All Up In His Grill [video]

[parannoyed]

[Important intel on he and Dave's attacker has been shared, important theories have been theorized. And after Wash rested and then nearly collapsed in pain the few times today he tried to move (to get a little healthy movement going to keep the swelling down or go to the bathroom instead of dealing with the indignity of using a bedpan), Wash has been forced to take on a slightly higher dosage of pain killers, alongside being given a little alien tech device on his temple to help manage it.]

[Now after sleeping most of the day, he's awake. And loopy from the combination of tech and pain killers.]

[He's managed to get his comm on and in float mode.]

[And now he's whispering to it.]

Hey. Hi. Hey little buddy, wake up. So I can say hi to other...buddies.

[Special K, the nurse who's a better doctor than Dr. Glotfelty, is teaching a newer nurse and she smiles when she sees Wash whispering to his comm. She urges the timid-looking student nurse closer. "Don't worry, Judy. Only like two percent of the big scarred tough-looking guys on the rig are Plankers. The others like Wash here melt like buttah the second you're a tiny bit nice to them. Like buttah. Don't they, Washing Machine?"]

[Wash gasps dramatically and flings out a hand for a high five.]

It's my favorite nurse. Up top! Hit your hand on my hand. Hit my hand! Do it!

["He likes high fiving a lot when he's juiced." Special K's smile is sweet and genuine as she gives him a little high five. Then she adjusts his bed to help him sit up better. His torso is a scarred mess in the places where the bandages don't cover.]

Special K. Hey. Hey. Heeeey.

["Heey. I'm here, Wash, what do you need?"]

Hey. Can I have an extra pudding?

["What are the magic words?" she asks.]

Nurses are underpaid and undervalued.

["See why I like this one?" Special K asks the student nurse, as she gets a pudding out of a nearby fridge and a spoon, and opens it for him. "Looks like only chocolate right now, Washing Machine."]

That's fiiiine. It's all good in the hospital hood. I am unto the chocolate like the...the Mayans who were all about the - the chocolate.

["Alright, have your treat, I'll see if we can get you some late lunch since you slept through breakfast, okay? And then we're taking a crack at changing your bandages and your surgical drain."]

[Wash breathes out a low whisper.] Noooo.

[Special K whispers back, "Yeeeesss.">]

[Wash whispers back.] Nooooooooo.

["You've got a half hour of whispering to your friends on your little buddy, okay?" Special K says, with a sisterly tousling of Wash's hair. He leans into it despite himself, clearly grateful for the basic kindness from someone.]

[Wash is still whispering.] Fiiiiine.

[He turns to his comm, eating his pudding.]

Heyooo.

The nurses are so nice here. But you know, I've been in sooo many Medbays and they're usually kind of nice? Nicer? Than other...people. They were even almost nice in the Medbay in prison and nobody was really nice there.

[There are a few secrets, a few things locked up in the vault of his mind even while high as a kite, but he's definitely a little more loose lipped than usual.]

Hey. Hey, can you guys - can you see these guys floating around? [Wash swats at the air with his spoon.]

["What guys, Wash?" asks Special K.]

There's shadow people in the air, like...floating?

["Mild hallucinations are sometimes a side effect at your dose of morphine and the setting on the cortical stimulator," Special K says, showing something to Judy on his chart. "What are the shadow people doing, bud?"]

They're just like...all up in my grill. [Wash turns to the comm, to the rest of his rigmates, his voice filled with mild outrage.] Are you guys - are you guys seeing this? Rude.

Comments

Re: action;

[heterochrocatic]

Yeah I just got gassed and nearly had my head cracked open like an egg. Lucky me.

p She rolls her eyes at his gesture, but smiles. ]

Getting there. My throat still hurts like hell.

[parannoyed]

Tooouche!

[Wash points at her with a finger.]

That's not fun either. None of that was fun. That was anti-fun.

It's at least reassuring how people are treating it here. They just...went for trying to find her. They didn't manage to yet but it's nice they care enough to try that hard.

Maybe we'll get lucky and take her down before any of us gets killed.

[heterochrocatic]

Well. Hopefully they find her before she decides to come give us a follow-up visit.

[ Ugh. ]

[parannoyed]

[Wash holds a hand to the cut his face, held together with butterfly bandages and surgical glue.]

Yeah, I would like to not get uglier! And also like to not get anymore unnecessary ventilation in my skin.

