Patching Up

David opened the door further and peered in, checking to see that Addie was, in fact, decent before entering with the steaming pot of hot water. He managed to not stop in his tracks at the sight of her draped only in the small towel, but his cheeks began to flush slightly.

"So uh... what now?"

Grimacing, she retrieved a hand towel and dipped it into the water. "Now the fun part," she said as she started to clean out the holes in her shoulder.

Lil glanced at David and nodded before returning her attention to Addie. "Let us know if you need any help with that part."

"Yeah, if yall can get the back, that would be great."

"I'll do it," David said, a heartbeat too quickly. He turned to Lil. "I mean... I can if you want."

Lil nodded. "You wash, I'll stitch."

David nodded and grabbed another clean towel, soaking it in the hot water and kneeling down to start carefully dabbing at the scrapes and punctures. He put one hand on Addie's bare shoulder to steady himself as he worked, making sure the blood was cleared as much as possible before Lil could swoop in with her needle and thread. Between the feel of her warm skin under his hands and the sheer amount of blood, he began to feel a bit light-headed, so he paused for a moment to rinse out the clothe in the pot while Lil continued stitching.

"Once the blood is gone it doesn't look quite as bad," he said, trying awkwardly to reassure Addie.

Addie was intensely aware of David's hand on her shoulder, even through the dull pain of scrubbing out her bite marks. Once the front marks were as cleaned out as she thought she could get them, she slicked up one of the suture needles with iodine, and motioned for Lil to come watch. Taking a breath and holding it, she slowly pushed the needle in, through, and out. Pulling some more thread through, she placed a second stitch, then stopped. "Uh... could I have someone knot that, actually?"

"Got it." It was better when the wounds were cleaner, David was right. She dipped her hands in the scalding water to help clean them, and followed up with some iodine, just to be sure. "Ends in a square knot?"

David looked up from the reddish water to see Lil tugging gently on the thread that was no binding Addie's flesh together as she knotted it, pulling firmly to ensure it kept the gash closed. For a moment his vision swam and he shook his head to clear it, but the feeling grew stronger. A moment later he found that he couldn't really feel what his hands were doing and he looked down, watching numbly as he wrung out the cloth in the blood-streaked water.

The next thing he knew he was lying on his back staring up at the bright fan-light on Lil's ceiling and everything seemed far away.

Addie watched the thread close up the hole in her shoulder, then heard a "Shit!" from Lil, a clatter and splash from behind her, and a thunk. Turning around as quickly as she could, she saw David on the floor, and knelt beside him.

"David, hey, David?" She patted his face gently, trying to get him to wake up. When his eyes opened, she breathed a heavy sigh of relief, not noticing what it did to her towel.

The first thing David was aware of as his senses returned was Addie's face just inches his. The second thing he was aware of was the her towel had fallen several inches and she was leaning forward over him. He tried not to stare at the view it created, which was actually quite easy since his eyes refused to focus anyway.

"Buh... whahuhappen?"

"Dude, I think you fainted." Her face was a little confused, and a lot concerned, and still pretty surprised. "Come on, you come and lay down over here while we finish the rest of the stitches, okay?"

Lil just glowered, trying to soak up hot bloody water off her carpet and duvet before it stained with some laundry that happened to be to hand. "My dad is going to freeeeak..."

David allowed himself to be helped up by Addie and he managed to get to the bed without passing out again, although it was a very near thing.

"God.. I'm sorry... I don't know... what happened." he muttered as he sat down. Addie's towel had fallen even further as she helped him over, and he was beginning to be aware that he was getting a very unexpected show of things that he had no right to be seeing. Unfortunately, mentioning it now would only call attention to the fact that he'd seen it.

Regardless, it wasn't helping his dizziness.

"I'll just... I'll be okay." he said.

"Just sit with your head between your legs for a bit,'" Lil instructed, standing up. She'd have to wash the duvet, but at least it was black. Hopefully the carpet would be okay. "Addie, do we need more hot water?"

"No, we should be fine now, I think. It's mostly washed up anyway." The rest of the stitches she could reach went faster after that, though Addie would glance over at David every so often to check on him. By the end, her cheeks were flushed pink, before she finally shook her head and said "That's all the ones I can reach."

"Do you need a break, or is it better just to get them all done?"

"I'd kinda like something to drink, actually. Then I guess go at the rest of them?"

"I'll go grab us some sodas." It would probably be good for David too, really. Lil slipped out of the room again, leaving Addie and David alone for the moment.

Addie stared at her hands for a moment, then over at David. "Hey, how are you feeling?" she asked, rising and going to sit next to him on the bed.

David leaned forward, rubbing his forhead as Lil left. He was starting to feel more himself again.

"Hey... I'm really sorry about that. I guess I'm still not used to blood. You'd think I would be by now."

He gave her a lopsided grin.

"I guess you think I'm kind of a wuss now, huh?"

She grinned back. "Lots of folks get freaked by blood. You should see Mr. Carpenter with it some time." Leaning forward, until their foreheads were touching, she said softly. "I'm really glad you're okay." Then she kissed him.

To say David was caught off guard would be an understatement, but he was nothing if not adaptable. Within a few moments he was pressing himself against her lips as he put his hands on her arms. For the moment he forgot all about the blood, the magic, and the man-eating, razor-toothed gnomes and lost himself in Addie.

Lil came back upstairs, some drinks tucked under her arm, happy that her dad still seemed to be keeping himself busy for now. She opened the door. Addie and David were shamelessly making out. She barely resisted the urge to toss one of the cans at their heads.

"Oh for fuck's sakes," She grumbled. "That's *my bed*, you assholes!"