Like a Wounded Animal

“Maes! Honey, what happened to your wrist?” Gracia exclaimed. She had come home to find Roy alone, whimpering on the couch with a fairly saddened look on his face. She had asked him what was wrong, but he hadn’t answered, just stared up at her with lifeless blue eyes.

Not knowing where her husband had gone off to, she went searching – to find him in the bathroom cleaning out an awfully nasty wound. He had been hissing in pain, and biting back curses, eyes narrowed and hands shaking.

“Ah… Roy bit me…” He told her, wincing a bit as she took his arm to look at the wound.

“He BIT you?”

“Yeah, I deserved it I guess… I startled him.” Hughes sighed, watching her as she reached out for gauze and bandages and began dressing the wounds. “I think he may have reopened the wound on his stomach, but he passed out just before I went to move him, and then woke up. I guess he thought I was a threat to him.”

“But still… he BIT you?”

“You’re looking at the wound, Gracia…” He told her, wincing as she went over a tender portion of his arm with her gentle hand. “Poor Roy, whatever was done to him is planted deep; he really thinks that he’s the monster he looks like, and my yelling at him probably didn’t help any” He paused to give his wife a helpless, near hopeless look. “Forget trying to change him back, making him still believe he’s himself and not a wolf or a monster is more important… and taking care of his wounds…”

“But you’ve said it yourself; he won’t let you get near him.”

“Not yet. I have an idea though… Don’t leave him alone, talk to him, he needs someone to be there for him right now. I’ll get Elysia from school and go pick up a few things, probably not in that order.” He gave her a lopsided grin.

Despite the fact that it was Roy lying on their couch, Gracia looked hesitant to be left alone with the chimera. After a moment of Hughes’ pleading, however, she nodded. “Alright.”

“All you have to do is keep him company, make him feel a bit human.”

Gracia nodded. They were out of the bathroom now, in the hall leading from living room to kitchen. They could see Roy lying on the couch, either very despondent or half asleep, they couldn’t tell. Every so often the soft murmur of a chocked whimper would reach them, Maes flinching at every one.

“Be good for Gracia, Roy.” Hughes called as he walked by on his way to the front door.

Hardly picking up his head, the Chimera turned to watch him leave. At the moment he watched the door close behind his friend, he felt what he thought was the last of his humanity ebb away with him, and drifted off into an uneasy sleep, a sleep in which he could hear Gracia speaking fruitlessly to him. Her voice sounded so sad, so not like the Gracia he had known back when he still had some decency in him, back when he could have been described as a man and not as some fruitless experiment of a false god that it made his heart throb. He flinched as he began to feel that ache pop up from deep in his core again. It was not from any physical wound that adorned him, but something else. His inside ached, and he didn’t know why. Why did this deep, undeniable hurt keep cropping up?

He could hear himself begin to whimper and yelp loudly again and hoped, silently against hope, as his eyes closed more tightly than they had been as he had slept, that Gracia wouldn’t try to alleviate the pain as Hughes had. If she touched him… he didn’t even want to think about what would happen to her. Hughes’ wound had been deep, but he could have inflicted far worse than that, if giving the chance.

Gratefully, she didn’t try that. The brunette simply came over to him, not close enough to cause any harm, and began to sing something to him.

His ears twitched as he listened to the small voice trail up and down through words in the song she sang. He couldn’t make out words, but the effect was still the same, as he felt the pain begin to ease and his tightened muscles begin to loosen and relax.

A lazy murr escaped his lips, and he opened his eyes for a moment as he listened, silently thanking her for finding a way to ease his pain as he went through the motions of forgetting he had ever had any. He continued to relax, and soon felt himself slipping off into another dreamless sleep…

…Only to feel something cold slide around his neck some time later, though it felt like seconds.

“Uhmn….nnnggggphh…” he groaned, looking over to the side lazily to see Hughes right there, just within range of his teeth. His eyes widened and he let out a watery growl, lacking in any and all strength.

“You’re awake.” Hughes said gently from his side, continuing in what he was doing. “Wow, and I thought for sure I’d need to go into the hospital and get more stitches.” He added sarcastically.

“What’re you doing?” Roy asked groggily.

“Making you a pretty little puppy, what’s it feel like?” Hughes asked, all seriousness.

“You’re what?”

“I’m putting a collar on you.”

“Why?”

“I needed something to attach the leash to.”

“Why did you buy me a leash?”

“So I can change your bandages. I got you a muzzle too.” Hughes was definitely dead serious about this. “There.” He sat back and seemed to admire what he had done for a moment. “Yup, that looks good.” He said with a grin.

Roy blinked, and reached up around his throat. He could feel the cording of a dog collar there, but he had to be sure… sure enough, the tips of his fingers brushed against a metallic ring that held an engraved tag, and the fastener of he collar.

“Maes… take it off…” He whimpered a second later, voice almost emotionless.

“No.”

“Take it off.”

“Roy, I said no. I’ll take it off when we get you back to normal again.”

“There is no way to make me normal ‘again’! Why don’t you understand?!” Roy yelled after him, watching as his friend walked away, that long absent ache in his chest started up again, and he collapsed flat against the pillows that were under him.

“Why… Why does it hurt so much…” he hissed, feeling his claws scrape through the bandages Maes had wrapped around his wounds earlier. “Why…?”

“Uncle Roy?” He heard a small voice from beside him, and looked over, barely the energy to keep his eyes open.

“Elysia… what… what is it, little one?” he asked her, already beginning to feel his eyes sliding closed.

“Where does it hurt, Uncle Roy?” She asked.

“Nowhere you can help.”

“Oh…” she said, sounding sort of sad. She blinked at him, and smiled. “Mommy was signing to you when Papa and I came home.”

Roy gave a little nod. “It was helping me sleep.”

“You can’t sleep?”

“Not well…”

She smiled. “I know how I can help then! I know the song Mommy was singing. Do you want me to sing for you?” She asked.

“Only if you want to, Elysia-chan.”

The little blond nodded. “Uhmn, do you mind if I sit with you?” She asked him, wanting to be close so she could help her uncle. Not seeing the harm in the little girl being near him any longer, the chimera curled himself up onto a smaller portion of the couch so that Elysia could hop up with him. He had all intentions of just staying that way, curled up into his protective little ball, when the little Hughes gently took his hand and laid it down in her lap. After a moment, his head felt compelled to join it, and as he began to listen to his niece’s little voice, he felt her hands moving along his ear. Sooner even than he had under Gracia’s gentle eye, he started to relax, feeling the utmost safety with the child, all fear and anxiety uncurling and slowly melting away as he lay there.

And for the first time since becoming a chimera, under the blankets his tail began to wag weakly. As he fell asleep, he bore a smile on his face.