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gorgoog · 5 months ago

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THANK YOU SO MUCH @yeliuxi <3333 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️

So cute and wholesome, I'm a sucker for a Ricky who doesn't know how to let other people take care of him. And ace Ricky is always A++++.

Happy D20 gift exchange!!!

(also I see that you are a fellow cdrama enjoyer which is awesome 🤝)

That's how you take care of others (take care of yourself first)

Fandom: Dimension 20/The Unsleeping City Rating: Gen Pairing: Sofia Lee/Ricky Matsui/Esther Sinclair Additional Tags: hurt/comfort, light angst, fluff, pre-TUC chapter II, post-TUC chapter I

Ricky sprains his ankle during a fight, but luckily Sofia and Esther are there to help. For @gorgoog <3 Happy D20 gift exchange!!

Read on Ao3 (or keep reading below the cut)

"Ricky!" he hears Esther cry out.

Ricky can't bring himself to look up, hissing through clenched teeth as he clutches his leg. Though the initial sharp pain had dulled after he had quickly taken any weight off of it, the fall still left a persistent, deep pain throbbing through Ricky's ankle.

He hears two pairs of footsteps rush over to him.

"Ricky! Can you heal yourself?" Sofia asks, crouching down next to him, one hand gripping his shoulder tightly.

Ricky can only shake his head, his lips pressed thin in pain. He had used the last of his Lay On Hands on Sofia earlier, when the man Sofia was trying to catch got in a nasty looking blow.

Esther crouches down on his other side. Ricky manages to look up then, giving them both a weak smile. "Sorry," he says. "I let that person get away..."

Sofia shakes her head vigorously. "I'm sorry. For dragging you two into this..."

These evening patrols have become somewhat of a habit for the three of them. Sofia started to go out "roof hopping", becoming a sort of vigilante. Esther and Ricky, though they both wanted to give her the space that she needed, also didn't want to risk her being completely alone doing dangerous things. That wouldn't be safe at all. So, naturally, the two of them joined her, or one of them joined her. It depended on the day.

Ricky vigorously shakes his head back. "We wanted to help."

"Here," Esther says, gently guiding Ricky's arm to lay it over her shoulders, before she wraps her own arm around Ricky's middle. Sofia does the same on his other side. With their support, Ricky gets up onto his one foot, sucking in a pained breath when the movement jostles his ankle.

"Yeah, don't put weight on that," Sofia says. "Damn. I wish I had heals..."

Esther sighs. "Well, that's two of us. Ugh. It's late..."

Ricky, though in pain, doesn't have to guess that Esther is doing what she always does: overthinking. He can see the expressions cycle through her face as she goes through every possible solution in her mind, turning over every thought to find a way to heal him quickly.

Sofia must be able to guess, too, since she shifts her own arm to pat Esther's behind Ricky's back. "Let's get Mr. March to a hospital, then. Like normal people do."

Ricky nods, and Esther sighs.

"Yeah, the hospital," she says. "Like normal people."

---

That's how the three of them end up in the waiting room of the ER at ten at night, explaining to the front desk that Ricky had "accidentally" fallen off of the emergency stairwell of their apartment building.

Ricky was definitely shoved, and it definitely wasn't their apartment building. But it's the story that Esther and Sofia weave together in a rush, and the nurse only sighs and types his information into the computer.

If the nurse happens to take in the roughness of all of their appearances, he doesn't mention anything about it to their faces.

Sofia, who carries painkillers in her purse wherever they go, has already offered him some by the time they have to sit down and wait under bright florescent lights, in a room where a surprising number of other people are also waiting. The painkillers do little to help any of the pain that throbs in his ankle, but all he can do is grip the armrests of his chair tightly and allow Esther to run her hand up and down his back, an almost soothing motion. Sofia just pats his shoulder.

Ricky blinks, suddenly coming to a realization. Sofia was also injured during their encounter. He looks back up at her, brow furrowed tightly. "Are you okay, Sofie?" he asks, mentally kicking himself for being so forgetful. Sofia was also injured, but none of them even said anything to the the man at the front desk. Ricky should have spoken up.

Sofia only raises her brow, her eyes shining with equal parts mild exasperation and amusement. "You healed me up, I'm fine. It's just a scratch now. See?" she says, raising her jacket out of the way to show the wound that used to stretch across her middle, her shirt torn where the gash was originally made.

Yes, all that remains now is a thin scratch.

"Still..." Ricky trails off. He should have thought to bring his emergency bandages. Or, at the very least, found somewhere to wash Sofia's wound.

"Still, you're injured. You should worry about yourself a little bit, too, sweetie," Esther says softly.

