Regeneration - [Rina]

[Anonymous]

Loki sipped at his coffee as he made his way down to his call at A&E. They liked putting him there because he could deal with most things in the amount of time it took to lug the more complicated machinery to someone’s bedside and operate it. When he was fresh, Loki was faster than most tissue regenerators, which were rather tedious and clumsy to use anyway. At least to him. He hadn’t had to deal with anything major yet. A couple of fractures, one head trauma, one paralytic Pilot. Though the urgency of the message was a little ominous. He probably wouldn’t feel so energetic after this haul.

The screen flashed and he was updated once again. With a name. Sabela.

Ooooh, barrel of laughs she would be. He generally avoided her, simply because she had a reputation and he wanted to preserve his own. Loki liked to keep his composure, give all the appearance of being witty and sophisticated, a nice person to be around. He tried to avoid people who were detrimental to it, people who might prove him otherwise. He generally succeeded. Well … there was Liv but that was different. And complicated. Probably special was a better word for it. Spethal.

Maybe this would give him a good start, being the one who would relieve her pain and all. Sort of like she would be in his debt, therefore would be nicer. Spare his pride. That sort of thing. He chucked his coffee cup in a bin as he walked. He made a detour to grab a tray of painkillers since he knew he’d be needing them, before he made it to his destination.

Loki stepped through the curtain and found her laying on the bed. He gave her the once over, taking in the amount of trauma she had suffered. He wondered what approached would keep her the most pacified. Cheerful and joking would probably irritate her a lot. He settled upon aloof and professional, hoping it would appear more impressive.

Except finding out exactly how serious the injuries were and what was broken to what extent was going to be a problem. Considering it would involve deferring pain treatment and psychic intrusion. She probably wouldn’t appreciate that. First of all, he needed to know what happened. Then he could know what to scan for specifically when he sensed out her body.

“Oh dear. What have you been up to?” he sighed. “What exactly happened? It'll make diagnosis a lot less painful the more detailed you are.”

[Anonymous]

To say Sabela was not happy was an understatement. To say Sabela was seriously angry would still be an understatement. The fact she hadn't killed someone was a testament to her self control and the fact that her ribs hurt like hell and she was pretty sure her collarbone was broken.

There was a field patch stuck to her neck, where that fucker of a vampire had sunk his teeth into her neck and ripped. She was not much of a combat monster and Sabela had gotten messed up a lot worse then she wanted to think about.

The question got a glare from the Pilot, green hair half fallen from it's pins and hanging around her face, "Are you serious? What kind of stupid ass question is that? I got sent on a FUBAR mission, found a fucking vampire and! Wow! It tried to fucking EAT ME!" The extra volume caused Sabela to wince, letting out a hiss of pain, her pretty features twisting.

"Fuck. Where the fuck are the painkillers? And what exactlly happened is I have a broken collarbone, my ribs hurt like a son of a bitch and some asshole tried to rip my throat out with his teeth. Now give me something that will make it stop hurting!" Sabela was not very pleasant at the best of times, let alone injured, frightened and exhausted.

[Anonymous]

Loki refrained from rolling his eyes. It wasn’t a stupid question, no one ever told him these things and he had to go find them out himself. He could tell this was going to be fun dealing with her.  He put the tray of drugs down on the trolley beside him so that he could cross his arms in mock thoughtfulness and wait for the angry yelling to end. He kept an ear out for her suspected injuries, listing them in his head and trying to map out possible processes.  At some point during the shouting, a baby started crying. He nearly laughed and had to bite his lip lightly to prevent himself from doing so.

“You’re a big girl, you can handle it a little longer,” failing to keep the condescension completely out of his voice. There was no drama to be made, she would be fine. Sure, she was in pain, but it was an impermanence. He looked her over, deciding where he could place his hands without hurting her, and preferably away from the face because he didn’t put it past an irritated patient biting him.

He took her left hand in both of his. This was going to be uncomfortable for him. He sent out his senses into her body, sharing her awareness and also feeling the minute nuances of her system. Consequently, he also got a head whack of her pain. It was dulled slightly, simply because he retained an affinity over his own body on the two realities overlapped, but his chest area started to ache awfully, echoing Sabela’s own hurts. He tried to conduct his work efficiently. He confirmed three cracked ribs- she was lucky not to have punctured a lung. Not too bad. However, the collarbone was a more complex break and he’d have to set it before forcing her body to repair itself quickly. It was more work than he could do in one sitting and he’d probably have to call on some machines for help. There was no uncontrollable haemorrhaging, despite some of the nastier looking bruises and her blood loss didn’t require immediate action.

What he was worried about though were the pathogens beginning to swarm around the wound on her neck. He could sense her immune system responding and it had a hold on things for now, but if it got any worse then he might have start a course of antibiotics, which he wanted to avoid if possible. He’d probably start there.

He retreated out of her system and felt the pain fall away refreshingly. “I’ll be starting you on the painkillers, then I’m going to start on your neck to stop any infection setting in. I won’t be able to completely sort your bones out right now. Too much work. I’ll get most of it done, but them I’m going to have to hook you up to a machine for the rest of the night to finish the job. You should be ready to leave by tomorrow evening,” he informed her casually. He didn’t give off any air of urgency.  

He set up her IV, but stopped short of shoving the needle into her hand. He usually didn’t bother asking if his patients were afraid of needles unless they were small children or pretty people he wanted to hit on, he just stuck them in. Though he felt he might get some physical abuse if he did so with her. “You’re fine with needles, right?” he asked cautiously.

[Anonymous]

The sound of the baby crying had Sabela scowling, "For fucks sake. Can you get that thing to shut up?" The fact that it was her fault didn't matter and she was in enough pain that she didn't care. His comment that she could handle the pain a little longer got him another dark look, her pale blue eyes shooting daggers at Loki. But she didn't argue. There wasn't a point.

While Sabela was a bitch, she was also a Pilot. She carefully dropped some of her shields, letting Loki in to feel out what was wrong with her. None of the pain was so awful she couldn't handle it, but she felt like one giant, throbbing bruise. Which was rather accurate. The sensation of Loki's scan was rather unpleasant, Sabela hated having anyone that intimate.

As soon as he was done, Sabela pulled her hand away, her expression making it obvious she found touching him distasteful, "Painkillers would be nice." Her tone made it clear she felt those should have been administered a while ago, "Was I right? About what's broken?" For all she knew, she could have been wrong. The whole thing had happened fast and the pain made it hard to really concentrate. The collarbone shifted every time she moved, sending waves of sharp pain through her.

"Oh fuck me. I had better not get some fucking infection from some disgusting, flea ridden blood junkie!" Sabela was pissed again. She did not want to have to go on antibiotics. Every time she did, without fail, she got a damned yeast infection. One would think modern science would figure out how to not do that. But no. She scowled again, this time at the bed, "Fuck today sucks."

Then she sighed, dropping her head back and closing her eyes, "Needles are fine. Hurry up and stick it in. I really want this pain to stop. Will it put me to sleep?" Sleeping sounded lovely. Today had been a really, really long fucking day.

[Anonymous]

Carefully, to try and avoid getting shouted at- seeing as the baby’s crying had just stopped, he took Sabela’s hand and located the blue slither of a vein. He guided the needle in to lie just under her skin. He immobilised it with surgical tape, before taking a hypodermic needle filled with analgesic and inserting it to the white port of the IV bag. It would be in her bloodstream quickly, hopefully mellowing her out by the time he got round to fixing her bones. Because that was not going to be a comfortable experience at all for either of them.

He looked around for a stool and hooked his foot under it to drag it over to him. He sat down, flinging out an arm to pull the trolley towards him.  He put on some gloves before removing the dressing on Sabela’s neck. They had taken the time to clean it, but not as thoroughly as it needed. He figured they’d done all they could in a field situation. The wound looked angry, flesh inflamed and exposed. As they dressing came away, it started bleeding again. Calmly, he staunched the oozing blood flow with a swab before taking up a cloth soaked in saline solution to clean it up.

“This is going to sting a bit,” he warned, before descending on his work. He doused the wound with the solution, catching and clearing away the excess with the swab. After a while, when it was cleaned to his satisfaction, he dropped the bloodied materials back on the trolley and removed his gloves, reaching for Sabela’s hand again.

