WHUMP-A-PALOOZA!

COSMIC SERVICE - AEGIS

Glen hailed Aegis after two days worldside. It wasn’t good news. “Slipper’s sick.”

“It’s a certain prognosis,” Slipper said flatly. “I will be fine. But I am –“ Slipper’s words suddenly failed him. A hiss rattled in his throat, and his frills were twitching.

Blare’s voice came quick, anxious. “Hello? Are you there?”

Brando is the one who broke the silence first, but only after he was certain that they were safe. He sighed and pressed his head to rock. “I know this is going to be funny later. We’re going to laugh about being chased by rodents, because it’s very funny.” Brando’s voice rose, a little hysterical. “But that was terrifying, right?”

Tabby laughed. Glen managed a giddy chuckle. Tabby gestured to Glen’s leg. “You okay?”

During the pursuit, Glen had fallen, slipping on a loose stone. He barely managed to scramble back to running before a rodent swarm reached him. He had to kick two away from his ankles.

“Fine,” Glen said. “One of them nipped my pants, but it didn’t go through.”

“Thanks be.”

COSMIC SERVICE - AEGIS

Slipper didn’t eat lunch yesterday. Nor dinner, and now breakfast. Glen caught up with the physician before the first mission of the day.

“I’d like to say something,” he said, circling to stand in front of Slipper. “You do not need to go on this mission. You look a little…” Slipper turned his head expectantly, and Glen couldn’t find a word to complete the thought. “Are you okay?” he asked instead.

“I am well.”

“Is that your professional diagnosis?”

“Don’t concern yourself with matters of health,” Slipper rasped. “That’s my role.”

Glen dropped his head, grinning. “Right, sorry. Professionally, we’re clear. However, friend to friend: I’ll never stop worrying about you. This time I’m asking as your friend: are you okay?”

Slipper’s frills lifted, ever so slightly. His nostril twitched.

COSMIC SERVICE - AEGIS

Tabby had a question for Glen, so she went to the engine heart. There, she found him in the middle of the floor, flat on his back. She rushed to his side, calling his name.

Glen didn’t look up, but he hummed to acknowledge Tabby’s arrival. Tabby took in his state, recognizing one of his vertigo spells from his atmospheric sensitivity. “Ah, damn it,” she sighed. “How long have you been like this?”

Glen gave a drowsy grin. “Twelve years. Give or take.”

“Today, Chuck.” Tabby rolled her eyes and sat beside him. “When did it start, today?”

Glen hummed. “Ah. Yesterday,” he admitted. Tabby stiffened, and Glen quickly added, “After dinner. Slipper…” He sucked in a breath, his eyes losing the little focus they’d procured. “Whoa. Just…give me a second.”

Tabby tried not to tighten her grip on Glen’s shoulder. She watched him take steady breaths, and slowly come back to himself. “You okay?” she finally asked.

“Yeah.” But Glen didn’t open his eyes. He cleared his throat, then continued explaining, “I went to Slipper’s after dinner. Spent the night in his cabin. Thought I’d be okay today, after sleeping sixteen hours.”

“Yeah?” Tabby raised her eyebrows. “What did Slipper think? You know, the physician?”

“I’m worried about you.” Percie let the words hover. “You were possessed. You came back with less memories than you had before. And now - now you’ve got a busted head, and you’re having these…night terrors. I’m really worried about what happening, and how you’re doing.”

Tommy’s hands had curled into fists, tighter with every word his partner said. “I know," he said, finally. His voice hardly sounded like his own, so clipped and flat. "Thank you – thanks. For caring. I’m – I’m okay. I’ll be okay.”

“You’re shaking. Please, let me help.”

“I don’t know how.”

COSMIC SERVICE - AEGIS

Everything was normal. There was nothing different about that dinner.

But Glen pulled Blare aside after the meal, looking grim. “That worldside mission tomorrow. It’s you and Slipper?”

“That’s right.”

“Is it anything sensitive to his skills as a physician?”

Blare furrowed her brow. “Not particularly. It’s just an exchange with a local courier. Why?”

“Take me instead.”

“What?” Blare frowned. “Glen, where is this coming from?”

Glen’s eyes drifted down. He shook his head at the floor before looking back up at Blare. “Something’s up with Slipper. I don’t know what it is, but ever since we got the coordinates, something’s been eating at him.”

Blare reflected on the dinner. She thought back of Slipper’s behavior when she assigned the mission that morning. She thought about every interaction she’d had with the physician that day. She came up with…memories of clipped words, flat affect, still features.

What could Glen have possibly picked up on?

Glen leaned in. “He’s not going to say anything, and he’ll go since you asked him. But if you decide you’re taking me instead, he isn’t going to contest it.”

Blare knew that her engineer and physician were close. She knew that Glen and Slipper had formed a quiet bond behind that shared by the whole crew. She knew that Slipper was always looking out for Glen, but she hadn’t realized how much Glen had looked out for Slipper.

COSMIC SERVICE - AEGIS

“Watch out!”

The warning came in tandem with a blow to the head. Brando staggered to the side, hand flying up to the stricken spot, before he crumpled to the floor.

Even though Brando had gone still, everything kept spinning for a few perilous moments. Brando focused on breathing and staying upright on the floor. He blinked through a few moments of black, white, and spiraling stars.

When he had his vision back, he noticed a lone playing ball, rolling away from him. “Son of a…”  Brando pulled his hand away from his hair, checking for blood, but didn’t find any. He placed his hand back onto his head, checking again, but all he found was a rising lump.

“I told you to watch out.” A shadow fell over Brando, and he looked up at Tabby. She had her lip curled in a grimace. “Catch it with your hands next time.”

useless as wounded pride (and much more painful) - Chapter 3

Preview:

Under the moon’s glow, shadows stretched taller than the trees they mimicked. Moonlight has a way of exaggerating, Arthur thought. He hoped that it was exaggerating how pale Merlin had gotten.

In the coldest hours of night, Merlin blinked awake, mumbling the last of his sleep-talk. As he came to, fever-glazed eyes darted around in a panic, trying to place his surroundings. He grimaced in pain when he tried to lift his head.

Arthur grabbed a waterskin and knelt by Merlin’s side. “Here,” he said. “Drink.”

Merlin shuddered. “…Where…?” he murmured, eyes fixed on nothing.

Arthur said, “Just the woods. Drink, Merlin.”