(no subject)

[nicotinized]

The first thing Toshi was aware of, in a vague, almost-still-asleep sort of way, was that he was uncomfortable. He shifted, hoping it would be more comfortable and he could slip back into the embrace of sleep. Instead, it sent a spike of pain through him and he was far more decidedly awake, much to his misfortune. He still hurt, and he could actually remember why. Some inconsiderate asshole had shot him. And even if he'd missed the most important bits - heart, lungs, major arteries - getting shot still hurt like hell.

He tried to shift again, and gave up with a hiss of pain. "Fuck."

Comments

[inexecution]

He came back once it was safe, and studiously washed his hands in the sink before he even attempted to go poking at any wounds. He'd been off rifling through clothes and messing around in the kitchen, it didn't hurt to play it safe.

Then he moved over so he could look at the wound on Hijikata's back. "It looks like it's healing well, anyway."

[nicotinized]

"Hn." Toshi glanced down to the matching one on his stomach. Now that he was cooling down, some of the redness from the heat of the shower was fading. It still looked nasty - a puckered red line under sutures, and the faint shininess of scabbing and new scar tissue. It wasn't oozing anything though, which was generally a good sign.

[inexecution]

He tugged the old bandage the rest of the way off before folding it up and throwing it out. Once that was done, he dug two fresh ones out of the bag the hospital had sent along, and handed one off to Hijikata.

[nicotinized]

Toshi tenses at the sting of the bandage being pulled away, but waterlogged as it was, it hurt a hell of a lot less than it might have. He took the new one from Souji, and ripped open the package. It and the backing went into the trash - and shifting slightly to do that hurt more than pulling the dressings off had. He put the new bandage over the scabbed-over wound on this stomach, and did his best to smooth it down without pressing too hard on it.

[inexecution]

Souji opened up the bandage he was still holding, and very carefully applied it over the healing wound on Hijikata's back, careful not to aggravate the injury itself. Once that was done, he threw the packaging away.

"There we go. All better."

Well, not really. But for the moment, anyway.

[nicotinized]

The irony of 'all better' wasn't lost on Toshi, and he let out a small huff of ironic laughter. Which hurt, a little, but not as much as moving around had, and he managed to not wince. He'd already worried Souji enough with this mess - he was going to do his best to avoid alarming him even more.

Though even just showering felt like it had taken most of his energy, which precluded doing anything more questionable or concerning. Not doing anything actually seemed like a great idea, right now.

"...God, I always forget how much this sucks."

[inexecution]

"Mm." He makes a little noise in commiseration. He's never been shot, or even seriously injured on accident, but he'd had plenty of surgery to recover from over the years.

"Maybe this time it'll stick, so you can avoid doing it again." He's just teasing--it was in no way Hijikata's fault that someone had shot him, but making light of it made it a little easier to cope with. He hadn't even let himself consider worst case scenarios... it was something he just didn't want to think about.

[nicotinized]

"I don't get shot on purpose," Toshi protests, with more insistence than is really necessary. "Or have buildings collapse on me, or fall down stairs..." He realizes he's rambling - probably the painkillers at work - and cuts himself off abruptly. After a moment, he adds, "...sorry," a little more meekly.

[inexecution]

That actually makes Souji laugh a little, which is... nice. It makes this all a little better. "I know you don't." And then he pauses. "When did you fall down stairs?" That wasn't exactly on par with the getting shot or blown up, really...

[nicotinized]

It's good to hear Souji laugh, even if it's at his expense.

"I was eleven - broke my collarbone in two places and gave myself a bad concussion. My brothers...weren't happy." Though with the benefit of time, he could understand why. He'd been screwing around and not being careful, and medical care wasn't cheap.

"Not as big a deal as some of the later stuff, but it was pretty memorable."

[inexecution]

"Oh no..." He covered his mouth with one hand, because really, he shouldn't laugh at that, but it was a little humorous to think about how much trouble Hijikata must have caused his family as a child. "I guess that's why they fuss so much." He knew it was a little exasperating for Hijikata, but it had to be nice, having people who cared that much.

[nicotinized]

"I guess..." Growing up, he'd resented it, but as he got older, he started to understand where they were coming from. Particularly after Souji had moved in with him - he tried to be less overt in his worrying but... he still worried. "I probably would have been less reckless if they hadn't been so overbearing about it, though."

[inexecution]

He gives Hijikata a slightly skeptical look, because he doesn't for a minute believe he'd actually have behaved himself better. He was fairly restrained most of the time now, but the man still had his moments. The fact that Souji was even there was a testament to that. But he'll let him keep that illusion if he wants.