In the end, he doesn't get to fuss any more over Sofia, because that's when he's told that someone is finally able to see him.

---

Spending half the night in the ER is the last thing that Ricky had planned on doing on a work night. But even when he's discharged, diagnosed with a badly sprained ankle and given a boot, crutches that he just somewhat, barely learned to use, and some prescription painkillers, Esther still manages to ask the doctors for a note, to explain his situation to Helping Hands.

"I'll be fine by—" Ricky starts to say, but gets cut off when Sofia elbows him in the side.

"Doctor's orders, remember?" Sofia says.

They get the note. Ricky hands Esther all of the papers regarding his diagnosis, treatment, and painkillers at her request. It's all fine with him. His head was starting to hurt too much to read through them by himself.

"Is that how you spell 'Riki'?" Esther murmurs, frowning over the papers. "Somehow I've known you for years, and only today found out how to spell your name right."

Ricky struggles a bit behind them, trying to keep up as he uses the crutches for the first time.

"Ah, well, that's my Japanese name... I use, like, the English name 'Ricky' instead. Also write it differently and stuff," Ricky tries to explain. "With a C and a Y."

Esther nods slowly, and Sofia peeks over her shoulder to look at the papers, too. He smiles as they wait outside for their ride, both of them having insisted that it was too far for him to walk like this to the subway station, let alone their apartment.

---

By the time that they arrive back at their apartment building, Esther has already taken it upon herself to call, and then text, Ricky's boss to let her know of the situation, as well as inform her that it was doctor's orders that Ricky remain at home.

Ricky tried to argue, insisting that he would likely be fine in the morning, since he could do some Lay On Hands on himself then. He couldn't help but feel bad. Helping Hands needed Ricky, and depended a lot on him for their day to day work. But Esther and Sofia both shook their heads, and shut down his protests. Esther explained that Lay On Hands might make him feel a bit better, but things like sprains and broken bones still take longer to heal. She said it would be safest for him to take the days off anyway. And who is Ricky to argue with that? Safety is still a big hobby of his, even if it isn't his job anymore.

Ricky sighs, only able to let himself be helped out of the car. Guilt squirms in his belly the entire elevator ride up to their floor. Esther and Sofia both exhausted themselves in the fight before, and yet still have to take care of him.

---

When they get up to their apartment, Ricky looks down at his phone, and realizes that it's already two in the morning.

He can tell both of the girls are worn out. Sofia drags her feet as they enter the dark apartment, almost tripping as she makes her way over to a lamp. "Careful," Ricky says out of habit, wincing even as she recovers. She reaches over to the lamp, turning it on with a click from the string.

Esther lets out a long sigh and closes the door behind herself. She drags herself over to the kitchen counter and sets down his papers. Ricky follows a bit slower behind, using the crutches to get over and set down his medications.

Esther leans heavily on the counter, smiling tiredly up at him. "Do you feel like figuring out how to shower?"

Ricky can feel his own exhaustion setting in. That, and he's fairly certain that the medication they gave him is making him feel more drowsy, having almost nodded off several times throughout the ride home.

Just when he's trying to decide, Esther takes a fistful of her shirt and leans over, sniffing him. He stares down at her, brow furrowed, before she looks up again. She laughs a bit. "How dare you not smell bad after all of that. Unfair."

"I... I can smell bad if you want me to," Ricky offers. "I can roll around in the ally outside really quick..."

Sofia laughs as she joins them, mixing with Esther's giggles. Sofia punches his shoulder gently. "She doesn't actually want you to smell bad."

"Oh," Ricky says.

"But thank you. I appreciate the thought," Esther says, still smiling. It makes her seem a little more lively, though tiredness still clings to the edges of it.

"Of course. You're welcome."

Whatever he's said makes Esther giggle again. "What I mean is, you can just bathe in the morning if you want. It's not bad."

He's glad. the last thing Ricky wants to do right now is take another hour how to figure out how to keep weight off of his ankle and wash himself.

"Yeah, why don't you go to bed and rest?" Sofia suggests, looking over at Ricky with her brows furrowed. It makes Ricky frown. He hates to be the subject of her concern, her burdens. "I'll wash up before joining," she says, unzipping her jacket to reveal her torn and bloodied shirt again.

Esther nods. "I'll clean up too." She looks back up at Ricky, smiling. "It's also not fair that you get to look so put-together after all of that, Mr. March."

Ricky shrugs, unable to help the smile on his face. He knows, objectively, he's physically attractive. Or so he's been told. He's never related much to how anyone expressed physical attraction, let alone shared any desire to act on it in the ways expected of him. He's shared this with Esther and Sofia, who both understand. But he still appreciates their own appreciation; it makes him feel warm.

