Not a Scratch. Nyx x Reader (Oneshot)

       “Welcome back.” Greeting Nyx at the door to the Citadel, you welcomed him back from his latest mission with a warm smile. At a glance, he looked to be perfectly fine, but if the rumors you had heard floating around were true, that uniform of his was hiding the truth. "So, I heard you almost got yourself killed out there today. What's all that about, hmm?"

Your words caused a crooked, almost sheepish smile to flash across his face. "Just a little scratch." Giving your shoulder a reassuring pat as he walked by, Nyx walked through the doors of the Citadel and started down the hall. "Nothing I can't handle."

“Oh really?” Not buying it for a second, you rushed after him. “Let me see then. If it's just a scratch, then you have nothing to hide.”

Nyx shook his head, refusing. “I'd rather not. Not right now.”

“Why not?” His refusal made your heart sink. Unless he was badly injured, Nyx had always relied on you to patch him up and send him on his way. His pride made it difficult for him to let anyone else see him at anything less than his best, so the job had been yours and yours alone for years. If he didn't want you to see what had happened, he must have been badly injured. If that was the case, however, why was he walking down the hall like nothing at all was wrong? “Is it that bad?”

“No, it's not that bad.” Sensing your worry, Nyx chuckled, as if somehow his laughter would put you at ease. “But undressing in the middle of the hall might raise a few eyebrows.”

“Oh.” Blushing slightly at your oversight, you nodded. “I didn't even think of that.”

“That's because you worry too much and don't think enough.” Standing just outside King Regis's throne room, Nyx turned to you and gently pressed a hand to your cheek. “Now wait here. I'll be right out.”

Feeling warm from head to toe, you quietly agreed. “Right. I'll be here.” Without another word, Nyx ducked into the room, letting the large, heavy double doors close behind him. Though you knew it was his job to report back to the King, you wished he could have passed on that task to someone else, at least for today. Anxiously waiting outside the doors, you waited and waited for him to return. Had you not been checking the clock every few seconds, the time he was away might not have seemed so long. Then again, it wasn't as if you could tune out the quiet ticking sound of the clock anyway. Sliding down the wall, you dropped to a seated position before releasing a quiet sigh.

Mere seconds later, the doors opened and Nyx stepped out. As soon as he saw you scrambling back to your feet, his brow arched with curiosity. “I was barely in there ten minutes. Did you really miss me that much?”

“No, no I didn't.” Shaking your head firmly, you took his hand in yours and began tugging at him, hoping it would make him move. “Now come on. You need to let me see where you had to go off and hurt yourself.”

Obediently following behind you, Nyx tried, but couldn't resist the urge to tease you. “You know, if I'm as hurt as you seem to think I am, all this tugging might not be a good idea.”

Immediately releasing his hand, you spun around to face him. “Am I hurting you?” The concern evident in your voice, you apologized before he had the chance to answer. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. You should have said something sooner.”

“Calm down.” Only meaning to tease you a bit, Nyx secretly felt a bit guilty for causing you so much distress. He didn't let on to this though. He simply dismissed your worries with a mischievous grin. “You're not hurting me.”

“Then why would you say something like that in the first place?” Puffing out your cheeks, you turned away from him and continued down the hall, pouting all the way. After the two of you had stepped inside your room, you closed the door with haste. Not even a full second later, you began scolding him as you retrieved a first aid kit. “I really don't like you sometimes.”

“Sure you don't, and you're not going to need that.” Placing the first aid kit, which you had just picked up, back on the shelf, Nyx pulled you closer. “I'm really fine. There's not a scratch on me.”

Still just as suspicious now as you had been when he first entered the Citadel, you refused to simply take his word for it. Until you had looked him over, you wouldn't be satisfied. “Then why haven't you undressed yet?”

“Because there's no reason for me to.” He paused, as if in thought. “At least, not for the reason your suggesting.”

