Despite being sheltered inside the prison walls, Will could still feel the stinging bite of winter. The concrete absorbed the cold, and the small electric heater in his room only did so much to fight it off. At the moment, the tall boy was trying to coax a seed into growing in his lab, but the cold atmosphere made the sprouts wither and die as soon as he withdrew his hands.
A soft knock sounded at the door, but Will refused to look away from the small plants he was tending to. "Come in!" He called out, his gaze focused on the steadily growing stem in front of him. He wasn't even sure the other person had heard until the door creaked open and shut with a click.
"Hey, Will." Damian crossed the room, his light footsteps hardly making a sound. He plopped down on a stool just out of Will's field of vision, releasing a quiet sigh and resting his head on the counter. "What're you growing today?" His voice sounded strained, which nagged at Will's attention.
"Lavender." He murmured, waiting for the plant to flower before he turned to Damian. The teen was slumped over on a stool, leaning on the counter for support to keep himself upright. Will's jaw dropped. "This is the third time this week! Gods, how are you awake?" He frantically ran his hands through his hair, pulling out gauze from a drawer.
"Couldn't tell you." Damian responded quietly. He was using his blood soaked shirt as a makeshift pillow. His back, arms, and chest were covered in lacerations. None of them were extremely deep, but the amount of blood on him certainly made it look like they were. "Olthen says he's prepping me for something." He continued, staring blankly at the wall.
"Just stay still." Will's voice was muffled by the roll of medical tape held in his teeth. Damian flinched as Will began to clean the wounds with wet paper towels, sending freezing water running down his back. "Gods, I'm sorry. I know this hurts." Will started rambling nervously, starting up some of the same conversations Damian had heard the last time he was in here. "... and he reopened some of old wounds too. I'll get you out of training tomorrow, but I'm not sure how long I can get you besides that."
Damian listened silently, more or less just trying to refrain from using his shaky voice or risk a pained whimper. He concentrated on Will's voice, managing a half smile when he heard it crack several times in a row. It was something, he noted, that tended to happen when Will was passionate about a topic.
"Sorry, stay still, sorry!" Damian grimaced as a burning sensation raced up his spine, causing him to squirm a bit. One of Will's hands gripped onto his shoulder, holding him steady. "I need to make sure you don't have nerve damage." Will murmured, applying some kind of cream to the cuts on his back. Damian tried to control his breathing and block out the pain. He squeezed his eyes shut, accidentally letting a few tears slip down his cheeks.
"Gods, Damian, please just hang in there." Damian froze up as he felt Will's hands on his face, wiping the tears away in broad strokes. "It's almost over, I promise." He sat rigidly still as Will finished putting the cream on his back. The stool was abruptly spun around.
"Slow it down, Will." Damian stammered, almost falling off. He was rewarded with a weak smile from the lanky teen. Will examined his chest before getting to work again, using the freezing cold, water soaked paper towels to clean away the blood. Being forced to face Will gave Damian more to focus on. Right now he was eye level with Will's curly hair, which he sort of wanted to run his hands through, but the pain from his bloodied arms said otherwise. He analyzed the concentrated look on Will's face, and the way he wrinkled his nose almost imperceptibly every time he was forced to touch a wound.
"Damian! Stay with me!" Will had started snapping his fingers in front of Damian's face, startling the boy. "I need you to stay conscious." He continued, starting to apply the cream again. This time placing a steady hand on Damian's stomach. Damian bit the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from making any kind of noise in response to this.
"Does it help if I talk? Will that keep you up?" Will asked, grabbing the gauze and wrapping it around Damian's torso. He nodded weakly in response, trying to not wince in pain. If he was being honest with himself, he'd admit he wasn't really listening to what Will was saying, as much as just the sound of his voice in general.
"I look like a mummy." He mumbled the phrase so quietly, he was almost certain Will didn't hear him. However seconds later, he heard soft laughter coming from Will. He wore a concerned expression, but the faint smile remained on his face.
"I wish you didn't." Will ran his hands through his hair, grabbing ahold of Damian's left arm to clean it off. His other hand moved back to the teen's shoulder, holding him still. Damian was a bit fed up with the cold water and squirmed a bit, almost toppling off the stool. "Damian, hold still! You better not reopen any of those wounds." Will grumbled, moving his hands to Damian's hips as he adjusted him.
"Sorry." Damian had meant for his voice to come out gruff, but it shook instead, forcing him to clear his throat a few times. He silently cursed himself for this in his head, but the damage was already done. The embarrassment sent the burning red from the tips of his ears down to his cheeks.
