Fandom Tale of Two Survivors { The Last of Us 1x1 with icedthemoon }

[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; North Dakota

Alex was beginning to wonder if this was worth the effort. He looked over at Nate, nodding his head. "Let's hope we can get control of the kitchen first." Alex said. If there was more than one in the kitchen it would not be pretty. He could only hope that it was a single infected. "I hope we don't have to use that, it won't be pretty" He said, even though it might end up being the way to go. Wait. "Nate!" he whispered, trying to call him back. "Come back here" He hoped he'd be able to get his attention. Alex returned to the booth, leaning against it. He pulled his pack out in front of him. He grabbed the bottle of alcohol, the cloth and his lighter. Molotov. He just hoped he'd gotten Nate's attention before he made it to the kitchen. If they could get the infected out of the kitchen, maybe into the bathroom together, they could use the molotov and then get the fire under control from there.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly | 21 | Current location ;; North Dakota

Nate did not have a real plan. In fact, the plan was to hope nothing was right there when he got to the doorway and then hope that a real plan came to him when he did eventually find the thing. This was frequently his plan when it came to infected. If you could find the ones splintered away, he felt more confident. Taking on one sounded so much better than taking on three.

After so few days, his body was already attuned to listening for Alex. This was something he would have to think about later when they were not putting their lives in danger. He was going to have to think about the way that when Alex said his name with such urgency, his entire being shook. But not now. He did not have time now. Instead, as he just barely crossed that threshold, glimpsing only the movement of something in that kitchen before he turned back around, his full attention fell back on Alex. Full attention.

Oh. Molotov was such a good plan. If only he had thought of that. If only he had thought of something like-
And that was when it rammed into his back, the infected that he didn’t hear coming because he was so focused on Alex that he had not been aware that he stopped in the doorway which was apparently in its like of sight of its path. he should have heard the tell tale signs of fast feet. But he didn’t. Not until it was too late.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; North Dakota

Alex had looked back again, waiting to see where Nate was. He saw him stop in the door of the kitchen and turn back to face Alex. He wasn't expecting Nate to be rammed into by an infected. No! He grabbed his bow, it was the only thing that he'd be able to do quickly without alerting the other runner. He drew it, arrow ready and ignoring the twinge. He aimed quickly, firing and killing the runner. Once it was dead, he holstered his bow and silently moved as quickly as he could over to Nate. He shoved the infected inside and looked at Nate.

Already inspecting for bites and hoping he had none. "Nate! Nate talk to me man, come on" He said, his hands searching as well as his eyes. He was petrified right now. He felt tears in his eyes as he leaned back, waiting for a sign that Nate was alive. His attention was drawn to a screech behind him, shit. Alex drew his bow, turning and firing at the runner that had apparently heard enough to draw it out. He paused after he'd down that one, listening for anything. It seemed quiet now and he remained on alert as he turned back to Nate.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly | 21 | Current location ;; North Dakota

Nate fell to the floor, hands landing hard on the ground, knife clattering away from him, elbows too locked for his own good, muscles hardened for the imminent attack. The creature’s hands grabbed at his shoulders and his throat. His arms splayed and he smacked into the ground, and it took all of his willpower to keep his body away long enough not to get bitten. He did, however, get banged and bruised and ripped apart. He should have been more careful. He should have been paying more attention. He should never have stopped where it could have seen. He had been doing this longer than anyone else he met, starting at such a young age. He knew better.

Gasping for air, full of adrenaline but also panic, he could not think of what to do to get out of his situation. He needed to roll over, kick it aside or something, but he could not figure out what he needed to do. He had been in situations like this before. How did he get out? Where did his brain go?

And then the clawing hands were gone, and though he could hear the sound of words and Alex’s voice, his shock ran deep. Keep talking, he wanted to beg to him. Show me where you are so I can come back to you.

It was several moments before he was finally able to work up the strength to roll over, quickly assessing himself by closing his eyes and feeling for the movement of his muscles. The twinges of skin. The heat and sticky of blood.

