Chapter Text
Here’s the thing.
Kaelix had a secret.
A very normal secret. So normal, in fact, that it edged the line of inconvenience just to keep it a secret. Seeing as he has been living and rooming with the other staff of the By The Beat livehouse it only becomes so much more evident how inconvenient this little secret truly was.
Seriously, secretly being a vampire with three other roommates is a nightmare.
For the past year, Kaelix had been silently suffering with his vampiric curse that had ailed him since that fateful Halloween.
It was a special night at the livehouse. Seible proposed the novel idea of hosting a special event in order to attract more patrons, not a surprising choice from the resident promoter. Each member of the By The Beat staff dressed up as a different creature/spooky character. Zeal, their bartender, was a sexy, mad scientist, Freodore was a victorian-esque ghost, Seible was an angel, and Kaelix was the vampire (Although Freodore debated making Kaelix a werewolf). To Seible’s credit, it was a massive success. That night there was a line of costumed party goers that wrapped around the city block.
Unfortunately for Kaelix, the resident security, that meant he had his work cut out for him. Hours passed as he checked IDs, conversed with party goers, kicked out troublemakers, and ignored any drunk flirtations thrown his way. At one point, a man dressed as a sexy Bojack Horseman saddled up to Kaelix and rested his arm on his shoulder. Despite the fact Kaelix exceeded him in height by a good four inches, the drunkard was not deterred.
“H-hey there pretty boy.” The man tried to say between his hiccups. He did his best to intimate a suave, deep, charismatic voice; like something you’d hear in an audition for the bachelorette or old tapes of Bill Clinton’s speeches. Unfortunately for the drunkard, Zeal Ginjoka was Kaelix’s roommate, so consequently his standards were a little out of the man’s vocal competency.
“Y-you know what they say about horses?” He asked, giggling as he spoke. Intrigued, Kaelix entertained him with a response. “What?” Kaelix responded, raising an eyebrow at the man.
The man soon fell into giggles, apparently the voices in his head were quite the charmers. If only he could put their talent to good use. “They say-” He took a moment to catch his breath, “They say, well, save a horse, ride a cowboy. If you catch my drift.” He winked obnoxiously through the holes of the horse mask.
Kaelix was thoroughly confused, “But you’re the horse? Wouldn’t that be a little counter intuitive?”
“Nope, because I’m THE cowboy.” A man that was standing behind the drunkard spoke up and moved to stand beside his likely companion. It was at this moment Kaelix realized he’d just been played and tag teamed by two idiots dressed up as Bojack Horseman and Woody from the Toys franchise. This night could not get worse.
“Look sir, sorry, but I’m not interested.” Kaelix responded, trying to remain civil.
“If it’s just b-because he’s a man I promise yoouu, you’ll change your mind after a night with this cowboy.” The sexy Bojack horseman said, pointing exaggeratedly to his friend.
That was not the problem.
Far from it.
To reiterate, Zeal Ginjoka, Freodore, and Seible were his roommates. Any chance of Kaelix just being straight got crushed once he walked through the doors of the livehouse.
While his roommates may not know about his secret affections for them. One thing that’s certain is the money he invested to soundproof his room is reaping dividends.
“No–that’s not the problem–look.” Kaelix said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. The two party goers paused, even the drunk, at Kaelix’s tone. “It’s Halloween night and I’m a bouncer. As much as I’d like to ditch this place, even if not with you guys, I can’t. I have a job to do, and nothing is going to change that fact.”
The two stood there in silence pondering, even the horse guy seemed to sober up a little at Kaelix’s words. Then Bojack Horseman spoke up, “You know what,” he said with determination in his voice.
He walked up to Kaelix, sizing him up, “All I have to say is-’got your nose!” Suddenly he swiped Kaelix’s glasses, prescription ones by the way, and ran off screaming and laughing down the road.
This night just got worse.
“What the ff–Seible watch the door!” Kaelix yelled through the entrance of the livehouse.
A faint huh? K-chan wait wha- reached Kaelix's ear before he took off after the thief.
They ran for several blocks with Kaelix cursing the world under his breath at every opportunity. It really was just his luck. Some drunk guy and his friend took an interest in him then stole his glasses. It vaguely reminded Kaelix of when kindergarten boys would pull on little girl’s pigtails or steal their pencils for attention. Except they were grown, mature adults; atleast, they were supposed to be!
