3Below One Shots

Broken Arm

Aja watched Steve flip and twist on his skateboard, cheering every time he pulled off a tough move. Steve waved to her and then shot down the ramp, flipping through the air once more and-

Crash! Steve was suddenly off his board and smacked onto the hard cement. He sat up just as Eli reached him, and as Aja caught up to the two boys, she heard a muttered, "Oh crap..."

Steve's arm was bent at an unnatural angle, a white structure puncturing the skin. Noticing Aja's wide eyes, Steve tried to smile reassuringly and ended up with a strange grimace crossing his face. "It's okay, it just hurts a bit. Okay it hurts a lot. But I'll be fine."

Aja shook her head and pointed at the wound. "What is the white thing poking out of you? It is not flesh..." Thankfully she didn't actually try to touch the injury, but it still made Steve nervous. "Yeah, that's my bone sticking out. Not really a good thing, but Eli's calling 911 right now. I'll have it casted." Steve chuckled nervously, still trying to hide the rising level of pain from his girlfriend.

"Bones?" Steve blinked. "Uh, yeah. Bones. They help shape human bodies. Do you call them something else?" Aja just continued to stare at the injury, eyes wide. "My kind does not have bones. We are energy based instead of carbon based. I did not know you had a structure like this. It is almost like an Acaridian core- can you regenerate from a piece of your bones?"

"Uhhh... no. Well I've never tried it, but no." Aja raised an eyebrow. "Seems impractical."

Before Steve could explain further, Eli was back, full of nervous energy. "The ambulance is coming, and I called your mom too."

"What! I don't need her to come!"

"But she needs to know..."

"I know, I just don't like stressing her out like this. She'll never let me on a skateboard again!"

Aja stayed until the ambulance came and took Steve away.

The next day, Steve waved from across the school grounds. Aja grinned at the sight of his cast; it was bright Acaridian blue. The blond teen had a pen in his hand, and he offered it to her, explaining, "I wanted you to sign it first. It's kind of a tradition- when you get a cast you have your friends sign it and draw stuff." Aja nodded and gently took his arm. "Sounds lively!"

Steve's cast soon sported Aja's name in large letters next to a drawing of Luug. She patted his arm and stated, "I like this cast for bone. But I think I like not seeing bones a little better." Steve smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry about that. I promise to be more careful next time."

Steve's good arm went around Aja's shoulders, and the two walked into school together, happy and close.