Can Fix!

[bashfulshifter]

Characters: Rick, Waver, anyone else from the clear fluid research team and the Lancer Brigade.
Setting: September 16th, night, Floor 27 (laboratory)
Format: Should probably stick to action-spam on this one, but can match!
Summary: Rick decides that he's going to "help" his team by making sure that nobody stays in the lab after dark and gets killed again. Surprise, surprise, he falls asleep and ends up by himself with the beasties to keep him company.
Warnings: No character death in this one (hopefully), but there will likely be violence and injury and monsters 'n junk. You know, the standard Tower fare.

[It took more than a week of planning, lingering, and mental speeches for Rick to get up the nerve to finally try this. But it was necessary, he'd convinced himself--Edgeworth had died and Diarmuid was scarce, probably beating himself up over something that wasn't his fault, and Waver certainly wasn't in the best mood either, because he hadn't done a good enough job checking in on his teammates before retiring for the evening, making sure that they went somewhere safe before the unpleasant creatures of the night found them first...obviously this was something Rick could have prevented.]

[Well tonight he would not be so negligent! He'd park himself in a chair after dinner and wait until some hours after dark, just in case Waver sneaked in to take some last-minute measurements and lost track of time, or the like, and he'd make sure they all left with him, and he'd clean the place up and close the doors. There would be no mess, no deaths, no more pointless suffering and misery. Everything was going to go according to plan.]

[Things were going well enough when he arrived in the evening to the empty room and busied himself with cleaning used equipment. They were still going well when he sat down to copy and organize the newest batch of notes.]

[Still going well at the first yawn. Only a couple hours in--he really needed to get used to staying up this late. Still fine thirty minutes later when he began to nod off. Still fine...]

[...The lights are still on when he wakes up--it makes it difficult to tell what time it is, or how long he's been sleeping. All Rick knows is that he's been startled awake by some noise, a scuffling in what he expected to be an empty room. Did someone sneak in when he wasn't looking?]

...H-Hello?

Comments

[puppy_lancer]

You know, magic. Same thing I used to burn up the orcs with.

[bashfulshifter]

R-Right...m-m-magic. [Yeah that doesn't quite resonate with him--except that Lancer's used it before, specifically, lots of fire.]

[He frowns, rather concerned.] ...W-Will it...h-hurt?

[puppy_lancer]

...It'll tingle and you'll feel hot.

[He finds it an annoyance, but it's an annoyance people are usually willing to go through to stop from bleeding to death.]

[bashfulshifter]

[...That sounds bearable. Rick nods, squeezes his eyes shut and braces himself, regardless of if Lancer actually plans on using the runes on him immediately.]

[puppy_lancer]

[Lancer quickly scribbles healing runes above Rick's wounds. There will be a cracking noise, and maybe some smoke. And Rick will feel a burning sensation on the wound, which soon passes. The wound should be healed up.]

[bashfulshifter]

[It's just about as bad as he expected--like Lancer's taken a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and poured it on the gash under his arm. Rick gasps and flinches away from him, but all pain save some lingering soreness evaporates quickly thereafter.]

[Feeling brave, Rick cranes his neck to get a better look at his side. He blinks, baffled, and passes the expression to Lancer.]

...Huh. [His mouth curls into a funny grin. That was pretty cool, not gonna lie.] ...Th--Thanks! I...w-wow.

[puppy_lancer]

Told you it was quick.

[He grins, and then yawns. Since the battle, he had been using prana non-stop. And now, he was feeling the side effects.]

[bashfulshifter]

[Rick's in the middle of deliberating whether or not he should keep his blood-soaked shirt on when he catches that yawn.]

...H-Have you s-s-slept at all?

[puppy_lancer]

Huh? Me? I don't need to sleep much.

[He brushes off Rick's question.]

[bashfulshifter]

[The answer to Rick's last conflict appears to be taking the shirt off. He keeps it close by his pillow; it's not ripped or anything, so it's salvageable. Even if it weren't, Sertoria gave it to him, so there's no way he would part with it because of a few tears and some bloodstains.]

Y-You sure? I m-mean, I'm a-a-awake, I can k-keep w-watch for a bit.

[Okay, maybe he's still a little groggy from blood-loss. Minor details though.]

[puppy_lancer]

Nah, I'm fine.

[However, as soon as he's done talking, he yawns again.]

I gotta...go pick up my bro and Waver too.

