Cease the Suffering - Etrian Odyssey II (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 12

AN: Thanks so much to both Irish_Moon_Dreamer and SakuraiYoake for reviewing the last chapter!

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Chapter 12:

Drawing closer to the hospital, Lynus found himself nearly bumping into someone else. Yet another young man, probably about his age. He appeared to be a brown-haired Gunner, wearing a leafy green coat and matching hat. He also appeared to be limping, dragging his left foot in an awkward manner while muttering darkly under his breath. His boot was damaged and hastily patched up. And he was moving in the opposite direction from the hospital.

It was blatantly obvious that he was injured.

Why won’t they just go to the hospital and get help? Were they afraid of getting a lecture? Or were too proud to admit they needed help? The hospital was just a few yards away, for heaven’s sake!

At least he wasn’t alone. He had a Beast companion with him. A white, sabre tooth tiger, who didn’t seem all that amused by his antics.

Lynus found himself sighing in exasperation. Some people.

“…Why are you walking like that?” Lynus asked, watching as he limp past him.

“None of your business,” the brown-haired man muttered, not even granting Lynus a side-ways glance.

“Are you a gunner?”

“What’s it to you?”

A though suddenly occurred to Lynus and he found himself smiling. “…Did you shoot yourself in the foot?”

“S-shut up!” the brunette spluttered as he painfully spun around to face him, embarrassment and indignation on his face. He tried to glare in Lynus’ direction, but it came out as an annoyed pout, prompting Lynus to cover his mouth with hand to stop a chuckle from surfacing.

He knew it was wrong to find amusement in a situation where someone was genuinely hurt. But this guy’s reactions were fun.

“You too, Chi-hung!” the gunner whined as he turned his attention to the white tiger, who was sitting on his back legs, seemingly chuckling. “I can hear you sniggering over there!”

Lynus managed to swallow his chuckles, but was unable to wipe the amused smile from his lips. “Want me to look at that for you?”

“I’m fine,” came a reply through gritted teeth.

Lynus rolled his eyes toward the sky. “I could go get Dr Stiles for you if you want?”

The brunette stiffened and looked slightly fearful. Lynus suppressed another chuckle. He was afraid of getting a lecture.

“…You a medic?” he asked, sounding just a tad desperate.

“That’s right,” Lynus said, smiling good naturedly. “I promise I won’t lecture you.”

The gunner eyed him off sceptically, that pout still on his lips. “…You better not!” he threatened after a moment of studying silence.

“You have my word,” Lynus responded as he found himself once again shrugging off his medical bag. “Now, sit down and let me see.”

Still pouting, the Gunner finally resigned himself to his fate and lowered himself onto a stone step that led up to the hospital. Lynus knelt down on his knees and began to unlace the damaged boot. Carefully, so not to cause further pain, Lynus pulled off the shoe and managed to stop himself from wincing. The sock, as he rolled it off, had crusty cakes of dried blood. But it does appear that someone had tried to patch it up.