The Hurt/Comfort Meme

[winterbolt]

Hurt/Comfort - Hurt/comfort is a fan fiction genre that involves the physical pain or emotional distress of one character, who is cared for by another character. The injury, sickness or other kind of hurt allows an exploration of the characters and their relationship.

- Post with Character Name | Series in the subject.
- Others respond.
- Roll 1-10 at RNG for a scene, play it out and have fun!

1. INJURY. You've been injured. Broken bones or bleeding out or maybe just a tiny little papercut. The choice is yours.
2. SICKNESS. You're sick and laid up in bed, at home or in a hospital. The severity is up to you.
3. FEAR/ANXIETY. Something is happening and you're scared beyond belief.
4. LOSS OF SENSES. Sight, touch, taste, hearing, smell, etc. You've lost some important sense or ability and now you're left to deal with it.
5. DESPAIR. Nothing is good or right anymore and you can't shake the depression. Maybe that friend of yours can help though...
6. BREAKUP. You've been dumped. You need someone to comfort you, possibly by the one who dumped you.
7. MAKE UP. Fight or break up, it's time to makeup.
8. RESCUED. You've just been held captive and/or tortured for however long and finally, someone has come to the rescue.
9. BAD ROMANCE. Fight, cheated on, abused, whatever the case is, someone else can clearly see you need comfort from someone who isn't your terrible lover tonight.
10. LOSS. You've experience a loss of some kind and need help getting through it.
11. INSANITY. You're seeing things that aren't really there, hearing voices, or you're just convinced you're at your wit's end finally and you're going to crack. Maybe someone can give you a helping hand.
12. TIRED. You've had a heard life recently and you're just worn too thin to really care anymore. There's no fight left in you anymore. Can someone help change your mind?
13. ADDICTION. Drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, or any other type of addiction has got you in its grasp. First time or relapse. Will someone be able to save you?
14. INSOMNIA. You can't sleep anymore, no matter how hard you try. Maybe someone can give you company.
15. NIGHTMARES. Or, on the other end of the spectrum, you can't sleep without gruesome, horrible nightmares. Either someone is stuck in your dream with you, witnessing it or they're just waking you up, soothing you out of it.
16. BLACKMAIL. You've been caught doing something you shouldn't and you were blackmailed because of it
17. SEPARATION. You're going to be separated for awhile or were separated for a long time. Either make up for lost time or try to spend every last moment together.
18. VIOLATED. You've been violated in some way. Can include sexual overtones or not. Can someone help you through it?
19. STRANDED. You've been stranded somewhere remote, with no help of anyone finding you for awhile. Can you survive this together?
20. SINS You're feeling the weight of your sins and guilt clearer than ever. Can someone give you absolution or lessen the ache any?
21. SECRET. It's difficult having to keep that secret of yours, be it a relationship or something you just don't want to share with anybody else. Maybe it's okay to talk about it now though...

From Bakerstreet

Comments

Kaneda | Akira

[rassera]

[No 18 if we can help it]

4

[iamtetsuo]

[All his life, he's been the underdog. Second or last, it didn't matter. He never came out ahead.

For a while, Tetsuo had tasted victory - real, lasting victory - and he'd become addicted to it. Everything he ever wanted fell into line just as he wanted it. Anyone at the hospital tried to stop him, and not even others with powers like his could stop him. Yamagata tried to stop him, and look where he ended up!

But then... just like so many lives before him, the fantasy ended, and it was all over. One second, his power was there, liquid fire in his head - and the next, all that was left of it was a dull, strange ache through his entire body.

He'd traded his old life away for a new one - what he'd been so sure was a better one - but now all it had meant for the past three days was hiding in alleyways and darkened corners. Hiding away from anyone who might recognize him. Followers? Hah - the second he went back to being normal they turned tail and scattered like roaches. It's just him against the world, and the world took away his weapons. It wasn't fair. In the end, he never got to find out a damn thing beyond just how many enemies it's possible to make in a week.

He'd gotten one of his wishes, he's aware enough to reflect bitterly. No one was going to come to his rescue now. Kaneda's probably dead, Yamagata definitely was; it was probably for the best that Kai and the others weren't going to find him here.

Because he was back to square one, back to being that scared little kid in his head he hated so damn much. Back to huddling in a remote corner of a condemned building, head in his hands, trying his best to not cry.

All his life, he's been the underdog. Why did he ever expect anything could change?]

