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Niko is, unsurprisingly enough considering his location, working. It's
apparently a good time, though, as the comm headset is worn about his neck,
rather than in the position one would generally find it when someone is
talking at him. He's working on paperwork, though, probably the amazing
RY-47s.
Greer is... in less than best condition? Sporting a shiner and with ripped
clothes, she's blubbering very slightly, as she's manfully (girlfully?)
swallowing the tears, though her eyes are bright. She ducks right around the
reception desk and heads toward Niko, reaching out to tug at his sleeve.
"Uncle Niko? I mean, Mister Niko?"
Niko turns at the childish voice, and then blinks quite a lot. "What happened to you, kiddo?" he inquires, voice decidedly concerned as he starts to rummage for a handkerchief or something. "Are you all right?"
Greer points back out the door, sounding quite indignant. "Damien -hit- me. He
had to get his cronies to hold me down, though," she snorts, then adds with a
touch of pride, "He was gonna push Tommy down the stairs, cause Tommy
wouldn't give him his giros, but I stopped 'em!" The girl shakes her head
slightly, holding up her other hand gingerly. "Wrist hurts." It's starting to
swell a little too.
"Damian who?" is Niko's prompt reply. See, if he knows who, then he can go loom
and generally be evil to the kid, or at least inform him that this sort of
behavior is just not acceptable. "And stopping the folks from picking on
Tommy was a good thing, but telling me that this is happening was a -better-
thing. Maybe we should go see if Doctor Clara's in, though, hm? So she can
look at your wrist and make sure it's okay."
Greer pauses, thinking hard. "Damian Perces-Mendez," she pronounces carefully,
and gestures slightly with the uninjured hand. "His dad works in the
Complex." That's one way of putting it- Charles Perces-Mendez is the most
recent installment on the Grenill diplomatic team. Greer beams, taking that
as approval. "I -would- have come got you before," yeah, right- Greer's of
that child mindset of invincibility, "But there wasn't any time, really."
Oooh, Doctor Clara. That makes the kidlet perk up. "You suppose she's still
got ice cream?"
Niko murmurs something to Tim, who nods. Niko then gets to his feet and offers
a hand. (And it's such that it doesn't involve any use of the injured hand.)
"I wouldn't be at all surprised if she did," he replies, with a grin. "And
what's Tommy's last name?"
Greer beams, albeit it's a watery smile, as she takes Niko's hand. "Tommy?
Oh... Arcadian. Thomas Daryl-Daryl Arcadian. Junior. Why?" Another diplomat's
kid. "You think we can get her to let you have ice cream too? Even if you're
not broken?"
You faintly hear a chime mark the hour.
"So we can make sure he's okay," Niko reassures. "Matter of fact, I think I
know Tommy. He's got dark hair and lots of freckles, yes? Or am I thinking of
somebody else?" Kaycen is sitting closer to the door, and he holds up a hand
to get the pair to pause, rummaging in a desk drawer for a chocolate bar,
which he offers to Greer with a brief smile. Yes, he's definitely the strong,
silent type.
Greer nods a confirmation, mouth forming an O of surprise. "That's him! How'd
you know that? Do you keep track of -everybody-?" She pauses, the chocolate
instinct perking up, and she beams cutely at Kaycen. She glances back and
forth between the hand Niko's holding, and her wounded one. Temptations,
temptations. After a few seconds, she reaches with her free hand for the
candy. "Thank you! What's your name?"
Niko shakes his head, with a quirked grin. "Not everybody. But I ran into
Tommy's father the other day, and Tommy was with him. We had rather a nice
chat."
"Kaycen," that person replies. There's another brief smile, and a nod towards
the chocolate. "Just in case Doctor Aleron doesn't have ice cream--though
I'll bet she will."
Greer nods absently, unwrapping the chocolate one-handed and suppressing a wince. The first bite produces a look of bliss, however. "Tommy's real nice. He's just kinda small. Everybody picks on him. Not me though," she adds hastily. "He needs to learn how to fight." She casts a quick grin over at Kaycen. "That's a nice name! Kaycccccccen. Sounds like a snake talking." This is a good thing, in her eyes. "I bet she will too! Doctor Clara's -always- preprepared. Well, most of the time anyway," she decides, blushing a little.
