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Clara arrives from the Second Floor Elevator Lounge.
Clara has arrived.
Niko probably shouldn't be here. In fact, his player forgot that he's here. Oops. He doesn't seem to be working, though, instead relating some sort of joke to Kaycen. "And then the Master of Fire said to the Gileni High Priestess..." He pauses, then, as Clara speaks, lifting a hand.
Clara makes her way into Security, looking slightly tired but distinctly
pleased. She pauses to wait for the punchline, then awwws slightly at the
breaking off and grins at both men. "Sorry to interrupt. I can wait until the
joke's done? Just a little good news is all."
Niko shakes his head. "Stupid joke anyway," he says with a vaguely nervous grin. "News is better." Kaycen offers, "I'd already heard it anyway."
Clara glances about somewhat furtively, then lowers her voice so only the two men might hear, crouching down a bit. "Surgery was entirely smooth and happy, he's recovering nicely, and resting right now. Everything's fine."
Niko exhales a breath of relief. "Though how you can use 'surgery' and 'happy' in the same sentence, Clara... yeesh. Thanks for letting me know, though." He wasn't hanging around security hoping for word. Really.
Clara can't help but laugh, shaking her head. "Because it -is- a happy thing. It fixes people. And it fixed this person just fine. Anyway, I just wanted you folks to know for sure. He'll be back on duty in a week, maybe ten days."
Niko nods amiably to that. "Week or ten days, no problem. We can hold down the
fort until then, easy. Just tell him to take it easy, eh? If that's possible,
I mean."
Clara uncrouches and brushes at her lab coat with an amiable nod. "I will,
sure. He's in the VIP room, though, where he was a couple years ago?
Actually, I was wondering if someone could post guard on the door? It'd make
me feel a lot better."
Niko nods once more, this time in firm agreement. "Sure. I can." At a look from
Kaycen, he adds, "Or Kayce, yeah, sure. Between the two of us, we can cover
it, easy."
Clara chuckles quietly, shaking her head. "It could be anyone fellas. I trust
everyone here in Security. Tim, Shan, Kathlyn, anyone is good, whatever works
for you guys. And visit him, if you like. He's got his radio still, so you
can always check to see if he's awake."
"Still," Niko says, with a hint of a shrug, "The less we chat about it, the
less likely it is that someone'll overhear who shouldn't. The walls have
ears, after all," he adds, with a rueful grin. Of course, as someone has
stuck a post-it note with a drawing of an ear on the wall, this makes literal
sense as well as figurative.
"Roses howl at the eight balloons," Clara agrees mysteriously, out of the side
of her mouth like a secret agent. "I can do an ear-adectomy?" she offers with
a laugh, rubbing at her face. "But I know what you mean, right. I'll let you
guys get back to hard work," she adds with a wink.
You faintly hear a chime mark the hour.
Niko's head bobs in a brief nod. "And you can go get some rest," he says
firmly. "You look tired, Clara. And did you eat?" Hello, Niko is morphing
into somebody's Italian grandmother.
Clara starts to nod amiably, but the action melts into a headshake. "Um...no?
Not yet at least. I was going to grab something when I changed clothes and
grabbed a movie to go bug Riley with. I -meant- to eat lunch," she adds
contritely.
Niko lifts his eyes skywards. "I was talking about -dinner-. If you didn't get
lunch, I swear, Clara..." He looks decidedly exasperated. "And people say -I-
don't take care of myself. Look, go on back to Riley and I'll snag something
for you before I go home. What do you want?"
Clara worries at her lower lip, actually looking terribly guilty. "I -meant- to eat lunch," she repeats earnestly, then has to smile with gratitude. "Oh, -Niko-. You're wonderful," she explains. "Um, whatever's easy? I was going to snag gyros, but that's a hike. Maybe just sandwiches and tea?"
Niko shakes his head amiably. "Gyros are fine, I can get gyros. Exercise is a good thing. Can Riley eat real food, or is this just for you?"
Clara shakes her head amiably. "I don't know? He didn't feel like eating
earlier today, but the ane-...he, uh...he just didn't feel like it," she
concludes apologetically, glancing at the be-earred walls. "But he -can- eat,
so two gyros?"
Niko gets lightly to his feet. "Two gyros, gotcha. Fries and extra tziziki. Drinks?" Hello, my name is Niko, I will be your server today. Fresh pepper?
Clara can't help but laugh, tucking her hands in her lab coat pockets. "Poor Niko...a chemistry degree and gold oak leaves, only to ask folks if they want fries," she teases with a wink. "Iced tea? I promise to learn to bake brownies after this, just so you can eat the homework."
"I actually worked a job like that for a little, and it's really evil," Niko says, with feeling. "Iced tea's good, though. And Ela said she'd teach you to bake brownies," he adds, with a decidedly pleased grin. "I asked. Recently. Ooh, I should ask her if she wants something, too, before I go."
Clara acks quietly, looking decidedly sympathetic. "I am -so- grateful the only civilian job I ever had was gift wrapping," she decides. "And checking with her would be brilliant, yup. Being able to have a nice guy and a warm dinner at home without having had to cook is -nice-," she adds wisely.
Niko's head bobs in a brief nod. He's -almost- at the point where he should either get a haircut or fear Anya, so curls bob as well. "Just got to make sure she doesn't have something in the warmer or something. Bringing home food if she has something would be bad. Now go away," he adds, with a grin. "Go spoil my brother, you know you want to." Peer pressure. Yup.
Clara flopps her arms out of her pockets with the classic air of a child told
to go do chores. "Oh, alllll-riiight," she mutters, then straightens with a
grin. "You're still wonderful. Goodnight, Kaycen," she adds before turning to
head out and do as ordered.
Clara heads towards the Second Floor Elevator Lounge.
Clara has left.
Niko lifts a hand in farewell after Clara, before lifting his hand and talking
into his wrist.
You say "Hon? Are you home?" into the communit.
Your communit crackles to life and says "Love? Yes, but barely." in Elasia's
voice.
You say "Good, home's good. I was going to run down to the pavilion. Want me to
snag some food while I'm there?" into the communit.
Your communit crackles to life and announces "If you would, love? Sorry, work's piled up and I'm sorting through some boxes." in Elasia's voice.
You say "Sure, no need to apologize. It's easy enough, since I'll already be going there anyway. I'll see you soon, hon--love you." into the communit.
Niko gives Kathlyn a mock-annoyed look as she trills "Love you, hon!" in a falsetto. "Shut up," he growls good-naturedly. "And don't burn the place down, huh?" With that, and a snicker, he heads out of the room.
[Niko goes to the pavillion, then to the general housing hub.]
Niko knocks at the door. "Room service!"
"C'mon in!" is a rather quiet response.
You unlock the door and go into room 0.
Room S4
Contents:
Clara
Riley
Obvious exits:
Out
You come in from the Housing Hub.
Clara softens even more and leaves the headphones where they are on the sleeping Riley, and instead simply reaches over to turn them down from a mind-boggling volume before turning away. The room is lit with a single table light turned on low. "He's out like a light," she notes, carefully adjusting the IV to back off the painkiller a bit. "Any problems?"
Niko comes bearing gifts of food and tziziki. And lo, the food was Greek, not unlike its bearer. And a star shone in the east, because of the player of the Greek man. But, hey, gyros, fries, and tea is better than gold, frankincense, and myrrh, right? He pauses just inside the door, brows lifting at the volume of the headphones before he shakes his head. "Not at all," he replies quietly. "Food's easy." He's carrying two bags, and one of those nifty little cardboard cubes with beverages. "Looks like Riley's not hungry, though."
Clara smoothes the blanket over Riley carefully, then pulls the rolling hospital bed table around to pat at it. "Set it down here? Yeah, I doubt he'll much feel like eating. Still, if he does, it'll be here. And if he doesn't, I'll get a nurse to take it to my fridge in my office. Lunch," she explains with a wink. "Did you get some for you and Ela too?"
You faintly hear a chime mark the hour.
Niko carefully sets down all the stuff on the rolling table, then pulls out
half of the drinks from the little cardboard square thingy. "Sure did," he
says, with a grin. "She just got home, poor lady. Not having to cook will
make her day easier, I think." He eyes Riley for a moment, then asks, "He's
really okay, Clara?"
Clara rummages through her medbag on the bedside table to come up with a pair
of hypos to administer to Riley, a fond smile overtaking her face. "He'll be
fine, yes. He's just kicking off the last of the anesthesia, so I had to up
the cortrazime a little for the pain. It's a -far- more simple operation than
the heart surgery was."
Niko wrinkles his nose just a bit. "Cortrazime. Evil stuff, even if it's better
than hurting." Of course, as obnoxious as Niko was about the pain drugs,
these words should hardly come as a surprise. "You'll let me know if either
of you need anything, Clara? Kayce is out there, now," he adds, with a
gesture towards the door, "I'll be down in a bit, and Shan and Kath are going
to help out as well, t'keep Kayce and me from having to stand insane shifts
out there."
Clara sets aside the spent hypos and circles the table to take a sip from her tea before attempting a careful, platonic but warm hug. "Thanks, Niko. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this. Maybe get Tim in on the action as well? That way no one has to do more than a little bit of time out there. It's just...after last time, I'm not willing to take chances."
Niko does in fact return the hug quite platonically, unable to resist tweaking
a curl or two while he's there. "Nope," he replies equably. "Nobody who
hasn't been here at least as long as I have, no offense to Tim. Besides," he
adds, with a grin, "Five doesn't divide evenly into twenty-four. We'll be
fine, Clara. Really."
