A Light Touch (Eustass X Reader)

Chapter 5: ApPEAsed

"Kid doesn't like peas either." Killer points out.

Your mouth goes wide as a glee-filled expression fills your face. Kid narrows his eyes and before you can react he flicks a pea into your open mouth.

"Ack!" gulp. "Augh!" Your suffering has Kid howling as your face goes red. It was, perhaps, not entirely undeserved. There are worse ways to eat a pea than accidentally swallowing one whole you guess. "Okay, I earned that."

"So, how are you managing so far?" Killer asks.

You make a face you can't hide. "I ruined almost an entire thing of eggs trying to make breakfast this morning, and ended up ordering in. I watched videos on how to do things one-handed, but I need kitchen utensils I've never had before and after this morning I wasn't exactly leaping at giving things a try."

"How's the stump?" Kid asks.

"I jammed it into the couch when I woke up this morning, trying to sit up, but it's not too bad."

"Mutant healing power not working?"

"Huh? Oh, no, it is. Does. Did." You hold up your left arm. Aside from the scars it doesn't even look raw anymore. "Just because it's visibly healed though, doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. It'll be tender for as long as it was supposed to be."

"That's a raw deal." Kid grumps.

You shrug. "The body heals, the mind takes it time, I guess."

The rest of your evening went well. Kid and Killer left, with plans to get you in the morning and take you out to breakfast. Whatever was prompting them to treat you so kindly, you were at least starting to get comfortable with accepting it.

When Monday rolled around even more news came in that made things better. Your work approved short term disability for a full 2 months, allowing time for rehabilitation with the new prosthetic. You also got a call from the job you were going to interview at before the accident. The secretary that spoke with you was very understanding and told you to feel free and reach back out when you were comfortable doing so. She insisted you not worry about any sort of timeline, noting that going through what you were going through was enough. There was no need to add concerns about losing an opportunity on top of that.

She also offered to send you information on private companies to help you find all the options you had for a new prosthetic. You thanked her for her time and assistance, and honestly thought you'd have to apply at that job now – if everyone was half as thoughtful and competent as Miss Violet was, you'd be in good company.

Monday afternoon Officer Coby called to inform you that the first hearing was Wednesday. He let you know when you'd need to be at the courthouse, the address and even offered to come pick you up. You declined the offer, saying that if Eustass needed to be there as well – and he did – that you already had a ride.

You were glad to have had all the good news happen earlier in the day, but afterward you sat on the couch and stared up at the ceiling after your call with Coby. The courthouse meant tension, and tension meant confrontation. You didn't have a visual concept of Vander Decken the Drunk, so you weren't sure what to expect, but you did know he had already declared he wasn't going to compensate you. Which means the hearing tomorrow was going to be a ball of bad vibes.

You phone rang after a bit and "RED" came up on the caller ID. You hit the speaker phone and grumbled some variety of greeting.

"Already heard then," Kid said on the other end with a gruff laugh. "We'll be by to pick you Wednesday." He assures you. "Need us to come over tonight?"

"Ah... hm." You look around your apartment, which suddenly looked very dull and dreary and empty. "Need's kind of a strong word."

"Oh?"