Isn't This a Bit OFF..? (Zacharie X Reader)

Impure Gestures

"_________! _________!!!" A familiar voice mixed with panic called out your name, yet you could barely hear it because you were so weak.

Your head felt like it was spinning, and the world was black. Every little thing that flowed through your ears seemed to be so muffled that they sounded just like faint whispers. You were so so weak, you felt like you couldn't even move one part of your body. You were so beaten up, that you could've sworn that you had died.

"__________!!!" The voice called again as you struggled to turn your bloody, bruised head in it's direction. A pained groan escaped your lips as you did so, finally realizing that the voice belonged to Zacharie.

Zacharie dropped to his knees at your side, pushing his mask all the way up to the top of his head, revealing his now wide, brown eyes, the two dark colored orbs immediately focusing on your badly beaten, bleeding body, a new feeling of fear washing over him as he frantically searched for something to do, then finally gently lifted you into his arms, stood up, and proceeded to carry you back to your home.

As soon as he got there, he kicked the door open hurriedly, walking in and laying your limp body on your couch before standing, going to shut the door and then rush for your medical kit, not even caring about the blood on your couch and his white sweater. All that mattered to him at the moment was making sure that you weren't going to die and that you were going to be alright.

You managed to barely open your eyes to slits, your vision blurred, the world seeming to spin around you due to so much blood-loss. Pangs of hurt surged through your body repeatedly as you tried to stay conscious, just as Zacharie returned to you with medical supplies.

He shivered, nervously beginning to clean you up, trying to remain calm as he spoke to you with soft, yet fearful words.

"I-It's alr-right, ___-________... I'll make you a-all bet-ter... I-I pr-prom-mise y-you, d-dear..." His words seemed to clumsily trip over his tongue as he spoke, making it obvious that he was in a lot of panic.

He ridded you of your bloodstains, having to tear up your shirt in order to clean the wounds thoroughly. He then proceeded to treat each injury before carefully bandaging it.

Your torso was eventually wrapped in gauze as well as your arms, and partially your head, after Zacharie had done his best to clean the blood out of your hair and then retrieve your brush and gently brush the tangles out.

Despite how pitiful you looked, the temporarily un-masked merchant was soon finished, ending his work by covering you up with a blanket and tucking you in.

You had slipped out of consciousness once again as he had been treating you, leaving him with nothing to do but simply hope that you were alright.

Zacharie sighed, trembling a bit before looking down at you on the couch, biting his lip and leaning down, closing his eyes and planting a gentle kiss on your forehead, then pulling back. He picked up all of the medical equipment and gathered together, went to put it back were it belonged, and then finally moved to sit in your recliner, taking his mask completely off and setting it down, leaning back and watching you carefully before slowly drifting into sleep.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You eventually blinked your eyes open, mumbling to yourself at a barely noticable volume as you attempted to move, only making yourself wince in pain. You had an enormous headache, and you were struggling to think straight, eventually deciding to give up. You stared at the cieling, trying to avoid the loud ringing in your ears, but to no avail.

Zacharie, being a light sleeper, opened his eyes, staring at you almost immediately. He reached for his mask, putting it on top of his head and slowly sliding it down his face before he stood and walked over to you. Relieved to see you alive, he finally decided to speak to you.

"Je vois que vous êtes éveillé, _________...." He looked down at you.

You nodded in response.

"Too weak to speak?" He asked you, a bit of pain easily able to be detected in his voice.

You sighed, closing your eyes and nodding once again.

"That's okay. I don't expect you to say anything." He nodded also, then quickly adding, "Get some more sleep.... Dear... I'll be here when you wake up, I promise I won't leave you." He stood, beginning to walk back to his seat, mumbling to himself a final part to his previous sentence, "Ever again."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Images flashed through your head. Each one was a different memory, the next more traumatic than the one before it. Blood, and then even more blood appeared as you remembered your only confrontation with the Batter, leading to your severe, almost fatal injuries.

You watched a panicked Zacharie, on his knees and at your side, trying to wake you, screaming your name.

Were you dead?

...

You twitched in your sleep, mumbling a bit until you finally jolted awake with a gasp, wincing immediately afterwards from moving your aching body too much.

"Ow...." You whimpered quietly to yourself, slowly moving to awkwardly clutch your bruised side. You didn't remember ever being in this much pain before.

Zacharie had woken up once again, standing from his seat and walking over to you. His masked face looked down to your's. You couldn't see his expression even as your vision began to clear due to the mask, but you could tell that whatever look he was giving you wasn't pleasant. He seemed to be  extremely worried about you, much to your dismay. You never wanted him to be upset.

"_________..." He murmured your name quietly, adding, "Are you alright?" You could hear the slightest shake in his voice, making you nod quickly since you didn't want him to be too scared.

'"I'm fine.. But thank you for asking," You whispered, flashing him a weak, but meaningful smile.

"Good... But I need to know something." Zacharie kept his gaze locked on you, which would have originally made you extremely uncomfortable, but you were too weak to care.

"Oui?"

"What exactly happened..? I have to go and hurt whoever did this to you..."

You allowed your eyes to momentarily wide before responding.

"N-No..! You don't have t-to hurt anyone.. f-for my s-sake..." Your volume steadily lowered itself the more you talked, leaving you wheezing your last word out. "..."

"Shhhh, dear... Just tell me what happened. The thought has been eating away at my brain all night, I just want to know." 

You sighed silently to yourself before speaking.

"Last night, not too long after you left my house, I had something on my mind... So I wanted to ask you something. I left my house and ran down the street, hoping to catch up to you. Instead, I stumbled across you talking to...'The Batter,' i think? Once you left and it looked like he left, I turned around to go back home... but I ran into him.. the Batter... He told me that I was impure, and that he was there to purify me... Then h-he just... started beating me until I blacked out.." You explained the incident to Zacharie quietly, tears starting to build in your eyes, making you slowly move to hide your face.

"The Batter did this..?" Zacharie's eyes went wide behind his feline mask. He was confused and surprised, never before considering the strange being to be so dangerous.

You nodded.

"Oui..." You mumbled, beginning to fall asleep once more.

"...Il est mort à jamais pour moi," the merchant hissed to himself, slowly walking to sit down again.

He wasn't going to let the purifyer get away with his crime.