Will caught this immediately and started feeling for a fever. He pulled his lip in between his teeth, his hand brushing up against Damian's forehead. "Doesn't seem like a fever yet, but you could be getting one." He sighed nervously. He began rubbing circles into the shoulder his hand rested on, but Damian was pretty sure he hadn't even noticed.
After a moment, he decided to indulge in this and kept his mouth shut. He looked over at the flowering lilac on the table behind them. "Who's that for?" He asked quietly, shaking his head to keep his vision from blurring. Will looked up from his arm, a vial held in between his teeth. He took it out of his mouth, and looked at the lilac.
"Technically? I guess at this point, for you." Will replied nonchalantly, starting to cover Damian's left arm in a layer of gauze, and taping it in place. Damian stared at the plant, looking back and forth for a moment as the blush staining his cheeks grew more pronounced. They fell into a silence for a minute or so before Will's face suddenly turned a bright red.
"I-uh... It's in the cream! The flower- I mean, the lilac, makes an antiseptic when you infuse it in water, and I mix it with other stuff, so it's a cream! Not like, I plan to give you flowers, if you didn't want flowers, obviously. I just- I uh... you're hurt a lot, but like so is everyone. But you come visit me the most. To get healed, I mean." Damian was only half registering the rant, a bit affronted by Will's sudden outburst. Will just sighed and covered his face with his hands for a moment. "Gods, okay. You're going to pass out." He shook his head and held Damian's face in his hands, snatching a flashlight off the counter.
Damian squeezed his eyes shut as Will attempted to shine the flashlight into them. "Can you not?" He grumbled quietly, still trying to peace everything that had just happened together.
"I need to check if you have a concussion. Your right arm isn't too bad, so this is more important right now." Will moved his thumb to Damian's cheek, trying to force him to open his eyes. The boy reluctantly complied a moment later, squinting at the light in his face. "Good, thank you." Will didn't move his hand, allowing Damian to lean his head on it for support.
Damian let his head droop a little, happy to call it quits here and slip into a small coma for the next 24 hours, but Will tilted his head back upwards. "The faster you do this, the faster the light goes away. Just look at fixed point on my face."
With some quite protesting, Damian managed to keep his eyes locked onto Will's, trying to ignore the blinding light. Will was easy on the eyes, that was for sure, but it also meant Damian was yelled at a few more times for dozing off. "Alright, no concussion." Will sounded relieved as he drew his hands away from Damian again.
"I could've told you he didn't hit me in the head." Damian grumbled, trying to keep his balance without Will holding him. Will picked up the cold paper towels again and rolled his eyes.
"That would've been helpful." He began cleaning the dried blood off Damian's arm, and the two settled into a peaceful silence, which was only disturbed by Will occasionally mumbling to himself, and Damian hissing in pain. It was only after Damian was officially patched up did either one of them speak up.
"What now?" Damian yawned, his eyes half closed as he swayed a bit precariously on the stool. Will finished putting his supplies away and turned back to him.
"You're going to get some rest." He decided, grabbing Damian's hands and guiding the boy to his feet. Damian let out a snarky "Finally.", but didn't complain as he was lead out of the lab. He blinked in surprise when Will stopped in front of his own room.
"My room's that way." Damian jabbed a finger at the opposite direction down the hallway, but Will simply shook his head. He opened the door, shooing Damian inside the closet-like space.
"You're too weak, and I don't have the time to carry you to your room." Will sat Damian down on his bed, expecting a slew of protests, but was a bit shocked when the only response he got was: "You have heat!"
"Do you not?" His eyes widened a little, watching Damian shake his head. The boy took off his shoes, wincing as he laid down. Will quickly covered him in blankets, feeling guilty. "I can talk to a Olthen about it. I have to tell him that you can't finish training today or go tomorrow. And that..." He trailed off, noticing Damian had passed out, his face squished against the pillow. Will observed him for a moment, watching his breathing ease, and feeling for a steady pulse. He gently moved some of the hair out of Damian's face and without hesitation, pressed his lips to Damian's red cheek. The boy hardly stirred under the light touch, but Will stood up quickly, recoiling in silent shock.
He left the room as fast as possible as retreated to the lab, collapsing onto the stool in front of the lilac. "Gods, Olthen is going to kill me!" He muttered, staring at the lilac. The plant naturally grew towards his outstretched fingers, brushing lightly up against his palm. "No one needs to know." He sighed, resting his forehead against the cool countertop with a defeated sigh. He wasn't sure who he was talking to. The plant maybe? At least if it responded it would prove he was going insane.
"So, so gonna kill me." He rambled, grabbing the scissors to cut off the flowers. He knew without a doubt that Damian would need more of that cream within the next two days, or he would be at risk of infection. He chewed his lower lip, trying to convince himself that this was his job, and not and excuse to trace the teen's muscles. Was it working? Nope. But he sure as hell was going to pretend it was.
