#i mean eric is literally introduced to the story to hurt and terrorize macaw

[eyes-talks-ocs]

A drabble of a scene from my main writing project, Social Throwaways. I don't know if I'll scrap it or it'll make it into the actual finished project. I just liked this drabble attempt to show Tomás's softer side with Dustin. Yeah he's an utter hard ass with him. But the guy is practically his dad. But the basic outline for this plot point is:

Tomás asked Eric to go get Macaw(Dustin) because he needed to have a word -> Eric doing things his way -> Eric cold cocking Macaw by surprise then dragging Macaw back to the bar to talk with Tomás

Warning: Drabble, and no proofreading. Also I feel like this is pretty tame. So no sensitive content warning. There's a little blood and implied violence. But nothing more than PG in my eyes.

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Social Throwaways Drabble - 001

The large man did his best to sling Macaw off his shoulder gently. But he still hit the ground with a loud thud. Tomás looked over the bar curiously, noticing how limply Macaw was laying, not stirring at all. 

"You didn't kill him, did you?" Tomás asked jokingly, but there was a very real seriousness to his voice. 

"No, he was weezing in my ear the entire way here. He's fine. Though might want to wake him up sometime soon. His breathing is a little shallow." Eric looked down at the kid, nudging him with his boot.

Tomás came around the bar and knelt down to look at Macaw. The side of his face bloody and his skin split from the sucker punch. He wrapped his hand briefly and tightly around the kid's wrist before moving to look at his face. He pulled back Macaw's good eyelid and looked into his eye for a second and then used a hand on his jaw to tilt and move Macaw's head. He opened the kid' s mouth and looked around inside. 

"I'm surprised. You didn't knock any more of his teeth out. Was expecting him to be missing more after I saw his face." He counted, still only missing two. Tomás stood up, "You really knocked him out good." He let Macaw's head slide limply from his hands.

"I think he did wake up on me on the way here, but it wasn't for very long." Eric shrugged. "Probably just accepted everything and went back to sleep."

Tomás went back to the bar and leaned over the counter and dumped the glass of ice water he had been drinking on Macaw. "Come on big guy, wake up." He went back and firmly patted him on the chest and rocked him repeatedly until the unconscious man started to resist. "Good, good. Easy does it. Come on. Let's sit up." Tomás said gently and easily to Macaw as he started moving a bit. 

Tomás helped Macaw sit up, but kept him from trying to stand. Which Macaw drunkly was displeased with. His head fucking ached and his vision refused to focus. He didn't quite recognize his blurry surroundings, but he knew Tomás's voice well. He tried himself to stay calm. He didn't know what was happening, but Tomás was talking easy to him, things must be okay. 

But wait.

The tone in Tomás's voice, he knew that tone. That soft gentleness, which he uses to hide concern. Macaw grabbed at his chest just over his ribs. 

"Tomás -  am I okay?" Macaw ask breathlessly. Leaving his hand resting over the scars beneath his clothes. "Am I okay?" He repeated, not knowing what else to ask. Tomás could hear the panic in his quiet voice.

Tomás cocked his head, incredibly surprised at the reaction. He knew exactly what Macaw was inferring to. The night he was shot, all those years ago. Tomás was there trying to console the dying kid while he hastily thought of a way to save his life. 

Eric motioned at Tomás that he was going to leave, and nodded before exiting the room. Tomás agreed and silently wove him out.  

"You're fine, Dustin. You're fine." Tomás rubbed his back. 

"You're lying. I hear it." He said, closing his eyes and resting his sore head against the back wall. 

"You're just concussed. I promise you. You took a hard blow to the head. That's all. Now stay awake for me please. Get your bearings together. I'll explain what happened once you do." Tomás said easily. 

"Fuck you." The phrase sounded like it caught in his dry throat. Tomás wasn't sure what the 'fuck you' was about. 'Fuck you, you're lying?' Or 'Fuck you, let me sleep?' Either way he rolled his eyes. 

"Do you have any recollection of what happened? Or no?" The man asked. 

"No. I don't even know where I am." He cracked open his eyes, even in the dim light, it hurt. "Sunglasses. Where are my glasses?" He rubbed his forehead trying to make the pain go away. 

"They must have been dropped. Do you want me to pour you a drink? You look like you need to take that edge off." Tomás offered, but went to the bar before Macaw responded. He knew the kid was hurting. 

"Sure" he breathed. 

"Come on now, up, up. Come sit at the bar." Tomás ordered. 

Using the wall, Macaw slowly righted himself, but his balance was iffy and the moment he was upright and standing the room started moving. Tomás watched him struggle to walk the 5 - 10 feet to the bar. He held himself oddly just to give himself balance to walk. 

"Get me a can. I don't feel well." He breathed, "damnit!" He grunted loudly then rested his head in folded arms on the bar. "How do I make things stop spinning? I'm dizzy." Macaw pleaded.

"Drink some water, take deep breaths, and bear through it. You'll be okay soon enough." Tomás set some water and a rocks glass in front of him and fetched the garage can. He felt like Macaw was going to pass out again. When he came back he grabbed Macaw by the jaw, just to feel the kid's pulse tap against his fingers. He wanted to be sure Eric didn't hurt him more than he led on. Head trauma wasn't something Tomás liked dealing with. Too much could go wrong. Now that Macaw was upright it felt like his blood pressure dropped quite a bit. He had a normal steady rhythm, but weak now. His body was still in the process of recovering and figuring out how to function normally again. 

"Poor boy." He rubbed Macaw on the back as a warm gesture and sat up next to him. Making sure he wasn't going to slip off the bar stool.