Page 49 of Omega's Secret Guardian
“Will your old gang track you down?” Linus asked, concerned.
“Nah. They don’t know my real name, and after I—”went to prison,Storm almost said. “After I disappeared off the map, they probably assumed I died. So, you don’t have to worry about people from my past searching for me.”
“That’s good,” Linus said, looking relieved.
Storm was content to let the rest of the drive pass in peaceful silence. They parked and headed back upstairs to the apartment, where their half-cooked dinner was cooling.
“Be right back; I’ll put the splint on real quick,” Storm said.
Linus followed him to the bathroom.
Storm raised an eyebrow. “You want to watch?”
The professor shrugged, his cheeks turning pink. “I’ve never seen anyone set a broken nose. And you just do it with such... calm.”
“Like I said, this is something I’d do on a Sunday morning.” Storm grinned. “It’s been a few years, but I guess it’s like riding a bike.”
He carefully washed his face with soap and water. With Linus’ eyeliner, he made sure that his broken cartilage was in the right position. Linus got ready the bandages and tape; Storm aligned the splints on the outside of his nose, and taped them down carefully.
“There,” he said. “There’s really not much to it.”
“I guess.” Linus frowned adorably. “It just seems wiser to go to a doctor for that.”
“Maybe. Growing up, my family tried not to visit the doctor if we could. Doctors are expensive! It carried over to my gang crap. I received so many injuries doing shit for them, Professor. I would’ve gone broke going to the doctor for every one of those. Figured I’d learn how to fix them myself.”
He caught Linus glancing at his arms, at the silvery scars half-hidden by his tattoos.
“Did the injuries mess up your tattoos?” Linus asked.
“Nah. Funny enough, I got the tattoos after I quit the gang. They’ve all been done over the existing scars.”
Linus nodded, eyeing Storm’s nose bandages.
“Now, this isn’t one of those injuries that you can kiss better,” Storm said.
Linus turned bright red. “I-I would hope not. Knowing me, I’d fall onto your nose and break it again.”
Storm laughed, ignoring the ache in his face. “Let’s not jinx it.”
“Will it take long to heal?”
“Three to six weeks. Closer to three. I heal fast.”
“I’m glad for the fast healing, at least.”
“Thanks.” Storm put away the medical supplies and washed his hands. “C’mon, let’s finish up dinner.”
It took some time to get the food cooking again. Storm’s potato and chicken casserole had been in the oven for a while; he had fried potatoes on the bottom layer, some chicken and herbs in the middle layer, and a mix of crispy potatoes and cheese on top.
Linus’ pasta sauce had benefited from being left alone; the residual heat had blended its flavors into the perfect meaty combination.
“This is amazing,” Storm groaned, sticking his spoon back into the pot.
“Hey!” Linus smacked his hand. “Wait for the pasta!”
“But this is so good.” Storm retrieved his spoon to lick off the bits of meat and bacon. “I could eat this sauce by itself, all day, every day.”
Linus grinned. “You just like the bacon.”
