Doctor Daze- part three

"GAH! SILVER, TAKE IT EASY!"

Silver glared at Ethan as he tightened the bandage. "I am taking it easy, idiot."

"Ow! No you're not!"

"Ethan. You just got shot in the leg by a big branch from a tree. You can't expect me to just... LET you go off with a bleeding leg. I need you to battle against."

"Still!" Ethan flinched hard, fingers digging into the bark of the log he was sitting on. "You're pulling skin!"

Silver didn't even look up as he continued wrapping the bandage around Ethan's leg, the cloth stained red. His touch wasn't exactly gentle—but it was steady. Focused. The tight line of his jaw, the furrow between his brows, the tension in his shoulders... all of it screamed concern. But Silver being Silver, it came out as barely contained frustration.

"You could've dodged the branch," he muttered darkly.

"I did dodge it! Mostly!" Ethan's voice cracked on the last word as Silver gave one final tug to secure the wrap. "Ow—gah—! You just like making me suffer."

Silver finally looked up at him, crimson eyes sharp. "You think I like seeing you like this?"

Ethan opened his mouth to fire back, but stopped. Silver's tone had changed. It was still angry, yeah, but underneath was something tighter. Quieter. His hands hovered just above Ethan's knee now, hesitant, like he was checking to make sure it wouldn't start bleeding again.

Ethan blinked. "...Wait. Are you worried about me?"

Silver scoffed and stood up, grabbing the empty bandage roll and tossing it into his bag. "Don't be stupid. I just don't have time to drag your half-dead body back to the Pokémon Center."

Ethan smirked, a bit pale, but still Ethan. "You liiiike me."

"Shut up." Silver threw his jacket over Ethan's shoulders before the other could protest. "You're shivering. And if you get sick, I'm not babysitting you."

"You are babysitting me right now."

Silver didn't respond. He just sat down next to him on the log, elbows on his knees, watching the smoke from the campfire curl up into the darkening sky. Their Pokémon were nearby—Typhlosion curled protectively behind Ethan, and Feraligatr pacing in tight circles, still bristling from the earlier storm that had snapped the branch.

Ethan leaned on Silver a little. "Thanks. For patching me up."

Silver grunted. "You owe me."

"Yeah, yeah," Ethan said, resting his head lightly on Silver's shoulder. "You're still a softie, though."

"...Next time I'm leaving you in the mud." But Silver didn't move.

He let Ethan lean there until the fire burned low.