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 Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 6:16 pm
"I'm fine, W'ten. I swear up and down that I'm fine. I don't need Cordel's help."
Which was a lie, of course.
However, the brownrider had tried to conceal his limp since they'd arrived back at Ista. He wasn't doing a very good job of it, but he was fairly certain he hadn't let W'ten see it. Faroth must have ratter him out. His ankle was absolutely killing him; it was so swollen he could hardly get his boot on (no, he didn't try to get it off again once they got home) and the numbweed W'ten had applied earlier had long since worn off. He hadn't done that great of a job. Apparently, logic didn't help a man in the art of healing.
The really logical answer would be to visit Cordel.
But, for whatever reason, K'em couldn't bring himself to face his best friend. Maybe it was the ridiculous circumstance, or maybe he just didn't have it in him to weather another emotional tirade. And here he was, standing outside the infirmary. "You can go check in with him if you want, W'ten, but I'm fine. I'm just gonna go back to our weyr to crash..."
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 6:43 pm
W'ten felt like he was doing quite well as far as his temper was concerned. After sitting for hours with a fidgety K'em – and thus getting none of his mental math equations completed – he now had to deal with a K'em who was blatantly lying about his injury. The brownrider did not see why his roommate felt the need to be so entirely illogical. If it had been bad enough for him to carry his friend through the muck it was bad enough for them to go and see Cordel. He could try and shrug it off all he wanted despite W'ten's earlier warnings to him, but the brownrider wasn't going to let him off that easily. Cordel would skin him alive, and W'ten was not in the mood for one of the Healer's emotional tirades.
He allowed K'em to continue talking but did not release his grip on the brownrider, firmly escorting him to Cordel. With one of K'em's arms over his shoulders and one of his around his friend's waist, K'em didn't have much of a chance to escape. The position was beneficial in more ways than one. "As I am not injured in any way I do not need to see Cordel. You, however, are not going to 'crash' in the weyr. Unless you wish to inform me that your injury was not sufficient enough to warrant me carrying you to the shelter?" He quirked an eyebrow at that. Of course he knew that K'em was fibbing, but he intended to use the piggy back to his advantage. If K'em was going to be illogical then W'ten was going to use everything he had.
Upon arrival at the Healers, W'ten directed his friend to the nearest bed and gestured for him to sit down. Hopefully Cordel was nosy enough to come and see his new patient. The brownrider did not intend to stay long.
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 8:18 pm
As a matter of fact, W’ten was completely correct. Cordel was not the sort to let any noise go uninvestigated in his Infirmary. Yes, his Infirmary, shard it all. Anyway, noises were always something to look out for, especially noises like, ‘Arrgh, arrgh, I need a Healer’ or similar. Admittedly, W’ten arguing with someone wasn’t exactly the same, but there was only one person who had the patience to deal with the Brownrider’s painful logic. K’em.
“Well, it’s about time. If you had taken any longer to come and annoy me, I might have felt it necessary to send out a search party…” he paused at the sight of the two Brownriders, looking from one to the other. Something was wrong. First of all, it was highly unusual for W’ten to accompany K’em on these little trips. For another, K’em was sitting down. That wasn’t right. Normally if he came just to annoy Cordel and stop him from getting work done, he’d be standing.
Wiping his face wearily, Cordel just had to ask. “What did you do this time? No wait. That’s the wrong question. What did W’ten allow you to do? W’ten, what did you let him do this time?” Not that it was W’ten’s job to keep his roommate from hurting himself or anything (that was more or less impossible), but there should at least be someone keeping K’em from doing something completely stupid.
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 8:38 pm
The sound of Cordel's voice made him cringe, but the lecture he foresaw never came. Shards. His foresight was getting really bad, wasn't it? He wondered breifly if that was something the Healer could check and quickly decided not to ask him. He was already in enough trouble as it- W'ten was the one in trouble? Green eyes lit up. The brunette leaned a little closer, and grinned, nodding down toward his ankle. Good thing it was still in his boot.
"I just tripped. W'ten tried to patch me back up, but no one can fix me up like you do, Cordel." K'em flashed his friend his winningest smile and batted those pretty green eyes. Yes, he was playing on the idea Cordel took some pride in his work, but it was the best he could think of, in the given situation. Cordel and W'ten were always at odds and if Cordel thought he had the upper hand, maybe that would make the impending rant easier on all three of them.
"I got my ankle back in my boot...somehow, but...I don't....yeah. It hurts a lot."
Somewhere, Faroth was rolling his eyes. So verbose, His.