I am very thoroughly venilit - ventilin - ventilated. Already.

[He waves a hand.]

I'm trying not to worry about that right now. They have guards on us at least.

[He takes in a deep breath and lets it out.]

In the meantime, if you get bored, feel free to scoot over and we can play checkers or something. I'm gonna see if North will bring me something.

Because I don't know about you but I haaaaate staying still for this long.

[heterochrocatic]

[ Catra lets out a low, unhappy sound. ]

I think I'm gonna pass on the checkers or whatever.

[ Staying still does indeed suck, but she's not about to admit that to anyone. ]

I just want to get better and get out of this place.

[parannoyed]

Don't worry, you'll probably be out of here sooner than I will.

[He gestures to his heavily bandaged torso.]

[Then he gestures vaguely at his throat.]

You might want to ask if someone in the cafeteria will make you some herbal tea with honey and lemon. The gardens have lemon trees and bee hives, so they probably have what they need. It's good for a sore throat.

[He suddenly winces as he gets a flash of sitting, pale and shaking, in a hospital bed, neck bandaged, as someone too blurry to see presses a cup of hot tea into his hands and someone else helps him sit up so they they adjust his hospital bed.]

[It's not the first flash of...something he's had while recovering. Apparently, his last time in a hospital left enough of an impression he keeps uncomfortably flashing back to it.]

[Not all of it is bad. It passes quickly.]

[heterochrocatic]

[ Catra watches him with a vague, detached sort of gaze. He's trying to be nice--and Catra isn't sure how she feels about it. She wants to push at it, shove him back. Every time someone tries to get friendly it's another chance for them to shove a knife into her back. Why should she trust them? ]

Yeah, tea, just what I need. That'll mend the cracked skull real quick.

[ Sarcasm, witticisms, jokes. A line of defense that's perhaps less cruel than simply telling people to fuck off, but it's still a defense. It feels better than just agreeing. ]

[parannoyed]

[He shakes his head.]

Can't recommend anything for that part. Or I'd be less concussed myself. Jus' good for a sore throat.

[He winces again and goes for the little clicker that ups his morphine.]

I've been in and out, or just blitzed out of my mind. Do you, uh, do you happen to know if they upped the number of guards? If they have more outside the Infirmary than they did?

[He fumbles a bit with his comm but now he's a little too out of it to ask anyone, yay drugs. He's not exactly thinking clearly and prioritizing things well.]

[heterochrocatic]

I haven't noticed. I just got coherent last few hours.

[ Catra's reply is honest, if a bit sullen. ]

I wasn't really counting the number of guys outside when Adora dragged me in here half-dead.

[parannoyed]

[A slight smile.]

Whaaat you mean you can't do a whole tactical assessment while bleeding and barely conscious?

[Yeah, he was in the same boat. He gets it.]

Sorry, stupid question, I'm just -

[He winces again.]

I don't want to fall asleep because I'm half expecting a knife in the dark. Her breaking in. Or sneaking in.

[He drags his hand down his face.]

[He hates how vulnerable he feels.]

[heterochrocatic]

Yeah. I get it.

[ It's not quite the same as admitting she feels the same way, because she does. But saying that would make her feel too weak. Too vulnerable. So she just says she gets it, instead. ]

She-Ra's out there so we're probably going to be okay.

[ Weirdly, knowing that her friend is out there ready to throw down at a moment's notice as a goddess of light and justice helps Catra feel safe enough to sleep. That and the drugs. ]

[parannoyed]

[Wash carefully schools his expression because he'd been too out of it to catch all of a certain conversation but...]

I know what you mean. North's been in and out a lot and it's reassuring when he's around.

[A pause as he realizes the insinuation he accidentally just made.]

Not that he and I are - uh. He's - he's my friend.

[Just a friend. He'll refuse to elaborate because he doesn't want to call attention to anything he might have half-overheard while in a state of drugged out delirium.]

They always ranked him higher than me.

[heterochrocatic]

What else would he be?

[ Catra stares at Wash, apparently not having picked up the insinuation. That or she chooses to ignore it because it's fun to watch Wash squirm around and say 'but not like that.' That last thing pries open a crack in her grumpy armor, though. ]

Yeah. They always rated her higher, too.

[ But only because she was higher. She's so hiiiiIIiIIiIgh, high above meeeeee~ ♪ ]