In A Hospital Bed

[Sylvana Li Britannia]

This is a thread that was on the original board prior to the move. I recently discovered that I had saved Ayame's, Tristan's, and Sylvana's posts. I have pieced them together and left blanks where other characters responded. You can get the basic idea of the thread from the three of them. Sorry I don't have the whole thing, but here you go!

[Sylvana Li Britannia]

Tristan gave a long, drawn-out sigh as he looked out the window. It was night-time now, the moon shining through the window and into the dark hospital room.

Earlier, the assassination attempt on Sylvana Li Britannia had ended without a Britannian casualty. The princess was safe and sound, Captain Izumi Kaoto managed to eliminate the sniper, and the base forces quickly quelled the small insurrection led by angry Elevens within the military's ranks. The only downside to their success however, came in the form of a sniper round piercing the shoulder of Tristan Leodegrance. Of course...that wasn't really notable for anyone other than Tristan, who suffered massive blood loss from the bullet wound during the time held up in the airship.

Captain Kaoto had rushed Tristan to the hospital ward to be treated, and the doctors did an excellent job tending to him. He was clearly exhausted, but he would be fine once his body recovered from the loss of blood. A sling would be necessary to prevent any chance of re-opening the wound or making it worse, but that was a small price to pay. Besides, it's not like Tristan was one to listen to doctors. He'd likely be running Knightmare drills with a few squads of pilots in a day or two, injured shoulder or not...

For now, however, he was resigned to the boredom of a hospital bed with only his own thoughts and the distant sounds of hospital staff shuffling around the halls outside.

~

[Natsumi]

~

"Odd..." he thought to himself, trying to get a good look at who it was, "Why would she say she's not a singer out of the blue like that?"

Of course, little did she know, the girl's cover-up wasn't entirely necessary. Tristan was always so involved with the Imperial court, his military career, and trying to keep up with tracking his family's actions within the Empire that he wouldn't have the faintest clue who she was, no matter how famous a singer she may have been.

"Have there...been any visitors for me?" the blue-eyed Britannian asked the 'nurse', hoping to hear from one of his staff regarding Sylvana's well-being or a status report after the base's internal fire-fight. Even in bed, he was concerned with managing his duty.

~

[Natsumi]

~

Ayame skated up to the front steps of the hospital, a large basket wrapped in cellophane, complete with curly ribbons, in her hands. Usually, Ayame would be speed skating wherever she was, but today she was going a normal pace. Which was excruciating for the speed demon. But, she had to suck it up because: a) the basket was almost the size of her, and blocked her view easily and b) it was dark. Ayame narrowed her eyes slightly, trying to see better. 'Times like this makes me wish I had night vision...’[/i] she thought to herself as she clicked in her wheels and trotted up the steps to the hospital, avoiding those leaving with relative ease. "Oops! Sorry! Girl with large basket coming through~" Ayame said, bowing her head slightly to each person she bumped into. They insisted it was their own fault.

Walking up to the counter, Ayame rested the basket on the table and peered behind to see a secretary pounding at the keys of her computer, hard at work.

"Ano..." The lady flashed Ayame an irritated glare....before realizing who she was. In a matter of half a second, Ayame had the woman's full attention.
"
"O-Oh! Hime-sama! H-How may I help you?" Ayame fought back the urge to roll her eyes.

"Hiya! Could you tell me which room Tristan-san is in?" The woman furrowed her eyebrows slightly.

"Tristan...? Oh! Leodegrance-san! Yes, um he's in...room...496." Ayame nodded her thanks before picking up the basket and heading over to the elevator. Pushing the 'up' button, Ayame tapped her feet slightly while she waited. And waited. And waited. She felt her eye twitch.

"Screw it." she muttered as she spun on her heel and sped walked to the stairwell. Then, taking two steps at a time, Ayame ran up to the 4th floor where Tristan was held. "496...496...aha!" She said as she found the said room. She flashed a quick glance at the name plate outside, making sure she was given the correct room. 'Yup. Captain Tristan Leodegrance.'[/i] She thought to herself as she knocked politely three times before entering, the large basket still blocking her view. "Yoo-hoo~ Captain-san? I come bearing a bundle of homemade chocolaty goodness~"

"aheeheheee, sorry, wrong room, i am nurse by the way, yep, no singer, nurse!" Ayame paused mid stride and peeked out from behind the large basket, an eyebrow shot up. She blinked slowly once at the lady and immediately took three steps back out of the door and peered at the name plate for a second time. Captain Tristan Leodegrace. Ayame blinked again. Ok...clearly she had the correct room...but who in heaven's name...were all nurses like this? She mentally shrugged. Meh. Hell if she knew. Reentering the room, Ayame walked up to Tristan's bed and placed the large basket by his bedside with a huff. She then turned to look at the wounded man and bit her lip slightly. She was never good with formalities. “Um...hi. I uh...brought you some backed goods...as a thank you for uh...saving my nee-sama's ass the other day...” she started rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. “So uh...thanks, Tristan-san.”

~

"Your Highness...?" Tristan asked wearily, a bit surprised to see the young lady come to visit him. Struggling a bit to sit up and look more presentable in front of an Imperial princess, the blue-eyed Captain forced his right hand over his heart and leaned forward in a haggard attempt at bowing. His shoulder was searing in pain, but you wouldn't be able to tell from how well the young man was hiding it.

Sitting back in bed, Tristan explained, "There's...no need to thank me, Princess Ayame. It was my duty to protect...your sister."

He was never one to be very good at accepting thanks, just as he never did things with the prospect of thanks in mind. It was flattering that a princess would visit him in the hospital in regards to his efforts to keep the First Princess safe, though.

Remembering the odd nurse, Tristan could only wonder what conclusions Ayame could be drawing about the...erm...casually-dressed young 'nurse'. Hopefully, she would know better than to jump to any inappropriate conclusions. Tristan was, after all, a professional and detached man. Such affairs weren't his place of business.

Then the 'nurse' said his mother had been by to visit. Unfortunately for the pretender, Tristan's mother had passed away six years prior giving birth to his youngest brother. Somewhat of a low blow to the already-wounded man, though he knew that the girl wasn't aware of how bad her mistake was.

Instead of speaking out, he preferred to wait and see why exactly she was posing as a nurse. Perhaps it was an assassin from the Chinese Federation. Not a bad idea, and definitely not far-fetched. Sending a pretty young girl to do the job was certainly an effective method, if Tristan were susceptible to such dirty thoughts. However, it was just as likely the girl was lost and embarrassed...

Slowly, he grabbed the knife from the tray of food that had been sitting for quite some time next to his bed. He hadn't been hungry, but the knife would be useful if the girl made any attack toward the princess...

~

For a princess that hated being protected, Sylvana had spent most of the afternoon worrying about the one who had protected her. The rest of her afternoon was spent on wondering if she was annoyed with or worried about the Lieutenant. Needless to say very little progress had been made on the plans that Sylvana had been attempting to finish. Soldiers got hurt that was a fact of war. Tristan wasn't even the first to get wounded in her place. Despite Vana’s dislike of a personal guard, she had had them before, and acknowledged that she would have many more. It was the unfortunate side effect of having an older brother just like it was the unfortunate side effect for Ayame and Guardinia that she was their elder sister.

The Lieutenant had been doing his job, and Sylvana fully understood that. She would never fault him for it, but never before had she been that concerned. It was the source of her current annoyance, and for a while she had attempted to direct it at Tristan. The princess had eventually dismissed it. It was hardly his fault that he was shot, and he hadn’t gotten himself wounded intentionally. Annoyance and irritation would be justified if he had pushed her aside and taken the bullet. Considering how it had happened, Vana couldn’t be upset with him.

That left her with worry. Worry and concern were reserved for family members and more specifically her younger siblings. It wasn’t something she felt for soldiers, at least not this much. She, of course, didn’t feel nothing when something happened, but she didn’t dwell on it. Not this much! Not enough that it interfered with her life. Not even when it was a guard that had been wounded. And there was nothing to be worried about in the first place. Izumi had taken him to get treatment, and while Sylvana didn’t like him as a person, she didn’t doubt that he would get him to the hospital. Nothing merited her concern at all.

Vana sighed softly. When it came down to it though, it didn’t matter why it bothered her, it just mattered that it did. Something was different, and Vana had decided that that something was Tristan. She wouldn’t be satisfied until she saw for herself that he was doing well. That didn’t, however, mean that she wanted to risk losing his faith in her. She wasn’t entirely sure what his actual opinion of her was, but she was content to keep it as it was, so she waited. He didn’t need to be awake for her to check on him.

The moon was steadily climbing in the sky when Sylvana headed to the hospital. She got directions to Tristan’s room, but the receptionist didn’t seem nearly as surprised to see her as she’d expected. Not that she was complaining, but it was odd. Sylvana didn’t pay it much attention, however, and just took the elevator up to the floor Tristan was on. When she got near to the door, however, she stopped. Two out of three of the voices she heard from inside the room she recognized, and Sylvana knew why the girl at the desk hadn’t been surprised to see her. Ayame was already here. Vana didn’t know why her sister had come, but she had long ago stopped trying to find logic in Ayame’s actions. It was a sense that only she understood. Vana could never hope to comprehend it.

The other voice was Tristan’s which meant that he wasn’t asleep as she’d hoped. Leaning against the wall beside the door to his room, Sylvana stayed out of sight as she seriously considered going back. If he was talking, he was fine. Right? Despite the sense that logic made, Vana couldn’t bring herself to actually start walking again.

~

Ayame gritted her teeth at Tristan's reaction and physically held her hands down in prevention from lashing out at him. She tried to take deep breaths, in an attempt to calm herself down. 'No Ayame...he's injured...you cannot go and beat him with sticks...breathe..'[/i] For the most part it worked. 'Most part' being key words. Ayame snapped her eyes at Tristan.

"Listen here, ya dumbutt. Quit it with the damn formalities. You're the injured one here, you're the one who saved Nee-sama's ass. I came here to see a injured person in a freaking hospital, not some noble at a ball! So shove up your bloody military pride and just accept my thanks, got it?!" She hissed as she glared menacingly. She hated this...when people would forget about their own wounds just because she was a bloody royal. Vexed her to no end. Reaching down, Ayame picked up the basket and opened it, to reveal an array of brownies and cookies, the scent of chocolate filling the room. "Now...you are going to be a good patient and relax and let the nurses here pamper you..." she pushed him back with one hand, gently shoving him back into the pillows. "...and you're gonna forget about being a captain, or a guard or anything like that and you're gonna give me that knife you're holding...." she said as she took the knife from his hand and placed it on the table beside him. "..and you're gonna eat these wondrous cookies I made and praise me for their divine taste." she said as she took a cookie and stuffed it into his mouth. As she did so, her eyes glanced to the right, an eyebrow shooting upwards. Was that..?

Slowly a grin formed on her face. "....oy, Sylvie-nee-sama....how long do you plan on standing out there? Come in and eat some cookies and help me knock some common sense into this Captain."

~

[Natsumi]

~

Tristan's weary eyes grew slightly larger when Ayame mentioned Sylvana's name.

"Her Highness?! Here?!"[/i] the injured officer thought to himself. Quickly, he edged himself against the back of his hospital bed and sat up in a horrible attempt at looking more presentable than a beaten soldier lying defeated in bed. He was living proof that you could take the noble from his palace, but his sense of pride would remain in any setting.

