Just a warning, there's talk of nudity in this chapter, but not any actual nudity. There's just the need to examine someone's physical condition and embarrassment. Still, just thought a warning is suitable.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.
Chapter 28
"Do you think Arthur's going to be okay?" Vlad asked.
Lukas glanced over towards Arthur, pleased to see that he seemed to be resting, though not as comfortably as he could have.
"I hope so," Lukas said. "I hope it's just exhaustion, but I can't sense anything physically wrong with him."
"Why do you put emphasis on 'physically'?" Vlad asked.
"You noticed that?"
Vlad nodded. Lukas chewed his lip for a moment before he sighed.
"I can't be sure," Lukas said, "but, if I didn't know any better, I'd almost think that there's a curse on Arthur."
"A curse?" Vlad repeated. "What makes you say that? And when would he have gotten this curse? I mean… He was fine after we escaped from Raj and the others. Do curses really take so long to start working?"
"Some of them can. Others can be dormant for a while, until there's a trigger."
"What kind of trigger?"
"It depends on the type of curse it is, and the one that cast the curse. It could be an emotion that triggers it, or it can be environmental changes, or going to sleep, or a set amount of time. But I don't think we should mention anything about this to Arthur until we can be sure. We don't want to scare him, especially if it turns out to be nothing."
Vlad frowned, before he looked in the same direction again.
"I felt his fear," Vlad said. "It really scared him to see his nose bleeding like that."
"I can imagine," Lukas said. "I also felt scared when I saw that. There was a lot of blood."
"If it's not exhaustion, and it's not a curse, what else can it be?"
Lukas looked towards the side, focusing on a berry bush.
"He could have eaten something he shouldn't," Lukas said.
"But he knows what's safe to eat a lot better than we do," Vlad said. "His family makes medicine."
"You're right. Then what about an insect or something? He could have been bitten and didn't notice."
"I think that's possible, yeah. Is there a way to find out?"
"We can suggest it later, and then we'll have to ask him to let us search."
"You mean, we need to get him naked?"
Lukas felt himself grow darker at the thought, before he nodded.
"We need to bathe anyway," Lukas said. "We could use the opportunity then." He arched his eyebrow when he saw Vlad's casual expression. "Doesn't it bother you? The thought of him being naked?"
"I've helped bathed and been bathed by the other slaves a lot of times," Vlad said. "I've seen my fair share of naked men and women, and they've seen me. Feeling embarrassed about it isn't really a luxury that we could afford."
"…You know, this time, I think you're lucky."
"Huh? Why?"
Lukas felt his face growing even hotter.
"The only person I've seen naked is my little brother," Lukas said. "And only when we were really little. And I don't know how Arthur's going to take it. If he's going to feel about it the same way I do…"
"Then I can just examine him," Vlad said. "I'll see if there are any red spots. That's what I should look for, right?"
"…Red, bumpy… Yeah, I think that's about right."
"Then there's nothing to worry about! I'll handle everything." Vlad frowned. "Hold on, it didn't seem to bother you when you saw me naked."
"That's because it was only your upper body. Not… everything. And I remember you being embarrassed."
"That's because of all the scars. But I don't have them anymore, so that's alright!"
Lukas pursed his lips. He supposed that Vlad had a good point regarding the scars. Vlad's eyes started to wander.
"So, should we get dinner ready?" Vlad asked.
"Y-yes," Lukas said. He was glad for the change in subject. "I-I'll get the fish. Could you gather the fruits? Look for something familiar."
Vlad nodded, and they set to work. In the meantime, Lukas kept thinking about having to inspect Arthur's body. They had avoided bathing together all this time. Lukas or Arthur usually cast a cleaning spell on the three of them. He couldn't understand why they hadn't gone bathing together yet, before he realised that they must have subconsciously been avoiding it.
Okay, so Vlad wasn't really bothered, but did that mean that Arthur also felt uncomfortable about it? Or, was it all just in Lukas's head?
