Rika opened the kit with a soft click . Inside, the arrangement was meticulous: gauze, medical tape, a small bottle of iodine, cotton balls, a pair of blunt-tipped scissors. She pulled out an antiseptic wipe, tearing the packet open with her teeth.
She took a fresh cotton ball, dabbed it with iodine, and began to paint the wound. The brownish liquid stained his skin, sealing the edges of the cut. He finally looked up at her. Her face was in shadow, but her eyes caught the last of the sunlight—two points of hazel fire.
“Come here,” Rika said. Her voice wasn't a command. It was a worn-out invitation. -SexArt- Rika Fane - First Aid Kit -14.06.2023-
Rika sat on the edge of the enormous, unmade bed, her bare feet barely touching the floor. She was wearing an oversized, faded cotton shirt—his—and the morning’s makeup was long gone, leaving her looking younger, more fragile. In her hands, she held the small, white metal box: the first aid kit.
Across the room, leaning against the exposed brick wall, was Elias. He was shirtless, a thin sheen of sweat still on his shoulders. A shallow, angry red scrape ran from his ribs down to his hip—a souvenir from the broken glass on the kitchen floor. The argument had been a violent, short-lived thing. A shattered wine glass. A door slammed. Then, the terrible, heavy quiet that followed. Rika opened the kit with a soft click
He let out a slow, shuddering breath. Not from the pain, but from the intimacy of it. They had touched each other a thousand times—in passion, in haste, in the deep hours of the night. But this was different. This was care stripped of expectation. Her fingers were precise, almost clinical, yet unbearably tender.
She smiled, a sad, small curve of her lips. “Because it’s the only thing in this apartment that knows how to fix things without breaking them more.” She took a fresh cotton ball, dabbed it
He didn't answer with words. He slid his hand up, cupping the back of her neck, and pulled her down to him. The kiss was not the frantic, desperate kind that had started the argument. It was deep, slow, and searching—a question and an answer at the same time.
She pulled back just enough to look at him. Then, slowly, deliberately, she took his hand and placed it over her heart, beneath the loose collar of the shirt. It was beating fast, a hummingbird’s rhythm.
Elias hesitated, his jaw tight. The scrape on his side stung, a physical echo of the sharper cuts they’d inflicted with words. He pushed off from the wall and walked over, the floorboards groaning under his weight. He sat on the floor between her knees, his back resting against the footboard of the bed. He wouldn't look at her.