The conversation that they were having was definitely a nice way to distract Yeong from the pain. He arched a brow, about to question how she could have forgotten about restaurants, but was cut off from a grunt that was muffled into the belt between his teeth. Cala had started on the stitches, so now he was going to try to listen more than speak- which was something rare for him. "You should let me take you out somewhere," he said, laughing slightly before making another noise of pain. "Just keep going, I'm fine."
Cala nodded at his assurance, continuing the methodical stitching of his gash. "That might be a good idea. You probably know what places serve better food. If I'm going to try spaghetti, it needs to be the best that I can afford. To make up for lost time, of course." For a moment, she wondered what kind of 'going out' it would be. The thought was quickly shook off, and she reminded herself that they were probably far from the kind of people that made a good match.
They were a third of the way through. She had done this enough that she could move quickly, without making any mistakes. Something she was grateful for, knowing how painful stitches were. "Once, a friend of mine bought lunch for a picnic from this fancy little…he called it a bistro. He said that the entire time he was getting food, the lady he was ordering from kept asking if he could afford it. Which is funnier when you actually try the food there. You know those frozen TV dinners that stores sell? According to him, that's exactly what it tasted like. It wasn't very good. We're halfway done, on the stitches."
Yeong's head lolled to the side, colors dancing in his vision as he hummed in acknowledgement. That was most likely a product of the cocaine and alcohol in his system, but he paid it no mind. He was a bit of a party boy, going out every night to fuck around with friends. It was better than staying at home with his parents all the time, and it was a good way to forget any problems that might have come up throughout the day.
He was glad that Cala was moving quickly. The sooner this was over, the sooner he could go to sleep. "That doesn't sound good. Gotta' get you a home cooked meal instead," he replied. he never really ate those frozen TV dinners. He usually always ate whatever his abuela or mom made for him. He wasn't a picky eater, though, and would be open to trying everything at least once. "Thank god, I'm fucking exhausted."
Cala laughed softly, careful not to let the movement jostle her hands. "I don't have a bed in the guest room, because I only just recently got around to turning it into a guest room. You can take the couch, or I can sleep on the couch, and you can use my bed." Her sleep schedule was wildly messed up, keeping her up late or waking her up randomly. She was used to falling asleep and waking up in random places in the apartment, so a night out of her bed was far from the end of the world. "It's up to you. Two thirds."
"No, no. I have some manners, I would never take a hosts bed!" Yeong exclaimed with a little grin on his lips, before his tone became more flirtatious. "Shame I'm here because I'm hurt, if I was healthy, I would say we could share the bed." He chuckled at the little statement before looking down again at the partly stitched wound. It was almost done, and he was ready for that. They hadn't dealt with his knee, but that was a problem for later.
Startled by the much more obvious flirting, Cala choked out a cough, her face flushing pink. "It's not-not a very big bed." She practically whispered, closing her eyes for a moment. Doing her best to focus back on her work, she shrugged a shoulder. "It wouldn't be a big deal for you to use the bed. I don't know that an injured leg and a couch are a very good blend, anyway." A few more moments had her finishing up, tying off the last of the stitches and cutting the thread. "There! I can bandage it, if you need me to."
Yeong laughed at how flustered Cala became. It was entertaining to him how she was trying to avoid the topic. It was a challenge to him, of sorts. "Nah, don't worry about it. This couch feels like the most comfortable place in the world right now. I do not want to move," he replied. Cala finished off the stitches and he was able to relax a tad bit more again. "Mm, if you think it would be best. You're the doctor here, not me."
"If we were really leaving this up to me, I'd take you to a licensed professional." Cala said, blowing an escaped piece of hair out of her face as she once again took off her gloves, this time leaving them off to apply a large adhesive bandage over some cautionary gauze. "I figure you probably want to stand as little as possible, so I went with a quick sticky bandage. If we need tomorrow, I can fully wrap you up." With that taken care of, she moved the tub with her foot out of the way. Keeping it out for tomorrow.
Now that her mind wasn't occupied by the injury, she was a lot less confident. Gaze shifting, she fidgeted with her hands. "Uh-you probably need clean clothes. Jeans aren't very comfortable to sleep in. I'll…go grab those."
"Yeah, well I don't think they would take lightly to a coked up cartel member showing up in their emergency room," Yeong snickered. He held still as Cala applied the gauze to his side, and he was pleased with it. "Yeah, I won't be going anywhere tonight."