He didn't know why he was obsessing over it. He knew that a lot of friends or companions would bathe together. There was nothing unusual about it. But the thought of Vlad or Arthur made him feel as though it would be very inappropriate. Perhaps he was just thinking too much about it, or perhaps it was because he hadn't been in a situation like that for a long while. As he explained to Vlad, the last person to see him naked was his younger brother, back when they were still children.
Perhaps they should just ask Arthur to allow them to examine him for any bites or other hints of something being wrong. There wouldn't be any reason for Arthur to get completely naked, and they could avoid the whole bathing together situation and just continue to use cleaning spells. Although…
Lukas looked over towards the water as he waited for a fish to come. It did look inviting, and it had been a while since he'd been in the water.
"What is wrong with me?" Lukas muttered.
He was thinking too much about it. And when he realised that he'd let a fish slip away, he knew that it was indeed a problem for him. He needed to focus.
Why did this bother him so much?
…
Arthur walked through the forest, wondering what happened with Vlad and Lukas. It didn't bode well that he was alone. Unless this was a dream, but that also didn't really bode well, especially if Nemthys was involved in some way.
He stopped when he heard voices, and he smiled when he recognised them to be Vlad and Lukas. He approached them, but before he could get close enough, he saw something that made him pause. Vlad and Lukas were kissing each other, and not in a platonic way. He didn't have any experience, but he was pretty sure that one did not kiss a friend on the lips.
He backed up, unsure of the emotions surging through him. He screamed when he suddenly went down, his feet sinking into the ground.
"Did you hear something?" Vlad asked.
"It doesn't matter," Lukas said. "We need to get going soon."
"Lukas!" Arthur called out. "Vlad! Please, help me!"
But he could hear the two of them moving away as he sank deeper into the ground. Tears stung his eyes as he continued to call to them.
"Arthur?"
His eyes snapped open and he gasped. Vlad was right in front of him, and he leaned back when he saw that Arthur was awake.
"Sorry," Vlad said. "I just wanted to tell you that we're about to eat."
"O-oh," Arthur stammered. "Thank you."
"…Is everything alright? Did you have a bad dream?"
Out of everything, the image of Vlad and Lukas kissing each other flooded through his mind, and he shook his head.
"N-no," he said. "It's… It's nothing."
"It's not 'nothing'," Vlad said, sitting down in front of him. "Your emotions are all… tangled. I can't tell what exactly it is that you're feeling, but I know that you are definitely not fine. So, please, just tell me."
Arthur hesitated. He couldn't tell Vlad that he had dreamt of him and Lukas kissing. So, perhaps he should focus on something else in the dream.
"I… I was sinking," Arthur said. "And I called out for you and Lukas, but you didn't come to help me. In fact, it seemed as though you walked away instead."
"Do you think we'd abandon you?" Vlad asked. "Because we wouldn't. You're more likely to abandon me."
"No, we wouldn't!"
"And there you go. By the way, you were unconscious at the time, but… When Raj and the others had us, I kept telling Lukas to run away, but he didn't want to leave. And I got caught because I didn't want to leave you behind. So, really, you don't have to worry about us abandoning you. And you've had plenty of opportunities to abandon me, but you didn't, even before we knew each other. So I'm not worried."
Arthur smiled at Vlad's words. Hearing the confirmation from him helped to ease his mind. Still, he couldn't get the image of the kiss out of his mind.
"By the way, after we're done eating, I'm going to have to ask you to get naked," Vlad said.
"W-what?" Arthur sputtered, his face feeling hot.
"Lukas and I were wondering if something bit you, which would explain why you got sick. We just want to check to see if you have any bites or something."
"I would have felt something like that!"
"Oh, so you always feel it if a bug bites you?"
Arthur bit his lip. Vlad had a point. But still…
"How can you be so casual about asking something like that?" Arthur demanded.
