Chapter Text
He was sitting at the dining table, possibly the ugliest table he had ever seen really. The price they had spent on it was nowhere near the quality to match, the top was as thick as plywood and dented like it was foam, which only made it uglier.
Ethan stared at the dent Mia had made with a pot being slammed down a week after they had brought it home. The second day they had spent in the house Mia had convinced him to go to the local market to find some new furniture despite them already owning some stuff. She had used the fact it would help them feel more at home in this new country by connecting with the locals and having the country in the home, the home they hadn't even picked out. No, it was Chris Redfield and his agency that chose this run down house. The same Chris Redfield that had rescued them and forced them to move to this random country because of what they had gone through two years ago in Louisiana.
He was dragged all through the market having to apologize to each of the venders as Mia hurled insults at each item, handmade or not. What a way to connect with the locals. Ethan remembered one merchant, a large and boisterous man, who introduced himself as "The Duke". He was the first man Ethan had met that day who spoke fluent English, using the skill to sell his wares to him. The Duke had shown him a heavy wood dining table, one that was made by a friend of his, a friend of the whole village apparently. He wished he could remember the term he had used. Ethan was tracing the designs on the apron of the table when Mia came up behind him from some other vender. He had tried to show her the table and how much he liked it but Mia huffed and dragged him away to see "better" tables.
He realized he hated the damn table, and this house.
A ladle flew past his head and bounced off the wall behind, he lfited his eyes from the table and looked at the clock behind his screaming wife. THe clock read 7:24 PM. He tried to remember why his wife had been screaming at him. It was either because he was four minutes late when he arrived home after the grocery store, or it was because he didn't try to search and find his wife before putting away the groceries. He shifted his eyes to focus on his wife, she had gone quiet.
"Are you even hearing me right now Ethan? Are you ignoring your wife? First you don't come home when you say you will, then you don't even come to greet me when you do eventually come home, and now you're ignoring me?" She was glaring at him, breathing a little heavy. Ethan almost patted himself on the back, he got both of the reasons she was angry. "Do you think I'm stupid? I know what you were doing."
"Mia, it was four minutes. I just got stuck in the check out line. I didn't-" A wooden spoon was flung at him and bounced off his cheek. "I wanted to put away the frozen's before they thawed." He was talking quietly and slowly, trying to calm her before she did anything she probably wouldn't even regret later. "I'm sorry honey."
She turned away, leaning her hands against the counter as she arched over it. She was breathing even heavier, the cardigan she was wearing shook with every shudder that raked her body. Mia straightened suddenly, her voice frightenly calm. "Ethan, do you not love me? We've been together for so long and you don't love me anymore, do you?"
"I do, I do love you Mia." He was starting to get really scared. Her hand moved towards the knife block behind her on the counter. "Mia please, let's not do anything rash tonight." It had been 4 days since her last screaming bout, almost a new record since Louisiana, all of his bruises had almost faded.
Mia's head twitched to the right. "Don't talk to me about being rash, you lying piece of shit." Ethan jumped as his wife leapt towards him with a knife in her hand. He yelped as the knife went towards his face and lifted his hands in defense, hissing each time the knife sliced and stabbed into his arms. He backed into the table and heard it creak at the sudden weight. "You've fucking hurt me Ethan!"
She grabbed his left hand and twisted his arm so his palm was facing the ceiling. He screamed as she slid the blade across his wrist and watched the blood as it quickly rose to the surface and spilled overr. He was brought back from his wrist as a hand slapped across his face, wincing as her nails scrapped his cheek. Mia then shoved him backward onto the table. He heard it groan and crack one last time before he felt himself falling further backward as it gave out beneath his weight.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" He screamed up at his wide. He had never yelled back at her before, he just took everythign she threw at him because he had loved her. "Shit!" He wrapped his right hand over his wrist and watched as blood flowed through his fingers onto the floor.
"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with ME? I don't lie about what time I'll be coming home." She kicked his thihg and Ethan yelped. "I don't lie about why I was late." She kicked him again. "I don't lie about how much I love you!"
Ethan couldn't stop the groans and whimpers as Mia kicked him over and over in his ribs and legs. "Mia please."
