DESC: Nile tries- and fails- to hide his injuries from his friends.
CW/Blood
This takes place in The Mafia AU™, wherein Nile is a crime boss in Egypt and the members of Wild Fang work for him (I didn't come up with this au, just thought it was neat). From the Mayblade 2022 prompt list.
Nile was careful to keep his breathing under control, nice and slow. He knew the slightest wince or hesitation would reveal the truth to his friends, and he could not let that happen. He'd promised not to do jobs alone anymore after a bad run in had left one of his hands with only four fingers, so breaking that promise would not be taken lightly. He walked through the halls of his great estate with his usual attitude, keeping his head high and his eyes focused on where he needed to go. Ignoring every ache in his bruised muscles, the sting of his clothes rubbing against his wounds, and the undetermined amount of blood dripping down his back. He thanked the gods that he'd worn a bigger jacket today.
Just as he reached the bathroom door, he felt something trickle down his forehead, its consistency too thick to be sweat. It was fine, he could handle it. He walked in and gently shut the door behind him. One final deep breath filled his lungs before he let it all out with a sigh, dropping his composure and letting himself stumble. He managed to reach the counter and grab it to prevent his legs from giving out and letting him fall. A few more deep breaths. Just get cleaned up and go to bed.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw red in his reflection. He didn't bother looking up to inspect himself; he could already feel everything that needed patching up. His shaky hands fumbled through the drawers, dropping everything he needed on the bathmat bellow. Soon enough, the room began to spin and his head felt too heavy for his body. He tried to lower himself carefully onto the mat, only to lose his strength halfway down and drop to his knees, jolting his nerves.
All he wanted to do in that moment was curl up on the floor and throw up, but he knew it would only get worse if he didn't help himself now. He took off everything that was covering the blood: his shoes, gloves, scarf, and jacket. For a moment, his eyes stayed glued to a big stain on the inside of his jacket, wondering if it would ever wash out. Furthermore, how could he hide it from his friends? He'd have to handwash it… when would be a good time to do it without being noticed? A wave of dizziness washed over him. Perhaps now was not the best time to think about that.
The rest of his clothes were stuck to his skin with blood, so he slowly peeled each item of, grimacing at the sting of his wounds being uncovered. Now down to his briefs, he got to work cleaning up the main wound on his side with a dry washcloth. The way the dry, scruffy material stuck to his ripped flesh made it hard to breathe, like bile was rising in his throat. He squeezed his eyes shut and inhaled deeply, trying to overcome his nausea.
Before he could exhale, a hard knock at the door made his breath hitch. "Anyone in there?" he heard Kyoya ask.
"Shit," Nile breathed, too sick to raise his voice. How could he have forgotten to lock the door?
Kyoya opened the door and stopped in his tracks with a jump when he caught sight of Nile. He stood for a moment, staring down at him with wide eyes. Nile felt his heart beat out of his chest as he braced for the worst.
Kyoya's shocked expression soon turned into a disappointed frown. "I thought I was supposed to be the reckless one," he grumbled, taking a few steps forward and crossing his arms.
Nile took a deep breath. "It was not reckless," he rasped. "Things just didn't go exactly as planned." Kyoya raised an eyebrow at him. Nile looked back down at his wound. "It doesn't matter now; I took care of everything."
"Except for yourself, clearly."
"I'm fine," Nile insisted through gritted teeth.
"You're an idiot," Kyoya spat back. He marched up to Nile and snatched the dry cloth out of his hand. He held it under the tap soaked it, washing out the blood that was already in it. He then kneeled down next to Nile on the side of his wound. "Lie down."
Nile tried to shift positions, but a sharp sting in his back halted him. "Huh… can't," he panted.
Kyoya put his hand on his shoulder and pushed him forward to get a better look at his back. "Jesus… Demure's gonna kill you."
"He's not the boss here, is he?"
"You won't be either, if you keep this shit up." He gently pushed Nile down. "On your side."
Nile complied, slowly leaning down to lie on his uninjured side. He tried his best to relax with his body lying on the bathmat and his head resting on the cold tile floor. His skin crawled as Kyoya wiped the blood off of his side. His eyes focused on the hamper in the corner of the room in an attempt to stop the room from spinning. When Kyoya moved on to wiping the blood off of his back, Nile curled his body up tighter, unconsciously trying to move away from Kyoya's touch.
