Chapter 248: Healer [#2]
Flying was so freeing that Erik would never have imagined it to be so intoxicatingly addictive! Being a Caladrius meant he could fly, since obviously he was a bird, but also meant his body was about the size of a swan with three long tail feathers that were at least two feet long and look like silver ribbons attached to his back. His speed was about the same of any other bird who wasn't a predator, if he had to put ot mildly, his speed was that of a dove or an owl, seeing as he didn't make any sound as he flew around the preserve! He analyzed his eyesight, which was also enchanted, alongside his speed and perceptive abilities such as hearing and touch- He could even feel the change in the air while in human form, that's how much his skin is sensitive! He also flew high, above the clouds, and even higher, when he noticed he was basically immune to the low air pressure, his lungs were okay even with the thin air, and he didn't feel cold at all even when the stars were so close above his head!
Also, another thing changed: His eyes.
He could see when people were sick- By seeing their aura, which was something interesting. It was like a smoke around someone's body, he could only see it when he was in his full Caladrius form for now but since he was aware of it, he should be able to learn how to use it when in his human form? Anyway, he could see auras, and their color too, which was how he discovered that this sickly moss-like green in someone's aura means they're sick! "Good morning, Ms. McCall." He greeted Melissa and kept on with his day at the hospital, since he worked now as a official nurse at the Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital! "Good morning-" Suddenly, the news channel that was airing news about a simple robery in South Dakota that left three dead blazed red as the news suddenly changed:
[Emergency! We have all been warned: Tony Stark found, Tony Stark has been found! The terrorist group has been-]
Erik felt his body freeze. Coldness entering his heart as he cursed himself inside his head for not searching where he was- He only accepted the new gift of life happily before even considering he was in a fictional universe! I mean, why would he? As far as he knows, he's probably hallucinating hard or tripping balls right now in some drug to forget his fucking pathetic little life! "Fuck." He whispered as Melissa sighed, turned to look at and smiled wryly: "Well, I'm glad he has been found, be we have work to do, right?" He nodded before walking away- One of the few fandoms he accompanied was the Avengers fandom, well, he watched all the movies if that counts? Anyway, he didn't remember much about the MCU, other than Tony Stark adopts Peter Parker or something like that, and Thanos snaps his fingers and suddenly half the universe is gone. 'Oh no.' The universe! He's in the universe!
Also, the fucking Eternals and shit, it was a movie wasn't it? He didn't watch it, but he knows about them! This universe is fucked up, he's thankful for at least having something to protect himself- oh no. SHIELD is here, which means Hydra too is here, and the Ten Rings, and all the fucked up shit that happens and- "Erik?" He noticed then, he was having an anxiety attack wasn't he? He chuckled dryly before coughing against his fist and trying to calm down his blaring heart and shaking hands: "Are you okay?" He didn't know who was asking him that, so he lifted his head for a second but the person was smaller than him: A boy, probably 15 or 16, holding onto to a school bag. "Yeah, yeah... I forgot to take my medicine, so i kinda got shaky." Erik chuckled and tried to play it off and the kid seemed to buy it, nodding before walking away. Erik took deep breaths in and out before he went on with his work- Melissa later on told him to go give Peter a sponge bath because he didn't do it yesterday, which was understandable seeing as today Jennifer was under investigation.
He hoped she wasn't coming back, something inside him felt like she was trouble, bad trouble.
"Hi Peter." He greeted the man, awkwardly lifting his hands and slowly, ever so gently, taking the man's shirt off: "I'm sorry but i gotta give you a sponge bath, i know it's gonna be awkward and uncomfortable for the both of us, so bear with me here okay?" He hoped Peter was unconscious and that he wasn't in a locked in state, concious inside his own mind while his body was trapped in a comatose state- It was like sleep paralysis, but your body doesn't wake up and your nightmares don't end. "Here, I'll even use a light smell... Which one you like? Lemon is too acidic i think, which can't be pleasant to smell..." Erik sniffed it a little and instantly sneezed when the strong scent of lemon invaded his nostrils, making him drop the soap: "Yeah, no, not like it." He knew sponge baths weren't technically given like that, but he didn't think he'd like to be bathed without soap at least! They use mostly water, he was given the standard soap to use but it smelled so bland that he needed to go get some soap himself!
Thankfully the previous him, who owned his house, had a stock of different soaps- He liked being clean, and different smells of soap were pleasing too! Thankfully this quirk of his also applied on this version of him. "I have strawberry too." He sniffed it before humming to himself in content: "Oh, and i have peach! And... Huh, i didn't know i had Orange?" He took a big sniff from the orange soap and smiled- he liked the smell of oranges! "But i also have the odorless soap, if you'd ike it." He turned to look at the paralyzed man and sighed, there was no way he could answer him anyway, but- Oh right, his diagnosis said about him having insanity and deep emotional and mental trauma, which meant he must ne awake right? He has to be, and if he wasn't, Erik kept talking to all comatose patients without a care! "Hm... Let's see." He took the water bucket alongside the white towel given to him, and began to apply water to Peter's torso.