Though you had caught the hidden meaning in his words, and the flushed appearance of your cheeks made that clear, you decided not to acknowledged it aloud. With any luck, Nyx wouldn't point out the fact that your cheeks, ears and chest had gone red. “Just take your shirt off and let me look.”

“Fine.” Now sure that you weren't about to change your mind just because he was being difficult, Nyx gave in. “But only because you asked so nicely.” With a sigh, he undid his shirt and tossed it aside. “Happy now?”

“I'll get back to you on that in a minute.” Quickly darting behind him to hide your growing blush, you looked over his back, shoulders and neck for any sign of injury, but found none. The same was true for the front of his torso and his arms. Unless he had hurt his lower body, which you doubted, since he was walking just fine, he had been honest with you. There wasn't a scratch on him. “Okay, you were right.” Eager for him to redress so your blush could abate, you held out his shirt for him. “I'm sorry I didn't believe you. But you've got to admit that you needing to go off and be the hero all the time does end up with your hurt more times than not.”

“Be the hero?” Nyx wasn't sure if those words made him want to laugh, or sigh. Either way, hearing them from you did cause a little bit of pride to well up in his chest. “You're not going to start that too, are you?”

Looking anywhere but at Nyx, you nodded. “It's true, isn't it?”

Nyx didn't deny what you'd said, but he didn't agree either. “You really need to stop talking to Libertus.”

“He's not the only one that calls you that you know. Plenty of people do.” Of course, the others who called him that probably did so due to Libertus's teasing. “Now, please put your shirt back on.”

Doing the exact opposite of what you had asked, Nyx threw his heavy shirt onto a chair placed in the far corner of the room. Now smirking down at you, Nyx gave no warning before pulling you into a tight, inescapable hug. “As much as you demanded I take it off, I think I'd rather leave it off for a while longer.”

“Don't hug me!” Pushing against his chest in vain, you tried with all your might to free yourself from his hold. When pushing and squirming didn't work, you started making excuses. “You just got back. At least shower before you try to hug me.”

“I would have, but I didn't get the chance.” Taking your chin in his hand, Nyx fixed his eyes on yours. Enjoying how flustered you were, maybe just a little bit to much, he didn't even try to hide his smile. “Someone met me at the door, remember?”

No matter how many times the two of you had exchanges like this, your heart always reacted the same way. By beating so hard and so fast that the world around you started spinning. Expecting that this would happen to you, as it always did, Nyx used his free arm to hold your body protectively against his chest. “Y-yeah, I guess I did do that, didn't I?”

Nyx nodded. “You did.”

Thoroughly embarrassed and slightly dizzy, your emotions were torn. On the one hand, you didn't want him to let you go, but on the other, you wanted desperately to bury your face in the nearest pillow. The longer he silently stared at you, simply holding your chin in his hand, the more you wanted to hide yourself from him. “You know, you can really let me go now.”

“Yeah, I could.” Despite having agreed with you, Nyx didn't let you go. In fact, you pulled you even closer, pressing his cheek against yours.

To anyone else, his actions would have seemed sweet, but you knew better. He was doing his very best to make you as red as humanly possible, and he was doing a good job. “This isn't letting me go. This is the opposite of letting me go.” When Nyx said nothing in response, you slowly let your eyes meet his once more. “Nyx?”

As soon as his name was out of your mouth, Nyx seized the opportunity to steal a kiss. Even though you had, to a point seen this coming, you weren't at all prepared for the deepness of his kiss. With the breath stolen from your lungs, a familiar, comforting warmth took its place. Wanting to feel closer, you draped your arms around his shoulders and laced your fingers behind his neck. When you did this, he suddenly brought the kiss to an end. “You stopped blushing.” Those words were all it took to set your cheeks ablaze all over again. “There we go.” Grinning victoriously at your rekindled blush, Nyx sealed your lips with his own once more. This time when he kissed you, he made it perfectly clear that he wasn't going to let you go any time soon.