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 Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 7:43 pm
Cordel looked from W’ten, then to K’em, at Prala, and finally back at W’ten. This continued several times, mostly as he tried to figure out what was actually going on. They couldn’t honestly be here for him. They both knew better than to interrupt Cordel when he was working, primarily because you didn’t interrupt a man who would be in charge of your care the next time you were sick or injured. Also, because Cordel tended to yell at them. That generally helped.
“What?” he barked at W’ten, having missed something there. Oh. Right. The firelizard. “I didn’t even know you had a firelizard, let alone one named Prala.” Really. Prala. Well, the name who named his firelizard Tribble shouldn’t be so judgmental, he supposed. Very carefully, the Healer started to edge around the Brownriders, trying to find a way around them so he could continue his work already. “I’m sorry, W’ten. Did you attend Healer Hall when I wasn’t looking? No? Then I think I’m a better judge on whether or not I’m fit for duty.”
… WHAT. What had K’em just said? It took Cordel’s mind a little while to process everything, starting with the word ‘C’mon’. After ‘kitten’ it all went downhill. The Healer’s eyes bulged and he looked about on the verge of exploding or at least inflicting some sort of serious pseudo-threat on someone. “I’m going to do you the biggest favor in your life, K’em, and pretend you didn’t just say that.”
It wasn’t much of anything, but it was what he was willing to do right now. Since neither Brownrider was moving much, the Healer attempted to simply walk on past them, figuring that they would get bored and wander off. All Cordel had to do was at least pretend he could walk in a straight line.
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Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 8:05 pm
Enough was enough. "Just remember, Cordel, we warned you!"
This was entirely too much fun. K'em took one large step towards his healer (yes, yes, Cordel was K'em's personal healer, just ask anyone in the infirmary!) and swung his leg around. He felt a little bad about kicking Cordel...but not that bad. His friend had caused him plenty of undue pain in his time, and besides, it was a for a good cause. Hopefully, W'ten was just fast enough to catch Cordel when he buckled.
And down he goes!
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Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 8:20 pm
"I did not expect you to know. Your observational skills are mediocre at best," W'ten responded dryly. No doubt Cordel hadn't even been aware of the betting that went on about the eggs that the candidates had only glimpsed. Of course, if the Healer had, he would probably say that the brownrider was not only encouraging gambling but also cheating. Few candidates would have the ability to calculate probabilities and statics like he did, putting him at a distinctive advantage. But he had already won the egg and it was his. He would be damned if it didn't set an excellent example for flits everywhere. Cordel should be jealous of Prala.
He raised an eyebrow at Cordel's quip. "I do not believe you had completely familiarized yourself with my past, unless you have been snooping about my records. I could have attended the Healer Hall when I was a boy." But he hadn't, sadly, so he said nothing more on the subject. It was a pity he hadn't gone on and become a Healer, however Cordel should have been grateful for that fact. He barely even liked having him around as a friend, what with his rather infrequent visits. The Healer would be living a nightmare if he actually had to work with W'ten, that was for certain.
K'em's flirting tactic failed miserably – as expected – but it provided a much needed distraction. He had only a split second before W'ten realized what his friend intended to do and he moved fast to pick up the slack. Kicking the Healer seemed like a very bad idea, but letting him face plant into the stone seemed like an even worse one. Thus, the brownrider moved to catch the Healer, hoping that he wouldn't get his eyes clawed out. He wanted to make it out of here relatively unscathed. "Evasion could be detrimental to your health, Healer. I suggest you 'play along.'"
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Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 9:07 pm
Cordel had just about finished comprehending K’em’s sudden approach when he started falling. It turned out that W’ten was quite correct; when startled, Cordel did indeed start to flail. But the Brownrider was wrong on one important note… Cordel didn’t flail in his direction or even violently. He just tried to stop himself from falling, mostly by trying to grab onto anything available. Unfortunately, K’em’s pants were there and grabbed.
Cordel quickly regretted that decision. He also regretted staring. “Oh for the lov… after much consideration, Brownrider W’ten, I have decided to accept your proposal. Now let me up. I need to find my dignity.” And his alcohol.
…
Lots of alcohol. Also Tribble, he belatedly realized. The Healer scrambled to find his feet under him, trying to get W’ten to let go. Shards, but the skinny b*****d was stronger than he looked.
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Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 9:19 pm
Hmm.
Hmmmmmm.