The runner was down. Arrow. Arrow? “Alex!” His eyes were wide, his breath coming in heavy and rapid. He probably should have been quieter, but the panic was overwhelming. “You didn’t-“ but his voice was still in the aftermath of his struggles. He reached up a hand that could only reach his companion’s arm. He touched the bow, trying to will it down. “Your back-“ but again full sentences were a struggle. His chest hurt, likely from the fall. And his arms hurt. And his back. He winced as he realized that it was worse than his original prognosis of himself. With that same hand, he gestured for Alex to come closer, because he was clearly not getting up until his breath could figure itself out. It was the kind of quiet that made him feel that they were at least momentarily safe. “Did you hurt your back?”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; North Dakota

He looked at Nate when he heard his name. Alex felt the tears streaming down his face. He saw Nate was bruised, banged up and ripped apart. "Easy, easy Nate. I'm fine. How are you?? Did it bite you? I'm sorry, I should've remembered the Molotov ingredients before we moved out." Alex started rambling, moving closer to Nate when he gestured him too. "Nate, don't move. I'm gonna make sure this place is safe." Alex didn't want to leave him, but he had to. Alex stood up, bow in his hand as he moved away.

Alex walked through the restaurant. His gaze swept through the back room, the storage areas, the kitchen, and back through to the bathroom. It must have been just the two runners. He looked around again before something caught his eye. The stash, it was under one of the booths. He grabbed everything he saw; from scissors, to several canned foods, medical supplies, and several other things. He shoved them all in his pack and headed towards Nate. "Nate! It's clear, and I found the stash." He said, dropping beside Nate. "Nate, I don't know what I'm doing with this medic stuff so I'm gonna need your help." He said. Wait, Alex took off to the bathroom, smashing the mirror and grabbing two large pieces of glass. He walked back with it, propping them up so that there was one on either side and Nate could guide Alex in fixing whatever needed it.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly | 21 | Current location ;; North Dakota

“Alex-“ but he was gone. On the floor, trying and failing to ignore the painful sting coming from what felt like every inch of his body, Nate groaned as he sat up and wrenched his neck in an attempt to watch Alex go. That was proving to be difficult since every movement was proving to be difficult. And excruciating. He sighed then tried a new route. If Alex was going to go actually loot the place, then it was only fair that he use this time waiting wisely and not just panicking like he had been doing. So he assessed himself. First he looked at everything he could see. His arms were visually fine, though he could tell that both wrists were perhaps not going to be happy with him. His elbows actually were not as bad as they could have been, though he suspected that was because his wrists took it all. His chest, other than struggling with the breathing, seemed fine. That, he knew, was because his back took the brunt of the damage. He lifted one hand, and immediately felt the sting and strain from his back. And his shoulders. And his sides. While he could not see those, time to check his legs. Without stripping, he went by feel. Bruises in his knees? definitely in his right knee. Possibly the ankle that twisted underneath him. All in all, it could have been worse.

The whiplash he gave himself trying to follow Alex was astounding. He had the kind of headache that came with moving too much with the pain. Well, that was not smart of him. He probably should have thought that through. Finally, when Alex officially returned with the mirrors, he laughed. It was painful, and he had to stop part of the way through, but he still laughed. Until he saw the drying tears he managed to miss earlier. His face fell, eyes full of concern not for himself but for his friend. Tears on a scarred face.

“Alex,” he said again, much softer now like it could caress him in ways that Nate could not currently. “Hey, no don’t do that.” With Alex close enough to potentially do something about his wounds, he was also close enough for Nate to reach up his hand and cup his cheek, wiping away the tears on one side. Both sides? He readjusted and raised his other hand, now holding Alex’s face. “Don’t cry for me, my sweet monkey man. I’m fine.” Eh, that was a lie. “No bites, I already checked. But hey,” he paused with a smile, accidentally drawing him nearer as his arms ached to relax. “We have matching back wounds now.” Which was not at all true since Alex was mostly healed and he looked like he was a tiger’s scratching post. Probably. That was how it felt anyway. “How is your back after using the bow? Let me see if you opened anything?”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; North Dakota

Alex had knelt beside Nate when he felt a hand on his cheek, wiping away the tear stains. "How could I not? It was a-all my fault. I distracted you" Alex said softly, before another hand reached for his other cheek. He felt Nate wipe away the tears. He felt more tears threatening to come out and his heart pounded in his chest when he heard Nate call him his monkey man. "I'm glad you weren't bitten. I would be lost without my medic at my side" He said gently, he was drawn nearer to Nate. "I don't want matching back wounds" He said, looking at him. "My back is fine, we need to worry about yours. Can you sit up?" Alex asked. "I need you to sit up so you can help me clean your back up" Alex said.

