"Stop worrying over me. I can handle it on my own."
"Don't you get mad at others for saying the same thing?"
Jake's hands are a mess of mud and blood, dirt beneath the nails and deep wounds over each finger, as if the jaws of a dog came sharply upon them. Down the length of his body lays his leg, bare from the knee down, patched in thick gauze that blooms with bright red. As stable as Ace can keep him, his hands leave less to be relieved about, blood swelling from the deep wounds of a bear trap's teeth.
"If it didn't hurt to move them, I'd hit you," Jake says, as Ace peels butterfly bandages out of their filthy packets.
"You've got a working second leg," Ace replies, carefully cradling one of Jake's hand in his own with knuckles over palm. "Do some gymnastics and hoof me good if you won't smack me upside."
"Shut up."
"Not my fault miz' Morel's busy with Quentin. He'd get you back in one piece. Fortunately," Ace pats Jake's hand, as gently as he can, even when the man winces. "you got me."
"Unfortunately."
"No, no. Could'a been certain it was good fortune."
Jake's eyes, narrow and bothered, slowly relax when he looks at his hand, with skin torn open and bandages slick with blood. Ace's own hands are stained to the wrist, smeared with the last of the blood Jake could keep when he wrenched his leg free from the trap.
"You think I'll be walking soon?" he asks.
"What you'll probably be doing is waking up in that car yard with your whole body spic-and-span within the day-" Ace tries, only correcting himself when Jake glares up at him through his brow. "-but, right now? Maybe. Don't think so, but... I can drag you to the fire if you want."
"You're going to make me socialize?" Jake's words almost sound genuine, but the whine tells Ace otherwise.
Ace grins. "You just got finished being socialized with a bear trap and still look like you'd take on the bear himself, hotshot."
"Is that your idea of a compliment? Because it makes no sense."
Ace leans to the dirt stained face of Jake Park and cheekily presses his mouth to the corner of Jake's own. Dodges the lips like you dodge a bullet - but Jake's scrunched face is the kind encouragement he likes.
"Means I'll let you share a bit of my spotlight - let some of my good looks rub off on you," he replies. Jake makes a fist and jabs him in the stomach lightly, and Ace's grin splits to a laugh.
"Hey - knew you could make a fist if you tried."