[FIN] Concerned Cookies

[caffeinecraving]

Kailee claimed them as friends now. All of them. Anyone she had to be with on this mission. They were her people. The ones that she had to care about and keep alive. Four of them were in critical condition, looks like she did a piss poor job. So she was making sure to swing by every day after the raid. She was cleared to sleep in her own bed that night. She needed stitches on her cheek but that was the worst of it.

So while she wasnt allowed to visit them directly for the first few days after they had been declared that they would survive. So she dropped off flowers. So she spent most of her time working in the lab. She had turned over the samples and they were slowly piecing through it, strand by strand. So far nothing. But she was holding out high hopes.

When she showed up today and asked about the 4 people still in the hospital, she was told she could go see them. She hesitated and then nodded making her way back. She had made wigglytuff cookies to drop off today. She was told that they wouldnt be able to eat them but she insisted on bringing them anyway. She peeked around the corner to the first of the four beds. It was Agent Aulus. Yep she could still see him sprawled out against the snow. She could remember scrubbing and scrubbing her hands trying to get his blood off them. She settled into a chair and smiled down to Torite and kinda pulled her feet up. "Hows he doing today?" The wigglytuff cookies were on a small plate that she set down on the side tables with the flowers. She wasnt going to wake him up but she would wait a few moments and see if he would wake up on his own. She smiled to the Absol gently offered her hand to the pokemon. She didn't know if Tortie would want a sympathetic pet especially from her.

 

[TawnyAngel]

Tortie was both bored and miserable which was not a fun combination. She wanted to get out, stretch her legs, hunt in the woods but she couldn't bring herself to leave save when the humans forced her to. This was where she belonged, where she always belonged.

The visitor, when she arrived, was greeted with a baleful dark-eyed glare but the Absol didn't move from where she lay on the floor beside the narrow bed. For some reason the human had brought food with her, perhaps she was here on a food break? she asked sarcastically, turning her head away from the proffered hand with a half-hearted show of teeth.

Aulus did not look good at all.

His usually healthy tan complexion was sickeningly pallid save for a discolored bruise on the right side and his features were sunken. The hair on the right side of his head had been shaved off and there were staples in the bared scalp, holding a wound together. Tubes going into his nose presumably supplied oxygen and another tube, an IV line, ran into the back of his left hand. As for his right arm, that was covered in bandaging and bits of metal which were attempting to hold the bones of the badly damaged limb back in the right places. A machine beside the bed monitored his pulse rate and blood pressure via electrodes on his chest and a clip on the middle finger of his left hand.

He was however breathing steadily which was perhaps something to be grateful for after how the mission had ended.  

[caffeinecraving]

She smiled as the absol turned away. "Yeah...your right... stupid question." She glanced to Aulus again looking concerned. He would be alright... no one had died. But the fact that all these people were in here in critical condition, Just gave her the drive to make those fur samples work. If they got another legendary out of it... wouldnt that mean that this was worth it?

She smiled to Tortie. "Would you like a cookie? They told me Aulus," She paused. He wasnt awake right... so he couldnt hear her slip so she didnt fix it. "wouldnt be able to eat them... But its the thought that counts... Im sure of it..." She reached up and got one of the frosted sugar cookies and held it out. It was partially burnt but it was still tasty... she had tried them.

She wondered briefly if Aulus would have a problem with her feeding his prized pokemon cookies...

 

[TawnyAngel]

Tortie sniffed that cookie suspiciously and found that, much to her disgust, it smelled rather good. she replied, taking the treat carefully in her teeth and settling back down to crunch on it. It was good, the sort of thing they didn't get all that often these days. For a brief window in between her friend recovering from his last mishap and him signing up for this mishap they had once more because Alex was back; video games and movies gave Aulus an excuse to eat snacks he usually denied himself and if he was having a treat he made sure they all got something good too....

Tortie finished the cookie, licked the crumbs off her paws and sat up again. With her shoulders hunched she studied the wiggly green lines and numbers on the monitor. she asked, turning then to Kailee with a glare. She knew that it wasn't the girl's fault but that didn't mean she cared that it wasn't her fault.

_________

Somebody was telling him something... it was something important but he couldn't quite grasp it.

The fingers of Aulus' left hand flexed slightly and a frown flickered across his still face.  

