birdwithoutasong | As numb as I've become

Entry tags:

c: dhaos,
ky kiske

As numb as I've become

Who: Ky Kiske (

fistfullofmagic)
Universe: AU Guilty Gear
What: Continued from here
Warning: Slavery, sexual/shippy content.

[Ky hasn't gotten a satisfactory answer about the pain that Dhaos is in, but the most important thing is to at least temporarily get him out of the sight of this place, and so Ky's headed back to the part of Paris that he understands. It's where he feels safe, and he prays that he can help Dhaos to feel safe there as well.]

It might be a good idea for you to have a hot bath. If you want, it's just... I think that might help. But first I'll help you up the stairs.

[Ky glances at them, then back at Dhaos. Perhaps he should have picked out a hotel, somewhere closer and accessible to the cart, so Dhaos need not exert himself too much.]

If you think they're manageable, that is. If not, it's not too late to do something else. It's only the one flight, my apartment is on the second floor.

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[Dhaos eyes the stairs critically, weighing his options. He's really not sure what else can be done besides attempting the stairs, much as he'd rather avoid the risk of falling if his still-healing leg gives out. It's not as if he can ask his master to carry him; even if he were willing to press his luck this early, Dhaos is unsure whether Ky would even be physically able to do so.

His legs buckle under him almost immediately when he attempts to stand, sending Dhaos to his knees. Perhaps there was some merit in asking after all... He returns his gaze to Ky.]

...It doesn't seem my body will allow me to scale a flight of stairs. I don't wish to impose, but do you think you could perhaps... [He pauses for a moment, unsure, before continuing on.] ...Perhaps carrying me might be a suitable method?

We could get a hotel room.

[Ky's quite unsure as well, he's never had to care for another person at all. But he certainly doesn't want to make Dhaos do anything that he can't, and from the looks of it Ky thinks he can manage. His fear is dropping him, but Ky's trudged up these stairs wearily and at the end of his physical abilities plenty of times, and he knows exactly how long they are.]

I can carry you up, I believe.

[There's a landing halfway up, worst case Ky will have to strain himself a little, he thinks. He wouldn't be willing to try if he thought he might drop Dhaos.]

I promise not to hurt you trying.

[For the first time since his last taste of freedom, Dhaos smiles. Perhaps he really can place his trust in this human.]

That you would not intentionally do so is enough.

[He then repositions himself to better allow himself to be picked up. Ky will likely find him much lighter than a man Dhaos' size probably should be; one could never be entirely sure with Gears.]

It's...not. It's really not.

[That's all Ky says for the moment, though, focusing instead on picking up Dhaos and making sure that he holds him firmly. Even if he is lighter, which is...worrying and yet convenient, getting him up the stairs still takes Ky's full attention until they're there, and then Ky sets him down on the landing and and pulls out his key.]

I'll get a spare key made for you, as soon as I get a chance, so once you're better you can...come and go as you please. Just be careful, of course.

[For a few moments all Dhaos can do is stare wide-eyed at the other blond. The kindness he had been shown so far was far more than he had been shown in such a long time, and now this? It shakes the very foundations of what he had come to believe about where he stands in the eyes of humans.]

...You would allow me that sort of freedom...?

[Somehow, that thought makes him feel a sort of warmth centered around his chest. Is this... gratitude?]

[Ky isn't quite sure how to react to that staring, so he ducks his head and focuses on unlocking the door to his apartment.]

It's not me allowing it. No man has the right to own another.

No matter what others believe.

[The Gear says nothing while Ky is dealing with the lock, but he is wearing a bright smile by the time the other man has turned back to him. He just feels so happy that someone actually gives a damn about him not as some sort of exotic showpiece, but as a living being.]

Thank you.

[ Ky isn't sure how to feel about that, beyond guilty. He hasn't really done anything at all, less than he has an obligation to do. He'll just do his best to earn that smile. ]

Come in and have a seat, there's the couch. Are you more tired, or can I make something for you to eat?

[Ever so slowly, Dhaos gets to his feet again, this time more successfully than the first. He carefully limps his way over to the couch, flopping down on it with far less grace than he would have liked. It's clear he's very tired, but the Gear is far from ready to sleep just yet. For now, hunger far outweighs the other concerns of the severely underweight blond.]

I am... very much in need of sustenance...

I'll make some soup for you.

[Ky's aware both that if Dhaos hasn't eaten in a while then he'll need to be eased into it and that Ky is unlikely to mess up the making of soup.]

Stay there and I'll try not to be too long.

[True to his word, Ky returns first with a glass of water and then with chicken noodle soup]

The bowl's hot. I can hold it while you eat.

[Dhaos looks utterly puzzled by that offer.]

...But how am I to eat if I cannot hold the bowl to sip from?

[He seems to have no idea what the function of the spoon he was handed is.]

Ah...

[Ky decides that explaining it might not work as well as he'd like, so he shifts his hold -- which requires shifting closer -- until he holds a spoonful of the soup up near him to blow on to cool, then move towards Dhaos. It's over the bowl, so that if it drips it will drip there.]