The fear that he'd almost lost Nate was still flooding through his veins. He still felt tears in his eyes as he pulled all the medical supplies out. He would do his best to fix Nate. He would do anything for Nate. His back had been twinging since he used his bow twice, but it would pass. It was a muscle thing, he just needed to stretch the muscles out.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly | 21 | Current location ;; North Dakota

Nate sighed, fully aware that this was not a battle that he could win if Alex was going to be so stubborn about it. He shoved his elbows on the ground and lifted himself up, which could have been worse but also could have been a whole lot better. He sat up, trying to ignore the part where he could tell he just pulled himself out of a sticky mess. His head was mildly woozy, which was to be expected really, and he grabbed onto Alex’s arm for support.

“It wasn’t your fault. I stopped in probably the worst place second only to right with the runner. I should have known not to do that. I should have known better. I do know better.” He smiled, which did not cause any additional pain. Good. He loved to smile. “If it looks bad, it’s probably not as bad as it really is.” Which could have been true. It was frequently true for many injuries though he could not immediately say about this one. “Also, we’re going to need to take off the jackets and the shirt. The jacket probably saved me from anything too bad.” He started to shimmy out of it and then stopped as he felt the action roaring in his head. “I may need some help with that,” he said with a shy smile.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; North Dakota

They could argue who's fault it was all day long and it wouldn't get them any further in the conversation. He watched Nate work on sitting himself up, and kept his arm stable as Nate grabbed it for support. He sighed as he looked over at him. "Okay, we can argue who's fault it was later, when we're safe at camp." Alex said, seeing the man smile. He loved that smile... Wait. What? Shaking his head, he nodded. He knew they'd have to remove the jackets and shirt, and he watched worriedly as Nate tried to take them off.

"I've got you, don't worry" Alex said, gently removing the jackets and shirts. Once those were off, he could see Nate's back. "Well, it does look like the jacket saved you." Alex said. His back was bruised and scratches ran down it, but they didn't look too deep. "Nate, I'm not entirely sure what to do here, so I'm gonna need your help." He said.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly | 21 | Current location ;; North Dakota

“See, what did I tell you? Nothing to worry about.” He caught Alex’s gaze and broadened his grin to spread across his entire face. He needed so see that his pain was not too great. With his other hand, he twisted the mirror in front of him to catch the mirror from behind. Ah, yes, not too bad. He took a moment to examine, going quiet for a while. Not too deep of scratches, which was good. The worst were towards his sides. Those got a little deeper. And the one on his shoulder did not look wonderful. That must have been where the infected tried to grab at him. The bruises would be ugly as his body began to heal. He could already see where they would form. He would certainly swell later. The question was how much he was going to be able to move without it either being too painful or reopening some of these.

He held the jacket in his hand as he examined, then look at it. It was torn up pretty bad. And oh, yes that’s where a bite appears to have happened. Saved by the many layers. He would not mention that to Alex. He did not want him to worry any more than he already did.

