Title: mending softly
Author: kameko-lullaby
Summary: "I'm fine." [Oneshot]
Pairings: wally/kuki – yes, again.
Words: 985
Time: hours

The first thing he was aware of was the fingertips tracing the line of his jaw, tenderly stroking the flesh that stretched across the muscle and bone. Hazy, dilated green flickered open to meet lilac clouded with worry that dimmed the usual sparkle. "Kooks?" Wally croaked; his voice was thick and horse from his medicated slumber.

Her mouth pulled into a soft smile as she nodded. A strand of long, long raven hair slithered from its place behind her ear, drifting to tickle the face of the teenage boy she hovered over. "Hi," she murmured quietly as Wally struggled to sit up against the plush cushions of the grubby couch. The Japanese female stood between his knees now, her pretty face twisted into an expression of concern, slender eyebrows lodged into a tight worrisome line. He was breathing too rapidly for her tastes, his broad chest rising and falling to many times in the stretch of a minute. "How are you feeling?"

The blonde chuckled – a low, raspy sound. Kuki could hear the tang of cynical sarcasm just below the accented roll of the syllables, "Like my arm is broken." He rolled his neck, bone realigning after the odd position it had settled in during his nap, before letting his head flop against the back of the couch. Most of his golden colored bangs fluttered away from his eyes, a few stubborn locks fell across the soft curve of the bridge of his nose obstructing what view he had of Kuki.

Loving worry, loving sympathy, the two emotions continued to dance across her pretty face in a tight mixture that made something coil in the bottom of his stomach. A heavy feeling that made his insides turn over on themselves. "Don't look at me like that," he mumbled, molars grinding together. "I'm fine – it's just the pain stuff, my head feels kind of fuzzy, is all."

She shifted in her nightgown, the cotton making a light rustle. Her bare feet inched her closer, until the cloth covered skin of his thighs brushed the outside of her kneecaps. Wally knew the sob was coming even before heard it, saw it shake her lean form as it crawled up from the deeper cavities of her chest.

"Wa-wally I-"

The fingers of his free hand curled around her closest wrist, her much smaller limb almost becoming lost in his large, wide grasp, "C'mere." Kuki stumbled, not having time to blink, as Wally pulled her forward, tumbling against his chest.

The Australian pulled the arm in his control around his neck, above his cast and sling. The other hand of his lover tangled itself into the fabric of his t-shirt. "You need to stop crying," he murmured into hair, lips moving against the glossy softness before Kuki lurched herself backwards; her violet optics grew into perfect, panic stricken circles. The moonlight reflected off the unshed tears still pooling, and sliding down against the curve of her cheeks. "Did I hurt you?!"

Worry that she bumped his arm in her fall - did he flinch?

Not from what you think.

He shook his head, wondering if he somehow managed to blow himself up if she'd blame herself. The girl seemed relieved at the small gesture but, her bottom lip continued to tremble and soon her face was buried in the hollow of his throat. His skin heated, a pink-hue painting his cheekbones with color other than his natural tan pigment, at the feel of her: tears, lashes and the tender kiss she placed against the throb of his pulse.

"I worry about you," she whispered breathlessly against his neck, arms tightening their hold on his shoulders. "…I can't help it and it's not just 'cause I'm the nurse."

Emerald softened, a wall subsiding under the blanket of visible drowsiness. Pleasant warmth flooded from his chest at her tender declaration, coating each and every cell with sense of contentment that tingled in his fingertips and tummy – his shoulders slumped against her.

A quiet, calm settled over the pair. Only the Japanese vixen's quiet sniffles disrupted the radiating peace of the early morning darkness. Wally pressed his cheek against the softness of her blue-black hair, feeling her bones continue to jerk with her muffled cries, hot wetness against his skin.

"Kuki,"

To Kuki, it was something more than just her name but, something tender fluctuating with endearment, affection…

Love.

She knew he loved her - knew it, cherished it.

For the all the times she said "I love you" as he rode the fresh, searing pain to calm him, comfort him, he returned it with a fond, heated smile beyond the scalding wave that echoed the syllables. Her head rose from the crook of his neck, light glinted off the slight purple shade of her irises.

"Don't cry…"

His voice was rough, attempting to soothe away the wrinkles of her worry. Kuki rubbed at her lashes with the backs of porcelain-skinned knuckles, her salty tears dampening the soft skin as Wally murmured to her.

"…'cause I'll be fine…"

The Japanese girl nodded, a soft sound of agreement tumbling from her parted lips.

"…I mean I'm already mending right?"

He lifted the broken arm from his lap then, the bone-white cast diluted to a gray in the lack of light. He chose not to mention the shredded muscle that had absorbed most of the blow that had blown straight through the bone - making those tears halt was the only thing registering to him. Sorrow never looked good on her; blinding, radiating, affectionate happiness fit better.

Kuki only nodded once more and moved to nuzzle his neck with a tiny sigh. Wally could feel her eyes drift shut, her thick lashes tickling his skin. Her shaking subsided, breathing calming as he brushed his mouth to her temple as she curled into him further, comforting herself, comforting him. He let her stay in his lap, her tiny, soft, curved body twisted away from the arm in-question, enjoying her closeness - the heat.

Seconds pulsed into minutes and the morphine slowing intoxicated his system once more, taking control. The sweet nirvana of healing sleep slowly stalked the edges of his brain as mouth slurred a few more things, his tongue loosening as Kuki watched him through half-hooded optics, a curtain of drowsiness falling across her own mind.

"…I don't like to see you cry."

A/N: Plot does not exist in my world, nope.

Shameless fluff that I have sixteen different versions of.

BLECK = failed characterization of ¾.

-Kati.

Wally and Kuki © Mr. Warburton.