[rassera]

[How did it turn out like this?

It seemed like the end of the world, with Tetsuo at its core--the ground zero of the end of humanity as they knew it. What started out as a small flicker of a candle in the night quickly grew into a bonfire, destroying everything in its path. With nothing Kaneda could do to stop it. Tetsuo's power was beyond anything he could have possibly taken on without some kind of plan. Power wouldn't win that alone.

But it had been only for the moment. Whatever power Tetsuo was given was taken back just as rapidly. No longer a bonfire, but like the last breath of a candle, how it flickers most bright before going out.

All that was left was to pick up the pieces.

Kai warned him not to, Kei had agreed. But when had Kaneda ever taken advice that had gone against his own code? Never. If he truly felt something, then that was what he'd do. And he knew that this was something he had to do alone.

He had to go to Tetsuo's rescue one more time.


--

An engine hums just outside the alley.

It's not quite the power of a car, and certainly isn't driving past like they've been. This one was here for a purpose, and only dies down after a few moments. It's immediate--there's no trailing sound of it taking off. Whatever had shown up? It was here to stay.

Footsteps sound in the alley, familiar in their tone, their pace...the familiar weight and air they gave. It was a soft sound, but in the strange silence of Neo Tokyo, they couldn't have been any louder. They're quick as they turn into the building, checking everywhere for him. These houses were sometimes safe places to stash bikes. If Tetsuo were to hide, it'd be somewhere tried and true.

He just had to hope that Tetsuo would reveal himself.

"Tetsuo? Tetsuo!"

There's no light--and Kaneda's only armed with a bike lamp that he kept in his glove compartment. Rubble...rubble. Nothing but rubble.





Except a soft sound. One he'd known since childhood. It rings in his ears, hurrying to the corner of the building and casting light there--seeing Tetsuo.


Once a bonfire, now a small, gentle, dwindling flame.]

[iamtetsuo]

[He doesn't know what to do. Maybe he never did -- except for that one damn bit where he knew exactly... There's nowhere to go from here. Back to the dorms? Yeah right, there's probably people waiting. He can't get food; where would he get it from?

Shit...

And then he starts hearing voices. It's faint; like it's either a distant echo, or the last bits of his sanity slipping forever away. Tetsuo doesn't move, not sure if he wants to find out for sure or not that he's still hearing things even when his head is finally quiet. Because that can't possibly be who it sounds like. He knows that.

Light falls on him and he curls up further, fear stabbing needles into his stomach. They found him, that's it, it's all over - and yet he can't help but look over anyway to try to at least see what it is that's about to kill him.

His black-rimmed eyes widen, mouth hanging open.

No way. It's him? It really IS him?

He's alive...]

[rassera]

[And there he was, curled in a corner of a run down, abandoned building. Crying in the same way he'd heard years ago. It's amazing how fast his heart goes out to him, after everything he'd done. Kaneda was angry, yes, furious even at him for what he'd done.

Yamagata...what Kai had to live through now...

But still, something softens in those eyes as he looks Tetsuo up and down, as if making sure this isn't a hallucination. He was really here.]

Tetsuo.

[He doesn't give him a moment to fight it, he's hurrying over and grabbing him by the shoulders. Because the only way he can know for sure is by touch.]

[iamtetsuo]

[For the first time in his life, Kaneda doing the thing he always does is the last thing Tetsuo would have predicted. They didn't leave on good terms. Hell, they didn't part on any terms. Tetsuo had left him for dead.

A whole new layer of fear grips him as he realizes that's exactly what Kaneda could do. Do the same thing. Walk away. Leave his life forever and never return. Kaneda, the last chance he's sure he'll ever get--

But Kaneda doesn't leave, at least not yet. Tetsuo flinches back at the touch, expecting retaliation of some kind, but in the same time his arm mechanically reaches out to the other boy's. Kaneda's arm feels solid under his hand; his grip on Tetsuo's shoulders feels almost strong enough to bruise, but he's unmistakably real. Very much alive.

A fact that twitches his mouth into a small scared smile - but a smile nonetheless.]

Kaneda?

[His voice is as small and frightened as he feels, and he hates himself for it. He even sounds weak; is he really that pathetic? Was he always quite like that, or is he worse now than ever before somehow?]

[rassera]

[His name was all the confirmation he needed. No matter what he did, no matter what happened between them, Kaneda would always be here to pick up the pieces. He'd made that promise years ago in the children's home, that he'd always be there to protect him.