"Cordel, I don't think you have much dignity left." K'em slowly pulled his pants back on and wondered, breifly, if he should invest in belts. Deciding this would end it more hassle than do him any good (what had he got to be embarrassed about, anyways?), the brownrider stepped around the pile of healer and grabbed at his legs before he could get himself upright. "Or you won't, at any rate, by the time we're done with you." He made sure his grip on Cordel's ankles was fairly secure before grinning at W'ten.
"Shall we?" he asked, nodding towards the door. The wingsecond was already giving himself a mental pat on the back. Not only had they succesfully kidnapped Cordel, his nose wasn't broken, he got to kick a sharding door in AND Cordel pulled his pants off. With witnesses. And wouldn't that add a little fire to that rumor going around, hmm? Cordel was never going to hear the end of it. He could blackmail him forever, this really was absolute brilliance. "Be a good boy and W'ten might even tell you a bedtime story."
On second thought, maybe that should have been a threat...
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Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 9:27 pm
....
Well, that hadn't gone as expected. W'ten had not predicted that Cordel would go towards his attacker rather than away, nor did he even suspect that the Healer would grab his attacker by the pants as he was going down. Clearly hanging out with K'em's pants was preferable to being caught by W'ten. The thought was somewhat irritating, but he chose to say nothing about K'em's state of undress nor Cordel's part in it. There were some things better left unsaid.
"I am pleased that you have accepted my proposal. It is, however, illogical for me to let you go to collect your dignity since it does not exist in the material world. Unless, of course, you mean to collect something else, in which case Prala will retrieve it for you." In the mean time, he apparently had to carry his half of Cordel out. This was going to be fun. W'ten gave K'em a small nod, before adjusting his grip on the Healer in an effort to make him more comfortable. "I am afraid I am not familiar with the location of the Healer's personal quarters. Would you be so kind as to lead the way, K'em?" He wanted to keep those feet as far away from him as possible.
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Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 10:10 pm
Wait, what. Did they seriously mean to carry him out? Oh, Faranth… W’ten was never anything less than serious, Cordel recalled, which meant that the Brownrider, for one, fully intended on carrying him out. And K’em, well, the Wingsecond would do just about anything for a laugh and was probably thinking this was absolutely hilarious. The moment that W’ten attempted to readjust his grip, the Healer attempted to dart away, a maneuver that didn’t go over so well since K’em was still holding onto his feet.
“Fardles,” he muttered under his breath. “You two just remember who will be taking care of you the next time you get yourselves injured in new and inventive ways! Just remember that… K’em! Let my feet go now or else, I swear, I will gather up every bit of firestone in the Weyr, stuck them into a sack and beat you with it.”
Ok, that second one was just an idle threat and everyone knew it, but that wouldn’t stop Cordel from being inventive. Cordel again tried to pull away from W’ten before giving up and muttering, “Tribble. I need Tribble. She’s under the desk.”
…
Bing. A little glow went on over his head and he suggested, “Why don’t one of you try and get her for me?” If one of them let go, he’d surely have a good chance of walking out of the Infirmary instead of being carried, right? Actually… he frowned momentarily, trying to remember if he had even told either of his friends that the egg had hatched. K’em certainly knew about the little green ‘lizard, but W’ten probably didn’t.
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Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 4:04 am
"I'm not stupid, Cordel, despite all your insinuations otherwise. The fact that you think you can distract me so easily is an insult to my an intelligence," K'em replied matter-o-factly. Honestly, he was a wingsecond. He was good at tactical business and this, he had to say, was a very see-through maneuver. "W'ten said Prala would fetch it. Her. Prala can get her."
K'em had no doubt W'ten would ignore the pathetic barb as well. Besides, even he couldn't resist the chance to show off his little blue. He never did. (Which K'em found incredibly amusing when he wasn't actually struggling with his own little beast of a firelizard, how after did W'ten actually gloat about something so obviously?) The attempt put to rest, K'em shifted his grip slightly and began to lug Cordel out the door. W'ten had asked him to lead the way (victory!).
"It's this way," he said confidently, having been there enough in recent days to know his way well. Maybe he wasn't always there when Cordel was, but the Healer was hardly there at all and someone had to make sure he still had something to eat and his clothes were clean (and he wasn't drinking himself to sleep every night). Not that he'd admit to any of it, because that was domestic and Wingsecond K'em was anything but domestic.