“We just need to clean those up like anything else. The blood makes it look a whole lot worse than it is. Blood is like that, ya know. It goes everywhere and gets sticky and overall just kind of sucks.” He laughed at the though. How very vampire of him. “Okay, rags and alcohol are our friends. We don’t want any infections, either from our friends or from any other fun things floating around. Otherwise it will be up to you to save us both. Oh! No stitches. Great. That would have been difficult. Though,” he peered at his shoulder. He could not tell in this moment. If it needed to be sewn together, he could do that when Alex fell asleep. It would not be the first time he patched himself up. And he did not want to see Alex more upset than he already was. He would hold in the pain of that was what it took. “But honestly, very similar to yours. But more. And that’s okay!”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; North Dakota

Alex sighed, looking at Nate while shaking his head. He was going to get grey hairs from traveling with Nate. He watched as Nate checked out his wounds before talking to Alex. "Okay, um, this will probably sting" He said, putting some alcohol on a rag and started cleaning the worst of the wounds first, gently making sure to clean them thoroughly. He worked his way from one side to the other. He bit his lip as he worked, hoping that it wasn't too much for Nate. When he was cleaned up, Alex grabbed the bandages and wrapped him up, one wrap of the bandage going around his chest.

Alex then turned his attention to Nate's shoulder, working on cleaning that up as well. It was deeper than the others, but Alex didn't know if it needed stitches or not. He just cleaned it as well as he could before wrapping that up as well. Alex leaned back on his heels, looking at Nate. "I'm sorry you got hurt, I hope my cleaning those up didn't hurt more?" He asked, the worry and concern evident in his face, eyes and even his tone. "We should've never gone in here" He muttered, his head looking at his hands as he slowly began taking care of the medical stuff.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly | 21 | Current location ;; North Dakota

He winced, holding onto his leg as Alex cleaned his wounds. The sting was normal. This did not feel any worse than any other injuries that he managed to get through his travels. In fact, he remembered several times that things were worse. Like the time he fell out of a tree and broke his leg. Huh, maybe that was why he stopped climbing trees. He was going to mention that to him, but Alex’s clear turmoil about this did not need any more to worry him. Would Alex even still show him out to become a monkey if he knew about that? It seemed unlikely.

“Alex.” Nate tried to sound normal and hide the fact that it was straining. He tried to be softer, like he needed to handle Alex gently and not the other way around. “Alex,” he began again, reaching out to grab his hand, absolutely interrupting him putting up the supplies. “I am okay.” He led the hand towards him, hoping that it would coax Alex into pulling away from the trouble in his mind and focusing on him again. He smiled with his lips and his eyes. “Show me what you found in the stash. Because I bet this was worth it.” He raised his eyebrows. “You’re a betting man, right? Some scratches for a whole load? Worth it.”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; North Dakota

Alex was in his head again, thoughts racing and swirling around in his mind. He barely heard Nate talking, he was so focused on keeping his hands moving. He finally looked up when he felt Nate take his hand, leading it towards him. He had about of the medical supplies taken care of when he was interrupted. "Nate. You aren't okay. Your injuries are worse." Alex finally said. He wasn't letting Nate out of his sight or away from his side anymore, not at all. He sighed, pulling his hand back so he could focus on the task.

"I don't think this was worth it" Alex said, but he dumped out his pack, it had been pretty empty before so much of it was stuff he'd just found. About 10 cans of food, several pairs of scissors and nails, good for nail bombs, more medical supplies including cloths and alcohol, and some other supplies. "Nothing is worth you getting hurt" Alex added, even as he showed off the stuff he'd found from the stash there.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly | 21 | Current location ;; North Dakota

Nate could not describe how the pain in Alex’s voice was so much worse than the pain in Nate’s body. He wished that he could rip away all that sadness that was eating at his friend. His honest to goodness and true friend. He could not even look at the supplies, because he was so focused on Alex. Alex who was going to put the blame on himself for the rest of time. Alex who could not look passed how this was worth it. They knew the risks they were taking. They took these same risks any time that they entered a town. These were the same risks he had taken his whole life. This was certainly not the first time that he walked into danger like that, and there was no way that it would be the last.