"As I told Lukas, I had to clean a few of my fellow slaves, and they've cleaned me too," Vlad said. "And I've also had the… displeasure of having to wash my former master. So, really, you wouldn't have anything that I haven't seen before."
"That's not something to be proud of!"
"Who says I'm proud of it? I'm just stating facts. You know, Lukas reacted in pretty much the same way."
"Well, at least I know that one of you still has a sense of modesty."
"Arthur, you've seen me partially naked. How would this be any different?"
Arthur remembered that time after they rescued Vlad from Raj the first time, and his cheeks burned hotter. In hindsight, that was a bit too inconsiderate and indecent of him.
"We were trying to heal you," Arthur said. "They aren't similar."
"And we want to examine you to see if we can find what's making you sick, so it's pretty much the same thing."
The worst part in all of this was that Vlad had a point. What was the difference between a treatment and an examination, other than the sequence in which they had to be done? And Vlad had allowed Arthur and Lukas to see his naked torso, filled with the scars he was ashamed of. So then, why couldn't Arthur allow Vlad and Lukas to examine him?
"Alright," Arthur said. "You said we're going to eat first, right?"
Vlad nodded, before he stood.
"Come on," he said. "I hope all the fruits are edible. We also got some fish."
"Oh, good," Arthur said. His stomach growled, and he hoped that Vlad didn't hear that. "I'm coming."
Vlad waited as Arthur pushed himself to his feet, and the two walked together to Lukas, who had skewered the fish and stuck the skewers in the dirt. He was already eating one of them.
"Are you feeling better?" Lukas asked.
Arthur grabbed one of the skewers and nodded. Vlad silently started eating his own fish.
"Yes," he said. "So, Vlad said that you want to examine me, in case there are any bites or something?"
Lukas's mouth pursed, and Arthur could have imagined it, but Lukas looked a little pink. Normally, Arthur would have been amused by Lukas's embarrassment, but he was too embarrassed as well. There was nothing that he could say about that.
"We just want to make sure," Lukas said.
"I think I'll make a few tonics as well," Arthur said. "We'll need to keep our health up."
Vlad's face twisted.
"Please tell me it's not going to be like that other thing you gave me," Vlad said. "That was nasty."
"Sorry," Arthur said. "It's unfortunate that medicine rarely tastes nice."
Lukas's mouth twisted as well. Arthur sighed, before he took a bite of his fish.
The three sat in silence for a while as they finished their food, with Arthur only tossing a few fruits to the side that he pointed out were not edible. And then, when it was all finished, Arthur and Lukas stared at each other as Vlad clapped his hands.
"Okay," Vlad said. "Arthur, let's check you for any bites."
"Do we have to?" he groaned.
"Do you want another nosebleed?"
Arthur sighed, before he removed his tunic. He didn't do anything as Vlad closely inspected him. Every time Vlad's fingers brushed against Arthur's skin, he shivered. Lukas was pointedly looking away, and Arthur was thankful for this bit of privacy.
"I don't see anything," Vlad muttered. "No red areas or anything. Anything else that I need to look out for?"
"Puncture wounds or bumps," Arthur said. "You know, I can check myself."
"You can't see your back. Lukas, are you going to help me?"
Lukas bit his lip before he came closer. Arthur closed his eyes as he felt the two of them examine his body.
"I don't think we need to pull down Arthur's trousers," Lukas said. "We can just check the lower legs. I mean, what are the chances that something could have bitten him higher up?"
"Exactly!" Arthur exclaimed. "There's no way anything could have crawled up very high."
"You're just scared of us seeing you completely naked," Vlad said, his tone of voice completely disinterested. Somehow, this made it even more difficult for Arthur. "But I guess you can just pull up the legs of your trousers."
Arthur sighed in relief. He felt the hands retract, and he turned around to see Vlad looking at him expectantly. He gripped the legs of his trousers and started to pull up.
"This is mortifying," Arthur said.
"I seriously don't understand why you two are so nervous about this," Vlad said. "I mean, there's no reason to be modest."
