Helluva Deal

27. Trigger Points

Alastor whimpers softly, his fingers digging into the rim of the bathtub, his breath coming in quick intervals.

"Alastor. Look at me. I'm here. It's gonna be okay. I promise," Blitz puts one of his hands on Alastor's while his other one cups his face again, forcing his eyes away from the water and at himself instead, "Breathe. Slowly. In...and out... In...and out..."

"Blitz, I've got what you asked for," Stolas returns, in his hands a bowl with a fresh greenish tincture, "If you clean and dry his ears again, I'll apply the salve. It should help within a few minutes."

"Good. Thanks, Sto. Moxxie, could you..."

"Sure, Blitz," the smaller imp once more carefully cleans the radio demons relentlessly bleeding ears and wipes them as dry as possible, noticing relieved that the trick with cooling down the sinner's body actually worked, although it could be easily missed. But the new amount of blood is actually a little less than before. Meanwhile Blitz is gently, lowly talking to Alastor, actually managing to soothe him enough to keep him calm. Finally, Moxxie makes room for Stolas, who warns, "This will hurt, Alastor. I apologize in advance for that," then he very carefully spreads the tincture on the heavily bleeding wounds.

The deer-demon whines and squeezes his eyes shut, his body shaking violently due to cold and blood loss and pain and his hands slip off the rim of the bathtub, his body tipping over.

But immediately, three pair of hands hold him up.

"We've got you!" Moxxie's voice is firm, yet incredibly soft and he gives Stolas and Blitz a nod to continue with their work, while he now simply slips in behind Alastor and very carefully wraps his arms around him from behind, saying firmly, "I'm not going to hurt you, Al. I'm just holding you up, okay?"

The radio demon nods faintly and his hands search Moxxie's arms to weakly hold onto them, mutely begging him to not let go.

Of course, Moxxie doesn't.

About eight minutes later, Via has already returned with blankets and tea, Stolas' tincture actually has managed to stop the bleeding enough that Blitz decides, "Okay, let's stitch this as long as we have the chance to. Alastor, how are you holding up?"

"I-I'm...c-cold... B-But...otherwise...I'm g-good..."

"Okay. Then I'll stitch you as long as you're in there. Better safe than sorry. Stolas, I need sterile material again. Mox..." Blitz looks at his best friend, "You should get out of there. You're trembling."

But the smaller imp firmly shakes his head, "I'll stay right here for as long as Alastor. I'm not letting go of him."

Alastor smiles weakly, but shakes his head, "B-Blitz is right. You c-could catch a c-cold, M-Moxxie..."

"I survived hellfever twice. I'll survive a tiny cold if it actually comes to that. Worth the risk, as long as you feel better like this."

"Th-Thank you, Mox..." Alastor barely noticeable squeezes the small imp's arms, his eyes slowly falling shut.

"Hey! Don't get too cozy in there! Stay awake, Al!" Blitz gently slaps his cheek, "Tell me something. Anything. Tell me about how stupid I am for not following your advice on the wild-voodoo-thing, if that's the only thing on your mind at the moment."

Stolas gives Blitz a curious glance along with the sterilized needle and threat, helping his boyfriend as much as possible, making sure he has sufficient light with his magic as well.

Alastor huffs out weakly, "You r-read the book?"

"Yes," Blitz starts stitching.

"Then you kn-know what could h-happen... Why..." Alastor swallows visibly, "Why would you...r-risk so much?"