Mark could hear the calls from where he sat. Yes, Ace was in some sort of trouble. No, he was not going to help. Ace was a grown individual, though Mark wondered who had let the slim boy become an adult. Ace should never have been permitted adulthood. He should be forced to wear a label on his shirt identifying him as a child-no- a toddler. A toddler that only ate candy and played video games in his child-cave. What could possibly be the appeal of those passtimes day after day? Mark himself would have gone mad.<br/>The calls came closer and Mark could hear the way Ace was leaning against the walls for support. There was almost a twinge of guilt in his chest-almost. Ace could take care of most of his minor ailments himself, why call upon Mark for every little thing? He looked at the computer screen and saw that the last seven lines of his email was nothing but disjointed sentences. With a sigh Mark pressed the backspace key and watched the type disappear. Mark could feel Ace's eyes on him but he didn't look up immediately. He was determined to seem busy. After years of trying the tactics of ignoring him in hopes Ace might buck up and take care of himself for once, even just a little cut or bruise. All positive results had yet to be seen.<br/>"My hand hurts," Ace said. "Make it better."<br/>Mark turned to look. If his whole hand was broken, that really was something that needed attention. Only Ace's slender thumb seemed to be injured. Mark wanted to roll his eyes but instead he set his laptop down on the coffee table in front of him and left his comfortable seat on the sofa. Ace looked triumphant though the pout stayed firmly on his lips. Mark could see the smirk in his eyes though and though he wanted to tell Ace to get over it he knew that it wasn't so easy. Ace would never be able to bandage himself with only one hand. Ace would never bandage himself with both hands. Ace wouldn't be able to entertain himself and therefore leave Mark alone with his most beloved laptop without both of his hands in tact. Gently Mark took Ace's injured hand in both of his. The touch was only the ghost of his fingertips to prevent any further harm. Quite likely all of the gaming has weakened his joints again and made both of his hands more fragile.It called for extra care.<br/>"I told you not to press the buttons so hard." Mark said as he inspected the thumb. It wasn't something that would take too long to wrap up. "You need to take a break and get your head out of the video games for a little while. Maybe you should take a nap." Mark moved a hand to rest on the small of Ace's back, steering him into the kitchen to their pantry full of medical supplies. It only took a moment to find a metal splint and tape. While Ace held his hand out Mark worked the thumb into the proper position with the softest touches and quickly wrapped the splint to the digit before Ace could move and upset his work. Mark used a small pair of sewing scissors to cut the tape and tucked the end down to ensure nothing would come undone. But of course he wasn't finished yet. Mark selected a box from a cluster in the corner of a shelf, each filled with bandaids themed to a different pattern. Ace loved to have obnoxiously colored bandages over each of his wounds no matter how very little good it did. Mark selected one with kittens on it and stripped the plastic bandage of its paper confines and pressed it around the bandaging so that Ace could see the pattern easily. Mark replaced the box on the shelf once again and moved to throw the paper away.<br/>"You should go take a nap." Mark repeated. "Lay down and let your eyes have a break from staring at the screens so long." Give your wrists a break before those shatter too, please, please. We won't be able to leave the house until they heal, please, please don't strand us here. Despite how Mark hated the idea of being confined in the house with Ace he actually didn't mind it. He just wouldn't ever admit it to himself much less another living creature.