Pizza, Beer and a fat eye (September)

[Aiden "Rave" Hamilton]

Mid-September

Continued from "Scar Tissue" in Fade to Black.

Rave had just gone from Sissy's place and gone across the parking lot where specks of blood still remained where he had kicked the asses of drug dealer and son the night before. Since it hadn't rained it was still there if you knew where to look but the neighborhood was silent and calm for being a Friday night at 7.20pm.

He went straight to the pizza place and ordered a large family pizza and told them he'd be back in a few and in turn went to the store and got some beer, 24 of them to be exact. Once he got out of the place with that along with a Butter Pecan Ice Cream in the hopes to calm the beast that surely would come at him with claws and teeth at home, at least that was what he was prepared for since he'd promised Devon to take care of himself better but so far he hadn't found a group he really dared to trust enough to open himself entirely in even though he was making slow progress, At least according to himself.

If it hadn't been for the group he probably would have lost it all together and killed those two but he had managed to get out of it and actually stop in time. Besides, he knew he had to take this up in group on Tuesday since the black eye wouldn't be gone by a long shot by then, neither would his busted up knuckles.

The pizza was picked up and at 7.55pm he entered his complex where he lived with Devon and got up the stairs and into his level and went to the front door, locked. of course. Devon always locked the door even though he was alone, on the other hand that was a good thing now days wasn't it?

Considering everything with Rave's dad and Mr. Gray calling a few months ago he didn't blame his friend at all. Rave put the bag down and fished his key up and hit the lock and clicked it open and pushed it open a bit, picked the bag up and pushed the door up with his foot and turned around to kick it shut again.

"Pizza an' beer, as ordehrd at 8!"

He called out and turned around to see where Devon was. It was quite dim in the room, not too many lights at all which served in his favor at the moment. Good thing with dim night lights sometimes, and good thing that Devon liked it like this most of the time too. Probably so no one'd see him cry in the dark when he missed Amy too much even though he'd never really managed to hide it from Rave once until this day.

"Dev?"

[Devon Eckes]

Devon was in his room working on a song when he heard Rave in the living room. He jotted down a few notes...

'burn the pages of your diary where you wrote I cried'

"Coming!" He called out setting aside his guitar. He wasn't working tonight, but had a lot of homework to do. Still, the muse strikes when it will and rather than doing his English 111 he was working on a song. And then he had Math, and Intro to Social Networks...

Seeing Rave though gave him a small shock, not that it should of. He was messed up from head to toe with a nice shiner to go with it. "What did you do now?" He asked, coming closer to peer at it. A smell was coming from Rave, a familiar smell and a grin crossed Devon's lips.

"Oh ho!" He said smugly. "I guess I should be asking 'who did you do now'...Her boyfriend come in on you making time or something?" He asked. "If I were you I'd take a shower and change clothes before Jules sees you like this."

A song snippet crossed Devon's mind...I smell sex and candy here...

[Aiden "Rave" Hamilton]

Rave was on his way to put the pizza on the table when Devon walked in and of course without thinking he turned around with his right side first showing off his swollen black eye which e could barely see on at all.

"Tha's my intention too, dump the pizza an' hit the showah... an' actually... I saved the gihl from gettin' raped and mugged in an alley... She was hit against the wall and go' a concussion bu' refused the hospital an' I stayed the night to make suah she'd be fine... one thing lead to anotha.. tried not to bu' ... persistent gihls.. can't say no to 'em or they just take yoah aneway.."

He said with a smirk and placed the bag on the table too, quite relieved that he didn't get a lecture.. or was there a catch? Rave picked up the ice cream and tossed it at him.

"Figured we weah out on tha' too so I picked one up on the way"

He said before he went over to his room and got his sweat pants, new pair of underwear and a towel after getting his boots and coat off.

"be back in 5"

Rave said and went into the bathroom and took a quick shower and got out with his sweat pants on while drying his hair with his black towel. The clothes in the hamper where it belonged in there.

He realized he forgot to bring a shirt and walked back to his room with his towel falling over his shoulders, should Juliet walk in, he'd hide his back with it. So far she hadn't seen that much of his back since he almost always wore a shirt around the apartment now days after she stayed here too.

