sliceitwithwind | Terren Apples

"Right, calling him then. Don't you DARE pass out on my man." Pierce dialed Dilan from memory and really HOPED the man wasn't drunk or something too. "Yo, it's me. Braig kinda got in a fight after the bar and the blade maaay have been poisoned. You know detox right?"

"I'm not passing out." Braig insisted, although he looked like he might be lying.

"WHAT?! HE WHAT?! Aya, wake up! We gotta go! Where are you? Pants pants pants..."

He rattled off their location as easily as he had for the cops then moved to prop Braig up, ego be damned.

Aya flailed awake then rubbed her eyes. What time is it? What's...he? Where Braig?!"

"Bleeding by the side of the road!" Pants! No, those are Aya's, he flung them at her and found hakama to throw on, and a long coat, "Grab my bag, they're at Fourth and Everest. Meet up with me. Grab the key, too." Then Dilan was running at top speed, vaulting people and using the stairs because it was faster.

Braig, meanwhile, bowed to necessity and used Pierce. "I...do not feel okay."

Pierce patted Braig's shoulder. "Dilan and Aya are coming, so are EMTs, so relax. It's okay, someone will be here to help soon."

As for Aya, well, "WHAT?" Yep, pants time. And she could totally use her sleep shirt as an actual shirt so she could pelt after Dilan with his bag in tow. Bag and key, she had that too! And yes, she'd catch up because she was fast but a katzu at full speed was faster.

Dilan skidded there just about the same time the cops did. They had farther to come, but he was on foot. "I'm with them!" he yelped as a uniform tried to stop him from getting closer to Braig.

Braig, meanwhile, was blinking at the EMT who was trying to clean his face, "That's my Dilan." he explained, or tried to explain, "He knows detox."

"We'll want to get this analysed first." the EMT said, "And probably get you to the hospital."

"...Not without Dilan and Aya."

Pierce held up the knife helpfully to the EMT. "You can get cleaner samples from this right? And then Dilan can detox his bud here and everyone can be happy when they got to the hospital." For a given definition of happy.

Aya pounded up a few minutes later, not exactly out of breath but reeling from the switch to adrenaline running from sleep. "COMING THROUGH HEALERS BAG!"

"That'll work." the EMT guy said, swabbing the knife. One of the cops was putting the mugger into the back of the car, and the other said, "Can we get your statement, sir? We can get your friends at the hospital."

Dilan barely waited for the EMT to move before he was taking Braig's face in his hands to cast detox, glaring at the wound.

"Aya." Braig tried to smile at her, a little bit, but...it hurt. "Think I'm gonna scar, babe."

Pierce nodded and stepped aside so he could talk with the cops, though he didn't take his eyes of Braig and the other two. How had he NOT seen that whole love triangle thing before? Wow. "Yeah, we were drinking at the Silver Star, up the road a bit. Tried to walk home, had to turn around, this guy steps out with a knife and tells us he wants our wallets..."

Aya draped the bag across her chest and waited to hand things to Dilan when order, then smiled at Braig. "Hey, scars build character you know? Besides, I think you'll look better as someone who's lived a bit instead of an baby faced Adonis you know?"

Dilan took gentle care of Braig, although when the EMT stepped closer he backed off, saying; "You probably do want to take him in. It'll closer better with stitches. We're coming with, though."

"Sir, I don't know if you can fit in the back. Can you follow? Your friend can sit with him."

Braig didn't smile back, but he gripped her hand and stared at her for a moment, a very intent stare. "Yeah, okay." he decided.

"Hey, it'll be alright. I'm tiny, I can be with you and Dilan will be right behind us alright? And you're an idiot and I'll yell at you later but right now you better be okay or I"ll hurt you." Aya squeezed his hand then helped pull him to his feet. She knew he wouldn't want to wait to ride a stretcher to the ambulance. "And you'll still be hot, I promise." Aya bumped Dilan's hip with hers, trying to be reassuring.

Pierce snorted, hearing the conversation. "Guy lunged at Braig, but lucky us even drunk Braig knows self defense, took some hits but got the guy down. Figured the blade was poisoned when we looked at it. Nasty that. Can I go to the hospital too? I wanna sit with everyone."

Dilan stroked Braig's hair, then Aya's, and then got out of the way, "Yeah...Pierce and I'll be right behind you. You take care of him, okay?" that last to the EMT helping Braig onto the stretcher.