He pulled himself forward, sucking in a breath so that it would be easier not to cringe at the pain. He shoved himself onto his knees, which was admittedly very difficult and also extremely painful, but he would be damned if he let it show. “Alex,” he repeated, tugging at his arm again, needing him to stop what he was doing to look at him. “Look how much we got.” He gestured to the ground of supplies that he was not paying any attention to. He pulled at his arm until finally he gave up and placed his hands on either shoulder, willing Alex to be with him in that moment. “We don’t even need to keep searching now. We can just leave. Go back to the forest where you can make sure I don’t get horrendously lost. No more infected for us. Just the looming and endlessly the same trees.” He forced a smile on his lips, which was not hard because he didn’t mean it- he meant to more than anything else. He loved the idea of the two of them existing where it was safer. Where they could be away from all the things that hurt Alex. But it was hard, because he hurt. If he told himself that all things hurt like that, then he felt better. It probably was not that bad.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; North Dakota

Alex was aware of the risks in the world they lived in now. He knew how dangerous these towns could be, and what they held. What Alex hadn't been expecting was the feelings that came with this traveling together. He had no idea how to handle all these new emotions, these new feelings. The fear that he'd lost Nate to the infected or even just lost Nate at all. It made his heart hurt with that fact even if he didn't understand why. Alex felt the tug on his arm, but he was so in his own head that he didn't really notice. He had gone back to repacking his bag while he'd been thinking, just kind of subconsciously working.

He finally looked up when he felt hands on his shoulder. His brain started to register what Nate was saying. Stop searching? Go back to the woods? Get back to the safety of the trees? Alex simply nodded. He saw the smile on Nate's face and he slowly smiled back. He knew he'd have to help Nate get back to the woods, and so he finished packing up everything. He gently pulled away from Nate's hands and stood, ready to help Nate up. "Okay, let's get back to the trees" He finally spoke.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly | 21 | Current location ;; North Dakota

His chest ached as he watched Alex packing. Ached like he was attacked from behind. Ached like he was still reeling from this experience. Ached like if he hurt enough, he could take that from Alex. He would rather take it all. He was the one who should have to deal with that, not him. Alex had too many scars already. These should be Nate’s to bear. He turned his gaze to his hands and legs. He quickly balled his fingers into a fist to hide the trembling. His eyes darted to Alex who was still in his own world. Good. He shoved the hand onto the ground, realizing too late that this one was probably the worse of the two wrist wise. He sucked in a breath to mask the pain. Just bruises, he told himself. Very bad bruises but still only bruises. He pulled in one leg, that one was not so bad. He pushed up, prepared to take in whatever pain.

Except that he was not ready for it to be a shooting pain up his leg and spine. He fell back down, breath snapping out of him like a rubber band pulled too far. Why were his legs like this? He lifted again, assessing the damage. Nerves? Muscles? Centered around his back of course. Ah, okay, this was a movement problem. He twisted to get out of the way of the, well, bite. He must have tweaked something. Okay, he could handle that. That was nothing worse than he was used to having. He tweaked and twisted plenty of his body before.

He tried again, more careful this time, taking hold of Alex’s arm soon after lifting from the ground. Stand. He could stand. His body was not happy about it, but he could do it. As his skin wrinkled and moved alongside angry muscles, he realized just how much this was not okay. Well, it was not very not okay. It was not like he was broken. He was simply… less than stellar. That was fine. He needed to make sure he did not hobble though. If he had to see Alex looking like he personally did this to him any more, he was not sure that he was going to be able to make it. Every time he looked at Alex’s almost mechanical and lifeless shell, he could feel his stomach sucked away, eaten by a void that was determined to ruin everything inside of him.

“See?” He asked with as much cheer as he could muster. “I am practically perfect, just slightly off kilter. In fact,” he loosened his grip of Alex’s arm just enough to know the amount he really needed if he was focusing hard enough. “It won’t even be a problem to get back to the forest.”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; North Dakota

He had been prepared to help Nate up, but he wasn't expecting the man to try on his own. Even Alex wouldn't have tried that. His heart dropped as he watched Nate fall to the ground. His entire chest was constricted as he watched him. Was he hurt more than he let on? Alex only knew so much when it came to how a body worked and that was very little to begin with. He wished his sister was here, she was so skilled in healing others. Alex watched as Nate tested his motion out and he was there to help him get up. He felt his hand on Alex's arm and he stood strong, allowing Nate to stand.