The bruice on his right side was quite purple by now and about a hand in size but it would heal too thankfully. Once he'd gotten a black t-shirt on with the sleeves cut off he walked to the couch and sat down on it then leaned over to the bag and pulled out one of two six packs of beer and placed one by Devon's side of the couch then took one himself and opened it before taking several drinks from it.

To be honest, his face and side was hurting pretty bad, his knuckles just looked bashed up but he didn't really feel much there. He should probably have put some ice on the eye too but it was a bit too late by now.

"So, wha' are we watchin' tonight?"

[Devon Eckes]

Devon listened to Rave's explanation.

"Strange night then. Most girls..." He didn't finish the thought. "Well, explains where you've been for the last twenty four."

He made a face when Rave mentioned persistent girls. If he didn't know about that no one did. "Hey, my fave!" He said as he caught the ice cream. "I'll start without you then, since I'm starving."

As Rave went to start his shower Devon put away the frozen treat and most of the beers before setting out a couple of plates and bringing his homework to the table.

When Rave arrived he had a slice of pizza in one hand and a pen in the other taking notes from a book laid over his plate.

"I can't afford to watch anything tonight, I have homework in three of my four classes." Devon thumped the pile of books with a knuckle but set aside the paperwork now that Rave had joined him. "But I'll take a break to listen to your thrilling adventures."

He reached into the bag as well and took out his own brew and cracked it open. "So, details? Who what when where...good looking or plain?"

[Aiden "Rave" Hamilton]

Rave grabbed a slice of pizza in one hand and kept the beer in the other and took a good bite out of it while Devon spoke about his homework.

"oh fun eh?... anythin' I can 'elp yoah with?"

He asked. Not that he really liked school but at least he helped out here and there if he knew how to. He took another drink from his beer before gently placing it against his swollen eye, quite the relief.

"I know tha' ice cream is yoah favorite, don'tcha think I learn eh?"

He smirked then slouched down on the couch to half sitting and sighed somewhat when Devon wanted to hear how the entire night before had gone out. Where would he start exactly?

"God.. wheah to staht?"


He sighed and thought back a bit on where it all had started and it was basically getting out of work for the night and not wanting to go home, so he started there.

"Okay.. so I was done workin' at Gordy's at 5 bu' I didn't feel like goin 'ome to end up doin' nothin' .. so I walked around fo' quite a while an' stumbled across this club, yeah.."

He told Devon about him and Sissy having a cigarette outside but hopped over the part of the joint for now. and went on to them dancing and just having a good time, he went to take a piss before leaving and she went out before him and got attacked in an alley right outside.

"an' tha's where I ge' in since I saw 'em basically bashin' 'er 'ead into the wall an' feelin' 'er up an all.. I couldn't just stand theah an' watch it.."

Rave told him somewhat about the fight but not too many details and then how he helped her to get home and that he took back the money they stole from her but yet again, left the drugs out of the picture.

"I could tell she 'ad a concussion since 'er pupils were uneven so I made suah she stayed up fo' at least 8 moah 'ouahs bu' somewheah along the line, I must 'ave fallen asleep cuz the next thing I remembah is 'er shakin' me awake tellin' me I 'ad a nightmare... quite the impression to make eh? fi'st yoah 'elp 'er showah the night befoah, then yoah panic in 'er bed the mornin' aftah..."

He snorted at himself and felt quite embarrassed even though it wasn't the first time it happened but it was always embarrassing when it did. After that he of course told him about the wild sex but not in too much detail but he did mention the toy box and the brush with a smirk on his lips.

"She was a real fiesty one I tell yoah. She's good lookin' too. Blonde, slim. Could ge' a bit bettah in clothing style bu' tha's a detail."

He said and took another bite of his pizza while still cooling his cheek and eye off with the beer bottle.

[Devon Eckes]

"Thanks for the offer, but, I have to do it myself. It's not like at Hadley where we just had to make it through, I'm supposed to actually know this stuff when I graduate." He grinned.

He ate and drank as Rave told his tail, his face a window of expressions; surprise, shock, sadness, smirking...

