TW: impalement, mentions of blood, stitches, depressive thoughts, toxic friendship
That week on the Tuesday, Aunt Rose and my grandparents came for dinner.
That week on the Tuesday, Lloyd crashed into the dining room with a knife in his thigh.
"Oh, hey," he said, as if there wasn't a weapon stuck in his leg and dribbling blood down the pant of his gi. "I'm Lloyd."
The table stared at him, stunned to silence.
I dropped my head into my hands. Lloyd half-collapsed against the wall.
"Dad?" I asked tiredly, dropping my napkin to the table as I stood.
"On it," Dad replied, straightening while my grandparents and aunt watched on in horror. "Up you get, dirtwad."
"O- oh, you really don't need to-" Lloyd stammered as dad crouched to pick him up. But he ignored the ninja, easily lifting him from the floor as if he were a little kid and not a muscular fighting machine. "Oh. Oh. I guess this is happening."
I rolled my eyes, tugging my hair back into a ponytail and grabbing the stitching supplies. Dad set him down on the toilet after closing the lid with his foot, grunting when Lloyd quietly thanked him. In the background, the dining room erupted into chaos.
"Why didn't you just get Zane to stitch you up?" I asked, taking a seat before him and pressing a flannel around the wound. The cut wasn't deep and Lloyd still had it in him to yank the small knife out himself. I immediately pressed weight onto the wound. He hissed in pain.
"You have better bedside manner," he muttered. Dad returned with painkillers and a glass of water. "Thanks, Jamie."
"Any other injuries I should know about?" I asked, swallowing nervously when the blood began to soak through the heavy material. I pushed harder, willing the bleeding to stop.
"Nope."
"How did this happen?" I murmured as dad left the bathroom to consult with my grandparents, who sounded like they were having a crisis.
Fair enough.
"I got distracted thinking about where I'm taking you for dinner next," he hummed, leaning his head back against the wall.
"Lloyd," I said quietly, sternly. "I'm serious."
He exhaled through his nose, eyes closed. He looked exhausted. Burnt out.
"The gang I was fighting mentioned you."
I stilled, staring hard at the flannel, heavy with blood.
"I got distracted. Sorry."
"Don't apologise," I murmured. "Do you think they work for Axon?"
"I'm positive," Lloyd sighed. "We're going to tighten patrols around your block-"
"Don't sacrifice the safety of the city for me," I ordered softly.
"We won't," he soothed. "But I'm not letting you be in danger, either."
"I won't," I reassured, sending him a small smile. He returned it. "Take off your pants."
Lloyd's grin dropped in surprise.
"N- now?"
"Uh... yeah, now," I said, peeking under the flannel and was satisfied that the bleeding had stopped. "I need to clean your wound."
"Oh," Lloyd said, shoulders slumping. A small grin curled on my lips at the disappointment in his voice. I dropped the flannel into the tub before grabbing a clean one and dipping it into the tap.
"I'm so glad you're not squeamish," Lloyd said in relief when I gently dragged the cloth around and over his injury. "I don't know what I'd do if you were."
"You'd go to Zane instead of interrupting my family dinner," I said dryly, snagging the sterilised needle and thread from the sink. "Unfortunately, my grandparents are a little bit more mundane than Uchū. You should've texted me you were coming. I could've prepared better."
"I was a little busy being stabbed," Lloyd said snarkily. I snorted.
"You've had worse, you big baby."
"Your words hurt more than the knife," he sniffed.
I shook my head in amusement before beginning to stitch him up, falling into the rhythm. Lloyd grimaced at the sound.
Tug, slide. Tug, slide. Tug, slide.
A comfortable silence surrounded us.
"All done, goldilocks," I said sweetly, patting his uninjured leg when I finished.
"Kiss it better?"
I pulled a face at his crass grin. "I'm not kissing your stitches. Hurry up, have a shower. Then I guess you better meet the rest of my family."
"I'll try my best not to traumatise them any further," he pledged, resting his hands on his knees with a small wince.
"Wow, really?" I gasped teasingly, straightening to my full height. "That's so kind of you, green ninja!"
"I know," he sighed cheekily, reaching up to slide my hair out of my ponytail. It tumbled down. "You look really pretty tonight - I mean, you're pretty all the time. But especially tonight."
