Day 15 [Steven/ Daniel/ Raju]

Day 15 [Steven/ Daniel/ Raju]

Prompt: "You can't be here"

Steven

This night couldn't have gotten worse if Steven tried. You had stumbled into his workspace, and seen things he didn't want you to know about. Every part of his mind was screaming to have this cleared up, that this was wrong and you needed to leave... but all that came from his mouth was...

"You can't be here."

Despite the tone of Steven's voice, it still pulled you from the sight of a dead body. Frozen with a strange look on their face. You managed to tear your eyes away. You didn't feel anything, your mind and body felt numb, as if they weren't yours anymore.

"[Name], you can't be here." Steven repeated, "C'mon, you need to leave, right now."

Steven couldn't make anything out about what you might be thinking. His worry mounted higher and higher as you just stared back. Was it possible you were just shell-shocked? Steven had all but forgotten what that could look like after years on the job, years in this city.

"[Name], say something."

Steven gently shook you by the shoulders, upset by how cold you were. A soft sigh escaped the dark-haired man, this would torment him to no end. But for now, Steven lead you away from the scene. Carefully hiding your face from onlookers and whispering soft promises to relax once you got home.

.

Daniel

Having ignored his phone all day, Daniel just waltzed into your apartment without thinking about it. When he found you in the kitchen, he didn't understand why you were suddenly smacking him. He felt so very confused as he fended off weak slaps from you.

"What!?" Daniel held your wrists out so the most you could do was wiggle, "What did I do?"

"You can't be here right now." You whined, "I'm planning something. I sent you so many texts telling you not to come straight here. You were supposed to meet me at your place."

Daniel blinked a little at you, "What for? And no, I haven't checked my phone for hours."

You kicked at Daniel weakly, pouting even as he let go of your wrists.

"Though that does explain why it smells so good in here." Daniel was trying to smooth things over, "Maybe I just stick around and we act like this was the plan?"

As much as you wanted to stay upset... "You're lucky you're cute. And that it's your birthday."

Daniel just stood there for a second. Was today his birthday? Did he really forget about that? Geez he needed a full day off.

.

Raju

Whatever you were doing in this city, Raju felt it was too dangerous for you to even live here. That couldn't be more true at this moment as you were stuck in the middle of a fierce battle.

If you had been a fang hunter, then Raju would be okay with it a bit. Being a fang hunter would give you plenty of skills to protect yourself. But you had no way of really doing anything except fighting like a scared animal.

And that just wasn't enough for Raju.

You shielded your face with both arms from the sudden fire in front of you. Whatever the creature was, it was a pile of ash now. Raju seemed to drop out of nowhere right in front of you, scaring the people right behind you.

"You really can't be here [Name]."

Raju was trying to pull you away, getting a very brave teenager attempting to fight him. While he could have defended himself with fire, you caught the wooden plank. It seriously hurt, but you were a bit faster than Raju for a second.

"It's fine," You tried to shake the pain out of your hand, "He won't hurt me, he's just stubborn and forceful."

Raju was both surprised that you could react so fast and upset that you got injured on his behalf. To the point that he was stopped in the street to check over your hand. Part of him wanted to attack the teenager, but Raju knew that would upset far more people than would be acceptable. Especially upsetting you since you had been trying to help protect these people in the first place. Though focusing on the splinters in your hand was a little comforting to him.

Day 16 [Leo/ Dog/ Lucky]

Prompt: "You wouldn't understand"

Leo

Running for his life should be a rare occurrence, but here was Leo doing so for the third time today alone. All he could think about to calm his nerves was how you'd be waiting for him when he got off. What he wasn't prepared for was you grilling him.

"What do you mean you were running for your life all day?" You weren't sure if you were more upset at what Leo was saying or the fact that he was hurt again, "No one should run for their life and then be so nonchalant about it later."

"[Name], sweetie, I'm fine really." Leo tried to tug you back down onto the couch, "I have to deal with people trying to mug me and my job is just like this."

"So quit that job." You huffed as you settled next to him, "You shouldn't have to put your life in harm's way!"

Leo wanted to be kind and understanding over this, but he had a breaking point, "You wouldn't understand this [Name]!"

"What wouldn't I understand?" Your head snapped towards Leo, "You get hurt on the job all the time. So you can't tell me the exact details, but you clearly are a kind of police officer or other government official. And both of those can't keep you like a contract."

"It's not like that." Leo sighed, "It's really similar, but I can't just leave."

You could only sigh and click your tongue. This was getting ridiculous.

.

Dog

You couldn't help but feel a bit melancholy as you sat trying to read a book. It was such a long chapter describing things that wouldn't pay off. You knew over half of this was just hyper-fixation on a mundane day. A second reading was somehow worse despite being a favorite book.

