Hold

Characters: Shachi, Uni. Rating: K+. Warnings: None

Shachi stretched, yawning as wakefulness overtook him and rolling onto his back. His shades were gone, although he had no recollection of removing them himself, but he ignored that for the moment, keeping his eyes closed as he familiarised himself with his situation.

He was in the infirmary – yup, that matched with his memories. He'd ended up drugged into a deep sleep thanks to the drink Law was supposed to have drunk, and his nakama had dumped him in the infirmary to recover. He hadn't bothered to leave the bed after he'd woken up, the early warning signs of a hangover starting to hammer softly at the back of his head, so he'd just gone back to sleep where he was.

The sleep it off tactic appeared to have worked. There was no throbbing in the back of his head to distract him, so the hangover had probably passed. He hadn't drunk all that much, anyway, so it was only ever going to be a light hangover. Still, Shachi was glad to have missed it.

Speaking of missing things, he distinctly remembered Law being there when he fell asleep, but his captain's unmistakable presence wasn't in the room at all now. That was unusual – Law liked to be there when his nakama woke up. Penguin wasn't there either, which was also odd. On the times Law wasn't there, Penguin would always make sure to be around, although Shachi did remember him leaving before he fell asleep.

Instead, it seemed as though the designated presence for the day was Uni. The taller man didn't often linger in the infirmary, preferring quick visits where possible, and while Shachi would never say he didn't want Uni around – Uni was nakama, through and through – he wasn't used to him sitting by his bedside, especially without anyone else.

"Hey," he said, despite the fact that Uni would have known he was conscious the moment he woke. "Pass my shades, would you?" Uni shifted, and Shachi held out his hand expectantly. The glasses didn't come.

Instead, a fist clenched itself in the neckline of his top and Shachi found himself bodily hauled into a sitting position by the hold before Uni's arms wrapped around his midsection tightly.

"Uni?" he asked, slightly concerned. Now that he focused, Uni's emotions didn't seem stable at all. "What's-" He was cut off by a tightening of the arms, restricting his breathing and leaving him gasping slightly.

"You scared me," Uni muttered, leaning down until his chin rested on Shachi's shoulder. It was a good thing Shachi was used to translating whatever Uni said from behind his cloth barrier, as the same neckerchief muffled his voice. "You… why didn't you tell me what you were going to do?"

"I," Shachi started, but paused as he realised he didn't have a valid reason. Before his grilling from Law and Penguin he might have tried to claim it, but after that it was clear he'd been a little too intoxicated to make calls.

"I'm sorry," Uni continued, as if he hadn't spoken, and Shachi was selfishly glad his nakama wasn't making him face his mistake again, although why Uni felt the need to apologise was beyond him. "I didn't make you clarify, so I didn't think to stop you. My negligence could have got you killed, I'm sorry."

Shachi hadn't even stopped to think about how his actions would have seemed to his nakama. He'd just made sure someone was around to pick up the pieces if things went wrong then merrily gone on with his plan.

His potentially suicidal plan, now he was sober and realised that his logic for why it couldn't have been poison was seriously flawed.

The idea that his chosen nakama would bear the guilt if the plan had gone seriously awry had never crossed his mind, but his current position, crushed against Uni's body as if the taller man feared he'd disappear if he let go, brought reality crashing down.

He knew, realistically, that there was nothing Uni could have done. Penguin and Law had both complained on multiple occasions about his stubbornness, and Uni didn't have what it took to out-stubborn him. Uni knew that too, but the situation had scared him into the what-ifs, and Shachi couldn't blame him for that.

He wrapped his arms around his nakama in turn, burying his face in the front of his shoulder and feeling Uni's cheek settle on the top of his head.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking properly," he admitted, muffled against the familiar material of their uniform boiler suits. "None of it would have been your fault."

"I knew how much you'd had to drink," Uni argued. "I should have realised you weren't thinking straight and stopped you." Shachi shrugged as best he could in the other man's embrace. There wasn't really a reply for that, unless he wanted to open an entire debate, which neither of them needed.

"I'm okay," he mumbled eventually, just to fill the silence. The hold was tight, and he'd probably be bruising slightly later, but it was warm. Shachi was content to stay as he was for as long as Uni wanted, hiding his eyes from the light using Uni's shoulder. "You don't have to worry about me anymore."

Uni chuckled, and the noise sounded slightly damp, as if he'd been crying a little.

"Next time you tell me you're about to do something stupid, I won't let you go anywhere until you give me the entire plan," he said, and Shachi didn't doubt him. If he was honest with himself, the idea was even comforting.

Another instalment to the Defend, Drink and Guilt series (chapters 204-206), because the idea wouldn't leave me alone.

In other news, I'm going to be going off on a dig on Sunday, so while I still intend on keeping up with the daily updates, depending on how exhausted I am and how good the wifi is where I'm staying the chapters may be a bit sporadic for the next two weeks.

Thanks for reading!
Tsari