Still of the Night

[daredevilawyer]

People yelling.
Sirens blaring.
Gunshots.

A typical night in Hell's Kitchen.

Only this one was a little louder than usual. A building near the edge of the city had exploded into flames, the police swarming to the scene with their usual inefficiency. Daredevil had heard the explosion across town and was running along the rooftops to investigate. The police scanners squauking confusion and mayhem as they didn't know what kind of thing was tearing through the flames as they were trying to take it down.

Matt paused on the rooftop nearest the building in question, the heat palpable even from this distance. He could hear repeated gunfire and calls from the police trying to get control of the situation. And then a large crash over the crackling flames.

That sounded suspiciously like a car being thrown.

Comments

[incrediblegreen]

"I - have my days." David sighs as he finishes his work. He still prefers to stay buried, but when he runs into people like Matt, he remembers that perhaps he's not as alone as he feels.

"Others, I remember I'm not the only one getting myself into trouble." He quietly huffs an amused sound, threading the needle and setting a hand on Matt's head, moving the hair aside. "Alright, just one stitch should do it. Unfortunately we're taking a few leaps back in medical practices." He couldn't find any localized anesthetic in the kit, so Matt will have to tough it out, but it's not like David will be setting a limb or doing major surgery. He feels bad causing any additional pain, but there's not much of an option here.

[daredevilawyer]

"Make a few if you think it necessary, doctor," Matt says with a smirk that says he was game for it. The fact that he couldn't see the needle might work to his advantage in this case. "I promise not to sue for your barbaric medical practices."

[incrediblegreen]

"Well, the good news is you won't look like Frankenstein's monster when I'm done, with stitches all along your face. The bad news is, Victor was my lab partner." David makes quick work of the stitch, snipping the threads close to the scalp and then dabbing with some ointment to prevent infection.

"All set. Try not to bother it too much, and we might be able to take the stitch out before I leave." David washes his arms again, hissing quietly when he is quickly reminded that while his hands are healing, the burns there are still tender. He bears the pain while he cleans his hands, but then turns the water cold, relieving some of the pain with a sigh. He saw some aloe in the kit, but right now, he can feel the stress in his shoulders slowly unwinding from the unwelcome reminder of the fire earlier tonight and doesn't want to move.

[daredevilawyer]

"Too bad it's nowhere near Halloween, I might be able to pull that off." Matt reaches up to feel where the stitch was and 'see' what it looked like. David did good work.

He could hear David hissing at the sink as he stood up. "You're hurt too?" It was a pretty big fire, he shouldn't have assumed David would escape unscathed.

[incrediblegreen]

"I'll be fine in a moment." He takes another relieved breath, letting it out slowly and closing his eyes as the cool water calms him. He knows to be more careful but he has to watch that he doesn't fall into the trap of berating himself for being too hasty in his habits.

"If you could grab the aloe, that would be helpful. I didn't quite make it out of the fire untouched. One of the few, uh, benefits of my condition I guess, is that tomorrow this will be mostly gone." Another breath and his heart settled into its regular, calm pace and he opened his eyes, almost warily but was even more relieved to see that they hadn't changed.

[daredevilawyer]

His hands ghost over the braille labels, finding the right one and bringing it over. "You heal fast?" He hadn't really gotten into the specifics of what goes on when David changes. He only knew second hand details from those who could see.

[incrediblegreen]

"I do." David pulls his hands out from under the water, turning off the sink and gently patting them dry as Matt comes over with the aloe. "Thank you."

"We calculated that my metabolic rate increases something on the order of six-times what it should be. Even if I don't change, I've noticed that I still heal at an accelerated rate, though one comparatively modest to what the creature is capable of." David applies the ointment carefully, but the sensation of relief far outweighs any pain from handling the healing skin. "I've since been doing occasional research on the effect, and trying to find safe applications. I may not ever find a cure for myself, but I might have opened a window for science to find cures for other diseases instead."

[daredevilawyer]

Interesting, though apparently it hadn't been enough in the face of the blazing inferno they had escaped. "I see," Matt says, a faint pang of hope at thinking maybe....someday....he might be able to see again.

A vain hope perhaps but it was still there.