Theo had been quick to get on his feet once Niké had taken the cloth off and he watched as the leader went to grab some supplies.

"Woah, man. One thing at a time please. You've been hanging out with Alleya way too much."

At that the grey haired man gave a soft chuckle, one that quickly died down as the leader got closer to him until they were mere inches from each other. Niké’s pale gaze landed on the gang leader's face, examining every little detail.

The young man could see the lips of the leader move but he wasn't picking up on what was being said, his focus had gone elsewhere. He’d never noticed it before, probably because he hadn't gotten much time with the leader and also because they had never been this close before, but Theo’s eyes were absolutely beautiful, the brown flecks in the lovely emerald green making his eyes look more unique and special than just any other eyes.

When Theo applied the peroxide, it caught Niké off guard and it pulled him out of his own thoughts in an instant. His hands clenched the sides of the desk tightly as he bit his lower lip, doing his best to stay still and not let his reflexes win and make it so that he ended up punching the leader.

The antibiotic hurt a bit less and Niké was able to relax his body ever so slightly before the leader pulled back, his warm and gentle touch disappearing from his skin. He looked at the leader, wanting to feel his hands on him again, they had become rough from years on the street and still, Theo was able to make them seem so soft with his gentle touch as he cared for the wound.

"Doing alright?"

He felt the man's breath on his skin as he spoke and without being able to stop it, he could feel his face starting to flush red. Blushing was the last thing he wanted to do when he was this close to the leader but he had no way of stopping it.

“Y-yeah,” his voice betrayed him as he answered, making him blush even worse. He couldn't be attracted to Theo, for so many reasons, but being this close was messing with his head, confusing him beyond belief and his exhaustion certainly didn't make thinking clearly any easier.

Yeah that was right, he only felt this way and had these thoughts because he was tired. It had been a long few days and there was a lot that had happened, a lot going on in his head. The only reason he thought this way was because Theo was the closest thing to comfort right now, him staying so calm made Niké feel calmer. And the fact that he wanted the leader to touch him more, the fact that he’d briefly felt the urge to kiss him, that was all due to his head being all messed up and confused for the time being. No other reason.

Theo had been oblivious to Nike's gaze. All his focus had been drawn in toward avoiding infection. Infection was a killer for this gang. The gang had relatively clean areas but everything was still dirty. Once infection set in, there was very little the gang leader could do.

The neck wound wasn't serious though. Nike would probably be fine. His wound in his hand had been deeper. That was a rookie move, holding a knife wrong. However, the leader understood adrenaline rush. Nike also wasn't trained to fight like the rest of the gang. He was sure that the man just acted on instinct back then. If there wasn't other things going on, Theo would have assigned him some training. That would have to wait though.

When the gang leader pulled back, that's when he noticed the man was watching him.Not that he had anything else to look at. They were extremely close. The only reason why Theo didn't step back was because he still had to wrap the wound. He was just checking in and watching to see if Nike needed a break. He didn't know what the wound felt like, only Nike could rate the pain on it. That's why he was checking in. Just to make sure everything was okay.

When he studied the face of the man, he looked flushed and embarrassed. The reason why, he couldn't exactly tell. It could because of the lack of distance between them, the reaction he had to the pain of perioxide, or something as simple as getting caught studying him. It was best not to think too much about it. Some people just blushed naturally. Hearing a stuttered yeah, he gave a small fake smile and returned back to his work.

He titled Nike's head back to wrap his neck up in the gauze and finish it. If the neck wound had been smaller, he would have just sealed it with an extra large bandaid. However, it was a bit too long for that. He wrapped the wound quickly and precisely like he had preformed the action a million times-which in a sense he had. Once he was done, he stepped back and admired his work.

"You look like you are wearing a turtleneck," He commented with an ever-so-slightly smirk. His gaze travelled down NIke's body briefly before giving a nod,"Like a short sleeved turtle neck under your shirt."

He packed up the supplies and put the kit away. The kit had moved closer to his bed as well so he could easily reach it to treat his own wounds. It was almost as close within reach as the bottle of Extra Strength Tylenol. His wounds were hurting him a lot more than he let on but he wasn't about to abandon his gang. They needed him so instead, he focused on burn spray, aloe Vera, and Tylenol for himself. A combination of all three is what got him through his day.

