|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 4:00 pm
After faceplanting on that poor Grayson boy's floor, Jude had been hauled up and shipped out. The new, solitary room felt more like a prison to him, but his complaints of being bedridden fell on deaf ears. For, you see, the doctor that had taken a particular interest in him had done so because he was still convinced there was more to this nameless patient than he was letting on.
He'd woken up shouting for Hero in Grayson's room, but the first time? The first time it was 'Aries'. Combine that with the carvings on his back and the tattoo of a ram, and you'd have to be stupid to not be suspicious. Of course Doctor Hamilton was not stupid; he was a doctor, and not an especially friendly one.
Jude had gotten sick of all the badgering and finally surrendered his name in full: Jude Matthew Lawson.
Jude Matthew Lawson then asked for his one phone call (if they'd treat him like a prisoner, he'd treat them like guards). It was cold and his truck wasn't waiting for him in the parking lot. He'd called Barnaby and told him in the voice of someone bordering a temper tantrum: "I'm in the hospital. Come get me before I give this doctor a real reason to be in here."
The only salvation he found was a cute, red-haired nurse who occasionally stopped by to pass along messages from the kids he'd visited earlier--though the scolding for lying to them about being Robin Hood was slightly disheartening. What really ruined it, though, was he couldn't even bring himself to make eyes at the woman without feeling guilty about it.
Hero. Psssh.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Jude hit the channel button on the remote over and over from his bed. "There is nothing on this stupid thing!"
Where the Hell was Barnaby?!
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 4:10 pm
Barnaby Price was currently arguing with the front desk staff about his dog. Apparently the woman refused to believe that the mastiff was a visitation dog and was unwilling to check the records to prove it. As if he would try and smuggle a dog like this into the hospital. He secretly believed that the woman was just terrified of Minnie Mouse, but he kept that to himself. The number of cat-lovers in Destiny City was increasing by the hour.
Finally, before security could throw him out for being a nuisance, he'd managed to get a hold of his mother and he was allowed to pass. Decked out in his usual name tag – which read "Little John" this time – he made his way up the stairs with his dog to go and find Jude. It was lucky for the both of them that the bluenette wasn't very hard to find. From what the redhead understood he had a reputation. Not that he cared, really, but he was pleased someone else made the connection between Sagittarius and Robin Hood.
"Heeeeey Juuuuude." Barnaby almost broke out into song. Almost. It was tempting. "I let you run off and play hero-" Oops, bad word choice. Damnit. "-and look where you end up. Maybe next time I should just send you in with a band aid on already. Save people the trouble."
Minnie Mouse made sure to plant her paws on the edge of the bed so she could lick Jude's face. Anybody else and Barnaby would have probably called her off, but he felt his friend deserved it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 4:25 pm
Jude knew it was pathetic to tense at the word 'hero', but he did. He hadn't managed to talk to Grayson yet, and he had no way of knowing what all he'd told Elke. Not that it mattered. The fact they were in the hospital was liable to make it back to the Captain, and that alone would be enough of a reason for her rage on them with the fury of a woman scorned.
Hmph.
"Barnaby, I am not so injured I can't pick you up and hurl you out the window if you bring that song up again." The threat was not scary. For one thing, he was indeed too injured to pick someone his own height up. For another, they were on the first floor now. At worst Barnaby would have scratched his knee. Real frightening. "Hey, there were two of them, and I did fine."
If drowning was his idea of 'fine', then winning a fight where he didn't die must feel like the Colts getting their flawless record. (14-1. Never forget.) "Grayson is here, too, did you--mmf!"
Slobber now caking his face, Jude carefully pushed the canine off and gagged a little. Dog breath. Ugh. "You brought a dog in here? This place already wants me dead enough, and you bring in a dog?" As he sat and bitched about that, he was scratching the Minnie behind the ears. "They think I'm in a cult. I'm surprised they even let you in here."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 4:31 pm
The redhead scoffed, now more tempted than ever to sing, but he stopped himself. No doubt the receptionist would be looking for a way to get him thrown out for unruly behaviour, which meant he had to be on his best behaviour. Somehow, he didn't think belting out a facsimile of "Hey Jude" and ruining the peace and quiet of the hospital would slip under her radar.
