End of Summer Party

Looking at the skin Elijah realised that if he’d been at home or at the studio with Fauve then she probably would have laughed at him for being so stupid. As much as she loved her father she didn’t like his habits. Heck, Elijah was against his own habits right now if it meant he was burning his fingers off. But he would defend that it wasn’t his fault. He was distracted by some very talented fingers so it was bound to end badly whichever way you sliced it.

He had barely registered Brienne leaving but when she returned with the ice he was infinitely glad. The ice soothed the burns but it didn’t half sting. He hissed in pain and clamped his eyes shut. This wasn’t fun but he wasn’t quitting. He’d just use his right hand. But then, one quick look at the skin between his thumb and his index finger told him that perhaps that wasn’t such a good idea just yet. To be fair it wasn’t a cigarette that had chopped that bit of skin up but it was a craft knife. Viktor had been trying to tell him something and whatever it is had shocked the Slytherin, he’d slipped with the knife and he’d made sushi out of his skin. “Thank you.” He sighed, feeling the ice begin to numb his fingers.

Elijah began to roll his neck around in an attempt to get some of the kinks out of it. He groaned as one of the pieces of ice moved awkwardly along his burns and when a particularly sharp bit stabbed it he did all he could to mask the yelp of pain that escaped his mouth. “Bloody...” He trailed off grumbling to himself. He glanced at Daniel who had backed away considerably and Eli frowned. “Hey you, this was your fault for distracting me so get those fingers of yours on my neck and work out these kinks.” Despite the pain, Elijah managed to give Daniel a toothy grin but it was cut off when that same bit of ice caught the burn again. He growled and shook the bag, sending the ice around so he could get some softer pieces on the burns.

Daniel moved closer, then started massaging Eli's neck. He seemed to have magic fingers when it came to massage, especially sensual ones. This was no sensual massage, though. This was one to soothe the aches and pains of a man's neck. However, he did feel a little frisky. He nibbled at the man's earlobe and traced his tongue on the insides of the ear.

Brienne would try to do an Episkey spell on the small burn again. It was one of the only first-aid spells she had in her memory. She'd had so much fun that summer that anything else slipped her mind. Then again, Episkey may be only effective against gashes. It was worth a try.

"Episkey".

The ice wasn’t doing anything and it was driving Elijah crazy. The cubes were hurting him more than they were helping him. He shook the bag around again but stopped the irate shaking of the bag when he felt fingers attach to his neck. Elijah felt infinitely better then. Those magic fingers that had caused his negligence were now keeping his mind off of the product of that negligence. Elijah stretched his neck out, pushing it into Daniel’s hands. It felt good to say the very least. Massages he did not get often and this was taking the knots out. Elijah felt his earlobe get enclosed between teeth again and he cracked an eye open at Daniel. He felt the other man’s tongue touch the skin inside the ear and Elijah shivered, purrs beginning to rumble in his chest once more.

But there was one thing about cats that changed like the weather and that was their mood. Elijah had barely registered Brienne saying the spell but he felt the cause of it. An animalistic growl that could be heard just below the sound of the music ripped from Elijah’s throat and he ripped himself away from the two of them, his eyes wide. Elijah lifted his non-burned hand up and he covered his mouth, ashamed of himself. She’d been trying to help but the pain had been excruciating. It felt as if the spell had wanted to work but as it stretched the skin back over the magic failed and it sprang back. If that didn’t hurt then he didn’t know what did. Elijah closed his eyes and bit his lip. “I-I-I’m sorry...I overreacted I-” he blinked a few times before closing his eyes again, not quite believing himself. He- that didn't happen. He'd never...not even...Elijah couldn't think. He channelled his feline and he needed to stop that. But unless he got that burn healed he wouldn't be able to shift into his Animagus form anyway.

"We need to take you to the hospital or something, quickly!" Brienne said. She was overreacting a little more than Eli did. Daniel tried to relax Eli with his magic fingers once more, going downwards to the man's shoulders now. If Eli was relaxed, it was more likely he'd co-operate.

"We'll need to exit the party and get you to the hospital. Or, I could try and make a burn potion for you. That would also require us to leave."

When Daniel said that, Brienne got even more worried that maybe her Episkey spells were ineffective, or that she was losing her touch. She used to do these well, she'd healed minor contusions or other miscellanea with that spell. This only just sunk in.

Meow? Elijah thought to himself, a kitten’s voice providing the sound. He felt like such an idiot. He shouldn’t have overreacted like he did but he truly hadn’t meant to. The Animagus swallowed and looked his shoes in embarrassment. He’d not meant to do that. He felt Daniel’s hands on his shoulders and the other man managed to release the tension in them but Elijah was too pent up to relax fully. His mother would have slapped him silly if she’d seen him, called him an animal and a disgrace. Teaching had completely left Elijah’s mind, everything had except that sound. It kept replaying over and over in his mind and he couldn’t be rid of it.

“I-” Elijah couldn’t even form words but he knew what he wanted. He didn’t want to underestimate his pupil but he’d feel better in the hands of Khaat or Robert and so help him he wouldn’t take attention from any other healer because he didn’t trust the rest of them like he did the Lupins. He could imagine Robert’s face and he could also imagine Khaat’s; disapproving both of them but Khaat a more motherly approach. Then, when Jen heard...oh god. Eli blanched. He wasn’t sure what she’d do. Try and sue the company would be his first option then scold him then hug him as tight as possible because her ‘baby’ was hurt. “Hospital please.” He requested quietly. The irony of this was that either way, unless he braved the pain, he’d have to ditch Amelia. Elijah wasn’t pleased but he had no choice. He just hoped that Jen wouldn’t do anything to drastic when she found out. Who was he kidding though? She was a mercenary with a wand and too many guns...what wouldn’t she do?

Brienne and Daniel led Eli away from the party. The crowds of people were hard to navigate through, so much so that they feared they'd lost Elijah a couple times. However, he wasn't anyone to be forgotten so easily, let alone lost in a crowd of people. He was quite unique, not one to easily blend in, at least not to Brienne and Daniel. The bag of ice, although not making the situation better, was surely helping the burn by allowing the living cells go into a slightly healthier medium where the dryness was pitted against the water that drained in with osmosis.

Soon, they reached a place where there was a dirt road. The road led to the nearest city in one direction, in the other they'd just get lost. Brienne prayed she'd picked the right one. She went to the left.

After a bit of walking, her and the two boys she'd been leading had reached paved ground. Soon they reached their destination. St. Mungo's.

(Alright. I have permission from Eli to godmod him in this post)