The hours trickled by slowly, each one dragging onwards. He originally planned to only check on Damian every two hours, but that had quickly turned into every half hour. Will began following a pattern on each visit. Check for a steady pulse, monitor breathing, check for a temperature, fix the blankets, adjust the heat, and fix Damian's hair. There were a few times when Damian's heart rate had been slightly fast, which raised a little bit of suspicion from Will, but it was possible that Damian was dreaming.
It was around five when Will left his room, and went to the kitchen to get dinner. He kept it simple, two grilled cheeses. One for him and one for Damian. To his relief he managed to sneak back to his room unquestioned. He wasn't sure why he felt so anxious. This wasn't the first time he'd brought a patient a meal. But it was different this time. A weird different that made his head feel light and airy.
He tried to shake off the feeling as he opened the door to his room, but what his saw caused butterflies to resurrect in his stomach. Damian had stretched himself out across Will's bed, causing the blankets to expose half of his bare chest. Will could hear his soft snores from the doorway, and allowed a small smile to spread onto his face. He set the plates and drinks down on a small table before walking to his bed.
"Damian? I have food." Will lightly tapped Damian's shoulder, but he hardly stirred. Will bit his lip, growing worried. "Come on." He shook him a little harder, but to no avail. He quickly started to panic. With his luck he'd been too busy admiring the boy's blue eyes to realize there was a problem. He softly poked Damian's cheek several times in a row, and was relieved to get a quiet: "Go away!" in response.
"Damian, you have to eat." Will prompted, shaking him again. This time Damian's blue eyes opened. He stared at Will blankly, obviously still half asleep. With a reluctant grumble he tried to sit up, hissing in pain through gritted teeth. "Stop! Hold on." Will insisted, allowing Damian to flop back onto the bed. He slid a hand under Damian's lower back, where he knew there were no wounds, and under the boy's knees, lifting him in a sitting position. Without making eye contact, Will quickly propped up pillows for Damian to lean on for support.
"What just-" Damian paused mid sentence for a yawn, allowing Will to intervene yet again. He grabbed one of the water bottles and opened it, handing it to Damian.
"You came straight to me from practice and haven't had anything to drink since. You're probably dehydrated." Much to his relief, Damian began to drink, leaving Will in control of their current situation. He got up and grabbed the food, placing a plate on Damian's lap. "You need to eat too, otherwise it'll take you even longer to recover."
"That doesn't seem so bad." Damian croaked, still groggy. "It's warm in here." He continued, taking a bite of the grilled cheese. Will held back a groan of frustration, watching Damian lounge against the pillows. It was clear he was taking his time to wake up. He had stretched his long legs out, but they didn't quite reach the end of the bed given that Will was taller.
Will begrudgingly began to eat as well. "Olthen won't let you rest for long." He protested lightly, but Damian merely shrugged in reply. Another silence lapsed between them, broken after they both finished eating by knocking on the door. Before Will could get up to open it, Olthen strode into the room, making it clear he was only knocking as a warning.
"Will, where is-" Olthen stopped in the doorway. An awkward silence hit the three boy like a bus. Of course, Olthen recovered first. "How long until he's healed?" He stared directly at Will, his eyes asking a multitude of quest Will did not want to answer that the moment.
"He won't be in perfect condition for at least a week with the help of a little ambrosia, but he should be able to fight again in two to three days." Will avoided eye contact, speaking more to the floor than he was to Olthen.
"Good. I'll come back to evaluate him then. I'll assume you're keeping him here?" Will looked up in confusion, unable to detect the odd tone in Olthen's voice. He opened his mouth to protest, but Damian cut him off.
"I'll be here." Damian and Olthen seemed to have some sort of silent communication Will missed out on. After a few seconds of tension, Olthen spun on his heel and left the room, slamming the door shut. Will flinched at the sound before recovering and turned to Damian.
"You'll stay here?" Will sighed and ran his hands through his hair. Damian smiled somewhat sheepishly in response, shifting a bit on the mattress. "There's hardly any room." He continued, realizing he was going to have to sleep on the floor.
"We can uh..." Damian trailed for a moment, his cheeks flushing pink. Will resisted the urge to check him over for a fever. "You can just bring me in here when Olthen comes? And I'll stay in my room?" He offered, his voice going quiet. Will blinked in confusion, considering the idea.
He shook his head after a moment. "And if Olthen finds out we lied? Did you see how suspicious he looked? He'll come check on us for sure." Will continued, trying to think of a good solution.