Tainted (nonbinary mc x man)

Chapter 37

A/N: Warnings for  blood and mentions of violence, child abuse, and sexual assault

By the time Toma and Monrie made their way back to their room in the palace, Toma was exhausted. It was decided that no one would mention what had happened in the forest. No one needed to know what happened except those who were there.

Before they left, Monrie scrubbed the blood off Toma's face and hands, and Fio gave Toma his cloak while they left the bloodstained one behind. After all, he was the only other one who could handle the cold well, and Toma's clothes were still a bit too dirty to be inconspicuous.

Elise ended up coming back with them in the end. At first, Toma wanted to find a more suitable place for her, but she had widened her eyes and pleaded, "I have nowhere to go and no family to go back to. Please! The only place I have is the safe house."

And Toma couldn't stand that she'd called it that. A child should never view themselves as something that can be traded like corn or clothing, and a place where traffickers hide the children they kidnap should never be called a safe house. So Toma, their eye twitching conspicuously, had allowed Elise to come back to the palace with them. They also managed to get the location of this safe house from her so he could send a few people by later to take care of those children and potentially tear the building down brick by brick.

Elise had been all too happy to give up the information, smiling brightly as she answered Toma's questions. Toma took her back and sent for someone to settle her into a room. Wherever the child wanted to go, she could figure it out from the comfort of Toma and Monrie's home.

Nellieven and Fio were also pretty exhausted. Though Toma knew neither blamed them for what had happened out in the forest, they still felt guilty about everything they'd been through. Toma sent them both back to their rooms for the day, telling them to rest. If they wanted to find Toma later to talk things over, they could, but now was not a good time for that.

Monrie, on the other hand, looked completely unfazed by the whole scene. From the moment he'd found Toma in those woods to the moment they stepped back into the palace, the only thing he cared about was Toma. Was Toma hurt? Was Toma safe? Was Toma upset about anything?
He didn't care that Toma had committed a gruesome murder as long as Toma wasn't too upset about it. And the first order of business once they got to their rooms was getting the rest of the blood off of Toma.

"Aren't you at least a little upset or scared or disgusted?" Toma asked in concern, laying their arms on the edge of the bathtub as Monrie sat on the stool beside it.

Monrie hummed as he lathered up a bar of soap before reaching out to Toma to rid their hair of blood. "Not really."

Toma expected him to elaborate, but he didn't. Instead, he began working his fingers through Toma's hair. Toma's shoulders relaxed and they slumped a little into the warm water. It was almost enough to make them drop the subject.

Almost.

"Mon," Toma sighed – though that sigh was supposed to be frustrated, it came out a lot softer than intended – and leaned their head a bit more into Monrie's hands. "Wouldn't a normal person at least be concerned? I mean, didn't you see Nellieven and Fio's reactions?"

Monrie snorted and responded indignantly, "Oh please... those two will be fine. They were just a bit surprised-"

"I'd say it was more than a bit," Toma cut in.

Monrie stopped running his soapy fingers through Toma's hair and moved off the stool, kneeling next to Toma and so their eyes would meet. "Little ghost, the only thing I care about is you. If you are safe and happy, what else do I have to worry about? Nellieven and Fio don't fear you. In fact, I'm sure Nellieven at least understands, given how he knows the full story. At most, he's probably worried about you blacking out.