Even if the one he had to protect him from was himself. His grip is tight, as if letting go meant that Tetsuo would dissolve into thin air, evaporate, or even just an illusion of his starved, tired mind.

A hand goes to his face to check it over, looking at those pupils for drug use, anything. Anything that he should look out for. There's no words for a few moments.

Only a soft, relieved chuckle.]

Some mansion you've got here.

Put the entire city through hell and this is the best you could find?

[He couldn't have sounded happier if he tried.]

[iamtetsuo]

[Silence stretches on, somehow more horrible than anything else Kaneda could do or say. Tetsuo's shoulders hunch more and more, inadvertently pressing further into Kaneda's hands, terror spiking as he tries, and fails, to figure out just what Kaneda's going to do with him.

He could do a lot. Tetsuo's absolutely defenseless now; he hasn't even eaten in a while and even if he had, he never was a match for Kaneda in a fight.

Except for when he could do everything.

When retaliation doesn't come, he relaxes a little, only for his shoulders to hitch for another reason. He can't stand it. This is the last thing he wanted to do, or be found doing, and yet he can't stop the tears.]

You can have it. I don't want it anymore...

[rassera]

[The silence was almost deafening, and each second that passed by Kaneda just hoped for something--anything to come out of Tetsuo's mouth. He couldn't read minds, he didn't have powers. And now, neither did Tetsuo...which made it all the more difficult to deal with...as odd as that was.

Those hands grip his arm tightly, and that familiar sound almost echoes through the room. One Kaneda had been trained to hear for so long. One that instantly made his heart lurch in his chest, the familiar sense of protection shining through.

Tetsuo was crying.

His hand reaches forward to thumb away one of those tears, aggressively brushing it off his cheek as he tries to look him in the eyes.]

Not really my taste. But who needs it, yeah?


We've got our own home. You goddamn idiot.

[It's hard to hide that smile.]

[iamtetsuo]

[He wishes he could hide it, somewhere deep down where he'd never end up being caught crying again. Familiar self-loathing wells up at his own weakness, and it's not brushed away as easily as the tear off his face. Unsure of what to do, Tetsuo's hands flex; one digging deep to grip Kaneda's arm as tight as he possibly can, the other drawing back, uncertain. He knows what he wants to do, but he can't make himself do it. It's like he's paralyzed; unable to move.

Almost like in the accident. When it all began...

I don't need you to look out for me anymore...

At 'we' and 'home', Tetsuo's last shreds of resolve - or is that sanity? - crumble away, like something deep within him fractured into too many pieces to ever identify. No sooner has Kaneda stopped talking than Tetsuo's other hand shoots out, clutching at Kaneda's jacket as if it's a life vest.

They.. maybe they did all have a home. Once. But he's not a part of it anymore... is he? Scared eyes search Kaneda's own, wide and tired, as if looking for the rest of the sentence. Or as if searching for a single reply, because he's run out of words. He's run out of ideas in general.]

Y-you don't...

[rassera]

[The grip is expected, and it only gives Kaneda an opening to wrap those arms around him, pulling him in tight to his chest. There's no hesitation--he's needed this just as bad as Tetsuo did.

His eyes shut as his forehead presses to his, just feeling for once the person who had been in that bike crash so long ago.

Was it long ago? It felt like it.

You've always been a part of it.

He meant it, even if he didn't say it, hand running through that hair, clenching it between his fingers as if he was making sure it was real. That Tetsuo was in front of him.]

It's over. It's over.

[His body shakes slightly, the slightest hint of him trying to keep it together.]

You're okay.

[iamtetsuo]

[No matter what, Tetsuo can't stop shaking. He won't let go, he can't let go, not even for a second, not even long enough to cling closer to Kaneda. Can't shake the feeling that if he does...

Tetsuo takes a moment to close his own eyes, squeezing them shut and silently pleading that if he opens them again it'll still be like this. A week ago, this was the last thing he wanted.

But danger changes perspective. He knows, deep down, that this is the only thing he needs.

He'll stay like that as long as Kaneda lets him. Listening to that mantra until he actually hears it. Pressing his forehead back against Kaneda's and just...trying to breathe. Trying so, so hard to not break down into actual sobs.]

[rassera]

[In a way, it was for the both of him. His words repeat over and over, as if trying to hammer it into Tetsuo's head, and maybe his own. They were okay. Tetsuo was okay. Easier said than believed, when you're sitting in a run down building and nothing but police helicopters sound from outside. But he tried not to concentrate on that, instead keeping focus on the boy in front of him.