The first-aid kit was replaced with tweezers and medical scissors. He did keep the gauze out, knowing that if Nike's stitches were truly ready to come out, he would need them. He returned to the desk, jumping back on top. His jump was a little off though and he accidentally sat on Nike's right thigh.

Immediately, the gang leader blushed and scooted back over on his side and muttered his apologies. Every movement of his had been off since he was attacked by the rebels. Most of it was due to the heavy amount of pain he was trying to mask.

Once his embarrassment faded, he turned his gaze back to Nike and held out his hand,"Let me see your hand now. Then I'll let you rest up."

Nike looked like he was about to fall asleep right there on the leader's desk. It also looked Ike he needed a bath and warmer clothing. He was going to freeze to death in what he was wearing now.

"I've got warmer clothes you can change into as well. If you want a bath, you can have one, just make sure your hand and neck doesn't get into the water," He paused, thinking and then changing his mind, "You know, it might be best to take one in my bathroom. Keep you from getting frostbite and I recently tricked a guy into letting us have hot water and heat for the winter this season."

It was a relief when the leader tilted Niké’s head back and began wrapping his neck up, that meant he didn't have to meet his gaze and the man wouldn't see his blushing. He was trying to calm down, push those thoughts about Theo away and stop blushing.

"You look like you are wearing a turtleneck."

Niké had just calmed his blushing down when the rough-looking leader took a step back and spoke. The slight hint of a smirk on the man’s face made him start blushing again and he looked to the side a bit.

Luckily though, Theo went ahead and started putting the first-aid kit away, once again giving Niké time to calm himself again. Why was he getting like this all of a sudden? Theo was a criminal and probably not even into men, and on top of that still clearly hung up on his dead ex.

The grey haired man watched the leader grab tweezers and a pair of scissors for his stitches before jumping up on the desk, only the leader seemed to do a miss-calculation, or maybe it was due to the pain he had to be in from his burn wounds? Either way, he jumped up on his thigh, causing him to tense up and his blushing only getting worse. Thankfully Theo was quick to move away though while apologizing.

"Let me see your hand now. Then I'll let you rest up."

Niké quickly held his hand out for the man, keeping his head down and doing his best to hide his blushing. He felt like a complete mess right now, he could barely keep his eyes open, his whole body felt ice cold and at the same time, every little thing that Theo did, made him blush. Usually he could keep a leveled head even when he was in a bad way like now but his head was a mess, everything was just a mess.

"I've got warmer clothes you can change into as well. If you want a bath, you can have one, just make sure your hand and neck doesn't get into the water."

The grey haired man started shaking his head slightly, there was no time for that and he also knew that if he allowed himself to relax then it would only be minutes before he fell asleep and he couldn't sleep, not here, not now.

"You know, it might be best to take one in my bathroom. Keep you from getting frostbite and I recently tricked a guy into letting us have hot water and heat for the winter this season."

“No, it’s fine, I'm fine. Some warmer clothes would be nice but a bath can wait. I just need to be patched up and then I’m good. You need as many as possible if the Rebels show up, I can't be relaxing and shit…” he mumbled, mostly just saying that because he didn't want to sleep. He knew his own body and with how tired he was right now, he knew he would probably sleep heavily for the whole night and that meant another repeat of that same old nightmare. It was better when he wasn't as tired, then he wasn't as heavy of a sleeper instead waking up every other hour, never staying asleep long enough for his nightmare to creep up on him.

When Theo asked if it was the hand that he punched with, Niké looked over, also seeing the torn stitches. He’d barely looked at the hand himself so he’d completely missed that it had happened but as Theo didn't say anything else about it, he figured it wasn't too big of a deal.

Instead the leader went on to tell him that he stank.

"You've had a long journey and taking a bath isn't relaxing. It's an essential part of hygiene. And getting sleep? It's essential for your body to function. If the Rebels do retilate, I need every member of my gang at 100%. That includes you,"

His whole body ached for that bath, especially now that he had been told that he could take one in warm water. It would feel nice, he knew that but that's what he was afraid of, he really didn't want to fall asleep and at this rate he'd just fall asleep mid-bath.

"Don't make me get Alleya. You know how stubborn she is."

Niké sighed at the threat, he knew exactly how stubborn she was. But surely she'd understand why he couldn't sleep, she'd never commented on it but he knew that she had heard.

“Okay, fucking fine,” Niké finally sneered, sounding more annoyed than what he intended to, “I’ll take a bath but after that you need to be happy because I'm not going to sleep, I know my body and I know wether or not it needs sleep, right now it doesn't.” He was trying to sound stern in order to have the leader stop trying to make him go to sleep but that probably wasn't the case.

