mutuclrespect:

It’s a knee-jerk reaction. His thoughts far away, lost in another world.
And the sudden-whether or not it really was sudden was up for debate-
presence behind him is no gentle return to the present. Realization
dawns on him moments after the hit lands, an apology instantly forming
on his lips.

       ❝ Shit! Sorry—does ‘it was an accident’ make
                any sense? Crap—Do you need ice? ❞

The anger was there. The wonder on why the hell it happened. But maybe the
punch scrambled his brains just enough to keep him from acting on it. A hand
lifted and fingers skimmed along his jaw, trying to hold back a wince to the
sting. He didn’t want to think about what it would look like in the morning. All
he could hope for was that it wouldn’t hurt him while he spoke.

         “ Yeah - ice would be good. You might want to explain
              why it happened anyway. Unless you’re a jumpy person
                 and do this to everyone. ”