( nursed back to health shipping meme. )

[lumeria]

Nursed Back to Health shipping meme Comment with your character, preferences, preferred role, and any information you'd like to include. Your character has either been injured/sick and had to be taken in (possibly against their will) or has been the one to help somebody like the former. Through the mending process, the two characters in a thread have fallen in love - or at least grown closer and more affectionate. Reply to others. Thread.

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[gabereyes]

Reyes scoffs audibly and takes a look around their surroundings. Then mumbles a "Thanks." He takes stock of the fact they're alone. Well, that meant they could afford to hang low here until an extraction could be ordered for as long as it took. The place was stocked for a whole platoon.

His gaze falls as he stays quiet, gives the ones lost a moment of silence. He's sure Morrison knows, probably already beaten himself up about it. It's a bunch of blows at once: mission failure, blacking out, getting...carried out and having his ass saved by Morrison of all people, losing everyone they came out here with.

"How long do you think?" he asks and finally looks up at Morrison.

[strikecommand]

Jack doesn't needle him more than that, knowing that if he were in Gabe's place, he'd be understandably upset. Neither of them deal with failure very well--showing weakness is unthinkable. His expression softens a little, a clear indicator that he's not going to be joking around anymore.

"I'm not moving you until you're a little more stable."

There's no immediate danger of death, and he's called for evac already, but it's going to be a while. The good news is that they'll both heal faster than a normal human--the bad news is they still have to heal.

"How are you feeling?"

[gabereyes]

Reyes scoffs again, purses his lips. He hates being a burden. If he were any less immobile, he'd be pushing his way out the door already. Especially damaging to his pride is the fact Morrison seems to be mostly unharmed.

"I feel fine," he says, but the pain that shoots up his side and causes a deep cringe to sink into his expression says otherwise. He looks away.

"Okay, little bit of pain."

That was an understatement, all his woulds felt like they were being opened again every time he did something as minute as breathing. "I just...need to lay down a little bit longer," he says and careful lowers himself again.

[strikecommand]

Jack didn’t really expect any other answer, and he can’t help but roll his eyes a little when Gabriel declares that he’s fine and immediately revises that statement. Still, the expression is at least a bit affectionate, not wanting to wound egoes more than he needs to.

He stands, rummaging around in some drawers for a moment. When he returns, it’s with a glass of water and a white bottle of painkillers. He pops the cap and shakes out a few pills before handing the glass over.

“Here.”

[gabereyes]

Having just gotten comfortable, Reyes eyes Morrison and the glass in his hand. Then he's carefully pushing himself up again in order to take both the glass and pills. A few groans and sighs escape as he does so. Pills in hand, he pops them in his mouth and downs the whole glass in one go.

He licks at his lips while handing the glass back, glancing uncertainly between Morrison and the wall. "Thanks," he murmurs gruffly.

Then he's laying back again, shifting his pillow so he's propped up a bit more. He rests his hands over his stomach, folded on top of each other.

[strikecommand]

Jack watches as Gabriel takes the glass and the pills, not tearing his gaze away until the cup and bottle are back in his hands. He stands briefly to set them aside, but then he's back next to the bed, hands hovering a little like he doesn't quite know what to do with them. Being a patient is one thing--Jack is used to that. Having to attend a bedside is quite another, and it's clear that beyond basic first aid, he's a little bit out of his element.

"Anything else I can do?"

He's not sure what he can do, besides keep an eye on him and pass the time. "I called for evac." So there's that, at least.

[gabereyes]

Reyes eyes had closed, but he opens them again to look up at Morrison. Morrison floundering like he's not seen him do for years. Despite his best efforts, one corner of his lips turns up. Then he relaxes again with a sigh and closes his eyes.

"Well, then," he says. "We wait for evac."

He knows Morrison is trying his best. And given the fact he's still alive, his best was good enough. The dressings are good, tight. But it's so satisfying to prod him a bit and see what he'll do. Morrison wasn't always as reactive to him as others, but that's what made it more fun.