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 8:56 pm
Ah, speak of the devil. W'ten took three calculated steps backwards and put his hands behind his back, which had returned to its usual ramrod straightness. It was mildly tiresome to have to haul around people who were shorter than you, but the brownrider was not complaining. He knew he would loathe the day K'em had to cart him off to the Healers on his back or shoulder. It would be on par with the days he headed up to their weyr to find K'em with a woman that had not been there when he left. That thought alone nearly made his eyebrows twitch in annoyance.
It would have been a lie to say he wasn't prepared for Cordel's words. However, as much as he told himself it was illogical to be even mildly irritated by this emotionally out of control Healer, it didn't stop him from raising a single eyebrow at him. "I was not aware that he required my permission to do anything other than bring other humans into our weyr for recreational fornication, and I don't believe the terms of our agreement have changed. K'em is, like all riders, free to do as he pleases provided he does not bring unnecessary injury to himself, his dragon or others. It is a freedom awarded to all riders regardless of their apparent intelligence."
"Thus, your question was poorly phrased and accusatory in a manner that I was not obligated to answer, "the brownrider continued on, without missing a beat."However, if you wish to inquire after the events that led up to his injury, then you will find that his account is incorrect on one count. He injured his ankle falling into a hole in the ground while we sought shelter from a tropical storm. It would also be wise to assess if he has acquired some form of respiratory illness as he was wet for what I estimate was several candlemarks while we waited for the storm to cease."
Satisfied with his report, W'ten dipped his head and said with an air of finality, "I bid you good day. I will be in the weyr. You may send for me via Kaieth if you require my assistance."
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 9:12 pm
Some time ago, those green eyes probably would have made Cordel go all wibbly. Actually, it wasn’t even that long ago… thankfully, those days were behind him. Unfortunately, Cordel was still susceptible to flattery. But something about the words didn’t quite ring true. Maybe it was the fact that K’em had arrived with W’ten. The Healer looked suspiciously from rider to rider until W’ten started to give his very, very wordy report.
For the love of Green dragons, was there anything that the man didn’t say? He always seemed to say whatever came into his mind, regardless if it would actually accomplish anything or not. And never mind his verbosity! Cordel snorted and pointed out, “One could argue that him hurting his ankle does point out to some unnecessary injury to himself and I’m sharding certain that you knew of it…”
Oh, wait. The storm. W’ten and K’em had gone into a storm… Just sharding perfect. They had both been out, which meant they were both probably sick. “Well, thank you for being honest. Just one more thing, W’ten…” Cordel put his hand up on the taller man’s shoulder, squeezing just slightly. “You’re not leaving. Since you knew what had happened with K’em’s ankle, you were there. Which means you were also soaking wet in a tropical storm, exposed to only Faranth knows what. There’s no way I can allow you to leave the Infirmary and, K’em, if I turn around and see you creeping away towards an escape route, I will not be responsible for my actions.”
Great. Both W’ten and K’em in the Infirmary? This would be a fun few days, at least until Cordel felt they were either healthy enough to leave or until the Healer merely lost patience with them both.
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 9:42 pm
Ahahahaha. That sneaky b*****d certainly got his! Served W'ten right, trying to abandon K'em to the powers that be like that. Suffering was a lot better when your friend was right there to suffer beside you. He'd just have to overlook the fact that his fellow brownrider was willing to toss him out the window to get away. Of course, he'd do the same, if he could-
Or not. Foiled before he even tried.
The brunette gave a resigned sigh, looking up at his healer (yes, his, shardit) with his best puppy dog eyes (since the fluttering pretty greens didn't seem to have the appropriate response) before looking down at his boot. That was going to have to come off. And since Cordel was busy keeping his roommate here, it was up to him to slowly work the troublesome article of clothing away from his injured joint.
This was probably the first time K'em had ever resented the idea of removing an article of clothing.
Chuckling at the very notion, K'em unlaced and began to wiggle the boot off. It was easier until he hit tender flesh and he had to bite back a whine, momentarily surprised at how much that still hurt. It shouldn't have shocked him, it probably shouldn't be in a boot and W'ten shouldn't have let him hobble around after they'd gotten home and Cordel really would have wrapped it better, but, shards! The rider gave a little shiver and rubbed his legs. He was still cold too.
This day just kept getting better and better, didn't it?
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 10:08 pm
W'ten opened his mouth to argue that K'em's original intent was not to injure himself and so Cordel's point was void, however he was stopped when Cordel put a hand on his shoulder. Though his facial expression didn't chance, he still managed to give the Healer a look that was positively frigid. If it were humanly possible to emit cold air, the brownrider would have been doing it right then and there. He was well aware that Healers needed to touch their patients in order to help them, but he drew the line there with Cordel. W'ten was not the kind of person you gave friendly shoulder pats too, especially when you added a squeeze on the end. It took all his intestinal fortitude not to remove the fingers from his person, instead hoping that the look he was giving Cordel would do it.