He proceeded as he would in a scan, though this time took over. This was his replacement for telekinesis; a mixture of mage abilities and the ability to exert his will over parts of the body. Selective telekinesis perhaps. He encouraged the platelets to clot, stopping the bleeding. He then stimulated the proliferative phase at an alarming rate- one that would tire her as well as him. The needed cells gathered and produced and died as they were needed, all accelerated. Blood vessels repaired, tissue began to reform. He couldn’t see, he always closed his eyes to concentrate, be more aware of the other person than of himself. He could sense it all happening.

He repaired the dermis only; it would be enough to stop anything getting into her system. The epidermis could regenerate of its own accord. If he repaired that too, he wouldn’t have the concentration to repair her ribs. He opened his eyes and looked at the translucent layer of skin, immediately pleased with himself. He took a few moments to recuperate.

Time to break the bad news. “I’ve administered heavy duty opiates but you’re going to have to steel yourself,” he said, with a half-hearted, not-very-apologetic shrug. “This next bit is going to hurt like a bitch.” Rapid skin regeneration was uncomfortable as it was, but rapid bone repair was on another level. When you reduce the time, you concentrate the pain.  He looked at Sabela, with slight disappointment. He supposed she'd hate him for doing his job. Unfair really- he’d like a sporting chance. Never mind.

He moved his position, strategically. He placed his fingertips to her upper arm- if he stayed holding her hand, she might squeeze in pain and distract him. He shuffled his stool a couple of inches. “When you’re ready.”

[Anonymous]

Sabela didn't yell at Loki, which was an impressive amount of restraint on her part. She did hiss slightly as the needle slid into her arm, her bright blue eyes narrowed and sending daggers at the healer until the painkiller hit her system. Her eyes closed, her face relaxing and quite a bit of the tension left her body.

It didn't kill all the pain, but it was enough that Sabela felt human again. She could think around the pain now, focus her thoughts on something other then the burning pain throbbing through her body, "Finally you can do something right. And you had better not leave scars."

She had been magically healed a few times before and it was never a nice experience, though every healer seemed to work a different way. But she did know enough to shut up. There was no point in messing with his concentration. And Sabela was a bitch, not stupid. She could wear her Pilot hat when she needed too.

The cleaning of her neck got a swear word out of her though, her body twitching slightly under Loki's hand. And it earned him another dirty look, but mostly she kept her eyes glued to some metal jar that sat on a shelf. She didn't want to see what was happening. It itched badly and she felt no need to gross herself out watching her skin grow back.

Though his warning had her carefully turning, not wanting to jar her collarbone as she stared at Loki. She actually paled a little, though it was hard to tell with her perfectly maintained white skin. Sabela really wasn't much of a fan of physical pain and while she could push through it in the field, sitting in a hospital bed, where things were supposed to get better, supposed to make the pain stop...she wasn't looking forward to it.

But there wasn't much of a choice, so she gave a short nod, "I hope my screaming my head off wont be a problem. Because I don't think I will be able to stop myself."

[Anonymous]

“That won’t be a problem,” he said, easily, not really looking at her. He was used to drowning things out in this environment, and it was rather easy to do when one was about to immerse themselves into another being. His face settled into a grim determination- he would catch the faint echoes of some of her pain, an unpleasant experience. It would be more than a jolt than anything. But he would be better off than Sabela at least.

He started again, sending his consciousness out to meld with hers. He was once again immersed in the overwhelming detail of her body, right till where he could feel the miniscule changes so well that he might as well be able to see it occurring. He concentrated on her ribs, settling on the top most to begin his work. It had been several hours. The bones were already in their inflammation stage, forming granulation tissue. A little less work on his part. He accelerated the process. The formation of the tissue was completed. And then he concentrated about two weeks worth of healing into the space of a few minutes. A dull ache appeared, remotely, in his own body, but it was indistinct. He wasn’t sure where it had appeared. Hyaline cartilage and woven bone connected between the breaks. He repeated the process for all of her ribs, but had to stop short of actually completely healing the bone. At least it would heal properly now when he hooked her to the machines.

He worked on setting Sabela’s collarbone, the most mammoth of his tasks. It was an awkward break. At least it was a clean break, but he had to nudge her bone into place before he could carry out sealing the gap the same way he had done with her ribs. And it was a bigger gap. He could feel his energy being slowly sapped and was aware of the same thing happening to Sabela. She would be exhausted after this.