After approximately ten minutes, Kaelix was only nine or so meters behind the thief. The man then disappeared into an alleyway between a rundown liquor store and a 24/7 women’s only gym. Classic.
Kaelix slowed down to a jog then a walk in order to properly catch his breath. He needed to calm down; He wasn’t looking for a fight. He wanted to end this as quickly and peacefully as human nature would allow.
Bracing himself, Kaelix walked into the alleyway.
It was your typical dingy alleyway. There was graffiti decorating the brick and mortar walls of the buildings. There was trash everywhere . Every step further into the alleyway was another crunch of a crushed soda can or assorted aluminum. Out of the corner of his eye, Kaelix saw the silhouette of a raccoon scamper off with a half eaten tub of butter. Finally Kaelix sees, at the end of the alleyway, the Bojack Horseman slumped against the wall with the glasses perched on his horse mask head. The thief appeared to be asleep.
Kaelix let out a sigh of relief. At least this way, he wouldn’t need to get physical. Even though he is a bouncer, physical fights were never his forte or something he enjoyed. However, Kaelix then noticed that the horseman wasn’t alone. To the left, crouched over him was a man seemingly examining the drunkard.
Well, even better. This way someone can help him carry the drunk back to their friend and go home.
“Hey, sir!” Kaelix shouted to the stranger. The man immediately flinched. He stood up quickly and turned around to face Kaelix.
There, at the end of the alleyway, stood a classy victorian-dressed man (slightly shorter than Kaelix). The clothing looked extremely authentic from this distance. Kaelix may not be a fashion expert, but during his time as a model he saw his fair share of period-clothing. These seemed straight out of an old textbook. He also had a cape which–although may not be historically accurate–the rule of cool dictates he earns bonus points.
The man himself was pale, sickly so, perhaps due to makeup? His mouth was smudged with red, likely with some sort of lipstick to imitate the look of blood. His dark hair was slicked back, the excess tied into a ponytail resting on his shoulder. Then there were his eyes that glowed red in the dark.
It was a fantastic vampire costume.
“That is a fantastic vampire costume.” Kaelix said, his eyes tracing over the outfit. “I need to know how you got your eyes to glow like that.”
The man paused, a perplexed expression crossed his face, “Yes, thank you. I put a lot of effort into it.” He had a unique accent, something vaguely european. Then, he looked over awkwardly to the drunk guy, still laying there, “I seem to have found this gentleman lying here.”
Kaelix looked over to the slumped figure, “Yeah I assume it was the alcohol that made him drowsy enough to sleep in this dump of an alleyway.”
Kaelix and the man exchanged a glance, “Sorry, he stole my glasses. I just need to grab them and then we can help return this guy to his friend.”
The guy nodded and moved to stand off to the side, allowing Kaelix to get closer to the drunk. Carefully, he tiptoed over to the drunkard, not wanting to accidentally wake him, then plucked the glasses off his head. Kaelix made a mental note to thoroughly clean them once he got home.
However something caught Kaelix’s eye. Although difficult to see from the man’s slumped position, a thin trail of blood can be seen soaking into the man’s red crop top. It was coming from under the horse mask. The world slowed down to a stop, Kaelix could feel his heartbeats pick up speed. Subtly, Kaelix went to check his pulse. Still breathing. That’s a good sign.
Clearly, this vampire guy did something to the drunk. Maybe he’s some sort of gang member or a guy who's physically violent; either way that guy was bad news. Luckily, he seemed very compliant with Kaelix, he probably didn’t expect to get caught so quickly and just went along with the flow.
If Kaelix plays his cards right, he could help get the drunk guy to his friends and then have this stranger questioned by law enforcement. In his right pocket, he silently held the SOS button on his phone. That would alert the other By The Beat staff that there was trouble.
“Ah, so you’ve seemed to have figured me out.” The strange man said, his words were thinly laced with ire. Kaelix froze.
Oh fuck.
“Huh? What’s up?” Kaelix responded, he tried his best to conceal the tremor in his voice. Currently the wall and Kaelix’s eyes are becoming great acquaintances.
“I can hear your heart racing.” He said, “It's akin to the flapping of a hummingbird.” The sound of click clack that followed a pair of heeled footsteps were slowly approaching.
