Tatiana appeared in Leo's and Ves' apartnt, with Leo still cradled in her arms.
The air inside was warm, familiar, a stark contrast to the cold, lifeless battlefield she had just left behind.
She moved swiftly, her movents graceful despite the weight of the man in her arms. She set him down carefully onto the couch, adjusting him so he wouldn't put pressure on any of his deeper wounds.
Then, for the first ti, she allowed herself to pause as she stood there, watching him, her arms still faintly tingling where his warmth had been.
He looked... different like this. Vulnerable, for once.
No witty remarks. No stubborn bravado.
Just Leo, unconscious and still.
Tatiana clicked her tongue, shaking her head before kneeling beside him.
"I don't even know how or what to feel about you," she muttered under her breath.
She imdiately set to work, peeling off the ruined, bloodied remains of his shirt with careful hands, mindful of his injuries.
The sight of his bruised, battered torso made sothing unpleasant twist in her stomach.
She wasn't used to this.
She wasn't used to caring.
But for so reason, seeing him like this… it didn't sit well with her.
Tatiana retrieved a clean cloth and a bowl of water from the kitchen. The mont the cool cloth pressed against his wounds, Leo stirred slightly, his body tensing.
Tatiana froze.
His lips parted, a small, barely audible sound escaping—her na.
"...Tatiana…?"
She exhaled sharply, forcing herself to focus. She didn't want him to wake up and find her like this, to find her taking care of him. She knew Leo and she knew that he would use it to tease for eternity if he wakes up.
"Still causing trouble, even when you're unconscious," she muttered, shaking her head as she continued tending to his wounds.
She worked in silence, her movents careful and precise. Cleaning the dried blood, wiping away the gri, making sure each wound was properly bandaged.
As she worked, she found herself watching him.
The way his chest rose and fell steadily. The way his expression flickered slightly, as if lost in so dream or mory.
And the way her own fingers lingered just a second too long against his skin before she realized what she was doing.
Tatiana scowled, pushing herself back onto her feet.
What is wrong with ?
She had never felt like this before. This strange, tight sensation in her chest. This… concern.
It was annoying.
With a soft sigh, she leaned against the wall, crossing her arms as she looked at him once more.
"Just what are you doing to , Leo?" she whispered.
She stayed there for a long while, watching over him. And then, as silently as she had arrived, she disappeared into the night.
.....
The evening air carried a quiet stillness, interrupted only by the slow, steady rhythm of Leo's breathing.
Ves sat beside him, her fingers curled tightly in her lap.
She had been there for hours, waiting—watching.
Her heart had only just begun to slow, but the fear still lingered in the pit of her stomach. The mont she had found him, battered (bandaged), unconscious, and barely breathing (soundly asleep), sothing inside her had clenched so painfully, she had felt suffocated.
She wanted to take the situation calmly after hearing what happened from Tatiana but deep down, she knew that no amount of warning would have prepared her for seeing him like that.
Now, as she sat by his bedside, her breath hitched the mont he finally stirred.
His fingers twitched, his brow furrowing slightly. A groggy exhale left his lips before his eyes fluttered open, hazy and unfocused.
"...Ves?" His voice was hoarse, as if he had been asleep for years.
Ves let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Thank god.
Then—
Whack.
She smacked him lightly on the arm.
"You reckless idiot," she hissed, her voice sharp but shaking at the edges.
"What the hell were you thinking?!"
Leo blinked at her, still sluggish, as if his brain hadn't caught up yet.
"...What?"
"You fought an Evolved Rank monster alone?! Do you have a death wish?!"
Leo let out a weak chuckle, running a hand through his hair.
"I won, didn't I?"
Ves smacked him again, harder this ti.
"That's not the point!"
Leo winced, rubbing his arm. "Ow—okay, okay, I get it—"
"You don't get it," Ves cut him off, her arms crossing tightly over her chest.
"Do you have any idea how close you were to dying?!"
Leo hesitated. He had been close. Too close. He knew that.
But what caught him off guard wasn't her words—it was her expression.
She looked... shaken.
Not in the way soone was when they were simply upset. No, this was different.
She had been scared.
"You scared , you know?" she muttered, looking away for a mont, as if she hated admitting it out loud.
Leo's teasing smirk faded as he took her in—her stiff posture, her clenched hands, the way her lips pressed together tightly, as if she was trying to hold back sothing she didn't want to say.
The room was quiet for a long mont.
Then—
"I didn't an to worry you," he said softly.
Ves sighed, shaking her head.
"...Just don't do it again."
Leo smirked. "No promises."
She glared, but the relief in her eyes betrayed her.
"You're impossible," she muttered under her breath, shaking her head.
Leo grinned slightly, shifting in bed. "You still stuck around, though."
"Yeah, because soone had to make sure you weren't dead," she shot back.
Silence stretched between them—a different kind of silence now.
Ves was still tense, but softer than before.
And Leo?
For the first ti, he noticed the way the light from the lamp behind her caught the soft waves of her dark hair.
The way her expression, even when irritated, was gentler than before.
The way her eyes—sharp, fierce, and endlessly blue—held sothing unspoken when she looked at him.
It made sothing inside him twist.
He opened his mouth to say sothing—anything—but just then, his body protested.
A sharp pain shot through his ribs, and he groaned, shifting slightly.
Ves imdiately leaned forward.
"Hey, don't move so much!"
She reached out on instinct, grabbing his arm to steady him—
Only for Leo to move at the sa ti, causing her palm to press directly against his bare chest.
Silence.
A very awkward silence.
Leo's eyes flicked to her hand.
Ves froze.
Her fingers were pressed against the heat of his skin, right over where his heart was beating way too fast.
Her eyes widened, her cheeks tinging a very faint shade of pink.
Leo, still groggy and not quite sure how this had happened, let out the most awkward cough known to mankind.
"...Uh—"
Ves snatched her hand back so fast it was like she had touched fire.
"I—you—" she started, words failing her.
Leo, to save both of them from dying of embarrassnt, cleared his throat loudly and looked away.
"Right. Uh. Yeah. Let's, uh… pretend that didn't happen?"
Ves, still looking very much like she wanted to bury herself six feet under, quickly stood up.
"Good idea," she muttered. "Great idea. Never happened."
"Yep. Absolutely," Leo agreed way too quickly.
Another long, painfully awkward silence.
Then—
A low, familiar growl echoed from outside.
Ves turned sharply toward the door, her brows furrowing. "Wait… is that—?"
Before Leo could even react, he heard a familiar howl.
"Fiona…"
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