|
Post by Jules on Dec 14, 2008 0:37:23 GMT -5
Calcifer appeared in front of Cherry's building, bruised, bleeding and still gasping for air. His shirt was ripped to shreds, and their were corresponding slices in his torso, bleeding freely. With a hand pressed to the worst wound, his free hand supporting him, it took some innovation to ring her buzzer. He just hoped to God she was home and felt like answering the door.
Of course, this was in truth, all part of his plan to get her talking to him again since they hadn't parted on such good terms last time they'd gotten together. Thinking about it still frustrated him, but he felt better now that he had a bit of a game-plan.
He still didn't quite understand why he was so fixated on Cherry, since he hardly had trouble with getting women. many much more beautiful than the little criminal, but it didn't seem to matter. He couldn't get her out of his head.
|
|
|
Post by Princess Katie on Dec 14, 2008 1:04:00 GMT -5
Cherry was home, but she would not have answered the door if she didn’t think it was the Chinese food delivery guy. She had left the house earlier that morning, but decided that she was in no mood to see other Nightmares, so she came home, put her pajamas on, and called for take-out.
“Hold on, I have exact change,” she said as she opened the door. Scrounging around in her wallet for an appropriate bill, Cherry was rather delayed in noticing that it was not the Chinese food Ghoul, but Calcifer at her door. An apparently hurt Calcifer.
“Oh, God,” she gasped, dropping her coin purse to the floor, and rushing onto the landing to help Cal. She hurriedly slipped his arm around her shoulders and helped him into apartment, “my God, what happened to you?”
|
|
|
Post by Jules on Dec 14, 2008 1:09:44 GMT -5
He smiled weakly at her and helped him help her get him into the apartment since he was practically a mile taller than her. "You should see the other guy." He croaked and wiped his mouth clean of blood.
"I'm sorry I came here. I didn't have anyone else to go to." He rasped and then started coughing again, bending over a bit to brace himself against the racking. "Can't talk much." He said after he'd regained control.
|
|
|
Post by Princess Katie on Dec 14, 2008 1:55:41 GMT -5
“Come on, the couch,” she directed, leading him to the living room and helping him lay down. There’s nothing like an ugly surface wound to help someone forget they’re mad at you. Cherry stroked Cal’s hair with a bony hand, worry obvious on her face. “Poor baby,” she whispered, suddenly nothing but tenderness.
She looked slightly pained to break away from Cal to hurry into the adjacent kitchen, scouring the under-the-sink cabinets for their extensive knife-fight-first-aide-kit. “Those are knife wounds, right?” She inquired, returning to the living room with a leather-bound box that was nearly bigger than she was.
|
|
|
Post by Jules on Dec 14, 2008 15:20:45 GMT -5
It felt good to lie down, but it felt even better to have Cherry fretting over him. "I'll get blood on it." He protested, but made no move to get up, mostly because he really, really didn't want to. "Uhh, ya. Pretty much." He was pretty sure, anyways. He hadn't been so focused on what those creatures had been cutting him with, to be honest.
"Does it matter?" Was the treatment different if the weapon was?
|
|
|
Post by Princess Katie on Dec 14, 2008 16:59:32 GMT -5
“If you think this is the first time my couch has been bled on, you’re as wrong as you can be. Here,” Cherry said and slid a couple of bunched-up pillows under Cal’s knees to ease blood flow. From the first aid kit she withdrew several clean cloths. “Apply pressure. I’m gonna light the fireplace and get you some blankets. If you’re not freezing yet, you will be. Shock and blood loss and all that,” she informed, very confidently. It was clear she had gone through this before, probably several times.
Cherry returned with several blankets, saying as she piled them on Cal’s legs,“ If there was a bullet or glass in there, we’d have to get it out, but if not, the most I can do is put pressure ‘til it stops bleeding so much, then bandage you up.” She paused, tucking the blankets around him with a half-smile. “And you know, just because I’m not letting you bleed to death in my doorway does not mean I am not angry with you any more.”
|
|
|
Post by Jules on Dec 14, 2008 17:07:30 GMT -5
Cal remained silent while she chattered, only opening his mouth to inform her that no, there were no bullets or glass. He sighed and watched her move about and it made him weirdly tired. He wasn't worried about living, he knew he would, but that didn't meant that wasn't exactly comfortable.