Oh…” the stranger groaned to himself, “I’m starving…”
Fear struck Kaelix like lightning before a thought made itself known.
Oh god. This guy is a freak !
Kaelix stood up quickly and turned, he dodged as the freak tried to launch himself at Kaelix.
Kaelix shrieked.
“Oh my GOD! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?”
The man gets back up and appears in front of Kaelix inhumanly fast. He goes for Kaelix’s mouth; hit . His lips were probably busted. Kaelix attempts to retaliate with a sucker punch. Instead of blocking or maybe dodging he catches Kaelix’s arm and bites. Hard.
Kaelix held back another curse. He was terrified. In pure instinct, he threw a hook at the man’s head using his other arm. The creep stumbled back a little, wobbly and looking delirious. Kaelix took the opportunity to jab him right in the mouth then kick him in the gut. When he pulled his fist back, blood painted his knuckles. Kaelix suppressed the urge to feel guilty. Fortunately, the combo seemed to slow down the creep.
Shit, Kaelix realized, his arm was still bleeding, he could feel the warm blood running down to mingle with his fingers.
Kaelix himself was feeling a little light headed–probably from the blood loss–not to mention he was sweating like crazy. Kaelix would have to dry clean his costume later, Freodore would not appreciate it returning covered in blood, sweat, or tears.
A warm feeling ran down his nose and chin.
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. It was more blood, on top of the bleeding arm he had a nosebleed; God the stress was really getting to him, huh? He can taste both the fresh blood from his nose and stale one crusting on his hand on his chapped lips.
Suddenly two loud and familiar voices echoed through the alleyway:
“K-chan are you okay!?”
“Kaelix! We’re here!”
Kaelix heard the rumble of frantic footsteps, faintly he could also hear the whine of police car sirens. Two thoughts immediately crossed his mind:
Finally and home.
Immediately, Kaelix was filled with relief, it soothed him like a balm.
Everything was going to be alright now.
Kaelix turned to face his beloved roommates. He was ready to get this night over with. There the three stood, still in their halloween costumes, it was a little humorous. Seible was the first to run over to Kaelix, quickly assessing him from head to toe.
“K-chan! We were so worried–YOUR ARM IS BLEEDING!!!” Seible yelled immediately. That alerted the other two to quickly move to crowd Kaelix.
“Guys-”
“Shut up. I brought a first aid kit.” Freodore said, passing it over to Zeal. Wordlessly, Zeal opened the kit and passed the cotton balls and alcohol to Freodore. While Freodore and Zeal tended to Kaelix’s arm, Seible proactively went to talk with the police. In his peripheral vision, Kaelix could see the police arresting the freak and carrying off the Bojack Horseman guy.
Moments later, Seible ran back to their little huddle pile around Kaelix. Seible then pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket. It was a cute blue and white checkered fabric, Kaelix would hate to stain it with all his dirt and grime.
“K-chan. Bend down a little.” Seible asked with a hand motioning Kaelix to come closer.
“Seible, really it's fine–” Kaelix attempted to say, he was shut down immediately.
“That wasn’t a request, Kaelix.” Seible's voice dropped an octave, his usual soft eyes were hardened leaving no room for discussion. It left a shiver wracking through Kaelix’s body. Instantly he complied, placing his face in Seible’s palm. It was so warm.
Seible’s eyes soften once more. With the care and tenderness of a bunny, Seible gently wiped the blood and sweat from Kaelix’s face.
He lingered a moment on Kaelix’s lip, a displeased expression overtook his face.
“We’ll need to ice that later,” he mumbled to himself just as Freodore finished wrapping Kaelix’s arm. The four then stood there in tense silence and exchanging looks before Freodore reached to flick Kaelix’s forehead.
“Ow!” Kaelix rubbed the spot on his forehead.
“Cochino.”
Kaelix pouted, looking at his three roommates, “What was that for!?”
The three shared a glance before they collectively sigh. Kaelix didn’t get it. He hated being left out like this, they all looked so… sad, disappointed even.
Zeal spoke up first, “Kaelix… look. You can’t just run off like that. When you took off with barely a warning to Seible he panicked.”
Kaelix looked at Seible, the shorter man fidgeted a little before turning to look at Kaelix with teary eyes. That felt like a sucker punch to the gut. Zeal continued, “We were so worried. Then about twenty minutes later we got your SOS.”