For a moment he considered the Healer's words, idly flipping through his mental regulation book to see if there was anything that said he had to stay when the Healer told him to like a good dog. If Cordel believed him unfit for duty he could report him to S'kagi and the bronzerider could order him here, or even K'em, and W'ten was sure without a reasonable doubt that the latter would make sure to confine him to the Healers for as long as Cordel deemed necessary. If he stayed as Cordel had unnecessarily insisted, he might be able to get out of here sooner and then he would be free of any obligations to the Healer. It seemed logical to take the second option.
"As you wish, however I doubt you will find me unfit for duty." The brownrider moved to sit on the nearest unoccupied bed and slid his feet neatly out of his boots. His socks were removed, folded, and placed inside his boots with the same neatness. Finally, he tucked his legs up on the bed and sat cross-legged, waiting with his usual quiet dignity for Cordel. Just to make sure that he did not have to suffer any more injustices at the Healer's hand, he made sure to add, "You are aware, of course, that I would prefer you to keep your emotional discourse with K'em to a minimum. I have no desire to be privy to the inner workings of your unfounded relationship." Essentially: don't get all mushy on me. I think it's weird.
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 11:12 pm
Oh, W’ten had some glarebeams on him! Perhaps a few weeks ago, Cordel would have been sufficiently intimidated enough to move his hands. But that was before he had the ‘pleasure’ of meeting C’ren and F’sey, two men who had invented and then perfected the art of glarebeams. Anyway, the Healer was vaguely concerned about him too. They weren’t exactly friends, but they knew each other too long to be considered acquaintances. Mostly, he supposed that they were… hmm… probably antagonists? They mostly antagonized each other and it had gotten to the point where he couldn’t imagine antagonizing anyone else.
The last part was a bit of a sticking point. Cordel merely snorted and went to go help K’em with his boot because, apparently, the man couldn’t even undress himself without help.
…
That was a thought he really didn’t need to be thinking about. “Oh, I’m sorry, W’ten,” he said in a tone that said, quite plainly, he was the very opposite of sorry. “I didn’t realize that friends aren’t supposed to have emotional attachments to each other on your homeworld. Do you have any humanity left in your crusty soul, or should I not even bother looking? Shards, K’em, stop squirming and let me take your fardling boot off!” Yet, weirdly enough, he really was happy to be arguing with his friends. It was just what he did.
After much muttering and some pointed glares, the boot did eventually come off, leaving Cordel less than pleased. Alright, the wrapping wasn’t horrific. W’ten wasn’t a complete failure. The foot was still grossly swollen, right from the ankle down. “Wonderful. I leave you both alone for just a few days and you end up in a tropical storm. What’s next, K’em? How far did you fall?”
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 3:23 pm
K'em eyed W'ten, momentarily impressed by the glare he was trying to kill Cordel with. The look proved to be slightly less than lethal and whatever awe it had inspired was gone; the brownrider was more focused on the witty banter between his two friends than the actual task at hand. Well, until Cordel joined his struggle against the boot and observed the damage (and W'ten's poor attempt at fixing said damage). "Oh, the fall wasn't bad. The ground just went out from underneath me and I slid."
And yelped like a small child.
The brunette left the unnecessary information out. "It's not like it's that big of a deal," he said, though clearly, the injury spoke for itself. "I can still walk." Sort of. "And it's not like my job actually requires me to walk. As long as I can meet with S'kagi and attend wing practice, I'm fine. Really, you should be paying more attention to W'ten." K'em winked then, jerking his chin over at his best friend. If his roommate was willing to abandon him, he was more than willing to return the favor and throw him under the bus. "He was exerting himself in the rain. Even took off his jacket!"
Mine, that was not until we were-
Hush, Faroth. It's survival of the fittest, here.
He then turned his focus onto the other brownrider, whom he'd been ignoring for most of the visit. "Oh, so my relationship with Cordel is unfounded? So what does that make our friendship, W"ten?" A toothy smile. What was he going on about, anyways? The wingsecond had always been friends, everyone knew that! It didn't need to be logical to make sense. It just was, like love or something stupi-
Unless, of course, W'ten was referring to that betting pool about K'em screwing Cordel on the side. Which, while amusing, was completely untrue (but not despite K'em's best efforts).