He glanced down at his clothes and glanced back up. "Yeah, that would be great if you could." He wondered if Cala just had men's clothes lying around because she helped the cartel often, or if she had some sort of boyfriend. Not that it mattered to Yeong. He wouldn't admit it, but he was a bit spoiled and cocky like that. He was used to getting what he wanted.
Cala nodded, grateful for the moment to breathe. She slipped into her bedroom, another door off of the living room, leaving the door open just a crack. Hino often gave her any old clothes he didn't want, which was useful when it came to her 'side business'. Most of the men who showed up, did so with practically ruined clothes. She liked to help if she could. Luckily, Hino was similar in size to Yeong, though a bit shorter.
She hummed softly as she pulled a tote out of her closet, opening it up and moving aside the tea bag she used to keep the clothes from smelling funky. Once she had the t-shirt and sweatpants she grabbed a blanket from the closet, and one of the pillows off her bed, then stepped back out, setting everything on the couch.
"The, um, bathroom is right there. I'll be in my room, if you need anything. Just…knock. Get some rest?"
Yeong waited, lounged out on the couch lazily. He took in his surroundings. It was a nice little apartment, seeming very cozy to him. When Cala came back, he looked at her with an appreciative grin on his lips. "Thanks for this," he hummed, accepting and taking the clothes, blanket, and pillow. It was good enough for him, he was easy to please. "Anything I can do to repay you, hm?" he questioned, wanting to show his gratitude for her actions in some sort of way.
Cala's eyes widened at that, like the thought was crazy to her. "Oh, no. There's…I think you're the first one to ask that." She mumbled, wrapping her arms around herself as she shook her head. "No, I wouldn't dream of letting you repay me. Your father's help has been incredible, and I get to help people." She was so used to doing things for other people. The idea of even letting someone return that favor seemed mildly uncomfortable. Even in different circumstances.
Yeong was the first one to ask? Was he the first one to come to Cala that actually had some sort of manners or morals? He listened to Cala speak about his father, humming to himself a bit. "Can I at least offer you something small? Come on, chica. You've helped my dad and now me. We keep buzzing around here like little flies because we're a reckless family. Let me do just one thing, yeah?"
"Well, I…" Something simple would work, right? She wasn't sure what the boundaries were, in terms of giving tasks to the son of the man you owed your freedom to. "I have some baking to do tomorrow? Or, I guess there's some garden work I could use help with. I don't know it really would depend on how well you're doing in the morning." Cala added, frowning at the floor.
Yeong clicked his tongue thoughtfully. "I could help with all that stuff.. or, better idea: you could let me take you out to get some good pasta," he chirped, giving her a cunning sort of grin. He obviously radiated pride, even in an injured and vulnerable position like he was in now. "Up to you, chica. You just let me know. Now, I think it's time for me to change and get my beauty sleep."
Cala nodded, turning to head back to her room. She paused before taking a step, glancing back at Yeong. "Um…goodnight, Yeong. I hope your dreams are kind." Was that the right phrase? A slight flush hit her cheeks as she turned away and slipped into her room, trying to remember what the phrase she had intended to say was. Have nice dreams? Sweet dreams. That was it.
She made a face at herself, shutting the door softly and turning the lock. It hadn't come with one, as whoever designed the apartment probably didn't expect the owner to need a lock on the only bedroom door. She had installed it herself, after a night spent with her desk wedged in front of the door.
Cala changed quickly into a pair of sleep shorts and a men's shirt she had bought for sleeping in. Normally, she would have been up and about her apartment a lot later into the night. But tonight seemed like a good night to read.
When Cala didn't reply to the offer to take her out to dinner once he was feeling better, Yeong hummed to himself, shrugging his shoulders a bit. Oh well. If she didn't want to, he couldn't do anything about it. "M'hm, goodnight," he replied, tilting his head to look over and watch as she left to go back to her bedroom. Once she was gone, he took his time with steadily changing into the t-shirt and sweatpants that he had been given. His leg ached, and his knee looked quite swollen from the torn ACL. He huffed, doing his best to make himself comfortable on the couch. He threw the blanket over himself and rested down against the pillow, huffing as he relaxed.
((cala's very 'gonna ignore the flirting cause i dont know what to say to it' lmao))
Her sleep had been easier that night. Though the nightmares still haunted her, they were silly ones, of being followed down dark streets and being trapped under ice. None of them were plucked from her memories, and for that, she was grateful. She had woken every few hours to check on Yeong, relieved each and every time to find him still breathing and sprawled across her couch.
