Cabin Fever [Open to Wash's friends]

[unrecovered]

[Wash sat on his bed, legs crossed at the ankle, arms folded, staring at the wall. There was exactly one book in the room, and he'd finished it yesterday. No point in rereading it - not when he could remember the whole thing down to the goddamn word if he wanted to. The network was fairly quiet. There was no TV or radio in here. He was bored out of his goddamn mind and had been for - he checked the clock - the past two hours, at least.]

[Bed rest was bullshit.]

[Bones had insisted, and when Wash had insisted he was well enough to at least walk around the damn apartment, Bones had lifted him straight off the floor with his magic and hauled him back down the hall. There was no arguing with that.]

[Well, no, there was plenty of arguing with that. There was just no winning.]

[So he was stuck in his room, rapidly running out of distractions and reduced to staring at the wall. Great. Just great.]

Comments

[oldfashionedfutureboy]

[ Once the migraine passed- carrying Wash back to bed by the scruff wasn't easy dammit- he stalks back in with an armful of books, what probably passed for a newspaper, and a small bundle in canvas. There wasn't much to do while resting up but something that wouldn't stress wash out was what he was aiming for.

God willing he'll find at least one thing that'll work. ]

How're you hold'n up?

[ Like he hadn't banished Wash to his bedroom like a petulant kid. Man could sulk better than Kirk. ]

[unrecovered]

[Wash's gaze flickered to the door when it opened, then turned very pointedly back to the wall.]

Oh, I'm great. Never been better.

[Amazing that a tone that light can convey that much sarcasm.]

[oldfashionedfutureboy]

Keep on sass'n and I won't give you the new books.

[ That's a lie, he's not that sort of an asshole. ]

[unrecovered]

[He slowly looks back at Bones, one eyebrow raised as high as it will go.]

Mm-hmm.

[Sass sass sass sass sass]

[oldfashionedfutureboy]

You are worse than Kirk. And that's not easy t'do. [ He mutters, handing over the bundle of books and pulling a chair up to Wash's bedside, canvas bundle in his lap. ] Seriously, how are you feel'n? Exhaustion brought on by magic ain't exactly somth'n I've run into before.

[unrecovered]

I try.

[He takes the books, stacking them neatly on the bedside table and scanning the titles. Why is there a dime store romance in there. He's desperate, but he's not that desperate. Yet.]

[He drops the sarcasm, because that will get him absolutely nowhere in this conversation.]

I'm fine. I recover quickly, and I've had a lot worse than this.

[panspermia]

[If there was one thing Greg had learned while living with the guys, it was that the rest of them absolutely did not share his lifestyle of taking things as easy as possible. He didn't mind hanging around doing nothing for long stretches--it was how he liked things, really. Things around here were a tad more active than he was used to. Naturally, flipping things on Wash wouldn't be easy.

Greg peeked in, first, just to make sure Wash wasn't sleeping, before opening the door, a small case under one arm.]

Looks like I'm not interrupting much. You doin' okay?

[unrecovered]

[As a rule, Wash didn't handle idling very well. Letting his guard down and his mind wander left him wide open for the pieces of Epsilon left in his brain to rush in and overwhelm him; focus and activity prevented that, for the most part. In that aspect, bed rest was not doing him any favors.]

[He looked up when footsteps started down the hall and had his eyes on the door when Greg opened it.]

If your definition of "okay" includes "terminal boredom," then yes.

What about you?

[panspermia]

Ahh, holding up well enough. R-and-R's my natural state of being, after all, hah.

[He pulls up a chair, and fixes Wash with a lopsided grin. Honestly, he's a little bit excited, and just a tad nervous.]

And, I've got something that'll cheer you up!

[unrecovered]

[At this point, anything is better than staring at the wall. Plus, it's Greg - it's either going to be thoughtful or entertaining or both.]

Okay?

[panspermia]

All right, check this out...!

[ He pops open the case, facing it away from Wash. Pausing a second for suspense, Greg's grin widens, and he holds out--]

Tum-ta-tum!