Kaelix could feel himself begin to tear up, he felt terrible right now. He just wanted to go home. His heartbeat was ringing in his ears and his breathing started to quicken ever so slightly.
Zeal paused, instantly he moved to pull Kaelix into a strong hug. Kaelix buried his face into his shoulder, taking in the comforting scent of whiskey and mint. Soon, Kaelix could feel Seible and Freodore join the unplanned group hug too. It felt so warm…so safe…like home.
“We don’t have to talk about it right now.” Freodore murmured into Kaelix’s right shoulder.
“Yeah…Furi-chan is right. Tomorrow, okay?” Seible added from Kaelix’s left shoulder.
“Y-yeah, tomorrow.” Kaelix replied, letting himself fall further into the warmth.
The four would stay like that for another ten minutes before walking home together. Kaelix in the middle between Freodore and Zeal while Seible walked a little ahead, holding Kaelix’s hand, pointing at random shops or knick knocks he’d noticed.
Once they got back to their apartment, they wouldn’t let Kaelix do anything. Somehow, they all telepathically decided that tonight Kaelix was going to get the princess treatment.
Freodore went to run him a bath. Zeal went to the kitchen to whip something up (despite it being almost midnight), and Seible helped Kaelix take off his costume.
Kaelix grimaced at the blood stains on the once pristine white shirt Freodore gave him. Seible didn’t even blink twice.
“I’ll make sure to get it dry clean later.” Kaelix said, as Seible worked on unlacing the corset he was wearing.
“Don’t even bother” was Seible’s response, not even sparing a glance from his task, “Furi-chan wouldn’t even think of letting you get that dry cleaned, let alone pay for it.”
Kaelix sighed and rolled his eyes, “Listen! I didn’t know you couldn’t machine wash cashmere. That was a one-time thing! I even bought him a new sweater after the fact as an apology.” Kaelix whined.
“Hey, hey, don’t tell that to me! You should be begging Furi-chan for mercy, not me.” Seible said, giggling a little. “Although… I wouldn’t mind if you begged for me instead.”
Kaelix’s thoughts screeched to a halt, whatever dignified response he had prepared had decided to self-defenestrate.
Pause.
Rewind.
Play.
The corset dropped to the ground. Kaelix whipped his head to face Seible, his face beginning to resemble a tomato. “You WHAT?” Kaelix exclaimed with poorly concealed panic.
The sly bastard only tilted his head innocently while blinking his cute, doe eyes. “What’s wrong K-chan? Cat got your tongue?” But Kaelix knew what he heard, he can even pinpoint the mirth in his voice.
“Seible, what did you mean by that?” Kaelix asked, his eyes searching the shorter man’s face. His lip quirked up slightly, a sign that Kaelix wasn’t going to get the answer he wanted, the one he needed. “Let’s wait until tomorrow, yeah?” Seible said, pushing Kaelix towards their shared bathroom.
The apartment they shared had four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and an extra room that served as Seible and Freodore’s shared office. Zeal had the largest room so he just worked in there or, occasionally, in the living room. Seible had to handle a majority with a lot of paperwork as the owner and promoter of By The Beat so he got half of the office. Freodore got the other half as the designated designer of the livehouse. He needed the space for his fabric, mannequins etc. Kaelix was similar to Zeal, although his room was the smallest of the four, he usually opted to work in the living room anyways. It allowed him to talk with his boys while he worked on paperwork or other miscellaneous stuff.
The apartment was essentially divided into two; The kitchen and living room serve as the divider. On one end were Zeal and Freodore’s room with their side shared bathroom. Seible and Kaelix’s rooms, bathroom, and the office were on the other side of the apartment.
The apartment they lived in was also directly above the livehouse. While under normal circumstances it’d be a terrible idea, By the Beat livehouse only had four employees, so the livehouse was only operating when they were all working. Not to mention, they’ve taken the time to install soundproof foam beneath the floors of their apartment. It was comfy, a perfectly cozy home for the four of them. Kaelix couldn’t have wished for anything better.
Seible knocked on the bathroom door, “Furi-chan are you ready?”
Seconds later, the door opened, “Yes. Kaelix, there's a thing or two I need to tell you before I’ll leave you alone in the bath.”