Tristan remained completely silent, nervous at what this would mean. Was she here to scold him? Or possibly even demote him?

Tristan ate the cookie Ayame had shoved in his mouth, somewhat accepting despite the young lady's forceful offering. He hadn't eaten all day, and even a cookie seemed better than nothing. As odd as Ayame was, Tristan liked her. She was true in the very sense of the word: open, honest, and uninhibited. Her smashing a cookie in his mouth didn't help, but it was something easily forgiven. Then there was her older sister...

~

The first princess leaned her head back against the wall as she listened to Ayame’s voice from inside the room. She couldn’t help but smile as her sister scolded Tristan, and that smile only warmed the more she listened. Was that why Ayame had come? To thank him? And she even baked him cookies? Sylvana was content to listen to their conversation for a while longer. She didn’t exactly like the fact that she was essentially eavesdropping, but she didn’t particularly want to join them in the room. At least not with the girl whose voice Vana didn’t recognize.

The smile Sylvana had, however, quickly disappeared a few minutes later when Ayame called to her. ‘Ayame…’[/i] Sylvana muttered mentally. Couldn’t even let her pretend she was never here, could she? Sylvana didn’t come in right away though. For a while she continued to debate about leaving again, but a short while later the door slammed open. The voice that Sylvana didn’t recognize apparently belonged to a young girl who apparently lacked any appreciation for what time it was considering that after she threw opened the door she shouted loud enough to quite possibly wake the dead or at the very least any other patients that were attempting to sleep.

Blue eyes narrowed slightly on the girl. She still didn’t know her. She certainly wasn’t a nurse. Maybe a girlfriend? Either way, Sylvana was left with saying she was just here to pick up Ayame or to go in. At this point neither option was more appealing since Sylvana was willing to bet Ayame had some wonderful way in mind to catch her in the lie, so with a small sigh, Sylvana pushed off the wall and walked into the room.

Sylvana had never liked hospitals much, partially due to the fact that she had watched her mother slowly die in one when she was younger. They had finally requested that she be moved back to the palace to be more comfortable, but Vana had spent enough hours in the hospital to develop a strong dislike of the bleach white walls, ceilings, floors. Everything in general looked very cold and uninviting, and she remembered that it had made her mother look even frailer. It had a similar effect on Tristan, and Sylvana hated it. He looked tired, pale, and weak. While she was sure he might indeed feel those things, and it was to be expected, Sylvana knew the room made it so much worse.

“Ayame, we will not be knocking sense into anyone. Least of all him.” Sylvana said quietly to her sister. Both her tone and volume were soft out of respect for where they were. “How are you feeling?” She asked Tristan.

~

"I'm...quite alright, your Highness. Thank you for your concern. The wound isn't too bad, it's just that for some time, it had the tendency to bleed. A lot..." Tristan replied, managing a weak smile. The fingers of his left hand rose to the bandages covering his right shoulder. The hospital staff had done an excellent job in seeing to the bullet wound, and the bandages were immaculately wrapped over the wound. It was apparent that they took great care when treating Tristan.

"All things considered, milady, the time spent holed up in your ship and the time it took to get to the hospital ward did more damage than the bullet itself. I was in no danger of dying, so I must apologize for not completing my duty as your escort into the base. I'm...usually not so weak..." the man with blue eyes explained. It was pretty clear that Tristan wasn't entirely joking with his apology for not escorting Sylvana further. As both he and - very likely - Sylvana could assume, if he hadn't been taken down to the point of unconsciousness, he would've been rather adamant about completing his duty to escort the princess inside the base.

Sometimes, the most admirable of Tristan's qualities were the most annoying - his disregard for his own well-being usually being the most prominent.

~

Ayame stared at the door for a few moments, cookie in mouth, head tilted to the side. What the hell was taking Sylvana so long? Ayame was certain that she was out there...she felt it. Ok, so it may sound a tad bit strange to most, but Ayame had a weird sort of sixth sense when it came to these things. One of her many traits that classified her as 'weird.' She was about to get up and drag her sister in herself when something caught the corner of her eye. Whipping her head around, Ayame blinked in surprise as she saw the 'nurse' standing there, hands behind her back. Ayame frowned slightly. 'I could have sworn- ’

Another rustle of sound caused Ayame to turn her attention back to the wounded man at the bed. Ugh. One word about his beloved princess, and he goes to try to kill himself further. Typical. Ayame rolled her eyes. "I thought I told you already. Sit. Back." She said through gritted teeth and she gently yet firmly pushed Tristan back against the pillows. "Believe it or not Tristan-san, sick/wounded people are entitled to look like shit." She said, as blunt as a nail. She leaned back up, a hand on her hip, shaking her head at the Captain. "No one is going to hang ya for treason for looking like crap after saving the First Princess, okies? Here, have a cookie." Ayame said as she stuffed another cookie into his mouth, her glare daring him to protest. "It'll make you feel better. Eat."

“Ayame, we will not be knocking sense into anyone. Least of all him. How are you feeling?" Ayame whirled her head around to see her sister standing there, looking as professional as always. Ayame rolled her eyes. Honestly, people needed to learn when to loosen up! He just saved her sorry ass, for crying out loud! If saving one's butt didn't ease tension between two people, then what did!? She shook her head slightly before turning to Sylvana, a grin on her face.

"Hiya! Took ya long enough. Thought maybe I was going crazy for a moment. What took ya, got lost or some-

Ayame paused mid talk and her eyes flashed back to Tristan's. And back again to Sylvana's. A grin itched the corners of her mouth. Oh, this was becoming too cute....she might have to start teasing her if this kept up. But Ayame, as conscientious as always (insert snort here), refrained from laughing out loud. Instead, she just smiled widely at Sylvana and held out a cookie to her. "Cookie? It's your favorite: chocolate." She waved it in front of Sylvana's face, her smile still there. "complete with rasberry filling~"

~

[Natsumi - Exit]

~

A heavy sigh left Sylvana’s lips at Ayame’s chipper-ness when she finally entered the room, and it took an extremely large amount of self control to refrain from commenting on Ayame’s sanity… or rather lack thereof. Not that Sylvana honestly thought her dear little sister was crazy, but there were days that she was extremely good at pretending she was. That or Ayame was very good at having fun. It was a fine line sometimes, and it was one Vana had backed away from a long time ago. Considering what time it was, however, Sylvana lacked the energy to process so much of Ayame’s cheerful disposition, and she looked back to Tristan.

It was a relief to hear that he was doing better and had been treated well. She offered him a small smile and refrained from checking him over for herself as she would with her siblings. Sylvana would have to trust the doctors for now, and take Tristan’s word, although she should probably take that with a grain of salt. If nothing else they both shared a notable lack of concern for personal wellbeing. As the man continued talking however, Sylvana’s smile disappeared, and she slowly shook her head. “Stop it.” She told him. “I hardly consider your actions a display of weakness, and I never asked for an escort in the first place, so it is not to me that you should apologize.” Sylvana paused, but it occurred to her that Tristan was the type to mention something to her brother, so she continued quickly. “Not that there is anything to apologize for! However, if you are so adamant in doing your duty then I advise you to remain in bed for as long as the doctors deem necessary. I would hate to have you at anything less than your best.” Sylvana informed him with another slight smile to soften her remarks thinking her initial tone had been a bit too harsh.

The first princess looked over her shoulder as the girl ran from the room, and Sylvana’s blue eyes narrowed a bit. She was still cautious of the girl. Her behavior didn’t exactly confirm Sylvana’s assumption that she was Tristan’s girlfriend, but she certainly wasn’t a nurse, although the girl seemed to want them to think that. Sylvana was unable to contemplate her presence any further though because Ayame chose that moment to taunt her with chocolate cookies. The first princess was quick to turn her head away in refusal. “Why would I want that?” She asked stubbornly as her hand came up to tuck some hair behind her ear. It remained there, toying with the ends of her blonde hair as she attempted to convince both Ayame and herself that she didn’t want the cookie, even though she was sure it would be delicious.

“complete with raspberry filling~”

Vana was quick to snatch the cookie from her sister’s hand at that, but she kept her head turned away as she started to eat it, slowly so she could really enjoy it. “Stop smiling.” She muttered to her sister not likely that she was so easily manipulated.

~

Tristan was torn. On one hand, there was his natural need to leave the hospital. He hated being in them. Though the strong-willed young man wasn't afraid of much, he hated needles - and hospitals had plenty of them. As well, he viewed hospitals as places of sadness and loss. Not a place he liked to stay longer than he had to.

However, on the other hand, her Highness asked him to stay in bed until the doctors deemed him ready to be discharged. Though not a direct order, it was her wish that Tristan remain in bed. Still, that was enough for him. Her Majesty's wishes would be treated with the same determination as if they were orders. That said, he would abandon his childish plan to walk out of the hospital as soon as possible and stay as Sylvana wished.

"I'll take your advice to heart, then, your Highness," Tristan replied with a weak smile, "I don't suppose I'll be much use like this, anyway. I'll simply have my desk work redirected to my room here."

The blue-eyed officer sighed. A rebel organization had just been reborn and a century-old enemy of the Empire had been resurrected before Tristan's very eyes. Not long after that, an assassin attempted to take the life of the First Princess. The whole world seemed on the verge of falling apart, and there was no sense of order anymore. Tristan wasn't a king, or an emperor...but if doing desk work from a hospital bed was the extent of his ability to help the Empire bring order back to the world, then so be it...

~

Ayame sat at the edge of Tristan’s bed, her feet dangling, occasionally reaching next to her to pull a cookie from the large basket beside her. Ok, sure she had made them for Wounded-san here and all, but judging from his stubborn nature, Ayame highly doubted the man would eat any….and so she simply couldn’t just let her precious babies go to waste, now could she?

She snickered slightly as Sylvana at first refused the cookie, only to accept it seconds later when she mentioned the filling. Chocolate shell + Rasberry filling = Sylvana’s ultimate guilty pleasure.

“Stop smiling.” Ayame put on a surprised look, holding one hand to her chest, a ‘Who? Me? Never.’ Look on her face. The perfect image of innocence. One would have to be an idiot to believe it.

She had to fight back several eyerolls and snorts as she quietly observed the interaction between her sister and the Captain. Seriously…the interaction…hysteria in human format. Practically soap opera worthy. She made a mental note to have a camera on her at all times from now on. "I don't suppose I'll be much use like this, anyway. I'll simply have my desk work redirected to my room here." She couldn’t hold back the eyeroll this time. Ugh… the stupidity of some people…

Turning to give the blue eyed Captain one of her signature ‘you-are-a-dumbass’ looks, Ayame reached into the basket of cookies and randomly plucked one out and stuffed it in his mouth.

“Sick people shouldn’t talk.” She said bluntly, her eyes giving him a dry look. Leaning back, she folded her arms, a disapproving frown on her face. “Sick people shouldn’t be thinking about work…they should be focusing on getting better. They shouldn’t talk about their ‘duty’ or ‘their obligations’ or any of that crap. They should shut up and just relax and eat cookies while watching reruns of oldies…talking crap about having to get back to work ASAP doesn’t make the visitors feel any better ya know…” She crinkled her nose slightly in what she hoped resembled that of a sneer. “rather, it’s kinda annoying.”

