Private Finished Yeah he's a looker, But I really think it's guts that matter most

"In your dreams you little shit. Disgusting. Your name's too much of a garbage to even touch my mouth.

"That's fascinating, considering your mouth and an asshole have so much in common you just shit everytime you open it," Lochlann spat back, but his words had lost a lot of their venom. It was the resigned fate of someone who knew his life belonged to someone else.

Alaude's words caught Lochlann offguard, but he was too numbed to really take in what they meant. Did Addy love him? Was it possible?

"You're lucky you're her brother," he said back, but there was no bite to his words now. Alaude dropped him a moment later and left for his room, and Lochlann picked himself up off the floor. He was still partially fueled by adrenaline, but when he lifted his hand up from the floor, he flinched and realized for the first time that it..kind of hurt. Addy was there quickly and it took her telling him to treat his wounds twice that Lochlann finally started to calm down.

He took a deep breath and exhaled, and then he...started to laugh. Lochlann ran his hand through his hair, which was a mistake, because it just smeared blood across his forehead.

"Christ, Addy, I'm sorry," he said. "I really don't know what came over me. I'd like to say I'm better than this but I'm not."

He'd been expelled for fighting from several different schools.

"Your brother just...I don't know what it is, he..what's the phrase? He pushes me buttons, Addy, and I just let him," he said. Her kiss on the cheek made him feel more human and he rested his head on her shoulder, closed his eyes, and sighed.

"I don't want to hurt him and I don't want to hurt you, either, but...god damn," he said. Lochlann picked his head up and put his fingers to his cheek. He had a tooth loose. It was a good thing his grew back.

"Yeah, lead the way," he told her, and he said, "At least let me clean up my blood from the floor when we're done. This is...not the way I saw today going."

It was probably a little bit less painful than the alternative.

But...

Addy might love him.

Of course, it could just mean as a friend. But it didn't matter. It didn't' even matter that the words came from that butt-faced, shit spewing assfuck that was her brother. Lochlann was almost giddy when he followed her to get the first aid kit. His necklace bounced against his chest and for once he didn't even hate the fucking thing.

Of course that could just be all the adrenaline, too.

Lochlann followed Addy's words and sat down carefully on the stool.

He didn't move or flinch when she managed to pull the glass out of his palm, and the only thing he did do was give a startled grin when she washed the blood off of his face. He was surprised that he liked being touched by her like this. It was an unexpected pleasure, one Lochlann felt guilty for feeling.

But it was gentle, and it was kind, and it was completely nonsexual, and Lochlann felt safe liking it. He closed his eyes when Addy started to apologize for Alaude and he tried to distance himself from the similarities in what she said about Alaude and the similarities in how Lillianna had apologized to her friends the last time they'd had to leave school because he'd been expelled for fighting.

When she opened the antiseptic, the smell hit Lochlann and he froze--

--and for a moment he was back in that hospital bed, Addy crying, telling him it would be okay while that tube went down his throat and--

no.

Lochlann snapped out of it fast, shaking his head which inadvertently made Addy's job a little bit harder, but he mumbled an apology and then looked up t her and grinned again.

This..was nice.

He wanted to enjoy this. He was tired of the bad memories. He wanted to make new ones with her, good ones.

"Thank you," he told her again as she wrapped his palms and then his face. She eyed her handiwork and he lifted his eyebrows in a how do i look kind of way. Lochlann knew he probably looked like shit. This was all going to swell soon. But it didn't bother him too much because he knew it would heal with no permanent problems. That was one of the good things about being what he was.

When Addy asked him if anything else hurt, Lochlann was embarrassed, but he finally said, "Left shoulder. Probably wouldn't be so bad if I didn't struggle so much."

Lochlann took his now-bandaged hand and absentmindedly twisted the necklace he wore.

"I don't know how to get along with him," Lochlann said. "But I'll try. For you."

The words felt too heavy so he gave her another grin and said, "Any advice?"

He tongued at his loose tooth and, after a moment, Lochlann slipped his now bandaged fingers into his mouth and pulled it out. Though it looked human at first, it quickly started to fade into something that resembled a sharks.

"Damn, your brother can really hit," Lochlann said. He took a piece of the gauze and pressed it in the now-empty space in the back of his mouth. There was an admiring quality to his voice when he said that, but it was reluctant, too, as if he couldn't quite admit it.

While Lochlann appreciated that Addy wouldn't blame him, he still gave a small shrug and took responsibility for his part.

"I will try harder," he promised.

Addy took off a moment after he pulled the tooth out and he was just wondering what had happened when she returned and pressed a piece of ice against his lips.

"Wha-?" he questioned, but it was in and he grinned at her. He resisted the temptation to lick her fingers. That would be weird. Don't be weird, Lochlann.

"It's okay," he reassured her. "Mine....uhh...they grow back."

This was easier, he realized, with Addy knowing all of his secrets.

Well. Most of them. He still hadn't finished telling her about the last two years. His adrenaline was fading fast, though, but when Addy started to laugh he couldn't help but grin.

"I'm pretty sure if I did see his face, I would have done something that would have made it worse," Lochlann said, but he shook his head. Which hurt, so he stopped, but then he laughed with her. "Oh god Addy that was so stupid of me. it's just that Lawrence used to totally kick my ass. Only he couldn't go to middle school and I could, and I saw some kids doing that at recces once ...and oh god I sound like a little kid."

He leaned back on the stool and looked up so he could see her. This was...

"Is it wrong that I'm actually kind of having fun right now?" he whispered to her, casting a glance towards the bathroom door incase the fun police were around. "I mean, i'd totally skip the getting my ass handed to me part, but this was...thank you."

He reached up and squeezed her hand with his bandaged one, sucking on the ice cube she'd popped into his mouth. Lochlann picked up the small cup with the other ones and pressed it against his jaw.

"Do you...want to get lunch or something later this week?" he asked her. "I think I've got Thursday off. I don't want to keep secrets from you, Addy, but I'll be honest I think I'm going to be crashing pretty hard now."

He grinned at her. It was stupid, but he was just happy to be here.

With her.

And she might love him back.

"I don't know, I didn't even make him bleed," Lochlann said, but then he burst out laughing again thinking of what he'd done to Alaude. "Oh god Addy, he's not going to come kill me in my sleep, is he?"

Between the endorphin flooding through him from the fight and now the giddyness from laughing with Addy like this, Lochlann was feeling...almost pleasantly buzzed. Like he'd had a few shots of really good whisky.

When Addy admitted that she like this, that she considered spoiling him, Lochlann was surprised. He was generally not in the habit of being spoiled. He preferred to be the one doing the spoiling. Actually, most of his experiences with being patched up weren't this pleasant, either.

"We should do this again," he said, and then considered what he just really said and started to laugh. "Okay, maybe not this specifically. But..you know what I mean."

He squeezed her hand again and when she pulled out the menthal sheets, Lochlann gagged.

"oh god," he said. "No, thank you, I think that is absolutely worse than being punched by Alaude."

He picked himself up from the stool and helped pack up the supplies. Lochlann kept his promise and soaked a cleaning rag in the sink, added some disinfectant, and went to clean up his blood from the floor. He discarded the stained rag in the garbage, washed his hands as best as he could, and then turned to Addy.

"I'll call you," he promised, and he couldn't help himself. He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

Lochlann pocketed his missing tooth and left.

Still....pleasantly happy, despite getting his ass handed to him.