It Devours! Spoliers? Nilanjana remains together with Darryl because they’re the male and female leads, or she somehow ends up with Carlos because he’s straight too
love it when leads :)) with no chemistry :)))) get together :))) for no good reason :))))
Timeline: Arc 1 - Early days. one week before Mars and Ollie meet.
Warnings: minor injuries
“Really dude, I’m- ow!”
“Shut up and stop squirming, I’m almost done.”
Oliver pouted but complied, and Max almost laughed at his pitiful bruised face; the whole situation was absurd in itself. Here they were, seating across their walking disaster of a roommate on the living room couch at three in the morning, patching him up like some sort of nurse in a superhero movie.
Max scoffed as they ran the needle through the skin one more time. “You’re lucky I was the one awake. Nana would’ve given you an earful.”
They’d been working late -as they tended to do these days- when Ollie had shuffled through the apartment door, looking worse for wear. Max had dropped everything right here and then to berate him, harsh whispers and muffled laughter rising under the dim ceiling lights; as neither of them wanted to wake Ninanjala and face her wrath, they had to be quiet.
Ollie giggled, then hissed in pain; his split lip stung. “Yeah, she would’ve fussed over me like a bird mom. Prolly try to make me stay home for the day.”
Max raised a brow. “You do know you’ll still have to face her at some point today, right?”
“Ah, tits.”
“Yup. Speaking of…”
They tugged on the string -eliciting a low “ow” from their roommate- before snipping it cut with a pair of thin, metal scissors. They gestured towards Ollie’s chest, covered by his trusty, bright red hoodie. “You’ve been wearing that thing all day. Take it off.”
He groaned. “That an order?”
“You bet your sweet ass it is.”
He moaned dramatically, his hands reaching behind his back and under his clothes. After a few seconds of twisting and fiddling, they came back with his binder and laid it down on the coffee table. “There. Happy now?”
Max nodded and hummed in approval, gently grabbing Ollie’s face to inspect it. “Okay, eyebrow’s good enough. Here,” they crossed their legs and patted their thigh authoritatively. “Lay down for a sec, this will be easier. I think your lip needs some stitches as well.”
“Yes chief!”
They snorted as Ollie laid his head on their lap, and ran a hand though the lime green strands; they could feel his scruffy hair through the fabric of their sweatpants. “You’d tell me if you were in trouble, right? You’d tell us.”
“I’m not, I swear. No-one’s gunna come and burn the building down because I owe a crime boss money or some shit.”
Max rolled their eyes, fingers working the thread around the wound in automatic motions. “I just… I just hope you’re not putting yourself at risk.” they whispered. “I won’t baby you, I know you can take care of yourself, but… I also know how reckless you can be. So whatever it is you do out there… illegal cage fights or whatever-”
Oliver snorted at that.
“Don’t laugh, this is serious. You’re our partner. The three of us? Me, you, Nilanjana?”
They waved their free hand around, struggling to find the right words. “Whatever this thing is, it clicks. It works.”
“Mmh. It’s nice. Did I tell you guys how cute you are together? Cuz I don’t think I say it enough.”
“Don’t change the subject, dumbass. What I want to say is… we care. We want you to let us in, y’know?”
Ollie stayed quiet for a few seconds, then gave them a small, timid smile. “I’m okay.”
Max responded with a deadpan expression. The read-clad boy faltered slightly under their gaze. “…Probably. Maybe.”
Max sighed, cutting the thread once more; good enough for now. “Whatever, you human trainwreck.”
They patted his shoulder to get him to sit back up, smiling fondly as he stretched and yawned. They gently held his face and tilted forward, pushing their foreheads together and relishing in the warm contact. “Now get your ass into bed before my girlfriend gets up and goes all mama bear on you.”
“Awww, y’all are adorable.”
“Damn right. Want me to wake you up before your classes?”
“Nah, I’m good, got an alarm set up. But thanks.”
As Ollie disappeared down the corridor, Max couldn’t help but notice he was limping slightly. They frowned in barely-conceited concern and let out an irritated sigh, sinking back into the couch and covering their eyes.
They prayed to whoever would listen that he would still come back to them tomorrow. Just like they’d done every night for the last month, since the first time he’d come back beaten and bloody in the dead of the night.
Darryl knocked on the door, and she went to open it and then decided it would be better to just shout, "It's open." But since she had started to the door, she was standing weirdly in the hallway when he opened it. Then he went for a hug, but she was already turning to walk back to the living room, and so he started to retract the hug but she was turning back to receive the hug.