She knew that she was being overly blunt. She knew that odds were she was going to get one hell of a verbal beating from Sylvie later. She knew that her etiquette teacher would beat her with many smiting sticks if she ever got whiff of this. She knew all that. Yet, she said it anyway…it was for the dude’s own good. Tristan was someone dear to Sylvana, that much was obvious. As for how dear, well that that was another story…fact was the dude had earned a little bonus in her elder sister’s heart. And having someone Sylvana considered dear kill themselves over something as stupid as pride...was unacceptable.

So, in Ayame’s mind, if it took an overly blunt snot nosed brat to make him bloody relax and recuperate, she would take the role. Sure it was completely out of her normal character and all, but hey! Someone had to do it, no? Besides, the chances of Sylvana doing something so unprofessional? The chances of Ayame willingly wearing a dress were higher.

~

Ayame was making a hardly sincere attempt at looking innocent. As dear as she was to Sylvana, ‘innocent’ was not one of the first adjectives that came to mind when the first princess thought of her. Nia perhaps, but not Ayame. The first princess gave her sister a sidelong doubtful look, but didn’t give it any more consideration than that, for it would have required taking more time away from enjoying her cookie. Sylvana was convinced by now that Ayame had planned the whole thing. She’d known that Vana would come and when, so she’d baked the cookies just to bait her with. She didn’t know how (or why), but it certainly wouldn’t have surprised her.

Unfortunately, Sylvana soon finished her cookie, and she offered Tristan an approving smile once all remnants of raspberry filling had been licked off her fingers. The princess only sighed and shook her head a moment later as Ayame started to lecture the Captain about the typical practices of ‘sick people.’ None of these included work or even talk of work. Sylvana knew when she was being compromised with, though, and she was quick to come to Tristan’s defense. “Ayame, you of all people to understand a compromise.” She said with an amused smile. “He would rather be out of bed working, and you would rather him be in bed doing nothing. I’m willing to compromise that he can do paperwork from bed instead. Although, that paperwork will not be arriving tomorrow.” Sylvana commented as she glanced at Tristan. He was going to get a full day’s rest first before he even looked at a single word. “It’s the same as you agreeing to wear a dress in order to get out of etiquette lessons.” She continued as she looked back to her sister. Chocolate and raspberry were guaranteed to put her in a better mood, at least for a bit. “Of course if you insist on no compromising, I’m sure I could arrange for you to have a lovely pink, lacey dress for the wedding.” The first princess added.

~

Tristan smiled. So, it was true. The young princess Ayame hated wearing dresses. It wasn't much of a surprise, really, but it was amusing to hear Sylvana joke about it. The royal princesses were looking more human as they interacted with each other, putting that notion of 'immortal royalty' aside. While they were the leaders of the Empire, they were still - in fact - human beings, with quirks, likes, dislikes, and strange mannerisms. It was...nice, all things considered. The young Leodegrance had always served their family, but there was a sense of distance caused by the universal belief in the subconscious of the Britannian Empire that the royal family was beyond human.

It was nice to see the sisters acting like sisters, putting the etiquette aside and feeling comfortable being themselves in front of Tristan. Though he wasn't going to say anything, he felt at home with them around, even in the dark hospital room.

A young dispatch officer approached alongside a nurse, waiting outside as the nurse entered to hand Tristan a letter. "The soldier outside came to deliver a letter for you, sir," the nurse explained with a polite smile, bowing to both princesses before taking her leave. After the letter was delivered the nurse and officer walked off as quickly as they had come.

Tristan's eyes viewed the envelope, his brow furrowed with concern. He was very expectant of more bad news, considering the recent chain of events. As he opened it however, his look changed from concern to surprise. With one eyebrow raised, he explained, "In light of my recent outstanding service to the Empire, I've been promoted to the rank of Captain in the Holy Britannian Empire's forces."

Tossing the envelope and letter on the stand by his bed, Tristan looked at the First Princess and with a pleading expression, he asked, "Not even paperwork, your highness?"

~

Ayame glared at Tristan hard. “Don’t make me use the Princess card…” her glare became more menacing.

“Because you know I will.”

Ayame continued to glare at Tristan, her ‘I dare you to disagree with me’ look still ever present. Honestly, she couldn’t understand the mentality of some people. Sure, she knew some people were devoted to the Imperial Family, some genuinely, others not so. Ayame was more than sure that Tristan was one of those who was of them genuine ones. She knew that he took the bullet for Sylvana, not because he wanted a promotion, but because he sincerely felt it was his duty…she knew that. But there was a limit to loyalty. And for some reason this idiot of a soldier couldn’t see the line. Which was annoying. Incredibly annoying.

“Ayame, you of all people to understand a compromise.” Ayame glanced over at her elder sister, her arms stubbornly folded across her chest. “He would rather be out of bed working, and you would rather him be in bed doing nothing. I’m willing to compromise that he can do paperwork from bed instead. Although, that paperwork will not be arriving tomorrow.” Ayame rolled her eyes dramatically and snorted loudly. Please. As if one day of full rest was enough…she was the daredevil of the family…she knew how long it took one to recuperate. And one day was not enough, solider or not.

She opened her mouth to protest but was cut off by Sylvana’s next words. “Of course if you insist on no compromising, I’m sure I could arrange for you to have a lovely pink, lacey dress for the wedding.” Immediately, her face paled several tones whiter, her healthy tanned skin becoming one of the Corpse Bride. She wouldn’t. She couldn’t. That went beyond the lines of teasing…that was just…torture! Ayame snapped her eyes back to Tristan as she saw his mouth quirk into a smile. Her eyes narrowed. So. He was taking pleasure in this, was he? “It’s not funny.” She muttered through gritted teeth. It always baffled her…for some odd reason, everyone seemed to take pleasure in her misery. It was as if she was some monkey that could dance the hula…never ceased to amaze her. She opened her mouth a second time to snap back at Sylvana when a nurse came in and delivered Tristan a letter.

“In light of my recent outstanding service to the Empire, I've been promoted to the rank of Captain in the Holy Britannian Empire's forces." Ayame’s eyebrow shot up. Ah. The reward. Figured he get one…he did save the First Princess, after all. It was an act that deserved recognition. "Not even paperwork, your highness?" Ayame turned to glare at Tristan and a low growl could be heard from her throat.

“Shut. The Hell. Up.” She said through gritted teeth as she waved another cookie menacingly. “Don’t make me force your voice box shut.” She waved the cookie in emphasis. “Listen here, Wounded-san…you are going to stop fretting about your work. This is why you have subordinates. They’re paid to take care of this sort of thing.” She said, her tone trying to be as calm as possible. “You are going to just relax and bask in your new Captain glory, alright? You won’t look at a single bloody work related thing for…” Her eyes flashed back to Sylvana’s. “..a week. Then you can swim in all the paperwork you would like and barricade yourself in your office for as long as your heart contents.” She adjusted herself on his bed so that she was sitting crosslegged. “Should I see you even attempt to do something before that, I swear I will personally see to it that you have no choice but to be in rehab.” She glanced back at Sylvana and raised an eyebrow. “I still say he needs three weeks recovery. But if you don’t mind him working himself to the point he bleeds to death, then that’s cool with me.” She said bluntly. “So. Do we have a deal? One week for no pink frills.”

~

As the nurse entered the room with a letter for Tristan, Sylvana’s hand found its way back to her hip in an attempt to regain her professional appearance, although she hadn’t given it a though when her hand had moved earlier. “Congratulations, Captain.” She told him when Tristan informed her and Ayame of his promotion. While Sylvana wasn’t exactly glad that his promotion had come as a seemingly direct result of protecting her, she wasn’t opposed to his new position at all. And at least he had gotten something more out of the ordeal than just a bullet to the shoulder.

The hand remained on her hip even after the nurse left the room, but Sylvana’s eyes softened a bit on her sister. She hadn’t meant to upset her with the comment, but the first princess should know better than to tease her. A slight smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as Ayame began lecturing Tristan again. As amusing as the sight was, Ayame had a point, and Sylvana wasn’t exactly eager to let the Captain return to duties even if that duty was just paperwork. She had just told him that the paperwork wouldn’t be arriving the following day. She hadn’t decided when she would find it appropriate to allow it to arrive. Since Sylvana thought that it was his wounded shoulder connected to his dominant hand, judging from how he switched the gun to his other hand earlier, she wasn’t opposed to Ayame’s suggestion of one week. She wouldn’t have been horribly opposed to three weeks, but she had a feeling that Tristan would. She would rather him stay in bed and rest for an agreed upon shorter period than have him get out too early because he disagreed with the determined length for his bed rest. “It would be rather hypocritical of me to put you in pink or frills, wouldn’t it, Ayame?” Sylvana asked, attempting to assure her than she hadn’t been entirely serious in her threat. “I’m agreeable to a week.”

~

"A...week?" Tristan repeated to himself in thought, finding it hard to imagine leaving his duties for an entire week. Sure, like Ayame said, he had subordinates to instruct and they could probably keep everything up until he returned to active duty, but...it wasn't the same. Tristan was the kind of commander who had his own methods, and his own way of being efficient. A lot of it was simply mannerisms and methods that couldn't be taught, and only he knew how they worked. That said, even if his staff could maintain without him for a week, they couldn't be expected to give the same results. That worried Tristan.

Still...a bargain had been made between the princesses, and Tristan would abide by them. If the royal sisters ordered him to remain in the hospital for a week, then remain he would. He'd just have to find some other things, that didn't have anything to do with work, to keep himself busy. For a young man who had nothing but his work, that would be hard to do.

"If that is your command, milady, I will abide..." the Captain concluded.

~

Ayame crinkled her nose slightly to Sylvana as the elder woman claimed that she was only joking about stuffing her like a peacock. How could she tell?! The woman was born with a freaking poker face for crying out loud! Sheesh…sure Ayame was weird when it came to hearing people approach when they were down the halls and sure she was known for her ‘chill spots’…but seriously. She wasn’t a freaking mind reader! She grumbled under her breath about how should they ever become broke, Sylvana should invest in the Poker industry.

But Sylvana had agreed to the one week’s rest. That was probably the most important thing right now. After all, if two members of the Imperial Family (one being the First Princess herself, the other being a complete psychopath) wanted him to be bed ridden for a week, then the noble Captain-san would have no choice but to comply now wouldn’t he~?

A unusually sweet smile graced Ayame’s mouth and a even more disturbing victorious chuckle emitted from her throat. Oh the perks of being a princess…


‘3….2….1…’

"If that is your command, milady, I will abide..." Cue compliance.

Ayame’s smile soon turned into a full blown out smirk as she grinned at Tristan, an aura of victory surrounding her. She knew it~ But the look on his face...complete emoness. Ayame sighed slightly to herself. He needed cheering up. Big time.


She unbent her legs and crawled over to where Tristan was lying and adjusted herself so that she was comfortably half-lying down beside the Captain, pulling her overly large basket of baked goods so that way it was between her feet and Tristan’s. She turned around to fluff up the pillow behind her and spoke. “C’mon Wounded-san…no need to look like something that walked out of a horror film…” once satisfied, she settled back into the pillow and turned her head to look at him, a wide smile on her face. “Consider this to be some sort of va-”

She cut herself off quickly. Perhaps ‘vacation’ was not the most appropriate term to use. “…valiant quest. Yes, a valiant quest where you must endure one full week without work.” She said, wracking her brain for more of an explanation. Improv: she sucked at it. “This is…a test to see how…loyal you are and….to see whether or not you are a man of your word…yea.” She said, her eyebrows furrowed slightly, her head bobbing back and forth in agreement to her own statement.

After a few seconds, Ayame quickly leaned over Tristan’s form to grab the remote controller from his side table, no regard for appearance’s sake whatsoever. After finding the object she sought, Ayame flopped back against the pillow next to Tristan and clicked the plasma TV on. “So…whose up for some comedy?” she said as she flipped through the many channels, the remote in her left hand while her right found its way to the basket and pulled out another brownie. Her clicking stopped a few seconds afterwards.

“ooh! I Love Lucy reruns!”

~

"Princess, please!" Tristan exclaimed, wrapping his blanket around his waist as he jumped up out of bed. For a man with a nice shoulder wound, he was rather agile in getting out of bed. Admittedly, after the initial jump out of bed, he was a little unsteady. Possibly due to lingering exhaustion or the effects of the blood loss. Then again, it could be the post-surgery painkillers...

"Your Highness, it's inexcusable for an officer of the Empire to lay in bed with a princess, no matter what the circumstance! This is a public place...what if someone were to walk in and get the wrong impression? I'd be discharged and you'd get in severe trouble with His Highness, your elder brother!" the blue-eyed man explained, looking rather upset. He knew it wasn't meant to be anything inappropriate, but an underage princess laying in bed with a twenty-six year old noble and officer of the Imperial military wouldn't exactly be kept quiet in any case. The media would devour the story and spread all kinds of slandering rumors and misconceptions...

~

The first princess gave an acknowledging nod to Tristan when the captain agreed to a week with no work, paper or otherwise. She much preferred him agreeing to their terms than her having to make it an official order. She had been fully prepared to do so, but it seemed like such a silly thing to have to order him to do. Not that she didn’t appreciate his devotion; she just found that it just made normally simple things occasionally more complicated. Sylvana was, however, curious how well he would keep to that agreement. Pleased though she was about Tristan’s inevitable albeit reluctant agreement, Sylvana didn’t share her sister’s outright joy and sense of victory.

As Ayame crawled up to lay beside the captain, Sylvana could acutely feel a headache forming, and gently started massaging her temple in a vain attempt to hold it off. To say her sister was a little informal would be greatly understating the obvious, but add her to the almost overly formal Tristan, and chaos was bound to ensue. What Sylvana couldn’t understand was why Ayame, who was already well aware of Tristan’s sense of formality, would even let the thought cross her mind to lie next to him in bed regardless of where they were or who they were with. In her sister’s defense, Sylvana doubted it had crossed her mind at all, but still… To put the captain in a position like that… Sylvana shared the captain’s sense of propriety, and was rather sympathetic to his predicament. “Ayame, how long do y—”

“Princess, please!” Too late. Cue chaos. “Your Highness, it's inexcusable for an officer of the Empire to lay in bed with a princess, no matter what the circumstance This is a public place...what if someone were to walk in and get the wrong impression? I'd be discharged and you'd get in severe trouble with His Highness, your elder brother!”

By now both hands were attempting to soothe away the headache with gentle circles at her temples. Giving up quickly, Sylvana looked first to Tristan, eyes and voice sympathetic of his plight. “Captain, please sit down.” She said gently. The last thing she wanted was the captain further injuring himself. “You are in no condition to be out of bed. And, Ayame, he’s right. Innocent or not it’s improper. You shouldn’t put him, or yourself, in that position.” As much as Sylvana sometimes envied Ayame’s carefree nature, a little restraint was necessary at times.

~

Ayame was roaring with laughter. On the screen, Lucy and Ethel were stuffing chocolates into their mouths in an attempt to not get caught. Tears were streaming down her face, her feet kicking slightly as she slapped her knee in just sheer amusement. Oh, how she loved this episode…one of her favorites. Ayame snuggled back into the pillow, still in half sitting half lying position, and reached into her messenger bag and pulled out a bottle of water. She had one too many choco-filled cookies…was making her thirsty.

"Princess, please!"

“Mmh?” Ayame said, bottle in mouth, as she turned her head to her right. Immediately her eyebrow shot up, a ‘wtf mate?’ look on her face. What the hell was wrong with Wounded-san over here? Why did he just jump out as if something had just bitten him in the derriere? Ayame blinked, confusion evident on her face.

"Your Highness, it's inexcusable for an officer of the Empire to lay in bed with a princess, no matter what the circumstance! This is a public place...what if someone were to walk in and get the wrong impression? I'd be discharged and you'd get in severe trouble with His Highness, your elder brother!" Ayame blinked again. But this time, it was a dry one. Eh? Was this man serious? Sheesh…and here she was thinking that Wounded-san was having spontaneous convulsions…

Ayame rolled her eyes. As if she cared what society thought. Besides, it wasn’t as if she was actually doing anything scandalous…all she had done was sit next to a friend. Who just happened to be a male. Big deal. If Alastair got whiff of this, Ayame knew that if he was told the full story, then all would be good…people knew her better than that. Tristan wouldn’t be demoted…Ayame wouldn’t allow it. Anyways, she was being a comfort cushion for some baka of a captain in a hospital for crying out loud! Not holding hands and frolicking through the patches of daisies with some druggie! In her eyes, she didn’t see anything wrong with what she had done.

Ayame blinked at the Captain, who still looked horror stricken and rolled her eyes again. What the hell was he thinking jumping out of bed like that, anyways? Did he want to make his wound larger?

“Captain, please sit down. You are in no condition to be out of bed. And, Ayame, he’s right. Innocent or not it’s improper. You shouldn’t put him, or yourself, in that position.” Oho~ So she defends Noble-san does she? Ayame felt her mouth twitch slightly in both amusement and in slight annoyance. Amusement because it was Tristan who she was defending and annoyance because, well…because she didn’t see Ayame’s point of view. Folding her arms, Ayame sighed loudly.

“Oy. I thought you wanted to leave the hospital… baka. Getting up like that ain’t gonna speed up the recovery process, I promise ya.” Ayame said, looking intensely at the television screen. Lucy and Ethel were doing one of their infamous dance duets. Complete with feathers and surprised yells in Spanish from Ricky.

“Don’t you think you’re both overreacting just a tad bit? I mean, I don’t see the harm in watching slapstick comedy. God knows Wounded-san over here needs some brightening up.” She said, tilting her head slightly in Tristan’s direction. A few seconds passed and Ayame finally sighed dejectedly. “Fiiinnee…I’ll move, I’ll move. Now will you kindly sit your wounded ass back down?” Ayame grumbled as she crawled over to the edge of the bed, sitting cross-legged, leaning over the bars as she continued to watch the television screen, taking a sip from her bottle occasionally.

“…you ought to do something about that serious 24/7 nature of yours dude. It’s cool when face calls for it, but when you feel the need to be all noble when you recovering from a bloody bullet wound…that’s the sign when we call the men in the white coats. I’ve said this before, but no one’s gonna hang ya for not being fully up to par…” Ayame said, her eyes focused directly on the screen. She didn’t understand why Tristan was so persistent when it came to being the ideal proper solder…baffled her. She also failed to see why he and Sylvana were so iffy about her chillaxing next to said Captain. Sure, she could see the problem if she was clinging to him, at say, a ball. But they were in a freaking hospital! Weren’t people supposed to be comfort pillows to those injured?

Ayame furrowed her eyebrows slightly. But then again…maybe Tristan, as a person, just didn’t like close contact. She bit her lip slightly as she felt a familiar twinge in her stomach. Crap. Cue guilt trap. Sighing slightly, Ayame took another swing from her bottle, determined to keep her focus on the television.

“…but if you just don’t feel comfy with having some royal offspring sitting next to ya, then that’s cool too. Sorry for invading your personal air bubble.”

~

Tristan sighed, feeling a little awkward at the scene. He was only thinking of their reputation and standing. As Ayame said, it wasn't likely her brother would make assumptions or grow angry over the incident. Still, the response from the Emperor would be nothing compared to the response from the people of the Empire...the rumor-hungry masses who would revel in the 'scandal' that would likely be conjured up by the media. He only wanted to prevent any disgrace or shame to the royal family, but apparently, he had offended Ayame.

"No, it's...it's not that, your Highness," the Captain responded, "It's just that I don't want any of this to cause an uproar. I apologize. Perhaps I am a bit too used to my place in Pendragon. Twenty years of being raised and taught to be the heir to a Grand Duke and act accordingly, and here I am jumping out of a hospital bed and causing a scene because a princess wanted to lay down and watch TV..."

The blue-eyed officer tiredly ran a hand through his hair, looking rather exhausted - both physically and mentally. Tristan knew Ayame was right. He would have to grow out of his trained behavior and stop acting like a brainwashed servant and more like a human being. He wasn't his father...he was an individual with feelings, desires, and most of all...well, humanity itself. If the princess wanted to treat him like a friend and allow a casual setting, then he was out of line for denying her that.

Giving a salute, Tristan gave a weak smile and jokingly acted as if he were receiving an order. "As you wish, I will try to be less serious all the time, your Highness," he promised Ayame, "I apologize..."

~

“Fiiinnee…I’ll move, I’ll move. Now will you kindly sit your wounded ass back down?”

The first princess gave an approving nod and offered Ayame a small smile when she moved back to the end of the bed. It made Sylvana more comfortable to not have to worry about a negative outcome of Ayame’s attempt at comforting the captain. She hadn’t been in Area 11 long enough to know the current state of affairs. She knew the ins and outs of Britannia. She knew areas where secrecy could be trusted and areas it was likely to be compromised, but here… With the Black Knights around, Sylvana wasn’t willing to take any sort of a chance until she knew the area better. Until she discovered otherwise she trusted her family and only those soldiers she knew.

"No, it's...it's not that, your Highness. It's just that I don't want any of this to cause an uproar. I apologize. Perhaps I am a bit too used to my place in Pendragon. Twenty years of being raised and taught to be the heir to a Grand Duke and act accordingly, and here I am jumping out of a hospital bed and causing a scene because a princess wanted to lay down and watch TV..."

A mirthless smile curved Vana’s lips at that. There was something to be said for one’s upbringing and the effect it can have on one’s personality. Although not raised as the heir herself, Sylvana could certainly relate to Tristan on that level, and that was precisely why she could never fault him for his constant formality. She may not like it all the time, but she understood it. From him at least, it was okay. Ayame seemed to understand that a bit. At least she seemed to understand that not everyone was as comfortable with close contact as she was. The captain, as he said himself, apparently wasn’t one of those people, but they existed. Sylvana would put herself in that category outside of family only gatherings.

"As you wish, I will try to be less serious all the time, your Highness. I apologize..."

Some mirth returned to Sylvana’s smile at that. He was willing to humor Ayame, but that didn’t stop her from crossing her arms over her chest. Tristan was still standing, and she counted slowly in her head. He got until 10. “Wonderful. Now, Captain, if you do not lie back down on that bed, I will make you do so myself.” She informed him. “I would rather not have to make it an order.”