[It's a ukulele!!! ]

[unrecovered]

[It's a ukulele.]

[Why does Greg have a ukulele.]

It's...nice.

[Wash is fairly certain there's a point to all this; he just has no idea what it is.]

[raisethemoon]

[Luna's no fan of bed rest herself, and she knows perfectly well Washington won't be either. So she may or may not have just let herself in, because od the other people here even know about Wash's sparklehorse friend?]

Washington? I heard you had been injured.

[unrecovered]

[Wash definitely brightens up when Luna walks in the room. Boy, is she a sight for sore eyes.]

It's better than it looks.

[And he looks perfectly fine, if a little stir-crazy.]

[raisethemoon]

What happened?

[He does indeed look fine! Luna approaches to stand by the bed, giving him a closer once-over.]

[unrecovered]

[Okay yeah he's had more than enough of that over the past few days. He's fine. Seriously.]

I finally got my magic, and I overdid it and exhausted myself. I was fine after a day, but Bones still thinks I need bed rest.

[His tone should tell her exactly what he thinks of that decision.]

[raisethemoon]

Oh! That is all?

[Overchanneling isn't fun, but every young unicorn does it at least once. It's not a huge deal.]

Well, your body is unused to using magic. That may be prudent.

[raisethemoon]

What kind was it?

[unrecovered]

Is that all? Luna, I passed out in the middle of the street. That's not usual for me.

[...he's kind of missed that enthusiasm.]

Wind, evidently.

[jonesiseverywhere]

[So already Casey had a super-exhausting conversation with Bones recently so he might as well go for two while he still had the momentum. He's hanging around Wash's door psyching himself up. If Wash is still mad, he's still mad. Might as well get it over with.

Casey knocks, but he doesn't actually wait for an answer before coming in. He can guess Wash isn't asleep because he doesn't ever seem to sleep at all.]

Hey, dude! How're you holding up?

[unrecovered]

[Wash has been idly flipping through the shoddy excuse for a newspaper that Bones left for him. He heard Casey approach his door a full minute ago, and he's wondering when the kid will finally get up the courage to-]

[He smirks - just a little bit - at the knock. Yep, there it is. His expression is back to carefully blank as the door opens, and he puts the newspaper down as Casey comes in.]

I'm about ready to take a page out of your book and crawl out the window. [He nods at Casey.] What about you?

[jonesiseverywhere]

[Well, he's not pissed. And Wash tends to make it pretty obvious when he's pissed.]

Heh! I getcha. Just say the word and I'll run some interference on Bones. Got some repairs to do on my gear. Maybe I'll make like I'll stab myself with the screwdriver or somethin', make him wanna help out.

[He shuts the door behind him. It only kind of hurts to move right now, so his normal saunter is only a little forced. As is his casualness. Why is this kind of stuff so HARD?]

...Listen, Wash. Uh...

[unrecovered]

[Wash raises an eyebrow.]

I think you've been beaten up enough already.

[Never mind the absurdity of a teenage punk offering to help a special ops agent sneak out through a window.]

Thanks for the offer, though.

[Casey is obviously still injured. All the forced casualness in the world couldn't cover that up. For now, Wash just waits and listens.]

[jonesiseverywhere]

What, this? Nah, this is nothin'. I've come back from way worse.

[Someday Casey will figure out that saying stuff like that doesn't reassure anyone. At least this time he doesn't actually tell Wash the story of the time he was beaten up by a giant tiger and thrown off a building. That was worse.

...Ok, time to get this over with.]

...I'm sorry I snuck out without telling you.

[He pauses to see if Wash is receptive to an apology right now.]

[unrecovered]

[Wash blinks. Is that what he sounds like when he tells people that? No wonder people are always so worried about him. Lesson learned.]

That doesn't make you any less injured right now.

[There's a moment where Wash lets that sink in. He can't say he was expecting it, but it's not unwelcome.]

[And, well, he wasn't exactly perfect either, was he.]

And I'm sorry for yelling at you.

...you know we worry about you, right?