"I feel like I should rush off to meeting now." Devon joked. "I'm proud of you though, you used something you usually would have be a negative for a positive reason. Well done." He clinked his bottle against Rave's.

"And, it sounds like she was more than grateful. Think you'll see her and her drawer again?" Devon was interested because Rave didn't open up to people much, and while he knew Rave wasn't celibate by any means, he could also feel that something about this girl had affected Rave somehow. It was in the details that he left out more than the details he put in.

"How did she handle the nightmare?" He asked almost casually, wondering if they had had sex before or afterwords since it was usually a nightmare that triggered their romps, but not wanting to ask outright.

[Aiden "Rave" Hamilton]

Proud? Devon was... proud? At first Rave made a mine at him as if asking what the hell he was talking about but the explanation came barely a moment after, he rose his eyebrows and reflected on it for a few seconds.

"nh... didn't realleh think abou' it tha' way"

He said and took his beer down from his eye and was about to take a drink of it when Devon clinked his bottle together with his. Rave looked up at him and grinned.

"yeah heh, I s'pose.... tho... I thought yoah'd be mad at me fo' gettin' into anothah fight.."

He said and took a drink while still thinking of what Devon had said, he'd really taken his problem to good use last night, hadn't he?

"mh? oh.. probableh.. go' 'er numbah, she's go' mine"

He said and took another drink and more bites on the pizza while thinking things over it was quite strange how things had turned out but at the same time he hadn't lost it completely either.

"yoah know.. I didn't loose it all togetha eitha.. even tho I did flip a bit, I didn't loose control tha' much, I could actually stop while the guys weah still able to crawl 'ome"

He grinned just as Devon mentioned Sissy and how she handled the nightmare thing. Rave frowned an eyebrow at it and thought for a moment.

"She just tried to calm me down then she asked me wha' it was about.. didn't realleh tell 'er tho. Asked me 'ow often I ge' 'em an' I told 'er the truth... she said she's go' 'em too sometimes.. We just... well, stahted with a 'ug... went on to moah... bu' she was givin' it to me, I didn't take."

Rave said, thinking about her scars he'd seen in on her back, yet another detail he'd left out for now but still a detail he couldn't get out of his head. "Given by those who claimed to love me, aren't yours?" is what she'd said. What exactly did that mean, family or friends, or possibly lovers? While thinking about it, Rave fell silent and got a thoughtful but somewhat worried mine on his face, still sitting with the mouth of the beer bottle against his lower lip.

[Devon Eckes]

"If you had just gotten into another fight, I probably would be mad at you and no amount of ice cream would make up for that. But you did good." Devon affected a stage voice. "You used your powers for good, instead of evil!"

Then he went back to his regular voice. "And you were able to stop, even though you took some hits. That's progress over what you had before. So why wouldn't I be proud? Just don't make a habit of it."

He pushed away his plate and dragged the book back over to him. "I hate math." He said ruefully. "Not math teachers, just math." Which was a vague reference to Amy, since she taught math. "But I have to take this before I can take accounting, and I have to take accounting for the degree."

He sighed and looked up at Rave who seemed to be lost in thoughts about his mystery girl. "You going to meeting about your fight?" He asked. In a way, he was concerned. He couldn't think of a time that they had had sex without Rave's having a nightmare first. And as he was learning in class, that was almost like programming Rave to tie his bad memories to his sex drive. That couldn't be healthy.

[Aiden "Rave" Hamilton]

"mh... yeah.. true, guess I did do good this time eh?"

He said with a cheeky grin but chuckled when Devon used his silly voice to make him feel better. Rave hit his friend on the shoulder with the side of his fist and pinky.

"Yoah twit!"

He said before he grabbed another piece of the pizza on the table and leaned back on the couch with a slight winch due to the rib moving too much. It was getting more and more sore but at least it wasn't completely broken.

"Like I said, if yoah need 'elp gettin' things explained to yoah with tha' math thing, just tell me. I'm quite good at it"

Rave said and stuffed his mouth full of pizza just when Devon asked if he'd go to meeting about the fight. He looked down at the floor for a moment then nodded as he finished his chewing and swallowed it down with a drink of beer.

