DOMINIC PHENDER
Human
Posts: 146
Played by:
Julia
"Liking what I like don't make me a bitch."
Last seen Nov 11, 2024 19:34:08 GMT
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Post by DOMINIC PHENDER on May 23, 2023 16:40:15 GMT
 ━ don't fucking tell me what's impossible ━ October 31st DOM WAS PRETTY SURE THE BAR OWNER SAVED HIS fuckin’ life. It was embarrassing to admit, ‘specially ‘cause he spent his whole life fighting━actually, nah, beating up dudes━to prove his dominance. And now, in this shitty, podunk little fuckin’ town, he’d got his ass handed to him. In a bar. By some random who was prob’ly bored and wanted to pick a fight. Just his fuckin’ luck, huh?
He groaned as he dragged himself along the sidewalk. Most of the damage was to his face━no cracked ribs or nothin’━but it still hurt. He wasn’t sure yet whether his jaw was broken or not, but Dominic figured he’d find out eventually. One thing was for sure, though, there was a fountain of dried blood on his face, and he had a feeling the split in his cheek was huge.
It wasn’t ‘til he was a few blocks past did Dom realized he’d missed his apartment completely. He coulda called Amy and had her patch him up, but he didn’t wanna ruin her night. It was Halloween, after all━and thank fuck it was too late for any kids to be out. He was pretty sure he could pretend this was some sorta costume, but still.
And he couldn’t go to a hospital. That was obvious. And while he hadn’t seen Frank since he walked out on him that morning, Dom knew exactly where he was going, and who he needed to see. He was just prayin’ Frank hadn’t developed a social life in the last few months, so he’d be home tonight. Maybe Kit had already called him and told him what was up. He wasn’t sure if that would be a blessin’ or a curse.
Lugging his ass up to the door, Dominic glanced at the Jack-o-Lanterns out front, figuring the shitty one was probably Frank’s. The cartoon-lookin’ one? Maybe Hazel’s. For the first time, he felt a little guilty for bein’ away so long.
Dominic raised his bloody, cracked knuckles, though he felt pain suddenly sear through them, and realized he shouldn’t be bangin’ them on the wooden fuckin’ door. He switched to his other hand and rapped hard, then stood there waitin’ like a fuckin’ bitch. He barely waited before he started shifting away, giving up hope almost immediately, and then the door opened.
His eyes flicked up, the one not swollen shut looking bluer around the mass of reddish brown blood, and he tried for a smile (which looked more like bearing his teeth), though it didn’t amount to much before he gave up. He felt guilty for being here. “Hey, man,” He puffed, finding it painful to move his mouth. “Uh… shit, sorry t’do this to ya, I’ll fuck off if ya want. But I didn’t wanna freak out my little sister, and hospitals ain’t cheap…” Dominic shouldn’ta been putting Frank out like this, but it was obvious in his explanation━he didn’t have anyone else.
FRANK DAMASCA | no notes. |
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FRANK DAMASCA
Banshee
Posts: 127
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Oct 18, 2024 17:04:31 GMT
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Post by FRANK DAMASCA on Jun 8, 2023 19:28:20 GMT
 October 31st Wait – had that been the last peanut butter cup? Glancing away from the screen as the camera zoomed in on Michael Myers’ hockey mask, Frank scowled down into the half empty candy bowl. Three bags of them – two handed out to the trick or treaters, the third dumped into the bowl after the knocks at the door had started to slow. Now there wasn’t a single one left. Frank doubted he could even blame Hazel, or his heavily pregnant sister-in-law, they’d always been his and Theo’s favourite.Maybe Hazel was heading out with friends after she’d run the gauntly of all the family stuff – handing candy out with her parents, carving the pumpkins that still glowed out on the porch, stopping by here to show off costumes before the family scattered – but Theo and Freyja were at home. Making the most of an evening with no teenager, a zonked out baby inside of that exponentially expanding bump and purloined candy. Bah.The last decade – jesus, he was getting old – for eighteen years he’d have followed them out, leaving the jack o’lanterns burning as a welcome home, while he’d trailed Kit, and lately Kace and Katja, to the club. Not this year, though. The warning chaffed his ass as much as the lack of peanut butter cups did. This year was special, Hector had plans for some fucked up Purge thing at the club. Kit hadn’t needed to spell it out too plainly, they’d watch some of that garbage, and yeah, no thanks. There was enough death in his life as it was. He didn’t want to be dropping to his knees to scream on the dance floor. But he wasn’t keen