(no subject)

[alwaysroomforhope]

After the fight for the Symbiote, the Door opens, and Steph drags herself through. She's looked better; one side of her face is swollen and slightly malformed, already purpling, and there're traces of blood she hasn't managed to wipe off yet. On the other hand, she's upright, and walking under her own power, just a little dizzily.

"That," she remarks, voice muffled and indistinct, "could've gone a lot better."

She looks around, and heads to a table, and beckons a waitrat. "Ice? An' - uhm. If there's a healer around, send them over too?"

Comments

[timsbooks.livejournal.com]

A certain masked boy bows before her.

"You rang?"

[i-spoiled-it.livejournal.com]

"Tim!" She beams, with the side of her face that's capable of movement, anyway. "Never been gladder to see you. ...I got punched through a window."

[timsbooks.livejournal.com]

"Shoulda dragged me along."

Nothing will be said of him pulling the big brother routine on her beau last night. Yes, he can be scary like the Bats.

"Defenestration is never good. Come on over to a booth, we'll get you healed up."

[i-spoiled-it.livejournal.com]

"Nope. I followed him up too closely, I think, and he got me just as I jumped in the window." She follows him to the booth, cheerfully. "Think he broke my jaw, actually. And possibly a few teeth. You can fix that, right?"

Batman would Not Approve of magical healing. But Steph is definitely not going to say no. Not with this kind of pain.

"Also, possibly concussion, not sure."

[timsbooks.livejournal.com]

Tim winces.

"Okay, turn around and lean back against me then hun."

He strokes her temple, sensing the damage.

"Gotta get that jaw healed up for kissing yer new beau, true?"

No, he's actually just teasing her, no jealousy in there.

[i-spoiled-it.livejournal.com]

There's probably a little more damage than Steph thinks, considering she was hit by a being who can lift trucks one-handed. On the other hand, it's good being a comic book hero. You can take blows like that.

She leans back against him obediently. It's good to rest.

"Yeah," she says, glad not to hear any bitterness. "Yeah, for sure."

[timsbooks.livejournal.com]

One arm is around her waist, but it's only there to keep her steady, right?

"All right, this is going to hurt. Did you need something to bite on?"

[i-spoiled-it.livejournal.com]

She's assuming so.

"'m right. Hurts already - can't hurt worse, can it?" She manages a slightly rough smile.

[timsbooks.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, it can.

He takes that as assent to begin the work, and it is like a liquid fire pours into her veins, burning away the bits that shouldn't be there, sealing over the bits that need it, easing the pressure in her head.

Tim holds her tightly, to prevent her from flipping out, or injuring herself further, but his eyes are unfocused, looking inside her, to make sure it's all working. It might be a bit much for him, judging by the nosebleed that has just started.

But after several agonising minutes, he is finished. This would have been a lot harder, had she been alive, but spirit matter is a helluva lot easier to heal then flesh and bone.

[i-spoiled-it.livejournal.com]

At the first touch of pain, she jerks in his grip, eyes going wide; she doesn't cry out, but it's a near thing. By the time he's done she's absolutely rigid with tension; she sags against him, gasping for breath.

"Oh, fuck. Oh, man, next time you say it's gonna hurt I'm gonna believe you. Fuck."

A breath.

"...thanks."

She turns to look at him, feeling better already, and yelps again when she sees the blood on his face. "Tim! Er, Jack. Jack! Are you okay?"

[timsbooks.livejournal.com]

Tim wavers, his arm still like an iron bar around her waist.

" 'm...fine."

THUD!

Is the sound of his head rebounding off the table.

[i-spoiled-it.livejournal.com]

"oh, shit."

"Tim? ... Tim!" She's feeling better by the second. He, apparently, not so. She tries to pick him up and prop him against the back of the booth.

The waitrat chooses now to reappear with ice. Steph shoots it a glare that sends it scurrying a couple of steps backwards. "Take that back - get me a restorative. Tea, probably. He's British. Hot, sweet, strong. And some kind of electrolyte drink. And a wet cloth. Quick!"

Bleeding from the nose + unconsciousness = flaily, panicky Steph, with very little idea of what to do next. She tries to hold him upright. "Tim. Please wake up, you're totally freaking me out here!"

[timsbooks.livejournal.com]

His eyes flutter open, and he forces a smile.

[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<small."thas>') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]

His eyes flutter open, and he forces a smile.

<small."Thas a lot harder without infinite power behind it</small>"

Yeh, the last time he healed her, he had the whole power rush thing going on. Poor kid. He's really not used to using magic of any sort, aside the few tricks he does regularily. It's nothing major, he's just gone and exhausted his juices.

[transgenic-max.livejournal.com]

There are quiet-but-deliberate footfalls, behind and just off to the side from where she's sitting.

"You okay?" She's eyeing the bruising with something approximating concern.

[i-spoiled-it.livejournal.com]

"More or less," Steph says, cheerfully enough. "A little less than more, at the moment. But I've had worse. Uh. Are you a healer?"

[transgenic-max.livejournal.com]

"More like a field medic," she replies, a touch apologetically. Doesn't count for much, given the wide range of skills available in Milliways.

[i-spoiled-it.livejournal.com]

It's more medical knowledge than Steph's got, that's for sure.

"Would it be all right if you checked me out, then? He hit me pretty hard, I don't wanna risk just going to sleep and hoping it'll be better in the morning..."

[transgenic-max.livejournal.com]

"You're smarter than I am, then." Because Max would do just that.

...Err. If she slept, anyway.

"No problem."

[i-spoiled-it.livejournal.com]

She grins ruefully. "I had that trained outta me. I think I might be concussed, and I think sleep's bad for that, or something. - Thanks."

[transgenic-max.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, it is. Did you black out at all?" She crouches down as she speaks, digging the ever-present penlight from her pocket to check Steph's pupils. Concussion would be the first thing to deal with, she figures.

[i-spoiled-it.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure." She blinks obediently into the light. "Don't remember actually being hit, 'cept for the crunchy sound. Woke up in time to not be jam on th' ground, but I think I passed out again soon's I stopped moving. Not entirely sure, though."

[transgenic-max.livejournal.com]

"...Almost certainly a concussion. I'd say you should go to the infirmary to make sure it isn't anything worse, but I try not to be too hypocritical."

She reaches up to probe carefully at the site of most of the damage, looking mostly for any outward evidence of fracturing.

[i-spoiled-it.livejournal.com]

"I'll go," Steph says, obediently enough. "I'll try'n find a magic healer. Gotta be pretty enough to bait a serial killer next week, an' if it's really broken, won't work."

(It is. If she wasn't a comic book character she'd probably have porridge for a face - but canon says she can take that kind of hit, and who are we to argue?)

[transgenic-max.livejournal.com]

"It is. Fractured, at least." She winces a little in sympathy, no stranger to nasty injuries herself.

"Serial killer, huh? Sounds interesting."

And she means it. Max has strange ideas when it comes to passtimes...

(Heh. Hooray for being able to take utterly ridiculous amounts of damage!)

[i-spoiled-it.livejournal.com]

"Should be int'resting," Steph says, with as much of a smile as she can. "Helping Tim Hunter. Some creepy monster dude who wants to build himself a wife ... out of other people. So I'm bait, and Tim's the cavalry."