Electrical Feel

[Delaney Wilder]

[member="Delilah Keyes"]

Or when at the end of a long day his hands massaged out the stress and made her melt into a puddle.

To say that Walk was already familiar with her accent was an understatement, but he never put any attention to it. Why would he? nothing to gain except more stress, conflicts and fights. She came to him when she wanted to talk about the past, not the other way around.

"Right." Took him a while to get the belt out. Not because it was difficult, but because his hands couldn't stop shaking, until he breathed in... out and allowed himself to be centered.

It was one thing to perform medical jobs on people you didn't know well.

This was a whole other thing - he knew her, knew her too well in fact and it made this entiee thing slightly uncomfortable. Walk leaned down again, kissing now instead of brushing, but still as gentle as possible against her lips.

"This will be alright, Del, done harder things when I was half this age." With far more equipment and with the luxury of not knowing any of his 'patients'. "Bite down, ain't any different from what we usually do."

Failed attempt at humor and distraction.

Not going well.

 

[Delilah Keyes]

She would have kissed him back, but honestly, that involved muscles that a very large twilek had tried to treat like an overly tough steak that needed some tenderizing.

"You and I.... see what we do very.... very different then, Walk," she managed to tease, wincing at the end and tipping her head back.

With his help, she settled the belt, folded over once, between her teeth. Her good hand gripped a pillow, the injured lying flat along the back of the couch. Breathing in deeply, she nodded slightly to let him know she was ready.

With eyes closed, she waited. There was a pause, long enough for her to start to wonder and then-

The pain was blinding. Even with how swift his motion was, she felt bone scrape against bone, heard the tendons groan. She bit down, hard, barely managing to keep back a scream, muffled only by teeth and leather. Beneath her hand, the delicate pillow tore, but she didn't notice.

Panting, she opened her eyes, finding him.
​Already the pressure on her knee was lessened. While putting it back in place was painful, it was short and effective. She'd need to take it easy, let the swelling go down, but it would be fine.

Her hand however....

Her good one reached out, finding his and squeezing. Not for his sake, though he looked like he needed it to after that. But for hers.

[member="Walker Ducarte"]

 

[Delaney Wilder]

[member="Delilah Keyes"]

He bit back the nauseous and squeezed her hand back.

"See?" Walk mumbled while trying not to look at her knee too much. "Easy, just like I said it would be." They weren't even half-way done and had a lot of ground to cover. From her hands to her face to the wounds needing stitches and her head needing rest. He would have to check her head better, once all the other things were squared away. Head damage was dangerous and it could rapidly get out of control, if they weren't careful with the treatment.

It could be worse than a concussion and they wouldn't know before it was too late, if he didn't catch it.

"Going to do your nose next- start with the most straight-forward things and work my way up to the more... intensive things." By the looks of her cheekbone, her hand... it was very possible they didn't actually have everything here to do things right. There was an animal shelter nearby, he knew this because he had gone there a few weeks back to see about a pet for them. In the end Walk had decided against it. Their lifestyle didn't exactly work with something to care of.

They'd have some of the stuff he needed.

Late... closed already, but breaking in wouldn't be a problem.

Walk squeezed her hand again, then kissed her again, just as softly. "Ready?"

 

[Delilah Keyes]

She nodded. She didn't kiss him back- mostly because there was enough swelling to her face that it made those kinds of motions of the muscles painful and difficlut. So she squeeze his hand instead, knowing he'd understand.

"As ready as I get," she said around the belt, not joking but trying to make it a little light if she could.

Time stopped. Or maybe it simply stretched out forever. Each injury had to be addressed, in the order that worked best for Walk. By the end of it, she was shaking, tears of pain streaking down her face and exhausted.

In fairness, he was most of those things as well.

She let him take the belt gently- her jaw ached from more than the blows to the face she'd taken, but she hadn't bitten her tongue or broken her teeth while he'd worked, and that was what mattered. She wasn't entirely certain the bite marks would ever come out of the leather, but that seemed like a non-issue in her mind.

Everything throbbed, the pain burning its way to her core but in a more overall blanket than the sharp, intense loci of agony it had been when she'd pushed through that door. She wasn't showing any signs of internal cranial bleeding, but she knew he'd have to keep her awake for a few more hours before she was in the clear.

That thought alone made her want to cry.

Reaching out with her good hand, she brushed it across his cheek.

"Glad it's you," she said softly. "Here. I mean."

[member="Walker Ducarte"]

 

[Delaney Wilder]

[member="Delilah Keyes"]

Walk let out a sigh and closed his eyes shut.

