general smol2

in the end i decided i wanted to write about smol general mato destroying archer’s dick. 🙌🏻

with the pieces of himself that general mato had lost a couple of days before, he wasn’t able to restore his complete form. while this could have manifested in a number of ways, the result was a smaller body. archer supposed that makes sense — considering his injuries, there wouldn’t be a way to restore him at his original size without him being utterly mangled. if that were to happen he would likely need a large amount of mana to keep his condition stable. with a smaller, complete vessel his mana resources would be easier to stabilize and be more efficient in terms of recovery. archer has decided to anticipate an eventual full recovery. he doesn’t want to be distracted by entertaining the concept of this being irreversible. he spends most of that first night watching over his sleeping body; watching his chest rise and fall as he remained in a deep, deep sleep. it was likely that his body was still repairing itself internally.

archer woke up with a start at daybreak, having fallen asleep sitting up in his chair. general mato hadn’t moved; still sleeping soundly but with a slightly pinched brow. his hairline was sticky with sweat, but he was still very much unconscious. with a sore neck and shoulders, archer allowed himself some time to shower and brew some coffee.

it isn’t until late in the afternoon that general mato begins to stir, writhing as if his limbs were too heavy to move. archer removes the cold compress from his forehead, having put it on him some time ago to prevent a fever from spiking. when general mato’s eyes open slowly and a gravel-like groan escapes his lips he only sees the blurry figure of archer above him before his eyes close again, too heavy to keep open. tsk-ing at him quietly, archer pushes his hair back from his face before stroking across his cheek with his thumb.

“you’re ok. you’re safe. just keep resting.” he didn’t bother hiding the affection in his voice. there was another short, rumbling sound of affirmation before general mato exhaled and sunk back into the blankets. there was some unintelligible mumbling and weak, but insistent movement from his fingers like he was patting down the space next to him. no stranger to the neediness of shinji matou, archer knew exactly what he wanted.

“i’m not going anywhere. go back to sleep.” he said lightly, with lilt of amusement and affection.

when he eventually did wake up, general mato’s movement was clumsy — trying to sit up, he collapsed back onto his elbows and nearly looked like he would fall asleep again as the squeaking mattress rocked him up and down. with too much ease, archer picked him up by the shoulders and steadied him. with a dazed expression he stared up at archer, brow pinching just slightly. he leaned forward, still feeling like lead and archer watched with a little bit of bewilderment at how small general mato felt snuggled up against his side. it’s obvious that his mind isn’t completely with him, so there was nothing he could do but wait. with a forced exhale, general mato mumbled again. something about archer being warm.

a trouble smile appeared on archer’s face before tucking general mato closer against his side. he’s so compact and light weight... easy to move. general mato has always fit against archer perfectly and this felt no different.

when general mato eventually does come to, he doesn’t flip out like archer worried he might. in fact, he almost seems morbidly amused. archer wondered if maybe he was still sedate. rather, general mato very clearly remembered being eviscerated and with that knowledge and his connection with the substance that makes up his body, he knows this was likely the better option. that isn’t to say it isn’t awkward, but he’s trying to get a feel for things. they’re new limbs, after all. the learning curve can be a little steep. not wanting to worry archer, he grins. “you took care of me, huh?”

it takes a special kind of man to gather his boyfriend’s remains into a water bottle and wait for him to take on a solid form. archer is still watching him intently — watching his movement and expressions... remembering the stark contrast to how he looked spilling out onto the ground just a couple of days before. the more he stared, however, the more he became possessed with the thought of how much general mato resembled shinji.

it makes sense. they are fundamentally the same person, but even with general mato’s features, the movement and facial quirks he was seeing were so fondly nostalgic that he really could only see shinji matou. it pulled at his chest, just a little. it felt nice.

“i’ll always take care of you, idiot”

they shared a meal, archer helping shinji as he walked not unlike a baby deer to the small table in the next room over. there wasn’t a lot of conversation, as shinji was completely focused on his first serving — then his second. as they sat across from one another, sipping hot tea, archer watched shinji grow tired yet again. warm food and rest were decidedly what he needed to recover, so archer didn’t hesitate to oblige.

a small gasp came from shinji when archer plucked him from the chair and carried him back to the bed. suddenly, his face was burning red. he drifted in and out of sleep as he heard archer’s footsteps across the safe house; cleaning dishes and putting them out to dry. when he arrived back to check on shinji, he found two large, tired eyes looking back up at him.

“come to bed.”

archer paused. they almost always slept side by side, this wasn’t a strange request. but something about how shinji looked to him felt fragile... he really couldn’t help but think about how much he wanted to hold him close and to get the image of him gutted and wheezing out of his mind. archer exhaled. this was shinji. if they were going to slap a label on it, that was his partner.

his partner who was a little too easy to spoil when it came to things like this.

“yeah, ok.”

after washing his face and brushing his teeth, archer turned off the lights and crawled into bed besides shinji. he couldn’t help but notice that there was quite a bit more available space than normal, though it wasn’t but a moment after that a body was pressed against him.

it wasn’t surprising that shinji wanted some kind of pampering. being after to cover him with his arms felt undeniably good — like he was more protected now than ever. it obviously was effective enough to lull shinji to sleep almost instantly, face pressed into archer’s chest and breathing softly. having had several nights of inconsistent sleep, archer managed to hit a rem cycle that night.

at first he thought he had been dreaming; a warm body grinding against him and quietly whining. even when lips pressed against his own it was barely being recognized as a lucid moment, but when a tongue pushed its way into his mouth archer’s eyes blew wide open.

shinji was straddling him, panting. the kiss broke as archer tried to sit up, but shinji tried to press back into his mouth insistently. archer stammered, unable to grant him access again so quickly. “sh-shinji, what are you—“

he was breathless.
and so was shinji.
chest heaving, shinji rests his sticky hot forehead against archer’s and whines. immediately archer can recognize the look in his eyes.

“need mana—“ he breathes, eyes glazed over.

of course he does, archer thinks. his body has been reconstructing itself for days. it’s actually a miracle he hasn’t become this kind of mess sooner. feeling a pang of pity, he kisses shinji back and let’s him siphon energy from him. his hands hold onto his hips, securing his trembling body seated on his abdomen.

this is shinji. this is his partner. was the mantra that repeated through his mind. he said he would always take care of him.