"Dude, she's a visitation dog. She's totally allowed to be here, spreading love and affection to all wayward souls." Though he grinned, he took pity on Jude, and gave the mastiff's leash a gentle tug. Minnie settled for sitting beside the other teen's bed, resting her head on it so Jude could continue to scratch her behind the ears. Aaah, nothing quite like a good scritch. "I didn't see Grayson, no. Did he get it too?" Why on earth was Grayson involved?
Barnaby couldn't help but laugh at the mention of a cult, though he shouldn't have been surprised. Leather pants may have been a fashion statement in themselves, but the complete ensemble was more than a little weird. "And of course they let me in." He pointed emphatically to his name tag. "They'd be stupid not to. You ready to go?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 4:46 pm
Jude sometimes forgot Barnaby didn't know all the other Zodiac by name; he also sometimes forgot he barely remembered them all out-of-uniform. The last time he'd had reason to memorize them had been at Barren Pines, and he hadn't bothered counting the days since that nightmare had ended.
The laughter the name tag provoked caused a painful reminder of the injury to his side. "I might have gotten a little over zealous trying to cheer up some kids here. I'll miss them, but I am so ready to go."
Naturally, life wasn't having it. Yay life.
The door opened and Jude looked ready to flee out the window or hide in the closet. Any time that handle turned he had to think: What if it's Hero? He'd never been afraid of her before, and he wasn't now. Just... He wasn't ready to see her again yet.
Just because he wasn't afraid of her didn't mean he wasn't afraid.
Not only were the four people barging in not Hero, they weren't even girls. Green and blue eyes, purple and blue hair everywhere. Two looked enough like Jude to be pegged as his family, one looked a lot similar and the fourth could have been his twin rather than his older brother. They had to be in their early to late 20s, regardless of if they acted much, much younger.
"I'll be damned, he is in here!" the tallest exclaimed, accent heavy and obvious.
"Way to get yer a** beat, Jude!"
Jude just stared at them.
Ah, brotherly love.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 4:54 pm
"Right then, let's—"
He didn't get a chance to finish, as the door burst open and interrupted him. It almost felt like one of those dramatic moments in movies where everyone looks up at the door as though they're expecting the villain to come through. Thankfully, it wasn't Dracula or a werewolf or even a brigade of overenthusiastic fangirls. What it did appear to be, however, was a group of Lawsons.
Barnaby could only blink at the newcomers, brain registering that these people resembled Jude far too much for them to be anything but related to them. He had forgotten all about Jude's siblings. One of the downsides of not having any siblings of his own.
"You didn't tell me they were coming," he said out of the corner of his mouth.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 5:13 pm
Jude glanced at Barnaby in a way that was almost helpless. "I would have, but I didn't know either." He hadn't mentioned to anyone one of his brothers was in Destiny City for a few days, because he didn't see why anyone needed to know. Mark was supposed to have left the day he met up with Hero.
Sigh, Hero.
He hadn't left, obviously; he'd multiplied instead. "How did you guys know I was here?"
"They called yer job and the manager told 'em I was the emergency contact you listed. Who is this?" The man speaking was looking at Barnaby.
"Oh." Jude rubbed his temples. Larry couldn't have been happy with him considering he'd just quit, and then to get a phone call about it... "This is my best friend Barnaby." Lame as it felt to say, he had to specify and add 'best'. Where they came from, you tried to be friends with everyone. There was a big difference between having a friend and having a 'best friend'.
"Hm. Welp, good to meet ya." Mark smacked Barnaby across the back in with friendly intentions, though it may have been a bit too rough. "I'm Mark. These idiots are James, Hunter and Luke."
"Is everyone here?" Jude cut in.
