the thundercloud rain hits the freeway

[girlyboywonder]

WHO: Tavros and Carrie
WHERE: Carrie's place
WHEN: today
WARNINGS: probably not!
SUMMARY: aftermath of vigilante shenanigans involving bullets!
FORMAT: quickkkk

Comments

[peanutblooder]

[So his shoulder hurt. That was a thing, that happened, and was still true, but that wasn't really Tavros's big problem right now. His arm was still on, after all, and he could move and feel his hands, and the bleeding was mostly being contained by tearing up his shirt. Which was already ruined. Kanaya would be annoyed. Again. But really, he was okay, and kind of wanted to help Redbird, only she didn't really seem to want him to right now

[girlyboywonder]

[ She's already ducked in and out of the room at least three times since getting him to the couch, gathering supplies and forgetting things and grabbing more things. Finally she makes it back to the couch for good, plants herself next to him, and shoves the dogs away without a word. ]

Not yet.

[ Then she's starting in on the remains of his shirt, alternatively tearing and cutting to get it off of that bloody shoulder, and the couch be damned. And that silent, stern tension? Not going anywhere. ]

[peanutblooder]

[He comforts them without a thought, sending them to curl up in front of the door and keep watch there. He can't make them understand what's happening, but he can encourage them to choose behavior that is natural to them and convenient to the household.

Which prevents him from noticing the scissors until she's already snipping away.]

Oh! Uhhh...

[There are a couple other bruises, brown against his gray skin, but they're superfluous, and a lot of them are old and fading anyway: the expected wear and tear of someone in regular training and active duty. His shoulder, however is more than a bit of a mess

[girlyboywonder]

[ She ignores, of course, every injury that isn't the one she's focusing on. She sees it on her own body often enough, it's far from a cause for concern. Not like the current open wound situation, here. But at least it's easy to slide into a strictly professional mode, one that involves plastic gloves, a washcloth in warm water to see the extent of the damage, and a whole load of gauze.

...And it's strange, she can't help but notice, that the oddly colored blood doesn't detract any of the grimness, alarm, or guilt. It's not the color she's used to, but it's still blood, and this much blood is never good news. She gives commands in a quiet voice as she works, Lean forward and the like, speaking only when necessary. Small blessings, she figures, that it's a clean entry and exit.

She leans back again only when the wound is cleaned, bandaged, and wrapped, and it's with a low breath out.

Finally: ] I'll find you a healer. We got a couple around on the Network.

[peanutblooder]

Feferi can-

[No, she can't. Feferi is gone.]

Um. Okay. Probably, it would be good to do that, so that... before someone notices.

[He'd been totally quiet the entire time, wincing every now and then, once or twice drawing breath sharply as she cleaned out the wound, but otherwise just doing as he was told. If Carrie didn't know him or wasn't watching him closely, it might be hard to tell that he was in pain.

He watched her back, looking for tears in her costume, making sure she wasn't favoring a side, or moving slower than she should. He even checked with Table, to make sure none of the blood smelled like hers. It didn't. Of course not, she was too good to let some thug touch her.]

Thank you. I'm sorry, I should have seen him.

[girlyboywonder]

[ Oh, nice, another stab of guilt. She glances away, suddenly not quite to meet those white eyes of his. She still gives her head a firm shake, though. ]

That was my job. I'm-- [ A falter, but just a quick one, and one hand falls to rest over his (fortunately she's since peeled off the now-bloody plastic gloves, and it's just skin now). ] 'm really sorry. Supposed to be looking after you, and I go and get you shot.

[peanutblooder]

[He wouldn't care if it was a bloody glove. Somehow he feels that staying still is important, right now, so he just looks back at her.]

I think. That it's your job, to make sure I know the risks. And that I know what to do if something happens. And to help me, if I can't deal with what happens, on my own. And it's my job to understand that, and be responsible for myself, and help you too. Because we're partners. Um. And I knew that these guys would probably have guns, and I knew that if I got hurt, we would need to leave. And I knew that you should not make the guy who shot me pay, to the point of culling him, because then you would be in trouble with the police too, and we got away, and we dealt with it. And you...took care of me. Really well.

[It still surprises him that she does that. It surprises him, that she would apologize.]