She panted above him, glaring as he curled into himself to minimize the damage. She groaned in frustration and spun, stomping her way up the stairs. Ethan laid in the surrounding broken wood and blood, wheezing as he tried to catch his breath. He winced as he heard the bedroom door slam shut, making the bag of apples on the counter fall and bounce around the kitchen. He slowly pushed himself up to stand. His legs shook as he stood there. He went to bend down to pick up the now bruised apples but stopped halfway, a mix of pain and the realization of what he was doing caused him to buffer.
"Fuck this." He hissed and straightened. He grabbed his phone and wallet from the counter, ignoring the thawing frozens and other groceries. He moved to one of the kitchen drawers and grabbed a hand towel to wrap around his bleeding wrist. He bit his lip to hold in the grunts of pain as he tightened it. He turned down the small hallway off the living room to the half-bath on the first floor, grabbing a small hard cover case from th mirror cabinet. Happy Mia had insisted he kept his testosterone shots in a seperate bathroom. He moved to the living room and grabbed his coat off the rack by the door. He winced as the fabric rubbed against all the cuts across his arms. He couldn't deal with this anymore. They had therapists, fucking went to their therapists. Or at least he did, they had different days so he wasn't 100% sure if she actually went, Mia told him she went. She had been prescribed medication, which she had been taking, or at least the pills disappeared from the packaging. Ethan shook his head, it didn't matter if she had been doing either or not, it wasn;t getting better. he had already dealt with so much over the past two years, probably would have dealt with more for longer. He wasn't even sure what did it this time; was it the knife or the table breaking? All he knew was that it was time he left. He moved to the shoe caddy to get his boots on.
Ethan stood in front of the door, steadying his breath as he reached for the doorknob. Mia threw the bedroom door open, it banging off the wall, causing Ethan to jump. Apparently she hadn't gone to bed to stop the verbal and physical assault towards him, unfortunately for her, he was. He ran out the door and slammed it shut behind him just as Mia yelled his name.
He ran through the streets, sneaking between houses and shops, avoiding the puddles that still hadn't frozen. The winter had been warm so far, not yet cold enough for the snow to stick. But apparently tonight was the night Mother Nature had decided it was time, he remembered what the weatehr channel had said, it was going to get down into the negatives tonight. He felt his phone begin to buzz and slowed down to pull it out. Mia's contact popped up over and over, bouncing between text messages and calls. The texts varied in levels of anger and worry, the voice messages were more than likely even more extreme. He turned a corner and stopped when he saw a bus stop. There were still a few passengers standing around while an older woman sat on the bench. He moved towards them, shivering as the cold and fatigue began to hit him.
The older woman looked up and smiled before patting the bench seat beside her. Ethan sat and breathed out a quiet, "Oh, thank you ma'am."
"Ah, uh, English?" The woman's voice was gentle.
Ethan turned towards her in shock. "Yes! You know English?"
"My husband was from England, he taught his language just as i taught him mine. Some words have gone through time though." She giggled to herself.
"Um, where are we ma'am, like the road?"
"Calea Trandafirilor." Ethan gawked at her, he had run about 4 miles in only half an hour. The older woman glanced at his hands. "Are you ok dear?"
Ethan looked down, blood was trickling down his hands, dripping off his fingers. He swallowed and turned to smile at her, hoping it didn't come out as a grimace. "Oh, uh, yes. I will be. At least I hope. I just need to get away."
"You are freezing child." She wrapped the shawl she was wearing aorund Ethan's shoulders. "You'll be safe, it will be ok."
He blinked a lot as tears welled up in his eyes. "Thank you." She smiled and placed her hand on his shivering one. He felt a buzz from his phone and pulled it back out, there was a single message from Christ: Call me. He whispered out a scared "Fuck" as he hit the call button on Chris's contact.
The phone rang only once before he was met with the monotone voice. "Ethan? Where the hell are you, Mia's been calling me screaming and crying."
"Chris, listen, I can't go back." He hated how his voice shook.
"What are you talking about? Mia says you came home late and then tried to kill yourself."
