Description
Panel One: Closeup shot of Cal's hand and DJ's injured right arm/shoulder. We can see that DJ's wearing a sleeveless white undershirt. Cal has an ice pack with a blue snowflake pattern on it that he's holding to DJ's bare arm. There are multiple bruises on his arm, many of them in a later stage of healing. "Do you want some painkillers?" asks Cal. "I don't need any," says DJ. Cal continues, "What about these... Other bruises?"
Panel Two: Medium shot of the two of them. In the background is a white wall with a window. It's still raining outside. DJ abruptly stands, his face downturned and looking sad. His hair is down and there are multple bruises visible on both arms. The bruise on his arm is disproportionately large, red, and angry-looking. Cal is still sitting down. "Where are you going?" he asks DJ.
Panel Three: Medium shot of DJ pulling on his white fencing shirt. "We need to get back or we'll get written up, and that'll hurt our scores," he explains, wincing. SFX: Ow. Cal, from off-panel, says, "Now? But you're - "
Panel Four: Shot from over Cal's shoulder, with the back of his head in the left foreground. DJ is in the background, standing in the doorway, he has his headband back on. The door has a glass window in it with the word "Infirmary" on it, backwards so it can be read from the outside. DJ is looking off to the side, not meeting Cal's eyes. "Cal, every fencer gets bruises. It's just part of practice," he says. "This is... Normal?" Cal asks. "Bruises are normal," DJ answers. After a pause, he says, "Anyway, we need to go."
Panel Five: Medium shot of Cal, from the side. He's standing now, and drying his hands off on a towel. "You go," he says, smiling, "I'll catch up!"
Panel Six: Identical to the previous one, except Cal is now glaring and the background is dark with white cracks creeping in on the edges. He's thinking to himself, and the text is white with a thick black outline. "That bruise was old." The next thought is between this panel and the next, "He aimed for it."
Panel Seven: Flashback-type frame with parts from two previous panels in it. First is a shot of the Headmaster looming over DJ with his sword pointed at him, and the second is when DJ was jabbed. They are washed out and have fuzzy edges, with the text of Cal's thoughts over them. "He hit there on purpose," Cal thinks. "There's only one way he'd know it was already there..."
Author Note
Cal is starting to put some pieces together, while DJ keeps on dodging questions.
I'm still shocked that I only have THREE more page to go in issue 4. That's almost 200 pages of comics done already!
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Bran