[caffeinecraving]

She smiled as the cookie was taken and then munched on. "See... tasty..." She settled back and reached to get another. She nibbled on the ear of the cookie falling into a bit of a silence. She saw the look and the glare and she frowned. She thought she could piece that one together and she frowned. "Good question..." She frowned sadly and looked to the flowers by Aulus' bed. "I ask myself that all the time... why would a grunt on her first mission get away with nothing but 3 stitches and four others were hurt so bad we were worried they wouldnt make it for a while." She looked over Aulus and then back to Tortie. "I have decided its because im a chicken... " She gave tortie a sad look and then looked down back to the partially eaten cookie her appetite waning. She offered it to the absol. "I ran when they said run... Aulus," Again she went unchecked. "wanted to make sure they all got out... So he was waiting... And he took the time to make sure you and paul were safe in your pokeballs" She shrugged. No matter how much Aulus scowled at her...he was a good guy... And she now considered him a friend... Maybe not like her closest girl pals back home... but a friend none the less. She saw the fingers move. Oh! was he waking up. "He moved..." She smiled and kept her feet tucked under her getting quiet as she watched him thinking he may wake up completely.

 

[TawnyAngel]

Tortie huffed re: chickens. The slight movement from beside her however quickly distracted her from sneering at Kailee; the Absol let out a little keening noise and licked her trainer's hand. She had been told he'd been awake before but she hadn't been around at the time.


"Uh." The frown deepened and the pale man shifted minutely, mumbling a vague denial under his breath. Somebody was asking questions, and-

"No," he muttered a little more intelligibility a moment later. "No.... No."

His hand was wet... was she pouring water on him to wake him? He didn't want to, was never good to wake up, and everything hurt even more than usual....

Something was licking him.

Aulus' eyes flickered open.  

[caffeinecraving]

Kailee heard the huff and took it that Tortie agreed. Which did nothing to lessen the guilt she felt. She should have rushed them... made sure they got out... Pushed them... Just because they out ranked her meant nothing... Death was a great equalizer.. it didnt discriminate.

She smiled seeing Tortie look slightly happy...maybe happy wasnt the word. Excited or something? She frowned. No? "Au-Agent?" She contemplated going for the nurse. If he went into a fit he could do serious damage to himself.

And then his eyes opened so she relaxed slightly leaning back in her chair, half hiding, pretty sure he was going to tell her to get lost. He was so much easier to argue with in her mind. She had run through visiting him a multitude of times. She said it was her right to see that he was ok... and that in the end she would be happier knowing he was getting better... so it was actually selfish. But all her arguments went out the window now that she was facing the possibility he would tell her to leave. She waited for him to greet Tortie.. afterall the absol had been her much longer... and would probably be a much more welcome face.

She smiled though. "Hi..." Her voice was quiet so not to spook him.

 

[TawnyAngel]

Tortie gave a little whine and dropped her chin down onto the bed, nosing lightly at her human friend's arm. This was worse than last time and last time had not been good.

__________________

Tortie was licking him.

Aulus twined his fingers into her mane, it seemed to take a lot of effort to make them move. Everything hurt, his right arm especially, and there was a faint ringing in his ears and....

The train of thought faded out as he struggled to process his surroundings. Hospital? Tortie. Also there was a voice. Turning his head slightly Aulus blinked in an unfocused manner. Blond, tan skin, out of focus but he didn't know many people with that colouration and that was... strange. Aulus' brow wrinkled in confusion. "Val?" he asked, his voice coming out hoarse and weak. "Wha...what happened? 'n what're you doing here? Las'person I'd 'spect."  

[caffeinecraving]

She smiled at the two a moment. There was just something precious about the love a pokemon could give. She had a feeling if she was in that bed... only one of her pokemon would really Want to be there... and Brimstone was too big. Sissy... Sissy probably wouldnt even care.

Kailee shook her head at his guess. She had no clue who Val was or anything along those lines. "Its Kailee... you are in the hospital... After the mission... the airship... it blew up... You.. Lex... Tambrey... and Hayes... Were are terribly injured..." She bit a lip gloss shining lip. She didnt move afraid a moment he would be angry... after all... he was hurt because he was trying to make sure everyone else was safe...