Open your mouth.

[Dhaos instinctively tenses up a little when Ky moves closer, before forcing himself to relax again. It's alright... He's not going to hurt me for not understanding these - he eyes the spoon appraisingly - strange tools I suppose humans use for eating. Event though he tells himself this, he hesitates a moment before following instructions.]

[Ky lets it go, swallowing the urge to reassure him. Dhaos will have to see in time that he means no harm, no amount of words will work. The soup's too hot for Ky to want Dhaos to simply drink it from the bowl, or he'd let Dhaos do what he's more comfortable with.]

[Aside from the initial hiccup, the meal passes uneventfully. Perhaps at one time it would have irritated Dhaos that he was being hand fed like an invalid that can't take care of himself, but now... Now he's just grateful to have a full stomach and someone willing to care for him in his admittedly rather battered state. It's... a nice feeling.

Naturally, this is when one of the wounds on his chest decides to rather sharply remind him that it hasn't been properly attended to. Dhaos doesn't quite manage to suppress the rather dog-like whine of pain that ends up escaping him.]

[The empty bowl in Ky's hands falls the last couple centimeters to the table with a bit of a clatter, as Ky almost immediately turns his full attention back to Dhaos. Certainly his concern is complete.]

Are you alright?

[Clearly not, no.]

What's the problem?

[Every instinct screams at Dhaos to pretend that it's nothing, and retreat somewhere to lick his wounds himself. He ignores this urge, for the Gear knows very well that he quite simply can't properly care for himself in this condition.]

...I believe one of the larger wounds on my chest may be infected.

[Dhaos dares not voice any direct requests for assistance. Ky had already done more for him than anyone had in years, and he's somewhat afraid to test his luck any further today. Even if he was bold enough to do so, he knows quite well that he doesn't know enough about human medicine to request anything specific.]

[Ky stares in a moment of honest confusion on what he's supposed to do about this for a moment, before his face goes to something close to neutral, forced that way by the fact that he's making himself thing of a solution instead of being overwhelmed.]

I'll have to clean it out then, but I'm worried about blood loss. How lightheaded are you at the moment?

Not in the least. It simply hurts more than it should.

[His tone and expression remain neutral, belying the flood of relief he feels at not being refused.]

[He can find a doctor if he needs to, but he'd prefer being able to take care of this sooner than not. Prefer to take care of it himself and not let someone else run the risk of messing up, of hurting Dhaos.

He gets up and returns shortly with gauze and a topical antibiotic, as well as a Bible that he sets carefully next to Dhaos.]

It's...It would help me.

[He's really offering it out the way a child might a beloved teddy bear -- its presence comforts him and he wants Dhaos to be comforted.]

[The religious significance of the book is lost on Dhaos - if any of his previous owners had been at all religious, they had not shown it in front of him - but he does catch the true meaning of Ky indirectly offering it to him. It quiets his anxieties for the moment. As carefully as he can, the Gear removes his sad excuse for a shirt.

His torso is heavily scarred, as are his arms. Most of the newer injuries seem in fairly good shape, but a few are almost certainly infected, the one on his chest included.

Dhaos gives Ky a small smile.]

I trust you.

[If they were religious men then they should have known what they were doing was wrong -- should have done better.

Ky only lets himself look sadly at the wounds for a moment before he makes himself get down to business. And then it's a slow process of reopening wounds, cleaning them, and wrapping them.

He's clear that he has to shut out any noises that Dhaos might be inclined to make, but even just knowing that he's doing something that might make Dhaos scream is bad enough. Still, he'll do what he has to.

That's what he always does.]

[It says something about Dhaos' endurance that the only sound he makes throughout the entire process is the occasional hiss when the more inflamed injuries are being worked on. Otherwise, he's utterly silent.

When the last wound is clean and bandaged, he allows himself a small sigh of relief, and then allows himself to slump forward onto his... The thought gives him pause. 'Master' is unfitting, for it lumps the other blond in with the sorry excuses for people that had kept him bound before.

Dhaos smiles slightly when the thought comes to him.

'My savior...']

[Ky offers a prayer under his breath when he's done, simultaneously relieved and concerned over the lack of general noise from Dhaos. He must have been through so much, and Ky's only sure how to start to help.

Ky pats Dhaos on the back stiffly, the contact not something he's used to but also not something that he can refuse.]

Let me help you to bed so you can sleep for a while.

[Ky feels oddly exhausted himself, for all that it's early, but he's sure that he won't be sleeping. And if he did the sofa would be fine, will be fine when it turns properly to night. Dhaos certainly deserves the bed.

It's the least Ky can do.]

[Remarkably, Dhaos doesn't flinch at suddenly being patted on the back. Instead, he buries his face in Ky's shoulder to hide the tears of joy that escape him. A bed. He'd be able to sleep in an actual bed. Not a mat in the corner or the floor like everywhere else he had been forced to sleep for so long; it's enough to overwhelm him, almost to the point of being unable to speak. The few words he does manage are filled with gratitude.]

...I would like that...

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