His own eyes shut as well, letting a deep breath sound out of his lungs, like he'd just finished a race. And in a way, it was. A hand travels up to Tetsuo's head, fingers clenching that hair as he pulls his head closer, feeling that contact even more.

Police were probably coming the city for them, but he didn't care. They could comb the city and Kaneda would make sure nothing turned up. He had Tetsuo, and it's the first time things have felt right since the accident.

Like hell he was giving that up.]

[amadaman]

[It's been about four hours since Ken turned on his heels and ran away from Kaneda. The sun was already starting to set, and the air around them is growing cooler yet -- it was already pretty cold to begin with, in this forest thick enough that sunlight was limited. The rain that fell on them a couple hours ago wasn't helping things much. It certainly didn't stop Ken from slipping on a wet, moss-covered rock and tumbling a couple dozen feet downhill to the edge of a stream.

It wasn't really either person's idea to get into this situation. Sure, Kaneda was usually the one who suggested their misadventures. Going off the map a little, going over the speed limit by a few miles, getting sidetracked and sneaking them into no-trespassing zones... they were things Ken went along with with no more than an exasperated sigh, anyway. Even the suggestion today to go "check out where this path leads us" as they were passing through the forest wasn't anything particularly crazy. Except they'd gotten lost, their phones were out of range, they were hungry, and it had gotten them both extremely, extremely irritable. He can't even remember what small muttering it was that set which one of them off, but it had been enough. At the end of their shouting match Laneda had said just the right thing to extinguish the anger in the kid... as well as throw a figurative punch to his gut. And Ken had run off with a yell of, "Fine, whatever!" and sped off before anything else could be said.

A few hours, a storm, and a fall that left him with a scraped leg later, Ken curls up on the riverbank and shivers in his rain-damp clothes, damming himself for wanting to cry. This is so stupid, he did he decide to yell at Kaneda like that?]

[rassera]

[Honestly, he can't remember what he said. He was too in the moment at the time, too angry, pushed too far. Words were spoken (yelled), and tensions were more than just high. In the end, Ken had run off, Kaneda only realizing moments too late what exactly he'd done. The anger flickers out like a suffocating flame, replaced now by worry. The things he said now rang clearer in his mind, haunting him as he replayed the conversation, finding ways he could have said things better.

No, he wasn't going to end it like this. Ken had to be somewhere, and he was going to find him.


Wherever he was.

Which is what he had to do first--find him. It's not so easy when it's been raining either, slogging through mud and uneven ground, yelling until his voice had gone hoarse. It's a rough couple of hours until he makes his way to the river, seeing a small body hunched over the riverbed.

One he could recognize a mile away.

He doesn't say anything, walking forward, his boots sloshing through the mud as enough of an indication that he was here. He was tired, he was worried, and he just wanted to go home.


Ken probably more so.]

[amadaman]

[Ken stands out bright as ever in his orange outfit, even with all the mud, against the cold greys and browns of the ground around him. The rain earlier added plenty of water to the river, and it roars past him loudly, but even then he can hear the sound of someone -- Kaneda -- making his way through the mud toward him.

He uncurls from the ball he was in, raising his head and turning toward the sound, and he sees the tiredness coming off of Kaneda in waves. The two of them were alike in certain ways. While Ken was usually more conscious about keeping an anchor on himself, they both got swept away by their emotions easily. His knee hurts -- the disinfectant is going to burn when he cleans it -- and he's cold and hungry and exhausted from their fight and the hours.

He doesn't move as Kaneda approaches, his expression just falling into a sad, little frown.]

[rassera]

[He gives himself a moment, as if his own eyes have to make sure that he's actually there--it wouldn't be the first time he'd imagined something. His fatigue, hunger, anger...they all vanish at once. The pit in the bottom of his stomach finally started to alieviate.

And when his boots do move, his mind's not in control of them. It's automatic, the way he practically scrambles over to the riverbed and drops on his knees--mud be damned as he pulls the kid into his arms, pulling him close to his chest as if he'd slip right through his fingers if he didn't.

His head presses to the others, forehead first so his eyes cast down. ]

Dammit, Ken...

[What does he even say?]

[amadaman]

[It's not until Kaneda's touching him that it sinks in for Ken that he is there. It really is him. His eyes widen as hes pulled into the embrace, muddy face against damp shirt -- they're both cold, but suddenly it feels so much warmer, the press of a forehead against his hair more comforting than he'd ever felt it to be.