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Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 4:37 pm
"Healer Cordel, I would advise you to stop squirming because if I drop you, we'll have to carry you anyways, only this time to the infirmary with a head wound." He didn't feel the need to bring out numbers, as even someone as emotionally unstable as Cordel could figure this one out. It was simple equation, really, and it should have been even simpler for the Healer. Head + stone = injury. Everyone knew that. Why Cordel wasn't trying to free his feet first was rather a mystery to him. It was the more logical choice than trying to get the brownrider to drop him on his head.
W'ten was quietly pleased when K'em broke out the big boy words – which meant they were going to win – and turned his attention to Prala. Apparently there was something under the desk that needed fetching, and the blue firelizard was going to get it for them. Judging by the use of a gender pronoun, it was probably some sort of animal. 96.7 % chance of a firelizard, he would bet. "Prala, go find this…. Tribble under the desk. She is to come with us to Cordel's quarters." The blue flit leapt neatly off his master's shoulders and flew over to the desk where he perched on Cordel's chair. Ooooh a green flit! She was definitely different from Orion, but she was still another flit. He cheeped a greeting to her. Would she come with him?
The brownrider, meanwhile, set off after K'em on their way to Cordel's chambers. He could only hope that his roommate didn't trip on their way there. The last thing they needed to do was drop Cordel somewhere unsafe, or worse, have to chase him back to the infirmary. Not that his office had a door anymore, but that was only slightly to their advantage.
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Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 4:47 pm
Cordel glared at K’em, very displeased that his little plan was so transparent. Shards, if his plan was obvious even to K’em----not that the Wingsecond was a stupid man or anything; he just didn’t always think things through, like kicking down fardling doors----then maybe the Healer really did need a nap. “Just know this, K’em… I’ll remember this the next time you come into my Infirmary with an allergic reaction,” he muttered angrily.
“And you!” he attempted to turn to W’ten so he could glare at the man properly. This didn’t go so well, seeing as he was being carried. “I’ll remember this the next time you…” now the Healer faltered, mostly because W’ten wasn’t nearly as needy as K’em. It was difficult to come up with good threats for that. “…I’ll think of something. You just fear my coming retort.”
Yeah. That definitely lacked something. As they passed his doorway, he immediately tried clinging to it, ignoring the threat of splinters. s**t, he had already admitted that he needed a nap; he did not need to be carried out of here like some sort of invalid! “I am going to remember this,” he repeated, apparently having forgotten that he already said the same thing several times. “And give it up; Tribble is very shy and she doesn’t listen to people who aren’t me.”
Naturally, this was exactly the time when Tribble decided to prove him wrong. The quiet green firelizard chirruped a greeting back at Prala and deemed him ‘safe’. He seemed very well-mannered, after all. Slowly, Tribble emerged from under the desk and shook her wings to get rid of some of the dust. "Chirrup?" she said, tilting her head at Prala.
“…I’m going to kill that firelizard…” Cordel muttered. “I CAN walk to my own sharding room. Put me down, both of you!” Why, yes. He did tended to flail and shout a lot. This was just humiliating…
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Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 6:43 pm
"We gave you a chance to walk out of here, Cordel, but you refused rather rudely. Now you have to live with it," K'em insisted firmly, not at all put out by the fiercest struggle the exhausted healer could muster. He still hadn't been kicked. This was going much better than he had expected. (Amazing how well things worked out when he actually applied a plan. He had to hand it to W'ten. He certainly bitched a lot, but the man new his way around a good plan.)
"What the- Cordel. Let go of that." Shards, but the man was kind of heavy and K'em's foot was bloody killing him. "You know, you're the only one making a scene here. The harder you struggle, the more people take interest. The same goes with raising your voice, as strange as that may seem, I know. It'd be in your benefit to stop being so hysterical for once in your life, shut up and just admit you were wrong." K'em flashed the healer his s**t-eating grin.
"You don't have to, of course. Because I know I'm right."
And with that, he gave a firm tug and sneered as he pried his friend off the splintered door frame. (Yeah, he ruined that door frame! Go K'em!) He didn't say much as they marched down the hall, but he did take a moment to nod to various lady friends. And wink. And smile. But that didn't take much effort. They didn't seem at all troubled by the fact he was hauling a healer down the hall. It took all he had to keep from limping, but the brownrider figured it was worth it. K'em knew this was for the Greater Good.
Who knew how many lives they'd saved by removing the cranky healer from the infirmary?