"Nope. Robert was too busy makin' money and the folks are too busy with each other. Dunno much about April. Decided to follow somebody's footsteps and run off to get hitched. Anyhow, we ain't in town for too long, but we figured we could take off work for a little while to come see our other sister."
"There were two of them!"
Hunter burst into laughter. "Listen to him talkin' all smooth and proper!"
"Cause he's bagged himself a rich girl," James added with dramatized envy in his voice. Jude scowled.
"You guys are idiots."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 5:23 pm
Ah. Well. That certainly explained why Jude looked as surprised as he had when they'd burst in unexpectedly. Perhaps, like his friend, they were all so unskilled with telephones that they hadn't felt the need to call and let Jude know they were dropping in. To be completely honest, Barnaby wouldn't have put it past them. They were, after all, related to Jude.
He stood up a little taller when he was introduced as the bluenette's best friend, though it only seemed to make the back slap hurt just a little bit more. "Likewise." Mark, James, Hunter, Luke. Got it. The redhead he would be able to put a name to a face come tomorrow, but at least he was trying.
Barnaby remained silent through the rest of the exchange, stroking Minnie's head absently as his eyes moved between brothers. Their accent was… unexpected, to say the least. Or rather, it was only unexpected because he'd never heard Jude talk like that before. One would hope that growing up in the same household and in the same family, all the siblings would inherit the same accent. It would appear Jude had been working hard to get rid of his. This, of course, meant that Barnaby had all the more reason to tease him about it later.
He finally gave Jude a look out of the corner of his eye, raising and eyebrow and tipping his head every so slightly towards the door. It was mancode for "make a break for it?" Hopefully his friend would pick up on it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 5:33 pm
Jude understood Barnaby's mancode just fine. The problem was his brothers understood his, too, and none more so than Mark. Fortunately, there was a reason he'd called him out of his herd of brothers. For all the hassle he was giving him, they were the closest.
"You got somewhere to be?"
"Yeah." Jude slid out of the bed and rotated his sleeping arm. The damage was already mending itself. Being a Senshi wasn't all bad. "Me and Barnaby have some stuff we need to do." And he wasn't lying. Those kittens were still waiting for him. "Where are you guys staying?"
"Your place," Hunter answered. "Mark's got the other key. Looks like a damn tornado done tore the place apart, too. You get your a** beat in a robbery?"
Jude shook his head. "I'll explain it later." He wasn't going to. "Go ahead and wait for me there then. I'm going to check out and I'll meet you back there in an hour or so, alright?"
"Sure thing, Jude." Mark punched the nearest brother in the arm and shoved him toward the door. "Let's go."
When they were at long last gone (couldn't have been any sooner in his opinion), Jude led Barnaby down to where annoying paperwork and lectures awaited him. "I had no idea Mark stayed in town, or that he brought more of them with him. They probably all still work for our Dad, so they can just take off whenever they feel like it if he gives the okay."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 5:47 pm
Barnaby was, quite frankly, very happy to let Jude handle the business with his brothers. He simply leaned back against the wall and waited, pretending not to be interested in anything that was going on. There wasn't really much to listen to in terms of conversation. The brothers were going to Jude's place, and Jude was coming back with him to his. It looked like he had Jude for an hour, at most. Hopefully there was enough time in that hour to look at kittens and play some video games. Jude owed him a Smash Bros. rematch.
The redhead trailed after his friend down the stairs, Minnie hot at his heels. She seemed to know they were going home, and that only served to make her trot faster. Jude wasn't the only one who was anxious to have a look at the kittens.
"Guess they got wind that you got hurt," he replied conversationally as they walked. "Kind of nice of them to drop by."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 5:57 pm
"Thanks to this damn place, I guess they did. Wonder if they told them I'm in a cult, too." Jude almost wished Barnaby smoked just so he could steal one from him. Come to think of it, he should have asked Hunter for one. Lame. "I guess so. Mark's a good guy." He had nothing to say about the rest of them.
