|
|
Niko comes in from the hallway, trying to move quietly on the off chance that you're still asleep. From his be-uniformed state, he's obviously been back downstairs, and just as obviously intends to go back to work today. He's carrying something mostly behind himself, so it can't be seen.
Elasia is sprawled on the couch, with a large pile of paperwork in her lap and
her hair pulled back. She glances up as the door opens, offering you a grin
of greeting before she turns back down to the papers long enough to finish
the line of writing she was on before setting the pen aside. "Heya Niko." The
uniform gets a long look, "Did you talk to Clara?"
Niko heads over to the couch related area of the room. "Morning, love," he says pleasantly. "Well... almost. Did you sleep well?" That hand comes out from behind his back, revealing a bunch of wildflowers. His avoidance of that last question is answer enough, but at least it's a -nice- avoidance.
Oh see now that's being -sneaky-. That's okay, there's always Anya as the last
line of defense. Elasia brightens rather considerably, chuckling quietly.
"Yeah, well enough ya' goofball."
Niko hunkers to a seat on the floor next to the couch. "That's good. You look
busy, though. Maybe we should go back to Hellas -soon-, make folks give you a
bit of a rest."
Elasia reaches over to gently ruffle your hair, "Hey it's not so bad as all
that. I enjoy the better part of it after all. The tedious bits have to be
gotten through to get to the good bits." She shifts the paperwork off her lap
and to one side. "How're you feeling?"
"Just fine." Of course, that was likely the anticipated response from Niko. "Catching up on sleep helped a lot. I do think," he adds, with a grin, "That I'm going to hold off on trying out those skates for a few days, though."
That garners a murmur of approval and Elasia bends down to kiss the top of your head, since the rest of you's a bit out of range on the floor and all. "Probably a good idea." She's not buying 'just fine', but isn't pushing it at the moment. "You'll want to be awake and alert for those and all."
Niko nods his agreement to that. "Definitely. Though I'm awake and all -now-," he adds quickly. "Just not ready for another broken bone just yet." He grins suddenly. "Hey, maybe we could find some more of those skates for you."
Elasia looks a bit skeptical of this idea, "I think I'll wait to see how many
bones you break, hmm? If it's less than four it can't be -that- bad and I'd
be willing to give it a go."
Niko chuckles quietly at that. "Four bones in how much time?" he inquires prudently. "And only the ones actually related to the skates."
Elasia just rolls her eyes with a quiet laugh, "Niko, you're incorrigable. How
you manage to snap things so often is beyond me."
Niko rests an arm lightly on your knees. "It's a gift," he says cheerfully.
"Though I'm going to practice falling or something, I think. I really
shouldn't have broken -two- bones just jumping over a table. That was a
little ridiculous."
Elasia rests a hand on your arm absently, "Yeah, especially in your line of
work. Bad if you break something that often. Makes it hard to engage in all
those action movie style dives and such." This last is said with a faintly
teasing tone.
Niko tsks softly at that, though admittedly with a laugh. "That's it, I should watch more action movies to figure out what to do. Hon, you're brilliant."
Elasia groans quietly, settling back against the couch's back with a laugh.
"Somehow I think that's a doomed proposition. How do the other people manage
it?"
Niko lifts his shoulders in a small shrug. "I'm not exactly sure. I was, uh,
too busy with my own action movie style dives to check out anybody else's."
He stifles a laugh. "Gee, maybe I should ask Kaycen to give me some pointers.
He'd love that."
Elasia slips her hands down to your good shoulder, rubbing gently. "It would probably be vastly amusing. Still, it's got to be better than breaking bones."
Niko nods an emphatic agreement to that. "There's very little that isn't better
than breaking bones." He covers your hand with his own, then says lightly, "I
should probably be off to work, hm? Got to thank Anya for her gifts, after
all."
There's a pause, as Elasia questions, "Have you gotten clearance from Medbay to
go back to work?"
Niko shakes his head slowly. "I didn't think it was necessary," he says
lightly. "After all, I managed the trip home and all--including getting back
and forth between Hellas City and Mathraki. Paperwork's nothing compared to
that."
Elasia just regards you at length, schooling herself to patience before she
replies, "Niko, you know it's necessary. You're just trying to weasel around
it. Why, don't think they'd let you?"
Niko takes a moment to mull over his answer. "I think," he says finally, voice
quiet, "That they're a little overcautious. No monitors, no IV, I'm not
hurting any more... but they still might tell me not to go back yet. If I
just -do- it, let them see I can handle it..."
"If you haven't got medical clearance, are you going to be on the schedule?
Have anything to do? Niko, you think they're going to -let- you? If there's
an emergency and you can't pull your weight cause you're still too beat up?
People would be -depending- on you." Elasia just shakes her head, "Try a
little logic, love."
Niko says quietly, "But, Ela, I'm -not- too beat up. I can pull my weight.
That's -why- I want--" With a rather frustrated shake of his head, he cuts
off his words. "But you're right about the schedule. Riley said something
about Anya kicking me out, too." He moves to lean against the couch, next to
you, with a barely-aspirated sigh.
"Patience is a helpful thing, Niko," Elasia shifts her hand up to gently brush through your hair. "It's not even like they've got you stuffed down into one room anymore. You could go out, go relax some. It's a lot better for them to have to do without you a bit longer than it is for them to lose you for more time in the long run because you went back too early and made yourself ill."
Niko really can't help but chuckle at the mention of patience. "Patience is helpful," he agrees. "But it's not something I've got all that much of." With a shake of his head, he adds, "You're right, hon. Of course. That nerf bat is over there somewhere if you want to take a smack at me or something."
Elasia chuckles softly, "I'd noticed patience wasn't exactly one of your more
well developed attributes. It'll be okay though, hon. Maybe find something to
do to take your mind off it? Take the pressure off your poor battered
patience. Or even go down and check with Medbay at some point, you never
know, they might give you clearnace."
Niko nods his agreement, resting an arm over your knees once more, then pillowing his head on his arm. "Yeah, maybe," he murmurs, a bit glumly. "It's good to be able to get out and about, though, at least." He grins up at you, adding, "Maybe keep from making you too annoyed with me, that way."
Elasia brings her other hand up to play with your hair as well, "I like having you here. But I know one room gets awfully confining."
You faintly hear a chime mark the hour.
Niko's head bobs in a small nod. "It does," he agrees softly. "I love being
here, I love being with -you-, but I'm just as glad to be able to walk around
and such. Without," he adds, with relish, "That annoying monitor." Shades of
Ender's Game. Hey... as far as we know, Niko is the third of Terrence
Veruzac's kids...
"The monitor was a pain and a half," Elasia agrees with a quiet chuckle. "But it's gone now, and if you're careful they won't go around attaching another."
Niko lifts his head at that, expression one of mild alarm. "Nobody said anything to you about another one, did they? I mean... I don't want -that-."
Elasia shakes her head, "No, but if you overdo it and all, I wouldn't put it past Clara to plug you right back up like she did with that IV."
Niko grimaces as he settles back against your knees. "Yeah. Yeah, she probably
would. And if she did -that-..." He peers up at you, with a wistful little
smile. "I really am sorry about last night, hon."
Elasia's fingers continue to brush through your curls. "No worries," and she
brushes right on past that. "Clara's got enough sense to keep an eye on you.
So you have to be careful."
Niko nods a slow agreement to that. "Well... yes. Careful's one thing. But..."
A rather crooked grin crosses his face. "I'm thinking that maybe I didn't
need that much sleep. It's overrated and all."
"You need sleep," Elasia says simply, "Probably could do with a little more.
It'll help you get better."
Niko peers up at you for a moment, his smile turning a bit uncertain. "Well, yes," he says softly, "But I'm mostly caught up as it is."
"If you're sure," Elasia's reply is rather non-comittal. She's being altogether
unhelpful at the moment, as she's trying to figure out what to do. One major
flub in a twenty-four hour period is her limit if she can manage it. There's
a pause, "Had anything to eat today?"
Niko is silent for a moment, then his head bobs in a short nod. "Yeah, got
something downstairs when I woke up. Sorry, I should have commed to see if
you wanted anything."
Elasia shakes her head slightly, "No worries, I was just making sure you'd
eaten." She quirks a grin, "Got to make sure you're healthy so you can do
more commando rolls and all."
Niko rolls his eyes at that. "Uh, no," he says, with a laugh. "I'm going to
hold off on those til I can manage them the right way, if I can possibly help
it. No need to give the folks in medbay more of an excuse to tell me not to
work."
Elasia chuckles queitly, "Most folks would be glad to have time off from work
and all..."
Niko nods agreeably enough to that. "But this has been a -lot- of time off from
work, though, hon. Far too much. I'll be glad to get back... -when- the folks
in medbay say I can, yes, of course."
Elasia lifts her shoulders, then nodding. "And I'm sure they'll be glad when
you're back as well."
Back