"I'll take your clothes off too- fuck that sounds wrong. I'm sorry Peter, but this is so awkward to me and my little gay heart." He squished the warm water- he didn't want to risk giving the man a cold even when he's technically comatose! "But you're like, attractive okay? Don't blame me if i think you're hot, damn, me and my anxiety can't keep my mouth close. Fuck... Hey, abrupt change of subject, but i think you'd like some news? I heard that Tony Stark was found, he was presumed dead if you didn't know about that." And he kept talking, he knew Peter was awake so he kept talking, acting less and less awkward and more loose as he also used [Emotional Healing] on Peter to get his emotions slowly but surely better with time.
It looked less red.
Also, the emotional auras could only be seem by him if he used the skill to heal them, which was why he was trying to learn how to use his Caladrius sight to see auras. "And then, it was like-" Him bathing Peter wasn't even on his mind as his hands did the work, no, he just ignored everything and kept talking until he heard a knocking on the door when he was putting some perfume on Peter's now fully clothed body, clothes changed, hair carefully done, placed on his wheelchair to gaze into the window: "Erik dear." Melissa called him from the door, making him look up at her and smile before he saw a man beside her, looking at the star on his chest, he was the Sheriff: "Oh, hi. I'm just finishing Peter real quick and- That sounded so wrong oh my god." Neither nurse nor Sheriff paid any mind to his rambling, as if they were used to it.
"This is Sheriff Stilinski, and he's here to talk to you about the Jennifer case." The Sheriff nodded at Melissa's words, making Erik raise his eyebrows for a second: "Huh, okay, we need to go somewhere or nah?" This time it was tje Sheriff who said: "No, we can do it here." Before sitting down on one of the chairs and looking at him.
Well, time to tell some truths and maybe some lies.
-Scene Cut-
Peter felt... Weird.
No nurse was nice to him like this guy was, none even considered that he was awake, all just doing their work before leaving, some touching him way too much... But differently from the other nurses, this guy talked! No, he rambled, he smelled like anxiety and excitement when he was talking about some story about his childhood or something like that, he asked his opinion on soaps! Fucking soaps! He called him attractive, which fair enough he knows he is, but he never smelled like arousal- Embarrassment? Sure. Happiness? Yeah. Disappointment? Too! But arousal? Sexual Arousal? Never.
And he touched his fucking dick!
'Maybe I'm too old?' Peter thought as the man put clothes on him, he smelled like a small mixture between orange and strawberry, which wasn't exactly bad- the acidity wolves can smell in these soaps (they were like, natural? Made from the fruit! This guy probably bought them from the Farmer's Market?) were completely erased by the small tint of strawberry, which didn't hurt his nose so his wolf was, for the first time in a long time, happy about something. He even chose clothes for him, which were bland to be honest, but is the gesture that counts! "Mmm... This one doesn't look good on you." He'd say as he held out a shirt in front of him, his smile was making his wolf, his angry, almost feral wolf confused. All the noise stopped, Peter no longer could hear the screams of his family as they burned inside that house, he could no longer smell the scent of burned wood, and he could no longer feel the fire burning his scarred skin as the man touched them and they soothed.
It was almost heavenly to feel so calm, after the years of pain and hatred, his wolf was no longer roaring, clawing its way into the only anchor he now had: Revenge. He saw that man and he felt calm, like- Oh no, Peter's eyes widened at the possibility of it being right, until he heard the door knocking. His senses as a werewolf were dulled because of the wolfsbane poisoning, so it'd take some time before they come back to the fullest, he could barely smell his own nurse! That's how bad it is. It's like, he's human- "Yeah, i found the flowers there-" Peter snapped back and started to listen to the conversation his nurse and the Sheriff were having: "-And i know them, i know them because my mother used to be a florist, and i grew up surrounded by flowers and motherly love, since my father had left early... Also, I'm kind of a herbalist, i made some soaps and... You know, use them."
"Oh, is that why Peter smells like strawberry and orange?" Peter could only hear the woman's voice, he knew her to be Melissa McCall, and he didn't have any strong opinions on the woman other than she was a great nurse- She took care of him for a month, and that was the best month he spent here till now: "Yeah, i kinda made them." Peter couldn't detect any lies on the man's way of speech... Just because he couldn't hear heartbeats, it didn't mean he couldn't discern lie from truth!
The conversation was brought back to be about Jennifer, the devil who tortured him- He wanted to tear her flash open, cut her throat,ake her fucking bleed! "Huh?" He heard his nurse whisper for a second before he approached and touched Peter, a warm sensation flooded Peter's body for a moment before he heard: "Oh, no, nothing i just... Thought Peter was angry?" It was Peter's turn to feel shocked, he only heard instances of this once, about- "It must've been my imagination." The warm touch left, and it made his wolf whine and Peter knew he was a goner because of a simple single fact:
This man, his nurse, was his Mate with a capital m.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone