Day 64: Sun Room

[overlimit]

This time, when Rita awakened, the drowsiness and disorientation cleared much faster than it had during the night. Being in a familiar room with traces of light helped with that. Instinctively, she tried to pull herself up, but the motion sent a piercing pain through her chest.

"Oh, Paige, let me help you!" a nurse cried from the doorway as she rushed to Rita's side. For once, Rita wasn't about to put up a fight, though she grumbled a bit as she was eased upright and to her feet. Her right arm was in a cast, which was kept immobilized in a sling. Wherever skin was visible, bruising could be found, and a particularly deep shade of blackish-blue could be seen peeking out from the edge of her shirt collar.

As they began to walk to the Sun Room, the nurse continued talking. "I hope you're not too disappointed at missing the field trip. But I have good news for you! The doctors say you'll be good as new in no time, so long as you take care and don't aggravate your injuries." The woman went on to list a number of activities the mage should avoid or ask for help with, as though Rita couldn't figure those things out for herself. Finally, they reached their destination and Rita was left in peace.

First things first: the bulletin. Since it was early in the day, there weren't many messages from patients yet. That was fine; it would mean her own message would be more visible. First, she needed to notify Taura of her situation, and then there were a few magic-related topics she wanted to inquire about...

Rita picked up a pen and a slip of paper, bent over one of the tables near the bulletin, and began to write... but the letters came out jerky and illegible.

"Dammit," she hissed, scrapping the paper and beginning again. Using only her non-dominant hand was more difficult than she imagined. This time, she wrote very slowly, taking care to write each stroke of each letter neatly. The result was still awkward-looking, but at least it was a readable start. She just needed to be patient... though that was a virtue Rita certainly lacked.

[Taura!]

Comments

[thecamellia]

Tsubaki had to shake her head as well, because she was probably in part to blame for misunderstandings. She wouldn’t have been surprised if Black☆Star had stunted her sense of humor forever.

“No, no, it’s okay, you’re not bothering me at all. It’s good to hear someone laugh. Besides, there are people out there who come up with much, much worse jokes, anyway.”

Lingormr didn’t even come close to rivaling some of the oddballs she’d met before--including her own partner.

[complicatedliar]

"How dreadful," Loki said, laughing again. "Can you tell me who they are, so I might avoid them?"

Because really, he liked a good joke far more than the next person. But only if it was good. Otherwise, he just found them tiresome, and he'd had his fill of laughing at things he didn't actually think were funny in Odin's court.

[thecamellia]

“Oh, don’t worry, it’s no one from here!” Which was a good thing for more than one reason, Tsubaki supposed. Now and then, she imagined how Black☆Star would take to meeting some of her acquaintances--and by extension, how badly he would annoy and mystify them. It amused her to think about.

She wasn’t sure if Lingormr and Black☆Star would get along… Her partner held strong to his skills, too, but intellect? Intellect wasn’t exactly a priority, and their senses of humor would probably clash…

Tsubaki could just hear Black☆Star shouting about leaving Lingormr’s “sad carcass” behind if he couldn’t keep up, and suspected they probably wouldn’t.

“But I think there are probably more than a few unfunny people here, too,” she went on. The observation was close enough to an insult to make her smile a bit coyly. It wasn’t like she was intentionally singling anyone out, though she remembered plenty of people who had rather bad senses of humor. That sort of stuff was better kept to oneself, however.

[complicatedliar]

"I suppose that's a relief," Loki said, then laughed softly. "But there are always those without humor. The vast majority, in my experience. Or at least those without my sort of humor."

He smiled at Tsubaki as if they were sharing a great secret. "I've certainly met a few myself. It's all rather awkward."

[thecamellia]

_{[I totally forgot that they have yet to talk about this...]}

Humor was supposed to be good, right? Tsubaki wasn’t sure if a person could really lack humor. Well, on second though, maybe they could…

“If people don’t get it, I bet they could with time.” How off-color could Lingormr’s funny bone really be?

Without totally realizing it, the tangent had restored some of her mood… at least she noticed a nurse approaching from the corner of her eye. The sight of her reminded Tsubaki that there were still important tasks hanging over their heads. Right! I have to ask him more before we get interrupted! Distractions were, unfortunately enough, not limited just to nightshifts.

“Oh--right. Before anything else, I should ask where you want to meet tonight? In case we run out of time before we decide?”

[complicatedliar]

"If they wish to, I suppose." Loki shrugged, amused by the prospect.

"Why don't we simply meet at the medical wing itself? I know the way there quite well, and have yet to encounter anything troublesome on the way." That really seemed the most efficient way to go about it, and would hopefully get things moving quickly once they both had arrived.

[thecamellia]

“Okay! That sounds fine!” Tsubaki agreed.

It was up in the air if Landel had other surprises in store for them once the doors unlocked for the night, short of the sick prisoners themselves, but if he did it was practically a straight shot to the other side of the building from the main hallway. She was sure she could get to that point without too much trouble.

Well, she could hope for the best, anyway.