on spending the night alone either. ”Freaking baby, whining about a few hours alone.” Frank made a disgusted noise and nudged the bowl away. He could’ve made a grab for Katja’s arm, followed her and that meathead babysitter her mom had tethered her to and begged to join in on whatever Noche de Brujas was. She’d rolled her eyes as she’d left, told him he was having a lucky escape. Maybe lurking in a booth at the Diner until the place closed wouldn’t have been as bad as whatever Katja was suffering through, but as Kace had tilted his head in invite as he left, he’d found himself shaking his head. Frank scratched his fingertips through his beard, chasing an itch as he padded into the kitchen. He’d done a piss poor job of removing the camo paint from his face, streaks of it still behind his ears and caught in the hair of his beard. Dressing as a toy soldier had been a lazy choice in the first place, but in a way it had felt like reclaiming some part of who he’d been. That’d been the theme over the last few months, hadn’t it?Warmth flooded up from the collar of his drab t-shirt as he opened the fridge to grab a beer. There hadn’t been a repeat of what had happened, but it wasn’t like he’d entirely shifted back to what he’d been like before either. It was like putting on clothes from high school. For the most part things still fit, but they didn’t feel like they once had, ending up clinging in strange places. Was it a good thing? A fresh start? Maybe. He’d definitely needed one. He popped the cap off of the bottle on the scarred edge of the counter and started back towards the couch where it had all happened. The heat began to prickle, starting off an itch under his skin that wasn’t getting scratched tonight. Frank tunnelled his fingers through his beard again, frowning at the screen. Last time he'd watched the film had been the year Hazel had gone trick or treating with him and Kit. Nightmares and candy induced puking had prevented it from happening again. Freyja definitely hadn’t softened with the years.On screen Michael raised the knife, the audio went silent for just a second and then he was the one yelping as someone thumped on the door. A little late, but alright, they were welcome to the lesser candy that still sat at the bottom of the bowl. Letting out the breath that’d locked in his chest, Frank carried the bowl out to the door. He was shaking it as he opened it, trying to make it look like there was something half decent left. ”Figured you guys were…” Figured he wasn’t coming back.It had taken months of unanswered calls and messages, of an empty chair at the table of those family dinners to have him convinced that Dom was gone for good. One night together, rolling around on the grass, all hot, hungry hands and mouths, had been the straw to break the twitchy camel’s back. Some part of him had regretted the way he’d contributed to Dom bailing, but that night had been the trigger for the slow conversion of his life, and he wouldn’t wish that away.”Fuck,” Frank muttered, setting the bowl aside. The frown cut deeper as Dom’s attempt at a smile faded. ”Nah, man, I’m not telling you to do that. Always wanted the opposite – please tell me that’s just some incredible make up, a Halloween prank.” A way to ease his way back in the door. It wasn’t make up that had puffed Dom’s eye shut or fucked up his jaw though. It was knuckles, fists. Stepping back, he nodded Dom into the house. He closed the door behind him before gesturing him through to the kitchen. ”Don’t worry about the hospital, you know you can always come here. My door’s always open.” It wouldn’t always end the way it had the last time he’d patched Dom up. Frank tugged the freezer door open, dipping into it for one of the cold packs he used when his back screamed hardest and massages seemed too slippery a slope. ”What happened? Some dad clean your clock for trying to steal candy from a baby?” He wrapped the pack in a clean kitchen towel and passed it to Dom as he bent to grab the first aid kit from under the sink. |
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DOMINIC PHENDER
Human
Posts: 146
Played by:
Julia
"Liking what I like don't make me a bitch."
Last seen Nov 11, 2024 19:34:08 GMT
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Post by DOMINIC PHENDER on Jun 22, 2023 17:35:31 GMT
 ━ don't fucking tell me what's impossible ━
“Thanks, man.” He sighed, hanging his head as he sloped inside. “Nah, I wish. Everything hurts like a bitch.” He half-chuckled, grimaced, then made a pit stop in the kitchen to spit blood into the sink.
Frank seemed to make this their destination, so Domleaned back into the counter and only flinched once at the sounds behind him. He turned (begrudgingly) and frowned at the TV. Jesus, how old was he, five? Scared of a God damn horror movie?
