Useful

Characters: Bepo. Rating: K+. Warnings: None

Regaining consciousness hurt. Bepo had heard that, from when he'd asked Penguin and Shachi about their own experiences, less because he was curious and more because he wanted to know what he could do to help them. They'd told him there wasn't really anything he could do, except pump them full of painkillers and just be there because there was nothing worse than waking alone. He hadn't understood then, wondering why he couldn't help them forget their pain like he did when they were awake, but in that same situation for the first time himself, it now made sense.

Pain bloomed from an epicentre somewhere in his abdomen, sharp and insistent, and no amount of hugs would have stopped that. He didn't seem to be under any painkillers – there was no pinch in his paw that Shachi had once described to him – and when he tried to get up, realising that he wasn't where he'd fallen, there were hands in his fur to keep him down.

Knowing that they were there – Law and Penguin, so Shachi was guiding the Tang – brought a relief to him, even though he didn't want to lie still on the bed, and then he understood why they'd said that waking up to company was one of the best things they could have. Seeing their worried faces morph into ones of relief, grins forming out of concerned creases, told him that it was okay now. Even though Law sprang into action, asking questions and making checks that he'd witnessed so many times before but never been on the receiving end of, he couldn't find it in him to be scared of his injuries and what they might mean.

As it turned out, his injury was nothing serious. It had been enough of a blow to knock him out, but nothing vital had been damaged. Bepo knew he wasn't a doctor – that was Law's job – but that meant he was fine to move, right? He was no stranger to pain, and besides, they needed him. He couldn't stay there like an invalid when he was their navigator – no, more than that, because they knew how to use a compass at least. He was their pillow.

Bepo wasn't one for complex comparisons, but pillows served multiple purposes. Somewhere to rest, somewhere safe. A support, soft and yielding but always there. A comfort. If Bepo was to fill even one of those roles, he had to be up, away from the infirmary bed rather than sprawled across it.

They didn't let him up. No matter how much Bepo argued with them, unwilling to use his strength in case he hurt one of them as they pinned him down yet again, they wouldn't let him leave that bed.

"You have to rest!" Penguin protested, his weight pressing down on Bepo's left shoulder. On his other side, Law mimicked the action, and while Bepo could easily force his way up, he didn't fight them.

He did, however, complain. Law called him the worst patient ever, except he was smiling so Bepo didn't take it to heart, mumbling apologies but not backing down. It paid off in the end, as they reached a compromise. Bepo still wasn't perfectly happy with it, because it meant he was still in bed, but now his nakama joined him.

They were careful around his wound, until he decided they were treating him like he was made of glass and yanked them closer. All three humans ended up in the bed eventually, hands and faces buried in his fur, and it wasn't perfect, but Bepo would take it because it meant he could still be a pillow, even while he healed.

Companion piece to yesterday's Injury, because Bepo has his own stubborn streak too.

Thanks for reading!
Tsari