solnet | [Voice]

Entry tags:

rob edwards | original | crau

[Voice]

[Rob no]

[Rob is bored for the first time in a long time. He's tired of lying in the infirmary, alternating between reading from his datascroll and wondering what he'll look like when the bandages come off. He desperately needs to do something. Sure, moving around is painful, but it's not that bad. He needs to stretch his legs a bit, even if it's just to walk around the room.

It's a painful struggle to sit up, but once he's on the edge of the bed with his legs dangling off the side it doesn't seem so bad. He picks up his phone from the bedside table.]

Hey. I was thi-

[Rob lets out a cry of surprise as his legs fail to support his weight when he tries to stand. The cry is followed by the sound of a crash and nearly a minute of colorful swearing.]

Can I get a hand in the infirmary? I've fallen and I can't get up.

[Let's try this again]

[A while after his first attempt at a post, Rob tries again.]

Hey.

[It's halfway between a word and a grunt of pain.]

I need something to do while I'm lying here. Besides reading and watching stuff. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm bored out of my skull.

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Hey, sorry I couldn't respond earlier. I was hanging off a tower with my hands full. You okay now?

... Bored, huh? Sounds like you need a project for your hands.

What with the carpentry you've been getting into, have you considered whittling? Woodcarving on a smaller scale?

Sure. Sounds good.

[Those clipped words are the verbal equivalent of a drowning man clutching at a lifebuoy before it floats away.]

Could you bring me a few pieces of wood when you get a minute? Please?

[And that "please" stops just short of pleading. He never realized how boring it could be to have nothing but the knowledge of multiple planets at his fingertips.]

Why were you hanging off of a tower anyways?

[The question that remains unanswered is the one that Rob doesn't know how to answer yet. He's alive, he can say that much, but he's wondering if dying and coming back wouldn't have turned out better.]

Yeah, I'll swing by the store room and grab you a few blocks.

Save the chips and sawdust and all that by the way. I've got some nanites now that I can use to put together stuff from remnants. Not a lot, but enough to be useful.

[There's a sound of rustling and metallic clanking as Colin shifts material around.]

I was fixing some of the external lights that blew out. Not the best place to be working, especially without a good scaffold, but if we want light, it's gotta be done.

I'll be by shortly with the wood, and we can visit a bit.

Thanks.

When did we get external lights?

About a month ago. And they immediately got blown out. Go figure.

It's one of the quality of life projects I've been working on.

Planning on having one of those multicolored lighting setups they use on monuments?

Actually, planning on killing a shadow from a half a kilometer away just by flicking a lightswitch.

[Whoops, there's that smug tone again.]

[Rob chuckles softly, followed by a quick intake of breath.]

Get a recording of that. It'll be a hit on movie night.

Might make for a great highlight reel. "Best shadow eliminations of the week" maybe?

Anyway, I'm in the workshop now. Need me to snag a knife, too? Or you got one on you?

[He gives a soft snort of amusement.]

I've got my work knife with me, but if there's anything that would be more useful there could you bring it up?

Everything I'm reading says you want a short, sturdy blade. I'll snag a detailing knife, since I'm not sure which one's your work knife.

Pull up a guide in the meantime, see if there's anything else you want me to snag?

It's definitely not one with a short blade. Let's see here...

Huh. Looks like a knife is all you need.

A knife, a chunk of wood, and an idea of what you want to make.

I mean, with the carpentry, it strikes me as something that would be good for you to pass the time?

Yeah. It looks like good practice for doing detail work on larger stuff.

You want anything else while I'm down here? I've still got plenty of room in my satchel.

Otherwise, I'll be up there in a few minutes.

...To be honest? I'm not sure if I can handle anything heavier than whittling right now.

I'm sure your companions would be happy to help, but I can appreciate that just the same.

I'll bring the medkit too, see if I can't patch up anything that the castle's docs don't have the tricks to manage.

You've got your bal... pokeballs?

[Dammit, terminology. When even Colin catches on that it's the wrong statement, it's probably time to find better shorthand for words.]

[Somehow Rob fails to catch that one.]

Yeah, but they're empty. Crichton and Shenzin aren't with me right now, but Kresh and Sparky are.

[Zuko's not the greatest about checking network posts. She misses his first attempt, doesn't see the message until he makes another post. She tosses her phone aside. Great, Zuko. Good job. First you get Rob badly injured and then you can't even be around to help with little things when he needs it.