"I 'afta do tha' ... it's a rule. No mattah wha' yoah fight fo' yoah always go to meetin' an' tell"

He admitted. Had he been so aware of himself as in the way Devon was thinking about his fights and his sex drive he might have said there was some truth in tying his panicked state to something that made him feel better, to make him feel loved instead of abused and left, abandoned in a dark room with nothing but his own both bodily and mental pain as company, but he hadn't gotten that far in the group yet since he'd just started in it only a month or so ago.

[Devon Eckes]

"No, I have to do it myself. No matter what a pile of shit it is." Devon rocked back with a mock painful look on his face as Rave knocked him on on the bicep. "Ow, ow! Abuse!" He joked.

"You keep wincing, you want me to wrap your ribs, I have the stuff." Of course Devon would have the stuff. He should have taken the EMS course instead of music and business with all he knew about patching up and the equipment he had stored under the bathroom sink. Came from a lifetime of rolling with the punches instead of fighting back. He'd never really talked about how many times he'd taken a punch, but Rave could have figured that it'd been enough to learn all the first aid he knew.

Instead of waiting for an answer he went ahead and left the room to come back with his big grey suitcase of a kit with the red cross logo on the lid. "Sit up now, this is gonna hurt."

[Aiden "Rave" Hamilton]

"yoah dise've it one way or anotha, I'm suah.. can't tell why tho"

He smirked when Devon called out Abuse in the name of joking. Rave finished another piece of pizza and tossed the edge of it back in the box since he couldn't eat anymore. Eating chicken and some stuff at Sissy's only an hour and a half ago did the trick of not being able to eat as much pizza as usual.

Rave didn't even have the chance to protest and say he'd be fine without the wrapping but at the same time he kind of felt that he'd need it sooner or later and most probably during sleep time or he wouldn't be able to move at all.

A part of him remembered when he cracked it a bit more... right during climax and doing those last two thrusts. Quite ironic and he couldn't help but laugh at it which only resulting in him winching more and placing his left hand at his right side again.

When Devon came back again with the gray suit case rave just did as he was told but managed to get his shirt up first then sat up straight on the couch and out on the edge so Devon would be able to wrap it easier.

"Don't yoah fuckin' tell me it's going to 'urt... it already 'urts like 'ell..."

He muttered and glanced down at the dark black-purple and swollen bruise on his right side that was the size of a hand about two and a half inches down from his solar plexus and to the right.

[Devon Eckes]

"Nice one...look, you can see the shape of the end of his boot. Square toe." Devon said as he started wrapping, pulling the ace bandage tight, but not overly so, otherwise he'd be cutting of the circulation. He wound it so that it was covering most of Rave's rib cage to give support from above and below the damaged area before applying the clips.

"Tap on my door when you get home if I'm in there, and I'll unwrap you for a look see." He pulled out a brown bottle of New Skin and began to paint over Rave's knuckles with the medical smelling liquid which dried into a flexible covering that kept out dirt from the cuts.

"I was supposed to go to meeting tonight too, but, I've got too much else to do and with Jules here...it hasn't been easy." He confessed. "I mean, I don't feel about her that way, but...she is pretty..." Devon rolled his eyes. "And she does have a habit of being...perky. It's hard not to notice. And the girl across the hall, and the one waitress....not to even mention you." He blew out a breath. "Maybe I'd better go." He laughed.

[Aiden "Rave" Hamilton]

"Yeah.. fuckah came up from behind me, thought I knocked 'im out befoah I went on the otha guy bu' apparentleh I didn't.."

He muttered then flinched and clenched his jaws tight when Devon started wrapping his ribcage. It was disgustingly painful to say the least and he soon made a mine of complete pain as well.

"Bloody 'ell!!"

He choked some on his words but let Devon finish the wrapping and applying of the clips. He stayed with his arms holding his shirt up for another few seconds before he slowly moved his arms down but let the shirt fall back by letting it go.

"Gnh... It's my day off tomorrow, saturday yoah know."

He said while trying to focus through the pain. It did feel a lot better with the wrapping though even though it was still disgustingly tight, on the other hand, it did help his ribs to not move as much.

