#goinggrimdork

why are you making such a big deal of this? aka physician, heal thy-fucking-self.

“If we can just get a move on and get back to the others, we can have Jester patch me up, and it’ll all be great, look–”

“You cannot walk.”

“I can walk perfectly fine.”

“Prove it.”

Caduceus just glares, at this point, hopes he’s suitably intimidating enough so Caleb doesn’t see his balance falter while he attempts to stand. Caleb simply glares back, snaps Frumpkin to Caduceus’ shoulders and gestures for him to sit back down. Pulls a bandage from his coat pocket–it has really nice pockets, because it is a really nice coat. “You don’t need to wrap it, it’ll heal faster in open air–” which is sort of the truth but also sort of a lie. Caleb sees through it. Again. “I don’t understand why you’re so worried about this, it’s–I’ve been through a lot worse.”

Bluntly, “Yes, you have died right in front of me, if I recall.” Caduceus nods, because that’s fair. “You wasted your magic on my damned–”

“I didn’t waste anything.” He took down one of the fiends they were fighting, and he made sure that Beau didn’t die, and that Caleb didn’t have a concussion, and plenty of other things. He’s not being wasteful. He’s being perfectly reasonable. “Can you at least not make it so tight–it’s a severe burn, it needs light coverage, nothing else. Cloth, untied. Soft. Don’t let it stick. Explains why you have so many burn scars; you don’t take care of them properly.”

He’s being a dick and he’s perfectly aware of it. Caleb blinks at him. Blandly, “Should I elevate it?”

“Yes.” And Caleb does, moves Caduceus’ leg gently on top of the pile of their coats and scarves, covers up the wound with cloth, from which Caduceus had been sewing a new hairband for Beau. The touch burns, but Caleb is cautious about it in a gentle sort of way that makes Caduceus smile. And then wince, because his face is a bit scratched up from the fight, and smiling hurts.

“You do not take enough care of yourself.”

“Neither do you.”

“So I suppose we ought to make up for that with each other, ja? You heal me. I’ll try and heal you.”

Caduceus sighs, nods. “Fine.” Lazily Decomposes some dead grass on the ground, looks at Caleb as he does it; and Caleb is just staring at the covered wound, like it’s about to explode. Caduceus offers him a pink mushroom, just grown “This’ll calm you down, if you want,” and at Caleb’s capital-L-Look, “No hallucinations, just a slight sedative. I promise. I’ve had a lot of these.”

palette meme!