Clara's eyes cross at the curl tweaking with a grin as she settles on the edge
of the bed, snickering. "Sometimes I'm tempted to straighten my hair," she
mutters, obviously kidding. "Just so long as all of you get some sleep at
some point? Six hours isn't bad...and any of you guys can call a nurse if you
need -anything-."
Niko shakes his head firmly, though not without a crooked grin. "No
hair-straightening, that's not allowed. And we'll get enough sleep, sure.
Anya's tweaking schedules, so we're not putting in quite as much time in
Security. Sleep'll be no problem. After all," he adds, just a touch too
innocently, "We're all realistic about what we can do without getting sick or
something. And nobody wants that."
Clara reaches over to poke Niko's arm lightly, rolling her eyes. "I usually
don't forget lunch," she promises. "I just got busy between this and rounds
and a few appointments." She tweaks one of her own curls thoughtfully. "Leave
the dustmoppery be, check. It's a pain to deal with straight anyway. Takes
way too many chemicals to get it that way too."
Niko mmhmmms at the excuses. "Excuses, excuses. You wouldn't let -me- get away
with that, -or- Riley. So the folks who're going to be standing watch have
orders to question you about your dining habits whenever you come through,
and to knock and ask if you're in here at a mealtime." He grins roguishly.
Yes, he's evil. Yes, he knows it.
Clara almost splutters, but seems vastly amused by this, shaking her head.
"You're a scoundrel, Niko Casymed. That's entirely evil, and I promise to
eat." She reaches for her tea again, casting another fond look at the
snoozing one. "It'll be a lot easier now, knowing he'll be all right. I guess
I was sort of worried."
"Yeah, but you'll be doing a lot if you're going to be in here and trying to
keep up with other stuff, too," Niko says, actually turning a bit serious.
"It's easy to forget simple things like food. Besides, Kath said she was
going to have fun coming up with creative ways to ask you when you last
ate--we can't deny her her fun, can we?" With a grin, he adds, "But you
didn't have lunch, and I'm here keeping you talking when you'd probably like
to be eating."
Clara shrugs amiably, pushing a few curls from her face and rather cheerfully sipping at her tea. "More thirsty than hungry, but I certainly wouldn't want to deprive Kath of such fun," she decides with a quiet laugh. "But you've probably got a wife up there wondering where her dinner is."
Niko nods rather sheepishly. "And her husband, yeah." He takes up his food and
beverages and such, and starts for the door, adding, "But eat. Even if you're
not hungry, eat." He stifles a snicker, adding, adding, "I sound like my
grandmother, I swear. And that's a scary thought."
"Having never met your grandmother, I couldn't judge. But it sounds like
something my great-grandmother would say," Clara agrees with a grin, snagging
the other bag. "Give Ela my best, okay? And you're ordered to kiss her again,
of course," she adds amiably.
Niko snaps his fingers. "Darn," he murmurs, as he heads for the exit with his
food. "Got to kiss my wife. And I'll mention the brownie thing, for once
Riley's back on his feet," he adds, with a cheerful grin. "Brownies are good.
Lots of homework."
"Oh, good, thank you," Clara responds with relief. "It'll need to be when
Riley's feeling better, yes, but learning to bake brownies would be really
nice. And you get the homework, so long as it's edible. That's sort of a key
point," she decides with a grin. "Goodnight, Niko."
Niko stifles a snicker, opening the door. "It has to be pretty bad to be inedible, Clara. Have a good night. And give me a buzz if either of you need anything." With that, and a lifted hand, he heads for the exit.
[Travelspam home deleted.]
Elasia is sprawled on the couch with a massive stack of paperwork. She offers
you a smile however as you enter, "Evening, love."
Niko apparently had to juggle the food--figuratively--to find his key, as he all but drops it as he comes into the room. "Whew," he says, tossing the key to a table and snagging the bag just before it slips from his grasp. "Hi, hon. Iew, that looks like a lot of work. Clara sends her best. Y'hungry?"
"Food would be wonderful," Elasia attempts to shift some of the junk from her
lap. "Need some help?"
Niko shakes his head, starting for the kitchen area. "Nope," he says
cheerfully. "You're not allowed to help. I've got it." With a grin over his
shoulder, he adds, "I might not be able to cook this stuff, but I think I can
handle unwrapping stuff."
Elasia chuckles quietly. She sounds tired but terribly pleased. "Thank you dear, you're wonderful, I appreciate it. How is Clara?"
Niko sets actions to words, snagging plates and dishing out the gyros and the
fries and all that good stuff. "She's fine, and Riley's apparently doing
fine, too, though I didn't get a chance to ask him. Oh, and she's said she'd
like to take you up on the brownie thing, once Riley's back on his feet."
Coming back with plates, and then going back for the tea he snagged, he adds,
with a hint of a frown, "Would you have time, though? You've been doing an
awful lot, lately."
[Ela's player's net went nasty at this point, hence the end of the log.]