"I'm fine, I'm fine" Lukas insisted, but the pain in his voice told otherwise, "Just got in a fight with a newspaper stand is all" he joked with a tight smile, holding the napkins to his wounds, "Enough about me, the fuck was that guy's problem?" He asked, referring to Lincoln
"Well the stand clearly won. Jesus christ let me see." Griff gently held Lukas' hand and peeled back the napkins gently, doing his best to not cause anymore pain. His brows furrowed with concern as he carefully examined the wounded hand. "Ill have to have Eddy look at it. Theres glass stuck in there and i dont have tweezers on me." Griff did his best to remove some shards, and once he felt iit was sufficient, he quickly tore off a chunk of his shirt and gingerly wrapped it around Lukas' hand. Turning on the car, Griff drove home as quickly as possible, "Just ignore him. Theres bad blood between us. Thats all." Said Griff in response to the question.
Lukas winced as he pulled out some of the glass, though he didn't protest. He laid the hand on his lap, choosing to keep his mouth shut on the matter. His uninjured hand slid into his jacket pocket, fingering the card inside. He'd have to find a payphone or something later
As he drove, Griffs mind kept replaying the scenario. He'd actually hurt Lincoln. Realizing his hands were shaking, he gripped the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were white. While it did stop his hands, the shaking seemed to crawl up his arms and into his chest. Dear god he actually hurt someone he used to care about! His heart raced as his panic grew and grew, but what would have happened to Lukas if he didnt grab Link? His mind ran and ran and ran, even though he looked mostly calm on the outside, inside he was in the midst of a panic attack. What ifs sped through his mind. What if id seriously injured him. What if i didnt stop. What if i hurt Lukas. Griff did his best to breathe through his nose calmly, but it was still quick and short breaths. He let out a quiet ans shaky one before finally speaking, "Thank you. For pulling him off me." It was quiet, but sincere.
Lukas turned to look at him, a frown forming on his features, "Yeah, no problem" he replied, just as quietly, "Anytime" the blonde gently reached a hand out and laid it on the other man's arm, "You alright?" He murmured, noticing the tension in his voice and actions
Griff practically jumped throught the roof of the car when Lukas touched his arm. "Yeah. I'm fine." He swallowed hard, trying to forced the negative feelings down. "Just…a little shaken thats all." He could physically feel his chest shaking.
Lukas frowned, "Pull over, man," he said, "Seriously, you need a moment" he'd seen shit like this on the street and in bars. This wasn't just shaken up, "Look, pull into that gas station real quick. Take a second to calm down,"
"I'm fine." Griff snapped, "I just need to get you back home." Aaaaand he immediately felt like an ass. Sighing, Griff moved his hand quickly, so Lukas wouldnt see it shake, and turned on the radio to the station that was on earlier. "Sorry." Mumbled Griff, "i didnt mean to sound like a jerk."
"No, it's alright" Lukas said, "I understand. Just don't push yourself" he meant it, leaning back in his seat, glancing at Griff every once and awhile to make sure he was doing alright. His hand had been reduced to a low searing pain, but it still hurt like a bitch, though Lukas kept silent
The drive back was much shorter thanks to Griff speeding, and the second he pulled into the driveway he turned off the car and got out. Quickly moving to Lukas' door he opened it for him. "C'mon, lets get you in." Thankfully, Griff had calmed down mostly, so when he offered a hand for Lukas, it was barely shaking at all.
Lukas accepted the offer, standing with a barely audible groan as his hand throbbed from the shift. He closed the door and followed Griff inside, holding his injured hand to his chest
Griff called out to Eddy, who rushed to the door rather quickly, "Oh my…well come along sir! Sit down at the table while i go get the first aid kit." Eddy rushed off and Griff helped Lukas to the table. Pulling out a chair for him, he too rushed to the sink to get a cool washcloth.
"Ive got a great idea. Next time you wanna pick a fight…" Griff wrung out the cloth and came back over by Lukas' side and chuckled, "make sure its not against something that will fight back."
