"Woah, easy. Careful now, I'll help you up." He slotted an arm under his shoulder, pulling him up against his side. "Alright, let's get you patched up, yeah?"
He was very glad his family was out, they'd skin him alive for inviting "a lowlife omega" into their "good, proper home". Finny didn't care what a person's secondary sex was, a target was a target. He'd stopped seeing those symbols years ago.
Nyoka nodded, allowing the other to lead him in, but trying to be careful not to mix their scents together, figuring that it would leave to complications for the both of them if that happened. “Are you sure I can come inside? I can j-just sit on the stoop if that’s better….” He knew he was someone that most people in England in this era of Queen Victoria would not want in their house. He wished he had been born an Alpha, like the queen of the country his parents had fled to before he was born.
"No no no, I'm not leaving you out here like this. That's just not right. Unlike some of the lowlifes in this neighborhood, I actually go out of my way to be a gentleman." He helped Nyoko inside, setting him down on the bench inside the garden door. "Right, don't you go anywhere, I'm gonna go grab the first aid kit." He flashed a smile before heading down the hall towards the bathroom to grab the supplies.
Nyoka’s cheeks felt hot with embarrassment, as he was sat on the bench. He crossed his legs and pulled his arms in, looking around nervously as if anxious that he was going to be getting in trouble for being in such a well off household. He looked around, curious about the house that this strange Alpha lived in, glancing out the door, reassuring himself there was an escape route if necessary.
Finny came back a few minutes later with a worn leather bag. "Right, I'm not exactly an expert when it comes to patching up wounds," I typically cause them, not fix them. I leave that to the actual medics. "But I know enough to get by and I'm hoping that'll be enough for you. After all, it's just some thorn scrapes, right?" He chuckled sheepishly as he pulled out a roll of bandages and a bottle of disinfectant, dousing a spare rag in it. "Okay, first thing's first, gotta clean it. Make sure there's no dirt or nastiness in there to give you an infection. This is gonna sting, alright?"
Nyo nodded, curling up a bit as he turned to expose the wounded skin to Fin, nervously chewing his lower lip as he braced himself for the other to clean his wounds, still expecting the other to be rough with him. “Thank you… um- I-I’m afraid I don’t know what you prefer to be called… I don’t know your name.”
Finny froze for a second, rag inches away from Nyo's skin. Well it's not like I can tell him my actual name! Come on, think fast! He glanced out the door towards the garden, biting his lip for a second. Y'know what, that works. "Call me Mr. Rose. And you?" He lightly dabbed the disinfectant onto the open cuts, being sure to be gentle.
Nyo was surprised by but the answer and the gentle touch. He then giggled, and relaxed a bit. “Well, you called me the Evans boy, Mister Rose, so does that mean I’m Mr. Evans?” He teased a bit, unable to help himself when the opportunity was there before shyly telling the other, “But um…. My first name is Nyoka. My mother says it means snake in the language she and my father grew up with, but she never explained why she decided to name me that…”
Phineas has to bite his tongue hard to keep from laughing. Snake, huh? How ironic. "Nyoka. How unique. I don't really believe you need a reason to give someone a name. As long as you believe in it, that's all that matters. This whole naming after family or important things to your life are kinda pretentious if ya ask me. Why does it matter that their name relates to your life? It's theirs, their name should reflect the life you want them to live, not for the first thing you get to choose for them be stuck in the past."
Nyoka looked over his shoulder at the other with his big dark eyes, “Is that why you chose Mr Rose, sir?” He glanced out the window at the beautiful rose garden wistfully. He then yelped and jerked away when the rag touched the edge of a slightly older wound, one that was… very clearly not from a rose bush. It was long, jagged, and weepy, mostly concealed by his shirt but it was exposed as the rest of his wounds were cared for. Nyoka glanced up at the Alpha with huge startled eyes, nervous of the inevitable questions Finny would have.
