Tintinnabulation
Disclaimer: I own neither the characters nor the worlds.
Arthur was always the first of the team to arrive in any given city, being the one to set up their bases and make sure that the job wasn't a trap.
After carrying Harry to his room, glad that it was close to 3am and no one was awake to see them, Arthur sat Harry down on the toilet while running the water for him to take a bath. Harry sat on the lid watching him through half closed eyes.
"Who are you?"
"Do you not remember, I told you my name is Arthur? If you can't remember you might have a head injury, I really should take you to the hospital." Arthur wasn't obviously panicking, but Harry could tell that the man was very much outside his comfort zone.
"No, I remember that Arthur," Harry sounded worn-out and had trouble keeping his eyes open "I was asking more what you are, like what you do, why were you in that empty warehouse, why are you dressed so nice? And why haven't you called the police?"
Arthur didn't really know how to answer the teen without freaking him out again, which could be dangerous for the teen at this stage. He decided to be as honest as possible though, it wasn't really in his nature to be anything other than blunt.
"Listen kid," Harry interjected with a faint indignant "I'm not a kid."
"Ok, listen blood-covered-teen, my job is one which is not legal, so I cannot call the cops and I was in the warehouse because of that job. We can discus this more tomorrow, when you no longer look like you are about to pass out. Now come on, lets get you cleaned up." He gently removed the coat, Harry being too tired to do anything more than stay awake at this point. Arthur then scooped Harry up and lowered him gently into the warm bath, Harry hissing as the water penetrated his cold skin.
"Do you remember your name?" Arthur asked "Because I'd really like to call you something other than bloody-teen."
"No," Harry was done with being 'Harry Potter', he never wanted to hear that name ever again "Just call me whatever you want." He said dismissively.
"Ok, wow, I've never had to name anyone before, at least not that counted." Arthur hoped that if he kept things light, the teen would refrain from freaking out again.
"How about a serious name, like Henry?" Harry whimpered at the use of the term 'serious', remembering his godfather.
"I'd like to be named after a constellation, please." Harry was curled up in the tub with his legs to his chest, head resting on his knees turned to the side so he could watch Arthur who was watching him from his seat on the toilet. He had finished scrubbing the blood from everywhere he could reach with the now red hotel washcloth and was just sitting, soaking in the warm, if bloody, water. Arthur had rolled up his sleeves, but was still in his suit so he looked quite out of place in the crappy off-whit motel bathroom.
Arthur leaned over, noticing that the water was looking very disgusting now that the teen had washed off and turned the tap back on, pulling out the plug so that the old water could drain and cleaner water would replace it.
"I can do constellations, how about Orion?"
Harry shrugged.
"Alright"
"You can always change it latter, if you want. I mean my parents named me George and I hated it, so I just decided that I was more of an Arthur and it's served me well so far."
Harry smiled, this guy was not very good at being comforting, his body language showing just how uncomfortable he was in this situation, but Harry appreciated the effort.
"Can you wash my back, please?" Harry turned his head so that he was speaking into his knees, but Arthur could see he was blushing.
"I can do that, here." He grabbed the washcloth from the side of the tub and lent next to the tub, reaching over and rubbing lightly against Orion's' skin, trying to rub away the dried blood.
Orion tensed as soon as Arthur was touching him, not relaxing again until Arthur was finished and pulled away.
Arthur handed Orion the little bottle of motel shampoo, and sat back on the toilet as he watched Orion cover his blood stained black hair in the cheep shampoo and washed it out.
Orion looked over when he was finished and Arthur grabbed a towel, holding it out.
"Can you please help me up, I don't think I'm strong enough right now and I'd like to avoid falling and hitting my head again."
"Of course" Arthur reached out and grasped Orion's forearm, sliding the towel round the teen so that he was covered, and having to wrap his arm around Orion's waste as the teen's legs began to give out.
Arthur leaned in, ignoring how his clothes were becoming soaked from the contact, and scoped the light boy up into his arms carefully.
"Come on, let's get you to bed."
Orion let himself be placed onto the single bed, sitting up and watching the point man root around in his black duffel bag before removing a pair of boxers and a white T-shirt.
"Do you need any help getting dressed?"
Orion shook his head no, head then dropping forward as he fought against the pull of sleep.
"Alright," Arthur handed Orion the clothes before taking out another pair of black boxers and a red T-shirt for himself to sleep in "I'm going to go wash up, you get dressed and try and go to sleep, before you pass out again."
Arthur walked into the cheep bathroom before Orion pulled the shirt over his damp hair and pulling on the boxers, letting the towel land on the floor next to the bed. He moved up towards the pillows, shifting to pull the covers down and get under them before laying back and immediately falling into a deep sleep.
Meanwhile Arthur was making a frantic call to Cobb in the bathroom. It being 5am at this point Cobb was understandably annoyed and sleepy as Arthur tried to explain the situation.
"What, a kid, honestly Arthur we don't need this kind of thing. Just put it back where you found it, we need this job right now."
"Listen Cobb, I found him naked and covered in blood in the basement of what was supposed to be our new base. I don't think it has anything to do with the job but honestly I didn't have a very good feeling about this job anyway." He took out his dice and rolled them across the sink counter.
"This kid needed help; he was freezing and bloody and he can't remember anything, I couldn't just leave him there. And he refused the hospital and it's not like we can afford the heat the cops would put on me if I tried to call." He took a deep breath, feeling the beginnings of a headache fast approaching. "I brought him back to my room and cleaned him up a bit, gave him a name."
Cobb moaned "You can't give it a name, now you're going to want and keep it. You need to just dump it somewhere. Honestly Arthur, you are supposed to be the smart one."
"Listen to me asshole, I don't need this right now. I am going to keep the kid, for a while at least. You don't own me, you can't give me orders. I'm off the job, I'd suggest that you pull your head out of you ass before contacting me again. I'm taking him underground for a bit, it's time that I took a break anyway." Not giving Cobb time to respond Arthur ended the call, closing his eyes and letting out a "Fuck" as his head started throbbing.
He quickly decided against showering, as the bathtub looked like someone had been murdered in it, what with all the blood. He removed his clothes, uncharacteristically leaving the on the bathroom floor, and used the sink and the last clean towel to wipe himself off before dressing in his sleepwear. He quickly brushed his teeth and washed off his face with cold water before slipping back into the bedroom.
The lights were still on so Arthur could see Orion clearly where he had curled himself up into a tight ball on the bed. His head was sticking out from the covers and even in sleep the teen looked worried. Arthur turned off the light, throwing the room into darkness and stumbled towards the bed, tripping over the towel on the floor and landing with an "Oomph" on the bed.
He snarled before sliding up and resting his head on the free pillow, noting that the boy was sleeping deeply, as he didn't even move in the commotion that Arthur had made. He maneuvered himself under the covers, realizing that the dingy motel didn't have a properly working heating system, and followed the teen into a deep sleep.