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[vecna]

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[striketwice]

[ Alec waves the portal shut again. No need to have it sitting open for just anyone to come across. At the command, his eyebrows go up. ]

Damn, Henry. This is hardly the time, don't you think?

[ No, he knows Henry doesn't mean in the sexy way. He shimmies out of this jeans, easing them down over his wounded knee. The blood really does make it look worse, but with a bit of cleaning it will become clear that the damage isn't bad. There's a bit of a gash in the skin, and some bruises are already starting to form. Nothing worse than would have happened after a tumble down the stairs or something similar. ]

[vecna]

[Ah, but this time, Henry doesn’t so much as acknowledge the quip. It rolls right off of him as he preps a round cotton pad with disinfectant alcohol, moving back down into a crouch to focus on where Alec’s blood stains his skin. It’s as though it’s a fixed focal point, and his attention is unwavering from it.

It makes him seem… intense. Or rather, without purposefully smoothing it over with his usual act of friendly politeness, this is just the norm now laid bare.

Though when the blood is swept away, the injury really doesn’t look so bad at all, and this quiet severity seems to recede ever so slightly from his demeanor. But not completely. He still needs the full story.]

So are you going to tell me what happened?

[striketwice]

[ Alec haas been on the receiving end of many such treatments for cuts and scrapes and far worse. He doesn't so much as flinch when the disinfectant stings. He just watches Henry while he works, sees some of the tension eke out of him as the blood is cleaned away to reveal a minor wound at best. ]

Sprezzatura's monster was out having a romp in her body. Not sure what happened to let her out. She was like that when I found her.

I took care of it. She just got in a lucky shot last minute, that's all.

[vecna]

Sprezzatura?

[He looks up at him again, intently, the information surprising. That isn’t a name he expected, but—

No.

Sprezzatura’s monster. The difference, blessedly, makes itself clear in his mind, aided by how minor this gash beneath all the blood really seems.

…He returns to cleaning up the wound. Gentle, gentle.]

I see. That’s unfortunate, but maybe it was inevitable someone would have the bad luck of running into her oni. The last time we spoke, she seemed more than eager to cause trouble.

[“I took care of it”, Alec says, though.]

Are you really not hurt anywhere else?

[striketwice]

"Eager to cause trouble" about sums it up.

[ Alec can't be so sure of what condition Sprezzatura herself will be in once she wakes, though he frankly doesn't care. They don't need to talk about that part anyway. ]

I'm just sore and tired. It's an unfortunate side effect of my Enhancement spells. I just need some painkillers and I'll be fine.

[vecna]

[Though the current state of their friendship feels utterly fragile, concern for Sprezzatura’s state will flit its way into Henry’s mind — eventually. Right now, his focus is on Alec. The fact that this happened at all while he was blissfully unaware of it…

It bothers him.]

I borrowed some from the clinic. You can take it after I’m done with your knee.

[The wound’s clean, the gash still a little swollen from being so fresh, but nothing that can’t be neatly patched up. Henry works on that part next.]

...I know this wasn’t that bad- [but it could have been worse, he’s sure] -but you should call on me the next time you’re in trouble.

[striketwice]

[ He should probably bristle at that. Be upset by the assumption that he can't handle himself. He doesn't, and he isn't. That's not what Henry means and he knows it. He also knows that were their positions reversed, no matter how scary Henry and his powers are, he'd want to be there too. ]

I will. But hey, you know me, I'm a tough guy to catch, let alone hurt.

[vecna]

You are frustrating in that sense, too, yes.

[He'd know from the dream.]

But you never know what this prison will throw at us at any given moment. Whose monsters will come out and cause trouble with no rhyme or reason for it.

[striketwice]

That's the whole point. I want to be annoying to fight because I don't want people to fight me.

[ That, and he likes having an edge. Likes having an answer for damn near anything anyone could throw at him. He never, ever wants to be caught unprepared. Not again. Not since that day in his father's garage. ]

Same goes for you, you know. If you're ever in trouble.

[vecna]

[If it comes down to having control over any given situation, then yes, Henry understands. He's similar.]

If I ever need magical assistance, you're the first person who'll come to mind.

[But this is the least of his concerns right now. Is this what it's like, putting someone else's well-being above your own? He would be angry at anyone who tried to harm him; but he would completely wish to oblitrate anyone who'd seriously hurt Alec.

Henry stands, finished, then sits beside him while he rummages around for a small bottle of painkillers.]

But for me, you're the priority, all right?

[striketwice]

[ Alec gives his knee an experimental flex. Oh yeah, that's going to hurt for a while. Maybe he'll call Ori and have her patch him up enough to walk.

The mattress dips beside him, and his gaze turns to Henry. His eyes travel the line of his profile while he digs around in the stuff he brought from the clinic. ]

Yeah, and that goes both ways. I don't care what kind of assistance you need, call me.

[vecna]

[The pills clack around in the bottle as he pops off the top and shakes out two. He hands them over to Alec.