K'em's toothy smile mutated into a wicked grin. "Unless you're jealous? Are you jealous, W'ten?" the younger rider crooned, leaning forward to wrap his arms around Cordel's head and pull the healer close to his chest. "It's okay to be jealous. I am that good looking, I know.
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 4:12 pm
"The existence of a spiritual entity beyond the body and the mind that survives after death is a highly debated subject. I do not believe you possess enough knowledge of the current arguments to be able to prove to me, within reasonable error margins, that the adjective 'crusty' can be applied to such a being," was all that W'ten said on that subject matter. He did not have time to be arguing the merits of emotionally controlled conduct, nor did he wish to do so with the Healer. Cordel had made it perfectly clear that he felt the need to be overly emotional no matter what the situation, and the brownrider knew a lost cause when he saw one.
He resisted the urge to clarify K'em's statement with his approximation of the size of the hole, but decided that he did not wish for Cordel to start blathering on about how being able to estimate the depth of a hole was inhuman. Instead he settled for methodically pushing down his cuticles in an attempt to ignore the two very unordered, illogical beings that he was forced to sit with. Unfortunately, his strategy and very clear "I am ignoring you" vibes seemed to have no effect on K'em. The brownrider seemed to be very interested in directing the attention back to him. As if he needed any more of Cordel's attention. The fact that the Healer felt the need to handle him was quite enough by W'ten's standards.
K'em's attempted retribution was wholehearted ignored by the brownrider, who merely continued down his fingers until he was finished with both hands. The systematic movements proved to be beneficial for his self control, and W'ten made a mental note to do this in the future whenever his roommate was bothering him. It was only when K'em started rambling on about relationships and jealousy did he finally look up, only to find that he was looking at exactly what he had been trying to avoid. There was a minute tightening of his jaw as though W'ten was grinding his teeth, but he managed to keep his expression somewhere in the realm of 'bored'.
"Your language skills are, I see, as meagre as ever when you are in the presence of those unfortunate people who you wish to impress with your alleged sexual prowess." Indeed, K'em's IQ seemed to drop whenever he was not verbally sparring with W'ten. It was rather unpleasant. "To imply that I am jealous of you or Cordel would infer that I am experiencing a feeling of resentment that either of you have something I more rightfully deserve. You are quite incorrect if you believe that I have such feelings towards yourself, Cordel, or your relationship with each other. If you had been paying attention earlier you would know my feelings about your relationship, though I will elaborate if you do not fully comprehend the meaning of unfounded." He arched an eyebrow at the pair of them. "That position is also quite dangerous to your health. The statistical likelihood of Cordel adding to your injuries increases with every second."
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 4:43 pm
‘Blah, blah, blah, logic, blah, you’re stupid and I’m the smartest because I know how to ignore emotions and other pointless petty human things’ was a pretty good summation of what Cordel heard. As the Brownrider was content to ignore everyone else, the Healer was happy to ignore him. Hey, at least he was quiet after the long rambling speech about the whosits. He paused, though, as K’em pointed out that W’ten had been the one to run around without a jacket on.
“Brownrider W’ten is more likely to sit still in one place. You, on the other hand, are likely to bolt out like some idiotic runnerbeast and then trip and hurt yourself more, never mind those around you. So just shut up, sit still, and try to pretend to be a good patient.” That would truly be a test of K’em’s skills, he knew. While the mild argument raged on----although ‘rage’ was too strong a word; it mostly meandered around a bit----Cordel went and got some bandages for K’em’s foot. It was a bit chancy to leave the younger Brownrider all alone like that, but the Healer was fairly certain he wouldn’t try running off. Not yet, anyway.
Idly, he wondered what this supposed relationship was. He suspected that W’ten was just talking about the friendship, but… well, didn’t he have a friendship with K’em too? And even Cordel, to a certain extent? Then again, it was just like the man to refuse to admit to such a thing. The emotional Healer snorted and began to carefully bind up K’em’s foot, taking great care to avoid causing more pain. For all of his threats and bluster, he really did try to make things better for his patients.
That is, until he found his face in very close quarters to K’em’s chest. Cordel flailed for a few moments, trying to figure out how A) to get out of this situation and B) What, in the name of Faranth, was K’em thinking?! You just didn’t grab Healers like that, least of all when they were handling your very injured foot! And what was that from W’ten? After much struggling and flailing, Cordel managed to at least turn his head so he could get a look at the older Brownrider. So… he thought that the Healer would turn on K’em, huh?
Well, fine. Cordel had an answer to that. He slid an arm around his best friend in a hug and winked at W’ten broadly. “Oh, you should be jealous,” he said, with his very best purr.
It was rather laughable. Normally, the young Brownrider would have earned himself a smack upside the head. But Cordel never could overlook an opportunity to make W’ten squirm.