It was 5:30, and sunlight made its way through her window, dancing pleasantly along her skin and across the quilt she was tucked under. Peaceful. It was a rare feeling, and she clung to it like a lifeline as she rose to face the day. Getting dressed was quick, a pair of denim shorts and a bandeau top paired with a light blue button up that she had claimed as hers when Hino failed to pick it up after a month of it sitting in her closet. She'd likely switch it out for something different later in the day, but it worked for now.
Quietly, she made her way into the living room. She wasn't sure how long Yeong would continue to sleep, but he needed the rest. She was almost silent in brushing her teeth, minus the running water, and found herself craving pancakes. That seemed like a good breakfast option when Yeong woke up. For now, she moved on light feet about the house, tending to all of her plants with water, whispered words in Greek, and humming. And plenty of funny faces one would make at a child.
(lmaoo that’ll just make it funny, yeong would get a “wtf stop ignoring me :(“ attitude so fast)
Yeong was still in a deep, buzz induced sleep. It had been late, he was all out of energy, and he was injured. He had every right to sleep in a bit late. His parents always made him wake up at the crack of dawn, so he cherished the times when he was able to stay somewhere away from home and get a couple extra hours. It was difficult when he wanted to go out and party all night, but then had to wake up so early in the morning.
Yeong’s parents always said it had to do with his ‘duty’ or something along those lines. He could easily assume that those duties had to do with him being the heir to the cartel. He didn’t really want all of that. He didn’t think he was ready for anything like that, he had so much more of his free life to live. Maybe that was why he got black out high and/or drunk almost every night. Trying to have his fun while he could.
His eyes slowly fluttered open, squinting in the light. As his eyes focused, he tried to remember where he was. He would have assumed that he had crashed at a friends, but when he moved to sit up and the pain set it, he suddenly remembered bits and pieces of the night before. After a moment, his stomach began to churn and his hand slapped over his mouth. On instinct, he tried to jump up to find a trash can, but his injured leg gave out on him. “Cala! I really need a trash can, por favor!”
Cala jumped at her name being shouted, only taking a split second to compute what Yeong had shouted. Luckily, she kept two waste baskets in the living room, one for dead plant trimmings and the other for medical trash. She quickly grabbed the latter bin, handing it to him. After making sure he had a good enough grip on it, she hurried to the kitchen. "Water and aspirin. Theós, I probably should have given you water last night, to take the edge off the alcohol."
She tried to remember if she had spare toothbrushes, as she filled a glass with water. There had been a few, and she had a few for regular visitors as well. Shaking her head, she returned with a bottle of aspirin and the glass of water. Worst case, she could let him use hers, and go pick up more. At least they weren't expensive. "Times like this make me glad I don't drink regularly."
Yeong kept a hand over his mouth, gagging gently as he waited. When he was finally handed a waste basket, he snatched it and proceeded to get quite sick. The lack of water and food the night before, combined with the alcohol and drugs, was the perfect storm for a hell of a hangover.
Once he was finished, he spit in the basket and then wiped his mouth off on the back of his hand. “Fucking hell. If the cops hadn’t of shown up, I could have gotten some food to have with all the other stuff.” When he was offered the water and aspirin, he took them gratefully and popped a couple of aspirin pills into his hands before dropping them into his mouth. He drank a couple gulps of water, thankful the nasty taste was out of his mouth as he swallowed the pills.
Cala's grimace was sympathetic, as was her tone as she spoke. "Is it helpful to mention I was going to make pancakes? The bread-y consistency might be good on your stomach." She said, taking a seat on the edge of an arm chair. "That, and you definitely need some food in you. Otherwise, how are you feeling?" Once again, she had wrapped her arms around herself, unsure of what to do with her hands as she sat and talked to someone. If you weren't doing something, people usually expected eye contact, too. That wasn't as easy for her as it was for other people, as her father had managed to beat eye contact out of her.
At the mention of food, Yeong seemed to perk up a tad. "That sounds absolutely perfect," he replied, pushing himself back up by his arms to sit back down on the couch instead of on the floor. "I could eat literally anything right now." He took a moment to look around the room he was in before his eyes landed on her. He seemed to study her for a moment before speaking up again. "I don't remember much of what happened last night. I obviously remember the big things, but I could not tell you a single little detail. But I am smart enough to assume that because I am in this condition, we did not sleep together." He was used to waking up quite often next to a stranger.
Her cheeks flushed pink again–why was that happening so much lately–and Cala shook her head fervently. "N-no, we didn't. You showed up, we talked about grilled cheese while I dealt with your injury, and then you slept on the couch. I wouldn't-I'd never sleep with someone who was injured. That seems sort of like malpractice." She said, her words almost tripping over themselves in a hurry to leave her mouth. "You said you were running from the police, and got injured. That's about all that matters from last night."