Kaelix walked in, Freodore closed the door. The bathroom smells like fresh citrus and honey. Looking to his right he found the source, a bubble bath, just for him prepared by the one and only Freodore.
“Make sure not to get your bandage wet, the wound is still healing. There’s a stool beside the bath for you to rest your arm on while you bathe.” Freodore instructed, “I’ll help wash your hair and bring you some clothes later. Get in the bath first.”
Freodore then stepped outside, giving Kaelix some privacy to undress. Once he was done, he took a second to check his face in the mirror. He looked like a wreck.
His lips were starting to bruise from that punch earlier. His eyes were a little red, probably from trying to stop himself from crying. The hair gel Freodore used earlier made his hair all crusty now. Honestly, he looked terrible. But he didn’t feel terrible, except for all the grime he felt coating his skin.
Carefully he stepped into the bathtub, submerging himself until only his right arm, neck, and head were above the water.
A knock, before a voice came through the door: “Can I come in?” Freodore said.
“You can come in, Freo!”
Freodore, who was now dressed in simple PJs, swiftly stepped into the bathroom and closed the door. There was a pile of neatly folded clothes in his arm. He placed them on the sink counter before approaching Kaelix armed with shampoo and conditioner. He pulled over another stool and sat, taking Kaelix’s head into his hands to start working.
Kaelix hummed happily as Freodore thoroughly washed his hair. The ambient sounds of moving water and soap suds echoed against the bathroom tiles.
“So… what happened?” Freodore broke the silence.
As relaxed as ever Kaelix murmured his response, “Thought we weren’t gonna talk about it till tomorrow.”
Freodore let out an airy laugh, a quiet sound but beautiful nonetheless. “Of course, but maybe I want to hear the inside scoop first. Before the other wolves pounce on you.”
Kaelix laughed at the comparison. A full body laugh that jostled Freodore whilst he was working, “Stay still!” he ordered, pushing Kaelix’s shoulders back down.
“S-sorry,” Kaelix said struggling through his residual giggled, “Just the image of Zeal and Seible as wolves is so…”
Freodore sighed but Kaelix could see that he was smiling.
“Well…” Kaelix drawled, dragging the syllable out, “I wouldn’t want to show any favoritism between my roommates.” That made Freodore roll his eyes, Kaelix suppressed another snort.
“Fine, keep your secrets, Cochino.” He sprayed the taller man with water. Kaelix sputtered trying to blink the water out of his eyes. “That was so mean! You haate me Freo!” Kaelix whined, directing his look of betrayal to Freodore.
“Hmph, it's what you deserve.” Freodore said, washing the suds off his hands in the sink,
“Finish up soon by the way, Zeal made us dinner.” Then he left, leaving Kaelix alone again in the bathroom.
At the thought of dinner, he shifted to drain the tub. The adrenaline from all the chasing, fighting, and chaos had finally settled. Kaelix was now aware of how hungry he actually was. He dried himself from head to toe, being careful to not disturb his injured arm. The bleeding seemed to have stopped but it’s far from actually healed; injuries like these usually took a few weeks to heal in full. He was gonna need to change the wrap before bed.
The clothes that Freodore left were a pair of basketball shorts and a large oversized, green Zelda T-shirt. Even though it was mid-fall Kaelix still prefered to wear shorts. Sweatpants–or just pants in general–never fit him well because of his unique proportions. The woes of being tall and having long legs….
Once Kaelix changed, he exited the bathroom and entered their small dining-kitchen living room space. It was a domestic sight; Instead of sitting at their perfectly functional dining table, the three roommates were all gathered around their singular coffee table sitting on the floor.
Kaelix observed that Zeal and Seible had also changed into their own PJs.
“K-chan! Sit down,” Seible said while patting the spot beside him. Kaelix obliged, moving to sit next to Seible, in front of him sat a plate of delicious chicken with rice and broccoli. Kaelix started eating without hesitation.
“Woah, woah K-chan slow down!” Seible said, startled. Zeal and Freodore were also surprised at the vigor Kaelix ate. Unfortunately Kaelix had no defense besides sheer hunger.
“Warf? Im hunghy.” he said through a mouthful of rice. There was a silent pause before Zeal and Seible bursted into laughter. Freodore tried to hold back his laugh but soon fell into giggles too.