Phineas jumped back when Nyo flinched, his heart jumping into his throat. A quick scan of the wound showed it was definitely not from the same incident, it was something from before this. And considering Nyoka's terrified expression, it wasn't one he wanted to talk about. Not like Finny would ask. He knew better than to question where scars came from. He had plenty of his own he would rather die than tell the story of. "….Can I keep going?" He asked gently. He didn't want Nyo to feel backed into a corner or threatened. If he wanted this to be over, Finny would bandage the ones he'd done and let him go without any further questioning.
Nyoka looked surprised when Phineas said nothing about the wound, which made him relax and slowly shift back into place. “Y-yeah…. Sorry. It just hurt more than I was expecting….” He fiddled with the hem of maroon skirt he wore, still a tad tense, worried the other would still ask, but leaned back into the Alpha’s touch, trying and failing not to melt a bit under the strong hands that seemed so caring even though he had intruded upon this ‘Mr Rose’ in the first place.
"No, that's okay. I just don't wanna hurt you." Finny tried to help soothe him, returning to cautiously cleaning his wounds. "You don't have to tell me the story if you don't want to. Believe me, I'm no stranger to scars with stories you really don't wanna talk about." It was kinda his whole job, actually. He was a secret keeper. Such was the life of a hitman.
The smaller man nodded and hung his head as he let the other clean him up. “Thank you…. You’ve been so kind to me when I’ve shown you nothing but discourtesy…” His eyes wandered over to the rose Mr Rose had plucked from the garden for him. He did not reach for it, but he gazed quite longingly at the plush petals.
(clears throat heathen.)
(Hi dad)
Finny just shrugged, following Nyo's gaze to the flower. He gently scooped it up and held it out for Nyoka. "Here. I really do want you to have it. I'm quite protective of my garden but I don't mind sharing with those I feel deserve it." The boy seemed innocent enough and Finny didn't mind sharing with someone as pretty as him.
Nyoka furrowed his brow, thinking for a long moment before he gingerly took it from the bigger man’s hand. He offered shyly, “If…. If you ever want fresh herbs, that’s what my garden mostly is…. I recently planted a tarragon plant, so it’ll be a bit before I can clip some, but you’re welcome to whatever I harvest…” He looked up through his thick eyelashes, feeling strangely safe around the other now.
(Hi dad)
(💙)
"That'd be really nice, thank you." He unrolled the bandages with a soft smile, gingerly wrapping the cleaned wounds so they wouldn't get infected. "There we are. All better now. You'll have to keep an eye on these scratches, make sure they don't start bleeding again. And you'll have to change the bandages before you sleep tonight. But if you don't wanna do it yourself…you can come back over and I can do it." He grew quieter at the offer, a little shy as his cheeks tinted a light pink.
Nyoka’s face also felt a bit warm before he asked, “I won’t be in trouble for coming back over…? I know your mother does not like me, because she threw some things at me while I was trying to get back from the market, but I don’t know if the rest of your family will be happy to see me on the property either… especially to get bandages changed…” The poor thing looked droopy and sad as he remembered the difference of social positions he and Finny had.
Finny waved his concerns off with a smile. "Ah forget about them. If they wanna talk crap about you, they'll have to get through me first. Class is meaningless if you ask me. We're born, we live, we die. Who cares about anything else." He shrugged. "You don't have to come back if you feel unsafe but if you do, I'll be here waiting."
Nyoka’s eyes lit up. “I- I would very much like help changing my bandages tonight then…. It will be difficult to do on my own and…. Well, my…. I’d rather my parents didn’t find out about them….”
"If that's what makes you feel better, I'm all for it. Well then, I guess I should let you be off." He took a step back, going to open the door for him. "Let's say meet at this door? I'll be down here after dinner to wait for you, just knock."
Nyoka smiled and nodded, shyly telling the other, “I’ll bring some herbs tonight for you. I’ll see you…” He hurried out of the door and once he was on the grass he turned and quickly gave a small curtsey before hurrying off with the rose clutched to his chest, looking almost giddy.