“Can you fuckin’ imagine?” Dom scoffed, turning back to Frank. He took the towel-wrapped ice pack with his good hand, pausing as he considered where to put it. Finally, it went to the spot about his cheekbone with a sharp hiss. “Some asshole walked up to me at th’club. Don’t know what the fuck his problem was. I was talkin’ to Kit, rantin’ about some shit, I dunno━this dude musta thought I was bein’ rude to ‘im? Kit, I mean, like he ain’t big enough t’stand up for himself.” He grumbled, readjusting the ice pack. “Anyway, I thought I could take ‘im, y’know? Or at least hold my own for a minute. Dude musta been a secret bodybuilder, man, ‘cause he didn’t look it, but he was strong as fuck. Swear t’God I thought I was gonna die on that floor.” Kit hadn’t gotten there in time to stop it, only to help him out onto the sidewalk before Dom abandoned him.
But he didn’t like talkin’ about his failures, and he certainly didn’t want this to turn into some sappy bitch-fest. Dom shifted almost uncomfortably, then stuck out his mangled hand for Frank to do somethin’ with. “This been your whole night, man? Movies and handin’ out candy? Hazel gone out again, or is she, like, sayin’ she’s too old for that shit now?” He smiled despite the pain radiating through his cheek and jaw, blinking away the cloudiness in his eyes. From the pain, not like he was goin’ blind. Jesus.
FRANK DAMASCA | no notes. |
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FRANK DAMASCA
Banshee
Posts: 127
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Oct 18, 2024 17:04:31 GMT
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Post by FRANK DAMASCA on Jul 11, 2023 18:34:44 GMT
October 31st If wishes were … well, he’d have said horses, but he wasn’t Theo, he hadn’t become an expect about how much horses actually shit because his wife was an honest to God farm girl. If wishes came true, it wouldn’t have taken Dom months to find his way back here. Maybe Dom wouldn’t have found his way here at all, because all those little pleas he’d shot off to whatever benevolent entity had given Cory the nod to bring Theo back from where he’d been trapped would’ve given Dom his happy ever after too. Him and Noah would’ve probably been half a world away, doing all the shit they should’ve been able to do if fate – and something far more vicious – hadn’t ripped the two of them apart. Hey, he’d even have taken it being a quickie Vegas wedding that he wasn’t invited to. Anything to make the absence be for a good reason, instead of being because he’d crossed a line the last time he’d patched Dom up.
He hadn’t seen the swing that’d drawn the blood this time. Frank’s gaze dropped to Dom’s hands as he passed him – not bloodied the same way as before, but not entirely untouched either. Dom had got some licks in on whoever had messed him up. Any pride in that faded the minute his quippy suggestion for how it’d happened had Dom grimacing and hocking up blood into sink. Whatever happened didn’t just involve a wild swing at a fence out of anger this time. Someone had pummelled Dom until it all hurt like a bitch and he’d been left with the choice of going home and having his sister freak out about it, or finally biting the bullet to come back here.
Frank closed the door behind him and followed Dom towards the kitchen – he wasn’t about to perch on the edge of the bathtub to do this. ”Maybe go with that next Halloween instead.” It’d probably be less painful than whatever it was Dom had got himself stuck into. ”At least you get candy at the end of it instead of a busted lip and a black eye.” And whatever else lurked beneath the swelling and bruises – maybe some of it beyond what he could patch up with ice and butterfly stitches. He’d drag Dom to the hospital if he had to, probably kicking and screaming, but hey, it’d be for his own good.
Returning to the counter, Frank set the kit down. He’d nudge Dom to the table once the story was out and some of the hurt had been numbed with the ice Dom had pressed against his cheekbone. ”Talking to Kit, huh?” One hand came up, like he was waving off the question, he wasn’t about to get bitter about Dom talking to Kit instead of him. His lips pursed faintly, his brows drawing together. Rude and Dom hadn’t always been mutually exclusive before – the guy had a mouth on him in a lot of ways – but in a club like the Ruby Slipper, you had to expect that shit. He’d seen it happen a dozen times and it was usually broken up by Kit or one of the hulks who worked the door before the place ended up splattered with blood. ”Those ninjas come in a whole variety of sizes. Sounds like you went toe to toe with one in a decent disguise. Did Kit at least manage to break that shit up?” Not before Dom had been on the floor by the sounds of things. His gaze dropped to Dom’s chest. The problem was that when you went down it was more than fists in place, a boot to the kidneys could have you pissing blood for a week, one to the chest could bust a rib, maybe puncture a lung if you weren’t careful.