 

[TawnyAngel]

Memories flashed though his mind like lightning: echoing footsteps, corpses piled high and stinking, the chair, the chair, and that mad laughter and-

"Alex!" Panic struck him like a club to the stomach and he tried to push himself upright but his right arm would move at all and his left was weak, leaving him wild-eyed, heart racing, struggling to even get his elbow under himself. Alex and Tam were hurt, needed him, he had to find them!  

[caffeinecraving]

Well... That was stupid to tell him... she should have just let him pretend a little longer. She could have been this Val person... After all... he was on so much codine that he probably wouldn't remember this anyway. As he lunged. She jumped and moved quickly. Gently pressing his shoulders back. "Shhh... you are going to wake him up!" Her voice was an urgent whisper. The elite was in the bed directly on the other side of the screen to Aulus' right. Tambrey one bed farther from that. "Please sir... calm down... " She removed her hands and moved to gently pull the curtain back so he would be able to see hayes' sleeping self a moment before she closed it again. "They will all recover."

She gave the absol a concerned look. So much help she did. She moved to make sure he was settling. If not she would have to call a nurse.

 

[TawnyAngel]

The look Tortie gave Kailee could have melted a fair portion of Antarctica's ice within the space of thirty seconds. Growling deep in her chest she nipped lightly at her trainer's hand, trying to distract him from his panic.

Under normal circumstances Aulus could quite easily have inverted Kailee against the nearest wall. These were not normal circumstances, and he wasn't even strong enough to resist the gentle pressure of her hands on his shoulders. Slumping back down he twisted his head to try to see where Alex was, his breath coming in ragged gasps that danced on the edge of being dry sobs. "No, no it was supposed to be different. I said. I said it would be. I said I'd keep him safe this time." He couldn't see well from where he was - couldn't focus well at all really - but he had seen Alex for a moment, lying quiet and still.

Aulus knotted his fingers in Tortie's mane again and squeezed his eyes shut as agony seared through his body, his arm! He'd promised, he'd promised but he had failed again and he'd failed Tam too. He'd promised them. He'd failed them.  

[caffeinecraving]

Oh... that look didn't bode well. She thought she had been winning the absol over... Cookies could do that sometimes... but apparently the cookies were now forgotten.

Kailee didn't deny that. Mind you she could take care of herself in a fight... but Aulus was much stronger then her on a normal day... but one arm down and weak and battered. Gentle insistence was all that seemed to be needed.

She frowned trying to reassure him. "Au-Agent Aulus... You couldnt have done anything different... it was just bad luck..." And bravery on his end. Apparently being a chicken paid off. Thinking Aulus was done trying to move she moved to ask a nurse for some water for him and to let them know he had had a moment. The woman looked at him and then went to make notes.

Kailee moved back to sit again. "They are both here... and both alive... " Wasn't that all that he said he would do... keep them safe... they were safe now... hooked to machines and drugged with medicine.

 

[TawnyAngel]

Couldn't he? He could have made them run faster, shoved them on harder when they hesitated. He could have stayed in the control room and dealt with the madman when he came in. There were a lot of things he could have done differently but he hadn't and now Alex and Tam were hurt.

When Kailee returned Aulus had quietened but his pulse was still a little elevated, as evidenced by the machine beside his bed and his fingers remained tangled into Tortie's mane.

Tortie gave Kailee another baleful glare.

"Yeah," Aulus replied vaguely. Alive was good. Alive could get better... could also get worse but he didn't want to think about that. "And... and what about Char? Phaethon?... I was with Phaethon." Pokemon were a lot tougher than humans but he was still worried. Tortie would have given some sign if either of them weren't okay though, right?  

[caffeinecraving]

One thing that Kailee knew for sure was that the only actions a person could control... was their own. None of the things that were running through the mans head would have helped... But she couldnt reassure him because he wasnt talking to her. She gave a look to Tortie that said yeah... i shouldnt have said that... Though she wasnt sure that was what the absol was really trying to get across.

Alive was all you could ask for at this point. The airship exploded... No one died... they couldnt be happier for that... Well at least she couldnt be. "Char is fine... He was healed up pretty quick... You would be proud of him... He kept that little Chatot alive... He was pretty amazing... " And gentle and sweet... Offering a hug when she needed one.

She had looked in on the other pokemon too. But didnt have as wonderful of news. "Phaeth... Phaeth was hurt really bad... tore some tendons in his leg... " She frowned. "But they are holding out hope that he will recover...." Oh... there was the H word. "Im sure he will be good as new when they are done with him."