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 5:23 pm
K'em nearly...no, that would be a lie. K'em choked when Cordel purred, wrapping an arm around his waist. He hadn't been expecting that, either! Of course, it was much better than a punch to the jaw and the brownrider reacted according, resting his head against Cordel's shoulder as he leaned in to whisper. In reality, he just thanked his best friend for playing along, but expression and body language suggested something much, much dirtier.
Green eyes flashed and K'em nuzzled Cordel, winking at a pretty young blond apprentice as she happened by. He was practically in the healer's lap now, all purrs and smiles, his ankle long since forgotten. It wasn't exactly a comfortable position, but the wingsecond was willing to overlook that fact as well. With one hand occupying itself with the hair on the back of Cordel's neck, the brownrider fixed his gaze once again on his surly roommate.
As impassive as W'ten was trying to make himself look, he was certainly being very argumentative and sharp. "You refuse to actually classify our relationship, W'ten. It's not unfounded and for you to make such unsubstantiated claim simply supports my theory that you are, in fact, feeling some sort of resentment towards one, if not the both of us. It's beyond the usual level of irritation my presence usually produces, because you're fidgeting to keep yourself all put together, W'ten."
K'em's grin was positively Cheshire as he stroked Cordel's hair. If W'ten wanted to play like that, K'em could play like that. This was way better than an emotional rampage.
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 6:03 pm
Some part of W'ten was pleased to note that all of this cuddling and snuggling between Cordel and K'em was completely impromptu. They were clearly doing it just to piss him off, and if he was being completely honest with himself he would admit that it was working. However, he prided himself in his ability to keep an iron control over himself and his emotions, and if K'em and Cordel thought they could emotionally compromise him then they were sorely mistaken. The only sign that he had cranked up his infamous control another notch was the fact that his face had moved from bored to completely stony. "Your immaturity is astounding," was all he said. It was one of those moments when W'ten wondered why he put up with someone as juvenile and illogical as K'em.
It appeared he had finally hit a nerve, however, as K'em had regained his sparring wit. Fascinating. He would have to figure out exactly what he had said to get this kind of response out of K'em. It would be useful in the future when K'em would not see reason and sought to try and convince him by sheer illogic. W'ten answered his words with a raised eyebrow. "Resentment is an entirely different emotion from jealousy. You did not state such a hypothesis earlier, since I imagine you were merely attempting to provoke me so that you can apply such a theory after substantial proof has already been given. You have, however, neglected to consider outside factors which may have influenced my tolerance level prior to my arrival here. I do believe that it is logical to be minutely irritated when someone you carried due to the severity of their injury denies such allegations and attempts to hobble away from medical attention. Unless, of course, I am mistaken on that count?"
Since he was on a roll, he might as well take Cordel out. "And if you, Healer, are going to persist in the inappropriate handling of your patient I will remove myself from your presence and find another Healer who does not forgo professionalism in favour of his physical needs."
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Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 7:32 pm
Healers had to look for tiny signs. Injuries weren’t always big obvious things, after all, but were made of many tiny subtle things. The change in W’ten’s face from ‘merely annoyed’ to ‘stony’. Although he couldn’t quite imagine why the Brownrider would be annoyed, except that he simply didn’t seem to understand the necessity of bonds. Sometimes, Cordel wondered how the man had managed to impress at all, since, as he understood the process, it actually required an open mind.
The sheer stubbornness of some people!
Admittedly, K’em’s closeness was starting to get uncomfortable… but, hey, if it was making W’ten feel even more awkward, then Cordel would call it a victory anyway. Besides, he really was happy to see his friend----oh, fine, he was happy to see W’ten was alright too---and what better way of letting this be known than by joking around with K’em and making the older Brownerider all twitchy. Well, not ‘twitchy’, exactly… but something, at least. It was always nice to see that something could penetrate that thick shell of logic.
As much as he hated to admit it, W’ten had a point. The dragonriders were here to be taken care of, not toyed with. Cordel snorted and asked, “K’em, is he ever any fun at all? A hug is hardly inappropriate contact, W’ten.” Carefully untangling himself from the young Brownrider, Cordel went to work on wrapping him K’em’s foot once more. Once that was done, he had to go check on W’ten, at least a little.
“Any coughing? Aches? Pains? Fevers? And did it hurt at all when you had your metaphorical heart removed? They say that it’s impossible to be alive after such a thing, but I’m beginning to wonder… or did you have it done just to make your diet of baby firelizards easier, or was it just for fun?” because, clearly, W’ten had a vastly different concept of fun anyway.
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