Reception
“Hey Locke, wake up!”
Flare’s familiar voice cut through Locke, and he groaned in protest as he tried to cling to being asleep. Before he could protest further, he heard another familiar voice.
“Locke!”
Before he could process what was happening, he heard a light set of footsteps running towards the couch. He had enough time to open his eyes before he heard someone jump, he felt them land, and then a shooting pain through his ribs.
“Ough!” He recoiled in pain, but tried to not scare Injury, “‘Jury, you’ve gotta be careful, kid!”
“You asshole! What happened to you? You haven’t been answering your phone!” Worse cried out, also running to him, “I thought you were hurt!”
“M’phone…” Locke looked down at it, he’d turned it off shortly after the incident, “Well, hurt isn’t exactly wrong.”
Locke finally got himself up, with a little help from Flare and a small shift in position from Injury. While he was healing he hardly wore his shirt, so from his sitting position it was easy to see the now healing bruise.
“Hurt?” Injury looked at it like it was hurting them too, “Locke hurt?”
“Holy shit dude!” Worse leant over the back of the sofa to get a better look, “What happened?”
Lost, who had finally shuffled in with their familiar silence, also looked concerned at the mark.
“I, uh…” Locke floundered for a bit, rubbing the back of his neck, “I fell down’ stairs. Broke me ribs. M’fine, really, you should’ve seen the other guy.” He laughed.
“Is this why you’ve been radio silent for weeks?” Worse seemed incredibly worried, “You should’ve told us! I would’ve come over, Dizzy too, and —“ Worse cut itself off to point an accusing finger at Flare, “ — You better be looking after him!”
Before Flare could defend themself, Locke butted in, “They’ve all been brill, don’t worry.”
For a few, the five sat in a silence, with the three friends looking at his injury in worry and dismay — and probably a little disgust. He wouldn’t blame them, the yellow of his healing bruise was quite gross. He absentmindedly ruffled Injury’s hair, in an attempt to help them stay calm.
It was Lost who broke the silence by pointing at Locke’s hair, tilting their head to question it while they did. He looked up, hardly remembering it until it was pointed out.
“Oh, yeah, I uh… sort of let meself go,” He muttered, followed by an awkward laugh, “I hardly noticed until a few days’go.”
“Oh shit, you’re right, it’s long as fuck now!” Worse reached out, but stopped short, “Can I touch it?”
Locke shrugged, “Do wha’you want.”
While Worse touched his hair, Injury looked closer, “Face fuzzy.”
Locke touched his face, also just remembering, “Like I said, let meself go a bit. I didn’ wanna get up very often, on account of me ribs bein’ broken, so I haven’ shaved in a while.”
Injury nodded, going to hug him in a way that wouldn’t hurt, “Glad you’re ok.”
“I’m glad you’re all ok too!” Locke laughed, wincing in pain shortly after, “Ah fuck, that still kills.”
“Do you like it? The longer hair, I mean.”
“I don’t hate it,” Locke answered, slightly cryptically, “In fact, I think it suits me.”
“Keeping it?” Injury asked.
Locke shrugged and made a noise of indecision, “I dunno jus’ yet. I’ll see how I feel.”
He looked as he felt a nudge against his hand, seeing Lost hovering theirs near his. It wasn’t like they were holding his hand, but it was pretty close. They quickly signed that they liked it. He laughed. He winced.
“I’m glad you guys seem to like it, I might jus’ keep it after all.”
The conversation was interrupted as Flare cleared their throat, “I hate to intrude, but Locke really needs his rest.”
“Shit, of course man! But this time, message us or else I’ll get Dizzy down here! You know she’ll tell you off!” Worse joked, unhooking themself from the back of the sofa, “Just stay safe, ok?”
“Always.” Locke responded, smiling.
With a quick fist bump to Injury, and a reassuring hand nudge to Lost, he was left to his own devices once more. He considered his options for a bit, but found himself tired. He finally did what he wanted to do at the start of all of this, and went back to sleep.