They took longer to get to the front desk because Jude insisted on taking a detour to Grayson's room. He was alone, which he was good. But he was also sleeping, which was not good.
"Oh, ******** me. I give up." Jude closed the door from the outside and motioned for Barnaby to follow him. "I need to talk to Grayson, but he has visitors all the time." The next thing he knew, he was signing his name to one too many papers, acting like he didn't plan to just shred any bill they sent him later and ignore any phone calls.
He was so tired of this place. If Leo ratted him out about that little bitty drowning problem before he could plot with him, so be it. At least he'd be free until then. "Alright, I'm done. Let's go see those kittens before they grow old and die."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 6:30 pm
The detour to Grayson's room was unexpected, but not unwelcome. He liked Grayson. The black-haired teen made good conversation and helped alleviate some of his boredom while at work. Not to mention the fact that he seemed to at least try to be friendly to everyone. It was a nice change. Pity that he wasn't awake.
Barnaby had to reel in Minnie Mouse before the mastiff got the idea that they should wake the sleeping patient. She clearly thought that if she wanted to see Grayson sleep be damned. Later, he'd reassured her, though he doubted that they'd be back in time for a visitation. He barely paid attention as Jude did the paperwork, hovering sort of half behind his friend until the bluenette was finished. Absently, he noticed that his name tag seemed to earn him a few strange looks, but he pretended not to notice. What better name for Jude's sidekick than Little John?
"Car's round back. C'mon goofy, keep up." The last bit was for his dog, who was watching a kid in a wheel chair go by with much the same expression the boy was giving her. Barnaby opened the door to the backseat to allow Minnie to jump in, letting Jude get settled in the passenger side before getting in and starting the car. The whole way home, the mastiff insisted on resting her head on the bluenette's shoulder, making sure to pant in his ear. It was a dog thing.
Once the car was parked the redhead fumbled with his keys and opened the front door. Naturally, Minnie bounded in first and went trotting downstairs like she owned the place. Barnaby paused long enough to kick off his shoes and shrug off his jacket. "Mum's at work, so don't worry about being quiet or anything. They're downstairs."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 6:58 pm
People didn't often see Jude Lawson around animals enough to know how much he adored them. The calico cat Barnaby had been watching for him had been his first pet in a long, long time, and for good reason; he was too irresponsible to tend to things when life got busy.
Life just... wasn't that busy anymore.
He'd worked, but otherwise, only the truck and the piece of s**t radio in the truck to were there to keep him company. Cat--or whatever Barnaby had decided to call her now--was all he'd had to occupy him not too long ago. It was easy to find time when you had so much of it to spare. A renewed dedication to responsibility wasn't to thank, that much was for sure.
"Alright." They were downstairs, so downstairs Jude went. Maybe when his brothers were gone, he'd take them all back to his place, now that he had one.
Mama cat was lounging around away from the squad of squealing kittens, and Jude did what he'd be expected to do: got the runt first. He was gentle and slow lifting the kitten, acting in a way Barnaby had never seen before; traced his thumb along the back and paws. "I think she should weigh more. Is she eating like the rest of them?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 4:05 pm
It almost seemed inappropriate to watch Jude with the kitten, like he was invading on some kind of private moment. Barnaby didn't like feeling awkward, but at the same time he couldn't stop himself from staring pointedly at the mother cat – now named Missy – instead of staring at Jude and the runt. Funny that he insisted on referring to the cat as a 'she' though. He hadn't known his friend had a way with animals.
At his question he finally looked away from Missy, though he didn't stop stroking her head. "I try and do whatever I can when I'm home, but I'm either at school or at work so...." He gave a small shrug. "She certainly seems feisty enough. If I could convince Minnie to make sure she got her fair share while I was out I'd do it, but so far she doesn't seem to understand." The redhead shot a look at the dog, who merely wagged her tail back at him.
"What d'you think? Did you think it was going to be five?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