Squeezing just a little bit to try ease the pressure behind them. You could only squint for so long to see every detail, before your eyes dried out and felt like paper every time you blinked. The touch of her hand on his cheek brought him back. His hand brushing against hers, keeping it on his cheek before shifting slightly and kissing her hand- one knuckle at a time, before nuzzling it softly.

"Me too, me too." He meant it too. Didn't matter that his back burned with fire brushing back and forth his spine. His hands hurting, his eyes one click away from being desert dry.

It was nothing compared to what she was going through and Walk was relieved he could be there for her. "Can you keep your eyes open for a few seconds, while I go pour you some water?"

Still not safe to give her pain meds, even if he wanted to.

Maybe in a few hours and then she could get some sleep too.

 

[Delilah Keyes]

"Managed it this long, haven't I?" She asked, attempting to offer a smirk. But it was cut off by a wince as the habitual motion pulled on the cut across her lip and it died in discomfort.

She watched him as he got up, heading across the small living room and into the kitchen. If he hadn't been here.... what would she had done? Would she have come back here or risked going to a hospital somewhere? She would have had to. Honestly, wouldn't that have been smarter, even now? She'd told herself that she hoped he wasn't here, but really, the only reason she'd come back here instead of going somewhere else was because he probably was.

When, exactly, had he become home?

There wasn't a single moment she could pinpoint. Fits and starts. Moment to moment. The way he smiled, that endless well of optimism. How he made her smile. Not that hidden smirk she used as weapon and armor in turn. Somewhere along the line, he'd weaseled his way under that.

Even realizing it, she didn't want to shut it off, shut it down.

Instead she was almost deliriously appreciative of the fact it was there.

"I love you."

Whispered, him in the other room, she figured he couldn't hear her. And it was better. For now, she just wanted to test it out. See what it felt like, saying it out loud. That was all.

[member="Walker Ducarte"]

 

[Delaney Wilder]

[member="Delilah Keyes"]

Head tilted slightly as he poured water in the glass.

For a moment Walker thought Del had been saying something, but after listening for a moment... just her steady breathing, interjected every once in a while with a pained heave as muscles tensed past bruised bones and half-torn muscles. After a few minutes he slipped back into the living room and studied her for a moment.

It wasn't feasible for her to drink it herself, so... just one option as far as Walk could see.

"Hey, I am back." Before crouching down on his knees next to her, swirling the water around with the spoon, before starting to push it up with just a bit of water filling the spoon. "Can you open your mouth for me a bit?"

If necessary Walk would put the glass down, help steady her neck so she didn't choke on the water as he softly fed it to her, spoon after spoon.

 

[Delilah Keyes]

She could and did- in too much pain to argue, and frankly too thirsty to care just how vulnerable she was in this moment.

That fight against that was such an all encompassing part of who and Del was that most of the time, she barely noticed it. So when Walk came slipping into her life, and she slowly learned that he was someone safe to be that with.... it had been jarring. Those moments of vulnerability. Of softness that had nothing to do with playing a mark. Sure, she could fake vulnerability when she needed to, and did without a second thought. But letting someone help her like this, in truth, rather than as an act?

Six months ago it never could have happened.

Delilah drank, one spoonful of water at a time, exhausted in a way she had never been before in her life. And not simply because of the injuries.

"Hey Walk?"

"Yeah Del?"

She paused, the silence heavy for a moment. She almost changed it. At the last moment, almost just said 'thank you'.

"I love you."

[member="Walker Ducarte"]

 

[Delaney Wilder]

[member="Delilah Keyes"]

He hummed softly to himself, another spoonful halfway to her mouth when Walk's eyes widened a fraction and he realized just what she had said a second ago.

"I-" Hand twitched and the water spilled all over the floor. Walker searched her expression for something, amusement, wicked glances that suggested this was just a tease, anything else that would ease the sudden tension. It all came back towards what Walk was feeling right now and beneath the instinctual reflex to run.

To not even bother with his pants or anything else, just drop the spoon and run, there was something else.

Warmth?

"I love you too, Delilah." It tasted right in his mouth and that told Walker this wasn't a mistake, even if every single instinct in his mind was running the alarm and running around crazy. He put aside the glass, the spoon, leaned in without actually touching. Just breath brushing as his hand curled into her steady and unbroken one.

Squeezing, eyes closing, a brief nuzzle of his nose against hers.

"Figured we'd let this loose against one another during a dinner date or something." Soft chiming chuckle. "Didn't really imagine this scenario."