Vanilla 4
Author: tjatorra
Prompt: Vanilla 4 - I can't believe you (don't) know how to ___
Title: Call Tracing
Word Count: 762
Rating: PG (light mention of injuries)
Verse: Trinity
Summary: Kylie returns to the camp and checks in on Finn.
Author's Note: Finn is a sort of evolved human that is capable of powering an electrical grid for an entire city. In the ongoing war between the humans and the creatures that have destroyed most of the habitable cities, people like Finn are an extremely valuable commodity.
Finn opened his eyes when she knelt on the floor beside him - not much, but enough that the odd silver-grey of his irides sparkled in the dim pre-dawn light. He reached over and touched the dusty knee of her jeans with his long fingers, tiny white sparks following the tips of his fingers as he dragged them along the denim.
"Aaron was yelling about you," he said quietly, a faint smile tugging at his lips. She hummed at this, popping the top on the plastic container of water so she could pour some into the bowl beside her.
"He's always yelling about me," she said, soaking a fresh cloth in the cool liquid and wringing it out before she gently rubbed away the dust that had settled on his skin overnight. She supported his arm with her own, cupping his elbow in the palm of her hand, ignoring the now-familiar buzz where his skin touched her own, the slightly uncomfortable sensation much like pressing one's tongue to a battery. "I didn't mean to be gone so long," she added, carefully rubbing away a spot of black grease on his forearm.
"I know."
"They were everywhere last night."
"I know."
"We're going to have to... wait, you know?" She paused and studied his face - he turned his head slightly to avoid her eyes. "Finn..."
"It's a good enough assumption, isn't it?" he asked, none-too-convincingly.
"Finn..." She drew his name out just enough to indicate her annoyance, and with a defeated sigh he slipped his hand over the side of the mattress and picked up the tattered end of a severed wire from the floor. Kylie pursed her lips and dropped the cloth into the bowl with a loud plop. "You're supposed to be resting," she scolded, releasing his arm so she could shove herself to her feet, her knees cracking noisily. Stalking around his makeshift bed, she took the wire from his hand and yanked hard on it, pulling it away from the wall and sending a spray of dust into the air. When she was certain it was out of his reach, she coiled it into a messy ball and dropped it on the floor. "You know this isn't helping you recover," she pointed out as she returned to her previous spot and retrieved the cloth from the bowl again. She tried hard to hide her usual amazement at his strange abilities, the way the eyes and ears of the city could come back to life at just his touch, even despite his injuries.
"I was worried about you," he said, still avoiding eye contact. "You said you'd be back by midnight."
"It's not the first time I've been out late." She pulled the blankets back from his chest, exposing the stained bandages, the snapped filaments of silver wire that ran beneath his torn skin like a protective netting, and began to gently clean around the injuries. "How long were you listening?"
"Not long. A few hours, on and off." He held up his hand and showed her the burns between his thumb and forefinger, where he'd held the wire. "It's a bad connection," he said morosely, rubbing the burns together. Shining bits of scale-like skin flaked off and flittered onto the blanket beside him. "It was hard to find you."
"Hear anything interesting?" she asked, trying to sound nonchalant, all the while listening for Keith's footsteps in the hallway.
"There's another group on the other side of the park, by the hydro shed," he told her. "They keep calling out of the city, towards Norrington. I can't follow the call that far, though." When Kylie only hummed thoughtfully, he pushed himself up on his elbow and grasped her wrist, his grip sending an uncomfortable jolt into her muscles. "You could go, you know," he said. "I think they're friendly, they could take you in and you could -"
"Stop," she ordered, pressing her fingers to his lips before she gently pushed him back down onto the bed. "We've been over this."
"I'm never going to heal up enough to -"
"I said, stop, Finn," she repeated firmly. "You're family. We're not leaving without you."
Part of it was to calm him, to ease his fears - no doubt he'd heard Aaron raging at some point or another about how he was holding the group back, how he was going to get them killed.
She didn't bother adding that if they couldn't get him out of the city, there was really no point in leaving at all.