Alex raised an eyebrow and gave Nate a look at his words. Nate was not okay to stand, even Alex could see that. Hou could anyone just walk after that attack? He was just grateful that Nate hadn't been bitten, he didn't think he'd be able to handle that. Alex shook his head at Nate. He refused to let Nate walk on his own. Alex stood right beside him, ready to be used as a human crutch. "I don't believe you. But, let's head to the forest." Alex said, ready to walk beside Nate the entire way to the forest. His eyes would watch out as they moved to the forest.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly | 21 | Current location ;; North Dakota

It was a lie. Well, that was not true. He did not lie. He hated the idea of lying. Instead, he was just going to… not say some things. He was not going to say that the shock was his biggest problem right now. He was not going to say that sure, he could probably make it to the forest with probably many problems but he would hide them, and then it would be significantly worse later when they decided to move again. But he was good at working through the pain of his own body. He knew it so well, that he was certain that he could keep the right muscles moving and going to make it feel better. And, of course, he planned to work on it more once Alex was asleep. That would be fine.

He wrapped his arm around Alex’s shoulders, moving like he would if they were normally walking, but also using him as support. “Remember what I said about you being a pessimist? This is you being a pessimist. And you know what that makes me? The optimist.” He pushed his legs forward, refusing to acknowledge the twinge that shot all the way up and walked like he was only attacked in the back and not at all like he was going to find a whole lot of bruises and ugly messes as soon as he could check on himself.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; North Dakota

Alex shook his head at Nate and for added effect rolled his eyes. "Well, this pessimist is not very happy with how his optimist is playing off the pain." Alex grumbled. He felt Nate's arm around his shoulders, and he knew Nate was using him for support. What he didn't know was how bad the pain really was for Nate. If he had, he'd try to find a different way to get Nate to the forest. Alex started the walk out of the restaurant. His eyes scanned the streets, keeping out for any other infected or heaven forbid more hunters. The coast looked clear enough, and he didn't hear anything.

It would take longer to get back to the forest than Alex would've wanted but Nate was injured and so he took it carefully. He kept glancing at his companion. Pausing every so often to check on him. "Are you sure you can walk this far? Do I need to carry or something" He finally asked the question that had been on his mind.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly | 21 | Current location ;; North Dakota

Without thinking, he shook his head even before Alex could finish talking. That, of course, was the worst idea. With the way his head hurt already, he should not have done that. So, he slowed and pulled it back together, take a moment with his eyes closed before reopening them with a grand old smile and jaunty laugh. “This optimist thinks that this pessimist is overreacting. Remember when you thought I was overreacting about your back? Think about it like that. You just can’t use your bow. I, thankfully, do not need to use a bow. So, it will be fine.”

A little breath slipped out that did not go along with his all is well speech, and he had absolutely no way of covering that up. Instead, he decided that it was probably better to not look like he was lying. Which he was. He just really didn’t want Alex to feel any worse than he did. “It’s not so bad that I can’t walk. I’m just a wimp. They used to make fun of me all the time. Even Max and his little string bean self was always whining about how very little I could take. Oh, I think he called me a weenie.”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; North Dakota

Alex groaned. He forgot how stubborn people could get. "I'm not overreacting. If you don't have legs and can't walk, how is that any better?" He huffed out. Alex kept them moving, the forest was closer, but still a ways away. Alex glanced over at Nate when he heard the breath from Nate. "That's it, clearly you're down playing your own wounds." Alex said, crossing his arms with a little puff of breath. "I really don't believe you, but there isn't much I can say" Alex said. He just wanted to get them to the forest where they could set up camp for the rest of the day and night, and rest.

"You should really look at that shoulder by the way, it looked deeper than the others" He added, though when he glanced at the shoulder, his heart dropped. There, on the jacket, was the tell tale sight of a bite mark. Alex's blood ran cold. He'd cleaned that shoulder, did he miss the bite? Was he going to lose Nate? "Speaking of shoulders, what's that on your jacket's shoulder" Alex bit out, his eyes narrowed. Just what was Nate keeping from him?​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly | 21 | Current location ;; North Dakota

Nate sighed, clearly losing this battle. What was he supposed to say? Look, I have legs, so it can’t be that bad? Look, they work and everything? And they did. He could tell that the shooting pain was a tweaked nerve, and now that he had been on it, suffering mind you, he could tell where it was coming from. When they got to the camp, since Alex was so determined to find this a significantly worse problem, then he could show him how to maybe knead it out. That would potentially make them both feel better. Less pain for him and less stress for Alex? Plus massages, and those were always great.