[bashfulshifter]

W-Wait, but--

[That expression Rick had earlier--you know, the wibbly one--returns, though in more subdued tones.]

...Y-You're l-l-leaving?

[puppy_lancer]

Not right now. I'll wait a bit.

[bashfulshifter]

[He once again seems very relieved to hear this. The idea of being stuck down here, tired and alone, makes Rick incredibly anxious.]

...Then y-you m-might as well r-rest w-while you're h-here, yeah?

[puppy_lancer]

[He shakes his head.]

I can't rest. Not without knowing my brother is alright.

[bashfulshifter]

[...Now he can't argue with that. Rick breaks eye-contact with him, defeated but accepting of his loss. He understands.]

...I w-won't hold you b-back.

[puppy_lancer]

Don't worry. I'm not going now. I'll stay here and watch you for a while. Long enough for them to get down the stairs on their own. And if they aren't here, I'll hurry up and check what's wrong.

[Lancer stares at Rick. When he says he's going to watch him, he really meant it.]

*Slips in here.* Speaking of a certain brother... (I hope this is okay!)

[oathshackledbird]

[The plan had been to go to the nearest floor with an elevator once they had hidden everything, but after Waver had fallen asleep in Diarmuid's arms--and once Diarmuid had stopped smiling at him gently--instead of taking the elevator, Diarmuid had just made his way to the stairs and run down them. That last bit of healing Waver had done really had made him feel better, and so Diarmuid had seen no reason not to go that way since it would save time.

Fortunately, he had run into no monsters on the way down and so there had been nothing to wake Waver on the trip. Soon enough, he arrives at the infirmary and is relieved when he sees his brother and Rick are both there and looking well.

He doesn't stop to think that the fact he's carrying what looks to be an unconscious Waver might look a little...suspicious to them.]

[bashfulshifter]

[Oh good, they made it. Rick immediately tries to straighten up so he can see and greet them, but his tired muscles scream in protest and he falters in a half-sit, craning his neck to make up for the distance. He's not going to be moving around for the next couple of days, he can already tell.]

[Not that he's willing to concern himself with this at the moment--not after he sees Waver.]

--I-Is he--?

[oathshackledbird]

He's just sleeping. Don't worry.

[The words are said in a soft voice to avoid waking Waver. Diarmuid very carefully settles Waver into an empty bed, pausing to lightly stroke the man's hair, before joining his brother near Rick's bed.]

He caught me by surprise and got some more healing in on my wound. It pretty much tapped him out. I almost just took him back to his room, but I knew I wouldn't want to leave him and you would worry if we didn't show up here. How are things going?

[puppy_lancer]

[If Diarmuid hadn't given his reassurances, then Lancer would have rushed over to check if his brother was alright. Right now, he just sits back and grins.]

We're fine. Got this guy healed up.

[And he yawns again.]

[bashfulshifter]

Y-Yeah...I'm...g-glad e-e-everyone's okay.

[Rick is sufficiently relieved. He carefully lowers himself onto his back and settles more comfortably into his bed.]

...Sleeping, huh? That s-s-sounds like a g-good idea.

[oathshackledbird]

Not here. There are still monsters wandering around. We need to get you back to your room before you sleep.

[As he speaks, Diarmuid dematerializes the top of his armor so that he can look at what is left of his wound. He doesn't stop to think about what he's doing or how either of the other people in the room might react to his scars--the jagged one across his stomach and the disturbingly round one over his heart and the identical round one directly behind his heart on his back--because he is more interested in seeing if his wound needs any more care.

Once he clears away some of the blood, he raises an impressed eyebrow. Waver's quick burst of healing had closed the wound completely. He can still see a mark which will likely form a light scar, but will require no stitches.]

He's better than he gives himself credit for...

[puppy_lancer]

Yeah, he is. You're completely healed up.

[Lancer makes no comment about the scars. He had seen them before, back after their first deaths, when they had gone to the sauna together.]

So, I guess I'm carrying Rick again and you're carrying Waver? I'll see you in our room after I get him tucked in, alright?

[bashfulshifter]

[Rick looks between the shirtless Diarmuid--whose scars are troubling, but not the immediate cause of his duress and, thus, not important--and back to Lancer, gathering up his bloody rags with minimal protest.]

...I m-mean...we c-can just...t-t-take the e-elevator this t-time, right?

[They're all okay, no one's bleeding or about to pass out. They can handle going down one flight to catch the elevator up, can't they?]