MISSION THIRTEEN

[with_liiiiiight]

[Dante creeps in during the early hours of the morning, his nose healing from a recent break and a gash across his forehead bleeding sluggishly into his hair as it knits back together. Someone's been taking out his aggression during his job as a bouncer.

He keeps quieter than should be Dante-possible, dropping off an interestingly-wrapped package

Comments

[booyaka_baby]

[Drops the stuff she's holding as she walks in the front door]

Dante? DANTE! Are you okay?!

[Runs over and tries to get a good look at his forehead and nose without touching anything too hard] Holy cow, Dante, what did you do? Try and jump in front of a truck?

[with_liiiiiight]

[frowns at the mothering, sitting up and lightly batting her hands away]

S'okay, kiddo. It's already all healed up---I just haven't washed the blood off yet.

And anyway, if I played chicken with a truck, I'd totally win. No contest.

[booyaka_baby]

Yeah, no kidding, you got me all sticky. [wrinkles her nose and wiggles her bloody fingers at him]

Yeah but how long would it take for all your broken bits to fix themselves?

[with_liiiiiight]

[the frown turns into a grin---Selphie's just infectious that way]

Want me to clean it off? Can't have you go around all bloody.

Depends on how much I break. If I get too near death, I pass out sometimes. Other than that...a half hour, tops. Usually a lot less than that.

[mach_kick]

[Zell, unfortunately, does not take things as well as Selphie. A week of not sleeping and constant worry has frayed his temper to bits, unluckily for Dante. He pulls back his fist and hits Dante hard enough to break a rib, never mind fairness or warning.]

You bastard. Don't ever, ever do that again. Is trying to sound mean, but his voice trembles ever so slightly, and his eyes are suspiciously bright.

[with_liiiiiight]

[he wasn't expecting forgiveness from Zell, since he didn't quite know how to even ask for it. The note he left was a cop-out, and he actually does realize that. The punch breaks more than just one rib, and Dante can taste blood in his mouth after the tell-tale crunch. It hurts like a bitch, but that's temporary. Ignoring the pain and pressure of knitting bones, he grabs Zell's upper-arm and squeezes]

C'mon, kid. [wheezes] I'm okay, you're okay---not seeing a reason to be throwing punches.

[mach_kick]

I'm not okay. I'm not okay at all. I thought you were gone, and you just walked off and let me think that. [Drops abruptly to his knees, since his legs suddenly decided to no longer work properly.]

So yeah, LEAST okay that you've ever seen me. [Zell laughs, and there's a thread of hysteria at the least, approaching insanity at the worst.]

Maybe I can sleep now.

[with_liiiiiight]

[....and Dante is kind of floored that anyone, especially a human, can have it in them to care about him that much. He's not sure what to make of that. Why does Zell care if he disappears for a couple of days? The look on the younger man's face is almost more painful than the broken ribs]

Whoa. Hey. Calm down, Zell. I said I was sorry, didn't I?

[he manhandles him closer, dragging him up on the couch]

C'mere. Don't do this.

[rozen_kristall]

[... Blood is a bad thing when it's outside the body... So Bara feels like she should ask. :<]

... Are you broken?...

[with_liiiiiight]

Debatable. I'm self-fixing, though, so I don't stay broken for long.

[rozen_kristall]

I see...

... What happened...? Did you fight?

[with_liiiiiight]

Yeah, had some rowdy customers at the bar tonight. I let 'em land a few hits, just to clear my head. [pushes up his bangs, where a gnarly cut SHOULD be] But I'm all healed up, see?