Red Ink

Part 33 - The Finish Line

This chapter contains content that may be disturbing to some readers. Please read content warnings and stay safe!

CONTENT WARNING: Threats of violence, physical intimidation, minor injury

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Red felt more guilty than she ever had when Ray walked in through her parlor door.

"You're late," Red sighed with a glance at her watch. "I know you don't like doing this, but it's good for you."

Ray's sigh was heavier than hers. "Drama in the Commons this morning." His hands were stuffed in his pockets while he surveyed the parlor awkwardly, as if he'd never seen it before. "Y'know, kiddo, I was thinkin'... this... this arrangement..."

"No."

Red ignored his conversation attempt and turned her back to him, making her way over to her medicine cabinet and pulling out the small bottle she'd worked on with Mei the past few months.

"Red, it's not going to work. It never--"

"Yes it will," she said firmly. "We just have to find the right solution. I'm not arguing about this again."

Ray snorted to himself on the other side of the parlor, shuffling a bit to try and stop himself from smiling. He was ten years older than she was– he took her in when she was eight, and in all fifteen years of knowing her, she had a tendency to act like she was his guardian.

"I'm not saying I don't appreciate the work you've put into this, but–"

"Ray, I said no."

Y/N's voice was quiet, like it usually was, but it silenced him nonetheless. It was difficult to refuse her; despite her gentle aura, she was still one of the most stubborn people he'd ever met.

She looked over her shoulder to gesture for him to go upstairs, and just like always, he obeyed.

Her eyes began to sting with guilt and it took more effort than normal to keep them from spilling over. It's to keep him safe, she told herself. Just a few hours of sleep. Just a bit of time on her couch before she would return home from her appointment with Dabi and she could wake him, feed him a nice dinner, and send him home.

It was the only way she could make her appointment with Dabi.

She slipped on her black gloves and extracted a few drops of a harmless (but strong) sleeping aid from its bottle, and with skilled hands, added the drops to his newest bottle of medicine. The math had been done that morning– with this amount, Ray would fall asleep quickly and painlessly, and when he woke up later, she would already be back.

He called for her from her apartment upstairs. "You comin' or what?"

She used her wrist to swiftly wipe away a tear that snuck down her cheek. "I'm coming, old man." After planting a good luck kiss on the lid of the bottle she took a deep breath and made her way up the stairs to join him.

~~~

"This round is going to make you quite sleepy. Mei thinks it might help," Red lied.

Well, it wasn't all a lie– sleep was helpful in accelerating healing, but it was unlikely that it would do anything to help with Ray's condition. This arrangement of theirs began almost six years ago, and in the dozens of medicines they tried, none of them were able to turn him back to normal.

His quirk had already done too much damage.

"I hate naps," he muttered from his lounging position on the couch. The IV line was already prepped and in his arm, awaiting Red's newest attempt to help him.