[Backdated April 28th] Frustrations - OTA

[st_x5_494]

Alec found himself walking down the hall tense and unable to really form a coherent thought except a lot of swearing directed toward Peter. He hadn't expected to punch the kid - to really punch the kid. Even when they fought in the parking lot, Alec had held back. That punch - he had meant to hurt Peter. And then after, when he had he was pissed off that Peter hadn't defended himself.

In his walking as he dwelled on the events that just transpired, Alec saw the vending machine. That damn vending machine.

He closed the distance between him and it and then Alec began to punch it. Not the glass - that would be too easy - Alec punched the metal. The metal dented with each hit, his knuckles getting raw and bloody quickly from it.

Comments

[st_illfleshandblood]

That was the kid Bo had called trouble, and the way he was laying into that machine, Jackson could see why. Chances were the kid would need a doctor after this - unless he was another magical type - so Jackson leaned against a wall, crossed his arms, and waited it out.

Once he was done - or there was, at least, a pause in the punching - he asked, "What did that machine ever do to you?"

[st_x5_494]

Alec was only vaguely aware of someone nearby as he slowed down and turned his head when Jackson spoke. His shoulders tensed for a moment, then relaxed as he straightened. "Except be a piece of shit half the time, nothing. Innocent bystander."

[st_illfleshandblood]

Being a piece of shit half the time was the way of a lot of people, so it was probably a good thing the kid was taking it out on a machine, rather than a person. Jackson pushed off the wall, only taking a couple of steps closer, not more. "You gonna need medical attention for that?" he asked, nodding in the direction of the very bloody knuckles.

Only in this place could that be an actual question, rather than a statement.

[st_x5_494]

He looked down at the raw, bloody knuckles. It was only then did the stinging register as if only now did the exposure to the air begin. "They'll heal on their own eventually." He had accelerated healing, but it wasn't magic. Still, he wouldn't worry about it necessarily.

[st_illfleshandblood]

"Most things do," Jackson replied easily. "Come on, give me a break. We never have a thing to do around here. Let me clean it up, at least." He nodded in the direction of the clinic.

[st_x5_494]

Alec looked at Jackson and sighed. "Yeah, alright." As if he were doing some sort of favour for the man.

He started to head in that direction. "If you guys had more cute nurses, people might hang around more."

[st_illfleshandblood]

"If we had more cute nurses, I wouldn't mind not havin' that many visitors," Jackson retorted. What could he say? Pretty women could be wonderfully distracting, and then he might not be so goddamn bored during his shifts.

[st_x5_494]

"That's fair." He knew Pike worked there, but that was the only one who he knew was hot.

"You could just find something else to do while you're here."

[st_illfleshandblood]

"I did," Jackson assured him. "It's called bourbon."

[st_x5_494]

"You have some at the clinic, cause -that- I'd take you up on." Alec was all about alcohol for pain.

[st_illfleshandblood]

"What kinda doctor do you take me for?" Jackson asked, sounding mildly offended. "'Course I do."

[st_x5_494]

That produce a smirk from Alec as they neared the clinic. "You're right. And that makes you a way better doctor than half the ones I know back home."

[st_illfleshandblood]

"Is that high praise, or are they all a bunch of charlatans?" Jackson had to ask, mostly rhetorically, although he wouldn't mind an answer, either. It was hard to tell when anyone was from, sometimes. He pushed inside the clinic, holding the door for the kid, and nodded at his colleague on shift. "I've got this."

[st_x5_494]

"Maybe a little of both." He looked around for Pike as they entered, but didn't see her. She was probably at the bakery. "Military doctors don't usually have a lot of humour." At least from his experience.

[st_illfleshandblood]

"You've been frequentin' the wrong sort of military doctors, then," Jackson stated, walking over to a cupboard to pull some disinfectant out of it. From the next one over, he grabbed a bottle of bourbon from the back of a shelf., where it had been mostly hidden behind actual medicine. "Why don't you have a seat," he suggested, with a nod towards the nearest medical bed. He grabbed a couple of glasses, as well as some cotton swipes and bandages, and put the supplies on a small trolley to roll it over to the bed.

[st_x5_494]

The whole facility was familiar to Alec in a way that set him a little uneasy despite him knowing this was makeshift and in a hotel. Clinics always had a certain look to them, even if it was a temporary triage site.

He took a seat on the edge of the bed and tried not to think about the last time he was on one of these and the doctors at Manticore were trying to 'help' him forget Rachel.

"Yeah. Secret Military bases tend to have the ones with the biggest sticks up their asses."

[st_illfleshandblood]

"Trust your word on that," Jackson said, and poured them two glasses of bourbon. Priorities. Alcohol first, when the knuckles could wait, and the kid seemed as into it as Jackson. It would take the edge of the pain off. "What's your name again?" All he remembered was 'trouble', and he wasn't calling the kid that.

[st_x5_494]

"Alec." He took one of the glasses and took a sip. As always, it was nice to feel the alcohol slide down his throat and warm his insides. "Jackson, right?" Because Alec remembered everything and was trained to be observant.

[st_illfleshandblood]

"That's me," Jackson confirmed, and stepped away with his glass. He washed his hands in a nearby sink, then came back to the kid. Butters would have all up in his business about not wearing the goddamn gloves, but he was just treating some scrapes. Butters should relax some. "I'm gonna clean that up, Alec," he told the kid after setting the glass down by the disinfectant, and grabbing the latter. "Make you didn't break anything. And bandage it up."

He figured Alec would have complained about the pain already, if he'd broken anything, but better safe than sorry. Some people's pain tolerance, or dislike of complaining, was impressive.

[st_x5_494]

He only looked a little annoyed that he had to switch hands to keep drinking, but he nodded, holding out one of his hands. Really, it would heal within a day, but if it gave the guy something to do, then who was he to judge?

"You a doctor back home?"

[st_illfleshandblood]

"Yep," Jackson confirmed as he poured a little disinfectant onto a compress. "This might sting a little." He set to work, efficient and as quick as he could be. "Back home's way earlier than all this stuff, though," he added conversationally. "Butters has been bringin' me up to date."

[st_x5_494]

"How far back?" He looked at the guy, but couldn't tell much of a difference. It didn't help history was not exactly on Manticore's top priority to teach them.

[st_illfleshandblood]

"1890s?" Jackson offered as he worked, curious whether that would mean anything to the kid. Not everyone here came from Earth, after all.