anarchy, my dear

“Guess I can stop worrying that you’re going to kidnap my kid, then.” Nathan said dryly. It wasn’t entirely a lie. Other than Nathan, Nico was the only person Adrien would happily go with without fussing. It was his biggest problem with Nico. Until him, he had been the only person Adrien trusted and he had sort of liked that feeling. Then the fae had gone and ruined it for him. He’d started to worry somewhere in the back of his mind that there was some truth to faeries kidnapping children. 

“Yes, but if I didn’t have bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all.” He pointed out. Nathan took a few experimental steps forward, and while it wasn’t easy, he was pretty sure he was going to be able to get Nico back to the ranch like this. Besides, he enjoyed Nico’s surprise, until the table were turned on him and he gave a long-suffering sigh. “At least with you around I won’t feel homesick. You would fit in well in France.”

“I tried that whole thing once, took it back after like, an hour.” Nico admitted. The kid wouldn’t stop crying, and it just got to be a drag. He’d honestly only done it because the human had offered. He assumed it was better when you were still part of the Court, and could just hand the kid off to a random fae. Either way, he wouldn’t kidnap Adrien. The kid was great, but was also a little shit when Nathan wasn’t around.

Aesthetic - Nithan

Apparently he had found a sore spot, as it took a moment for Nico to reply. He filed that information away for future reference. He didn’t think it was that far off, but maybe that was the cause of the pause. “Just wait till you have a kid, knock that shit right out.” He knew that a little better than he would like. Of course, he didn’t think Nico was straight enough to have a kid without expressly trying. 

He was really dragging Nico more than he was helping him, and he was beginning to debate if he could carry him or not. “You assume that I would go to the effort of killing you people. I have shitty enough luck, I would never succeed.” He finally stopped walking. They were never going to make it back to the ranch at this pace. He bent and wrapped his arms around Nico’s legs, standing abruptly again and leaving Nico laying over his shoulder. “I don’t watch American TV.” 

Nico snorted, thoroughly distracted from the pain by this conversation turn at least. “The only way I’m having a kid is I get with someone who already has one. I am shit with babies.” Not to mention that he would just be a terrible choice to help raise a kid. Adrien was cool though. He was basically already a person, kind of, and Nico could usually get a few smiles out of him.

“Whore.” Still, Nathan allowed himself a brief smile. Maybe it was the adrenaline, or the thought that Nico could have died out here if nobody had found him, but he couldn’t help a touch of affection leaking into his tone. Just as quickly, he schooled his face. The last thing he needed was another Adrien, another weakness. It already cut him down a little inside when he realized that Adrien had somehow become more important than himself; something he hadn’t thought possible of another being. 

Nathan shifted to accommodate the weight, gritting his teeth and throwing himself into the motion of walking, trying to ignore the pain he heard in Nico’s voice. “What, you don’t think I’m a walk in the woods kind of guy?” He just had to keep this up until they got back, it wasn’t that bad. Then he would be putting distance, for sure. The flirting had been fun for a while, but somewhere a line had been crossed and Nathan had to put a stop to whatever the hell was happening. 

If it was anyone else, Nico would be punching them. Or at least trying to put some sort of curse on them for that. He was terrible at most magic other than glamours though, so it rarely worked out. He liked Nathan though, and the man did come and find him. Plus, he had the note in his voice that said he actually did like Nico, and his flirting. “You know it, babe.” He finally responded, too tired to think of anything else. 

“Better than a clean one.” His mouth was on autopilot now, spitting out the first thing that came to mind so he didn’t have to actually think about what he was saying. He wasn’t worried, no he didn’t worry about anyone besides his own self and Adrien. The rest of the world could go fuck itself for all he cared, but he might as well help Nico if he was right there. He just had to ignore the sick feeling in his stomach, and the flashes of friends in the FFL dying like this in his arms. 

Nathan huffed. “You can’t be feeling that bad if you’re still hitting on me.” He wasn’t stupid. He’d since practically their first meeting that Nico was interested, and a few years earlier he probably would have taken him up on it. But those had been the days when he was able to move on the next day or week and not have to deal with the consequences of a possible relationship and all the mess that came with it. 

