i'll add a crisp bottle of coca-cola while i'm at it.
[ God, he wishes.
Nate had the foresight to wear a thick black jacket over his otherwise stained shirt, mostly because he's already a really recognizable face and adding visible blood to that would only make public perception of him that much worse. He slinks through the back door, taking less traveled corridors, angling for Gene's usual haunt. A little unfair to pile more work on his work, but Nate said he'd comply with Gene's request to stop ignoring his minor wounds.
He finds him in a side room, off the beaten path of the more populated hallways. ]
（ nate finds him scarfin' down a sandwich, which frankly is more leisure time an' activity than he'd figured he'd get — he's already ahead of the curve, the next luxury'll be takin' a damn nap. he shoves the last (few) bites of it in his mouth an' gestures for nate to sit as he chews an' gets up to wash his hands in the small clinical sink. ）
Lose the shirt.
（ this is absolutely said around a mouthful of sandwich, suitably garbled. manners don't exist when you're running on three hours of sleep in a forty hour period. ）
[ Nate laughs, shutting the door behind him. He's utterly unbothered by Gene's bedside manner, it's a Hell of a lot more polite than Fenris was after his vampire inspection, and he shrugs the jacket free before tossing it over the back of the nearest chair. The shirt he peels off somewhat more carefully, as it sticks to the skin where the glass cut him.
The wound itself isn't bad - will heal as well as everything else generally has on Nate - but he's trying to be less cavalier about injuries post-Aerie.
It's also on the part of his shoulder he can't reach. ]
（ he points at the chair he'd vacated to get up an' get his kit an' all it entails. still obviously chewing, sorry. he's real busy.
as nate sits, he remedies that problem at long last an' then more clearly: ）
Of the two of us, you're likelier to owe me dinner, thank you kindly.
（ he rinses the wound with care, makin' sure to collect any dirt or detritus along the way. he could be doin' it with more an eye to medical protocol, but he's savin' that for folks he can't use his healin' power on. ）
[ He settles, the model patient with only the faintest of winces when Gene begins flushing out the cut for any additional fragments of glass. Usually Nate is the one performing first aid on someone else - at least, that's how it tended to happen in Hadriel - so it's actually kind of nice to be tended to like this.
Can't get used to it, though, or Gene will box his ears.
Nate huffs out an incredulous laugh at the question like it's a private joke they're both in on, before he remembers himself and fumbles a little in the explanation. ]
That's- probably not necessary, I mean- I was up to date in my previous world, but. Um. [ It comes easier to say every time he tries, more so here because he doesn't have to look Gene in the face. ] I'm kind of dead. So.
（ it's a heavy subject, an' nate ain't the first person who's said as much of their own experience in their world. but nate reminds him of soldiers, men he's served beside, an' he can guess that he ain't all that keen on bein' morose over it. even the way he'd said it, kinda irreverent an' casual like he was tryin' to talk about the weather makes him think he doesn't want a fuss. ）
Don't think it stops you from gettin' tetanus or rabies here, though, for the record, so don't you go actin' the fool about it.
[ He quips amiably, pursing his lips and nodding faintly in acknowledgement. That Gene doesn't linger on it comes as a huge relief, but Nate thinks he might attribute some of this nonchalance and wry humor to the man's former profession and former power. ]
I'll try not to roll in any rusty nails, though. Wanna keep you on my good side, I get the feeling a dressing-down from you would put the nuns at the Saint Francis Boys Home to shame.
（ it's a quiet, amused little murmur. with all due respect to the good nuns of saint francis' boys home, gene knows damn well he can make grown men quake in their boots. it's a skill he's cultivated over long years at war an' well past it. ）
Reckon they'd take issue with your tattoo before they'd cry foul over any rusty nails in your person, though.
[ It's the kind of casual statement that would have a normal person shrugging in agreement, but Nate stiffens almost immediately, frowning at the empty space in front of him. There's no reason Gene would have to say something like that if it wasn't true, but it doesn't keep Nate from blurting- ]
[ The tension is thick as he waits, sees the notification, and finally opens it. Nate has never been a tattoo guy and he doesn't remember having any in the Aerie, so it stands to reason that somebody slapped this crap on him without him knowing and- ]
Oh.
[ Yeah, that's familiar. He's probably had this the entire fucking time since he got here, and didn't know about it. Go figure. ]
...nnnnno, I didn't get it in the Aerie. It's- uh. [ Nate reaches back with his good arm, fingertips feeling for the edge of the design. It's just barely raised from the application. Old. Well-healed. ] I was in that other world, before I came to this one? Hadriel? It was like- I made the mistake of getting drunk with some Vikings that were trapped there, too. Ivar the Boneless did it after I passed out.
[ Nate opens his mouth, closes it again, and thinks for a long moment about whether that's something he actually wants. Laser tattoo removal and skin grafting have come a long way in the last five-hundred years, and while there are parts of him that bristle at how he got this damn thing, it's the only physical reminder that he was in another place before this one.