He was so distracted by his own thoughts on how to make this situation better that he heard to talk about the shoulder too late. Granted, he was thinking that they were only talking about how those were much deeper, and he really probably should assess if he needed to sew himself back together. He was very quickly trying to find a way to say that it was probably worse than it looked when the next words came. The words about the jacket. He could not pretend like he did not know what Alex just saw. He should have stuffed the jacket away. He knew this would happen. In focusing on that, he was not focusing on his leg, which in turn meant that he stepped down normally, and he let out a small gasp. “It’s fine!” he quickly said, but he was sure Alex would not believe him, especially after what he just found. His throat ran dry, but he knew that silence would only make things worse. “It didn’t bit through,” he all but whispered, the confidence gone now. “I checked everything. You checked. It’s only-“ He sucked in another deep breath, trying not to say words that would make everything worse. “It’s just the jacket, Alex. I wouldn’t have let you- I wouldn’t let you come close if it weren’t.”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; North Dakota

His entire world had stopped when he had seen the bite mark. It was like everything had been ripped away. His eyes looked over at Nate when he heard the gasp. Alex had effectively stopped them moving forward so he could really look at Nate. He wasn’t expecting such a quiet response. Where had that confidence gone that Alex was so used to? He had no choice but to believe him. He’d cleaned the shoulder himself after all and there was no bite mark. He knew deep down that Nate was being truthful.

“Nate. I believe you, but we can’t hide things no matter how big or small, or even something that doesn’t seem like a big deal. I- I don’t.. don’t want to have to..” Alex trailed off. They both know what was unspoken. Alex didn’t want to have to put an arrow through his friend. And with that, Alex started walking them forward again. He still trusted Nate, but he was hurt that he’d kept that from him. He didn’t like that at all.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly | 21 | Current location ;; North Dakota

This throat ran completely dry after that. He knew what he did was wrong. Was it wrong? He didn’t do anything wrong. He wanted to keep him safe. He wanted to protect Alex. With the way he reacted over the normal things, he knew that the bite in the jacket would be so much worse. And he was right. He should have said something. He should have had him look just to make sure.

But what if the bite had gone through? What then? What was he going to do about it?

Was this going to be the same as last time?

He bit back the tears that were threatening to fall. Why was he so upset? He shouldn’t be so upset. Why was he so upset for upsetting this man who he had only known for a handful of days. Days that felt like years. Was that what traveling and trauma did for you? Maybe. It didn’t even matter why he felt that way. The important part was the fact that he did.

“Alex,” he tried, his voice small and broken. Visions of another life filled his mind. The one where the world was broken apart in a matter of seconds. “Alex,” he tried again, pushing down the tears that wanted to escape as soon as he opened his mouth. But this was not about him. This was about his friend. His closest friend. He stopped walking, which wasn’t so hard since it hurt so bad anyway. “You don’t have to do that.” He reached a hand up and brought it to his cheek to gently pull his attention to him. “You never have to do that, okay?” Because the truth behind those words were harsh but something he already knew. No, it would not be like last time. He would not make Alex do that. He already knew what he would do himself.
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[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; North Dakota

Alex had paused again, tears threatening to fall. He felt the hand on his cheek and looked over at Nate. He hated that he’d kept this information away from Alex. Especially considering what a bite from an infected means. He heard Nate’s voice. So small and broken. Why did that make his heart shatter? Sure, he’d only know Nate a few days but it felt like he knew him for so much longer.

“Nate, you can’t say that for certain. We all know how this world works.” Alex said. He didn’t know why the hand on his cheek was so comforting but he was okay with it. “Now, we can discuss how to avoid things like this at camp. If my back is starting to ache, I can only imagine how your feeling” Alex said softly, placing his hand over the one Nate had put on his cheek.​