The actual reply here comes not from Zuko but Kizuna, who finds Zuko's discarded phone while she's out of the room for a bit and noses it on.

Chirp chirp hello?]

[If it wasn't Kizuna, Rob would have switched his end to audio; he guesses that she'd be confused if she couldn't see who was talking.

There are bandages covering large sections of his face when the feed comes on, but he's smiling at her from beneath them.]

Hey, Kizuna. You doing good?

[Kizuna chirps an affirmative! She's good.

She tilts her head at Rob's picture (although it might be hard to tell what she's doing as she's still a little too close to the camera), and trills a question. Why are you wearing all that on your face?]

[He understands the tone of her affirmative, but not what her trilling means. The image doesn't show enough context to help him figure it out.]

Sorry, I don't know what you're trying to say.

[Wait, hang on.

The audio and video are both a mess as Kizuna picks the phone up in her mouth so she can place it by the headboard and shove it upright (but upside down). She backs up. Can you see her now? That's how Mommy said it worked.

She repeats her question, pawing at her face where his bandages are for clarification.]

[Rob rotates his own phone so he can see Kizuna upright, which means that now Rob will appear upright to Kizuna.]

Oh. I got hurt. Some of the queen's pets took bites out of me.

[Hurt? No, that's bad. Kizuna hopes you bit them back! And will demonstrate that sentiment with a little snap of her own.]

Yeah, they bit me like that.

Zuko and Minako finished them off for me. I wouldn't have been able to fight them all off on my own.

[She's glad Mommy was there to help! But you still seem sad, friend. Kizuna approaches the phone again to give Rob's image a friendly lick.

Unfortunately the contact also manages to end the call. Hope you enjoyed your conversation with a dragon.]

[Oh, that didn't sound good...]

Are you alright? Do you need help?

[The answer to the first question is "no", but the second question is the more immediately pressing one.]

I could use a hand if you're nearby.

I'm in my room, but it wouldn't take me long to get over there. Ah... try not to move too much, you don't want to injure yourself further.

At this point I don't know how much more injured I could get. Either way, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon.

...

Someone needs to sweep under this bed more often.

If you're still breathing, you could always get more injured, and we don't want that.

[So. Yeah. Good to stay there.

Luckily Ana is already on her way, and the comment about the area beneath the bed gets a faint laugh.]

The whole castle is dusty. I'm not surprised.

With all the minions she has at her command, you'd think the queen would put a few of them on cleaning duty.

I think she figures if Ozuma is going to run the "safe zones", he should put his own heroes on cleanup duty. Or... something like that.

[In any case! She's here now, ready to offer a hand up once she tucks her phone away.]

[In person, Rob's a mess. He has bandages on his face, his shoulders, his upper arms, his chest, and his legs. He's managed to roll himself onto his back by the time she arrives and is staring at the ceiling while he waits.]

Thanks.

[He takes the hand she offers and does his best to pull himself to his feet. His left leg buckles under him as he tries to stand.]

[Thankfully Ana, for her small stature, was hardly a pushover. She didn't spend most of her life shooting a longbow and not come out with decent arm muscles. She doesn't full on catch him, but she does keep a hold of his hand and step forward to snag his elbow, keeping him from going down completely.]

Might want to let me do the heavy lifting here.

[Clenched teeth and a faint hiss signal the condition of the arm connected to that elbow.

Despite her advice, he's still trying to contribute to the process of returning to the bed. Even so, the amount of weight that Ana's supporting is gradually increasing; Rob is most certainly not ready to walk around just yet.]

[He really isn't.

Thankfully this isn't the first time she's had to haul someone twice her size off the ground before.]

You really shouldn't have tried to get out of bed...

I just wanted to walk across the room. I didn't expect it to turn out like this.

You're injured. Your body probably isn't working the way you usually expect it to.

[She gives him an encouraging smile, though.]

I do understand. Any time I was supposed to be on bed rest I drove my poor healer insane by constantly trying to do things on my own.

I've never had to worry about whether or not my body could do basic stuff. Basic stuff isn't the kind of thing I ever think to ask for help with.

I take it you've never been this injured before then, or ill enough to feel that sort of weakness. I know it's a knock to the ol' pride, but you'd just make yourself worse if you kept forcing yourself beyond your current limits.

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