(no subject)

[etherealblast]

Who: Fayt Leingod, Albel Nox, and later Cliff Fittir, Okita Souji and Law.
What: A spar gone awry.
When: January 13th, afternoon
Where: Battledome
Summary: Fayt is tired of Albel avoiding them over lingering discomfort from the mistletoe shift, and tries to help him regain a sense of normalcy the only way he knows might work.
Rating: PG-15 for violence and heavy injuries.

Fayt had given it nearly two weeks. Two weeks of Albel sulking around, avoiding so much as talking to him or even looking at him. He'd barely seen the man, and even when he had it had only been for a second or two before Albel darted off.

He wasn't an idiot. That Albel seemed to be avoiding him was obvious enough, and he supposed he should have expected him to react this way-- Fayt had shrugged off the shift just fine, long used to the Malnosso messing with them by now, but Albel obviously didn't know how to. Albel avoided physical and emotional affection like it was the black plague, and shifted or not it had probably made Fayt's presence difficult for him to deal with.

It was more than a little awkward. Albel was eccentrically reactive at the best of times, but Fayt felt bad for making him so uncomfortable, even if it wasn't technically his fault. He had to do something.

A few messages sent Albel's way over the journals to try to smooth things over had gotten no response, though that wasn't surprising. Fayt finally just decided on the direct approach, heading to the battledome where he knew he'd find Albel training more likely than not.

When he finds the room the swordsman is using, he walks right in. There would be no running away this time.

Comments

[etherealblast]

Fayt nearly chokes on the gag, his attempt at trying to breath through the pain interrupted as he nearly inhales the grimy cloth. But a second later that's the furthest from his mind, as another shriek of pain is forced from his throat and muffled by the cloth before he bites down, dizzy from the pain and heat. He was a hair away from passing out, or throwing up, or both, but it seemed like Albel's move had worked: the bleeding had stopped, even if he'd singed the feathers of the other wing and burned a swath of his back in the process.

It also has the added affect of killing any possible ability Fayt had to struggle, and he just lays there weakly, breathing difficult with the cloth stuffed in his mouth.

[urallmaggots]

Albel finally allowed himself a chance to breathe, reaching down to pull the gag out of Fayt's mouth. He waited a moment, just to make sure that there wouldn't be any more bleeding, before pulling him up as carefully as he could, looping the arm that wasn't near the severed wing over his shoulders. He needed to get him to a doctor, immediately; thank whatever higher powers that truly existed there was a hospital in the battle dome.

He pulled Fayt out of the room without worry of monsters, the simulation having long turned off due to the severe injury.

[etherealblast]

Fayt's little more than dead weight as Albel pulls him along, skirting along the edges of unconsciousness as it was, his movements less aware and more automatic at this point. The arm Albel has looped over his shoulder might be bleeding on him-- it's the one he'd injured earlier, and they're both probably a mess of blood as they make their way out of the room.

It was lucky they were close to the hospital, because Fayt's not likely to be awake much longer. His skin feels oddly hot, almost feverish.

[deathsdoctor]

[What's that sound?

Customers.

That's Law's first thought before the scent of blood hits his nose and his footsteps quicken towards the entrance of the clinic. If he can smell blood from here...




Shit. It is bad. He can see the stuff smeared on the floor as he rounds the corner.]

What happened?

[Reflexive, that, as he moves forward. It's a tone that demands an answer, because the guy draped over Albel's shoulder looks like he's had an encounter with a whirlwind of blades. Not that Albel looks that hot himself, though.

... they're also the guys who made off with his hospital sheets. Not that it matters here, now, but Law does begin to recognize them.]

[etherealblast]

Albel might have to be the one to do the explaining, because Fayt's having more than enough trouble keeping himself awake and even vaguely on his feet to have any ability left to form words. He does manages to focus his gaze on Law when he appears, though, his breathing still heavy.

At least the smell of burned flesh and the missing wing should be obvious enough on their own.

[urallmaggots]

Albel doesn't know anything about missing sheets, so it was a good thing Law didn't say that out loud. Also, he could really use some help; Fayt wasn't light to begin with, and now that he's essentially dead weight at the moment...

"Training got out of hand," he grunted. It was really the best explanation he could come up with.

