Consequence

RE, Ch: 6- Medicinal

Cover art created by LowkeyKosmic

TW: Sexual interaction in which one is not fully sober, do not worry, he is still very much wanting.

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Time passed quickly in the presence of joy, slowly in the presence of sorrow; It was a cruel trick, really. Perhaps the gods got a laugh out of it..

The hours spent lazing in bed that night flew by, the time spent chatting and laughing with friends over dinner as well, the time spent staring at that bee emoji on his phone and debating internally - warring with himself, really - whether it would be appropriate to send something else so soon; well that time may as well have been mere seconds.

But the days following passed so, so slowly.

A call for help, too slowly answered. Though Rainbow Steve was unsure of what they could have done even had they made it in time.

Just another event to ponder, another what-if to fill his headspace and screech at him the poisonous thoughts his brain crafted with them. What if he'd been fast enough to get there? What if he'd been strong enough to stop the attack? What if he'd been what he was supposed to be..?

Trekking through the remainder of the village took only minutes, though it felt like Rainbow had spent hours there already.

Each burnt house, reduced to char and ash, each still burning tree that the steve's around them tried so desperately to put out, each crying child, missing from their parents in the crowd of panicking individuals; all of it was seen through watering eyes at a much reduced rate.

The seconds couldn't pass quickly enough in the young hero's opinion. Perhaps this is what caused them to tick by at snail's speed.

Rainbow felt lost in the village, felt useless compared to his companions. Blue Steve helped put out remaining fires with his water, Yellow Steve ran supplies through the village, Purple Steve was aiding in reconnecting separated family members, Professor Red was patching up burns and scrapes, Green Steve - along with the many other green steves - was attempting to regrow the vegetation that kept the village hidden; not that it had done it's job very well to begin with.

Rainbow Steve tried to slot in to help where he could, it wasn't many places. He couldn't heal, he couldn't grow, he couldn't harness the moisture in the air, he couldn't run quickly for very long, and he couldn't teleport very far.

His only true task was to be a beacon of hope, it was the only thing he was somewhat good at, despite not feeling like much of one at all.

The Steve didn't like to lie, but he was good at it. The lies, over these long, long days flowed off his tongue with ease.

Many reassurances and promises he was sure he couldn't keep, but it made a few trembling individuals cease in their shaking and that was at least sign that he wasn't entirely worthless here.

He didn't feel as such.

-

Rainbow Steve sat now, leaned back against a tree enveloped by ash at it's base. Thoughts raced behind tired eyes, he only poked at the plate of food he held, with a fork that had not yet been lifted to his lips. A quiet "Hey," called the steve's attention upwards, just in time to see a green steve approaching, upon closer inspection it became clear it was his Green Steve, causing Rainbow to let out a relieved breath.