Content Warning: Blood, Partial Nudity.

Leonard Engel remained in the kitchen, leaning against the wall, as if the words written in those letters still lingered in the air. He held the sealed envelope between his fingers, and a question came out of nowhere —he was curious.

“What if what's inside changes everything I think I know?”

But he didn’t open it.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, he dismissed the thought and stepped out of the kitchen, which was separated from the sleeping area by a curtain instead of a door.

Then he saw him.

Vin’s body, hunched against the wall, was trembling. His cadaverous face, half-hidden in the shadows, looked rigid, and his right hand pressed firmly against his own chest, as if trying to keep something from spilling out. Leonard approached, still unsure whether coming closer was the right thing to do.

“Vin?” he asked.

The Rainbane, usually quick to spit out sarcasm, said nothing. He merely lifted his gaze slightly.

And that was the moment Leonard understood. 

From the mutant’s tattered coat, a thick, deep midnight-blue liquid was seeping out —as if darkness itself were bleeding.

“Damn it!” Leonard muttered. “I… I need to check your wound! I... I’m really sorry I shot you. I mean it. But...” he whispered as he stepped closer. “You have to understand that it’s hard for me… to trust...”

“Someone like me?” Vin interjected, with a crooked half-smile that looked even more terrifying on his face. “Nah, don’t worry, beardo. Makes sense. After all, I’m a threat to you. It’s normal to hesitate.”

Leonard swallowed hard, standing his ground.

“Please. I need to check the wound. I promise I won’t do anything bad to you. I just want to see if I can help.”

Vin watched him for a few seconds. A part of him seemed amused, as if the insistence of such a fragile human was funny —that he claimed he wouldn’t hurt him. But there was no fear in Leonard’s eyes. Only genuine concern. Finally, without another word, Vin gave a small nod.

Leonard stepped back a bit. His movements were slower, his breathing heavier. Clumsily, Vin began to remove his coat, revealing his bare torso.

Leonard didn’t know what to expect... but it wasn’t that.

Vin’s body was massive, muscular to an overwhelming degree, like a sculpture from another world, carved by demons who wanted to display him as their greatest creation. A body too toned. But what truly stunned Leonard was the left arm —an amorphous mass, like a living cloud of red wine, with tentacles that faintly pulsed. 

Unsettling. Dangerous. 

Beautiful in his strangeness —something Leonard couldn’t quite understand, something that struck him deeply.

On his chest, the open wounds revealed part of his ribcage. There were also old scars, and others more recent —things no one else had probably ever seen. His right arm was still bleeding, but the wound was beginning to scab over with a bluish crust.

“See? Not that bad,” Vin said upon noticing Leonard’s reaction. “We heal quickly, you know? Well... usually. But the bullet and that fight with the other mutant… let’s just say this time it’ll take a bit longer.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Leonard replied, more serious now.

“Just try not to touch my left arm,” Vin said, lifting it carefully. “I can’t control it well. It might burn you down to the bone.”

Leonard nodded, went to the adjoining bathroom, and pulled out a dusty, first aid kit. He returned with bandages, disinfectants, and gauze. 

He wondered how the hell he was going to get the bullet out. But to his surprise —as if Vin could read his thoughts— the mutant said. “The bullet will disintegrate on its own,” he sighed and continued. “My body will corrode it, but it avoids touching the bone.”

Leonard knelt before him, trying to ignore the slight tremble in his hands. He couldn’t stop thinking about how much that body had endured. And everything it might still be facing on its own.

As he applied disinfectant to one of the wounds on Vin’s side, the Rainbane remained silent. He watched Leonard with unusual calm. As if, for the first time in a long time, someone dared to touch him without hatred or fear.

Leonard ‘embraced’ him, if one could say that, as he dressed Vin’s wounds with the gauze. Moving his hands gently, the moment was silent —neither of them said a word.

“Lie down on the mat when I’m done. You need to rest,” Leonard suggested firmly.

“Ha! Rest?!” Vin laughed, though it sounded more like a growl. “Remember, beardo? I’m not human. Rainbanes don’t sleep. Leave me alone in my corner.”

“Can’t sleep? What? Forget it! Don’t be stubborn and stop calling me beardo!” Leonard snapped, frowning. “You’re going to the mat, period. You’re injured, you stubborn mutant. Even if you don’t sleep, you need to recover.”

Just then, in the middle of his outburst —like a dad scolding his kid for misbehaving— Leonard’s stomach growled loudly. 

He froze, embarrassed.

“Ah... I guess talking to you… and having you refuse my help makes m-me hungry. I’ll eat later.”

Vin glanced at him from the corner of his eye. On his skull-like face, an expression formed that was hard to interpret —something between caution and... curiosity.