"Yeah, we can figure out how to help you bathe in the morning," Sofia agrees, looking him over.

"You don't have to—"

"But we want to," Esther finishes for him, cutting him off. And that's the end of that.

---

Esther is the one that helps him get into bed that night. Usually, Ricky has no trouble sleeping. He's out as soon as his head hits the pillow. But that night, he lays awake, still somehow tired yet unable to rest despite laying still in the same position he always has: right on his back, with his hands resting on his stomach. The painkillers they gave him have been making him feel drowsy since coming back, but now that he's laying down, the discomfort returns.

They must be wearing off. He can feel his aching, swollen ankle much more clearly than before.

Ricky has never broken a bone before. Or had to use crutches before. Or really, even had a sleepless night before, at least not one caused by injury. It really is just as Esther has liked to say since they moved in together: I guess there's a first time for everything.

At the foot of the bed, Ox raises his head, looking at him, before he whines and rests his chin on Ricky's leg. "Ouch," Ricky hisses when it jostles his foot, pain flaring up his ankle. At this reaction, Ox raises his head again, scooting over until he can rest it on Ricky's knee instead.

Ricky breathes out slowly. "Good boy," he says.

Ox is warm and big, and Ricky is suddenly too hot beneath the comforter. He tires to sleep, and fails.

---

He doesn't know how much time has passed before he hears their bedroom door open again, and two pairs of footsteps shuffling in. He blinks over to the doorway, now able to make out vague shapes in the darkness.

"You awake, sweetie?" Esther whispers quietly. Someone gets up on the other side of the bed, the mattress dipping beneath their weight, before they move over enough to allow another person to join them.

Ricky tries to smile into the darkness, though he knows only maybe Sofia might be able to see him. Or not. he's still not exactly sure how her new things work. "Uh, yeah, I am," he whispers back.

"Hey, Ricky," another voice, this time Sofia's, whispers. "You need another painkiller? Has enough time passed?"

"Uh, it's fine," Ricky says. It's dark, and Sofia and Esther are only just now getting to rest, and Ricky is already laying down and Ox is already resting on top of him. The thought of disturbing things as they are stresses him out. Why force everyone to move just for a pill?

He feels one of the girls next to him scoot closer. He can immediately tell that it's Esther when she pats around his chest for a bit before her hand finds his arm, and she starts to rub it. "It doesn't hurt 'fine', or you don't want to be a bother 'fine'?" Esther murmurs.

"Well..." Ricky trails off.

That seems to be enough of an answer for the two of them, since he can feel Sofia get up again from the bed. "On the counter, right?" Sofia asks.

"Yeah," Esther answers for him.

Sofia, as gracefully and as silently as a shadow herself, slips away to the door of the bedroom, then disappears.

Yes. They're on the counter, in the kitchen. Why did he leave them on the counter? It would be better to have kept them on the nightstand by the bed, so no one would have had to get up like that. Ricky sighs, even as Esther settles down beside him, curling up onto her side and draping one arm over his chest.

Esther rests her head on his shoulder. "Hanging in there, honey?"

Rick nods before he realizes that she can't see it. "Yeah, yeah... It'll be better in the morning."

He feels Esther nod before she also comes to the same realization, making a small sound of acknowledgment in the back of her throat.

Sofia returns soon after, draped in darkness, and approaches his side of the bed. Esther reluctantly gets off of him so that she can help Ricky sit up.

He's not sure how to feel, with everyone helping him with every little thing, now.

"Thanks," Ricky says, taking the glass of water and the pill.

"Yeah, no problem," Sofia says, setting down the bottle with the rest of the pills on the nightstand. "You should heal up quick. Have to take care of yourself to take care of others, right?"

Yes. Ricky does say that. And he believes, for the most part.

Sofia gently reaches out and pats his arm. "Yeah, right," he says. He takes the medication, washing it down with the water. Sofia returns to the opposite side of the bed, and climbs in next to Esther.

Ricky settles down again, and so does everyone else.

The clock on the same nightstand reads four in the morning, which Ricky manages to ignore for the rest of the night. He doesn't have a shift anymore to come into work for tomorrow, and he has his two partners next to him, who also will be able to sleep in.

They all deserve it, they all need it. The fact still remains that Ricky doesn't like doing it.

Esther snuggles up to him again, and Sofia somehow manages to rest with an arm stretched over them both.

No, Ricky might feel guilty about it, but he doesn't not like their care for him. Ricky feels warmth blooming in his chest when he closes his eyes again, laying next to the people he loves.

Ricky's smile is genuine and soft as he finally falls asleep.

#fic rec #d20 gift exchange #d20 #ricky matsui #tuc #thank you!!!

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