"No, what? Mia was screaming at me because I got stuck in the checkout line and then attacked me. She stabbed me and shoved me through our table. She fucking sliced my wrist Chris!" A sob threatened to come out. "I'm not going back."
"Listen Ethan. Tell me where you are, I'll come get you." His voice was softer. "Ethan, please."
Ethan's voice quivered as he gave the bus stop address. "Don't tell Mia where I am, please."
"Thank you. I have to take you back, Mia's worried sick about you. We can talk about this all once you're back in your own home, we'll be there soon."
"What? What the hell do you mean "we"'ll be there?" Ethan felt his heart drop.
"Don’t worry darling, it’s ok. I know you’ve been suffering. We’ll get through it, I’m here for you. I know it’s been tough since we moved.” Too sweet, too fake. Her voice came through the phone, hearing it again ripped the sob he had been holding out.
“No. No, no, no.” He stood up, his knees shook. The older woman stared up at him. “I’m not coming back Mia, you fucking attacked me. You could’ve killed me tonight.”
“Ethan, calm down.” Chris was back on the phone. “We’re almost there, we can get you help.”
“No, fuck you.” He hung up, turning the phone off and shoved it back into his pocket. He turned towards the older woman. “Please, is there anywhere I can go? My, uh, my-” His voice shook and he couldn’t stop the tears from flowing down his cheeks, he winced as they rolled down his scratched cheek.
“Listen dear.” The older woman’s voice had gone stern, motherly. “Listen, head into the forests go only in this direction.” She pointed into the woods behind the bus stop, making sure he took in which way he had to go. “It will take you to fixator al satului Heisenberg, tell him Luiza sent you. He’ll keep you safe. Go.”
He handed her the shawl back and nodded. “Thank you. Oh god, thank you Miss Luiza.” He looked up as headlights turned onto the road, shining directly at him, they must've been on the road looking for him already. “Shit.”
He turned adn ran into the woods, wobbling at first as his legs shook in disagreement with his decision to run again. He found the energy to run harder after he heard Chris and Mia yelling for him from the forest's edge. He stuck to the direction Luiza had pointed to, dodging trees and bushes that increased as he went deeper and deeper. He was relieved to see that he wasn't making tracks for them to follow as the snow hadn't penetrated the canopy yet. He began to stumble more and more as he felt more blood flow down his hand. The forest was dark, the dense canopy blocking out the little light that was being provided by the moon through the snowing clouds. He wished on a star he couldn't see that his headstart would allow him enough time to find the cabin. Chris was military and well-trained and could easily outpace him, even on his worst day. If he strained his ears he could almost hear the two people following him. He whimpered when he heard his name being called out.
He tripped over a branch and strained to lifting his chest off the ground, he saw the faint glow of a light in the distance. His knees buckled beneath him as he scrambled to his feet, cheeks burning from the wind. The light was coming from a cabin, it shined through a window next to the front door. As he got closer he could see a curtain was dimming the light and hiding the inside. He reached the stairs to the porch, stumbling up the first two stairs before fully tripping on the last. He yelped as he hit the wood. He threw a hand over his mouth and spun towards the woods, watching as a flashlight moved to point in his direction. Ethan whimpered before jumping as the cabin door flew open. He squinted up at the burly figure before crawling towards him, trying to get behind him to hide behind his legs.
"Cine dracu' ești tu? What are you doing out here?" The man growled out, bringing Ethan's attention away from the woods and back up. The man wore a hat angled downwards and dark glass lenses that were barely lit by the cigar in his mouth.
"Please are you, uhm fixator al satului Heisenberg?" He couldn't stop the shivering that moved down his spine, he grabbed at the dirty work pants, fingers bunching the fabric below the man's knee. "Luiza told me you would help me."
"Luiza?" The man scratched at his beard, puffing on his cigar for a moment. "What-"
"Ethan! Where the fuck are you?" Mia screamed into the woods, effectively cutting the man off and alerting Ethan to her closeness. "Quit hiding from me you bitch."
Ethan broke down, sobs finally fully coming out, sobs so strong he shook with each one. He couldn't escape them, they were going to find him. She was going to find him, she was going to find him and finish what she had started. His wrist ached more and he whimpered closer into the leg, curling against it. A hand touched his shoulder, spreading to cover it.
