1/2
When it comes to injuries, Rodeo has never been very inclined to seek medical attention for his own. It's never seemed necessary to him-- he's been doing all his own first aid since small times, when mama would have laughed him out of the house if he came around asking to be taken to a doctor to stitch up a bloody cut or check up on a snapped bone. The only reason he'd gotten a cast put on his broken arm in sixth grade was because the injury happened on school grounds while he and Sarge were cutting class to fight some eighth graders in an empty classroom, and his mama told him what for when the doctor left her alone with him 'cause they didn't have no insurance to pay for the cast he'd gotten. She said that they'd lose everything, that the bank would come take away the trailer and sell Adelaide off to another family 'cause they couldn't afford her no more, all because he had to go and rack up a "million dollar" hospital bill. None of that came to pass, but after a couple weeks when the cast was supposed to come off he was too scared to remind his mama about it. He had Sarge cut it off with a circular saw instead. It's a wonder he still has an arm at all. Ever since, all his patching up has been done at home, and it ain't as if this is the worst injury he's ever treated this way. It works, this tried and true method. Even his own sister knows it-- he told her about the injury that's causing his limp, though perhaps downplaying it slightly by calling it a "cut" when it's more like a "gouge," and she accepted that he would handle it on his own. Lita, however, doesn't seem to be so inclined.
Rodeo knows very well that this would irritate him instantly coming from almost anyone else. He doesn't react well to being ordered to do anything, first of all. Second of all, he really doesn't react well to being ordered to receive medical attention he doesn't want and didn't ask for. As far as he's concerned, the glue and tape on his wound are all the patching he needs. It's not a foolproof method, but it's done well enough for him in the past. Scars ain't exactly a concern-- he already has plenty of those. He sure as hell doesn't think Lita looking at the laceration on his thigh is necessary, but to his great surprise he can't feel all that annoyed by the curt way she declares her intention to do so anyway. Maybe it's just because he'd give her anything she wanted, even if what she wants is this. Maybe it's just because he knows if she's taking time to stitch him up before they eat, that's just a few more moments he gets to spend with her before she's gone again. Maybe it's because there are a few people in this world who can command him, and he already knows she's one of 'em. Whatever the case, he breathes out a sigh through his nose and slumps his shoulders, a clear sign of defeat as his blue eyes take in the determined look on her pretty face. His brows lift faintly when she suggests he drop his pants right there, and any defiance that has still been visible in his eyes is edged out by a sparking edge of amusement then.
"Nah. There's a time and place for droppin' your pants in the middle o' camp, and it ain't right after grenades blow it half to heaven," Rodeo says. He wonders, suddenly, if dropping his pants in private's going to be any better. To think, the first time he'll be taking off his pants in front of this woman and it will be so she can stick some stitches to him. He feels cheated by that, and by the touch she'd pressed to his chest moments ago-- a touch that would have felt so nice if it weren't for the kevlar under his shirt, making it so all he felt was a gentle pressure before her hand dropped away again. But he knows that he don't deserve to feel her touch, doesn't even deserve to have her standing before him at all. He can't ask for any more than what he's already stolen here. He rolls his shoulders, then steps back and nods in the direction of his trailer. "Reckon I better warn you, my place might be a little crowded. Got my baby girl and her baby boy and my best brother all stayin' with me. Not to mention two big ol' dogs and a cat." Rodeo pauses, looking thoughtful. "I'm talkin' about our pets, not describin' us. Though it'd be spot on if I was."