"I will."

Dilan came to hover at Pierce's side like a large, awkward thing until they could call a cab. "Thanks for being here, Pierce."

"They'll be careful," Aya promised in lieu of the EMT. The unsaid part being 'she'd bite them otherwise' but hey, it was Aya. As soon as Braig was on the stretcher though she took his hand back, holding tight. "So talk to me Braig, tell me about your latest prank okay?" Best to keep him awake and talking in her book?

Pierce looked up at Dilan and nodded. "Yeah dude. We were out drinking, so I had to be here you know? I'm sorry I'm not a fighter and stuff."

Braig quirked his lips a little, "Don't actually have one in the works right now. 'Ve been busy with school."

Dilan clapped Pierce on the shoulder, "It's okay, not your fault. You probably just would have gotten in each other's way if you'd been a fighter, it's hard to fight with someone else." He didn't like waiting for a cab, but...he could do it.

"What? You have failed me Braig. Utterly." She patted his chest gently and climbed up into the ambulance. "School you can talk about? I like hearing about things that you haven't already landed as classified. I swear, you two and the C-word..."

Pierce sighed and stood up, barely swaying. Amazing how adrenaline could help against alcohol. "Yeah, probably right. Wanna try to talk one of the cops into taking us?"

"Yeah. We're doing space experiments. Managed to get gravity to twist enough..." he started talking about levitation which was, somehow, not flight. Did not manage to keep it at layman's levels of science, but he tried.

"...Can you? Cops tend to look at me funny. It's the size and the dreads and stuff."

"You and making physics cry..." Aya offered fondly, leaning forward to lay her cheek on his hand once everyone was in the ambulance. "What is your grudge against gravity anyway?" She couldn't help it, she needed to touch him. He was hurt. It...made sense somewhere in her brain.

Pierce nodded then staggered upright enough to go talk to one of the cops. Something about needed to get reports from the others, but two leaving, and why didn't they all ride together? Pierce COULD bullshit after all. "Okay, car twelve there."

Braig's hand cupped her face. "Don't cry, babe. I'll be okay." he said roughly. He loved her so much, and he hated that she was worried.

Dilan squeezed into the back of the cop car with a mumbled, "Thanks. He's my best friend." and the cop nodded before heading towards the hospital.

"Hey, I'm not crying you goof. I'm just worried, and still wondering why you hate gravity." She kissed the palm of his hand and tried on a watery smile. "If you start fussing at me I"ll have to get angry that you got hurt. Let's not do that right now okay?"

Pierce slid in next to Dilan and laid his head back on the seat. "And I'm friend dude #2. Been a night huh?"

"Okay." Braig decided, "And I don't hate gravity. I just wanna know more about it."

"Yeah. Aya and I got back upstairs and crashed pretty early...did not expect this. Was he okay? We expected to see him."

She nodded, offering a smile as she listened. "Nah, I really think you have a grudge against it. After all, it pulls on your spine all day..." she teased gently.

PIerce sighed. Right. Cover story time. "Well, we kinda lost track of time. I needed backup you see, meeting a rival programmer and then we got drinking and stuff...I shoulda let him go to the con you know? But we were having fun."

Braig patted her hand, then relaxed as the EMT got a nice needle full of painkillers in his arm. "Nah. 'S fascinating."

"Okay." Dilan said after a minute. He...smelled BS, but wasn't going to argue it. If it was something the older men didn't want him to know, well. He could be sneaky and find out later!

Yay painkillers! She approved! "Fascinating, sure, in that 'I'll end up accidentally in space without a suit' kinda way! You know more astrophysics students are lost that way!"

Pierce sighed, not caring how much Dilan guessed as long as he didn't ask questions. "So how was your day man? I need to get there tomorrow to get some art done."

"Are not. I'm not going to end up in space. I have a lab." It made sense to him, anyway.

Dilan smiled, "It was fun. Aya and I did cosplay as Terran Apples, and it went over really well. Later we just hung out listening to panels."

"A lab makes it even more likely because you think you're safe!" She patted his hand gently instead of swatting him. She was gentle when they were hurt! "I will be annoyed if you end up orbiting earth."

Pierce coughed, "The Terran Apples?! Holy shit man! Like, really?"

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