Work Text:
When Pico came to, everything felt fuzzy at first, like his mind was clouded with fog. Slowly, it started to dissipate, and it started with sudden pain in his side. He hissed in pain as he tensed, curling up slightly on what he was now registering as a bed. He felt a pair of hands bracing him, trying to keep him still. That's when he opened his eyes, seeing an unfamiliar room.
Panic flashed through him, and he trashed against the hands holding him, the person letting out a curse.
"Hold still idiot! You want to bleed out on my nice sheets?"
That voice was familiar.
Stilling, Pico's gaze flicked upwards, where he was met with a very unimpressed Hanz- Shinobi. Shinobi.
...
When the fuck did he-
"Are you going to keep staring or can I redress your wounds?"
Eventually, with only mild pain and with some assistance, Pico managed to maneuver himself into a sitting position, during which the events that led him here finaly started returning. It was ment to be a simple job, just kill a guy, rid of the body, all done. Client failed to tell him the target had not only a dog but was also armed, which ended up with him being caught by the target, earning him a nice bullet to the side and a bite to the leg, and he assumed passing out from something, maybe bloodloss from the bullet.
He also finaly got a chance to look at his surroundings. He was in a pretty small room, just a single bed, nightstand with an old banker's lamp, desk, the chair for it having been pulled up to the bedside, which was where Shinobi was sitting, stairing at Pico expectedly.
But how the fuck did he end up here?
Shinobi cleared their throat, getting his attention.
"Shirt off, cant redress your wounds with it on."
"Man, could at least invite me to dinner first."
"Would you rather i gut you, or you actually get better?"
"...touche."
As Pico pulled his shirt off, he finaly asked. "So, how the hell did i end up here? Last I remember was bleedin out at some scumbag's boot."
As his shirt finaly came off, Shinobi got to work, pulling out supplies from a nearby medkit, not looking up as it worked. "I was in the area, heard some commotion. Don't worry about your job, I took care of it for you."
"Huh, 'aight, I won't pass up a break." Pico leaned back, crossing his arms behind his head as he rested it on them as Shinobi worked.
Eventually, Shinobi rewrapped the last bandage, then passed Pico a pill and water bottle. "Painkiller." They said planely. "It will make you tired, so try and get some rest." Pico nodded, swallowing the painkiller with a swig of water before settling back down on the bed on his good side, just planning to rest his eyes.
Or it was supposed to be.
Pico opened his eyes to darkness, the only light coming from the lamp on the nightstand. He still felt really groggy from the painkillers, but at least he didn't feel like he was actively dieing anymore. It took him a moment to register what had changed, other than the lights. The chair from the desk Shinobi was sitting on was now on the opposite side of the nightstand instead of being next to the bed, Shinobi was still siting in it, but was now clearly asleep, head hanging low as one arm rested on their lap, the other one holding onto their other arm, but after stairing for a few moments, he noticed something was off.
Shinobi was twitching a lot in their sleep, almost every second that went by some part of it twitched. But also, the one hand that was clutching their upper arm had changed, shifted into a mass of dark grey, spikey fur, fingertips now claws that were digging into skin, thin rivers of blood trailing down tan skin. The sight of that certainly woke him up fully.
With a grunt, Pico pushed himself into a sitting position, before hauling himself off the bed, nearly falling over as pain shot up from his bitten leg, catching himself on the nightstand. His hand hovered over Shinobi's shoulder, before coming down and softly shaking them.
"Hey, Shinobi, buddy, you alrig-"
He didn't even finish what he was saying before Shinobi's eyes shot open, making Pico realize their left eye that was usualy covered wasnt anymore, showing a piercing yellow eye unlike their green right one, and Pico was suddenly knocked down and pinned to the floor with a kunai at his throat. It was only for a few heartbeats, but in that time, Shinobi had a look in their eyes Pico haven't seen before. Genuine fear. The kind that makes a cornered dog bite out of desperation to get out.
Just as quickly as it came, the tension disappeared, and Shinobi stumbled back, kunai leaving Pico's neck, as they slid to their knees, looking utterly exhausted.
Pico slowly pushed himself up, still stunned by that whole thing, before shuffling to the brunette who was now just stairing at their arm, and now normal hand, which Pico hadn't noticed turned back.
After a minute of silence, Pico reached for the first aid kit still on the nightstand. "Here, give me your arm, Shinobi."
A shudder ran through their whole body, muscles tensing, before completely dissipating. "Please," Shinobi pleaded, voice sounding smaller, tentatively holding out their injured arm, the blood having smeared, making almost the whole arm coated in blood, "just... just Hanzo. Please."