17 - the catscratch bunker

   Ace always liked to take the railing instead of the stairs. It was faster and more thrilling - and he was extraordinarily balanced, not like Luci, who had recently attempted to leap onto the railing, had sharply misjudged and had fallen to the dusty floor, a sprawling heap of limbs. Luckily, Ace had been nearby, and he'd been able to help her when she couldn't put weight on her ankle. He'd been able to support her feeble frame as they made their way to the room where they had first met. 
   The house was crumbling, but it'd been that way for as long as Ace and Luci could both remember. He'd first taken refuge in the place during an acid rainstorm, and had been crouching in one of the left wing rooms when Luci appeared, shakily pointing a blaster at him. She'd scared him at first, but he soon realized that she was just as afraid as he was, and that it'd be better to get on good terms with one another instead of being in conflict. So over the days, she'd allowed him to stay in the old place that had once belonged to her and her brother, despite the dwindling food supply. They called it the Catscratch Bunker. It was their home now - both of them.
    Ace helped Luci onto the couch, then went digging around the room for the bandages. "What exactly made you think that you could perform a flying leap from the top of the staircase and end up sliding down the railing without a hitch?" he inquired, casting her a glance and giving a small smile that let her know she wasn't being too serious.
    She scrunched up her face at him, holding her ankle. "Because you do it all the time," she said indignantly. "And because it looked like fun."
    He snatched a nearby roll of gauze with a spurt of triumph, then looked at it for a moment. Was gauze good for sprained ankles? Eh, it'd have to do. He turned back to Luci's couch. "But I'm a trained pilot, remember? I'm balanced." He grinned at her, then crouched down and motioned to her ankle. She moved it toward him.
    It was certainly swollen. Excessively swollen. The sight made Ace kind of queasy, but he steeled himself and tried to think of a solution. Floundering, he said, "I don't really know what to do here."
   Luci smiled. "Well, I'm the one who knows about medicine." She winked and opened her palm towards him. He plopped the gauze in it. "Get me something to elevate it on," Luci commanded, sticking her tongue out as she began to wrap the injury. Ace shrugged and stood up, ducking through the doorway to find a box or something.