Welcome Home Imagines

Our Burns Leave Marks (Watcher!Wally)

As I allowed myself to space out and stare at the field in front of me, I heard the crunching of grass draw near. I lifted my head. It was with a start that I saw Watcher had come to greet me. His eyes were unsettling, as were the other piercing eyes that surrounded him, but I forced myself to ignore the feeling of unease.

He looked at me briefly before turning his gaze to the field. With a wave of guilt, I realized he must have noticed my discomfort. I greeted him quietly as he sat down next to me, "Hello, Watcher."

"Hello, neighbor. I came to see what you were up to." A quick peek at him revealed a soft smile. He was so relaxed around other people - something none of the other wallies shared. Not even Wally could allow himself the luxury when he was in the neighborhood surrounded by our friends.

I hummed, but it came out more as a sigh as I tried to think of a way to communicate how I felt. "Sometimes ... I like to sit by the field to bask in the spaciousness of it all. It lets me lose myself for a short while - lets me forget my burdens."

It felt silly to say out loud, especially saying it to him when he's known nothing but the inability to escape his worries. The only burdens I have to worry about are attending to my friends, and they're lovely friends, but sometimes I need time for myself.

Instead of voicing my worries like I thought he might, I saw him close his eyes.

"It's peaceful," he said.

Feeling braver, I looked over at him. His smile was unfaltering - not much of a surprise - but it was genuine. The viewers attention was split between watching him relax and watching the field. They were surprisingly quiet at the moment. Looking at them now, they weren't as scary as they were before. They looked like sketches with wobbly animation.

"Are you becoming a viewer?" Watcher was staring at me with a look of amusement. His eyes squinted slightly, making him look almost drowsy. Embarrassed I'd been caught staring, I looked back at the field. He laughed softly.

As I looked away, I noticed something on his arm. It looked like a scorch mark. I apologized. It was his turn to stare. I wondered how he could handle so many people watching him when his stare alone felt heavy.

He held out his arm, the sleeve of his robe rolled up. I looked at him hesitantly, wondering if he was truly okay with me seeing. When he didn't say anything I looked back at the burn. It must have been old, but it hurt me to see it. Without thinking, I reached out to touch his arm gently.

He didn't take his arm back. I didn't know what to say and I didn't want to bring up a topic that might cause him distress. A moments contemplation led me to roll up my sleeve and place my arm beside his.

"We match," I smiled up at him. It was meant to be comforting, but I wondered if maybe it might have done the opposite. My thoughts ran rampant with worry, but once again, he didn't have anything negative to say.

"How'd you get that?" He was surprised. He looked in the direction of Home, then back at me. "I thought this was one of the safer channels."

I meant to say it's safe, but what came out of my mouth instead was: "You're okay."

Swallowing my embarrassment, I continued. "It was my own fault. A cooking accident gone wrong. I was trying to practice patience, but it turns out I was just being stubborn."

I laughed. He didn't.

He moved his arm and gently touched my burn, but the fabric against the raw skin made me inch my arm away. His hand fell back to his side. "You and me both."

I wanted to ask what he meant, but I had a feeling he wouldn't say anything further.

— Authors Note —

Watcher Wally belongs to Cathedral on TikTok :)

Hopefully Watcher wasn't too OOC. I recently burnt myself trying to make protein pancakes, so I figured I'd write a little comfort scenario (with a tiny bit of angst) with him because of his burns - even though most of them are on his legs.

With the whole AU thing, I like to headcanon Watcher refers to the different AU's as channels, I think it's cute :p