"I'm one to talk."
After Fay spoke an uncomfortable silence settled over the room – until Kurogane's arm decided to pulse painfully. Fay had made him let his guard down both physically and emotionally, so he was unable to hide his wince this time.
"Here," Fay said, removing his outer jacket and sitting down next to Kurogane on the bed. "I'll see what I can do."
"What?" he shrank away instinctively, his hand going to up cover the tender spot where the artificial arm joined his flesh. Fay had one of those smiles again, though genuine concern tempered it this time rather than the saccharine falseness that had been there before.
"Take off your clothes," Fay said firmly.
Kurogane stared at him, feeling incredibly reluctant to comply and more than a bit surprised at Fay's forwardness.
"Ku-ro-sa-ma," Fay chided. "We're in this together, so take off your clothes and be a good boy, alright?"
Kurogane cursed under his breath and began to undo the clasp on his cloak and the chest plate, shivering slightly as the cool night air hit him. Fay reached up and gently placed his hands on the bruises closest to the new arm, nearly making Kurogane jump at the sudden contrast of warm hands on his chilled skin.
Fay made a small amused noise and leaned so his head rested just below Kurogane's collarbone. They stayed like that for a few moments with no sound but their breathing in the small room, until Kurogane decided to break the silence and ask about something that had been bothering him.
"What exactly is this supposed to be doing?" he said grumpily, feeling incredibly awkward because of the close physical contact. He'd been under the impression that there would be some medical – if not magical – aspect to this, but so far nothing seemed to be happening.
"Absolutely nothing, technically speaking," Fay said cheerily, looking up at him and smiling wryly. "Now that I don't have magic I can't do much, and we don't have much that could be used for medicinal purposes right now."
"Tch," Kurogane looked up and frowned. He should have known.
"But," Fay lowered his voice and spoke into Kurogane's chest. "It's better than being all alone with your pain, isn't it?"
Kurogane stared down at the top of Fay's head for a moment and sighed. He hated to admit it, but the pain did seem to have lessened, and the feeling of Fay up against him was rather… pleasant.
"Idiot," he grunted, wrapping his good arm around Fay's waist and pulling them both down. He felt Fay chuckle into his chest just as a wave of sleepiness crashed over him.
When he awoke the next morning, the pain had lessened, even if just a bit.