"Here, come in." The gruff man slid his hand under Ethan's armpit and helped lift him so he could stand. He slowly pulled Ethan into the cabin, shutting the door with a quiet click. Ethan stared through the hallway across the room opposite the door, eyes moving to the messy workbench on the left behind a worn couch. He allowed himself to be moved to the couch. "Sit."
"Thank you." Only a whisper, any louder and Mia would hear him, he was sure of it. He couldn't stop the tears that hadn't stopped flowing down his cheeks, making large dark spots on his jeans. "Fuck."
The hand was back on his shoulder, rubbing in slow and hesitant circles. "I'll be right back." The hand left his shoulder as heavy footsteps walked behind him down the hallway. He could hear rummaging, mumbling, and swear words before the man walked back into the main space. He held a towel. "Let's get you out of some of those wet clothes, yeah?"
Ethan stared up and took in the woodsman, the scars on his face, the many scars he could see on the man's arms, his shaggy gray hair and barely maintained beard, the dirty henley shirt that was rolled up just below his elbows, the facct he wore black sunglasses and a hat at night and in his own home. Maybe he shouldn't have let himself be led into a random man's house. He watched as the men bent to a knee in front of him, as he slowly untied the laces on his boots that were soaked. The first boot was worked off when a loud knock came from the door. He jumped.
The woodsman below him hesitated before glancing up at him, taking in the sobbing and bloody man that was sitting on his couch. He scratched at his beard and grunted as he stood up, glaring at the door as another knock resonated through the cabin. "Alright, alright! I'll be right there." He yelled towards the door before looking back down at Ethan. "You're hiding from them, yeah?"
Ethan nodded, blinking away the blurriness from the tears. "Please, they can't know I'm here."
"Then they won't." The man shrugged before walking towards his door , pausing at it for a moment. "Just try to relax." He opened the door and walked out, shutting it before the people outside could get a view into the house.
Ethan sat on the couch, listening to the mumbled conversaiton coming through the door as he bent to try and take off his other boot. He took in his surroundings; he was in the living space, a large fireplace lit to his right. He was sitting across from the window he saw from the woods, two sitting chairs on either side and a lamp in the corner. The couch he was on was a flannel fabric, well worn but still comfortable. There was a coffee table in front of him, dents and stains and small knicks showed under the clutter of books and papers and knick-knacks. Different but similar from the near sterile but dented dining table Ethan had gone through not long ago. The kitchen area was to his left, a heavy wooden table in between. There was a door leading outside on the left wall, a fridge to the right with a wrap around corner countertop leading back to the front door. To the left was a wall leading to the hallway with a door that probably led a room. He turned back to the the window next to the door, it was equally as hard to see through to the outside. He picked up Mia's voice and fake inflections of care and worry. He heard the wobbliness enter her voice, she was going to cry to manipulate the other man.
"Please sir, we think he came this way. Are you sure you haven't seen him?" She was good, she knew when to take a shaky breath, when to sniffle. "He's blond and thin, he would've been wearing a yellow jacket."
"Listen miss-" The man sounded annoyed.
"It's Mrs."
""Mrs.", whatever. I haven't seen any men coming through these woods, I've been inside the last few hours. You two are the only ones who've disturbed me so far." Ethan heard a soft thump against the front door.
"We're so worried, he tried to kill himself earlier. I managed to stop him before he could continue but… we don't want him to try again." He felt bile rise into his throat, she was convincing, he hoped the man wouldn't believe her. "We followed him this way."
"Like I said, no men have come through here. Maybe he circled back." Ethan jerked as he heard a heavy stomp from the porch. "Hey ape, get back up here. No snooping around my property."
"Well if we could just come in and use your phone maybe, before we-"
The man busted out into loud laughter, insult being the only tone in it. "No. Now get off my property. It's 10 and I was about to go to bed and really do not want the company." A beat passed and Ethan heard no movement being made. He could almost hear the sneer as the man continued to talk. "Get. Now. You can glare at me all you want Miss, I don't care for trespassers."