"Did you want to go back to your room, or did you want to try the sofa for awhile." They could chat either place, and both were probably preferable to sitting in the bathroom.

[nicotinized]

Toshi meets Souji's skeptical look with one of silent defiance, though he manages to keep himself from arguing over it. It would be childish, which would only serve to support Souji's point. And pointing out that Souji couldn't really understand the dynamics between siblings would be a pretty low-blow.

His expression shifts back to his more typical vaguely-annoyed neutral as he considers Souji's question. "Sofa." He's pretty sure if he goes back to his room, he'll just fall asleep again, and while he's tired, he's not quite ready to call it a day yet.

[inexecution]

Souji just smiles at that look of defiance--in part just to be annoying, but also because this makes him genuinely happy. This was what Hijikata was supposed to be like, not the doped-up version that had hardly seemed aware of his presence at all.

"Okay." He moves to help him up--he's not going to let him walk that distance unaided. He knows the livingroom is going to look almost neurotically tidy to Hijikata, and will probably say far too much about how he's been coping, but right now, he doesn't care, because Hijikata is up and alert, and that's all that really matters now.

[nicotinized]

After the rest of the evening, Toshi knows better than to refuse or argue with Souji on the matter - as frustrating as it is, he'd probably wind up flat on his face two steps in. And arguing just draws out the whole discussion and makes his eventual concession all the more embarrassing. Better to accept with grace and keep this as short as possible. He takes Souji's shoulder - steady and solid, despite their difference in size - and leverages himself up, pausing to wait for the momentary light-headedness to pass once he's upright.

The living room gets a raised eyebrow from him when they enter - he can't remember the last time he actually saw the surface of that end table. "Get bored?"

[inexecution]

If he hadn't been helping hold Hijikata up, Souji would have shrugged a little at the observation.

"Well, I had a lot of free time. And watching you sleep isn't very entertaining."

Usually, there was enough going on in their lives that he didn't notice the state of the apartment beyond 'mostly tidy,' but without anything else to distract him, the little things had become noticeable, and in some ways, he supposed, he'd never quite re-calibrated his standards to fit life outside Eden's tidy labs.

[nicotinized]

"Hn." Toshi can't complain too much about free cleaning - he usually manages a bare minimum, so they aren't surrounded by dirty dishes and stacks of files, but it's not much beyond that, and he's pretty sure if he he bent over to pick up a plate right now, he'd probably topple over. Plus, the idea of Souji just sitting watching him sleep makes him feel about equal parts guilty and creeped out.

He makes his way carefully to the sofa, though when he sits it's just short of a controlled fall. The sofa is old and ugly, but comfortable, which is why he still has it, and it's a lot more comfortable than sitting up in bed was.

"Should've marathoned some movies or something."

[inexecution]

"I tried, but it got boring after awhile." And he'd had a lot of time to fill. He didn't sleep much as a general rule, and he hadn't wanted to leave the apartment more than was absolutely necessary while Hijikata was still asleep.

[nicotinized]

Toshi rolls his eyes a little. "Only you would get bored with literal years of entertainment on tap." His tone is only mock-sarcastic, though, the jab a friendly one. He's well-aware that probably ninety percent of what's available is garbage, and staring at the wall would be more engaging. Though going so far as to clean instead was maybe a bit much, from his point of view.

"So - what have I missed?"

[inexecution]

"Hmmm. That's possible."

It was also just hard to focus on some invented story when there was real-life drama happening. But he wasn't going to admit how worried he'd been, and he was pretty sure Hijikata would rather not know, anyway.

"Other than fending off your relatives? Not much. I suppose the police will want to talk to you, eventually."

[nicotinized]

Toshi groans - the noise clearly one of frustration rather than physical discomfort. "God. I'm sorry you had to deal with that, Jiro is completely insufferable when he's worried about something." He knows it was probably the hospital that contacted them, and not Souji - and he can admit that was the right thing to do, but convincing his brother that this was an anomaly and not a regular occurence was goiing to be a pain in the ass. As for the rest of what Souji had said...

"What have you told the police so far?" Because people showing up at the hospital with gunshot wounds was reason enough for questions.

[inexecution]

"It's all right. They just care about you, that's all." Souji couldn't fault Hijikata's family for their worries, even if it did make him acutely aware of the odd position he occupied in Hijikata's life. Still, he'd managed to convince them to let him take care of things, which he considered a fairly decent accomplishment.

"I didn't tell them very much. Just what we were doing at the time, and that I mostly did paperwork for you, so I didn't know any details." Which had gotten him some skeptical looks from the cops, but he was pretty sure he'd at least been convincing enough to prevent them trying to dig into his background. "I figured it was better if I didn't get too involved."