That he knew people there. That he lost them, too. ]
...nah, it's okay. It's, uh- [ His hand falls back into his lap. ] It's a memory I think I'd actually like to keep.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2021-01-20 01:15 am (UTC)[ God, he wishes.
Nate had the foresight to wear a thick black jacket over his otherwise stained shirt, mostly because he's already a really recognizable face and adding visible blood to that would only make public perception of him that much worse. He slinks through the back door, taking less traveled corridors, angling for Gene's usual haunt. A little unfair to pile more work on his work, but Nate said he'd comply with Gene's request to stop ignoring his minor wounds.
He finds him in a side room, off the beaten path of the more populated hallways. ]
...hey.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-20 01:32 am (UTC)Lose the shirt.
（ this is absolutely said around a mouthful of sandwich, suitably garbled. manners don't exist when you're running on three hours of sleep in a forty hour period. ）
no subject
Date: 2021-01-20 02:20 am (UTC)[ Nate laughs, shutting the door behind him. He's utterly unbothered by Gene's bedside manner, it's a Hell of a lot more polite than Fenris was after his vampire inspection, and he shrugs the jacket free before tossing it over the back of the nearest chair. The shirt he peels off somewhat more carefully, as it sticks to the skin where the glass cut him.
The wound itself isn't bad - will heal as well as everything else generally has on Nate - but he's trying to be less cavalier about injuries post-Aerie.
It's also on the part of his shoulder he can't reach. ]
Where d'you want me?
no subject
Date: 2021-01-21 06:24 pm (UTC)as nate sits, he remedies that problem at long last an' then more clearly: ）
Of the two of us, you're likelier to owe me dinner, thank you kindly.
（ he rinses the wound with care, makin' sure to collect any dirt or detritus along the way. he could be doin' it with more an eye to medical protocol, but he's savin' that for folks he can't use his healin' power on. ）
Had all your shots?
no subject
Date: 2021-01-22 02:23 pm (UTC)Can't get used to it, though, or Gene will box his ears.
Nate huffs out an incredulous laugh at the question like it's a private joke they're both in on, before he remembers himself and fumbles a little in the explanation. ]
That's- probably not necessary, I mean- I was up to date in my previous world, but. Um. [ It comes easier to say every time he tries, more so here because he doesn't have to look Gene in the face. ] I'm kind of dead. So.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-23 03:00 am (UTC)（ it's a heavy subject, an' nate ain't the first person who's said as much of their own experience in their world. but nate reminds him of soldiers, men he's served beside, an' he can guess that he ain't all that keen on bein' morose over it. even the way he'd said it, kinda irreverent an' casual like he was tryin' to talk about the weather makes him think he doesn't want a fuss. ）
Don't think it stops you from gettin' tetanus or rabies here, though, for the record, so don't you go actin' the fool about it.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-12 05:14 pm (UTC)[ He quips amiably, pursing his lips and nodding faintly in acknowledgement. That Gene doesn't linger on it comes as a huge relief, but Nate thinks he might attribute some of this nonchalance and wry humor to the man's former profession and former power. ]
I'll try not to roll in any rusty nails, though. Wanna keep you on my good side, I get the feeling a dressing-down from you would put the nuns at the Saint Francis Boys Home to shame.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-16 02:07 am (UTC)（ it's a quiet, amused little murmur. with all due respect to the good nuns of saint francis' boys home, gene knows damn well he can make grown men quake in their boots. it's a skill he's cultivated over long years at war an' well past it. ）
Reckon they'd take issue with your tattoo before they'd cry foul over any rusty nails in your person, though.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-16 04:04 pm (UTC)My what?
no subject
Date: 2021-02-28 12:36 am (UTC)Did you get it in the Aerie? It's a sort of — here, let me...
（ having a camera in your brain is sometimes useful. he takes a quick shot of it and fires it off to nate's id, pretty as you please. ）
no subject
Date: 2021-03-09 07:29 pm (UTC)Oh.
[ Yeah, that's familiar. He's probably had this the entire fucking time since he got here, and didn't know about it. Go figure. ]
...nnnnno, I didn't get it in the Aerie. It's- uh. [ Nate reaches back with his good arm, fingertips feeling for the edge of the design. It's just barely raised from the application. Old. Well-healed. ] I was in that other world, before I came to this one? Hadriel? It was like- I made the mistake of getting drunk with some Vikings that were trapped there, too. Ivar the Boneless did it after I passed out.
no subject
Date: 2021-03-14 07:26 pm (UTC)（ nonconsensual tattoo application: everybody's favourite pastime. gene raises his eyebrows faintly, an': ）
We can remove it if you want. They got lasers an' suchnot for that sort of thing now.
no subject
Date: 2021-03-23 02:26 am (UTC)That he knew people there. That he lost them, too. ]
...nah, it's okay. It's, uh- [ His hand falls back into his lap. ] It's a memory I think I'd actually like to keep.