rebuilt but not reborn

*squints @techgilded on my dash*

          “ you let me worry about the driving thing. you worry about keeping-your-blood-in-your-body thing. ” it’s not the first time manny’s had to lose a tail, and frankly, it’s a fuck ton easier in a little two-door sedan than xylda’s rv. he glances over at henslan’s thigh and swears under his breath. “ you know, his and hers thigh scars aren’t really a thing that couples do. couldn’t we just get matching tattoos like two normal fucking dudes? ” if his voice is a hair higher than normal, that’s because his throat’s cinched tight and he’s trying not to flip his shit. “ seriously, what the fuck were those things? ”

          henslan laughs a little more than he should. perhaps it’s the bloodloss making him a little manic. he exhales sharply, eyes focused backward on those... things. everyone had split up into pairs and taken off. there was no good way to try and keep the group together. he hoped everyone--- 

          he sucks in a hissing breath. pain radiates from that cut in his thigh. he’d clipped his leg pretty bad while they were running for their lives. wasn’t that just typical? 

i see a wild @techgilded on my dash!

           “d’you think we lost ‘em?” henslan asks, pressing a hand against the deep cut in his thigh as manny drives. he’s doing his best to ignore the heavy feeling of dread filling up the car like a noxious cloud. anxiety, fear, worry-- whatever those things were, they were fast, they were hungry, and bullets didn’t stop them. 

          “just came out here to think... i’m fine. promise,” he says softly, throwing a stone into the river.

           he feels like a fucking tool, wearing his sunglasses inside. but even a little bit of light makes them sting like motherfuckers, and he swears he can feel every little whisper of air from the vents in the house. “ you’d be one of those ‘sure i’d let them touch the hot stove’ parents, wouldn’t you? ” he’s smiling a little as he takes the beer and ibuprofen, though, because the thought of dad!henslan is a bizarre mix of adorable, funny, and unnerving. “ tell you what. let me use you as a pillow until my eyeballs stop spitting fire, and i’ll forgive you for not saving me from the crazy lady with the pepper spray. ”

          henslan considers the proposed parenting style for a moment, and then with a half smirk says: “probably.”

          he takes up a space on the couch and gently urges manny downward, until he’s reclined across henslan’s lap. he could certainly do that. not that he didn’t offer up these exact services all the time to manny regardless of circumstance. 

“ — What are you going to do Henslan?? ” It becomes more incessant, in the pit of his stomach, that worry.