“No you can’t just walk it off, we’re going to a hospital” with authors choice of au >:3c
(couldn’t decide between crime au and soulmate au so GUESS WHAT)
Everything was starting to feel very far away.
Arthur looked down from the stars to see if his own situation had changed somehow. It hadn’t, of course. There were still his very conspicuous work clothes, the jacket and pants with enough pockets to store every tool a lockpick might need, the case at his side, and a pool of blood that looked almost black in the low light.
He lifted the hand he’d had pressed to his side, and giggled at the sight. God, it was a mess. He’d taken his glove off to use as a vague sort of bandage, and the blood stood out against his skin. He looked like Macbeth, or Be... B... what was the other murder guy? It started with a B, right? Fuck, he couldn’t remember anymore.
And so ends the tale of the biggest dumbass in history, he thought to himself, barely even upset. Bleeding out next to a fortune. That seemed about right, with his track record. Never did manage to steal something he didn’t end up paying for some other way.
He was probably being melodramatic. He could get up if he wanted to. Drag himself back to base - or even just somewhere Vivi could find him. Not... uh, not wherever he was now. Somewhere with grass and walls, apparently. He laughed again at that. He really should move, or some poor gardener would have to deal with his body in the morning.
There was a vague voice from somewhere in the distance that sent a shot of adrenaline through his body, making his heart jump. Not enough to get him moving, though - his limbs were too heavy for that.
Footsteps echoed from somewhere - ow, that hurt, it was loud in this garden- and then a person he didn’t recognize came into view. Not a guard, at least, judging by the clothes. But he did seem vaguely familiar - oh, hell, this was his target. This was the person whose house he just finished breaking into.
The stranger knelt, and his expression was such a mix of confused and worried that Arthur couldn’t help but burst out laughing again.
It took a minute for him to force himself to sober up, and then he reminded himself of the situation, which was that he had been caught. “Shit, shit, I- uh- s-s-sorry, please don’t- I’ll go, t-take your st-stuff-”
“You’re the one who broke in- I should call- are you okay?” the stranger said, and he stopped his halfhearted attempt to get up, which wasn’t really working out for him anyway.
“Oh, yeah,” he said, trying to wave again, and winced when he lifted his hand and it pulled lightly at the gloves. “J-just, y’know-”
“Jesus, what happened?” The stranger moved a little closer, shifting towards his injured side.
He attempted to wiggle away. “Got stabbed. Uh- j-just grazed, th-though, y- n-not...” There was a convenient little stone step that he’d been leaning on, that made for a pretty good brace. “I’ll just, y’know, walk it, walk it off-”
But the stranger grabbed his near arm, pulling him back - not rough, but insistent. “No, you can’t walk this off, you need to get to the hospital.”
Whatever humor he had managed to find in this situation dissolved. He yanked his arm out of the grip. “Oh, so you can fucking turn me- t-turn me in? No th-thanks.”
The stranger paused, apparently thinking about that. “I... I won’t tell them.”
“Th-they’ll f-figure it out.” He had to be lying - nobody in their right mind would do anything to protect a notorious thief that just got done robbing you - and even if he wasn’t, they all knew about his mark, the incomplete bouquet of roses with a heart-shaped gap in the center, and someone was bound to identify the Spider, and then- fuck no.
He tried to move back again, and the world lurched, and then he was looking at the stars for a moment, before a hand grabbed his wrist and pulled him upright. The stranger got the tiny shock at the same time as him.
Arthur looked down, going to rub his wrist - and then stopped and stared. He opened and closed his hand experimentally, like it would go away - maybe it was just a product of the dark spots floating across his vision. But no - his bouquet was now accompanied by a wreath of flames and an actual heart.
He snuck a glance at the stranger, who was also staring at his arm, apparently realizing the same thing. He couldn’t help but laugh.
“Th- wow, this is a pretty shitty f-f-first meeting, huh?”
The stranger mumbled something in response that he couldn’t quite make out. Sound was getting pretty muddled.
“Guess I, uh, owe you an- an a- apology. F- uh- ev- everything.” There were the stars again. It really was a shame how many of them are hidden in the city.
There was a warm hand under his head, one thumb on his cheek, and then the stars faded into nothing.
