Covens and Proxies

37

Slowly, carefully, you pull Toby's pants off.

His belt is clamped between his teeth, keeping him from breaking his jaw or biting his tongue. To your surprise, he'd flinched when you'd gone to care for the wound, which told you it's no ordinary gash. It also surprised you to find it's a severe burn of the operator symbol onto his thigh.

"It's enchanted, isn't it?" You ask, your fingers fluttering around it. You've never been confronted by a wound that could deflect your magic, so you're not sure what to do.

He groans his response. "He has-as to do it that way for me-me, otherwise it won't do much." He mumbles around the belt.

You nod. "There's something like an invisible dome covering it. I can't get close." You mutter, frustrated. "I shouldn't have shown him my healing."

"He woul-d've known anyways. He prob-obably heard us in the hall." Toby winces while he shifts his leg.

"Stay still." You snap, getting up and looking around the room. "Do you have any kind of bandage around here?" You ask, going to his desk.

"In the bathrooms. There's one down the hall. To the left, two doors down. Just knock really load." He manages, sweat beading his pale forehead.

You're reluctant to leave him, but there isn't much of another choice. You open the door, leaving it there and rushing down the hall; slamming your fist on the door.

"Get your own fucking bathroom!" A raspy male voice growls from inside.

"I just need the first aid kit!" You plead, eager to keep this interaction short.

The door swings open. It's Jeff. He's obviously pissed, but doesn't seem to recognize you. Good.

He scoffs. "Great. Another newbie. Beat it, bitch. I'm busy in here." He snarks, leaning down to your level.

You bite your lip and flick him, making him freeze in place. He roars something between sealed lips. "I'm sorry, Jeff, but I need to be quick about this." You apologize, stepping aside and letting him fall. "It'll wear off in a few minutes. I promise." You tell him before darting inside and digging through the drawers.

When you find the wraps, you jump over the killer and hurry back to Toby's room. He's sprawled on his bed, panting. His burn is still bleeding, but it doesn't look as bad.

"There was someone in the bathroom." You tell him, trying to distract him from the brand. "Jeff. He wouldn't let me past, so I froze him."

"You what?" He manages.

You smile gently at him, brushing a hand over his forehead. "He'll be fine. And so will you." You promise.

Before you bandage him, you try healing him again. You manage to stop the bleeding, but the barrier is still holding strong. So, you gently help him put the belt back in his mouth and add cleaning chemicals to the cotton swath to dab it across gently. He hisses
when the chemicals touch his skin. Pulling the small tin you brought forward, you fill it with water--with the help of your book--and clean his burn mark the rest of the way. After putting plenty of bandaging directly on the wound, your wrap the area in the gauze to seal it. Once you seal it, he relaxes with a content sigh.

"Better?" You venture, taking his belt from his mouth.

He smiles dopely and brushes your cheek affectionately. "You're amazing." He murmurs.

A soft smile comes to your lips. You take his hand, leaning into his touch. "You're pretty amazing yourself, Toby. Get some sleep, alright?" You murmur, helping him adjust into a comfortable position.

"But I-I don't wanna. Tim's gon-gonna steal you." He groans, gripping your hand.

He's adorable. "I promise that no one will steal me away." You pull off his mouth guard and goggles, putting them with his hatchets beside the bed. "I'll be right here until you wake up. I promise." You kiss his scarred cheek, sitting next to him and pulling out your book.

You wait until his breathing steadies before you start practicing with the needle, being very careful not to let it go near him.

You're pushing the needle about five feet away, trying the reach six, when Toby stirs. You pull the needle back and look down to see a pair of drowning dark eyes, still looking a little groggy from sleep.

"Morning sleepy head. How's your leg?" You ask, shutting your book.

"Better. Still hurts li-ike hell." He grumbles, shifting to sit up. "How long was I-I asleep?" He asks.

"About two and a half hours. Someone named Angel knocked on the door earlier. Was asking to borrow some of your pills?" You tell him.

"What di-did you tell her?" He asks cautiously.

"I told her you're asleep and you'd get back to her when you woke up. She was very polite about it all, so I returned the attitude." You sum up.

"Oh... Good. And Jef-f?"

He was so delirious from the pain, you're a little shocked he remembers that. You grin. "He yelled at me in the hall, threatened me, the usual." You joke. "You started to react, so I cursed him."

"What sor-ort of curse?"

"Don't worry. It was a small one. He won't be able to eat for another six or seven hours." You tell him gently, running a hand through his hair. He takes a deep breath and nods, giving a smile--though you can tell it's fake. Still, you smile back at him. "You sure you're alright?"

"Yeah. I just ne-ed my meds." He mutters, getting up and heading to his desk. When he downs the pills, he comes and sits next to you, pulling you close to him. You let him, more then happy to cuddle.

"You know your fake smile isn't fooling me." You mutter, snuggling into him.

He sighs, relaxing a little. His fingers run through your hair, gently detangling it when they find a knot. "I'm edgy, that's all. I hate hav-having you here. Not here, with me-me, but here with them. I'm wound re-ally tight. Just the idea of anyo-one even looking at you wrong gets me-e pissed off." He growls, slamming his free hand into the wall.

You smile and sit up so you're facing him, legs curled up so your knees are at his back. "I love how protective your are, Toby, but please relax. You know I can handle myself." You coo, brushing his wild hair back.

He sighs. "I know. But so-ome of these guys are as rude and ruth-less as Jeff, with twice as much pow-wer. I couldn't live with myself if I let the-them hurt you." His growl comes back by the time he's done talking. His eyes are focused on his tightly clenched fist.

Gingerly, you tilt his head so he's looking at you. "Toby. I will always be here with you. I will be waiting for your return during missions. No one but you is going to touch me. I'll make sure of it." You promise.

You hate the idea of Toby being hurt, but you would hate it even more if he was hurt because of you.

He gives a small, genuine smile and nods. "Of course." He brushes a bit of hair out of your face before kissing your forehead. "With my fore-ever? That's what you said, right?" He asks, pulling away with that mischievous grin you've learned to be skeptical of.

"Basically, yeah." You smile.

He grins wider, grabbing you by the waist and pulling you back onto the bed before pinning you down and kissing you. When he pulls away, he's still wearing that impossible grin. "I'm hold-olding you to that, just so you know."

You grin back, kissing his cheek. "That's fine by me."

He rolls over, flopping onto his back and closing his eyes. You lay your head on top of him, his heartbeat drumming strong in his chest.