Beware The Water

Too Many Things

"Shorter sit still." The boy winced at the sharp point of a surgical needle poking into the thin skin on his forehead. "I'm almost done." Lux took a piece of gauze and held it up to the bleeding stitches. She sat back to observe the amateur work she had done. The cut was closed up and the small glass fragments were all removed and now sitting on a paper towel. Lux had taken another square of gauze and taped it to the cut. "Does it feel okay?"

Shorter looked into the camera of his phone to inspect. "Yeah. Feels fine looks good." He smiled, "Thanks babe." He held Lux's hand and gave it a kiss. Kairi looked on from the couch and rolled her eyes.

Kairi watched Lux clean up the components of her first aid kit and take the small box back into the bathroom. She raised a brow at how Lux didn't question where Shorter's injury came from. That's when she realized that they saw had a don't tell if not asked agreement going on. "So what happened?"

Shorter looked over towards the room and back at Kairi. "Nothing." He shook his head.

"You can tell me."

"I can't." He whispered.

"You told me everything when we were together." When Lux entered back into the room ,the two looked away from each other as if they were keeping a secret. Lux squinted at them and swallowed a brewing argument.

Lux was trying her best to make this new living situation work. Regardless if she had to give up their bed and opt for the pull out couch, deal with Kairi using up her soap when she showered, wearing her clothes, and complaining about her cooking. Not to mention her having chills and anxiety almost every night and "needing" Shorter to "comfort" her.

Shorter tried ending the arguments before they got out of hand but each girl felt like he was picking sides which led to more shouting matches. "Lux, could you help wrap my hands? I have a fight tonight."

"Okay. Where are they?"

"Hanging in the closet." Lux had already grown used to wrapping Shorter's hands for his boxing fights. She remembered the first time she had seen him fight. It was the same night as her first fight. He looked so strong and proved his strength against everyone, showing exactly why he was referred to as their Boss.

"Need help wrapping up now?"

"I like how she does it." Once Lux found out that boxing with the guys was a regular thing for Shorter in order for them to release stress and stay in shape, she looked up how he could protect his hands better since they were always so beaten up afterwards. She'd pour alcohol or peroxide on him to kill any bacteria and make him use creams on his hands before bed so he wouldn't scar up. Not that he cared since he thought scarring made him look tough, but it was a sweet gesture from her.

When Lux wrapped up his wrists and hands she'd tuck in balls of cotton between each knuckle and wrap so it'd absorb sweat better and prevent the rough fabric from irritating him and doing further damage to his skin. Shorter thought it was cute that she took the time to look something like that up for him to feel as comfortable as possible.

"Still good at fighting?" Kairi asked, reminiscing about how much she used to love watching him box with the guys. Placing bets was always fun and she used to make fun of anyone for betting against Shorter.

"Watch and find out."

"Only if you tell me what went down earlier."

Shorter frowned. He leaned forward from his chair to make sure Lux wasn't within listening distance before he whispered, "New shop owners hadn't paid the protection fee. They'd been warned twice already and well, my boss wanted us to take care of it."