"Ow!" Spyder glared as Veracity poked his arm before pushing her glasses up on her face .
"Good job, Spyder. You completely broke your arm being a dumbass. Why did you think taking a dive for your food was necessary?"
"Because I don't take food for granted, Veracity."
Veracity winced when he said that as she started making a sling so she could get his arm up.
"God, I hate when you bring that stuff up."
"Sorry..." Spyder sighed, flinching as she slipped his bandage into the sling. "I'm just used to joking about that stuff. That was the only way I used to deal with it, and now that he's out, I'm having a hard time stopping."
"You don't have to apologize, Spyder. Why do you think I make jokes when I'm scared?"
"Wait, what?"
"Yeah, life before my dads wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. I was number four in a family with eight kids. My father was never home except once a week, and my mom was a alcoholic. Beat the shit out of all of us, and actually beat one of my brothers so badly that he died. Then social services got involved. They arrested my mom and separated all of us. They changed our names as well. My name was Lauren Daisy. They let me pick my name. I thought Veracity sounded cool. I was bounced around a bit, and then my dad's adopted me."
"I'm sorry, V."
"It's okay. I just wanna see my siblings again, but that's extremely unlikely." She sighed, before adjusting the sling. "Was your dad sentenced yet?"
"No. They want me and my mom to testify against him tomorrow. She's probably gonna cry." He looked down, looking at his short fingernails.
"Are you gonna be okay?" Veracity asked, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Cause I'm free tomorrow if you need moral support."
"You'd do that?"
"You're like a brother to me. Absolutely."
Spyder smiled as he sat up, before wrapping his arm around her, holding her closely. "Thank you."