Archive of Our Own ^beta

Medkit bit back a groan as they wrapped a bandage around the left side of their face. They willed their hands to stop shaking. They needed to look presentable when they went over to the Church of the True Eye. They had to be careful not to rip the woven gauze with their claws-- they'd grown out recently, and they hadn’t had time to cut them.

They used to be very consistent in filing down their claws– they needed preciseness in their experiments, and they didn’t want to break anything. Especially while working with the crystals. Those were unstable enough on their own.

Subspace, on the other hand, was never all too concerned with filing down her claws, even though she worked with the same crystals. She was always more lax. Which came to her advantage, when– 

They shut down that train of thought quickly.

They resolved not to think about how Subspace had torn out their eye with nothing but her claws, wielding them like a scalpel. To not think about how she had forcefully held them down, but gouged their eye out in a way that was almost gentle. Almost. There was nothing gentle in her eyes, but one could mistake the carefulness for gentleness, especially since she had never been that careful with her claws before. 

Medkit had shuddered and struggled as her claws brushed their fur. Subspace carefully opened their eye, which had shut in their terror, dug her claws around it and pulled–

Can you be careful for once in your life, Subspace? They’d once asked, annoyed with her carelessness. The jab had bounced off of her like it was nothing. She responded easily, And why would I do that?

She held their bloodied eye in her hand a year later, serving as another response. 

The blood complimented her claws, the toxic shade of pink now stained green with Medkit’s blood. She grinned widely, whispering a taunt in their ears. It seeped into them like the blood seeping into their fur, and they knew– they would be marked, forever, as Blackrock’s. 

And then they kicked Subspace away and grabbed the closest thing to them. A test-tube full of liquid, the same shade of pink as her horns. They weren’t thinking when they threw it. All they saw was Subspace’s eyes, narrowed and alight with fervor.

One of which rotted away in an instant when the serum hit her face. 

Medkit tightened the bandage around their eye, forcing themself out of the memory. So much for not thinking about it. They put the medical bandages away in their gear with a sigh, staring at themself in the mirror again.

They barely looked presentable. They barely looked like themself.

They shook away the thoughts and grabbed their coat.