It Was Only A Cut In Another Universe

Caring for Wounds

Trigger warning: Violence

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"Vincent, are you okay?" Rody asked as Vincent shuffled his way out of his. 

"What the FUCK man? You're bruised, and you have A BLOODY nose!!" Vincent exclaimed as Rody tapped his finger under his nose. Pulling it back to reveal the blood. 

"Huh I guess I do." Vincent was stunned at how relaxed Rody was. He almost didn't want to move, but then again Rody needed to be taken care of. Without thinking he started to move. Grabbing Rody's wrist and dragging him to the bathroom. 

"What the hell happened?" He asked as they entered the room. Vincent walked over to the toilet to grab a piece of toilet paper for Rody. 

"Well..." Vincent dashed out the door much faster than Rody had ever seen him move. Then again he had biked to work almost every day until he moved in. Rody walked out into the dinning area running straight into the furious Manon. 

"I'm sorry ma'am you cannot go back there. Staff only." Rody said calmly. He watched as Manon's face changed from annoyed, and angered to calm and innocent. 

"Sorry, but my boyfriend walked back there. I need to pass a message over to him." Bullshit. She knew damn well Rody had seen what she had done. Did she lose some brain cells while in jail? 

"Sorry, but I don't believe you." Rody answered back. Still keeping a calm composure but deep down inside he was losing it. There was nothing more that he wanted to do then give her the same treatment she had given Vincent. If not worse. 

"Well can you have him call? Here's my number. Of course you can call too if you like." She said with a wink before forcing a piece of paper with numbers written on it into his hand. Rody wanted to vomit then and there. She was pretty, he could admit that. He could see why people would fall for her tricks. But not him. He shoved the note into his pocket. Determined to rip it up later. 

"Very well. Now will you please leave." It wasn't a request. It was a demand. Manon's face once again changed to anger. 

"I won't leave until I talk to Vincent." She growled as Rody rolled his eyes. 

"Leave now before I call the cops. I'm sure they would love to keep your ass in jail. Maybe make sure you won't beat another..." A solid punch flew to his face. Hitting him right in the nose. He could taste the blood on his tongue but honestly couldn't care less. Before he had time to react, another struck him, and then another. He could hear a major commotion around him. As customers tried to run to break up the fight. 

"DO ANY OF YOU WANT WHAT HE'S HAVING?!" Several customers backed off. However Manon did the mistake of turning her back because while Rody had landed against the wall he tackled her. Grabbing one of her arms and holding it behind her back. 

"OW!" Manon screamed as both landed on the floor with a grunt. 

"CALL THE COPS!" Rody shouted, noticing his office door was now open. Relieved his chefs had acted quickly to the situation. Another blow landed to his face as Manon used her free arm to hit him repeatedly. Just for that Rody tightened the grip on her arm until he heard a crunch. Manon let out a painful scream as Rody used his foot to hold down her other arm. 

"YOU BROKE MY ARM!" Manon screamed as Rody could see tears falling down her face. 

"Maybe you should think twice before breaking other people's bones." Rody spat just as a pair of officers burst into the room. Vincent remained starstruck. Mouth practically hitting the table. They had changed to the dining room table. Vincent offered to make Rody some tea. Alongside some lemon water for himself. 

"You broke her arm?!" Vincent exclaimed as Rody shrugged. 

"Likely. I accidentally broke a guy's arm while arm wrestling once. I guess it's just a perk to having a lot of strength." Vincent was mortified by that comet, but also weirdly fascinated by it. 

"Did you close up early?" Rody shook his head. 

"Nah, though I might not open at all tomorrow just to give these bruises a bit more time to heal. Vincent nodded yet as he looked at them a nagging guilt remained in his mind. 

"I'm sorry." He muttered. Rody raised a brow as he looked at him. 

"Sorry for what?" Vincent could not look him in the eyes. 

"For dragging you into this. If I hadn't called you about this maybe none of this would have happened." Vincent said as he looked down at the pale-yellow water. Hand gripping the cup as tightly as he had the knife. He felt like shedding a few tears. So it came as a surprise when Rody placed his hand over his free one that had been scrunched into a fist. 

"Do not blame yourself. If you had not made that call I would've gotten your address from your resume and checked on you, or would have asked about the bruising in the end. And Vincent. You can't fool me. I know the difference between what bruises from falls look like. Compared to bruises with humans." Vincent raised a brow at his question. 

"How do you know the difference?" Rody bit his lip as a saddened look crossed his face. He remained quiet for a while. His own grip on Vincent tightening just for a bit before relaxing as he shook his head. 

"It doesn't matter right now. My point is, don't feel sorry for yourself. She did this to you long enough, and you deserve better." Rody said as he gave Vincent a hopeful smile. That made him feel a bit better, but guilt still plagued Vincent's mind. 

"That's when he realized the time. Not to mention the very romantic way this looked. 

"Oh I should probably head back downstairs." 

"You mean we?" Vincent looked at Rody to see if he was joking. Unsurprisingly he was not. 

"Seriously? You just got beaten up and you really want to go downstairs and cook?" Rody nodded as he stood up. Taking his cup, and Vincent's. 

"Besides you often claimed you were ready to work barely a day after a beating." 

"Yeah but that's because I was accustomed to it. You're not." Vincent argued. He didn't want to see Rody throwing himself away just because he got hurt. Rody looked at him with a pitying look. 

"That shouldn't have been something you are accustomed to. Vincent, you deserve to be treated better than that." Vincent rolled his eyes. He did not deserve it. He cheated on her. Not to mention he was technically just using her so he could be normal. So he could be fixed. Even though that clearly never happened. 

"Please, no I don't. Besides, I wouldn't even know what I should be accustomed to." That's when the room shifted. The pitying look Rody was giving him was quickly replaced with a sly smirk. One look in his eyes and Vincent could tell him why he was staring at him. Rody approached slowly yet confidently before leaning closer to his ear. 

"I'll show you after work if you want." Vincent's face turned a thousand shades of red as he basically froze. He thought for five seconds he was imagining it. This whole day had to be a dream of some kind. Yet as the day came to an end, and Vincent was left to lock up he knew deep down this was real.