[deathsdoctor]

"I see..."

It's actually... a decent excuse to a One Piecer. Training often did get bloody, especially if there was steam to be let off. Still...

Was this really training?

"Alright. I got him." He's going to carefully take him from Albel if he allows it. Geez, not the worst he's seen, but nasty. The wing injury was the worst thing here, but things like the arm and the burns stood out just as starkly. "I'll get to you after I tend to him and get him stabilized."

Stick around, in other words. The pirate wants details.

[urallmaggots]

Albel handed Fayt over without argument, and waved off the concern over his own injuries. Really, they were nothing compared to that, and he was fairly sure that the blood on the back of his legs had stopped by now anyway. He wasn't feeling lightheaded, at least.

Still, he supposed Cliff should know about what happened... or, well, at least that Fayt was injured. He watched the blue haired fool be carried off for a moment, before opening his journal and penning a quick, "Fayt's hurt; battle dome," to Cliff.

[etherealblast]

Being shifted, carefully or not, from one person's grip to another is just enough pull on Fayt's injuries after the short stop for him to finally lose his tenuous grip on consciousness, his body going lax as Law takes him. It was by sheer stubborn willpower he'd managed this long, but he can't hold out keeping awake any longer.

[aerialassault]

The message went through loud and clear for Cliff, who had been busy examining the mechanisms that made his new toy work. He dropped his tools and peered over the book, hoping that he hadn't heard that correctly.

"What was that?"

[urallmaggots]

Albel flinched at the voice coming back over his journal; really, he was in no mood to actually talk about it at the moment.

Can you not read!? Fayt was hurt; we are at the battle dome, and I am fairly certain he would want you around at the moment.

He snapped the journal closed at that, muttering something about Cliff and apes.

[aerialassault]

Cliff snapped his shut as well and tossed it onto the table, not wanting to deal with what would be an extra encumberance in when he faced whatever he would meet in the Dome. He arrived within moments-- just enough time to grab his boots and run.

When he found Albel, he got right to business:

"Okay, what happened?"

[urallmaggots]

Albel had chosen a place to sit by that time, absently picking at the dried blood from his wounds. In that time alone, in that silence, everything that had just happened hit him full force, to the point where he wanted to stab himself if it would make things better. But he knew it wouldn't, and that only served to feed into his self loathing.

He glanced up when Cliff entered, before waving his hand toward where Fayt had been dragged away.

"It was a..." He paused, making a face, a bitter taste in his mouth. "...training accident."

More like it was an "Albel exists and has severe issues" accident. That was a much more accurate description.

[aerialassault]

"Accident?"

Cliff followed the motion toward the facilities with his eyes, scanning the premise for any sign of what may have gone down, but it was a practice in futility. Propping his hands on his hips, Cliff slid his eyes back onto Albel. He had a hunch that he was going to need to dig his heels in and bear this storm.

"Talk to me, Albel," his tone was level, but the words were clipped and firm as he spoke. "What do yo mean by 'accident?'"

[ahappylie]

He'd just wanted to go over and see how Cliff and Fayt were doing, trying to ease into the entire 'thing' that was going on. He'd thought it would be harmless, but upon coming to an open door with a room that looked like a mess and Cliff's journal left on the table, Souji presumed the worst. He ran to the journal, opened it to the last entry and felt his stomach drop through the floor.

A note from Albel to Cliff about Fayt being hurt - and this after all the warnings about how dangerous he could be. Souji slammed the journal shut, too, and made a beeline to the battledome after a brief stop at his home to pick up his sword. If Fayt was hurt, whatever hurt him could still be there.

The swordsman entered only a few moments after hearing the explanation, his face pale from the sight of all the blood in the hallway, sword drawn. The scent was fresh, blood being familiar and sickening, but above that was the smell of burnt flesh and the sound of someone working in the back - likely trying to save a life.

"Yes, tell us: what do you mean it was a training accident?"

[urallmaggots]

He had been about to snap at Cliff, tell him that the evidence was all over the hallway if he'd just use his eyes to see it, but then that same idiot from the journals decided to make an appearance. Albel paused at that, before waving his bloodied claw at Souji.

"What is this buffoon doing here?"

[aerialassault]

Souji's appearance was a surprise for Cliff, but not unanticipated-- The animosity that hung in the air, however, was enough to put even him on edge.

