Debts To Be Settled

16

Tommy fiddles with the bandages around his palms. He has even more bandages all across his body, each one carefully placed over an area that got injured during his escapade to save Shadow Girl. None of his wounds hurt all that much right now, but the texture of the bandages is unpleasant against his skin. He wants to rip all of the bandages off, infections be damned, but Phantasm is the one that bandaged him up. Tommy assumes he did, anyway. By the time Tommy woke up, he was alone on the second floor of the tailor shop covered in bandages. He thought he was going to have to repay Phantasm for bringing him back home and wasting bandages on him, but he doesn't feel the weight of a debt in his stomach. The closest he can get is the strenuous connection he has with Shadow Girl right now.

"Stop doing that," Wilbur reprimands Tommy softly. Wilbur reaches out to pull Tommy's hands away from each other. Tommy scoffs, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket. They are, unfortunately, not connected, so Tommy is unable to continue with his unhealthy habit. Wilbur sighs, looking back in front of him to make sure he doesn't crash into any of the other pedestrians walking in the opposite direction as them.

"It's fine, Wilbitch. I don't feel any pain," Tommy tries to convince Wilbur. The man raises an eyebrow at Tommy. The blonde huffs, looking away from that disbelieving stare. While Tommy is lying, he doesn't feel so much pain that he can't do anything. He doesn't even think the bandages are necessary. At least, the ones around his hands aren't necessary. His knees are going to take some time to heal. On the bright side, his shoulders are only bruised. They don't have a scar on them.

"I'll have to replan our entire hang-out session this coming week. I mean, we can't do anything that will upset your hands... or any other injuries you won't tell me about," Wilbur explains, rubbing his chin between his fingers. Tommy hasn't told Wilbur about any problems that aren't able to be seen with his clothes on. Tommy tells himself it's because it isn't Wilbur's business, but he honestly doesn't want Wilbur to worry. That would make Tommy feel bad, and Tommy is firmly in the camp of saving himself from the most amount of emotional harm, even if that causes him to suffer physically.

Plus, Tommy really doesn't want Wilbur to know about his relationship with the villains Phantasm, Shadow Girl, and even Nemesis. Wilbur has nothing to do with the world of super-powered individuals. Tommy's powers are enough leverage to keep him safe. Wilbur doesn't have anything. He's a regular person, and Tommy knows that the first people to die in the age-old conflict between heroes and villains are the regular people. Civilian casualty rates are high on the island, and Tommy is going to do whatever it takes to keep Wilbur out of harm's way.

"We could go read books," Wilbur offers, snapping his fingers like he's had a wonderful idea.

Tommy levels with an unimpressed and frankly disgusted stare. "I fucking hate reading."

"Oh, I hate it, too. I much prefer writing," Wilbur laughs. Tommy's shoulders untense at the melodic sound. The laughter is proof that Wilbur is having fun and is comfortable around Tommy. The blonde doesn't know why those are his concerns, but he will take relief wherever he can get it. "My brother is the one that inherited all the love for reading. He is also pretty good at writing poetry, which I think is frankly unfair. If only I could have half of his talent for remembering eloquent words."

"I didn't know you had a brother," Tommy murmurs. He closes his mouth the minute his sentence is out. To his own ears, he sounds defensive. Tommy feels a flush of embarrassment rise across his cheeks. There are a lot of things that Wilbur hasn't told Tommy, and it's only fair. Tommy doesn't need to know everything about Wilbur. There are a lot of things Tommy hasn't told Wilbur. Plus, their friendship is entirely built on repaying the debt of Wilbur saving Tommy's life.

"I have a whole family unit: a mother, a father, a brother, even an uncle, though no aunt," Wilbur answers. There is a smile on his face and a bright light in his eyes. He doesn't look or sound like he heard the note of defensiveness in Tommy's voice.