Luck wasn't something that he’d have much of lately so he doubted that he'd get out of sleeping, if he didn't give in soon then the leader would make his threat into reality.

The leader squeezing his hand as he got off the desk made Niké blush once more. Why was he like this all of a sudden? It had to be because of how exhausted he was. Surely that had to be it.

The grey haired man looked down at the floor with a low sigh, why couldn't he just do his job? Every time he told himself to get his act together, there would be something to make him immediately lose it and he’d let his feelings get the better of him.

He noticed Theo leave and go into the bathroom and with a yawn he leaned back and closed his eyes for a second. Of course it felt nice and sleeping would be amazing but he felt so vulnerable sleeping around others, in several ways.

"I hate when the weather turns cold."

Niké opened his eyes quickly, not having heard Theo re-enter the room. The sight of the man’s soaked face made him let out a soft chuckle, he looked more like a drowned puppy than the rough leader he’d seen so far.

As the grey haired man pushed himself off the desk, he suppressed another yawn. “Okay well, thank you and Alleya will probably want to talk to you so she can give you all the details on everything,” he told the man as he walked over to the bathroom. Even if Alleya had agreed to go take a bath first before talking to Theo, he doubted that the woman would go to sleep before at least checking up on the man.

That was one thing he knew about the redhead, she was too hung up on the leader even when she knew that there would never happen anything between them. And after the meeting with her ex, she’d probably want to be with the leader even more, at least that was his guess, really, he could never know what that woman was thinking and planning to do, she was pretty unpredictable from what he’d seen so far. Or maybe he just hadn't learnt to read her yet.

“I won't take long and then I won't bother you anymore,” he said, smiling briefly at the leader before walking into the bathroom and shutting the door behind himself before starting to undress. Bathing would be nice for his sore body, these past few days had been hell and his body had gotten the worst of it, all the fighting, the long days of moving around in search of a new gang location and the cold weather hadn't exactly done wonders.

"My hygiene products are under my sink. It's nothing fancy. There should be an unopened bar of soap you can use. I also have a bottle of Pantene 2 in 1. Er, make sure to grab the men's one unless you want to smell like flowers. I keep extras on hand for everyone."

When the man had undressed he heard the voice of the leader again and it made him realize just how thin the walls were, every little sound he’d make, Theo would hear. Not that he had any intentions to do anything weird but still.

“Extras huh? Or maybe you just have a feminine side to you?” He replied, a soft smirk on his lips, not that anyone could see it though, “I don't judge, no worries.” The man might be tired but not too tired to miss a perfect opportunity to tease someone, however too tired to realize that maybe he shouldn't be teasing the leader, he didn't know the man well enough to know how he’d react to it.

"As for Alleya, did something happen on your journey? She seemed rather pissed earlier."

As Niké leaned down and grabbed the bar of soap and the 2 in 1, he heard Theo’s question about Alleya. He walked over to the bathtub and sat down on the edge of it with another yawn.

“Well for starters Taurus was an ass and they fought for like 3 days straight before he went back and then she met…” The man trailed off as he realized his mistake, it was not his place to say anything about Alleya’s ex and yet he’d almost done so.

“Shit…” he muttered quietly as he leaned his head back with a groan. “Uh there was an incident, you could say. Alleya will have to tell you. Then there was the Rebels and that cop she tied to a traffic light so he must have really pissed her off… And then I told her to take a bath and rest when we came back but she wanted to talk to you immediately so I guess she’s pissed about that too…” he admitted.

There had happened so much the past few days and yet it was so easily summarized. He did leave out some major parts though, like Taurus kissing Alleya and her meeting her ex, although he just barely remembered to not say that. Then there was them losing Iris, he didn't think it would matter to Theo so he didn't mention it but he himself really missed that little kitten and maybe she would have helped keep Alleya calm to have the cat with her?

“I don't know what she’s most pissed about. I still don't fully get her but she's a good person, that much I know,” he finally said as he dipped his fingers into the bath water. The warm water felt nice against his skin, inviting him to slip into it and just relax. He knew he wanted to but at this point he felt as if he’d fall asleep in the water and that would be even worse than just falling asleep at his sleeping spot, around the rest of the members. He definitely couldn't fall asleep in Theo’s bathroom.