Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was several days of back and forth-ing, but finally he was able to come home, and Dai, Seren and even Remy were waiting in the car for him to be wheeled down to the exit.

Nate honestly hated being a patient, but having Seren around made it easier. The doctors and nurses that took care of him were also very good, so his experience at the hospital was really more of a good one, all things considered. Still, when he got the green light to go home he was ecstatic. He wanted a good shower and to clean up his scruff, to cuddle his pup, and to sleep in his own bed, or Seren's bed.

When the day finally came he was more than anxious to get going. It was the good kind of anxiety, though, and it motivated him to be more independent than maybe was recommended. The faster he got out, the better, as far as he was concerned. He was ready and waiting well before the pre-arranged time, much to the hospital staff's amusement. Not that he minded; he was just happy to be able to home, so when the time finally came, he thanked them on his way out.

The sight of the three of them brought a bright smile to his lips, and his eyes quickly settled on Seren first for a long moment, but then he acknowledged Dai next, and finally Remy.

"I...am ready to go home," he said, reaching for Seren's hand when he was close enough.

Seren beamed and bounced out of the car door as soon as he was wheeled out of the exit. She took his hand and pressed a kiss to it, then helped arrange getting him into the car itself, without too much strain on his injuries. "Well home-ish, to be fair. You're going to be coming back to my place... Dai and I will help you up the stairs, and then once you're there, until you're healed enough, you won't have to worry about more than moving between the bed, the bathroom, and the couch... I want access to the kitchen downstairs, so I can make all kinds of tasty things for you, love."

She then handed Remy to him, kissed his cheek, and slipped into the backseat. Dai greeted Nate, gave him a careful handclasp (hard to hug from the driver's seat, after all), and got them on the road. It was a quiet ride back, though every so often Seren gently reached forwards, and brushed a hand against Nate's shoulder, before leaning back... Happy he was here, alive, and going to be ok.

Getting Nate up the stairs was the most complicated bit, especially as Remy kept trying to 'Help', but finally they managed it, and Nate was settled onto the couch. Dai gave him a gentle hug, and promised to come back tomorrow, for Christmas... Right now, he felt they needed some time, just them and their dog.

Seren, meanwhile, was putting away the stuff Nate had brought home, and when Dai left with a hug for her as well, she turned and said "D'you want some lunch? I have somethin' in the fridge I can heat up, or we can wait a bit... Whatever you want." She moved over to him, and knelt on the floor besides him, resting her head gently on an un injured spot of his leg, eyes gazing up at him adoringly.

The trek home was challenging, but it was good to be surrounded by family again, so he did his best to focus on that as opposed to how he was physically feeling and the other things that were floating around in his head. Even in his current state, as Seren was offering him comfort however she could from the backseat, he was still thinking agent duties, of all things, first and foremost knowing he would have to report to his General soon...

The car coming to a full stop pulled him out of his head, and then getting out of the car and ultimately into the house had his full attention. He was sweating a bit by the time they made it upstairs. He thanked Dai and gave a nod at his promise to come back the next day. Christmas...it was a small miracle that he survived, never mind made it back home in time for the holidays. So he watched as Dai left, and once the door was closed behind him he turned his attention back to Seren.

"Pass on lunch," he said with a little shake of his head. A small smile flickered onto his face as she came over to him, and he gazed down at her for a moment before gesturing over at the bathroom. "I was hoping for a shower, first, and to clean up my beard. Then maybe just the three of us on the couch 'til one of us gets hungry?"

She beamed up at him, thinking about how happy she was to have him here... Home, of a sorts, even if not his main home... She wished he was here more, honestly, but that was an issue she kept to herself, because she knew he had a busy life beyond her.

"A shower? We can do that, love. I got a shower bench for you, so that you won't have to stand too long... I don't want you to strain yourself, love." She stood up carefully, and leaned in to give him a soft loving kiss, before offering him her hand to help him up.

"I also brought stuff over for you, stuff for washing and clothing and the like. I want this to be as comfortable as possible for you, dearheart."

"Hadn't even thought of that," he chuckled just before she kissed him. He happily returned it, of course, and took her hand once she offered it to help him up. "Thank you, baby," he said, and with some effort between the both of them he was up on his feet again, so to speak. With a bit more effort, they eventually got him into the bathroom and prepped for a shower. Between his two casts and the fact that it'd still been less than a week since the accident, he was in a great deal of pain, but he was doing his best not to make that too obvious. There was nothing she could do to help him with that, after all, and he didn't want to make her worry every more than she already was.

She was not stupid, she knew how much pain he had to be in. She knew that this was all a lot of strain on him. But she also knew that for injuries like these, the only answer to that was time. Perhaps he could take pain killers but she had a feeling he would rather limit those, at the very minimum, if not forgo them as much as possible. And she wasn't going to force him, either. He needed to decide how much was too much, how much he could handle. Beyond that, all she could do was be there, be his support.