[strikecommand]

He reaches out and pats Reyes gently on the shoulder, picking his location carefully so as not to aggravate any of his wounds. It's a friendly gesture, but a bit tentative nonetheless. Jack guesses that seeing Reyes visibly relax is a good sign, even if he's not sure they're out of immediate danger.

"I'll let you get some sleep."

That seems to be the most prudent course of action at the moment, and from the way Jack settles into his chair, it's clear he isn't planning on leaving anytime soon.

[gabereyes]

A silence settles then. Reyes is appreciative of it for a while. He even drifts off a few times, but then his mind slowly starts to churn around recent events. What could they have done different? What could they have done better? The faces of the ones they lost appear as well. They were people he'd worked with, some for months, some for less. They were all people, though, with people waiting for them.

The weight settles on his chest then, familiar but unwelcome. His breathing picks up, and his eyelids slide open, staring blankly at the ceiling. He rarely had moments to himself like this, and this is exactly why. Many people would nag and fuss over him overworking himself. 'You'll work yourself into an early grave like this.' 'You need rest, a vacation, a hobby.' He had many, but no means to any of them here.

A long-suffering sigh leaves his nostrils. He turns his head to look over at Morrison. His eyes graze over him. He looks just as tired as Reyes feels, tense too.

"Wanna guess what I'm thinking of?" he asks. "Twenty questions."

[strikecommand]

Jack watches Reyes until he drifts off (though he can never be sure if he's actually asleep) then tries to busy himself with other things. There's not much in the safe house, but with the both of them out of immediate danger, he takes stock of supplies, organizes and re-organizes in an attempt to stay occupied (because staying occupied is better than worrying). Eventually, he settles into a chair again, going over data on a holopad.

He hears Reyes stir and looks up, taking a moment to scan his face, trying to discern what he might be feeling. What he's thinking, however, Jack is sure he already knows.

"You're thinking about the mission."

So much for twenty questions. He knows that by saying that, he's already ruined the game Reyes is trying to play (probably to take his mind off said mission), but he likes to think he knows how Gabriel works. He can't not be thinking about what happened.

[gabereyes]

Reyes just stares at Morrison. Then his lips slowly purse, brows knitting together. The muscles in his face twitch, unsure how to properly respond. His eyes dart to the side and back to Morrison's face.

"I--...well, yes, but that's not the point," he says. Then the corners of his lips turn up. He gives a few breathy laughs that sound more like coughs. It hurts, but he can't help himself. The absurdity of how to the point that was.

"Fucker," he huffs, but he can't wipe the half-grin off his face.

[strikecommand]

Jack is expecting some kind of negative response--disgruntled at best, outright hostile at worst, so the laugh and the grin catches him a little off-guard. Luckily, Jack is much better at skeptical than he is at concerned, so he arches an eyebrow and pretends like he's not surprised by the fact that Reyes is laughing.

"That's what you're thinking about."

Of course it is! What else would either of them be thinking about? He almost hates them both for being so completely predictable.

"Am I wrong?"

[gabereyes]

"Yes," Reyes replies and swipes a thumb under one eye. "And no." The hand drops to gently cradle where his side is currently aching. He's still smiling, though, slightly pained with an extra wrinkle to his brows that's not usually there. Some part of him steps back objectively and shakes its head at the fact this isn't really a time to be laughing.

He's gotten good at ignoring that part.

"I've been thinking about something else too. You have to try and guess." His smile relaxes to an easy smirk as he meets Morrison's gaze.

[strikecommand]

He still wants to play the game, it seems, and Jack can’t help but let out something of an exasperated sigh. Straightforwardness is what he knows, and anxiety is still riding a little high from the mission, leaving him in very little mood to guess.

That, and maybe he doesn’t actually know what Reyes could possibly be thinking about, beyond the mission. It takes a moment for him to come up with something, and when he speaks, it’s painfully dry.

“How you’d probably like to see Doctor Ziegler right about now."