"Whatcha doin' Gummy?" Dog sidled up next to you on the couch, "Which one is this?"

"I don't think you'd understand it." Though you did hold up the spine of the book, "It's pretty far into the series. And it's one of the boring 'this is why we fight' parts."

Dog's expression twisted in an interesting way as he read the title. While he was familiar with you reading this series, he really didn't have a clue what the whole thing was about.

.

Lucky

"What did you do that for!?"

You had thrown out one of Blitz's "experiments" because he was doing the same old thing with the blood breed hand he had to keep with him. To be honest, you felt like you were keeping him from poisoning himself.

"[Name]!" Lucky tried to stop you from locking up his blood breed supplies, "Why are you doing all this?"

"Saving you from yourself." You sighed, "Trying to eat a sandwich with blood breed blood on it isn't going to do anything but poison you."

"You don't know that! You wouldn't understand what I'm trying to do!"

You pinched your nose, "I shouldn't have to tell you that eating blood, especially monster blood, is a dangerous idea. If you really want to figure out how living matter digests this, get a bunch of rats."

Lucky almost looked like he was deflating. You knew you'd won the argument as you finally put the lock on the safe. Why this had to be something you had to keep reminding him of was beyond you.

Day 18 [Zapp/ Zed/ Raju]

Prompt: Broken bone

Zapp

"Holy f&^k!" Zapp skid to a stop next to you, unsure what he was even looking at, "What the sh^t happened to you?!"

"You tell me smarta$$!" You bit back, looking at your own armbone like this was harrowing, "I mean honestly, it isn't rocket science!"

.

Zapp couldn't help but panic. Not only were you down for the count but you were losing blood fast. Even in the semi-paralysis, he felt his instincts took over. Wrapping your arm, trying to straighten the bone and hope that it would be sealed enough for someone to completely fix later on.

That did not stop him from pacing and thumping his foot whenever told to sit down. He needed to know you'd be okay, even if that meant you were stuck in a cast for a few months.

.

Zed

Zed checked his phone over and over. This wasn't like you at all, even if it was a simple emoji, you'd have answered his texts by now.

It wasn't until his phone buzzed loudly, nearly causing him to drop it, that Zed finally got his answer. You had been rushed straight to a hospital for several serious injuries.

Once he was in the room with you, Zed finally asked what all had been going on. Why would you need to be rushed in like this?

"I have several hairline fractures and one massive chip in my lower leg." You had to take deep breaths, "Everything else is just minor by comparison."

Zed shakily moved a chair over, "Elaborate. Please, for my sake."

"A couple of bruises along my spine and my shoulder joint popped out of place." You tried to move your arm as a demonstration, but Zed stopped you, "Literally everything else is minor cuts and scrapes. I promise."

"As long as you also promise not to over do it."

"I'll make no such promises..."

Zed frowned at your attempt at humor. But at least you tried to make light of the situation.

Raju Comes back after a long while and is stunned to see a cast and crutches

Another long time spent away from you meant Raju had no clue what to expect when he landed. Even so, seeing you all but boxed in on the couch was not something he thought he'd see... ever.

"And what happened?" Raju's voice made you jump, you hadn't heard him land, "Why is your foot up on the table? Why is it wrapped like that? Who did this to you?"

Your head dropped, it was an embarrassing story for you to repeat.

"First of all, I did this to myself... sorta." You turned toward Raju only to follow him as he hopped in front of you, "Second, its just a broken bone in my foot so I have to be extra careful with it."

"So what happened that you broke bones in your foot?"

Raju didn't know how to interpret the grimace across your face. But he wasn't going anywhere until you answered him... And you knew this.

"Well..." You really didn't want to tell this to anyone but... "I was helping Mrs. Orif bring her large dog in because it was about to rain. And the dog was tugging on the lead a bit too hard, half dragging me. So when my foot hit the concrete stairs... all my weight on the bone... it kinda went... snap"

Raju let out a grumpy sigh. Of course, you'd just have to go help someone else and get injured in the process. Though he had to concede if Mrs. Orif had tried to do so herself then the dog would have likely broken something more than a foot. But that was beside the point! Raju was still deeply upset that you got hurt at all. And refusing to let you get up without him hovering at your side. He would make sure you were safe until your foot healed.

Day 14 [Leo/ Zapp/ Chain]

Prompt: "This is killing you!"

Leo

The frown Leo had was becoming a bit too pronounced for your liking. Sure, he knew you were a more reckless kind of person, that your skills are basically why Libra kept sending you off to do dangerous stuff. But he could see the curse you were keeping under wraps. He promised to keep it secret but...