It was 10? Ethan had spent two hours running away from his home. There were a few moments of silence before the man reentered the cabin and locked the door behind him. He sighed before turning back to Ethan, seeming shocked and impressed he had taken off the other boot.
Ethan stared at him for a second before he felt tears coming back to his eyes. He didn't know he still had tears to cry. "Thank you. Shit." He covered his eyes as he cried, and whimpered when he felt the hand return to his shoulder.
"Hey, it's ok. Come on, give me your arms for a second." His voice quiet and calm. "There we go, good boy."
Ethan watched as the man unzipped and pulled his jacket off. His arms were covered in dried and wet blood, some of the cuts had closed while others were reopened. His wrist oozed blood still. The man tsked before setting the jacket down on the coffee table.
"I'm sorry. Fuck I'm so sorry." He curled into himself and hissed as his ribs protested.
The man hummed. "Why don't we take care of this before you start apologizing, huh?"
Ethan nodded and tried to stand, whimpering as his legs refused to support his weight after being given a break, he fell back onto the couch. The stranger hummed again as he removed his hat and glasses, putting them on the table next to the jacket. He bent, moving his arms under Ethan's legs and armpits to pick him up into a bridal carry. Ethan felt himself blush.
The woodsman smirked at him, "There we go, this will be easier." He walked down the hallway before entering into the door straight at the end of the hall, it was the bathroom. He gently sat Ethan down onto the toilet seat cover and turned the light on. There was a bathtub shower combo to his right and a sink to his left.
He turned towards the stranger as ta bath before the man started talking. "You're gonna wanna wash the blood off before we clean and wrap your arms up." His eyes moved over Ethan. "And I don't trust you to not bleed out in here by yourself."
"I'm not getting naked in front of you." Ethan squawked out, the blush returning to his cheeks.
"Woah slow down buttercup, I think I have some old swimwear you can use." The man huffed, amusement evident. "What do you take me for?"
"Oh. Ok." Ethan watched as he bent over the tub to start the water, and waited till it was to a temperature of his liking before putting the plug in. The stranger walked out and entered a door just outside the bathroom.
"So runaway bride, what's your name?" The man called out to him, a drawer smacking closed after. Ethan looked up just in time as a pair of swim trunks were tossed at him. He opened his mouth to answer as the bathroom door clicked shut. "Open the door when you're decent."
"It's- uh, it's Ethan." He groaned as he stripped his ruined hoodie off, followed by his shirt. "Ethan Winters." He pushed his socks off, wincing as his wrist screamed in pain. Holding the hand up and away he stood to unbutton his pants, ignoring the shaking in his legs, pushing them down with his briefs. He looked down at his body, feeling his heart sink. Bruises darkened along his ribs and thighs, the faint scars caused by Mia in recent years and from Luisiana that filled him with shame, the chest scars he prided himself in, the new cuts that littered his arms. He slipped the trunks on, tying them tight to stop them from sliding down, before opening the bathroom door. "Uh, what's your name?"
"Era timpul să întrebi. I was wondering when you were gonna wonder who's home you stumbled into." The man beamed at him, sharp canines shining, a wolfish smile. "Karl Heisenberg. Just call me Heisenberg though, everyone does." His eyes ran down Ethan's body, taking in every wound and scar. Ethan felt like meat hanging on a hook. Heisenberg shifted past him to stop the water. "After you Winters."
Ethan tested the water, it was hot, a good and relaxing hot. He stepped in and sank into the water, resting his arms onto the lip to keep them out of the water. He couldn't hide the moan as his body relaxed under the water, his eyes shutting in ecstasy. A hand lightly tugged at his right arm and he allowed it to be lifted and held in front of him. He hissed, "Ow."
"Gonna start with this arm, gotta make sure they're all clean. Silence or distraction?" Ethan opened his eyes and turned towards Heisenberg. The was man was sitting on the toilet cover and leaning over the lip to get as close to Ethan's arm without pulling him out of the water. He had a wet rag in his hand, the man made eye contact. "Distraction is going to be questions, if that helps you choose."
Ethan stared at the cuts on his arm. "As long as I get to ask some questions as well, uh, Heisenberg."