[Sylvana Li Britannia]

~

Ayame was still sitting crosslegged by the foot of the bed, resting her chin in her hands, water bottle hanging out of her mouth. Her eyes were glued to the television, yet nothing was registering. She hadn’t been focusing for the past 15 minutes. Not that it mattered or anything, she had this episode memorized backwards and forwards. In five languages to boot (she was currently working on her sixth, Aramaic). Her mind was elsewhere, as it had a tendency to do. For a few minutes her mind fluttered to what the time was, to who that random ‘nurse’ had been. She certainly looked funky for a nurse, at least in Ayame’s opinion. Perhaps it was the Captain’s girlfriend? Ayame frowned at the thought. Wounded-san having some stranger for a girlfriend? The idea alone felt weird.

“No, it's...it's not that, your Highness," Ayame’s ears twitched slightly. His tone…she knew it anywhere…the bloody ‘I’m sorry for offending your royal highness’ tone. "It's just that I don't want any of this to cause an uproar. I apologize. Perhaps I am a bit too used to my place in Pendragon. Twenty years of being raised and taught to be the heir to a Grand Duke and act accordingly, and here I am jumping out of a hospital bed and causing a scene because a princess wanted to lay down and watch TV..." Golden eyes glanced to the side, yet her head remained straight. Yup. The apology. She sighed slightly. She supposed that maybe she ought to give the dude some more credit…after all, as he said, he did grow up in a pretty strict environment. It was only due to her mother’s death that Ayame turned out the way she did. "As you wish, I will try to be less serious all the time, your Highness, I apologize..." Ayame whirled her head around, ready to give him another verbal bash on how he should shut his trap and how he was being really hypocritical right now.

But she didn’t. She saw the look on his face, and saw that his salute was nothing more than a mocking one. Her mouth twitch in amusement. Oho~ So he was screwing with her mind, was he? She grinned widely.

“Wonderful. Now, Captain, if you do not lie back down on that bed, I will make you do so myself. I would rather not have to make it an order.” Ayame’s eyes flashed back to her sister’s and her grin grew wider, if that was even possible. Really…so freaking cute!

She got up so that she was standing fully on top of the bed and skip-hopped her way over to Tristan. Giving the blue-eyed Captain a cheeky grin, Ayame patted his head twice. “So he does have a sense of humor…I like it. Be funny more often.” She then reached down and grabbed his cheeks and gave them a gentle yet firm tug. “You’re pretty cool for a Captain, dude. Now be a cooler Captain and listen to your darling First Princess and sit your booty down, okies?”

Ayame remained grinning widely at Tristan, patting his head two more times just for kicks. ‘Ooh…fluffy…’[/i] she thought as her fingers patted the young Captain’s golden locks. ‘Almost as fluffy as Nia-neesama’s…’[/i] A sudden shiver ran down her spine as she felt the aura of death emit from behind her. Glancing cautiously behind her back, Ayame gulped slightly at the look Sylvana gave her. One of the top three things that scared Ayame to death: Angry Sylvie. Most scary.

~

Tristan's legs grew tired now that the sudden rush of adrenaline wore off and the excitement was all over. The exhaustion was kicking back in, reminding the Captain that he was - in fact - in the hospital for a good reason. A bullet hole from a high-powered sniper rifle and a prolonged loss of blood wasn't exactly a scratch. Besides, he was becoming more aware of the fact that he was covering himself with one of the smaller bedsheets. Awkward and inappropriate considering he was practically naked underneath.

"Yes...Princess..." Tristan obeyed, holding the sheet around his waist as he climbed back under the hospital bed's comforter. He couldn't really say much more, despite the fact he wanted to. His exhaustion was kicking in and he just wanted to get back in bed before he collapsed. Once in bed, he gave a tired smile and added, "No order necessary."

~

“So he does have a sense of humor…I like it. Be funny more often. You’re pretty cool for a Captain, dude. Now be a cooler Captain and listen to your darling First Princess and sit your booty down, okies?”

‘Ayame…’[/i] Sylvana growled mentally and shot her sister a warning look. The first princess didn’t appreciate the adjective that Ayame had so kindly attached to her title at all. It was one thing for Ayame to tease her with words like that, but to use them in reference to her when addressing someone else… Sylvana didn’t like that one bit. She understood that Ayame was happy about the captain’s attempt at humor, and she understood that she was teasing, but it took a considerable amount of effort on her part not to threaten her younger sister with the most girly things imaginable.

"Yes...Princess... No order necessary."

The first princess had taken a step toward the bed in case his stubbornness failed him before managing to get back into bed, but was pleased to see the captain lie back down under his own power. [color=00FFE0“Thank you.”[/color] Not expecting another interruption, both Sylvana’s tone and stance had softened since the nurse had come in with the promotion for the captain. For a few moments she let her eyes drift to the television screen Ayame had been amusing herself with, but eventually she focused her gaze on something beyond the window as her mind wandered to what had brought her here in the first place. Worry and concern were reserved for family members. The captain did not fall in that category, yet here she was in his hospital room well after assuring herself that he was being well taken care of. It was probably Ayame.

~

Ayame laughed nervously, her face slightly pale. Perhaps the whole ‘darling First Princess’ bit was too much…sure, Ayame had only meant it as a joke and all…but it seemed that Sylvana didn’t catch the funny part of it all. Ayame sighed slightly. ‘Why do I feel as if I’m gonna get a verbal bashing later?’ Ayame thought as she offered Sylvana a weak smile. ‘Maybe I should bake more raspberry-choco cookies when I get home…’ [/i]

"Yes...Princess...no order necessary." Ayame turned her attention back to Tristan. Immediately, her eyebrow shot up. Wow. ‘Crap’ was an understatement. Hell, even ‘shit’ wasn’t enough to describe how this man looked. The man looked beaten, both physically and mentally. She bit her lip slightly in worry. Perhaps her staying here wasn’t a good idea…after all she was loud, spastic, and overly hyper. Not exactly the best qualities for a person to have when visiting someone in a hospital.

But Ayame knew that if she voiced her opinions, odds were that the Captain would put on another one of his godforsaken ‘Model Solider’ looks and insist that her visit had caused him no harm, and how ‘honored’ he was to have ‘a member of the Imperial Family consider visiting someone as mediocre’ as himself. The idea alone made Ayame want to gag.

Well, at least the man had finally decided to sit down. Would have sucked major monkey ass if he collapsed while standing. ‘Though it would be a good chance for Sylvie-neesama to-”[/i]

She quickly shoved the idea out of her head. Sylvana had an uncanny tendency to be able to read Ayame’s plotting. Best not invite trouble. Sitting back down on the bed, Ayame reached over and grabbed another cookie from the basket and popped it into her mouth. For a few moments, silence fell upon the trio and Ayame began to twitch slightly. She hated silence. At least uncomfortable silence. Peace and quiet silence she liked. Uncomfy silence was what the name said: uncomfy.

Deciding that someone would have to break the ice, Ayame smiled slightly at Tristan. “So…what exactly happened? All I know is that you guys were with some dude (Izumi-san, I think) and that there were some idiots. Care to fill in the blanks?” She glanced at Sylvana. “Sensei says I should be more aware of what’s going on around me…apparently it is crucial for one to know every single detail in all of one’s sibling’s lives.” She shrugged slightly. “Sensei’s orders are law.”

Noticing the far away look in her elder sister's eyes, Ayame quirked an eyebrow. Crawling over to where Sylvana was standing, Ayame stood on her knees and tilted her head. Then, raising her left hand, Ayame began to wave it in front of Sylvana’s face, snapping her fingers occasionally. “Hello~ Earth to nee-sama! Come back to us nee-sama.” She turned to look at Tristan and shrugged her shoulders slightly. “I think we lost her.”

~

[Anderson]

~

A slight smile curved Vana’s lips as Ayame waved her hand in front of her face, but she didn’t turn her attention back to her sister, although she was tempted to smack her hand down. At her comment to Tristan, however, Sylvana turned a dry look on her sister and shook her head, but smiled slightly as she blinked back to reality. Any comment she had planned to give, however, was cut off when the door slammed into the wall. Sylvana whirled around quickly; her hand instantly sought the hilt of her rapier. She missed who had attempted to barge into the room as the door swung back again, but when the ‘doctor’ stepped into the room Sylvana only tightened her hand around her weapon.

Blue eyes narrowed in blatant distrust and Sylvana was quick to put herself between Anderson and the captain. Special doctor? Absolutely not. Not this man. Never. Whether or not that was really why Anderson had been sent here, wasn’t even the issue, although Sylvana was willing to bet that it wasn’t, or at least wasn’t the entire reason for his presence. Phillippe Anderson had earned himself a special degree of distrust with the First Princess. Sylvana wasn’t entirely sure what the man did, but something about him told her all she needed to know. The man was quite possibly the most egotistical person Sylvana had ever met, but that was the least of his faults. There was absolutely no way she was letting him anywhere near Tristan, especially not if he was planning on letting him out of bed before he was healed.

“Absolutely not, Anderson!” Sylvana yelled, shaking her head, letting her temper get the better of her. She had to force herself to release her hold on her rapier lest she allow herself to draw it on the man in sheer anger. No matter how much she hated Anderson, nothing would currently warrant her drawing her blade on an unarmed man. Nothing he’d done yet anyway. “You will not lay a hand on him. I don’t particularly care who sent you here to look after him. I won’t have it. I am contented that he is being treated well and being taken care of to my satisfaction. Your services are not required here, Doctor.” Sylvana managed not to entirely hiss the word. Sylvana would never allow Anderson to lay a hand on one of her sisters, and she certainly wasn’t going to let him anywhere near the man that had (whether she liked it or not) saved her life.

~

The mood in the room was made a bit more serious when the regal-looking man entered it. Whatever his name was, he claimed to be a special doctor sent from Pendragon. As well, he made a point to note Tristan's family in regards to his nobility. Not that it was a secret, but for a man looking like the doctor did to come in and use the information he did was interesting...especially since he said he came all the way from Pendragon just to see Tristan.

Though his offer to allow Tristan to return to active duty was intriguing, the blue-eyed Captain wasn't keen on the thought of surgery - no matter how small or insignificant. Being stuck in the hospital for 'at least' two weeks wasn't any more comforting. Regardless, the Captain was more concerned with the doctor himself than either of his offered outcomes.

"I am indeed Tristan Leodegrance, son of the Grand Duke. Was it he who sent you, Doctor...?" the young officer asked, trailing off in hopes the doctor would introduce himself by name.

~

[Anderson]

~

As the tension grew in the stand-off between Anderson and the First Princess, Tristan chimed in from his place in bed to say, "Erm...let's not be so set on surgery quite yet, Doctor Anderson."

Though Tristan was remarkably brave and steadfast in battle situations and almost impossible to unnerve, the idea of surgery wasn't exactly one he enjoyed. The rising tension between the First Princess and Anderson wasn't any relief. Sylvana was quickly, although it was strange for Tristan to think or admit to himself, becoming a person Tristan was interested in beyond his typical orders and duties to her brother. She seemed very similar, yet in many ways extremely different than Tristan...and it was intriguing. So for her to dislike the doctor this much was concerning.

He seemed like a decent enough guy, after all. All politeness and smiles. Then again, that was usually a strong front against what was underneath it all.

Regardless of who said what or who was who, Tristan really wasn't fond of the idea of surgery...

~

"It is quite nice to see you here in this particular day... but would you rather see him bedridden for two weeks simply out of your supposed hatred of me? Or would you see him up and running, and just as healthy as a horse?”