The night went on as they all ate. While they promised to talk with Kaelix about his hijinks tomorrow, Seible, Freodore, and Zeal also had their fair number of stories to share from that night.
Seible had apparently been ‘adopted’ by a couple of ‘bros’ after discovering their mutual interests in FPS games. They exchanged numbers before the guy with big claws had to escort his friend home. Meanwhile, Freodore was attempting to comfort a few drunk girls crying outside the ladies bathroom. Queen never cry was a phrase that Kaelix has officially added to his vocabulary. The most fascinating (in Kaelix’s opinion) story belonged to Zeal.
Zeal shared that a certain party of patrons were ordering beers like crazy. There were eight of them, each dressed up in their own unique costume. The most obvious costumes were the demon, sorcerer, cyborg, and police officer. The rest looked a little ambiguous but were stylish nevertheless. Zeal and the demon were conversing most of the night since he was ordering drinks until something interesting happened.
“We were laughing, bonding our mutual interest in sonic when he propositioned me.” Zeal explained.
Zeal deepened his voice trying to imitate the patron’s baritone tone, it made Kaelix giggle in his seat, “Hey mate, have you ever thought of joining a polycule? The five of us really wouldn’t mind having you around, considering you’re such a looker.”
Kaelix gasped, staring at Zeal in disbelief. Then a ugly feeling started festering in his chest. He didn’t like the idea of Zeal going off joining some other group, let alone a polycule . Of course if Zeal wanted to he could… but he was theirs. By The Beat’s beloved bartender. No one else's. He frowned at the image of Zeal frolicking off with five strangers into the sunset never to be seen again.
“But you’ll never guess what happened next... Before I could even respond–this guy,” Zeal said pointing at Freodore. Freodore seemed to shrink a little, a light blush dusting his cheeks, “Stepped in and interrupted him.”
Oh. Well that changes everything. Kaelix was now looking at Freodore with wide eyes. He also momentarily glanced at Seible, but he seemed unperturbed throughout the entire story.
“Surprising right?” Zeal asked rhetorically, “So Fredore stepped in and said, no joke, "Babe, is this guy bothering you?” and interlaced our hands.” Immediately the table bursted into laughter, except Freodore who was now looking bashfully at his plate of food.
“T-there’s no way,” Kaelix said struggling through his cackles, “There's no way you quoted that one meme I sent like–five months ago.”
Seible, who was also laughing beside him, choked out his own, “H-he did.”
Kaelux turned his gaze to Seible, colored with curiosity, “You saw?”
Seible nodded before Freodore finally spoke up in his own defense, “I wasn’t quoting the meme, I just didn’t know what else to say.”
“I thought he was making Zeal uncomfortable and tried to step in. Besides…” Fredore trailed off then sent a pointed look towards Seible, “He joined in too!”
“Seible came over, grabbed Zeal’s other arm and said “Sorry he’s taken!” then winked at the demon.” Freodore said accusatively at the brunet.
That shut Seible up until he responded, “Well–I just thought–it looked fun! I wanted to join in. Plus, I had to defend By The Beat’s staff. I can’t just let anyone steal our amazing bartender now can I?”
Zeal, who had been quietly listening up until this point, interjected “I wasn’t uncomfortable, Freo, but thanks for looking out for me. And Seible, thanks for joining in, the look on that guys’ face was… priceless.” Zeal started laughing again which set everyone off once more.
They laughed and talked and yelled for hours. Everything felt so comfortable, so warm. This was Kaelix’s home.
It was about 2am when Kaelix finally decided to turn in for the night (against his wishes, apparently one yawn was enough to set off everyone’s alarm and force poor Kaelix to go to bed). He closed the door behind him, yawning some more as he approached his bed. Then he remembered: he had to rewrap his arm. Grabbing the first aid kit from underneath his bed, he placed it next to him and moved to unwrap the dirty bandage. He tossed the used bandage into a small waste basket and examined his arm.
Huh. Underneath the bandage, where the wound should definitely be, there was nothing.
Kaelix rubbed his eyes. No, that wasn’t right. He inspected his arms closer, in place of where the wound was were two small scars a little over an inch apart. They looked more akin to moles than anything. Kaelix shook his head, the drowsiness was probably getting to him. He quickly went through the process of cleaning and bandaging his arm (even though the wound was nowhere to be seen) and went to bed. It was probably just a trick of the light… probably.