"Since you're cute, yeah you can ask me some too." Heisenberg gently rubbed at the cuts. "Who were the lady and King Kong?"
"Fuck." His eyes rolled back and his back arched back, drawing another groan as his ribs and lower back finally decided to make themselves known. He huffed out, "My wife and a friend, or at least they were." He clenched his jaw and fought the urge to pull his arm out of the man's grip. He whined as the cloth rubbed at the dried blood that pulled on his arm hairs. Heisenberg switched to a cottonball soaked in hydrogen peroxide, gently dabbing at the reopened scabs. He sighed as the man finished cleaning the few cuts on that arm, switching to placing bandages over the many cuts. He tucked it back into himself once it was wrapped and set it back on the lip against the wall. He shuddered as Heisenberg lifted his left arm to begin cleaning.
"Where did you meet Luiza?" Heisenberg tightened his grip on his the arm when Ethan pulled, Ethan realized that he wouldn't be able to remove his arm from the others grip even if he pulled with all his might. The woodsman began to untie the towel around his wrist. It was stiff and cracked when seperated from the bleeding source.
"I-fuck. She was at a bus stop that I stumbled upon, I had ran from my house. I had to -Jesus- I had to get away. Mia, she-" Ethan saw white, he felt a fire run through his arm into his wrist. He screamed and spun towards the man holding hiim, reaching to push him away. His ribs hit the side of the tub as he pressed forward. He tried to fight the hand holding his arm, but Heisenberg kept his arm where it was. The fingers of his free right hand clenched at the shirt Heisenberg wore as he buried his face into the man's chest, still trying to push him away despite the shudders shaking his body. He couldn't breath as the cloth continued to rub and clean his wrist. "Stop, stop. Fucking Christ, stop. Please Karl." He was sobbing again.
"Ok, ok. I'm done. Îmi pare rău, păpușă. It's as clean as I can get it Ethan." Heisenberg's voice was soft as he moved his hold to his elbow, his right hand moving to press against his back and hold him. "I'm sorry, I'm done."
The shudders still racked his body, his ribs burned as they pressed against the side of the tub, bouncing lightly in time with the shudders. He could hear the man's heartbeat through his chest and tried to focus on that, his breathing slowly evened out. Ethan felt woozy from the pain and blood loss, he could only focus on the sound and smell of the man holding him. He felt intoxicated by the smell of wood and cigar smoke on the man.
"Luiza said it was going to be ok. That you'd keep me safe." A whisper, quiet and unsure. "You're going to keep me safe. Right?"
He could hear the other man's heartbeat speed up. "Yeah, I'll keep you safe buttercup. Just need to clean around the wound a bit more, and then wrap it. I'm not gonna touch it again, ok? I'll be gentle."
Ethan nodded, not moving from where he was as the heavy hand left his back. He almost mewled as he felt the cloth gently touch around the wrist, cleaning up blood. Once the cloth left his hand he slowly allowed himself to slide back into the tub, sinking further as he watched Heisenberg place bandages and gauze around his arm. This stranger was gentle, more gentle than his wife had ever been. His eyebrows were scrunched in concentration, and his large hands moved carefully and confidently as they wrapped the bandages tightly. The man's fingers were thick and scarred, some wrapping the entire digit, others stretching up under the black and silver hair on the back of his hands. Ethan whispered, "Fuck."
Heisenberg stopped what he was doing, apprehension and concern showing in his eyes. Eyes that Ethan couldn't pick a color to describe other than pale, at least not in this state. Ethan shook his head to show he was fine. Heisenberg nodded and finished with wrapping his arm, cutting it and applying tape . He set the arm back gently on the lip of the tub. "There we go, as good as new. How about we wash that hair, hmm?" He stood and moved towards the opposite side of the tub, grabbing shampoo and conditioner from a caddy that hung from a shower head. Heisenberg was tall, his head higher than the shower head. Ethan could see more scars on his torso that were hidden by the henley as it lifted with the man's arms.
"You have a lot of scars."