“I would rather him hospitalized for two months and be safe and sound than let you get within six feet of him.” Sylvana hissed. The doctor was already too close for comfort, but she stayed as she was between the two, not planning on letting him get any closer. It was conceivable that there was some truth to the doctor’s words, but Sylvana was not going to risk Tristan becoming a guinea pig for him in order to find out.

“Of course, there is always that alternative of you watching me perform surgery if it meant that much to you, Princess."

Sylvana was going to kill him. She was going to wring his neck, but she could strangle him with her bare hands and that arrogant smirk would still not leave his lips. This man would die smirking and laughing like he had planned the entire thing, but at the very least it would make Sylvana feel better for a while knowing it would be the last smirk and sarcastic remark that he would have at her expense. He wouldn’t be having any from beyond the grave, but with this man she couldn’t be entirely sure of that. Whether or not she would regret it later however, it was extremely appealing to her now, and Anderson was asking for it.

The First Princess had taken a step forward with that or similar intentions, but Tristan’s voice stopped her. He was refusing the surgery, and on some level Sylvana realized that that might be a better way to get rid of the doctor than allowing him to antagonize her and get her to retort in anger. Hands clenched firmly but safely by her sides, Sylvana was quiet for a few moments as she merely glared at the doctor and let herself calm down slightly before addressing him again. “There. You’re offer has been denied.” She informed him through gritted teeth as she tried very hard not to let her temper get the better of her again.

~

“You will not lay a hand on him. I don’t particularly care who sent you here to look after him. I won’t have it. I am contented that he is being treated well and being taken care of to my satisfaction. Your services are not required here, Doctor.”

"It is quite nice to see you here in this particular day... but would you rather see him bedridden for two weeks simply out of your supposed hatred of me? Or would you see him up and running, and just as healthy as a horse? Of course, there is always that alternative of you watching me perform surgery if it meant that much to you, Princess."

"Erm...let's not be so set on surgery quite yet, Doctor Anderson."

Ayame remained silent as she watched the confrontation go on between her sister, Tristan and the Doctor. Now, by nature, Ayame wasn’t the quiet type. She was loud spoken and often too blunt for her own good (her etiquette teacher had told her this many a time). However, this time, Ayame chose silence instead of shouting. Not to say that she was just twiddling her thumbs, either. While she may not be verbally participating in this little debate, Ayame was busy plotting off mentally. ‘This doc…I’ve seen him somewhere…probably at one of ‘em shebangs back home…what was his name again? Anderson? Doctor Anderson?’ Ayame thought to herself, as flashes of pages from old textbooks and historical documents began to turn in her head.

Now, Ayame was for the most part, completely ignorant of anything her teacher assigned to her. But that did not mean that she totally neglected all practices of learning. She was human after all, and all humans are born with the desire to explore as well as to learn as much as they can about their surroundings. Ayame also happened to be a bonafide bookworm. Most of the times when she avoided her lessons, Ayame would be found several hours later buried with a book dangling from a tree. Her favorite topics? Mysteries and Biographies. Quite the opposite of expected. Yet those were her favorites and so as a result, Ayame knew the lives of the most random people from around the world, even if it were just a fragmented bit. This man would be no different.

“There. You’re offer has been denied.”

The pages in her head stopped turning.

"But first, I need to check the wound and make a proper diagnoses to determine the best method to heal it...that is if the Princess won't mind."

A slow grin graced Ayame’s face as her eyes widened with realization. ‘Bingo~’[/i]

“Oy. And what am I? Chopped liver?” She said, finally making herself known again after being silent for a good 10 minutes. She looked up at the ‘doctor’ who looked more than eager to perform his little test on Tristan, a wide grin on her face.

Chuckling slightly to herself, Ayame grabbed another cookie and stood up straight onto the bed so that way she was somewhat of equal height to the man. “Name: Phillippe Augustus Anderson. Age: 25. Height: 6’1’’. Weight: 129 lbs. Likes: Medicine, politics and being a flamboyant flirt. Dislikes: Coffee, sheep, and…” Ayame’s grin got wider. “...tomboys.” Ayame remained grinning widely at him as she took a bite from her cookie, her eyes never leaving the Doctor’s.


“So. Shall I continue, Doc? Cause if you want, I can.” She offered sweetly, before gaining a somewhat serious look on her face. “Dispose of the latex, dude and get your ass out of here. Don’t make me get angsty either. Bad enough you got Sylvie-neesama on your case…it’s not fun having a tomboy of a princess as a stalker.” She leaned closer to him, stuffing the rest of the cookie into the Doctor’s mouth.

“Believe me.”

~

[Anderson]

~

"Highnesses, please..." Tristan interjected weakly from the bed. All this hostility was unsettling, especially since he had no idea where it was all coming from. A peaceful, and rather surprising, moment with Ayame and Sylvana quickly turned into a tense situation when the doctor arrived. And now, the two princesses were in what resembled a stand-off against the doctor and - while Tristan wasn't feeling any more at ease about the doctor's shifting toward the idea of surgery so much - the man seemed to be there as on official order from the Capital to help.

"If the Doctor was ordered here all the way from Pendragon by your family, then we shouldn't turn him away so quickly. I don't know what the relationship is between you two and Doctor Anderson, but unless he starts pulling out knives and needles, I don't see the harm in letting him do his job..." the Captain professed, "Please...Ayame...Sylvana...there's no need to worry about me like this."

There was a tone of sincerity and emotion to Tristan's voice when he spoke to the princesses by name.

~

"But first, I need to check the wound and make a proper diagnoses to determine the best method to heal it... That is if the Princess won't mind."

Oh the princess minded! She minded very much. She would rather a slower recovery under the care of normal doctors than a speedier one under Anderson’s care. Anderson was more the ‘mad scientist’ type than a kind-hearted doctor, and Sylvana was far from willing to take him at his word that he wanted to help Tristan. She didn’t so much doubt his allegiance to Britannia (although the concern had crossed her mind); rather she questioned the doctor’s sanity. She didn’t know what the man would do for the sake of his own amusement, and she wasn’t too keen on finding out either especially not with Tristan as the test subject.

“Dispose of the latex, dude and get your ass out of here. Don’t make me get angsty either. Bad enough you got Sylvie-neesama on your case…it’s not fun having a tomboy of a princess as a stalker.”

For once Sylvana was appreciatory of Ayame’s language and overall direct approach to the situation. It was rather effective, and it was something Sylvana couldn’t bring herself to do no matter how angry she was. Being upset didn’t eliminate the fact that she was first and foremost a princess and her actions reflected on her and her family. Her fury was bad enough. Let Ayame lay down the law for him casually, but in a way that was uniquely hers. On some level, Vana was amused that Ayame knew enough about the doctor to hopefully expedite his departure from the room.

That didn’t of course stop her from responding to the doctor herself. “I believe that the doctors have already seen to making a ‘proper diagnosis’ for him, and I daresay I have more faith in them than in you, Anderson.” Sylvana told him and had planned to say more, but stopped at Tristan’s bidding.

"Highnesses please… If the Doctor was ordered here all the way from Pendragon by your family, then we shouldn't turn him away so quickly. I don't know what the relationship is between you two and Doctor Anderson, but unless he starts pulling out knives and needles, I don't see the harm in letting him do his job..."

Oh Sylvana saw plenty of harm in it, most of which would befall Tristan before an equal amount fell on the doctor himself by Vana’s own hand in retribution. It was harmful because Vana didn’t know enough about the doctor to be certain of his intentions. It was the very definition of his ‘job’ that Sylvana was wary of. There were aspects to it that she didn’t know. There were things she knew she was intentionally not being told. Alastair knew, but she didn’t, and no matter how much she trusted her brother that made her very uneasy. She didn’t like this man sharing secrets with her brother, whether he was the Emperor or not.

Turning to face the captain, Sylvana was quick to protest. “‘Doctor’ or not, I am not letting hi—”

"Please...Ayame...Sylvana...there's no need to worry about me like this."

Sylvana froze, blue eyes wide in surprise. Had he just… At first Sylvana didn’t think she’d heard him right. She hadn’t been ‘princess’ or ‘highness’ or ‘milady.’ There hadn’t even been a title attached to her name. She was just ‘Sylvana’. Blue eyes stared at Tristan as if waiting for him to correct what he’d said. Maybe it was the fatigue talking. The blood loss perhaps. But Tristan didn’t correct himself. He’d meant what he said. He had called her and Ayame by name on purpose.

Vana’s anger melted away and some of the tension left her shoulders. She turned her back on Anderson to face Tristan, not sure what she wanted to say anymore. She hated to let Anderson near him. She hated to put any semblance of trust in him, but Tristan was asking her to, and he wasn’t asking her as a princess or a commanding officer. He was just asking her. “I don’t trust him.” Vana finally said softly as she looked at the captain. She fell silent for another few moments before slowly stepping out of Anderson’s way. “But if you would like to… I’ll stand aside.” She was out of Doctor Anderson’s way but stood protectively at the head of Tristan’s bed. If he dared to harm Tristan, Vana had every intention of ignoring the consequences of harming the doctor in return.

Vana hadn’t been called by her name by anyone other than family in a long time, and she had never expected to be called it by an officer. She would have thought she would have been angry that anyone would have dared to be so informal with her, but was she here as a princess? Vana hadn’t known what had brought her to the hospital in the first place. She had no obligation to personally check up on the captain; she could easily be updated on his health, but she had chosen to come in person. She had been worried about him. No, she wasn’t here as a princess. She had just come as Vana.

~

[Anderson]

~

His face showing no signs of pain, Tristan replied, "It feels like a bruise, really, except throughout my whole shoulder. Nothing too piercing or excruciating."

The Britannian Captain had a unique tolerance for pain, but even a sniper shot through the shoulder was enough to put him down for a while - no matter how much he would've liked to argue otherwise. It wasn't that he was particularly stubborn, though he was definitely stubborn. For Tristan, there was so much more to his place than simply 'doing his job'. He had an oath to keep, and goals to fulfill. His job was more than a collection of tasks and orders he was bound to, it was a means to discover the meaning to his existence and obtain some sort of sense of belonging and completion.

In the face of that kind of determination and purpose, a bullet through the shoulder is merely an annoyance and a bump in the road. Only in this case, the bump was big enough to lay Tristan out for a while...

Tristan gave a faint smile. Ayame was pretty good at taking a tense situation down a notch and making it more bearable.

"If you were to ask me how I felt earlier today, I would've given the same answer. Only now that I've been cleaned up and attended to, I'm telling the truth. It's...it's not that bad," the Captain explained. At the very least, he wasn't lying. Stretching the truth? Perhaps. Lying? No.

A sniper round to the shoulder was enough to cause incredible pain - something Tristan knew all too well. Ayame wasn't there to see it, thankfully, but Tristan wasn't exactly shrugging it off as well as he planned. Instead, he lost an alarming amount of blood from the open hole in his shoulder and the pain and blood loss nearly drove him to unconsciousness before he could even get Sylvana outside of her ship.

Compared to that, his newly-dressed shoulder wasn't bad at all. Still, Tristan was hoping the doctor wouldn't be poking his wound much more...