Dom was already shifting his weight. Yeah, that shirt was coming off after – whether or not it sounded like some sort of come on again, a round 2 he wasn’t intending on having tonight. His love life was a big enough mess as it was, he wasn’t stamping apart whatever remained of his friendship with Dom after the last time things had gone that way. Frank huffed out a breath as Dom popped out his hand, like a kid demanding that a b00-boo be kissed better. He dragged up a chair, used his grip on Dom’s wrist to get him down into it, then got one of his own.
”You’re gonna bitch me out for having a quiet night in after the shit show of your Halloween?” Frank asked incredulously. He snorted, grabbing gauze and some saline from the kit to start mopping away at the mess that was Dom’s hand. ”Hazel, Theo and Freyja came around earlier. Considering Freyja’s ready to pop, I’m betting they went home and Hazel went out with her friends. She’s not old enough to find trick or treating embarrassing yet – probably won’t be that way next year.” Although then she’d have a little brother or sister to be taking around. ”She’d be happy to see you at Sunday dinner again some time. There’s always been a seat, you know, just in case…” Just waiting for a moment like this. Maybe this coming Sunday would be different.
He made some soft sound that was meant to be comforting as he pressed the gauze carefully to the torn up knuckles, dragging it gently over the raw skin. Some painkillers would probably take any throb out of them later, but this was gonna be another bandaging job, hiding the damage beneath a snowy white bandage – something he couldn’t do for Dom’s face. "How bad’s the rest of the damage?” Frank asked as he looked up at Dom. ”Teeth? Ribs? You seeing straight?” That many blows, a concussion had to be a possibility and he would’ve laid money on Dom not wanting to spend the night, especially since it’d come with being constantly monitored for a blown pupil or some other shit scary sign that this wasn’t just a moderately bad ass kicking.
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DOMINIC PHENDER
Human
Posts: 146
Played by:
Julia
"Liking what I like don't make me a bitch."
Last seen Nov 11, 2024 19:34:08 GMT
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Post by DOMINIC PHENDER on Jul 30, 2023 21:56:49 GMT
━ don't fucking tell me what's impossible ━
He tensed when Frank repeated that Dom was talking to Kit. He knew he shouldn’t have fuckin’ come here or said shit. Fuck. Now it looked weird. But Dom didn’t respond to it, just kept tellin’ his story, ‘cause it was easier than gettin’ all weird and awkward. Plus, he hadn’t fucked Kit. The issue wasn’t with seein’ Kit, especially outside of this house.
Ninja. Yeah, sure. Some c-nt with secret training that was just waiting to unleash the, like, Power of the Dragon on someone. Jesus. “Nah,” He grumbled, “The owner pulled ‘im off; probably saved my fuckin’ life. Kit got me outside and tried to get me in a cab.” But Dom didn’t wanna do that. He wasn’t mad about Kit not doin’ more; Dom wouldn’t have accepted it anyway━he wasn’t gonna let Kit baby him.
Dom stuck out his hand and teased Frank about his night, then chuckled when Frank gave it back to him. He wheezed in a sharp breath, pain radiating through him when the light laughing vibrated his body. “Yeah,” He chuckled, knowing he’d given up the trick-or-treating thing a lot earlier, but only ‘cause he’d had to. “She might go back out when she’s gotta take her lil’ sis, though,” Or brother, but he was just goin’ by the fact that Hazel was first━also his experience with having a little sister. He’d gotten a couple more years when Amy came around, too.
Of course things got tense. Shit always did when family came up; he shoulda known that. Now Frank was offerin’ him a damn seat at the dinner table again, and Dom felt like shit for being away. His chest seized up, but it wasn’t ‘cause of the injuries. He thought about Hazel, how he’d bonded with her for sixteen fuckin’ years and then fucked off outta her life for some… stupid shit, really. Shit that didn’t even involve her. He hoped she knew that.
Maybe he could come back. All in all, this wasn’t the worst fuckin’ interaction he coulda had with Frank. “Yeah.” He puffed. “Thanks.” Dom added, like he forgot it was a good thing. A nice thing. He was included in someone else’s family, for fuck’s sake. “After… it was just weird, y’know? Kinda fucked up. Didn’t wanna sit at dinner pretendin’ everythin’ was cool. Didn’t even know if we could still be friends.” He wasn’t a fucking chick, emotions didn’t have to rule absolutely every relationship he had, but he hadn’t been with anybody since Noah. It was weird. And he was worried about fuckin’ up his closest (and only) friendship so bad that he just stopped talkin’ to Frank.
