I'm fine

[homeless_pard]

Who: Beryl, Lani, Eric
When: A few weeks after the start of weekly game nights at Eric's.
What: Beryl is...only human.

"I know I have fucking ice, just...stop moving!" Eric growled as he stormed into the house.

Ice, right, she rolled her eyes and tried not to bite Lani as he carried her in. "I said..."

"Your fine, yeah yeah, he landed a blow!" Lani was nearly yipping in unhappiness.

"I landed a dozen, one tag doesn't fucking lay me out!" Sure the asshole hit like a mack truck and had the bouncer hanging off him, fucking juiced up creep who wanted one of their girls to date him but still.

Eric cracked a pathetic, mostly frost seared half tray off ice into a towel and came over to press it against her side, making her yip, "that's why you need ice, did he crack a rib?!"

Had he? Hmmm, "dunno, lift my shirt let's check, got any sport's tape?"

"Why would I have sports tape?!"

Lani snickered, "you're just naturally kinda buff, don't actually work out like Beryl I'm guessing?"

Eric glanced down at himself, "Um, yeah, natural metabolism and physical attraction index etc etc."

"Got that right," Lani snickered.

"Yeah yeah, go get me some fucking tape from our car Lani."

Tape, tape, "you may have cracked a rib and you're just going to duck tape that shit?" Eric blinked, peeling up the edge of her shirt to peer at the angry red staining barely along her side.

"Sports tape, not duck tape, and ribs crack rather often honestly, I mean I started kickboxing glasses so lotta knocks."

"YOU CRACK RIBS ALL THE TIME?!"

Beryl blinked at Eric's face then laughed, even though it hurt, "yeah? Not always mine though. Sheesh, you act like you never cracked anything before..."

Eric adjusted the makeshift icepack and blinked, "we kinda...flex. Bones Have a silicon content so we're resilient, we have to fight something really hefty to crack..."

"That's a no on the fun broken bones stories huh? Sheesh, wimp." she snorted.

"Beryl, girl, I'm two centuries older than you, I have a lot of fun stories," he grumbled.

"Without sex in?"

"..."

"Thought so," she snickered.

"I've eaten interesting people?"

"Not helping your case babe, you know that makes me the badass in the group right?" snickering hurt less than laughing so she was going to keep doing it!

"Yeah yeah, potentially cracked badass!"

"Hush," she poked his forehead and sat up as Lani came back in with her tape. "Help me wrap cuz!"

"Because I'm the boob expert here?" Lani snorted, kneeling by the couch.

"Nope, tape expert, Eric is still lost in 'omg crack you crack your bones omg!'"

Lani looked up at her, bemused, "you just said an abbreviation."

"Eric's acting like a teenage girl, it felt appropriate."

Lani looked up at the rather baffled looking hunk (okay he'd been watching some weird soaps with Nat) and....giggled. "Okay, you get a pass cuz."

"She's so...so..."

"...Beryl?"

"Fragile," Eric gritted through his teeth.

"So?"

Beryl rolled her eyes, "life isn't about not getting hurt. Never was. And trust me, ribs are fucking cake."

"I'm not worried about you hurt! I'm worried about you broken!"...dead.

Beryl glanced at Lani, and on cue he clasped his hands with her and looked up as well, "awwww you caaaaare..."

"FUCKING DORKS."

Beryl snickered again then winced as Lani swatted her for moving while he was taping, "seriously Eric, I'm fine. i don't even feel it really."

"You say that like it's a good thing..."

Lani sighed, "we're working on it."

"...working on what?!" Eric glared then gently added the icepack pack to her side once she was taped.

"Body disconnect," Lani noted.

"He's a dork," Beryl spoke over him. "Our family sucked."

Eric blinked, glancing between them, "...uh huh."

Yeah, that was the therapy look they usually got from older sorts. New on Eric's face though. Great. "Call the boys, tell them tonight is canceled because I'm not putting my shirt back on and I don't feel like listening to their bullshit."

'Awwwww."

"Jason's mouth. I'll fucking break him."

"Point," Lani snickered. "But Nat would fuss."

"We've got Eric fussing enough for a damn hospital wing."

"Point! Pizza?"

"Pizza," she agreed. "And Eric settle your ass down so I can use you as a pillow."

"...okay?" Eric flowed over the couch to sit, trying not to hover or wince as Beryl stretched out and laid her head on his thigh, "I don't have many friends Beryl."

"I know," she sighed as Lani dialed the pizza place, "but we gotta live you know?"

"...let me edge up on that idea okay?"

"Fine," she snorted, "put a movie on."