Lukas chuckled, "I'll keep that in mind" he said, placing his hand on the table, "To be fair, I think the newspaper stand came out worse" he tried to explain jokingly, "I'm pretty sure I broke it" he became sheepish, ducking his head
Griff laughed "Yeah, well it went out with a vengeance." He gently removed the piece of his shirt from Lukas' hand and hissed sympathetically "Yeesh. Eddy is gonna have fun with this." Griff began tenderly wiping the blood away and cleaning the area with the cool, wet cloth. After a few moments, Griff looked up to meet Lukas' eyes, "Really though…I dont know what would have happened if you hadn't stepped in. I really do mean it when i say thank you." His eyes seemed softer and filled with sincerity and gratefulness.
Lukas looked at him, smiling, "Of course, Griff. I wasn't just gonna let him beat your ass, was I?" He smiled, wincing and gasping slightly as Griff wiped away the blood, gritting his teeth. Now that it was pretty much clean, he could see all the tiny shares of glass buried in his flesh and winced just at the sight
Griff did his best to remove as much glass as he could before Eddy came back with the kit. Gently setting it down beside Lukas, Eddy put on a pair of magnifying glasses. "Alright, let me have a look." Griff let Lukas move his hand. "Oh. Well…i do apologize…but this is probably going to hurt abit." He dug out a pair of tweezers, "Griff, hold his other hand so he can squeeze something." Griff obeyed and took Lukas' good hand into one of his. Then, Eddy began the painful task of plucking out all shards, which did require him to dig around abit.
Lukas tried to just grit his teeth and bear it, but Eddy started to dig around in his flesh, a small hiss escaped his teeth that turned into a growl as he continued to dig. He cried out and squeezed Griff's hand, his head falling back as his eyes squeezed shut, his stomach flipping with the pain
"Shhh," whispered Griff, "It'll be okay" he lightly squeezed back as he watched Lukas. But he couldnt ignore the way Lukas squirmed, it made his brain mush for some reason.
"Thankfully Griff here got most of it. This will be quick sir." Eddy said positively as he continued. Griff reached into his jacket pocket with his free hand to pull out his pen and passed it to Lukas.
Lukas snatched the pen and took a massive hit of it, his body immediately relaxing as the drug courses through his system. He still squeezed Griff's hand though, finding the feeling more comforting than any drug he'd tried. He kept his eyes closed, focusing on his breathing and trying not to think about what was happening to his hand
Eddy finished up a minute or so later and reached into the kit to pull out some bandages, "There. All done. I'll let Griff here bandage you up." As he stood he patted Lukas on the shoulder and cleaned up. Griff grabbed the bandages and the injured hand and began wrapping.
"Well…because of this, you wont be able to use a punching bag for abit." Griff chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.
Lukas sighed, “I figured” he grunted, his heart sinking. What would the coach say when he called him? He really wanted to be in the ring… the blonde watched Griff work, his expression mildly interested as the man, so large and intimidating, took tender care of Lukas’ wounds
"Thankfully this will heal faster than a break." Griff mumbled as he continued to wrap carefully. Quietly, he began humming a random tune as he worked. Griff paused for a moment as a thought went through his head which made his heart sink into his stomach 'If he did this from a small argument…maybe it's best he doesnt come to my next match.' He swallowed as he rememberd who he was going to be going up against in a month or so. forcing himself back to the task at hand, he quickly finished taking care of Lukas.
(awww)
Lukas nodded, "Thank you," he said again, flexing his fingers a bit, "That's much better," The blonde sighed and relaxed back in the chair, looking at Griff, "What's wrong?" he asked, noticing the expression on his gentle features,
(OMG YOU'RE BACK I MISSED YOU!!! but heads up, its super busy at work atm, so i may not be able to reply all that much for the month of January)
Griff laughed slightly as he cleaned up the table, "Well, you're not going to believe this…" Griff walked over to the sink to wash his hands "but uh…i'll be fighting him in a month or so." Griff turned to face Lukas and leaned against the counter as he dried off his hands. "And since you got so worried about little old me, it may be best for you to not come with." Griff hated saying it out loud, something about Lukas being there put him at ease…but he didnt want Lukas to attack another newspaper stand.
(Awww thanks, that means a lot. And, like my name says, I'm not gonna be on for a lot either)
Lukas was silent for a moment, thinking about it, "I'm coming," he decided, walking over to join him, "It wasn't neciassarily him that put me off, just the way he attacked you without reason," the blonde leaned back against the counter, "But in the ring, I know it's about fighting. And I know you'll kick his ass," he smiled, "I wouldn't miss it"