As sharp as any thorn. {Open; tw: violence, blood}

[warmeryouth]

Bailey's beginning to feel overwhelmed, with the amount of work he's putting into his job at Siren Cove Middle School. He has the winter concert to think of, even though it's only October. He has several angry parents on his case for letting his students listen to a bit of Les Miserables, even though he made sure it was a song without curse words or overly adult themes; and the cherry on top of the pie (or however that metaphor goes), of course, is one Brian Darling, son of an executive vice president currently throwing a tantrum over the failing grade he received on his music theory test, with his dear father stomping his foot alongside him.

So now, as Bailey walks home in the growing dark from school, his head aches and he wants nothing more than to curl up with a bottle of Jack Daniels and some trashy reality television to take his mind off things. But he has papers to grade. And a Skype session with his sister to keep.

He lives in one of the worse off neighborhoods in town, but that fact never bothers him. Good people live there, and Bailey considers himself lucky to know them. So he isn't paying much attention when the man, dressed like he's come straight from the set of Sons of Anarchy, chains, tattoos, and all, falls into step behind him; he's concentrating on trying to will away his headache.

"Give me your wallet, you scrawny piece of shit," a low voice hisses in his left ear before Bailey can even so much as respond. He tenses immediately, cursing internally. It's times like this that he wishes he had more use with his powers of influence.

"And what if I don't?" It's stupid as shit to talk back to the jerk, but Bailey's a New Yorker at heart, and frankly, after the day he's had, he doesn't have it in him to be polite.

"I'll give you points for trying," the man, whose shaggy, blonde hair falls in front of his ice colored eyes like a torn up carpet, flashes him a devil's grin before Bailey feels a sudden, sharp pain in his left side.

"Fuck," he hisses, making to clutch at the new knife wound as the man kicks him to the pavement, reaching into his pocket to grab his wallet before stabbing him once more for good measure.

All Bailey can do is bleed and groan into the sidewalk.

Find Bailey on the ground in between his apartment and the Siren Cove Middle School, bleeding from his wounds. The attacker is just some vague NPC who can totally be used for other plots if you have a mind to. Bailey could do with some help, though!

Comments

[anddowntothesea]

He sees what happens, but it all happens so fast and he barely has time to react, barely has time to choose which way to run. The guy on the ground looks in pretty bad shape, so that's the choice that Gabe makes, dropping down onto his knees at his side.

"How're you doing, man?" he asks, faking casual, frowning as he scans the guy over, already fumbling for his phone.

[davin]

Davin has finally closed up shop for the night and he's heading home, ready to finally relax. It's not until halfway to his apartment that he realizes that he's carrying the clipboard with the paperwork on the Ford he was working on last, the one he meant to set down on his desk before heading out. He sighs and shrugs, figuring he can just bring it back in with him tomorrow. He keeps walking and turns his head when he hears a commotion, jogging ahead in time to see someone running away from a body on pavement.

"Fuck." Davin barely stops to think before he throws the clipboard through the air, keeping his hand extended as he uses his power to send it hurtling towards the attacker. He flips it at the last moment so the back of it crashes into the guy's head, making him drop to the pavement. "Ohhhh, holy shit."

He knows that he didn't use enough force to do anything but knock the guy out, so he leaves him and runs towards the person on the ground. There's blood seeping out onto the asphalt and Davin doesn't hesitate before he drops to his knees, reaching out to put his hand on the guy's shoulder to roll him onto his back. His breath catches when he realizes that he knows this guy, and his hand is shaking as he fumbles his phone out of his pocket.

"Bailey? Jesus. Stay with me, man? Alright? Bailey, look at me!"