"Later."

Answers first. He could start putting the pieces together by examining the blood spatter, but he wanted to ear it from the man first. Souji would be dealt with after that.

"Just tell us what happened, alright. No stories and no excuses, just the details."

[deathsdoctor]

It's for the best. Really it is. Treatment, even with painkillers would hardly be pleasant.

Law turns on his heel and whisks Fayt out of the room for treatment. He's going to have to start doing something about the bloodloss and repairing that ugly gash down the back. The wing would regrow, and that had to be taken into account as he worked, as well as dealing with the burnt flesh.

He'd be at it for a while.

Good thing he'd mentioned to his partner he'd be pulling a long shift today.

[aerialassault]

Whenever Law was finished in the treatment room, he would find a tall, burly blond in the place of the other party in this affair. After Souji and Albel parted ways following the dispute that nearly turned into a brawl, Cliff had decided to stay behind and wait up for any news on Fayt. He wouldn't be able to do anything else with any comfort so long as his worries over the young man's condition weighed on his mind.

It would be easy to find him-- he was sprawled out on one of the chairs in the lobby, staring up at the ceiling while he waited.

[deathsdoctor]

"He's stable now."

Murmured as Law surveys the lobby and its lone inhabitant, mentally cursing the mess. He'd have to clean that later - or whoever took over would while he dealt with the fallout from this fiasco - it didn't matter in the end.

[aerialassault]

"That's good."

Cliff released a breath that he didn't realize he had been holding since the moment he had noticed someone else in the lobby, and he allowed himself to relax a little with those words. After spending a lifetime of being able to access either high tech medical facilities or healing symbols with the help of friends, waits like this were a small battle of their own.

He stood, stretching his limbs out from being cramped in the seat, and comported himself with all of the patience he could gather for himself-- like any professional.

"What's the damage? Is he gonna be okay?"

[deathsdoctor]

"He'll recover completely in time. His back and arm will be badly scarred, but he shouldn't lose any sensation or mobility. He's lucky."

Better hear that first. It's going to make the rest of it a little easier to go down.

"As for the damage... he has extensive burns and a deep gash from a blade strike running down his back. An amputated wing from that same strike. His arm was pretty torn up from a hit and..." He frowns a little, looking up at Cliff. "I found a number of half healed injuries that couldn't have been any help during that ordeal." The doctor then sighs. "It could have been worse, though. That severed wing was cauterized. I suspect your friend did it to prevent him from losing more blood."

Thus why the burns.

There's a bit of a questioning pause after friend, though. Frankly, Law's not sure how to classify what Albel is to these people right now.

[aerialassault]

"Aw, geez..."

He frowned at these words, clearly filling in the gaps from the information he had already gathered from both the scene and the brief conversation with Albel. Taking a breath, he decided to share some of the details with the doctor.

"They both were stupid. Fayt had a rough training session in here the other day," one that had knocked him down and out into the next day, "but, he's knows some...you'd probably call it 'magic'." Air quotes. He was no symbologist, but he harbored a dislike for that term.

"My guess is that he's been fixing himself up, and that he overestimated things. As for Albel..."

He drifted for a brief moment, remembering the bloodied wounds he carried and his sullen retreat, before shaking his head.

"He'll take care of himself-- the idiot. If you want him too, I can go and get him."

There would be no allowing Albel to escape, either.

[deathsdoctor]

"Hn." So that's it, is it? Understandable, foolish perhaps, but understandable. It's not the first time someone's miscalculated their limits. Law nods. "You're right about the foolishness. But it's done."

Then he sighs.

"Treatment would be preferable. Those leg wounds aren't terribly pretty. I want to see him. However, ugly as they look, from what I could see, if Mister Albel goes without, he should be relatively alright if they don't get infected. So if you can't drag him back..."

[aerialassault]

"I'll drag him back if it looks bad."

As much as Albel was a pain in the ass, he was still a comrade. With so few of them in town, they needed to all look after eachother.

"...I wouldn't worry about him too much," Cliff added after a heavy moment. "He also knows some of that 'magic', just not as well as Fayt does. He's liable to give it a shot if he's pushed, but it might be a bad idea to bring him in otherwise."