After twenty minutes, he was done. He slumped forward slightly in his seat, removing his hand from her arm and wiping a sweaty brow with the back of it. He couldn’t continue- he still had to preserve enough energy to make it through the next three hours of his shift. Plus he was sure he had completely exhausted Sabela’s protein. She’d need topping up.

“Can you bring the Regen Machine down please? And some milk. Lots of it. Oh, and vitamin supplements,” he asked a nurse. She nodded once and moved off. Loki took the time to rest, hand massaging where the phantom pains were receding.

“How are you feeling?” he couldn’t resist asking, lips quirked to one side as he spoke.

[Anonymous]

Sabela managed to get though the ribs well enough, keeping her lower lip clamped between her teeth, eyes squeezed shut. After a while, the pain just seemed to blur together, a constant throbbing in her chest. She was a big girl, a Pilot and everything. She could handle this.

Then the son of a bitch decided it was time to mess with her collarbone. Sabela tried to control herself, but the bone sliding back into place was too much for her. Her leg twitched, kicking against the bed and she let out a scream. Even that hurt more, moving her ribs as she took in the air for it. But she couldn't stop it.

Perfect nails dug into the bed sheets and she could feel tears running down her cheeks. And she really didn't care right now. Sabela had never been one to handle pain with grace. And it hurt. Though she didn't scream again, biting down on her lip again. Enough to split it, the warm copper taste of blood filling her mouth. It gave her something to focus on other then the pain.

By the time he had finished, Sabela was pale and sweating, panting against the bed. His question got him a dark glare as she licked the blood from her lip, "Well, I feel like shit. What the fuck do you expect? Roses and sunshine?"

[Anonymous]

Loki smiled, not because of her suffering, rather because now he was more likely to be less abused. She had gotten through the worst of the pain. There were no more trials for her. In that case, if he could tell Sabela that was so, then maybe, just maybe, she’s be a little more appreciative. There was only so long he would be relatively pleasant and nice to her before he’d give up from a lack of results. He ran a hand through his hair absentmindedly.

“Oh Sabela, I have always come to expect roses and sunshine from you,” he said with mock sincerity. “Cheer up, you’re high strung for someone who’s drugged. Anyway, that’s the worst of it. Everything else will feel a bit achy at worst.”

He looked over her though, noticed the pallor. He could have been gentler, tender, but that would hinder his efficiency. He wouldn’t be telling her that anytime soon.  He noticed the blood on her lip and slowly moved for a swab to mop it up. He got to his feet tiredly and leaned in, cleaning the blood away carefully.

“I can fix that for you too,” he offered. He kept his voice neutral- he was fairly sure she would prefer to professionalism and probably wouldn’t take well to him appearing to do her a favour. Favours always implied debt. He was very much hoping for a ‘yes please’ at this point, though there was a niggling at the back of his mind that suggested he was very naïve for holding out such hope. He might as well ask too. He would have to wait until the nurse returned with the machine and the dietary requests, and he’d rather not pass it in strained and uneasy silence. He also wanted her to be in a good mood for when he started hooking her up to the machine. “Only if you want, though.”

[Anonymous]

"Give me some more drugs and maybe I will be less high strung." Sabela grinned at Loki. She flinched slightly as she relaxed into the pillows. She felt sore all over, like she had worked out for hours the day before. She just needed to relax, let the drugs dull everything.

She watched him, wondering what he was doing. The wound on her lip was so minor compared to all the other ones, she hadn't really thought much about it. And that a doctor might want to take care of it. She jerked slightly, surprised by the touch on her face, the drugs making her reflexes slow.

Having a broken collarbone meant she couldn't shrug. Though she habitually attempted too and gave a hiss of pain. That was not a good idea, "Argh. Whatever. It's fine." Right then she really didn't give a rats ass about it. Though the feeling of his hand in her face was rather nice. And he wasn't bad looking. It was almost a shame she was too messed up to take advantage of that, "It'll heal just fine on it's own. Thank you for the offer."