Prompt: Vanilla 4 - I can't believe you (don't) know how to ___
Title: Call Tracing
Word Count: 762
Rating: PG (light mention of injuries)
Verse: Trinity
Summary: Kylie returns to the camp and checks in on Finn.
Author's Note: Finn is a sort of evolved human that is capable of powering an electrical grid for an entire city. In the ongoing war between the humans and the creatures that have destroyed most of the habitable cities, people like Finn are an extremely valuable commodity.
Finn opened his eyes when she knelt on the floor beside him - not much, but enough that the odd silver-grey of his irides sparkled in the dim pre-dawn light. He reached over and touched the dusty knee of her jeans with his long fingers, tiny white sparks following the tips of his fingers as he dragged them along the denim.
"Aaron was yelling about you," he said quietly, a faint smile tugging at his lips. She hummed at this, popping the top on the plastic container of water so she could pour some into the bowl beside her.
"He's always yelling about me," she said, soaking a fresh cloth in the cool liquid and wringing it out before she gently rubbed away the dust that had settled on his skin overnight. She supported his arm with her own, cupping his elbow in the palm of her hand, ignoring the now-familiar buzz where his skin touched her own, the slightly uncomfortable sensation much like pressing one's tongue to a battery. "I didn't mean to be gone so long," she added, carefully rubbing away a spot of black grease on his forearm.
"I know."
"They were everywhere last night."
"I know."
"We're going to have to... wait, you know?" She paused and studied his face - he turned his head slightly to avoid her eyes. "Finn..."
"It's a good enough assumption, isn't it?" he asked, none-too-convincingly.
"Finn..." She drew his name out just enough to indicate her annoyance, and with a defeated sigh he slipped his hand over the side of the mattress and picked up the tattered end of a severed wire from the floor. Kylie pursed her lips and dropped the cloth into the bowl with a loud plop. "You're supposed to be resting," she scolded, releasing his arm so she could shove herself to her feet, her knees cracking noisily. Stalking around his makeshift bed, she took the wire from his hand and yanked hard on it, pulling it away from the wall and sending a spray of dust into the air. When she was certain it was out of his reach, she coiled it into a messy ball and dropped it on the floor. "You know this isn't helping you recover," she pointed out as she returned to her previous spot and retrieved the cloth from the bowl again. She tried hard to hide her usual amazement at his strange abilities, the way the eyes and ears of the city could come back to life at just his touch, even despite his injuries.
"I was worried about you," he said, still avoiding eye contact. "You said you'd be back by midnight."
"It's not the first time I've been out late." She pulled the blankets back from his chest, exposing the stained bandages, the snapped filaments of silver wire that ran beneath his torn skin like a protective netting, and began to gently clean around the injuries. "How long were you listening?"
"Not long. A few hours, on and off." He held up his hand and showed her the burns between his thumb and forefinger, where he'd held the wire. "It's a bad connection," he said morosely, rubbing the burns together. Shining bits of scale-like skin flaked off and flittered onto the blanket beside him. "It was hard to find you."
"Hear anything interesting?" she asked, trying to sound nonchalant, all the while listening for Keith's footsteps in the hallway.
"There's another group on the other side of the park, by the hydro shed," he told her. "They keep calling out of the city, towards Norrington. I can't follow the call that far, though." When Kylie only hummed thoughtfully, he pushed himself up on his elbow and grasped her wrist, his grip sending an uncomfortable jolt into her muscles. "You could go, you know," he said. "I think they're friendly, they could take you in and you could -"
"Stop," she ordered, pressing her fingers to his lips before she gently pushed him back down onto the bed. "We've been over this."
"I'm never going to heal up enough to -"
"I said, stop, Finn," she repeated firmly. "You're family. We're not leaving without you."
Part of it was to calm him, to ease his fears - no doubt he'd heard Aaron raging at some point or another about how he was holding the group back, how he was going to get them killed.
She didn't bother adding that if they couldn't get him out of the city, there was really no point in leaving at all.