"As do you." Heisenberg chuckled. "How's this, we change the game up. You pick one of mine and I'll tell you the story, I pick one of yours and you tell me the story. He thought for a second. "You can pass on a story if you want to, no judgment."
Ethan watched as the man sat back down on the toilet next to him with a hum. He bent over a little to scoop some of the bath water into his hand. He felt his eyes roll as the warmth cascaded down the back of his neck and down his face. This continued a few times until Heisenberg threaded his fingers into his hair, working the shampoo to a lather.
Ethan thought about them as they gently dragged along his scalp. "The one on your right index."
"Was fixing a jgheab. Uh, how do you say the trough on a roof? It collects the rain?"
"A rain gutter?"
"Yes that. I was fixing a gutter for one of the villagers, his kid popped out the window, scared the shit out of me. Grabbed onto the gutter to catch myself from falling and shhnk. Sliced the damn thing, could see the bones." He barked out a laugh. "Scared the kid back with the amount of blood coming outta the thing. Left knee."
Ethan felt himself growing tired. "I was running to catch the bus in middle school, tripped on some gravel. Had to walk back home and explain to my mom why I was back so early." He smiled at the memory. "She was so mad until she saw my knee bleeding, she took me out for ice cream after she took care of it."
"I don't think I have any ice cream to offer you." A low chuckle. "I can look though."
Ethan laughed, surprising himself. When was the last time he laughed? "How about the one here?" He turned and pointed to a scar that ran diagonally across the inside forearm, it took up the entire length.
"My younger sister climbed a tree but her dress got caught. Brand new dress too, I was supposed to make sure it stay clean as we were going somewhere, but I got distracted and by the time I had noticed she had already climbed half-way up the thing. So I had to climb up and help her down." A warm smile had formed when he was talking, before turning sad. "I managed to get her down with only a tiny tear at the bottom of the hem. Mother Miranda came into the backyard and saw us in the tree. Donna hopped down and ran to tell her that her dress was fien." The smile was fully gone now, replaced by a small frown. "Mother grabbed me and pulled me out of the tree, my arm got caught in a branch. It wasn't all that deep but she didn't think the cut was good enough as a punishment so she didn't take me anywhere to get it properly taken care of. It got infected and we had to re-open it to clean it."
A beat passed, water pouring down his head again as Ethan was opening his mouth. The shampoo did not taste as piney as it smelled. He rubbed his eyes with his right hand, eyes widening as a finger motioned towards his chest.
"How about these?"
He blushed. "Pass?"
The man nodded. "Alright, what about this one?" The finger moved to the largest scar under the ribs on his left side, shining through the bruises.
"A few years ago I had to drive to Louisiana to get my wife, we were living in California, she called me frightened and begging me no to come get her. But I drove there as fast as I could. She was in this house, with this family, something was wrong with them. Black mold and gas exposure were driving them insane, I guess. Mia had almost fully lost it by the time I got there. She couldn't decide between letting me help her escape or attacking me to prevent me from leaving, so she did both. Then the father found us. They wanted me to be a part of the family, wanted me to be like them. Forced me to try to eat like them, old rotten meat, moldy breads, the black mold. They wanted me to ache like they were aching, it 'brought them together'." He cringed as he remembered the musty taste of the mold, the dry and dusty texture. Why was he telling a stranger this? He hadn't told anyone else outside of his therapist, he and Mia didn't even talk about it. Maybe it was the bloodloss, maybe it was the fingers working the conditioner through his hair. "A lot of my scars are from there, but uh. I was running from the mother, she chased me through the upstairs. She shoved me through a weak spot on the floor, I don't know how the hosue still stood, the whole thing seemed to be a weak spot. I slamment into some of the jagged pieces of wood sticking out, s'where most of these rib scars are from."
His chest ached, there were no tears left to release the pain brought back up by those memories. He leaned his head back into the hand pressed against the base of his skull, he didn't want to open his eyes, he didn't want to see the look of pity that was always in his therapists eyes from the other. Fingers brushed his hair back from his forehead, while a thumb rubbed the back of his head. His eyes opened, making eye contact through his eyelashes. No pity, no sympathy, he was only met with a deep understanding.