"This is going to kill you [Name]!"

You really wished he wouldn't have started this in front of everyone, "I'll be fine Leo. I've survived worse."

Leo almost growled, making Klaus worry and intervene.

"[Name], is everything alright?" You were getting trapped into revealing this, "Is there a deeper injury you haven't told us about?"

"No, I'm perfectly fine Klaus." Though you weren't so sure of that yourself in all honesty, "Its just this last time was a bit much and I've been limping a little on sore heels after relaxing for so long. Its nothing I haven't dealt with before and Leo's just over exaggerating."

Leo frowned harder, if that was even possible, and started tapping his foot, "So sue me for being worried. I can't help it."

.

.

Zapp

You didn't like sitting in the hospital listening to Zapp flirt with the nurses like this. But you also didn't have the courage to say anything about liking him as more than a friend. So self-torment it is.

Though the way you were crossing your arms and scowling wasn't lost on Zapp. While the two of you weren't involved, you were roommates and had been friends for what felt like an eternity. He knew when you were pissed over something.

"What's eating you this time Nacho?"

You clicked your tongue, "This is the fifteenth time this month you landed yourself in the hospital Peño."

"So what? No one said you gotta show up every time ya know."

The glare you gave him made Zapp recoil a little. But he wasn't going to back down from this. Yeah, he liked the company, but he didn't need you to stick around like this all the time.

"Well spit it out already."

"This is gonna kill ypu one of these days."

"So? Why do you care?"

"Because I love you Dip Stick."

Zapp sat there blinking, but the steadily deepening red across your cheeks was no mistake. He hadn't stopped long enough to think about you like that, given you were so stubborn about genuine relationships and all that. Friends sure, but Zapp knew what you wanted from a relationship didn't match his life style at all.

"Not like it'll ever matter." You stood up to leave, unable to take the silence, "Still hurts to see you like this all the time. Knowing your job will kill you if some random chic doesn't get to you first."

Zapp was too dumbfounded to stop you or keep flirting with the nurses checking on him.

Chain

Chain finally answered her phone after what her boss explained to you. Having to find out through third degree like this was bad enough. But for her to up and almost wipe out her existence to the point where you wouldn't even remember her at all was too far.

"Chain here."

"What the hell?" Your voice was absolutely cracked from emotional strain, "I called like a dozen times and had to ask your boss where you were!"

"Okay, first off, I'm sorry. I should've told you about the emergency mission I was needed for." Chain waved her hand down as if she were talking to you in person, "Second, I wasn't going to go that far. It was close, but I pulled out at the last second--"

"THAT DOESN'T MATTER!" You were beside yourself with how calmly she was talking, "THIS JOB IS GONNA KILL YOU IN THE WORST WAY POSSIBLE!"

"[Name]!" Chain tried breaking through your rant, "Its fine! I had the situation under control. Please, calm down."

"CALM DOWN? CALM DOWN!" You screeched, "YOU EXPECT ME TO CALM DOWN? I ALMOST LOST YOU AND WOULDN'T EVEN HAVE MEMORIES OF YOU! DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!"

Chain sighed quietly. The best thing she could do was wait for your anger to ride out on its own. And hope that you'd let her make this up to you with a night in. Some Ghibli movies and no phones type of thing.

Day 13 [Daniel/ Raju/ Aligula]

Prompt: "...Always something more important"

Daniel

This ate at Daniel, always having to run off. And in the middle of dates no less. So when he saw you gathering things in your shared apartment, he couldn't blame you for what you were doing.

"Pie, listen." Daniel wasn't trying to get in your way at all, "I know this has been a lot. And that you deserve someone who can give you more of their time. But-"

"I don't want to hear it, Danny." You were fighting back tears, "If it was just work I'd understand. But this seems to be everything. It isn't just that work is more important, I knew what dating a police officer would mean, what it would be like. This is everything else."

Daniel stopped, still holding onto one of your scarves, "What do you mean?"

"It seems that everything from spots games, to whatever you're doing on the computer, to even your brother's problems... no matter how big or small an issue. It just seems like there's always something more important than me."

"Pie..." Daniel tried to grab your hand, "C'mon Pie, you know that's not true..."

"No, I kinda don't." You started walking for the door with your suitcase in hand, "And its a little too late for explanations now."

.

Raju

This was strange, to say the least. Raju was certain he knew where your apartment was. And yet, the window was closed and there was no sign that you were even still in this apartment building.

Had something happened? Were you evicted? Was it just getting too loud at night?

Raju managed to find you by some miracle, unsure why you wouldn't tell him if something was going wrong. He wanted to help after all, as much as he could.

"[Name], what happened?" Raju floated down beside your car, "I tried to return home but the window was closed, and it looked as if you moved."

