It's lost on him, until Riku says it, that this isn't the first time Vanitas has stripped him. The last time had been in a similar state of duress, though worse, because Riku had been so close to gone that had Vanitas been thinking practically maybe he might not have bothered to try and bring his guttering lantern back to life. Watching the light wink out of his eyes would have been easy for him months ago, before he ever got to this place. He might have even relished the opportunity to be the one to do it.
Now, the thought makes his skin crawl.
His eyes flick to Riku's face. He isn't quite looking at Vanitas, his eyes somewhere else, not just by their placement but by the shadows lingering in them. Those green-eyed spirits haunting them even here. Vanitas can't really blame him— Riku might have been out in the town, but Vanitas had been here. Even pushed to his limit, he can't quite turn off the vigilance wiring his muscles tight.
He turns away from Riku as the other boy continues undressing, tossing over his shoulder: "Take better care of yourself and I won't have to."
It sounds casual, and under the current circumstances would be unfair, but there's a weight to the statement. Vanitas, after all, can cut to the quick of Darkness much easier than anyone. He's seen the way Riku acts. He's seen the patterns. He finishes undressing with his back to Riku as he walks toward the stool, with clinical efficiency and without a shred of modesty. He kicks aside the rest of his clothing in a heap without watching where they land.
"...Wow," Riku's tone might be taken as dry instead of sincerely surprised, albeit in a muted way. Too exhausted to bristle, Riku turns his head away, extracts first one leg from his jeans and then the other, eventually heaping his soiled clothing on the floor.
"That's almost sappy coming from you."
And this isn't lost on Riku, either - he knows that his drive to protect those who are important to him is a double-edged sword, that his own grief and hurts have in turn harmed and worried the very people he wants to protect - he's aware of how little choice they had in what they experienced, that their only earlier escape might have been in death.
Finding the other washcloth still sitting in the sink where he'd soaked it in water, he takes the second bar of soap, beginning to lather up the washcloth.
"..." Riku doesn't know how to be anyone else than who he is, he's tried, all that did was push away his friends. "I know I haven't made it easy. For you or Bruce. That the stakes are gonna continue to get higher here." They escaped, with Bruce's help, and they might not be so lucky the next time the spirits attack them, or some new disaster strikes.
Vanitas sits down on the stool, maybe a little harder than intended. His whole body aches, there are cuts on his body that have begun seeping from all the movement again. He knows they're going to sting, when he tries to wash them, but he knows better now the necessity of doing it. Things like why Quentin had covered his hands in vodka before putting them into his leg to set the bone.
He leans over his knees to pick up the cloth from the bucket, ringing it out and starting at his ankles and his shins.
"Save it," He says, without looking up. His legs aren't that bad. They seemed to like to cut into the meatier parts of him— his torso, the muscle of his thighs, the muscle of his arms. Blood and grime come off of him, leaving strips of pale skin behind. "I know what you're like, Master Riku." There's a hint of derision in his voice, though maybe that's as much habit as anything else. Riku would throw himself on a fire to stop others from burning. Vanitas knows this well, even without Riku saying it so plainly.
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Now, the thought makes his skin crawl.
His eyes flick to Riku's face. He isn't quite looking at Vanitas, his eyes somewhere else, not just by their placement but by the shadows lingering in them. Those green-eyed spirits haunting them even here. Vanitas can't really blame him— Riku might have been out in the town, but Vanitas had been here. Even pushed to his limit, he can't quite turn off the vigilance wiring his muscles tight.
He turns away from Riku as the other boy continues undressing, tossing over his shoulder: "Take better care of yourself and I won't have to."
It sounds casual, and under the current circumstances would be unfair, but there's a weight to the statement. Vanitas, after all, can cut to the quick of Darkness much easier than anyone. He's seen the way Riku acts. He's seen the patterns. He finishes undressing with his back to Riku as he walks toward the stool, with clinical efficiency and without a shred of modesty. He kicks aside the rest of his clothing in a heap without watching where they land.
cw: suicidal ideation
"That's almost sappy coming from you."
And this isn't lost on Riku, either - he knows that his drive to protect those who are important to him is a double-edged sword, that his own grief and hurts have in turn harmed and worried the very people he wants to protect - he's aware of how little choice they had in what they experienced, that their only earlier escape might have been in death.
Finding the other washcloth still sitting in the sink where he'd soaked it in water, he takes the second bar of soap, beginning to lather up the washcloth.
"..." Riku doesn't know how to be anyone else than who he is, he's tried, all that did was push away his friends. "I know I haven't made it easy. For you or Bruce. That the stakes are gonna continue to get higher here." They escaped, with Bruce's help, and they might not be so lucky the next time the spirits attack them, or some new disaster strikes.
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He leans over his knees to pick up the cloth from the bucket, ringing it out and starting at his ankles and his shins.
"Save it," He says, without looking up. His legs aren't that bad. They seemed to like to cut into the meatier parts of him— his torso, the muscle of his thighs, the muscle of his arms. Blood and grime come off of him, leaving strips of pale skin behind. "I know what you're like, Master Riku." There's a hint of derision in his voice, though maybe that's as much habit as anything else. Riku would throw himself on a fire to stop others from burning. Vanitas knows this well, even without Riku saying it so plainly.