[Anonymous]

Not so prickly anymore now, was she? Success. He smiled amiably and removed the swab when he staunched the bleeding. “As you wish,” he replied, even daring to move a few stray strands of sweaty hair out of her face. He couldn’t resist, even if it wasn’t exactly professional. “I’ll try and get you a sponge bath at some point too. You must be dying for one,” he added; she’d probably be feeling quite grubby, not a nice feeling. One he loathed personally. He dumped the soiled swab into the relevant bin on the trolley. He then moved languidly to the foot of the bed to make a few notes- time he had administered the painkillers and the amount he had given. What had been wrong. Nature of the treatment. What had been fixed. He tapped in the information quickly before returning to his stool by her side.

His requests eventually appeared- a beast of a machine about as tall as him, milk, and a lot of different coloured pills. The nurse lay down her burden on a tray over Sabela’s bed. He went about setting up the machine, booting it up and inputting its tasks. He specified what tissues would be required, and when the machine was hooked up to her system, it would stimulate her body to produce it as he had done. Though the machine was slower, it also wasn’t as draining, for the both of them. When she was attached to it through several electrodes so that the machine could sync with her and ‘communicate’ with her body, Loki’s duties were done. “You’ll need to drink that and take those. Repair requires a lot of resources-”

His handheld began making a fuss in his pocket. He refrained from rolling his eyes at the beeping, taking it up and looking at the screen. Stage One Candidate. Prepping for lung reconstruction, scheduled in an hour and a half. Better rest up, it’ll be a big job. Take a break, food and caffeine. You’ll be there for a while.

Ngh. For a moment, the task seemed so daunting that Loki just sat down, unable to find the motivation to move over to the break room or find Astrophel to hook up to the Network. He was tired, content to sit there. He looked over at Sabela. He never really took time to remember that his patients were people. He wondered why he never did- he could hide behind people that way. Just let the pressure melt away for a few blissful moments. Forget he’d probably have to go see to some poor mangled up kid. Lung reconstruction usually occurred alongside broken ribs. Multiple punctures no doubt.

It was all very morbid. Terribly serious. It felt like it was eating at him a little. At least it wasn’t boring, generally … but it still drained at him. He looked over at Sabela and smiled weakly. “Well, I’ll be hanging around a while. Any requests?”

[Anonymous]

Sabela didn't even snap when Loki brushed the hair out of her face. Those drugs must be working. The pain had faded enough that she could easily handle it and the memory of her healing was also vanishing, "Ohh. Gods yes. I want a bath. Desperately." She felt foul and dirty and covered in grime and blood.

The sight of the nurse and the milk picked Sabela up a little and she smiled, shifting to sit up a little on the bed, wincing a little. Her body was drained and she was craving that milk. Her hand was shaky as she picked it up, taking the pills as she watched Loki.

Bad news apparently. The doctor looked only slightly better then she felt. Sabela swallowed another pill, lifting an eyebrow as she ignored the huge machine and concentrated on Loki. She had been hooked up to that beast before, "What happened? That's got you sticking around here. Just that exciting to see me in pain? Or is it in the hopes you'll get to see the sponge bath?"

[Anonymous]

“Oh you got me there,” he said, holding his hands up in fake confession. “It’s your wonderful presence, I can’t resist it. Though sponge baths aren’t really that sexy. Lots of negative connotations, mostly involving old people.” You didn’t generally get pretty invalids. Naturally, people in a hospital did tend to look just a bit sick. Surprise, surprise. He slipped his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “I just got scheduled in for some major repairs later and I need a little downtime, that’s all. Since I’m here, well, no point leaving my seat.”

“Just as well, you can’t connect for at least half an hour,” Astrophel interjected. Loki shrugged mentally. An hour of Network surfing would set him well enough till the end of the day. He didn’t know how much energy he would have to expend on the repair yet.

He crossed his arms, wondering what to say, and in the end couldn't help but eventually be distracted by the idea of Sabela and a sponge bath. He could watch. Hell, he could probably offer to do it himself. It wasn’t exactly what could be constituted as a rest, but it wasn’t work either. Leisure? He wouldn’t object to a bit of leisure.

“So, Sabela, it appears I’m quite at your disposal,” he added. He gave a lopsided smile. “Your distraction is welcome.” And distraction wasn’t a euphemism for her assets. He genuinely wanted to forget about work for a moment. Though … her assets could fairly be dubbed a distraction.

