The hero becomes the distressed.
The movement nearby wasn't noticed over his own greif until whines that weren't his own reached those torn ears. Bi-colored eyes flashed up from his bundle to spot the girl he'd been tending to suddenly on the bed with him. His first reaction normally would've been to shoo her off to her own bed or to comfort her, in case she were scared to be alone.
In this situation, when she came over and leaned against him, growling out at the darkness... suddenly he felt like the one being saved. It wasn't like Teo to take comfort in the arms of a stranger, but he leaned against her and whimpered softly, still too dazed by his terrors to bother preserving what little 'manly image' he had left.
He curled into her, gentle and possessive all at the same time. Murmured words in Italian never loud enough to hear but soft enough to feel as he mouth them into her fur. He felt protected, but the need to protect the injured girl lingered. He was no warrior, but lately he felt like a healer. Healers didn't have to be brave all the time, right?
Softly, a whisper that was choked with tears, he murmured into her fur. Don't leave... More Italian words followed, then, ...he'll come back. He'll come back if I'm alone. Don't leave me. Too tired to be frantic, too scared to be calm, Matteo was torn apart. The scars on his wrists burned and the long lashes down his back, now covered in clear white fur, stung like new again. Reminders.
...don't go 'way.
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