You let out a deep sigh, "Raju, I just... I can't handle the long stretches of alone time. I understand why, I just. It comes off as you always having something more important to do. So I closed the window myself. And... packed away most of the knick knacks."

Raju reached out to touch your shoulder, upset when you drew back.

"[Name], I don't know what to tell you. My work has always been dangerous and learning to share my life with someone else is... its not something I've done before."

You looked at him, this had to be the first time he's ever shared anything about his past. At least, anything concrete that wasn't training or the past... 20-something years. Though, you didn't even know how old Raju was so who knows what counts as recent history for him.

"My kind aren't exactly known for creating familial units the way humas do. We only ever spend time together for sexual interactions and the occasional feast. But if you're telling me that you need me to be around more often, then I can attempt to do so. It won't be easy, but I believe it will be worth it."

Raju still didn't have a filter when it came to speaking his mind, but there was a kind of sweetness to his words. It was still difficult to justify him being gone for 8 months at a time, though if you used that summoning method as a reminder...

.

Aligula

Aligula was hunched over a large paper, plans for another pass at Deldro and Hummer. Her thoughts had flown right out the window when she noticed Klaus on the television a couple of days ago. And no matter what you said or did, she wasn't budging in the slightest.

"Lily, tell me something I don't know." You propped up on your elbows, "What's so special about this guy? Like why are you going after him when you have me right here?"

"Becaaaause!" She whined, "I was dating Deldro first. And then the million and one chances of finding Hummer, with his perfect face to just die for fell right in my lap. I neeeed them back in my life."

You sighed, straightening up, "They're always gonna be more important huh?"

Aligula didn't even register what you said. Nor did she know that you'd left until after her defeat. She spent a good three hours looking everywhere for you, but all she found was a small note.

"Always gonna be second best, aren't I? You'll always have something more important to do..."

Day 10 [Leo/ Zapp/ Chain]

Prompt: Worst way to find out a man has cancer

Leo

The look the cashier gave the two of you was interesting, to say the least. Two young men buying a pair of pregnancy tests was understandably questionable. But considering both you and Leo were slightly drunk, it went completely unnoticed once a second glance was given. Taking pregnancy tests just seemed funny to both of you.

Yet, by the time the two of you woke up with a slight hangover, Leo checked the tests himself. Concerned when neither one matched the other.

"Uh, [Name]."

You poked your head into the bathroom, glancing up and down to try and see what the problem was from a distance.

"Do you remember which one was which?"

"Uh, no." You scratched your head, "I barely even remember taking those. Why?"

"One of them shows up pregnant."

You stopped mid-step, blinking in disbelief, "We should probably go to a doctor and see if that means anything."

Leo sat next to you while Dr. Estevez explained what it even meant, she agreed to see both of you at the same time since they couldn't tell her whose was whose. After taking a second test, Leo felt a strange sense of disbelief.

How has he not figured this out sooner? He spent so much time with you after all.

.

Zapp

Being far less drunk than you, Zapp managed to talk you into taking a pair of pregnancy tests. Though when you found them on the bathroom counter, you freaked out a bit. One of the tests had shown two lines.

This was bad. So very bad.

"Zapp!"

A loud groan from the bed as springs creaked, "Wha..??"

"Which is who's?"

Zapp scratched at his hair, rubbing his eyes to see better. Blinking a couple times in the bright lights.

"Uuuh, this one was yours I think."

"Think or know?"

Zapp half glared as your panic was taking a minute to sink into his slightly hungover brain. He closed his eyes to think clearer.

"The one on the left was yours, stud." Zapp sighed, "What does it even matter?"

"I gotta go to a doctor."

"Huh?" Zapp broke from his stupor in an instant, "What for?"

.

"I read it somewhere that this is a sign of cancer. Something about the hormones or something in pee. I can't even remember where I saw it nor any of the details."

As badly as Zapp wanted to scoff and dismiss this, you were a bit too panicked for it to be easily brushed off. And he'd be lying to say he wasn't worried himself.

Chain

Normally Chain found your drunk antics cute, especially since she could handle her liquor just a little better. But when your dare was to take a pregnancy test, and then it showed up positive...

Chain freaked out.

That was enough to sober you up some, though you didn't know why she was freaking out like this. It was just a weird thing these tests did, wasn't it? After all, you were a guy no way you could get pregnant.

Actually in this city...

But you never did anything to have even a remote chance of that. Right?

Regardless, you submitted Chain's insistence on going straight to Dr. Estevez to explain what happened.

And that's when the bomb dropped. You had testicular cancer and somehow this stupid little piece of plastic had picked up on it.

At least Chain's reaction made sense now...