I don't care what kind of assistance you need, call me. Henry's not sure he can promise that if the situation is too much, too dangerous. Too unpredictable. Alec might consider him the priority—a pleasant feeling, yes, he’ll not deny that—but why put the whole crux of his universe into danger to spare himself?

So. He just glosses right over it.]

Want a glass of water for that?

[striketwice]

I got it.

[ He just takes those pills and pops them in his mouth without water. Whatever, he's done it a million times before. Sometimes you just don't have the luxury of ducking into the kitchen. ]

You didn't answer me, Henry.

[vecna]

[He sure didn't. Maybe it was fruitless to hope Alec would just let it go.

Casually, screwing the lid back on the bottle-] If it makes sense to ask for your help, then I will. I can promise you that much.

[striketwice]

[ Henry should know by now that Alec never lets anything go. ]

And what qualifies as "making sense" in your mind, huh?

[vecna]

[The Stranger Things cast would also like to ask Henry this question, probably.

But Henry's logic, as it is for everything, is heavily biased. In this case, the bias skews towards Alec. Unsurprisingly.]

A situation where I wouldn't just be putting you in equal or more danger. That would defeat the point.

[striketwice]

Henry...

[ It comes out in a sigh. Alec tucks his good leg under him so he can turn to face the other man a bit better. ]

You know I'm not the best at this whole... teamwork thing. This is new territory for me in a lot of ways. I don't like the idea of you being in danger. I like the idea of putting you in danger even less. But I'm also smart enough to realize that the two of us together are probably a force to be reckoned with, in this place or any other.

I'm not asking you to put me in danger. I'm asking you to fucking trust me to pull you out of it.

[vecna]

[He meets his gaze again, unwavering as Alec speaks. The idea of doing anything together is foreign to Henry, too, but it isn't as though he doesn't trust Alec. It isn't about trust. He should make that clear.]

I do trust you. I trust you more than anyone I've ever met. I never doubted that we'd work well together.

[He pauses, thinking on how to explain what he feels without letting it all unspool at once in an ugly mess.]

But if you were injured, really injured for my sake? [And in a place, unlike this one, where death is the permanent sort.] Do you know what that would do to me?

[There are some weaknesses that would undo him more painfully, and more thoroughly, than even flame.]

[striketwice]

[ Their gaze catch one another's, steady and strangely intense. The stormlight in Alec's eyes flickers, pulsing with the very real ralization of just how much of himself he's already given to this man, and how much Henry has given in return. ]

The same thing it would do to me, probably, if the reverse were true. I told you, this goes both ways. And I'll be damned before I let you give me special treatment that you don't want for yourself.

[vecna]

[As always, the storm in Alec’s eyes is arresting, and in this case, it seems to underline his point. As hard as it is to parse that anyone could feel as intensely about their connection as Henry, looking at him now, it’s almost too easy to believe. This really does go both ways, not in just sentiment, but in degrees. Like they’ve exchanged the rawest parts of themselves, trusting the other not to break it in their hands.

Maybe that’s exactly what they’ve done.

He exhales, not realizing he’d been holding in a breath. It takes effort to even break away from the light in Alec’s eyes.] I'm not trying to be unfair. I just don't want anything to happen. When we're free of this place... you're all I have.

[striketwice]

[ You're all I have. Fuck, why do those words seize him like that? Like fingers curling tight around his heart so hard it threatens to stop. Most of all, why does he let it happen? He should know better. People are traps, after all, and Alec's fallen for the biggest one there is. There's a massive, Henry-sized hole in his armor and one day that's going to get the better of him.

He supposes he'll just have to find an answer for that, too. Both of them will. ]

I know. But don't forget, I've been throwing myself headlong into danger longer than you've been alive. It hasn't killed me yet.

[ Sometimes despite his best efforts. But that was then. ]

[vecna]

[If there is an answer for it. Maybe this is just what it's like, sharing so much with another person: the gaping hole in one's once-impervious armor is just part of the arrangement.]

Well. I'll take what comfort I can.

[He does not doubt Alec's capabilities. This is just a theoretical, shaped like a worst-case scenario. But it's one that would shatter so much if it ever came to pass.

So where does that leave them? Glancing back at Alec, he supposes the man's right. It leaves them with trust.]

But fine, you win this one. I'll trust you to get me out of any kind of trouble, as long as you promise you'll always do the same.

[striketwice]

I promise.

[ That's all either of them can hope to do. It's a promise that might be harder to keep here, where so much is out of their hands, but once they get home? He's going to do his level best to make sure neither of them have to worry about it. ]

Besides, if nothing else, know I'm gonna fight ten times harder than I ever have, now that I've got something worth fighting for.

[vecna]

[Oh, Alec. Be careful of the things you say. Every day, Henry does not think he cannot possibly entwine himself around this man anymore than he already has.

And every day, Alec proves him wrong. Again, that constricting feeling grips him.]

You had better. [A small, small smile.] I'll know if you're holding back. And anyone who puts us in danger doesn't deserve that.

[striketwice]

[ Consider: Alec not longer cares to be careful about the things he says to Henry. What would the point be, when so much is already out in the open? ]

Would you? You haven't even seen all of my tricks yet.