". Sae snapped, jumping to his feet to stop the fall.
Shidou fell into his chest, face squishing into his pecs. It was almost like a hug. Shidou slumped against his chest, reaching out his arms and clinging to him. His fingers gripping into Sae's back.
"You feel good. Everything with you feels good," he murmured into Sae's chest. "All my cells tingle."
Sae felt his warm breath against his skin, could feel Shidou's heart beating against his own chest, pulsing with his own.
Ok. This was all getting to be a bit much for Sae. Shidou he could deal with. Normally, he was quite unphased by the sheer ridiculousness that came out of the other boy's mouth, and he was adept at managing the demon's violent outburst, mainly because he usually didn't care enough to stop whatever impulsive thing Shidou felt like doing. But all the touching, this docile, vulnerable Shidou who needed him. Sae felt a strange squirming in his chest. It was uncomfortable, unfamiliar, alien. He felt the familiar itching under his skin, the discomfort rising.
Ok, back you go onto the bed now, little demon", he said, starting to pry Shidou away from him.
"Don't go", Shidou gasped, almost desperately, pleadingly as Sae pulled away. His strange cat-like eyes wild.
Sae watched as Shidou lunged, grabbing tightly onto Sae's wrist. A move that was swift before, now slower and unsteady.
Sae's eyebrows twitched and he sucked in a breath, restraining the urge to rip his hand away from the touch straight away. The pleading tone in Shidou's voice had startled him. It had rattled him more than he'd care to admit, more than seeing or hearing about Shidou's injuries. He wasn't very good with touch. Why was he allowing it? When was the last time he'd let someone touch him this long? He felt panic rising before he neatly squashed it down, as if it was never there.
"I won't go", he said, falling back into his familiar, emotionless monotone.
A compromise, he reasoned with himself, before deliberately prising Shidou's fingers from his wrist, removing it firmly from his grasp.
Shidou smiled at him sleepily, eyelids drooping before falling back against the pillows and closing his eyes.