He flinched unintentionally when Nico yelped. He didn’t like that sound. It made his stomach turn and the blood on his hands seemed to multiply. “I don’t, I just don’t want to lug your deadweight ass back to the ranch without any help.” He snapped, voice sharp with something that was definitely not fear. He rolled his eyes when Nico’s hands slid across his chest. He definitely couldn’t be that bad. Nathan pulled Nico’s arm over his shoulders, supporting him on the side of his bad knee. “Just fucking walk.” 

“Be hitting on you if I was dying.” That much was true. Nathan was more interesting than anyone he’d met in a long time, even if he was a Nephilim. Nico actually enjoyed being around him, and actually felt safe around him. That didn’t happen often, especially when he was as engrossed in the supernatural world. Humans were easy, he was stronger than them. Others were not.

“You’re blind and my chest is concave anyway.” It wasn’t really that bad. He had a thin frame, but over a hundred years of fighting had left him with a well toned body. It was simply somewhat pathetic compared to the rest of his race. He didn’t know why he was putting so much thought into this anyway. He had a few more pressing concerns at the moment. 

“Wouldn’t you like to?” He started wrapping the other strips around the wound and tying them off, moving as quickly as he could. There was no point in being nice about it, it was going to hurt no matter what and speed was of the essence. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do to get Nico back to the ranch, but he was taking this all one step at a time. 

This wasn’t looking good. Nico was turning paler and his voice was getting weaker and Nathan tied off the last of his shirt around Nico’s knee. He pulled Nico into a sitting position. “No you won’t. You pass out, I’ll dump Adrien on you and leave the ranch, we clear? Now get the fuck up.” There was a little shake in his hands and he didn’t like it. He tried to ignore it pulling at Nico more, trying to get them both standing. 

“You’re a dirty liar.” Nico slurred. Okay, maybe the blood loss was worse than he thought. He didn’t appreciate the fact that he had the chance to feel up Nathan right now, if he moved fast enough, but he couldn’t quite get his hand to move. 

“Bet your ass I would.” Nico agreed. That much was obvious, he had never been a subtle person, especially when it came to flirting. God, his leg hurt. It burned, but at least he was pretty sure the iron had cauterized the wound so it wasn’t bleeding as much. Or maybe it was just that he had lost feeling in his legs now. Technically that was better, since he couldn’t feel how much it hurt.

From what Nathan could tell, it was an old mining tool. These mountains held plenty of opportunity for things to get lost, and apparently Nico shared a bit of Nathan’s bad luck in his miraculous discovery of the tool. It wasn’t quite in the knee, now that he was looking closer. Rather it had pierced Nico’s skin just below the knee, his bluish skin turning a pallid gray that couldn’t be good, even for a fae. 

He didn’t bother to go through the complicated process of pulling his shirt off over his wings to save it, he just pulled it hard enough that it would tear along the back and proceeded to rip it into strips. He was no doctor, but he had spent enough time around people getting hurt to pick up some battlefield medicine. First thing he did was tie off a strip just above Nico’s knee, hoping it would suffice for a tourniquet. He didn’t think it was bleeding too badly, but with a faerie’s weakness to iron, he figured better safe than sorry. 

“The fuck is a blind guy doing out riding.” The mutter wasn’t so much directed at Nico as it was a rhetorical question to nobody in particular. “Now for the fun part.” He said in a falsely cheery voice, gripping Nico’s leg and pulling upwards in a swift movement. It made a sick sound as it came free from the tool and fresh blood began to flow. Nathan started tying the rest of the strips of his shirt around the open wound. “Don’t you dare fucking pass out on me,” he ordered. 

Nico knew his luck was shitty, he just didn’t assume it was this shitty. It was definitely something iron in his leg, and he knew that dizzy feeling was blood loss. He’d grown familiar with it long ago, and it wasn’t much of a stranger now, same as the pain that was still radiating from his leg. It felt like it was being pulled apart slowly, while being stabbed with hot pokers.

He did wince when he heard the sound of fabric ripping. “Finally got you shirtless and can’t enjoy it.” He croaked out. Why did his throat hurt? He hadn’t been stabbed there. He’d been stabbed in the leg, and he sucked in a breath as the tie went around his leg. It rubbed the iron against his skin again, and he swore he could hear it sizzling against his skin.