Ansel's face dropped as Lucio described his dream, images of that fucking monster chasing after him, threatening to hurt him again. In that moment, Ansel wished he had spilled more of Buckley's blood, had damaged him permanently, but it didn't matter now. Lucio was here, with him, safe and sound. "It's okay, sweetness," Ansel said gently, stroking Lucio's cheek with a tenderness Ansel hadn't known himself to possess. "I promise, he is never going to hurt you again. No one is<i>ever </i>going to hurt you again." Ansel didn't say it, as he didn't want to fray Lucio's nerves any further, but Ansel knew if the moment ever came to take things too far, to cross the moral event horizon, he would. Ansel would do anything he had to do to protect his love. He hoped it wouldn't come to that, typically the lives of university professors weren't so dramatic, but he promised himself that he would give Lucio the world and punish anyone who threatened to take that away.<br/><br/>The professor smiled weakly when Lucio noticed the pain written into the lines on his face. It was unfortunate he hadn't hid his discomfort better. "Darling, don't worry about me," Ansel said, although his words were shaky. Nausea had already started to set in as the pain from his crotch radiated up into his gut. "You started kicking a bit, and uh, you kneed me pretty good in the balls." He laughed softly, as a retelling of the story in any other context should have been funny, but Ansel was in so much pain that the amusement he felt was ironic at best, and masochistic at worst.<br/><br/>"I admit, I don't feel . . . great," Ansel groaned, the desire to vomit becoming stronger as he sat there with Lucio. "Just give me a second." The man sighed, lying down on his side and cradling himself. The pain was like two migraines in between his legs that screamed and throbbed and spread throughout his body. Even holding onto his testicles was causing them to ache, so the best he could do was gingerly surround them with trembling fingers.<br/><br/>"Maybe . . . you can get me some water?" Ansel said, his voice hoarse. It seemed like a strange request on the surface, but he knew from prior experience that replenishing a male's fluids after taking damage to the testicles could help. He turned and lay out on his back, keeping his legs spread as any pressure from his thighs made tears want to well at the corners of his eyes.<br/><br/>"Damn, baby. You have strong legs," Ansel laughed, his eyes closing tightly. Someday, this would be truly funny. Someday.