Niko catches that wince, and starts towards the door. "Come on, kiddo. Let's go
see Doctor Clara. We can talk with Kayce later."
Kaycen actually manages an honest-to-goodness grin, for that. "A snake, eh?
You're not the first one to say that. But go on with Niko, hm? He'll take
care of you."
Greer nods, skipping along beside Niko. "Seeing Doctor Clara's a good thing,"
she notes solemnly, then looks back over her shoulder with a grin, and
carefully waves. "Of course he will. He's a knight! Thank you, Kaycen! Bye
bye!"
Niko chuckles very quietly as he starts for the exit, casting a brief look of amusement towards Kaycen over Greer's head, and murmuring something about snakes. "Knight without armor, yup," he agrees amiably. "That's me."
[Travelspam to medbay deleted.]
Clara is standing behind Kramer as he types away at a terminal, the medico pair discussing something that's half Latin and entirely frightening sounding. She glances up over his shoulder and starts to grin before the sound comes out in a decided ack. "What happened?" she wants to know, straightening and coming out from around a rather sympathetic looking Kramer.
"Greer's had a bit of an adventure," Niko replies, offering the child a brief smile. "Sticking up for a friend, in fact. Her wrist, Clara..." Though, hey, it doesn't seem to be impeding the munching of chocolate -too- much.
Greer blushes, reaching out slightly with the wounded hand, which still holds a square of chocolate. Amazing stuff, that chocolate is. "I'm sorry, Doctor Clara. But I did tell! Mister Niko's gonna take care of -everything-."
"Oh, saints add preservatives. Greer, darling, fighting really isn't the answer," Clara chides gently, coming over to attempt to scoop the girl up and heft her onto a biobed. "But I do have to say, sticking up for people is laudable. Mister Niko is, hmm?" she asks, unhitching her scanner and clicking it on while giving said armorless knight an amused grin.
Niko nods firmly to Greer's words. "And telling is a -good- thing, so I can try and see that this sort of thing doesn't happen again." He in fact nods once more to Clara. Yup, he's most -definitely- going to take care of this. "Kids ganging up on each other, you bet I am, Clara. You know some of these diplomats' kids, think they can get away with anything."
Greer's blush deepens as she wiggles around on the biobed. "I -am- sorry." She sounds so distressed. "And I didn't do the fighting. Damian did. I just told him to stop picking on Tommy. He didn't like that." She grins weakly over at Niko. "I knew it. Doctor Clara said telling you'd be a good thing."
Clara wrinkles her nose slightly as she nods in full agreement with Niko, eyes on the scanner as she holds Greer's hand with one of hers, the other running the scanner over that arm. "They do indeed, at times, and it's a shame." She pauses to blink at Greer. "He hit you first? He hit a girl?"
Niko's brows shoot way up at Greer's words. "Has something like this happened before?" he inquires of Greer, shooting Clara a bit of a look as if to ask the doctor if she knew about that happening. His lips thin a bit as he says, "Greer said he had some other kids hold her down, too." Yes, he's definitely annoyed about his, and he's definitely going to have words with this particular child. "And people shouldn't be hitting anybody," he adds, with a murmur about trying to break free of the gender biases of his upbringing.
Greer shrugs, watching with fascination as Clara works. "He hit me first, yes.
What's the difference if I'm a girl or a boy?" She glances up, adding
proudly, "I think I busted his nose though. It was bleeding. That was before
they all ganged up on me." To Niko's question, she shakes her head. "We just
talked about it. Just in case."
Clara glances up at Niko at the murmur of gender biases with a somewhat sheepish smile. Looks like someone else was raised with the same biases, despite her own training and occupation. "No violence so far, just normal bullying. I just found out myself late last night," she explains to im then sighs and shakes her head. "His nose?" No, she won't say that's good, completely against her nature. But she does say, "Self defense is certainly a valuable thing. I think I may have a chat with Damien's parents," she adds thoughtfully, reaching for the resonator to buzz over the wrist. "Now hold still, dear, it's a sprain. Not too bad, but we need to resonate it up."