"You passed on the chest but shared that, you interest me Winters." A timid smile, an attempt to joke without making light of what was jsut said. An attempt that somehow got a giggle out of the injured man, a small smile finding its way back on his face. Heisenberg scooped some more water out of the tub again and let it flow down Ethan's hair.
"You can ask again after I choose your next story." Ethan looked at the man and moved across the scars on his face, stopping at the scar that ran from his right cheek to the left side of his nose. He lifted his left hand and ignored the slight tremor in it from pain, he slowly ran a finger across the raised skin on the cheek. "This one?"
The man's eyes did not move from focusing on Ethan's own, his smile had slipped before it settled again. "That one huh? Looking for an equal story I see. I think I was 17, and watching the little ones at the house. A couple of them were mischievous and liked to wrestle, liked to wrestle real close to expensive decore. There was this vase, huge and ornate thing, weighed like a moose. They knocked into it and I tried to catch it." Ethan didn't moce, his finger tracing the scar to under his eye. "Whole thing shattered, lots of pieces, big and sharp ones. Mother Miranda came rushing from outside, saw me on the floor next to the broken pieces, and saw the kids. 'Who did this? Who broke this vase?' The boys were scared to shit and too young, so I took the blame. Couldn't let them get hurt. So Mother slammed my face into the floor, she loved to teach 'lessons'. In reality I only learned she broke my nose. Then, not happy with that, she grabbed one of the vase pieces. It had a horse head on it, she put it very close to my face so I could see it. 'Karl, do you see this? Why would you hurt me this way? My precious son, who doesn't love his mother." She then kind of, uh, dragged it across my face. I kept eye contact with the horse the entire time. Then she kind of walk away."
Ethan slid his hand further along his nose, his thumb now resting on the scar with his fingers close to moving into the dense and wild hair. Heisenberg closed his eyes for a moment and leaned into the hand for a moment before opening them, his eyes lighting up. He gestured at Ethan's chest once again. "Now, the story for these?"
Ethan smiled, nervousness still there but comfortable in the other man's company. "Pass."
Heisenberg broke into a huge smile, throwing his head back as he laughed. Leaning back into Ethan's hand when the laughter turned to a chuckle. "You nenorocit mic. It's late anyway, probably best to get you somewhere where you can't drown as you sleep. I have a room you can use." He stood up with a grunt and held his hand out for Ethan to grab.
Ethan grabbed on and let himself be hauled up, the swim trunks were large on him, the water weight dragged them low on his hips. He caught them just before they revealed anything lower, the waistband being stopped at the bottom of his pubis bone. He blushed fiercely and was glad his hair covered any view as he pulled them back up. His eyes darted towards the other man's seeing humor wash over his face, the blush deepened. He stepped out of the tub and barely felt his knees, he was tired, and he slumped forward against Heisenberg. He didn't try to catch himself only mumbling a, "Can I apologize now?"
"I did take care of your wrist." Heisenberg chuckled again as he wrapped a heavy towel around the others shoulder before scooping Ethan back into a bridal carry. They went out into the hallway, heading into the living space and turning the corner towards the wall adjacent to the side door. They entered the door into a bedroom. The woodsman lowered him onto a bed. "Here, dry off some. I'll find some clothes you can change into."
The room was fairly large, a queen sized bed on the right when you entered under a window, there was a bookshelf behind the door and a dresser in front of him, a futon was opposite the door. He felt himself start to rock as his body slowly started falling asleep, he went with it and dragged himself up to the pillow. He opened his eyes as Heisenberg walked through the door with some clothes in his hands.
"Hey kid, you asleep yet?" Ethan only groaned in response, groaning a second time when Heisenberg tapped him with a hand. "Listen, at least take the trunks off befor you fall sleep ok?"
Ethan grabbed the clothes and watched the man leave, hearing the door click shut. He sat up and slipped the trunks off, whimpering as his arm still hurt from all of the cuts. There was a pair of flannel pajama pants, the waistband was worn and the elastic band showing through the holes. There wasn't any underwear but he wasn't all that bothered as he slipped the pants on, following it with a large white t-shirt before crawling under the covers. He was swept under the waves of sleep the moment his head hit the pillow.