If she was lucky, he would have forgotten both offering to repay her help and taking her out. The latter hadn't been much of an issue up until she realized he was probably flirting with her.
Yeong chuckled when he noticed the color come to Cala's face. "Talked about grilled cheese, huh? I must have been off of my ass," he laughed. That was obvious, considering that he did not remember most of the night before. At the mention of sleeping with someone hurt being a malpractice, he shrugged his shoulders. He didn't know anything about that sort of thing. "Shit, well thanks for helping me out, then. Did I pay you? I got my wallet on me," he started, before looking down at himself and realizing he wasn't wearing his own clothes. "Where's my clothes? My wallet was in my pants."
Cala jumped to her feet, holding up a hand as though to say 'hold on'. The laundry room was sort of connected to the kitchen, and she had taken his pants to wash them. The shirt had obviously gotten tossed. She wasn't even sure she could get the blood out if she tried to mend it.
The pants were sitting on top of the dryer, clean. The items from his pockets were sitting on top, and she grabbed the full bundle, returning to the living room to give them to him. "Don't worry about paying me, please. I-" She took a deep breath, figuring being assertive here wouldn't be the end of the world. "I won't accept any money. Pancakes, I should make those. Do you like yours with anything in them? Fruit, chocolate…?"
Yeong waited like he was told, and when Cala came back with his things, he gratefully took them all. He set the wallet, a set of keys, and a lighter down next to him. His lips twitched into a frown when he was told no about the money. "Can I offer you anything besides money?" he asked. He clearly did not remember the night before when he was persisting on and on about taking Cala out to get pasta properly.
At the offer of pancakes, he perked up with bright eyes. "Fruit would be great, thanks," he said with a smile. He shifted on the couch to be able to look in the direction of the kitchen. "So you made the pancakes yourself, huh?" he asked. He had always been a fan of home cooking, preferring that over any sort of restaurant made food. Most homemade food just seemed to have a lot more flavor and life to it.
Having already gone through this the other night, Cala shook her head as she headed to the kitchen. It was an open concept, so he could see everything she did, and hear her fine. "You already thanked me verbally, that's more than enough." She assured, pausing in front of the fridge to stretch her arms up as high as she could. The scars on her stomach were visible, mostly because she had forgotten to throw on a shirt that would cover them. Yeong was unlikely to judge her for them, though. He likely had his own.
"Oh, good. I just bought a bunch of fresh strawberries. And yes, I make them myself." After grabbing a carton of eggs and carton of milk, she balanced a bowl of strawberries on the crook of her arm, shutting the fridge door with her hip. "Eating out constantly would get to expensive, to start. Not to mention this way, I can make as many as I want. The limitations of restaurant portions don't exist here." She said seriously, glancing out at him. "Do you drink coffee?"
Yeong huffed when he was denied. It was her loss, he thought. He could not force her to accept anything from him. When Cala stretched her arms out and exposed her stomach, his eyes glanced it over momentarily. Normally, he would have wondered about the scars, but considering she was working with the cartel from what he knew, he wasn’t surprised. Cala would have been right, he did have plenty of his own spotted all over his skin.
“Strawberries sound great,” he agreed, listening to how she went on about the disadvantages of eating out at restaurants. “Yeah, I do,” he confirmed. Really anything to eat or drink at the moment sounded perfect to him. He lifted the glass of water and downed the rest of it. He had to nurse his hangover some how. Still feeling quite thirsty. He slowly pushed himself up, putting his weight on his right leg. He balanced there for a moment before looking over at Cala.
“Have a crutch or anything lying around here that I could use, doc?” he asked, a little bit of a teasing edge to his tone.
Halfway through starting the coffee pot, Cala paused, thinking for a moment. Doc. Her heart briefly ached for a different set of circumstances. To be licensed, and practicing, and an actual doctor. "Crutches? Not in the tote, definitely, but….oh, I may still have the ones from when Hino broke his leg." She was half talking to herself, half to Yeong, something she did fairly often. Like she couldn't decide between thinking out loud and actually speaking to someone. "Just a second-" After pressing start on the coffee machine, she made her way to the guest room door.
There were, of course, more plants inside, and the room was mostly done being turned into a guest room. All she was missing was a bed, but at least the book shelf was full stocked. She rummaged around in the closet for a moment, before triumphantly pulling out a pair of crutches. "Found them! Do you want one, or two? Oh, and do you know what's wrong with your leg, or do I need to take a look?"