"Some people--like my parents--think it's wrong for a boy to hit a girl," Niko replies amiably. "Worst trouble I ever got in when I was a little kid. Supposedly girls are weaker than boys, so it's not fair. But I'd like to see them tell that to Lieutenant Mayes, when she's better at that sort of thing than most of Security, even though she's also smaller than most of Security." He can't help but grin approvingly at the mention of the bleeding nose, though he doesn't verbalize said approval. That would be wrong. "I've got dibs on talking to the parents, though, Clara," he adds, with a brief grin."
You faintly hear a chime mark the hour.
Greer grins- she can't help it. Both the doctor -and- Niko talking to Damian... Bwa. Ha. Ha. Ha. "Oh... that's why it's hurting? Ooooh, what's resonating do?" Niko gets a dubious look. "Well, I'm glad I'm a girl then. I think."
"Can't hurt to have a fully uniformed CMO just for moral support then? Unless
you'd rather handle it," Clara allows graciously. Yes, she'll let Niko do the
talking and just...loom? Well, not quite. "Niko's right though, girls are
just as tough as boys, but it -still- was very wrong of him to hit you. And
yes, that's why it hurts. The resonator will relax the muscle and reduce the
swelling so that the pain will stop and it can go back to normal. Now, do you
want to keep the black eye and let it go away normal, or would you like me to
fix that too?"
Niko shakes his head to Greer. "I don't think anybody should hit -anybody-,
really. I mean, it's self-defense, really. Say I didn't know Lietenant Mayes,
and for some reason tried to hit her. She could just wrap me into a pretzel
if she wanted. Appearances are deceiving." He ponders, then, apparently
having forgotten just how much Tara... er, likes Kathlyn, suggests, "Bet she
could show you a few self-defense tricks for taking on someone bigger than
yourself, though it doesn't really sound like you need it." Clara gets a
brief grin, and a shake of his head. "Nah, I can handle it. It's fine. Thanks
for the offer, though."
Greer listens carefully, almost forgetting the pain in her wrist in her
fascination. "Oh wow... how long's it take?" She blinks. "I have a black eye?
Oh, you -have- to fix that! I don't want Mama worrying!" She cocks her head
to look up at Niko, and nods with a grin. "Mama showed me some, but a
-SecOff-... she'd -really- know the best ways to, uh, defend m'self."
Somewhere, a shudder runs through Tara, and she gets up to check the
thermostat.
"Suit yourself," Clara agrees amiably. "Holler if I can help at all though,"
she offers, not really put out at all. "I get the better job of taking care
of this little one here. Now, was anyone else hurt, dear?" she wants to know,
evidently not meaning Damien. "And no worries, I'll fix your eye, of course.
Good as new," she adds, switching to a different instrument to bring to the
girl's face. "Just hold real still now. Lessons with Kathlyn would likely be
a great idea, actually. To be honest, the lady just needs to steal a bunch of
us for a full class."
And, as Kathlyn's not particularly a small-child fan, she's likely going to be
just as thrilled by the arrangement as Tara. Niko is pleasantly oblivious to
that, instead nodding to Greer. "I'll ask her about it when she comes on duty
this afternoon, then." Clara gets a brief grin, and a nod, though he
stagewhispers, "But she probably wouldn't want to show -us- her secrets.
We're bigger than she is." He does wait for Greer's answer to the question,
adding on his own, "What about Tommy?"
Greer shrugs. "Tommy's okay- they let him go. I think his shirt was ripped, but
he ain't hurt. I scratched one of 'em though." She beams up at Niko quickly
before turning her head to try and look at the instrument Clara's using now,
and pops that last piece of chocolate into her mouth. "That'd be -neat-! I
might as well start learning all that stuff now anyhow." A giggle escapes her
at the stagewhisper.
"Well, that's a goodness at least. And he can always get another shirt," Clara
decides, focused on slowly eradicating the bruising over Greer's eye. "And
self defense is always a good thing to know, even the drops and rolls,
right?" she adds to Niko with a flash of grin.