~

Now Ayame did not hate the Doctor. She had no real reason to hate him. But he wasn’t some bosom buddy of hers either. He just…existed. That was it. He simply breathed just like the average man down the street. Hell, Oji-san from the ice cream parlor was closer to her than this dude. Only reason why she even knew half of what she did was because she read his name somewhere along the lines. As for his actual relationship was with her elder sister, or any of her other siblings for that matter, she had no clue. And in all honesty, she did not give two pieces of a monkey’s ass. Whatever Sylvana’s reason was for loathing and/or not trusting the man was bound to be soap opera worthy. Soap operas were boring. Ayame hated being bored. So in order to avoid being bored to death, Ayame simply chose not to ask. And if by some strange miracle, the story behind the man turned out to be interesting, odds were it’d pop up in a book. It always did.

Walking over the garbage can, Ayame tossed out the disposed cookie, wiping the remaining crumbs on her hand. She stared down at her crumbled creation with her hands folded in front of her, her head tilted slightly. A moment of silence was natural for her beloved babies. After a few seconds, Ayame lifted her head but continued to stare down at the wastebasket, a frown on her face. ‘Meenie-butt…no need to go and abuse the children…quack of a doc…I oughtta make him something as a thank you…’[/i] Ayame suppressed the evil laugh that was threatening to come out. Ah yes, a good ol’fashioned choco-chip cookie crumb cake…complete with a filling of laxatives. Ayame rubbed her hands a la mad scientist, unable to suppress the maniacal chuckle this time

"Please...Ayame...Sylvana...there's no need to worry about me like this." Ayame paused mid chuckle, her hands following suit. Her ears twitched slightly. Eh? Was that someone addressing her without the after affect of her wanting to bang her head against a brick wall? Was that someone addressing her as if she was a normal person? Was that ‘someone’ their beloved Wounded-san? Ayame slowly turned around, her eyes wide, still in slight hunched position, her hands still in mid rubbing position.

“…dear god, it’s the end of the world.” She said bluntly.

“I don’t trust him…but if you would like to… I’ll stand aside.” Ayame’s eyes flashed over to Sylvana. Well, good to know she wasn’t the only one who was surprised by this sudden lack of formal address. Not that Ayame was complaining. Hell, if the man wasn’t looking like something that walked off the set of a horror movie, Ayame would have fly tackled him by now.

"Does this hurt? Any inner sensation of pain to any particular boney structures in general? Or would it happen to be that your muscle tendons hurt instead?" Ayame’s eyes turned back to the Doctor who now had full access to Tristan. Well…if Sylvana said it was alright, then she supposed it was cool. Either that or the address caused her to go completely bonkers. Either way, as of now Doc-san was free to examine the Captain’s body.

"It feels like a bruise, really, except throughout my whole shoulder. Nothing too piercing or excruciating."

Speaking of which…

Ayame finally snapped out of her little moment of shock and stood up straight. She bopped over back to Tristan’s bed and smoothly hopped onto it, remaining in a half crouched position, resting her hands on her knees. She craned her neck forward and peered at the young Captain up close, her eyes not blinking. “Oy Doc.” She said, her eyes never leaving Tristan’s. “Mind doing me a favor?” She raised an eyebrow at Tristan. “First ya address me like a normal person (took you long enough) and now you’re saying a bullet wound is equivalent to that of a punch in the shoulder.” She gave him a skeptical look.

“Mind checking his temp, Doc? I think he’s burning up.”

~

[Anderson]

~

"A...pill?" Tristan echoed, looking at the set of tablets Anderson put in his hand. The blue-eyed Britannian wasn't necessarily fond of pills. Then again, he wasn't fond of hospitals, doctors, or...a lot of things that he managed to experience today. If he had a fever, a simple pill that was meant to relieve fevers wouldn't be too bad.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt. I'd prefer not to take pills, but I'd much less prefer any complications that may prolong my stay here," the young noble remarked, putting the two pills in his mouth. Reaching out to the end table, Tristan grabbed his glass of water and swallowed them.

Anderson's report on Tristan's health was reassuring, pills aside. The diagnosis that he was healthy and fit to command his soldiers was exactly what Tristan wanted to hear. "I can't promise to wait forever before applying myself in active duty, but I'll stick to my usual desk work for now and get back to directing the soldiers as soon as possible. How long until I can be discharged, Doctor Anderson?" he asked, remaining rather honest on his likely inability to stay out of active duty if the situation presented itself. He meant well, but the need to fulfill his duty and defend his Empire was at an even conflict with Ayame and Sylvana's hope that he would stay away from physical stress. Hopefully, he could find a calm medium in a timeframe that would ease their minds as well as allow Tristan the minimum down time required.

~

Considering the amount of contempt that Sylvana harbored for the doctor, she managed to keep from interfering again despite how much she desperately desired to. Tristan had asked her not to worry, and she respected that, but he didn’t know this man. In all honesty Sylvana didn’t know as much about him as she would like to, but she had learned enough about him to know better than to ever place even the smallest amount of trust in him. Tristan didn’t. He’d never met him before, never spent enough time with him to get the same impression, and Sylvana was worried, whether Tristan wanted her to be or not, the doctor was taking full advantage of that. Regardless of whether or not she liked or trusted him, Sylvana didn’t doubt his intelligence.

Anderson handed the captain the pills, and Sylvana clenched her hands into fists. She disliked the doctor looking Tristan over; she liked Anderson giving him pills even less especially not any kind of medication he had been carrying around with him. Having Anderson administer medication that the hospital itself had stocked would be one thing, having him give Tristan a dose of medication from his own personal pharmacy was another matter entirely, and Sylvana was ready to protest. She got as far as raising a hand to snatch the pills from Tristan before she stopped herself. She’d agreed to back off at the captain’s request, and that meant she had to live with letting him decided what he allowed the doctor to do to him no matter how much it managed to upset the first princess. Technically, Sylvana thought she would be able to order Tristan not to listen to the doctor, or at least to not take the pills, but if she were to do that it would go against the pretenses under which she had come to the hospital in the first place. She hadn’t come as a princess or commanding officer who could order him around.

Tristan had trusted the doctor and took the pill. Sylvana clenched her hands again and narrowed her eyes on Anderson. He looked far too happy with the situation, so much like a child who’d just gotten away with something. Sylvana hated that look unless it was upon Ayame’s face. On the doctor… it made her want to reconsider her decision not to strike him just so she could make him get that expression off his face.

“I can't promise to wait forever before applying myself in active duty, but I'll stick to my usual desk work for now and get back to directing the soldiers as soon as possible. How long until I can be discharged, Doctor Anderson?”

Sylvana frowned slightly and looked back to Tristan. That remark stung a bit whether she would admit it or not. They had made a deal that Tristan was to take it easy for a week. While the exact wording of their arrangement didn’t necessarily specify that he had to stay confined to the hospital bed for the entire week, to Sylvana it sounded more like Tristan was looking to get permission from the doctor or at least to get approval from Anderson that he was allowed up before then. The doctor, for his part, seemed rather eager to get Tristan out of bed himself, and that combined with the captain’s own desire to be free of the hospital in general did not sit well with Vana. She truly didn’t want to end up having to order him to stay. But she would.

“I can say that you would simply need a day under a doctor's supervision before being let off the hook. Which is to say my supervision, I will be making sure you will come out of this in your best health and ready to lead Britannia's finest with no physical trouble whatsoever.”

A day? Absolutely not. Anderson was not going to practically give Tristan permission to return to his regular duties. While he might have the authority to medically clear him, as willing as the doctor was to allow the captain to return to action, Sylvana was equally willing to do everything in her power to assure the exact opposite if necessary. “Doctor, I would appreciate it if you did not put the captain in such a position that he might have to break his promise to Ayame that he refrain from returning to his regular duties for at least a week.” Sylvana kept her remark as civil as she could. Her arms crossed over her chest as she glanced back at the doctor. “That arrangement was made before you decided to grace us with your presence,” she continued with not small amount of sarcasm. “If I must, I will personally see to it that their agreement trumps whatever medical clearance you wish to provide.”

~

"Yes... I suppose I can, he is acting supposedly well for his physiology, but I believe the temperature can give me a clearer reading." Ayame raised her eyebrow at the Doctor. Was this guy serious? She had only been kidding about the whole ‘check his temp’ thing!

“O-Oy, Doc-

Too late. Anderson was already at Tristan’s side, checking his neck and forehead for a fever. Ayame furrowed her eyebrows slightly. Pretty unofficial way to check one’s temp. Wasn’t the most accurate way to check to see if someone had a fever was with a thermometer or something? Sure she could understand using your hands if you stranded somewhere in the middle of the Amazon or something, but if you’re at a hospital…just seemed kinda weird.

"Hmm... it seems you may have caught a fever there, Mr. Leodegrance, you wouldn't mind taking one simple pill? It's panadol actually, it'll cure your small fever, nothing big at the moment.” Ayame’s eyebrow shot up. Eh? Seriously? The dude actually had a fever? Danng…

Ayame eyed the tablets, crinkling her nose in disgust. She never liked pills, no matter where they came from. She saw them as just a way to escape reality than deal with it. Her philosophy was that, if one had a headache one should suck it up, not take sixty dozen pills to fool the body into thinking it went away. But alas, it seemed that Tristan did not share in her beliefs, for the young Captain soon accepted the two pills and drowned them with a single gulp.

“Tch…” Ayame muttered under her breath, her eyes flashing a quick glance to Anderson. Her eyebrow rose slightly. Well…didn’t someone look like he just won the lottery? ‘…yea. He looks way too happy…do all doctors carry pills around in their pockets like that, anyway? Shouldn’t he have given Wounded-san something that the hospital prescribed him…I mean, he’s already taking pills from the hospital…ain’t it bad to mix meds together?’[/i] Ayame opened her mouth to voice her opinions, but another voice beat her to it.

"I can't promise to wait forever before applying myself in active duty, but I'll stick to my usual desk work for now and get back to directing the soldiers as soon as possible. How long until I can be discharged, Doctor Anderson?" Ayame quickly snarled at Tristan, her head snapping towards him, her teeth flared. She swore that she was some kind of werewolf in her past life.

"I can say that you would simply need a day under a doctor's supervision before being let off the hook. Which is to say my supervision, I will be making sure you will come out of this in your best health and ready to lead Britannia's finest with no physical trouble whatsoever." Ayame’s head then snapped over to Anderson, her snarl widening as she leaned closer to him, her eyes ablaze. That punk…

“Doctor, I would appreciate it if you did not put the captain in such a position that he might have to break his promise to Ayame that he refrain from returning to his regular duties for at least a week.” Ayame’s snarl lessened slightly at Sylvana’s words. “That arrangement was made before you decided to grace us with your presence, if I must, I will personally see to it that their agreement trumps whatever medical clearance you wish to provide.” Ayame grinned widely. ‘Atta Sylvie! Internally, Ayame was doing a victory dance, waving a large banner that had Sylvana’s face in a heart imprinted on it.

Turning to look back at the doctor, Ayame’s face returned back to it’s threatening snarl. “You heard her Doc…this guy’s not moving his ass one inch out of bed for one week…and I don’t give a damn what you and your medical schooling has to say about it. So unless you really want me breathing down your neck, I suggest you shut up.” Ayame leaned back and crouched back down so that her face was millimeters away from Tristan’s. “And you!” she growled as she flicked him in the head. “Just because I got ya to stop calling me a bloody princess doesn’t mean you completely do a 180 on me! Stick to your damn promises will ya!?” She placed her hands on her hips, her eyebrow raised. “Don’t make me make you more injured than you already are.” Her glare became more menacing as she pointed behind her, where on her back, an obscenely large panda was strapped .