So, what I mean is, I think you did your job, Redbird. And that you're good at it.

[girlyboywonder]

[ She listens, but there's no sign of agreement. Most likely because she doesn't agree. That's nice of him to take on so much responsibility for himself-- and come to think of it, she'd do the same with her own Batman-- but it's just not true. This was her job, looking out for him, and she'd screwed it up

[peanutblooder]

[Tavros makes a small, surprised sound before the 'stop moving, idiot, you'll drive her off' kicks in again. He can count the number of times he's been hugged in his life on one hand, so it's not really something he's prepared for at any given moment, and she's all sort of...diagonal over him, and there's this unaccounted-for arm... But if he brings his good arm up and kind of tucks it here, and lets himself lean back so she doesn't have to hang there so much... And okay, this is...this works. What is happening here. Whatever it is.

Well. Except for the part where she's really sad. He turns his head a bit to rest his chin just lightly on her temple. ...Maybe he should have let her kill that guy. He needed to pay, not for shooting him, but for making her sad. For making her worry like that.]

It's okay. We're both okay.

[girlyboywonder]

[ There's a few more seconds where the silence drags out, and she takes comfort, as she always has, in proximity. But just a few seconds. Then she's taking a breath and readjusting herself, leaning her forehead against his shoulder instead, the better to be heard and not quite so shirt-muffled. ]

Yeah, for now. [ It sounds a little more glum than she ever lets herself get, but there's no helping that. There's another pause, longer this time, and then a soft sigh. ] Hey, wanna know a secret?

[peanutblooder]

[And so were all the people that those guys might have hurt, tonight, or tomorrow. It was good enough, for now.

He leans back so that he can look down at her.]

Yeah. I think, a secret, sounds like a thing to know.

[girlyboywonder]

[ She doesn't look up, because this isn't going to be the kind of thing that she wants to look at someone as she says. ]

I got no idea what I'm doing.

[peanutblooder]

[Oh. Tavros feels a swell of pity for her, and for a moment, he realizes how small she is, and how not much older than him, and how alone, and she might not want to be palemates with him, but damn it. That didn't mean he couldn't do that for her, and count himself damned lucky, too.

[So forgive him if, for a moment here, his voice is a little soft and husky. He has a lot of feelings.]

Don't worry. I won't tell Pupa. He thinks you're, uh, the absolute shit. We looked for some further shits, him and me, and there weren't any, so his belief is, therefore, pretty absolute.

[girlyboywonder]

[ There's a soft exhale that could possibly be a really understated laugh. Maybe. And then she's finally pulling back again, but just to sit properly on the couch, half leaned against the back and half against Tavros. She reaches up at the same time, pulling off the mask. It's a little hard to wrist a few quick tears away with a mask in the way, after all. ]

Gee, thanks. [ It's a faint and pale little smile, and it's aimed at the floor, but at least it's a smile. ]

Uh, sorry. Figure you got enough to deal with tonight as is.

[peanutblooder]

I'm pretty well dealt with, actually.

[He tips his head at his shoulder, to indicate the dealings. There's a pause, which threatens to become awkward for a moment, before Tavros laughs a little himself, and fills it up with talking so that she'll hopefully feel more comfortable.]

Uh, seriously, and not to undermine how grateful I am for the help, but do not feel bad, about this. I mean, did I ever tell you about the time Kanaya sawed me in half so that Equius could give me robot legs? You know, the same Kanaya who was all 'bluh bluh putting little wriggler Tavros in danger, bluh.' I was asleep at the time and then brrrowr, no legs! And one time when I was a kid my roleplaying partner made me throw myself off a cliff with her psychic powers and I got paralyzed! ...Which is why I needed the robot legs, which were actually really great to have, but the point is, I guess, that this is by far the least horrible injury I have gotten while adventuring with my friends. Really, with the bandaging, and you being with me and not just leaving

[girlyboywonder]

[ ...Oh. Well. At least there's that, then. She's frowning a little at the description of past hurts, but at least it does make some sense. A more violent culture, and all. Still, though... ]

So you're durable. [ Which is good! But she's not summoning a whole lot of enthusiasm to go with that today. ] Still not real sure I'm the best pick for a teacher on this front.