[Anonymous]

Sabela snorted at that, finishing off her glass of milk and running her tongue over her lips, making sure she didn't have a milk-stash. She already looked like she had been hit by a truck, or beaten up by a vampire, really didn't need to add awkward dairy product placement to that.

"I can't say I have ever given or received a sponge bath before." Sabela gave a small shudder, "Ugh. I hate old people. It's just gross. Thank gods I'm a Pilot. I'll get to die young and pretty."

Giving a small laugh, Sabela settled back into her pillows, feeling rather pleasant with the drugs flowing through her. Could almost forget about the broken bones and torn up neck, "As utterly tempting it is to have you at my disposal, I really don't think I'm in much condition to do much oh anything." Sabela lifted on eyebrow, dyed the same green as her hair, "Unless you wanted to give that bath a try."

[Anonymous]

Loki smiled vaguely, pleasantly. “Oh yes, that can be arranged. Nurse- could you sort out a sponge bath for the young lady. Much obliged?” While he spoke, he couldn’t help observing how nice she was being. Relatively. Maybe she should be drugged up more often. It mellowed her out sufficiently. He should keep a ready supply in hand should he ever have to cooperate with her. Perhaps that was nigh on creepy.

Loki shrugged off his white coat and hung it over the stool. He took off the stethoscope hanging around his neck and laid it to one side. It was always like he was relinquishing his role as a doctor when he did that. He reverted to normal. And he wanted to be normal. He couldn’t flirt when he was trying to be really professional. Flirting in this situation was still slightly dubious-

A distant scoff. Rather alien thoughts that gave the abstract form of a scoff. Astrophel again. “My thoughts exactly.”

Loki smiled psychically, letting slip a wave of amusement. “Not technically on the job. I’ll see you in half an hour.”

A strange nuance formed itself into the semblance of a ‘hmph’ before the dragon flitted out of his surface thoughts. He unconsciously scratched at the skin around his ports a little longingly, but then swept the gesture up to arrange his hair.

The nurse reappeared with water and a sponge. Loki stood up quickly from his seat and blocked her path. “Here, let me take that.”

She looked bemused. “But-“

“You shan’t be needed. Unless of course,” he looked over his shoulder, “Pilot Llown protests your going.” Refrain from winking- he should keep a steady gaze. It wouldn’t be unlike Sabela to ruin someone’s fun. Still, he couldn’t quite hide the slight twitch of a smile at the corner of his mouth.

[Anonymous]

Things were feeling much better for Sabela, the pain fading as the drugs continued to work their magic on her. And as long as she didn't move to much, she didn't jar her ribs or collar painfully. And really, a nice ego stroking and getting a decent looking man to put his hands all over her were always a plus in her book.

"Oh, no. By all means Nurse, leave." Her eyes didn't leave Loki, trailing over him. Really, it was a shame she wasn't up to much. Though, who knew how she might feel. And there were always other options. Get a little sample to hold her over until she was healed.

She must be drugged if Loki was looking good. He hung out with Liv all the time and Liv had been one of the biggest mistakes in her life. But honestly, right now she didn't care much. She carefully sat up, moving slow and smooth to keep from moving her ribs to much, "I'll need help out of my clothes." They were so trashed, Sabela was looking forward to getting them off. And getting all the grim off was sounding like heaven.

[Anonymous]

The nurse seemed reluctant but eventually did nod and leave them to it. Loki was a little but surprised that she was feeling up to a sponge bath at all. He wouldn’t be surprised if she ended up falling asleep during his attentions. Hopefully she would remember him anyway.

His eyebrows rose slightly, betraying his satisfaction. “Help you say? Well, I can hardly deny a patient in need,” he responded lightly. And many minutes ago, he had forecast this to be hell. It was turning out rather well. What a salvage. Loki moved over to grab ad curtain and slowly walked around the perimeter. The curtain rings sang along the rail distinctly, pleasantly, and then stopped. The space was dimmer, closed and intimate. Though the crystalline smell of disinfectant lingered- they couldn’t altogether escape the fact they were still in a hospital.

He reached over to the trolley again and recovered some scissors. He started removing Sabela’s ruined and soiled shirt, which clung to her frame like another skin. He peeled it off and disposed of it. It was hard to not treat it like another job. Another chore. He should be enjoying this. But it was the environment- he was so used to viewing human anatomy dispassionately. He needed to remind himself that he was allowed to appreciate Sabela- she had pretty much granted him that.