Rave watched Devon apply the New Skin and painted his knuckles but he couldn't help snorting somewhat at the disgusting smell of hospital that came with the smell of the liquid.

"heh... yeah, she's a fine one, Flame. Yoah touch 'er tha' way tho, yo'll get shit from me. Don't do tha' to 'er.."

He looked up at his dark eyed friend in all honesty. He wasn't making a joke but he wasn't deadly serious in his words either. Just concerned that Devon's illness would go over board.

"If yoah can't 'andle it.. yoah come to me, no one else, tha's the deal. If yoah mess up, take it on a meetin' bu' if yoah are ta mess up, do so with me."

He said, looking Devon in the eyes wile saying so. That was also a way of keeping a bit of control over his friend and when he fell back in the pit or when he was out of it but he wanted to keep track on how Devon was feeling and how to do that better than help controlling the problem he had, just as Devon helped him with both nightmares and ways of thinking about violence and how bad it was when and where.

"I'll go ta bed anyway.. didn't ge' tha' much sleep last night since I was makin' suah the gihl was stayin' up during the cruicial 'owahs of the concussion stage"

Rave rose from the couch with a light flinch and put the beer bottle down on the table, half full still. Yet again he placed his hand over the area of where his rib was cracked.

"ugh.. yoah dunn 'appen to 'ave a pain killer do yoah?"

[Devon Eckes]

"Don't worry about Jules, I don't chase. And she's not interested in me, so don't think I'll get chased." Devon said, blowing lightly on the knuckles to get the medication to harden quicker.

It wasn't that Devon ignored Rave's offer of solice, but he didn't respond to it. Going without was weakening his resolve on one hand, but making him feel stronger in other areas of his life. It was a strange and painful balancing act. Seeing that Rave was expecting something from him on the topic, he just shrugged and said, "Can't. Not with Jules here, she'd be... unhappy." Which was an understatement at the very least.

"There's aspirin and Alleve in the cupboard." Devon began to pack up his kit. "That's about it, you know how I feel about that other stuff."

Even before school Devon had been pretty much a straight arrow, but seeing how the drugs they gave the kids at the Institute had really made him dis-trust drugs in general and illegal ones even more so. But even a straight flyer gets headaches and colds, so he had a few things on hand.

He glanced over at the clock. "I'm going to meeting and then I'll be back to work on my stuff. I'll leave Jules a note not to wake you up."

[Aiden "Rave" Hamilton]

"Just sayin', man.. just sayin' "

He remarked on the fact that Juliet was a beautiful woman and that it could be hard to stay away with fingers lips and.. other things.

" 'ey.. Dev..?"

Rave asked while walking slowly towards the cupboard while talking, still holding his hand over his now wrapped ribs but turned around to face Devon again when he spoke.

"Yoah nevah answered my question I asked a while ago... are yoah allowed ta kiss an' cuddle and do tha' soft core stuff o is everythin' off limits an' no' the actual fuckin'? "

He asked before turning to the cupboard and opened it to get the Alleve out, it lasted for 12 hours and the Aspirin only for about four and since he was about to sleep, it could be good to at least hope for a peaceful rest.

"An' since when was she a problem eh? Just lock the dooah an' she can't ge' in. Tha' was a lame excuse even fo' yoah, Dev. Why would she care wha' we do aneway, man.."

He looked at the bottle and sighed somewhat at it. Alleve... that was it wasn't it? He just hoped it would actually work on him since he'd been using a lot of drugs in his past and was quite resistent to most regular meds.

Rave took one out before placing the jar back in the cupboard and filled a glass of water while listening to Devon talk again while he took the pill then poured the rest of the water in the sink and placed the glass there too.

"I 'afta wait till tuesday befo' I can go to group an' talk.."

He frowned somewhat and walked out of the kitchen with a slight frown, looking at Devon in confusion. Why would Jules wake him up anyway? She didn't live here she lived across the hall.

" 'ey.. why would Flame come in 'ere anyway an' wake me up? If yoah lock the door she won't come in.."

He said then peered at his friend with one eye.

"...right?"