Niko nods amiably at Greer's words, then grins at her. "The more you learn now,
the less you have to learn later, eh?" Clara's words get a decidedly innocent
look. "Hey, I can't help it Kayce broke his wrist showing me that stuff. I've
got it, now, at least. Well, mostly."
Greer nods agreeably with Clara, turning to peer at Niko, in curiosity for the doctor's grin. Her eyes widen. "Kayce? Kaycen? Poor Kaycen broke his wrist?"
Clara makes a quiet acking noise as Greer turns her head. "Please dear, don't
move," she requests, settling a finger on the girl's chin to hold her head
steady while she works. "And I know it wasn't your fault Niko. Kaycen's fine
now anyway, poor man. I don't know how he stays sane working with you loonies
on a daily basis," she teases.
Niko nods promptly to Greer. "Poor Kaycen indeed. He did. But like Clara said,
he's fine now. And he's as loony as the rest of us," he adds to Clara, with a
grin. "He just hides it better."
Greer blushes, giving Clara an apologetic look, but her eyes widen further. "-You- broke Kaycen's wrist, Mister Niko? He must've been -very- naughty." She snorts softly. "Kaycen's not loony," she denies.
"Niko didn't break Kaycen, dear," Clara assures, finally snapping off the
resonator and setting it to one side. "It was just an accident." Niko only
breaks himself? "Suuuure, he does," she adds to Niko with a grin, dusting off
her hands unnecessarily. "Okay, we have one put back together kidlet, and one
very brave knight to venture into my lair to bring her here. I suppose you
both deserve rewards, hmm?"
Niko gestures Greer's attention to Clara. "It was an accident," he echoes. "And since Kayce is such a nice guy, he didn't hold a grudge. And you can ask him if you want, Greer. I'm pretty sure he'll tell you that he's loony, too. It's a requirement, for working here." At Clara's words, he chuckles quietly. "I don't need a reward, but I think that Greer could do with some ice cream."
Greer arches a dubious eyebrow, though she sighs in relief. "Oh... you'd never
break Kaycen on purpose, would you." It's more statement than question. "And
I -will- ask him, too!" This is immediately followed by "Uh uh! Mister Niko
-deserves- a reward too." Then she tilts her head, grinning at the thought of
ice cream but a bit puzzled. "Reward for fighting?"
"Nnnoooo," Clara drawls, chuckling as she attempts to help Greer down from the
bioscan unit. "Not for fighting. A reward for being so brave while I patched
you up," she explains, then quirks a grin at Niko. "You're telling me you're
passing up strawberry ice cream? I'm out of chocolate," she admits to Greer
apologetically.
Niko nods firmly to Greer. "I'd not break Kaycen on purpose, no. He's a very
good man, and a good friend." Clara's words get a long moment of
consideration, and then he shakes his head, with an apologetic little smile.
"I should get back to work, actually. Butch is going to have more RY-47s
soon, and I've got to clear out the other stuff."
Greer ohs! Grinning at Clara for the help, she lights on the floor, flexing her
wrist experimentally. "It feels -lots- better." She does not seem dismayed at
the flavor switch. "Strawberry's good!" she beams. "Can I take some to Mama
too? It's her favorite." Her nose wrinkles in a wee bit of disappointment,
but she looks up at Niko with adoring eyes, and reaches out, obviously
wanting a hug. "-Thank- you."
"Work, work, work," Clara agrees sympathetically, giving a glance back at her
own office with a faint sigh. "I've got a stack of reports to finish and
diagnoses to dictate myself before I can skedaddle for the day. Don't forget
to grab some lunch, okay?" she suggests, then grins down at Greer. "I think
we can arrange that, yes. You just have to make sure it gets into the freezer
until she gets home, okay?"
How is Niko going to say no to a look like that? With a grin, he scoops Greer up for a tight hug. "You are very welcome, m'lady," he replies, as he puts the kidlet on her feet. "And I'll let you know what Kathlyn says." He flashes a grin at Clara as he starts back for the exit. "Work, work, work," he echoes. "That's all anybody ever does here, oh, the horror."
You head towards the Second Floor Elevator Lounge.