Once he was in the shower, on the bench and with his casts properly wrapped for protection, she stripped down herself, and joined him, getting the water running. While it got hot, she put her hair into her shower cap, and then gathered his things close, before turning to him and smiling softly. "Let me wash you, babe? I know you don't want to be helpless, but I also know it's gonna be damn near impossible for you to properly scrub yourself or do your hair with that cast on your arm, and I want you to feel as clean as possible when we're done." She pressed a kiss to his cheek this time, before moving the showerhead so the spray was falling on him gently, getting him wet enough that she could wash him. "Hair or body first, which do you prefer?"

She did not waste a moment thinking about the fact that he was at the perfect angle to get a lot of looks at her various bits... She figured he was in too much pain for anything.

He took his time getting comfortable. All things considered, he probably should have expected it to be hard. He'd never before been in a position where he struggled to do even the most basic of things, so the frustration was starting to creep up on him already, but he was trying to be patient with himself. It would take time. More time than he would have liked, but at least he wasn't alone.

Her offer to wash him was met with a little nod. "Thank you, love," he said, hoping he didn't sound as defeated as he felt. The water soothing, as was her presence. "Hair first, please?"

He glanced up at her then, and noticed. How could he not? The sight brought a touch of a smile to his lips, though doing anything more than appreciate his beautiful girlfriend was far from his mind.

She heard the defeat in his tone, and was unsurprised by it... He was usually so self sufficient (not that he minded her helping him get clean usually, indeed he normally quite enjoyed it, but that was by choice.) but now he was not able to be, and she knew he had to hate it. She always did when it had been her, in the past, but at least he had her. It was worse when there was no one to help... She didn't comment on any of those thoughts, and kept them off her face, just gave him a loving smile.

"Yeah, I get that. Alright!" She pressed a kiss to his cheek and then grabbed the shampoo, before getting to work. It was not too long before she had his hair washed, with loving delicacy, and condition in. She let it sit for a minute before rinsing it, then got to work on his body.

If she had been delicate before, here she was extremely careful, washing all the exposed damage to him with extra care, the kind of care that showed she knew how to wash wounds without making them hurt worse. She got all of him fully clean, then rinsed, and turned off the water.

She turned to consider the towels, then grabbed his and brought it in. "Let's get as much of you dry as we can while you're still sitting, to minimize for long you have to stand..."

And got to work here too, again with the gentle care. She sped up some when he stood, still trying to be careful, but maybe it was a little rougher, because she wanted to get him done faster. "We'll get your after shower lotion on you over you're sitting down in the other room..."

The cheek kiss was met with a smile and he took a deep breath and just focused on the good things he still had going for him. It helped to keep his thoughts away from the stinging pain of cleaning his wounds, though Seren took extra care to wash him so it was more manageable than he thought it would be. Before he knew it he was fully clean and smelling fresh, and as she started drying him off he paused to give her a kiss and quietly thank her again for her help.

Soon he was mostly dry and, with her help, made his way back to the other room and took a seat on the couch. It was…weird, being naked on it, since they mostly avoided doing anything naked while on this couch because of her tutoring work. Given his state and the fact that they wouldn’t be doing anything funny on the couch anyway, though, it was probably fine. Seren helped him take care of the rest of his post-shower routine, and he was fully dressed within the next several minutes, and feeling particularly fresh.

“Really nothing like a shower at home,” he said, tilting his head up a bit to get a feel for how his beard was doing. It was getting a bit long, he thought, but maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Unless Seren minded, of course.

“What do you think about me growing this out a bit, babe?” he asked, gently pulling her down to sit beside him once she was nearby again. “At least until my other hand is good to go?”

She beamed at the kiss he gave her, because she knew what he meant with it, and wanted him to know he was more than welcome. She focused on getting him all nice and ready, even if the rest of the day was just going to be as relaxed as possible and spent here at her home.

She wished it was his, too. They would be together more often, she figured, since this would be the place he came to sleep most nights...

But for now, he was here and going to be here until he healed enough to care for himself. And that... She could cope with having him to herself for that long.

Once she had him dressed, she quickly put on her own outfit and came over to join him. "The feeling of being clean is amazing, and having a shower somewhere familiar is always the nicest."

That he called her place home was a lovely feeling.

She laughed a little as he pulled her down next to him, them blinked at his question, studying his face. "I think you'll look fine, and it's probably for the best. I don't think I would be very good at shaving it for you in a neat fashion... Not sure that's a talent I have." She leaned up and pressed a kiss to his lips, then carefully snuggled into him, so glad he was there, but making sure she didn't make things hurt more.

He considered for a long moment, though he paused long enough to return the kiss, and soon he had his good arm wrapped around Seren as she settled in against him. “I’ll have time to keep it trimmed and neat while it grows,” he said slowly, then considered in silence for another moment before nodding. “Alright, I’ll give it a go. I don’t think I’ve ever had a full on beard before, so this’ll be…interesting.”

He proceeded to reminisce about his teenage struggles with facial hair, happy to spend the rest of the afternoon snuggled up with her like this