Slenderverse One-shots

Bad Break ⊗ MH

Alex broke Masky's leg and he's not having a good time. Hoody finds him and helps despite an earlier argument.

The masked man hobbled through the trees, his breath panting laboriously as he pushed himself to keep going. His leg throbbed in agonizing protest from all the movement. The rough terrain didn't make matters any easier on him. The worst part was that he was miles from home and he was alone, even his partner was gone thanks to an argument days before.

A loud grunt rumbled in his throat as his broken leg finally gave out. Another scream tore from his lips as the bone shifted further from its normal placement. If Alex was still in the area, he was sure to have heard that. He needed to keep going.

Picking up a sturdy branch, the man pulled himself to his feet and limped onward with his injured limb dragging in the dirt. Each step caused pain to spike through it. Despite fighting back tears, eventually droplets rolled down his cheeks. Sniffing and swiping the tears with his jacket's sleeve, he hobbled onward.

"Hoody would know how to set this properly." Thunder rumbled in the distance as he drowned himself in the pain and misery of the situation. "Next time I see Alex..."

It wasn't long before his foul mood worsened. The storm made everything muddy and he slogged his way through it despite his exhaustion. In the dark, the only times he could see were between the bursts of lightning. For all he knew, he could've been going in circles. But he wanted to get home where it was warm and safe.

The stick he was using sank deeper into the mud, sending him off balance as he attempted to yank it free. His breath slammed out of his body as the world tumbled around him. Water submerged him for a moment at the bottom of the hill before he managed to drag himself back to land. Coughing, he spat out the water and inhaled deep ragged breaths. His body shuddered and a faint cry escaped as he resigned himself to lying helpless in the mud. If his leg hadn't been broken before, it certainly was now—and mangled up further thanks to that fall.

"Don't know where I am..." He tried to stay awake but his strength had ebbed away long ago and now that he was lying down he couldn't stop his eyes from closing.

Brian followed the trail through the woods until he came to a hill. Shaking his head, the hooded man carefully made his way down the steep slope and stopped at the edge of the river. With the storm the night before, it was flooded and the current was swift. He considered himself—and his masked friend—lucky that it hadn't swept Tim away.

"Should've listened to me." A huff of annoyance breezed out. He'd told Masky to wait. But no, he wanted to take on Alex right then and there. "Look where that got him."

He did genuinely feel bad for letting Masky go at it alone with a broken leg, but it wasn't like he could've predicted the man would make it worse and end up falling in a river! Once the storm had gotten bad, he figured his partner would stop and seek shelter like he'd done. Brian quietly walked over and crouched down next to the mud-covered man lying face down in the dirt.

"...Masky?" Guilt sank in further when he didn't get a response; he should've caught up to him. It wouldn't have been difficult. "Tim?"

Reaching out a gloved hand, he shook the man as hard as he could without causing more harm to his badly broken leg. A jagged gasp told him Tim was at least still alive and the flutter of his eyelids gave him some hope he'd be alright. Brian watched as his partner sank back into unconsciousness. Looked like he'd be hauling Masky back home without the man's help. Grunting, he hoisted the shorter but heavier man onto his back and started for the abandoned building he'd been staying in.

It was nearly dark again by the time he laid Masky down on the admittedly filthy blankets that didn't do much to soften against the uncomfortable floor. A growl rumbled through the man's throat as the action jostled his leg. Hoody pushed his shoulders down firmly and tsked in disapproval at his partner when he tried getting up. Luckily for Masky, Hoody kept a small stash of first-aid supplies. It wasn't much, certainly nothing for broken bones, but he could improvise.

"Bite." He shoved a wad of gauze at him.

Giving several grumbles of complaint, Masky obeyed. Hoody watched as the annoyance quickly shifted to agony as he began shoving the leg of Masky's pants up to assess the damage. The man's teeth clenched on the gauze like a vice grip. The hooded man shook his head and pulled out a somewhat dull pocket knife and tore at the jean fabric; rolling it up wasn't doing much to help.

"Oh..." His eyes widened under his mask.

The bone hadn't broken the skin but he could clearly see the bulge of the broken end pressing out against the skin. Other cuts littered the area, some deeper than others but decidedly unconcerning so long as they were kept clean. The skin itself had morphed into a large dark bruise. Hoody was surprised Masky had even been able to stand on this, let alone tramp through the woods on it—granted the man was stubborn and had likely made it worse than it originally was.

"I can set it. Least good enough until Tim's back and can get to a doctor." His eyes met Masky's dark ones. Despite neither speaking, Masky seemed to read his mind and gave a small nod for him to continue.

A barely muffled scream tore out of Masky's throat and echoed through the small empty space. Ignoring it, Hoody continued to work on repositioning the bone. Taking a few sturdy sticks, he set the leg and wrapped the remaining bandages around it to keep the bone straight. Heaving breaths slowly settled back down as Masky once again relaxed, spitting out the mangled gauze he'd bit down on.

"This time, listen when I say stay put." He was glad he hadn't lost the man but was still pissed Masky hadn't listened to begin with.

Tugging off his mask, Hoody laid down on Masky's uninjured side and draped an arm over the man's chest. Content with knowing he hadn't lost the man, he allowed himself to relax and drift off.

By the next morning, Tim was back. Hoody knew the signs. With a sigh, he grudgingly put his mask back on and said a silent farewell to his partner before slipping out of the building to continue monitoring Tim out of sight.