So. Yeah. Stop thinking about work.

He rolled up his shirt sleeves and picked up the sponge. He sat on the edge of the bed. He started with her arms- no point jumping right in. He free hand held her hand while he carefully began to lift away the dirt from the skin on her forearm with tepid water. It was strangely calming work, he found. It soothed him, being able to focus on something not too demanding.

He looked up momentarily and smiled at her. “Nice to see you’re relaxed,” he commented casually. He dipped the sponge back into the water and wrung it out. “Finally.” He moved onto the other arm and finished that quite quickly. Now he had the opportunity to be a lot more leisurely. “Sit on the edge of the bed for me, if you can,” he said. “So I can do your back.”

[Anonymous]

The sharp scent of hospital was a bit of a mood killer for Sabela. That scent of dying, disease and disinfectant. But not enough of one for her to want to stop. The nurse just got one of Sabela's death glares until she left. She was not letting some fat cow ruin her spot of joy in this moment of hell.

Besides, she hadn't really been looking forward to that woman's sausage fingers being all over her. She watched Loki close off the curtain's, lightly chewing on her lip. It was nicer in the dimmer light, more intimate. And the drugs were helping her feel floaty and comfortable.

The scissors were cold against her skin, causing Sabela to shiver a little. As her clothes came away, revealing her slender, tight upper body, she watched Loki's face, wanting to enjoy the reaction there. And was rather disappointed. The man had his blank doctor face on. Rude! She tilted her head, shifting her body a little, which while hurt like a bitch, gave Loki a better look, "Am I boring you?"

The sponge on her skin felt like heaven. She hadn't realized how very dirty she felt until Loki started washing it away. Her eyes closed and Sabela started to untense a bit more, making a pleased sound back in her throat.

His comment had her opening one eye to glance at him, "You get mauled by a vampire on what should have been a simple mission, let's see how relaxed you are." She gave him a smile before carefully shifting to the edge of the bed, hissing slightly as she jarred her torso. It wasn't too bad though and she settled back down, giving Loki her back, "It feels so good to get all that dirt off. Pure heaven."

[Anonymous]

Loki smiled, glad she was appreciating this. “Nice to see you’re enjoying it,” he replied, hints of amusement entering his voice. He moved behind her, settling with his legs crossed near the centre of the bed. He placed a hand on her shoulder gently, working the sponge over her skin slowly with the other. He was starting to relax too, almost in sync with her. He was sort of forgetting where he was. The curtain filtered, took the edge off the harsh lights. And he had left the lamp over her bed off. Outside sounds were upstaged by the sound of water. And then there was Sabela. It was because he moved onto the back, which he always found strangely sensual. Must be the lines, the curve of muscles lying under the skin. And the waist, which was always so perfect to place his hands-

It was strange to thing this was the most caring gesture he had given all day. He was getting a little too used to austerity. He wondered, idly if she was relaxed enough to be lenient towards him. He figured with the noises she’d been making, he was safe. He’d finished her back and uncrossed his legs, sidling up close to her, until he back was nestled next to his chest. He carefully rested his chin on her shoulder, bringing his arms around to start cleaning her collarbone. He placed the tip of the sponge at the hollow of her neck.

He didn’t want her jolting away in worry. “I’ll be gentle,” he said quietly. And tentatively as possible, he began to remove the dirt around her neck and the front of her shoulders.

[Anonymous]

Sabela responded to a comment with a pleased sound, eyes still closed. She was enjoying this. She hadn't expected it to feel this nice and the sponge sliding over her back was quite sensual.

And no small part of her enjoyment was the raw ego boost from it. Knowing that even beat up, she still was good looking. And she was quite proud of her back. Her lack of breasts wasn't noticeable from behind and her lean frame was well toned, her skin unblemished and a uniform porcelain color.

The contact of his chest against her back got a smile from her, one eye opening. He was a bold one, but she didn't mind at the moment. Leaning back, Sabela rested her back against him, making another small, pleased sigh, "Mmmm. Alright."

She couldn't help but tense a little as the sponge slid over the wounded area. Even the lightest touch sent a small jolt of pain through her. But it wasn't that bad and getting clean was worth it, "You have some talented hands."