The Lev n Fax Saga

Part Nine

Fax paused on his way out of the bathroom to glance in the mirror. Today had been a mess. Or yesterday. The past twenty four hours. Whatever. He was too tired to figure out the math.

Things were too weird, and he didn't know how to process it. He had a witch sleeping in his guest bedroom, his cousin had tried to kill him, and Lev was on his bed, half patched up and waiting for him. Nothing made sense anymore, and Fax wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. Pretend nothing happened? Fax didn't know if he could. Lev was a mess, physically, and emotionally. He'd only just begun to be happy again, to relax and breathe, and Fax didn't want to see him back to crying in the bathroom, or huddled in the bed for hours. Fax barely knew how to take care of Lev before. What was he supposed to do now, when he was half inclined to do the same thing?

Not that it would stop him from trying. He would do his best. After letting this whole thing happen he had to. He should have been there to protect Lev. Even if he probably wouldn't have been enough, maybe Fax being there to fail sooner would have ensured that Lev wouldn't be harmed. The witch seemed to have protected Lev when Fax had died (not-died?). These what if games were giving Fax a headache, and he hated it, but-

"Fax?" Lev called quietly, voice cracking.

Fax hurried from the bathroom, fresh supplies in hand. Lev was waiting on the bed, head drooping, and Fax could tell he was shaking, but Lev still smiled a little bit when he saw Fax. Tears still slid down Lev's face, but he was quiet, even as he leaned into the hand Fax pressed to his cheek.

"I'm so sorry," Fax whispered, bracing a knee on the edge of the bed so he could press a kiss to the top of Lev's head. "This shouldn't have happened."

Lev grabbed his wrist. "Not your fault. Just... don't leave me again. I can't go through that again."

Fax's heart twisted. "I won't," he promised hoarsely. He pressed another kiss for good measure, this one to Lev's forehead, and then he shifted behind Lev to finally start patching up his back.

It was bad. Raw and red and painful, and Fax wasn't sure how Lev was just sitting there, crying silently, while his back was still bleeding. Cleaning it up took twice as long as it should have because every time Lev flinched Fax paused, waited for reassurance, pressed a kiss to any bit of skin that he could find that didn't have bruises or cuts or scrapes.

They got it done, though, and then Lev crawled into Fax's lap again and buried his face in Fax's neck. Fax fumbled for a bit, trying to find a safe place to put his arms. In the end Lev reached around and tugged Fax's arms into place himself.

"You should sleep," Fax murmured. "So you can heal." And maybe stop shaking. He pressed a kiss to Lev's hair, and then rested his cheek against Lev. "I need to feed the cats."

"The demon took care of it. I heard him puttering around in the kitchen. I didn't... I didn't catch his name." The words were muffled, likely by Fax's neck. "They ate. Especially Needles." Lev paused, and then added a little sadly, "He called Needles tubby."

Fax groaned softly. "Nee does have some pudge. Nee is also why we keep the cat food locked away. It's not like the cats had nametags, and that's a lot of cats to look at too."

Lev gave a discontented mumble, but didn't press. Instead, he tried, "I don't want to sleep. I want to stay with you."

Fax traced a path with a finger between bruises and cuts and burns, sticking to unhurt skin as best he could. "You should sleep. You need it. Food, and rest, until your healing kicks in." He hoped none of this scarred. Lev had enough of those, and he didn't need any more reminders. Especially not that awful 'please' burned into his chest. Just thinking about it had him tightening his arms around Lev. No matter what he said, he didn't want to let Lev go, either.