Scriptor Fabularum

Being awakened from a dead sleep was never a fun feeling. It was even less fun when the source was someone pounding on his front door hard enough to be heard over the storm that had been raging through the area most of the day. Eli wasn’t expecting visitors, and he grabbed a bat on his way as he hurried towards the door, in case the people on the other side were in the mood to cause trouble. He couldn’t tell anything about them when he looked through the peep hole, only that there were two of them, and one seemed to be supporting the other. 

Pulling the door open, he took in the scene before him in a matter of seconds. The woman he recognized. Her name was Astra, and she’d been a patient of his some months ago when he’d come across her trying to dig a bullet out of her own thigh some months before. He’d brought her here, helped her get it out and stitched her up. Apparently he’d made an impression. The man was a stranger, but Eli cared about that less than he did the blood pooling on his front step. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together. 

Tossing the bat aside, he moved to let them in, and locked the door behind them. Astra didn’t need to be told where to go, following him into the kitchen and through another locked door that led to what looked like a makeshift hospital room.

“Get him on the bed and get pressure on that wound and keep it there. How long has he been bleeding?”

The free flow was concerning, a nicked artery maybe, but he hoped it was just because the rain had prevented the wound from clotting. He moved as he talked, scrubbing his hands and arms in a sink near the far wall before gloving up and hauling a rolling cabinet of medical supplies over to the bedside. 

     She did as she was told, hoisting him onto the cot, leaving him with his legs dangling over the edge as her arm-muscles were about to give up, and instead janked up his black shirt, soaked with his own blood, and pressed down onto the leaking wounds. That got a sound from Jax, telling her he was still with them. One of his hands came up and weakly pushed against her forearm. An attempt to push her away? To tell her to press harder? She couldn't tell, and it didn't matter. The doc's opinion mattered more in the moment.

     Glancing across her shoulder as Eli pulled a rolling cabinet closer, blowing a lock of hair from her forehead, she rolled her eyes. "Asshole got himself impaled," she said, sounding more annoyed than anything. "Oh, and he fell. Maybe like..." Her eyes moved up to the ceiling like she was measuring something in her head. "Half a floor? It's a through-and-through, but the dickhead couldn't even be bothered to get shot or something similar, like a normal person."

     Keeping her hands pressed down over the wounds, she shuffled to the side a little to make room for Eli. "If he dies, he's gonna haunt my ass, Doc. I don't have time for that nonsense."

     A soft murmur from the bleeding man.

Truth be told, the glow meant little. Sure, he'd heard a handful of stories, rumors spreading across the land but with all the chaos going on, quite frankly there were bigger issues at hand than some supposed savior pulled from the Fade by someone he didn't even believe in. Facts were there was a hole in the sky, and demons being shat out everywhere. And Talon much preferred facts to semi-religious mumbo jumbo. As such, he barely batted an eye.

"Layin' it on a lil thick there huh? If ya wanted in my pants coulda just said so." He laughed a little, gesturing with his mug and winking playfully. "I'll take a complement though, 'specially from a pretty lady."

     "Want something?" She repeated, her eyebrow twitching a little higher. She pursed her lips and thought about that statement for a beat. "Yeah, I guess I do," she finally said. picking up her tankard with her right hand and drinking deeply. "Like I said, quite impressed with whatever was happening over there," she gave a handwave with her right hand towards the general direction where the brawl had been taking place, her left once more dangling casually between her thighs, out of sight of the rest of the tavern. "Have you heard of the Inquisition?"

He wasn't opposed to hanging out with their new friends. Friends were good. He was honestly thrilled that Keryth was making some. The kid was already doing better than he had in school. That said, there were a few adult responsibilities that needed handled first.

"I dunno kiddo, I kinda should shower and we gotta get home to let the dog out," he replied to the curious little girl.

Keryth pouted. "Please?"

     “Mommy, can we please?!”

     “Can we play with the doggy? Can we?”

     She arched an eyebrow and glanced at the only other adult in the conversation, giving him a shrug. “I guess we’re going to play with the doggy,” she said with a chuckle. “I can follow you in the Mom Mobile, whereabouts are we going?” If she lost sight of him somewhere along the way, at least she wouldn’t have to listen to her girls complain about not being able to play with the doggy for the rest of the afternoon.

     Between her job and her lifestyle, there was not a lot of space - or time - to take care of a dog, despite the girls having begged for one before.

Nate waved at Remy, one of the waitresses that worked at the bar with him, as she pulled out of the lot to head home. The only other car in the lot belonged to the head bartender, who Nate knew was still inside, but that meant there was one less than there should have been. Ducking back inside, Nate didn’t see anyone in the main room, which meant the stragglers were probably in the employee rooms in the back. Sure enough, after passing through the kitchen, he spotted Bobby and Lill near the lockers. They appeared to be having a small disagreement. As he got closer, it became apparent that Bobby was trying to offer the woman a ride home, and she was insisting she would be fine walking back to her place on her own.

“The hell you will,” he found himself saying, “it’s nearly three in the morning, you’re not walking anywhere alone.”

His protectiveness of the women he worked with was well known, and it was also a hard known fact that he was stubborn as hell when it came to their well being. The idea of Lill walking home by herself, in the middle of the night, was concerning. Especially when she was a recognizable figure. The dancers were all well liked by the populace, sometimes a little too much, and Nate had dealt with more than enough overzealous patrons to know what she was suggesting was a risk.

     The third voice cutting into the argument made her roll her eyes. Again. “Don’t you start with me as well,” she said, exasperated. “I have walked home more than once. And later at night as well. I have survived every single time, and wasn’t planning on changing that any time soon.”

     Crossing her arms over her chest when Nate offered to walk her home, she narrowed her eyes a little, licking her lips. “Well…” She huffed. “I may be okay with that.” She pushed her hair back over her shoulder before turning and pulling her coat from its hanger. “And I can probably not stop you, am I right?” She couldn’t help the smile tugging on the corner of her lips. He was a good kid. And he was good to all the girls. And…! She would rather have him take her home than Bobby.