But she was doing a lot to fix it. Although he didn't think he'd be going into shock. The whole think had been carefully planned. "I know." He said finally, watching her. "I am sorry."
|
|
|
Post by Princess Katie on Dec 14, 2008 18:22:03 GMT -5
“Don’t worry about that right now,” Cherry urged, seating herself on the edge of the couch, resuming her stroking of Cal’s hair. “Besides the, uh, obvious, how are you feeling? What else can I get you? I’ve some lo mien and crab rangoon comin’. I can put some coffee on and I’m better than a liquor store if you want something to take the edge off,” she offered.
|
|
|
Post by Jules on Dec 14, 2008 18:29:28 GMT -5
Something about swallowing food didn't seem so appetizing. "Water, just, water, please." He muttered. He didn't really want her to get up and stop stroking his hair, but the moment she'd mentioned it, he'd realized how thirsty he actually was. "I wouldn't of come here. I kno you're mad at me, but I didn't know where else to go. I can't exactly show up at the Good Hope." Nevermind that Dreamland made him sick to his stomach, he wasn't prepared to answer questions and he really didn't like the Fairy Godmother who was tyrant there.
|
|
|
Post by Princess Katie on Dec 15, 2008 0:12:14 GMT -5
Cherry got up once more, to fetch a glass of water. When she was in the kitchen, the door bell rang. “Should I be expecting some armed thugs at the other end?” She called over her shoulder, peeking through the peephole. “Oh, it’s only the Chinese food guy,” she muttered, picking her wallet up from the floor and opening the door. The fact that her nightgown was all soaked in someone else’s blood and might be a slightly frightening sight didn’t quite register until Cherry noticed the delivery ghoul’s nervous look. She looked down at her bloody slip and smiled cheerfully at the ghoul. “I ordered pizza, too. The guy was late,” she explained.
“Oh…uh…” he said, looking suddenly even more nervous. “I’ll…I’ll just put this on your tab, Miss Clarke, I see you’re busy.”
“Yeah, thanks, Paul,” Cherry called as he booked it to the elevator, before padlocking the front door again. She brought Cal his water, returning to her perch on the edge of the couch. “So I think I’ve been pretty patient,” she began, tapping her fingers on her thigh, “but I’d like to know what string of events led you to my doorstep, lookin’ like you fell into a pit of spikes.”
|
|
|
Post by Jules on Dec 15, 2008 0:18:48 GMT -5
Cal was half asleep when she came back with his water. Her constant chatter, even in her squeaky voice, was somehow soothing. But he growled a little when she demanded an explanation. He wasn't in the mood to chat. "I got this mummy pissed at me." He muttered (truthfully, even!), "And he wasn't exactly a push-over." Cal grinned at her.
"I'll get going once I have a little nap." He assured her. "Just one, little nap." He broke the sentence up with a faked, but real-seeming yawn and let his eyes sink close.
|
|
|
Post by Princess Katie on Dec 15, 2008 0:53:28 GMT -5
“Oh,” Cherry whispered, her curiosity definitely not satisfied. She began absentmindedly petting his hair once more. “I’ll be right here, okay? If you need somethin’.”
|
|
|
Post by Jules on Dec 15, 2008 0:56:22 GMT -5
"Just...keeping doing that." If Cal were a cat, he woudl've purred. Sinking into sleep felt so good he wasn't sure he ever wanted to wake up and leave this comfy, blood-stained couch with the equally blood-stained Cherry stroking his hair.
|
|
|
Post by Princess Katie on Dec 15, 2008 1:22:27 GMT -5
As soon as Cherry was sure Cal was out, she pushed the coffee table aside and pulled the loveseat over, adjacent to the couch. Luckily for her, the furniture slid easily on the hardwood floor. She left his side only to change her nightie, wash her face and arm clean of blood, and grab a cup of coffee and a cigarette. Even beat up and bloody, Cherry noticed, as she made her way back into the living room, Cal was adorable.
Damn.
|
|
|
Post by Jules on Dec 15, 2008 1:27:53 GMT -5
When Cal woke up, the first thing he missed was her hand in his hair. But after that, pushing it completely from his mind, was overwhelming thirst. He lurched to his side, wincing a bit before locating his glass of water and chugging it empty.
"Cherry?" His voice was a lot less raspy than it had been, and his throat no longer felt like it still had Vince's hand clamped over it. "There you are." He smiled at her, "Thanks for everything."
|
|