The sting of an alcohol wipe against a cut just under his neck made his head jolt back and a strangled cry escape his throat. Instinctually squeezing his eyes shut only made his vertigo worse, like he was stuck on some twisted carousel.
Kyoya's hand made its way under his head and lifted it slightly, then lowered it back down onto a folded-up towel. "You need to hold still," he instructed. "Breathe."
Nile held onto the towel as tightly as he could force his tired hands to as Kyoya continued to disinfect his cuts. His jaw soon ached from keeping it clenched, not wanting to give his pain away anymore than he already had.
So tense, he didn't notice when Kyoya stopped until he felt his arms curl around him. "Alright, sit up." Nile's eyes fluttered open, now barely able to take in the light in the room. He pushed against the ground with all his remaining strength to help Kyoya get him off of the floor. Once he was sitting up again, Kyoya grabbed the bandages and began wrapping them around Nile's body. "I don't know how you thought you were going to hide this from us," Kyoya mumbled.
"Maybe I wouldn't have," Nile replied quietly. "Maybe I would've just died on the bathroom floor to escape the scorn."
"Well, I'm glad you know that death is the only escape here. Demure and Benkei will be hearing about this."
"You can't be convinced to keep this one to yourself?" Nile half joked, already knowing the answer.
"You wouldn't do it for me," Kyoya pointed out. He was right, of course. Nile cared too much about him to let him get away with putting himself in danger. Perhaps Kyoya really did feel the same about him, despite what his usual coldness suggested. "You may be the boss here, but you're not above the rules."
As Kyoya finished clipping down the ends of the bandages, Nile leaned his head back and rested it against Kyoya's shoulder. "What rule is there against getting hurt?"
"Don't give me that, you know what you did." He brushed Nile's bangs to the side, irritating a cut on his forehead. "You made a promise, and you broke that promise. You'll have to suffer the consequences like anyone else would."
"Yeah? What are you going to do to me?"
Kyoya hummed in contemplation as he cleaned the blood off of Nile's face. "We're gonna sit you down, and Demure's gonna look you in the eyes and say he's not mad, just disappointed."
Nile let out a tired chuckle. "Oh, god. Spare me please," he lamented. "Just chop another one of my fingers off instead."
Kyoya glared down at him. "Oh, you think we're joking about that now, do you?"
"Hey, it's not your hand. I can joke about it if I want to."
"Then maybe we will chop off one of your digits. A more useful one this time, like this one," Kyoya suggested as he flipped up his middle finger.
"Now you're just being cruel," Nile whined.
Once Kyoya had applied a few band-aids to Nile's face, he slipped his arms under Nile's back and legs. "Right, let's get you to bed." He lifted Nile off the ground bridal-style and stood up with ease.
Nile looked down at the floor over his shoulder. "What about my clothes?"
"You can clean them yourself when you've healed enough."
Nile pouted at him only long enough for his head to start spinning again. He closed his eyes and lay his head back on Kyoya's shoulder. The sway of Kyoya walking out of the room was almost enough to make him sick again, so he inhaled deeply into Kyoya's neck. He always smelled faintly of dirt and the millions of stray cats that found their way into his home. It was strange, but it brought comfort to Nile.
Hearing a door open and close around them, Nile opened his eyes again. They were in his room, an open space decorated with gold accents, tall bookshelves, and a large Persian rug. Kyoya brought him over to his bed at the far end of the room, next to the large balcony that looked over Nile's whole estate.
Kyoya lay him gently down on the bed and pulled a few blankets over his body. The late afternoon breeze blew through the thin white curtains that hung over the entrance of the balcony. "Do you want me to close that?" Kyoya asked him.
"No," Nile murmured, already feeling himself starting to drift off.
"Are you sure? It'll get cold soon."
"Mhm…"
Kyoya sat down next to him and ran his fingers through Nile's hair. "Nile?"
"Hm?"
"Never do that shit again."
Nile pushed his head further into Kyoya's touch. "I won't, I promise."
"That's what you said the first time."
"I know, I'm sorry." He closed his eyes again as Kyoya started to softly scratch the back of his head. "I love you."
"I love you too, idiot." Kyoya stayed for a little while longer, lulling Nile to sleep with his touch. Nile found it surprisingly easy to fall asleep despite the pain- and the emotionally charged scolding he was bound to get when he woke up.
