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[pullsneedles]

Lucas rubs the towel on his head, drying his freshly-washed hair as he emerges from the bathroom. It's been a long day, but a good one. Somehow the sadness of approaching autumn is lessened by the bright mums ready for planting.

But tonight is a good night to settle in with one of his books, this time one with information on the Runaway Five. It seems like a good one to share with Duster.

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[pullsneedles]

Lucas wasn't expecting company. Perhaps it's someone to see Duster?

"Coming!" he calls, heading over to the door.

[herr_bookman]

Autor stares at shoes until Lucas opens the door for him. He has his new blazer hanging on his arm, and he hopes the other boy doesn't panic when he sees him covered in ink and blood and with a broken nose. To hide it, he raises the smoothies to shoulder level.

[pullsneedles]

"Shoot, what happened, Autor?" he asks, tossing the door open. He lets the towel on his head slide down to his shoulders as he holds his hands out to take the smoothies.

[herr_bookman]

Autor kicks himself. He should have known better to think he could hide behind smoothies. "Hi, Lucas," he says, raising his hand in a little wave. "I... I provoked someone, and they shattered an inkwell across my face."

[pullsneedles]

"They hit you with what?!" he asks both for clarification and in disbelief.

The smoothies are set down next to the book, and he pulls a chair out for Autor.

"Here, sit yerself down and I'll help."

[herr_bookman]

"An inkwell," Autor says, sitting himself down, "while wearing a metal gauntlet. Guppy did a fine job tending to me--I used to have a cut across my cheek, here--but it's not comparable to what you can do, so... If you don't mind, I'd appreciate it."

[pullsneedles]

Lucas winces, imagining how it must have felt.

"Yeah, I can handle it. I'll getcha with Healing and Lifeup."

He stops to concentrate, and then, "Healingγ!" followed by, "Lifeupγ!"

Autor should get a familiar rush of PSI.

[herr_bookman]

The PSI is warm and comforting, and Autor closes his eyes as it straightens his nose and knits his skin back together.

"Ahh, that's much better," he says, shoulders sagging. "Thank you, Lucas. I owe you." He begins stripping of his old blazer and reaches for the new.

[pullsneedles]

"Ah! But you're still a mess," Lucas says, padding over to the bathroom. "Here, lemme getcha something to clean up with."

[herr_bookman]

"Thanks," Autor says gratefully, as he changes into the new blazer. "Guppy managed to clean my face off--and good heavens, did that hurt!--but the rest of me is still... ugh."

He stands, shaking himself out. "I don't think I'll ever forgive Miss Ashida."

[pullsneedles]

"Well, this'll get the rest," he goes, carrying a bucket of warm water and a clean hand towel. Then he sighs, "I never seen anybody hurt another like this here."

Sure, he's seen fighting and destruction, but he hasn't seen one patron hurt another like this before.

[herr_bookman]

Autor lifts one shoulder in a shrug. "It... It happens," he says, with the words feeling empty. He dips the towel in the water and rings it out, applying it to his chin and neck with a soft sigh.

"I'm sorry I involved you in it, especially since you're already dressed for bed."

[pullsneedles]

"You don't gotta be sorry about that. I wanna be able to help my friends."

All humans are intertwined, Autor, the Dark Dragon pipes up. Friends even more so.

[herr_bookman]

Autor blinks at the Dark Dragon's comment, having forgot he was there. He inclines his head.

"All right. I appreciate it, both of you," he says, considering how lucky he is to have Lucas as a friend. "Now, how about those smoothies?"

[pullsneedles]

"That was nice a you to bring those. You didn't have to."

But he accepts it, picking up a smoothie to drink.

"Y'don't think you're gonna see this person again, do you?"

[herr_bookman]

Autor sighs, draping the rag across his shoulders. "I certainly hope not. They ended up in the cells for three days, and they probably still blame me for it."

[pullsneedles]

"Well, that ain't fair at all. What'd you even do?"

Not that anything's worth an inkwell to the face.

[herr_bookman]

Autor turns his head, nibbling on his bottom lip. "I... I baited them, like I said," he says, feeling terribly embarrassed by it and not knowing why. "I said some things that were rather unkind."

[pullsneedles]

Lucas frowns a bit.

"Well, that ain't right, but neither is smashin' your face with an inkwell."

He sighs over the smoothie.

"I'm so tired of people hurtin' each other."

[herr_bookman]

Autor frowns and reaches for his smoothie to give his hands something to do. He sips at for a bit before raising his head. "I'm sorry, Lucas," he says, fairly certain anything he could say wouldn't soothe the boy's hurts.

[pullsneedles]

He nods.

"Well, everybody does stuff that hurts other people sometimes."

[herr_bookman]

"Sometimes," Autor says, nodding, before changing the subject. "Say, what did you think of the wake? You had a decent turn out."

[pullsneedles]

"I liked it," he says, sipping on the smoothie. "I was really surprised by that."

[herr_bookman]

"I sort of expected it to be more somber," he admits, stirring the smoothie with his straw. "But I'm glad it turned out the way it did. It sure was kind of Sunshine to provide all that food for us."

[pullsneedles]

"Well, there were some sad moments. But it's better that it wasn't too sad."

That is how memories are sometimes.