He sucked in through his teeth as the alcohol seeped into the tears in his flesh, and he breathed out slowly━the gauze already began to soothe it. The focus shifted onto his wounds again, and Dom would’ve shrugged if everything wasn’t fucking aching. “Vision’s a little fucked, even in the eye that ain’t swellin’ up.” He wouldn’t be surprised if he had a concussion, but that wasn’t as bad as his mouth. “Think I still got all my teeth in m’head. Dunno if my jaw’s broken.” Dom figured it would be harder to talk if it was, “I’m sore all over, but I don’t think I got any cracked ribs or nothin’. Don’t feel like it.” And he knew what it felt like━but that didn’t mean he wasn’t covered in bruises.
Just then, as if to prove him wrong, he coughed up a load of bloody phlegm and leaned over to spit it in the sink. Okay, maybe it was just blood from his mouth, but it hurt to cough. And it wasn’t like Frank could wrap up his outside to fix his inside, though he knew Frank might try.
FRANK DAMASCA | no notes. |
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FRANK DAMASCA
Banshee
Posts: 127
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Oct 18, 2024 17:04:31 GMT
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Post by FRANK DAMASCA on Aug 21, 2023 21:41:00 GMT
October 31st It was like the sting of a tiny sliver of glass in the sole of your foot when you managed to find what you hadn’t managed to clean up in the dark the night before. Painful for a second, the worst of it easing the moment you got it out. A tiny speck of blood that vanished the minute you touched it. Maybe you feel it when you put your weight on it but in seconds you were forgetting it again. There’d been that faint pang of something there in his chest – he wasn’t gonna be a whiny teenaged girl and call it jealousy of any kind – when Frank realised that Dom had been talking to Kit. Mystic Falls wasn’t New York, there weren’t bars on every damn corner and he wasn’t about to start dividing up what there was if this was just a one off visit and Dom’d decided that what happened between them meant some sorta acrimonious divorce he’d had no clue about.
Kit was the guy who made sure you got home safe at the end of the night, at least he made sure he did, the two of them watching out for one another now even more than they had when they’d just been brothers in camo. Once upon a time Dom’d had that with Noah, someone to fall back on – not even bringing the added weight love in the big L way brought to things – that’d gone when Noah had died and Dom hadn’t got his miracle. If Kit was watching out of him the same way he wouldn’t whine.
Frank had expected to hear that Kit had been the one to drag the vicious asshole off, vaulting the bar like some sorta Hollywood action hero. His brows hitched as he heard it was the owner instead. The guy had been in the background plenty while he’d been there, looking a little too smooth and aloof in those fancy suits to risk his manicure breaking up a fight. ”You’re lucky,” he breathed, knowing he didn’t have to tell Dom that. ”Kit tried to get you a cab and you what, decided to walk instead?” He was pretty sure he didn’t have to tell Dom the idiocy of that either. You got hurt like that each step you took sent that throb through you, an echo of your heartbeat you could feel in every bruise and cracked bone.
He'd come to the one guy he’d thought could patch him up, maybe he felt a little pride in that but it ebbed away as Dom’s breathing got ragged again. The lectures and the laughter could probably both wait. Frank huffed out a breath, pressing the gauze lightly over the worst of the damage on Dom’s knuckles. ”Maybe. You’re sure it’s a girl huh?” Like Hazel that was gonna be their little mystery right up to the big day. Then it’d be a toss up between Lil Frank and Frankina – not that Freyja would go with either suggestion. Hazel was an amazing kid and no matter whether she ended up with a little brother or sister, she’d be there holding onto one of the tiny fists that emerged from the pumpkin costume or whatever it was they’d bundle the kid up in.
The weight of his gaze coulda bored clear through the side of Dom’s head, putting on pressure to rebuild those bridges that’d been left in splinters by what’d happened out in the yard, he couldn’t do that to him though. Frank made the offer, holding out an olive branch that he hoped Dom would reach out for. As he did Frank huffed out a breath, finally lifting his gaze back to Dom’s face – that puffed up eyeball, the bruises, those same lines he’d seen so close up that they’d been like a kaleidoscope, recognisable parts no longer making a whole. ”Didn’t wanna sit at dinner after we slept together? In case one night meant I was either gonna kick you out or I was gonna start talking dates? Nah, man, it didn’t have to be weird. There was nothing to pretend. It didn’t have to change anything. You’re still welcome and you want me to shut my mouth and never bring it up again, you got it.” He hadn’t spent a couple of decades keeping all that stuff on the down low just to make a big scene out of it now (if there was one to make it was definitely out of what had happened between him, Kit and Katja).
