Curtis and Edgar, initial treatment and visiting hours

[simon_doctor]

It's been a rough day for Curtis and Edgar. Fortunately, the Milliways infirmary is definitely set up to handle hypothermia and exposure.

[Icon above notwithstanding, Simon Tam is not actually appearing in this thread.]

Comments

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen sobers. "I haven't seen him awake yet," she admits. "Hopefully he's as well off..."

[hate_gettin_older]

Lower: "Yeah."

A beat.

"That was you, in the ...?" Another attempt at a gesture, this one slightly stronger; he draws his fingers down over his face, as though shaping an invisible mask.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

It's the nadir of Vault manners to push a line of conversation into territory where you haven't been invited, especially when there's been a change of subject.

"Oh, yes," Ellen says. "That's a Chinese military Crimson Dragoon suit. It originally belonged to a soldier who was part of the invading forces in Alaska, two hundred years ago. They must've captured it when the Chinese were driven out of the state, because it was in a sealed armory when I found it."

(Well. The original was, but it got taken apart by aliens. This one was obtained through the Bar, some time thereafter. Ellen doesn't always remember; this is what happens with radiation-induced unconsciousness and other head traumas.)

"It was the only thing I had that was suitable for going into that kind of cold."

[hate_gettin_older]

The words Chinese and Alaska are vaguely familiar to him, the former as a language and the latter as obsolete hyperbole for someplace cold; he doesn't know, or care, much about invading forces.

"Glad you had it, then." Another small smile. "Thanks."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"You're welcome," says Ellen. "You're not the first person I've had to track in hostile conditions."

Pause.

"Although you are the first I've had to track at Milliways. This place gets weird outside."

[hate_gettin_older]

A faint wheeze of near-silent laughter. "You mean besides the huge fuckin blizzard out of nowhere?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Well, the mountains only have one side," Ellen says. "Seriously. A friend of mine tried to climb over them and as soon as he got up to the point where he could see down the far side, he was looking at the back of the Bar. There's also a really huge thing with tentacles in the lake, but I'm not sure if that's normal or not."

[hate_gettin_older]

Edgar's face says: whaaaaaat.

Until she gets to the last sentence, and he brightens a little. "Right, yeah, the giant squid. We're old pals, X introduced us."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Is that what that thing is?" Ellen says. "Like in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea? Wow. I had no idea. I've just been avoiding the lake unless my cow needs water."

[hate_gettin_older]

"That's what X told us."

A pause. "And when I say old pals and introduced, I mean she pointed at it and told us its name and it didn't try to eat us."

:D?

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"It still counts," Ellen says. "I forget, did I ever introduce you to my cow? Shiphrah and Puah?"

[hate_gettin_older]

"Don't think so," he says, with a slightly puzzled frown. "Is that one cow or t -- oh wait, is it that two-headed cow in the stables?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Yes, that's her," Ellen says. "I tend to use one name for each head- all the cattle are born like that back home. We don't really have working vehicles at the moment, so I taught her to carry a rider, which is why she stays in the stables here. I'm afraid she's probably the most unusual animal I really know, so you and the squid have me beaten, I think."

[hate_gettin_older]

"Oh, well, we can fix that." Maybe just a touch smugly. "Once I'm back on my feet, I'll take you to meet Nitwit."