[March 23]

[sicparvasmagna]

Nate's been hit before. Nate's been hit a thousand goddamn times but this time he's pretty sure his entire face is broken. He'd known the guy was tall, he's not a complete moron, but there's a difference between tall and apparently made of fucking stone. He'd been impulsive and stupid and Sully would probably chew his ear off if he were here, but Nate doesn't need a verbal lashing because the physical one has been lesson enough.

His hand is broken. He can't move his fingers and the pain shoots up through his wrist and to his shoulder, throbbing harshly. He's broken bones before but this is somehow made worse by the embarrassment of it all, by the fact that he was put down quickly and without preamble, his ego as bruised as his fucking face. Which, is also broken. Nate's broken his nose before, been punched by enough steroid-loaded goons that it was just about inevitable, but this is worse. His cheekbone is fractured, swollen up around his eye so that he can hardly see out of it. Breathing hurts, talking hurts worse, and Nate's spat enough blood out onto the sidewalk to draw stares.

He needs to get off the street. That's the first point of call. He should probably go to the hospital, but he's nursing a hurt ego and a chip on his shoulder that steers him in the opposite direction instead. He just wants to go home. He wants to go home, cover his face in ice packs and then drink until he passes out, probably. He should text Sam, but his right fucking hand is broken and Nate's always been pretty useless with his left. The thought of trying to type anything legible is a lost cause, so he doesn't bother.

Instead, he picks himself up off the ground, blinks blood out of his eye and starts walking. At least his goddamn legs aren't broken.

Comments

[sicparvasmagna]

She covers his hand with hers but he can still imagine it, picturing the bones moving under his skin and everything knitting back together. It's both kind of cool and horribly unsettling at the same time.

When he feels like he can move his fingers again, he pushes her hand gently away and looks at it. There's still some bruising around his knuckles and blood has dried in spots on his skin, but the bones are healed and he can move it. He wriggles his fingers, huffing a small laugh. "Really handy trick," he notes, glancing back up at her.

She seems hesitant all of a sudden, a little caught out, and Nate wonders if she's ever made that kind of offer before. It's not like he plans to go and get himself beat up again, but he supposes it's helpful to know that he can come here instead of the emergency room should he need to. "I don't plan on taking you up on that," he says, shaking his head. "I kind of thought I'd try and keep my bones not broken for a while, but thanks."

[best_thief]

Lila can't hold back a smile at his praise, or at least that's how she takes it when he studies his own working fingers, repeating his earlier comment about how useful her magic is. It's far from a trick, though, it's power. It's her favorite part of herself, the best part.

"No more picking fights?" she asks with a raised eyebrow. Not that she has any ground to stand on, she's picked more fights than she can count. "What'd they do, anyway, to get you so pissed?"

[sicparvasmagna]

At the very least, now he'll be able to hold an ice pack on his broken face without hurting his hand, so that's nice. He doesn't know exactly how much juice she has in her and there's a chance he'll still need to go to hospital to get his nose set, maybe, but his hand is a good start.

"Can't promise that," he admits. Elena has asked him to make that promise time and time again, and he always comes up short. He doesn't mean to pick fights, but apparently Nate has the kind of face and attitude that invites punching, who knew? "He kept talking like I was some kind of slave," Nate answers, and he'd wrinkle his nose in distaste if he didn't know that would hurt like hell right now. "Told me to lick his shoes."

It's not even the worst that anyone has ever said to him, but it rubbed him the wrong way, hit a nerve that hasn't been struck in a long time. Nate worked hard to get himself off the streets and try and make something of himself, and he's not about to let some douchebag throw it all back in his face and treat him like he's nothing.

[best_thief]

Lila's expression sobers, her whole body going still. Her run-in with the guy looking for Bramford is still fresh on her mind, having only just happened earlier in the day. The way he'd talked to her, like she was beneath him, and the volatile way he'd reacted to her magic. He was giant, muscled, he could have easily done this to Nate. Could it be the same person?

"Wait a minute," she says, frowning now, "was he really tall, gold eyes and hair?"