Booze. Concussion. The outside chance of a detached retina that he woulda been able to do fuck all about. There were probably a handful more reasons why Dom’s vision was kinda screwy. Each little wound added up, the damage layering up like the bruises were gonna when they’d finished spreading and moved into the rainbow healing stage. ”Look at me, tilt your head back a little, look up at the light,” Frank ordered. He set the pink stained gauze aside, plucked up another sheet to press it in place while he squinted at Dom’s eyes, making sure he wasn’t blowing a pupil while he sat there. ”If it is broken I’m not gonna be able to patch that together. You know that.” It’d be a trip to the ER, maybe a little jaw wiring, something that might quiet Dom down while the healing happened – something he’d be mega pissed about. Frank grunted as Dom’s assessment continued. He’d check all of it himself, laying hands on if Dom would let him. Just to be sure.
”No cracked ribs huh? Bullshit.” Tilting his head as Dom hawked something nasty up in the sink, Frank shot Dom a wry look. Like he had done before, he wrapped a bandage around Dom’s hand, taking care of the simplest bit of this first. ”Shirt off and it’s not just a ploy to snatch another look. Come on. Let me check. It’s just gonna be a shitty bandage job if he managed to crack one, but even that’s better than feeling like someone’s stabbing you in the guts every time you sneeze.” Frank wiggled his hands at Dom, gesturing him to lift his arms like Hazel had done as a toddler, waiting for someone else to handle the seemingly impossible task of getting in and out of clothes. He’d have said it was easier handling that for a two year old, but this was Dom, it was bound to be an argument of some sort.
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DOMINIC PHENDER
Human
Posts: 146
Played by:
Julia
"Liking what I like don't make me a bitch."
Last seen Nov 11, 2024 19:34:08 GMT
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Post by DOMINIC PHENDER on Sept 14, 2023 21:25:14 GMT
━ don't fucking tell me what's impossible ━
When it finally came up, he tried to grit his teeth and get through it━mentally and physically. He wasn’t bein’ a little bitch; it definitely had the potential to get really weird.
Of course Frank had to be cool about it, though. Dom never shoulda had to worry, but this was just one night when they were distracted by other shit. It wasn’t dinner with Frank’s family━the one that’d slowly become his, too. “I mean, fuck it,” He puffed, keeping his eyes anywhere but on Frank. “We don’t gotta be bitches ‘bout it.” He grumbled, and couldn’t find a reasonable way to say, ‘But yeah, let’s not fuckin’ talk about it again,’ so he just didn’t.
‘Course, as soon as he mentioned his vision, Frank did his whole doctor act━look at the light and shit. Dom begrudgingly complied, squinting at how bright it was, puffing, then trying to move his lower jaw around. It ached, but there weren’t any shooting pains or nothin’. “Could just punch me on the other side, huh? Reset it?’ He chuckled at his own joke, and looked back at Frank as soon as he could, hoping it’d been long enough.
He leaned over to spit into the sink, then let Frank continue patching him up, trying not to think about his strong fingers (and their other talents) every time they grazed his skin. Jesus, it’d been too fuckin’ long. That shit was pathetic.
Fuck, and now Frank wanted to touch up the bare skin on his torso, too. Was he doin’ this on fuckin’ purpose?
“Don’t sneeze. Never get sick.” He grumbled, blue eyes flicking over Frank as he wrapped his knuckles, staring at him almost curiously. “Used t’gettin’ stabbed in the gut.” He tried, then smirked, ‘cause he knew he wasn’t gettin’ away with any of this shit.
Once Frank was done with his hand, Dom slowly tried to pull his shirt off, though it was a struggle with more than one quiet wince. Finally, he conceded and simply lifted his arms as much as they would go, silently asking for help. Eventually, it was over his head and on the floor, and his arm tucked into his side again as if to protect it. Hidden under the crook of his elbow, dark splatters of bruises were already forming, spreading outwards from the darkest centerpoint, like a blooming flower.
Maybe it wasn’t cracked. Just… severely fuckin’ bruised, and there was nothin’ Frank could do about that from the outside. Dom stared at him with wide, almost innocent eyes, like a stray dog, terrified and distrusting, but still desperate for help. Really, Dominic was just worried about what it was gonna feel like to have Frank touch him again.