He's raising his arms to grasp Kaneda's shirt before he even thinks about it, mouth opening to gasp out,]

Kaneda-san. Kaneda-san, I'm-- I'm sorry.

[rassera]

[It doesn't sink in until Ken's against him either--just how cold he was. You learned to block things out when you were desperate enough. Cold was ignored, pain was forgotten. Only now does it feel that way, everything slowly returning.

Not that it matters. He's too happy to care at this point. If feeling his head press to his chest wasn't enough to convince him that this was real, his voice sure did.

That hand laces through his hair, chest heaving out a sigh of relief.]

Just...you're okay. That's what counts, alright?

[It's hard for Kaneda to admit he's wrong. Pride can be his one fault. But here...]

I'm sorry too.

[amadaman]

I'm fine, I'm fine. Just-- just a cut, really.

[He got cuts a lot. He was an outdoors kid even with his introversion, so he had scrapes here and there usually anyway. The gash on his leg is a little bigger than anything he'd get outside of battles usually, but it's nothing life threatening. And now that Kaneda's here and they aren't alone, it hardly matters at all.]

You don't have to apologize. I ran off.

[rassera]

[Even so, those arms don't drop. They keep hold of him tight, just soaking in that Ken's here. That they can get out of this place. Wherever they were, it had to have a road that led somewhere, and right now...that could be anywhere.

Home, some gas station, a truck stop, anything.]

You're an idiot, you know. [There's no malice in that statement, in fact...he's laughing.] Thinking you could run from me.

[amadaman]

[Somehow, it's that sound. That laughter that rumbles in Kaneda's chest and out of his mouth that does it. The tiny shaking of Ken's body grows more obvious until he can't take it anymore and lets out a small, single hiccuping sound.

He had run away. And this time, unlike the last time, unlike the time before, he was somewhere he couldn't navigate himself. In Iwatodai, he walked himself back to the dorm; in Nonah, he still knew exactly where he was. Here, in this forest, he was alone and he couldn't tell left from right and it had felt so, so lonely.

He didn't know this sort of loneliness could still exist in him.]

Kaneda-san... [it comes out thick, almost whiny, as Ken presses his face into the front of his shirt and holds on tightly.] I'm sorry. I'm really sorry.

[rassera]

He pulls him closer, until he's sure he can feel Ken pressed against his chest. His heart is beating rapidly from the sheer adrenaline rush, and his ears seem to pound from the blood flowing through him.

Ken's sounds are so familiar, reminiscent of another boy who tried to stifle his tears against him. One he missed considerably. But here, he could do something...here he was that person that someone could hold onto and cry and everything would be okay.

His voice is hushed, uttering something in Japanese over and over. It sounds like 'idiot', just a string of 'idiot', masked by laughter as strong arms wrap around him.

He'd found him. And they'd go back together.

A part of him wants to get up, to get out of this mud and take him to a gas station for...something. Food, a bandaid, anything. But right now...he'll give it a few minutes. Soak in the fact that Ken wasn't going anywhere.


A small part of him never believed the opposite.
...
"We're not telling anyone about this, alright?" It's soft, resting his cheek on Ken's hair.

[amadaman]

They've both lost more than enough. They've never really sat down to talk about it; Kaneda knew about Ken's family situation (or lack thereof), and Ken knew enough about Tetsuo. The two of them understood each other enough without disclosing all of the details, so as Kaneda holds him close and whispers weak insults against his hair Ken understands. He was never a leader; he's the youngest of his team; position wise, Kaneda is much closer to Minato, but he understands.

He's so, so glad that Kaneda came to get him, but somewhere, he knew he would.

"Are you kidding?" he responds, still holding tightly on to him. "I'm not telling anyone, they'll never let me live it down."

[rassera]

"You're not kidding! I can hear the lecture now." Not so much for him getting lost, but Ken? The lecture he'd get about losing Ken would be so long he would be able to go out to the bar and drink after.

Because he'd be of legal drinking age.

His grip keeps tight, but he starts to hoist the boy back up onto his feet. Ken was right, they didn't need to tell each other everything to understand. And in some ways, that made them closer. Ken was young, and Kaneda had always been the big brother, the protector.

He did it with Tetsuo, and he would do it with Ken too.

"You hungry?"

Because he sure as hell is.