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Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 7:07 pm
The Healer wasn’t certain how many lives W’ten and K’em had just saved, but he knew two lives that had just gotten themselves into danger: those of the Brownriders themselves. “I’m the one making a scene? You ruined my door, you b*****d! AND you decided to try carrying me out instead of letting me walk like any reasonable person! And I am NOT RAISING MY VOICE!” After he said that, Cordel realized that maybe he was raising his voice a little. Just a tad. But he wasn’t about to let the other men know they were right; he had already done that by admitting that he was tired and…
He glared at K’em once more, narrowing his eyes. “Didn’t I already say that? I said that I do need to go to sleep. Now, will you kindly let go of my feet so I can walk there like a civilized person?” He briefly considered simply trying to kick the Wingsecond. He was limping a little, so a good kick to the ankle would cause him to drop Cordel’s feet… but, honestly? It wasn’t in the Healer’s nature to actually harm someone so deliberately and maliciously.
He let out a yelp and sharply brought his hands back to his chest when he was suddenly pried away from the doorframe. Fardling splinters! “I am going to kill you for this, K’em,” he hissed, completely exhausted by the earlier struggles. Fine. He would get K’em back later, and W’ten too, that emotionless b*****d. For now, the tired Healer could only pant and plot.
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Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 7:22 pm
"Duly noted, Healer Cordel."
Cordel sometimes forgot that there were other Healers in the Weyr, ones that W'ten was actually on better terms with. Certainly they might not make weyr calls, but they would do in the event that K'em's favourite Healer decided not to put out anymore. Er, not to work with them again. He was spending far too much time around K'em. The brownrider was starting to rub off on him. W'ten shuddered inwardly at the thought. Perhaps he should take a bath later to cleanse himself.
Letting K'em do all the talking, the brownrider trundled his end of Cordel along without so much as a change of expression. K'em seemed to be extremely pleased with himself, flirting with every female they passed, and who was he to interrupt that? Besides, the women around them would probably faint if he so much as batted an eyelash at them. The day W'ten flirted with anyone would be the day the Red Star collided with Pern.
"Do you intend to feed him when we return to his quarters, K'em?" W'ten asked above Cordel's head in a manner that suggested that he wasn't even there. "I do not believe we spoke about malnourishment on our way here."
Prala, meanwhile, was quite enlightened to meet such a nice green flit. Orion had tried to n** him once when he offered her a sock, but this one didn't look like she would lay a single claw on him. He crooned soothingly at her, before beckoning her to follow him. The blue flit would lead his new friend to safety! He also promised her a small bit of sausage when they arrived at Cordel's place. W'ten always had lots of sausage for him, and he would share with Tribble.
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Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 8:09 pm
"Sure. We can feed him. I don't have anything...eatable, but I imagine you've trained Prala to fetch food, as well?" It wasn't so much a query as it was something he expected of W'ten. Whatever Cordel was threatening him with now was completely lost on him. The healer was practically incoherent and hardly made sense, and they were really just threats. K'em could only recall a mere handful the man had actually carried out.
He didn't even think about letting Cordel down until they reached his room, and that was when the wingsecond noticed he didn't have a third arm for which to open the door. The brunette gave the door a sly look. Well, he had already kicked down one door today...
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Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 8:26 pm
Once it became obvious that neither man was listening to his rants anyway, Cordel quieted down some. At least he was no longer shouting and limited himself to the quiet grumbles that were more or less a constant noise around him anyway. The exhaustion had completely caught up with him by now; he almost nodded off at least once during the trip to his room. But when W’ten mentioned feeding him… the words had the same effect as a double cup of klah. “Shaffit, W’ten! I’m a Healer, not a toddler! You can talk to me instead of K’em!”
Unfortunately, K’em was doing it too, which only added to the grumpy Healer’s annoyance. For the first time, he tried to get his foot free of K’em’s grip. Since they were getting close to his room, he figured they’d have to set him down soon… and then he’d punch them both, he decided sleepily.
“…NO. K’em, you are not kicking my door in! If you kick in my door, I’ll gather up every last splinter, put them in a sack and beat you with it until all the stupid in that skull of yours tumbles out!” Again, he tried to get a foot free, deciding that now was the perfect time to take a stand. Or take something, anyway, if he couldn’t manage to stand properly. “W’ten, let me go. I can stand on my own, thank you very much!”
Aww… Prala was a nice firelizard! Not at all like that loud-mouthed Bronze who occasionally came to visit. Tribble trilled happily at the promise of sausage and fluttered towards Prala, trusting that her new best friend would keep her safe. Besides, she wanted her Cordel back; he didn’t know how to watch himself if she wasn’t there.
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