FRANK DAMASCA | no notes. |
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FRANK DAMASCA
Banshee
Posts: 127
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Oct 18, 2024 17:04:31 GMT
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Post by FRANK DAMASCA on Sept 16, 2023 18:51:45 GMT
October 31st
”Exactly,” Frank muttered, his gaze remaining on Dom despite his skittering anywhere but right back at him. Don’t ask, don’t tell it was then. It wasn’t like he hadn’t spent his entire military career blocking out the fact that he was gay. What happened between him and any of the men he slept with wasn’t anybody else’s business – even when Kit barrelled through the door (thankfully when nothing was happening). If he was going to screw things up with sex then he wasn’t gonna start screaming about it from the rooftops. Maybe the family had started debating about it already, but Freyja was probably the only one who’d ever have opened her mouth about it. ”Come to dinner.”
Maybe later Dom would act like he hadn’t heard the invite – ringing in his ears, the suggestion lost in the pudding like mess of a confused brain – but it’d been said anyway. If he did turn back up, it probably wouldn’t be for a week or two. Dom’d been a decent honorary uncle before everything had shifted. A decent brother too. He hadn’t wanted to scare his sister and he wouldn’t wanna scare Hazel by walking in looking like this.
Frank puffed out a laugh, glad to see that Dom’s pupils were working normally. If they hadn’t he’d have called for paramedics and sat on Dom til they got there if he had to. ”I don’t think you could handle it. Another little love tap and you’ll be out.” He’d have gripped Dom’s jaw, checked for himself, but Dom didn’t seem too bothered as he shifted his jaw around. Another relief. He could slap on a band aid, wrap a bandage, that was about the limit of things though.
He changed his own dressings where he could after he’d been released from the hospital, fighting Theo for that much dignity at least. There’d been nothing he could do about his back. He’d had to sit there while Theo had eased gauze from wounds that were still closing, accept the antibiotics that’d been pressed on him when one of the wounds in his right shoulder had become infected. Biting his tongue as it was reopened to remove the sliver of shrapnel that’d worked its way out. It wasn’t much control and it’d hurt like a bitch, but it kept those scant skills he’d learned in training sharp enough for this.
It was a good thing Dom wasn’t making himself laugh with those muttered words. In the state he was in maybe that’d put him on his ass just as quick as another punch. Chuckling, Frank hitched his brows. ”You just regularly get the shit kicked out of you instead? I dunno, I think I’d rather get a cold every now and then.” It hurt less, took less babying to get you back on your feet too.
Hazel eyes met Dom’s, then dropped to his smirk, then lower, skimming over a covered abdomen that he remembered in flashes at least. Had there been scars there that littered Dom’s pale skin like there were with his own? Fingers had traced over the ridges of muscle, lower. Shit.
Swallowing hard, Frank flashed the briefest fucking smile back, then pushed to his feet. It should’ve been pretty fucking obvious that Dom wasn’t getting his shirt off. Gripping the hem, Frank eased it off the same way he would’ve done for Hazel when she was small, pushing away the ghost sensation of Dom’s skin on his own, the heat the he felt on the backs of his fingers. They weren’t going there again, especially not tonight, when Dom was guarding his side with an elbow.
”I can’t look if you’re gonna keep hiding it,” Frank murmured, meeting Dom’s wild eyes. He’d have added that it wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen before, but he’d promised to keep his mouth shut and honestly, Dom looked like one wrong word would have him bolting from the house right now.. ”Just let me look, I promise I won’t go prodding anything more after.” There’d be more ice, a cloth to wipe off Dom’s face, something from his stash to dull the pain. Maybe the couch for the night, if spending that long here wouldn’t send Dom racing out the door again. Frank reached out slowly, one hand gripping the safe territory of that elbow, the other hovering an inch from his side, fingers barely grazing the skin once the dark pools of those bruises were revealed. ”Easy," he breathed, like he was talking to a scared animal as he settled a palm over the worst of them, applying the faintest pressure. He just needed to ... check.
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DOMINIC PHENDER
Human
Posts: 146
Played by:
Julia
"Liking what I like don't make me a bitch."
Last seen Nov 11, 2024 19:34:08 GMT
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Post by DOMINIC PHENDER on Oct 9, 2023 19:38:43 GMT
━ don't fucking tell me what's impossible ━
By the time he peeled his shirt off (with help), he could feel how tender it was without touching it. And fuck, he was already gettin’ all worked up and shit over Frank’s hands, so was this gonna hurt or not? If it did hurt, maybe it’d make him stop feelin’ that way over Frank’s hands. Like, psychology shit or whatever.
At first he was too scared to let Frank see or touch, but then he saw Frank’s eyes, how patient he looked, his willingness to help. His voice was light, too━not soft, not like he thought Dom was a little fuckin’ bitch━but calm and composed, just waiting ‘til Dom was ready.
