14 Bodyguard AU + 99 Magical Accidents Chad/Uryuu
– cherfleur
Yasutora carefully controls his expression as he helps Uryuu up from the stone floor, ignoring his employer’s bedraggled state in favor of assuring himself that the trap didn’t cause any injury. Neither of them had spotted it until it blazed to life and lashed out at Uryuu while shoving Yasutora aside, and that left him uneasy. How many other traps had they missed, escaping by the skin of their teeth without even realizing it?
“It’s fine, I’m fine,” Uryuu snaps at him, yanking himself from Yasutora’s grip and immediately tripping over his brand new wings with a pained yelp.
Yasutora catches the man before he can fall and scoops him up into a princess carry, which makes Uryuu bristle, wings quaking with emotion. The ease of the action sets his teeth on edge; Uryuu was always a slight man, but this goes beyond ‘slight’. He feels like he’s lost a third of his weight despite the absolutely massive wings now adorning his back.
“It’s just a misapplied spiritual reveal!” Uryuu protests as Yasutora carries him out of the room and back towards the last safe space he’d set up. “There’s nothing wrong with me!”
“It was a trap,” Yasutora says, giving Uryuu a flat stare. “We don’t know what side-effects it had. You weigh too little and you can’t control those wings. No more explorations until we have this resolved.”
Uryuu sputters and tries to wriggle out of Yasutora’s grip, but only manages to make his wings more bedraggled. “It wasn’t a trap!” he protests weakly. “Or… it wasn’t meant as one. It’s part of a Quincy trial to discover which animal god blessed you when you were born!”
Yasutora gives Uryuu the skeptical look that deserves and kicks the door of the safe room closed behind him.
“It just… didn’t work quite right,” Uryuu mumbles, shoulders hunching up towards his ears and head turning away. “It’s… not supposed to be physical. At least… I don’t think so?”
He sighs and gently lowers Uryuu to sit on the floor, taking care to rearrange Uryuu’s wings as he does. “This is an old ruin,” he points out as he drops to sit behind Uryuu and begins to carefully groom his employer’s wings. The gorgeous black feathers have a blue tint to them, Yasutora discovers as he works, and they’re much softer than they look.
(He shouldn’t be enjoying this as much as he is but… well. Uryuu holds himself aloof so often that Yasutora will take what he can get.)
Uryuu’s breath hitches and his wings quiver at Yasutora’s touch, but his voice remains mostly steady as he says, “You think it might not be a mistake? That… that the trial was originally something physical?”
The lack of protest at the touch makes Yasutora relax; Uryuu is never quiet about things he dislikes. “Possible.”
“Then… this isn’t going to go away until I finish the trial,” Uryuu says after a moment, voice resigned.
“Not until you can walk without tripping.”
“But..! I..! … Fine. We’ll do it your way.”