Arthur didn't know how to respond. He couldn't understand it himself. He flinched when Vlad's fingers started to flutter over Arthur's skin again. He looked down to see Vlad on his haunches, scanning Arthur's skin for any red marks or anything of the like.
"I don't see a bite or anything," Vlad announced. "But I see a few cuts and bruises."
"Really?" Arthur asked, his embarrassment momentarily forgotten as he looked down, seeing what Vlad was referring to. "Oh. I didn't even notice. I think I can get to that."
"Do you think that you feeling bad could be because of an infection?" Lukas asked.
"Although it's possible, I don't think that's the case. The symptoms are not the same. I don't really feel feverish, and that's usually the first indication that there's an infection."
"So, what are we going to do now?"
"Like I said, I can make some tonics for us. And we should make sure to drink enough water."
"Speaking of which," Vlad said, "are we going to have a proper bath, or are we going to use the spell again?"
"Spell," Lukas and Arthur replied simultaneously.
Vlad giggled then.
"You know, I can feel your embarrassment," Vlad said. "All things considered, it's actually amusing."
It took Arthur a moment to understand what exactly it was that Vlad was saying.
"You're enjoying this!" he gasped.
Vlad burst out into full-blown laughter as Arthur and Lukas glared at him.
"This was cruel," Arthur said, as he pulled his tunic over his head.
"I'm sorry," Vlad gasped through his laughter. "It's just… We've been travelling all this time, and we've slept in the same bed, but you two are so embarrassed about Arthur getting naked. It's really funny!"
Arthur felt his face grow hot, and he didn't have to look to know that Lukas was in a similar situation.
"Never do something like this again," Arthur said.
Vlad's laughter faded into giggles until only a grin remained.
"Alright," he said. "But it was really fun to do that."
"I guess we should just be grateful that he didn't do that with fear," Lukas said.
"No, that I definitely wouldn't do! I've felt your fear, and it's not a good feeling."
"Whatever," Arthur sighed. He looked towards the sky. "We should probably get to sleep soon."
"Right," Lukas said. "Let's hope it doesn't take us too long to settle down."
Arthur's face was still hot, and his chest felt strange. He hoped that they would be able to get to sleep before long, and he hoped that there wouldn't be another nightmare.
They settled down on the ground. Arthur couldn't wait until he was in his own bed again. He hated sleeping on the ground. He didn't realise how many luxuries he had in his simple abode until he didn't have access to those luxuries anymore.
He could hear Lukas and Vlad as well, and it seemed as though Lukas at least had some trouble settling down. Vlad's breathing was already even, and he envied the younger boy for being able to calm himself so quickly.
After some time, he sat up. He looked over towards the stream and wandered over. He was thirsty, and it could probably help him to fall asleep.
He swallowed a few mouthfuls before he heard movement beside him. He looked around to see Lukas, who crouched down next to him and started scooping up water as well.
"I hope we're never in that kind of situation again," Arthur whispered.
"Agreed," Lukas said. "But I still don't understand why I got so embarrassed."
Arthur looked over towards Lukas and he froze. The way Lukas looked in the moonlight… It made him seem ethereal and beautiful in a way that Arthur had never thought of before. He quickly tore his gaze away, hoping that Lukas didn't see his blush.
"We should probably try to get back to sleep," Arthur said.
As he and Lukas went back to their sleeping areas, Arthur couldn't help but wonder… Was he feeling attracted to Lukas? And what about Vlad? A quick glance towards Vlad's sleeping face with the full, pouting lips made him wonder.
The reason why Lukas and Arthur are embarrassed now when they weren't at the beginning of the journey is due to the change in their relationship. All three of them are attracted to each other, but Vlad's been desensitised to the point where seeing the others wouldn't bother him, while Lukas and Arthur are only now realising the awkwardness of the situation. And they might have been more comfortable the previous chapter, but the implications didn't click yet.
