Day 1. of Sylvix Week 2022. Scars + Hurt/Comfort
Felix helps Sylvain take care of an injury sustained in a battle, when he refuses to let a healer take care of him.
Enjoy, and let me know what you think!
Day 1. Scars of the past
"Sylvain, open the door before I kick it in!" Felix has been trying to get Sylvain to let him into his room for nearly half an hour at this point and is starting to get really frustrated with his stubbornness. "I know you got injured in that last battle, and I know you never went to a healer to get it checked." He had just glimpsed Sylvain's bloodied arm before the man had managed to sneak away and lock himself in his room. "Now let me in so I can make sure you're not dying in there!"
"Awww, I always knew you really love me, Felix," comes the answer from the other side of the locked door. "But it was just a scratch, so no need to worry about it at all, really! I wouldn't want to waste the healers valuable time for something so minor." The words, that would sound sincere to anyone else, don't fool Felix for a moment. He instantly recognizes Sylvain's fake voice, the one he uses to tell people he's fine, when he's really in pain, or sad, or lonely. He's heard it a million times, in his childhood, and at Garreg Mach.
"Not falling for that, idiot!" Felix tells him firmly, crossing his arms for good measure, even if Sylvain can't see it. "If you don't open the door, I'll get the Professor, and she'll drag you to the infirmary herself."
Silence.
"Look," Felix continues, "I know you're not okay, so you can stop pretending, and let me in so I can help you with that injury at least. If you bleed all over the room, then no-one will be happy."
More silence. Then after a few moments, the door creaks open a few inches. Felix immediately pulls the door open, lets himself in, and closes it securely behind him. Turning his eyes to the room, he sees Sylvain, shirtless to have easier access to the injury, leaning back on the chair at the desk, which looks like a first-aide kit has exploded on it. Sylvain's arm is half wrapped in loose bandages and blood is slowly dripping from his fingertips down to the floor.
"I knew you got injured in that battle!" Felix immediately grabs the bandages and some stuff from the table and starts patching it up properly. "And didn't get it fixed by a healer like the idiot you are! And then try to hide it from me! Like that actually would work. Idiot!"
"It's okay, Felix," Sylvain says, taking a moment to lean up and place a light kiss on Felix's cheek. "I love you too."
"Idiot," Felix grumbles, but doesn't protest as Sylvain presses their lips together in another brief kiss. He does love Sylvain, after all. Even if he is an idiot sometimes.
He makes sure to clean up the injury before bandaging it tightly. The injury being a long gash on Sylvain's right arm, not deep or wide enough to be life-threatening, but still serious enough for Sylvain to be stupid to not go to the infirmary with it. Throughout it all, Sylvain doesn't say anything, just sits in place, letting Felix fix him up, occasionally wincing from the pain.
"There." Felix finally says as he finishes tying the bandage around Sylvain's arm. "If you don't want to go to the infirmary like the idiot you are, at least make sure to get your injuries taken care of," he pokes the bandaged injury, causing Sylvain to flinch from the sudden spike of pain. "Got it?"
"Yeah, got it," Sylvain says, attempting his usual smile, but doesn't quite succeed. "Next time, I'll make sure I'm all taken care of. Wouldn't want to worry you for nothing, as fun as it is to have you fussing over me." He gets up from the chair, stretches his uninjured arm, and gives Felix a wink. Typical Sylvain.
He lets out a surprised "Oof," as Felix shoves him backwards with no warning, making him fall on the bed, wide eyed and sprawled out.
"If you're not going to go to the infirmary when you get injured, maybe you should learn some Faith-magic, so you can heal yourself. Didn't the Professor say you have some aptitude in it?" Felix suggests. "So I don't have to skip training to take care of your dumbass!" he quickly adds, as he sees the grin on Sylvain's face.
"Mmm, yeah, she did," Sylvain says, reigning in his smile, staring up at the ceiling as he thinks about it. "Maybe I should. Wouldn't want to keep you from the training grounds, after all."
Deciding to ignore the words, as Sylvain surely knows Felix doesn't actually mind skipping training to make sure he's okay, if a bit annoyed Sylvain didn't just go to the healers, Felix sits down on the bed next to Sylvain, perching as comfortably as he can, trying to give the redhead at least a bit of space despite how narrow the bed is.
Reaching over, he carefully traces a scar starting near Sylvain's collarbone that goes nearly down to his elbow, wrapping halfway around his arm. It's an old scar, but Felix still remembers when Sylvain got it. He remembers a young Sylvain playing the whole thing off as nothing, claiming he just fell and caught his arm on something. But he also knows Sylvain hasn't voluntarily shown the scar to anyone else.
"This is why you wouldn't go to the infirmary, isn't it?" He remembers a young Sylvain almost having to restrain him from going and beating up Miklan himself (not that it would have ended well), as well as the apparent shame Sylvain has always seemed to associate the injury with. "You didn't want them to see this."
Sylvain's smile goes from being somewhat grateful for the help, to sad and melancholy, and Felix would be willing to bet the old memories have surfaced in his mind as well. He lets his hand wander down Sylvain's arm until it reaches his hand. He then laces their fingers together and gives his hand a light squeeze, as a little support. To maybe help him even a little bit.
"Kind of pathetic, isn't it?" Sylvain says with that same sad smile. "Getting beat up by your own brother, and not even trying to fight back." He turns to face the wall as well as he can without letting go of Felix.
"The only one who should be feeling pathetic is Miklan, for hurting you for something you have no control over," Felix growls, tightening his hold on Sylvain's hand. "You were just a kid, of course you couldn't fight back. There's nothing that makes this," he runs a finger over the scar, "something you need to be ashamed of."
Sylvain squeezes Felix's hand back and swallows thickly, but doesn't say anything, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with what Felix said. If Miklan wasn't already dead, Felix would kill him again for everything he put Sylvain through.
Right now, however, that kind of thinking won't help either of them. So instead of voicing these thought, which Sylvain probably doesn't want to hear anyway, he forces himself to relax as well as he can. A few deep breaths later, he lays down and spoons up behind Sylvain, pulls the blanket over both of them, wraps his arms around him, and just holds him until they both fall asleep.