“Best not.” He tried to be funny, a little chuckle rolling out of him at the double meaning, but it fell flat. Dom shifted so his side was facing Frank, and, finally, he sucked in a shaky breath━one that hurt a little━and slowly let Frank guide his elbow up.
Dom involuntarily shuddered and sighed the moment he felt Frank’s hands on his bare ribs. He was absolutely screwed. “Fuck,” Dominic groaned, not fully in anguish, as Frank pressed on the bruise. He sagged sideways, his hip pressed against the counter’s edge, and looked into Frank’s eyes in the low light, his warring thoughts written all over his face. “It ain’t that bad, right?” He asked quietly, trying hard to say something, anything to distract from what was going on with his fucking body right now━and he didn’t mean the bruise.
FRANK DAMASCA | no notes. |
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FRANK DAMASCA
Banshee
Posts: 127
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Oct 18, 2024 17:04:31 GMT
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Post by FRANK DAMASCA on Nov 18, 2023 18:48:58 GMT
October 31st
Had he been the one to peel Dom’s shirt away the last time? There’d been violence then, but of an entirely different sort. The sharp snap of the self-inflicted wounds giving way to something mutually frantic. What he’d offered up to dull the pain had fragmented the memory in his mind, but it hadn’t taken the edge off of the sensations. Those had burst through him in showers of light and colour and heat. Shifting beneath his skin like kaleidoscope glass, glittering along nerves, reflecting back now when he wasn’t gonna let them dance and spread again. Not when it felt like Dom would bolt – as fast he could with those bruises – at a nudge that was just a hair too strong.
He went as gentle as he could – not exactly easy for a guy his size – keeping his gaze on Dom’s, trying to hold onto that connection that might keep him pinned here for as long as he took to finish patching him up. Slow hands, voice quiet and calm. Steady, but ready to reach out if Dom bolted.
The chuckle rumbled through his chest as Dom puffed out a retort, not feeding through to the hands that were settling against Dom’s ribs. Frank flattened his palm along the bow of bone beneath the purpling skin. ”I don’t think you could take it anyway,” he muttered low. Just the touch of one hand had a shudder rolling through him, almost proving his point. His gaze flew up to the side of Dom’s face, checking the fuck hadn’t been a sign of panic or the sort of pain that was gonna have him yelling fuck and stuffing – easing – Dom into the car for the trip to the ER he hadn’t wanted.
Dom didn’t pull away entirely, but he sagged into the counter, his opposite hip propped against it. He still had him caught between his own body and the counter. If Dom pushed he’d move, but for now he hovered there, bracketing him between the granite counter and the hand that was still there on his ribs. It shifted slightly, ghosting upwards, his thumb tracing the border of the bruise like he could map out what had happened, what was happening here.
Locking his eyes with Dom’s, Frank drew in a deep breath. This was just about the point they’d been at before, when things had spilled over from one sort of healing to another. He’d promised to keep his hands – and other parts – to himself this time, but he wasn’t blind. He wasn’t the only one hovering on the brink here. Need had pulled the two of them together before, some hollow filled until it had made Dom uncomfortable. The last time he’d been gone for months on end, but this time there were promises. What Dom had been in their lives wasn’t gonna change no matter what sort of prodding went on.
Frank’s lips pursed faintly, his gaze dropping for just a heartbeat to study the mottled marks over Dom’s ribs, the way those blooms of colour seemed to expand with every breath Dom drew in. Heat bloomed under his own with each breath he took, forcing him to pull his eyes up from Dom’s mouth as he looked back up. ”It ain’t bad,” he promised, his voice taking on a rougher edge than it’d had moments before. ”Long as you don’t go fighting again before the bruises heal, I think you’re gonna be just fine. Everything heals in the end, at least most of the way, and if things scar … you learn to live with them. It’ll be different to how things work before, but you learn to manage. You cope.” The last two words were practically a whisper.
His hand slid lower as he eased in another tiny step, his focus shrinking down to the side of Dom’s face. It still looked a mess, skin puffed and bruised, the low light glittering where wounds were still raw. Frank settled his hand on Dom’s hip, his thumb dipping down to seek out the crease between hip and groin. Still gentle, still slow, but exploring beyond the obvious bounds of the beating Dom had taken. "How's that feel?" Frank asked, waiting for a twitch of muscle, a shift in Dom's eyes.
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hope to see you in the discord! 