“I brought Pon-Pon with me just incase.”

~

[Anderson]

~

A slight smile curved Sylvana’s lips again at her sister’s attitude, more specifically her threats of punishment with her stuffed panda. Sylvana found herself calming down a bit with the help of Ayame’s ever present optimism. Her sister showed anger much different than Vana herself did. Sylvana presented open hostility to the doctor, but Ayame displayed civil dislike of him instead. Ayame’s way was likely the better way to handle the situation, especially since Sylvana’s irritation most likely just amused Anderson, but that didn’t make it easy to stop doing.

"I am not even talking about regular duties he will do. Simply the fact that he is going to be back instructing soldiers means that he still can't fight. I am only letting him go for normal tasks like paperwork and drilling, no fighting whatsoever."

“Paperwork was included in the arrangement.” Sylvana added. “He will be doing nothing work related at all for the week as promised earlier.” Tristan had fought for paperwork, and Sylvana might have allowed it if it wasn’t his dominant arm that had been injured. As it stood, however, she didn’t want him even writing until the wound had healed more completely. Instructing soldiers… It might be allowable if all he would do was open his mouth, but Sylvana would prefer, if at all possible, that he be free from all military duties for the entire week. She didn’t doubt that Ayame shared her opinion.

~

[Anderson – Exit]

~

There were so many things Tristan could say to comment on what had just happened. It was confusing, hectic, chaotic, tense, confusing some more, tense...well, it was all relative, anyway. It was one of those strange situations where everything goes crazy and it's hard to really get a grasp on events - or know if it's not just some dream-like hallucination brought on by some painkiller a surgeon may have plugged Tristan into.

Regardless, Tristan sighed and of all the thoughts racing in his head, all he could do was to lay back down in bed, close his eyes and mutter, "I hate hospitals..."

~

[Hebe]

~

"Hmph... sorry about that, Sir Leodegrance. Your health just comes first, I am sure you wouldn't want to be surrounded by toys. As for now, simply rest until the princesses leave... and I will leave, but I will be back by tomorrow."

Finally he was leaving. Although it wasn’t soon enough, Sylvana was relieved to see the doctor go, and she didn’t even grant him anything remotely resembling a farewell. Instead, she sighed softly in relief when the door closed. If the doctor was returning tomorrow, however, Sylvana wasn’t very inclined to leave Tristan alone even for the night, but that was being more over protective than was really necessary, even for her. She was determined to return the following day, thought, even if it meant she was bringing her own work with her. Sylvana was not leaving him alone with Anderson.

“I hate hospitals…”

Blue eyes looked back to the captain, and Sylvana smiled faintly. Something else they had in common. Her smile faded quickly, though, and the first princess turned her eyes away. “I owe you an apology, Tristan.” Sylvana told him quietly, dropping his title as he had done hers. Her voice had lost the anger and sarcasm she had been directing at Anderson. “You aren’t one of my siblings; you don’t need, or probably want, me looking out for you. That’s your job, right?” She added with a shadow of a smile as she looked back to the captain. “I might have overreacted a bit, but I still don’t trust that man. You’ll have to forgive me if I am uncomfortable with leaving anyone I trust, sibling or not, alone with him.”

The first princess quieted and turned her attention to the nurse that entered the room, giving the girl a slight nod of acknowledgement. This one at least looked like a nurse, and after Anderson, Sylvana would have let just about anyone else look Tristan over provided they looked like they belonged, unlike the original girl who had been in the room attempting to be a nurse. Despite that this new girl did indeed appear to be a nurse, Sylvana didn’t move from her guardian post by the head of the bed. According to the girl, all she had to do was check on him, that didn’t require Sylvana moving.

~

Tristan gave Sylvana a smile in return. There was something different about the princess now. While still retaining her standard persona, there was a bit of...comfort, perhaps, in how she was speaking to Tristan. Were Tristan the blushing type, his cheeks would be red. While his cheeks weren't prone to blushing, he did felt a rush of warmth. Lightly clearing his throat, he looked aside and muttered, "Panadol must not be working, hm?"

After a moment of silence, the Captain looked to the nurse. "I apologize...you asked me to recite the alphabet, correct?"

Taking a deep breath, the blue-eyed noble became slightly nervous as he prepared to attempt the task. Obviously, he knew the alphabet well. After all, he was a highly-education noble from the capital of the greatest Empire on the planet. The alphabet was practically something he had learned as early as his infancy. Still, with the sudden rush as a result of the non-stop tension the day had given him, he was a little off-center in the mental sense. The painkillers had likely worn off and he guessed he was completely sober of its effects, but still...there was always that worry that he would somehow make some slight mistake.

"A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K..." he paused, another rush of heat as he locked eyes with Sylvana, feeling doubly nervous. While he looked at Sylvana, he trailed off a bit, continuing on in his head despite the fact he was barely even mouthing the letters anymore.

"Erm...sorry..." Tristan apologized as he caught himself, nervously clearing his throat yet again before continuing where he thought he left off, "P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z. That completes the sequence of letters in the alphabet."

~

[Hebe]

~

“...Why do you have a stuffed panda strapped to your back? This is a hospital, not a children's center. But somehow, I am not surprised that you are carrying 'THAT' childish contraption on your back." Ayame hissed loudly and snapped her head to glare at the doctor. How dare he?! How dare his insult her Pon-Pon!? Calling it a mere child’s toy! Her Pon-Pon was two steps away from being classified as a weapon of mass destruction! And here, some idiot just comes strolling in and defaming it! Her eyes narrowed as she reached behind her back.

“You little asswipe!” She snarled as she flung her fluffy weapon, only to have it hit the door as said ‘asswipe’ left the room. “tch. Henachoko.” She muttered under her breath as she hopped down from the bed and stomped over to the door where her panda laid slumped sideways. She picked it up with utmost tenderness. “Gomen ne Pon-Pon…don’t listen to that dumbass…he doesn’t know anything, no he doesn’t. C’mon, lets get your face clean…” she said, her words spoken in a soothing tone as she brushed off the dust from the plushie. “Don’t worry about it hunni Pon, he’s just some fat, old, stupid quack of a doc-oy!” The door suddenly opened, causing Ayame to press herself against the wall.

"Ne, excuse me? I don't mean to interrupt, but I have to check Lord Leodegrance's charts.” Ayame quirked an eyebrow. A nurse, huh? She furrowed her eyebrows slightly as she gazed at the woman’s green eyes. She shivered slightly. Something was off. That woman’s gaze…seemed a little offondish to her…as if the look she gave them was forced. Ayame mentally shook her head. She was thinking too much into things. Her mental self nagged.

‘…but still…’

"If you wouldn't mind, please recite the alphebet. I need to make sure the blood flow to your brain hasn't been affected." Ayame’s eyebrow quirked into a more disbelieving raise. The alphabet? His brain? Affected? What the hell?! The man was freaking shot, not involved in some atomic bomb explosion for Christ’s sake! Ayame clutched Pon-Pon closer to her chest. What was with the doctors these days? Were they all freaking quaks? Oh well, Wounded-san would recite the bloody thing and prove the doctors wrong.

"A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K...P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z. That completes the sequence of letters in the alphabet." Ayame snapped her head over to Tristan, a look of surprise on his face. Oy, oy…was it just her or did the dude actually screw up? She let her mouth drop in shock, a strangled sound of disbelief emitting from her throat. Her eyes flashed over to Sylvana’s…and then back to Tristan’s…and back again.

The corner of her mouth twitched in amusement. Oho~ So that was it, was it? She let out a breath of relief. And here she thought the guy actually was actually hallucinating…

"Oh, dear. Your pupils don't match. It seems there was more damage than previously thought. I'm sorry, sir, but please follow me. I need to take you for a CAT scan."

“Eh?” Ayame said, turning her attention over to the nurse who was peering over at Tristan, armed with trusty flashlight. She immediately frowned as she saw the woman pull out a wheelchair and beckon for Tristan to sit. Something was not right. Something smelled fishy. Ayame hated fish. “Oy, Oy…” She said as she bounced off of the wall, taking a few steps closer to both the nurse and Tristan. “No need to be hasty…” she turned her head and walked a few steps until she was up close to her. She peered forward, her eyes squinting, as if examining the woman. She mentally nodded. Yup. Freakish green eyes. Never a good sign. “…call me crazy, but don’t you find it the tinniest bit odd that a nurse is coming to check up on ya just when you got examined by the Doc, O’Wounded One?” she said, her eyes never leaving the woman’s face. "I mean, if the man thought you had head injury (which is reeeaalllly stupid considering you got shot, not bonked with Pon-Pon), then wouldn’t he have given you the bloody test himself? Seeing that he was sent from the Homeland and all.” She raised an eyebrow. “Just seems really funky to me…and not in the good way.” She leaned back and tossed Pon-Pon up and down, patting his head lovingly. “And anywhose, anyone with half a brain cell could see why our beloved Tristan screwed up…” she gave Tristan a knowing smile before turning her attention back to Pon-Pon a more serious look on her face.

“This place is being run by quacks, ne Pon-Pon?” her eyes turned to the nurse, a cold look in them. “Baa…ka.”

~

Tristan looked surprised. A CAT scan? Really? He didn't remember missing any letters, but..oh. Dammit. He realized now that he had trailed off and lost his place. But was that really due to his injury? Regardless, he understood that he was a patient here and the nurse knew best. Either way, he was only going for a CAT scan. Better safe than sorry, right? It's not like a simple CAT scan could hurt.

Ayame's protests interrupted Tristan's own thoughts, giving him cause for concern. A lot of what she said made sense. After all, there was a nurse who didn't seem like a nurse, a doctor hated by the princesses, and now a new nurse to check on him and conduct a test. It seemed strange. Then again, the hospital seemed hectic in the first place. It didn't seem too far-fetched that the nurse was here to examine him again. Perhaps Anderson had her come in to check his pupils and deal with the little tests after he had made a general analysis. Doctors usually did that. They'd pop in, give a general explanation and answer, then leave the rest to a nurse.

Rising from the bed, Tristan's unsure eyes watched the wheelchair as he got up and took a seat in the chair despite Ayame's protests. "I suppose it's necessary, Princess Ayame. As she said, it could be a disruption of blood flow or...well, who knows? I think I just zoned out for a moment, but it wouldn't hurt to get checked just in case, right?" he remarked with a weak grin. Now, he was fueled more by his desire to get everything that could possibly be wrong out of the equation than anything else. The sooner everything was ruled out, the sooner he could get the hell out of the hospital.

"I apologize for leaving you two so soon, your Highnesses. However, I'm sure I'll see you again soon," the blue-eyed young Captain bade the girls, giving a nod of farewell as he prepared for the nurse to take him to get his scan.

~

When the nurse had asked Tristan to recite the alphabet, Sylvana had been slightly confused. It seemed like an odd request, especially if its purpose was to check blood flow to his brain from a shoulder wound. The first princess was quite willing to admit that her own medical knowledge was basic. She was more of a field healer with knowledge of how to splint, slow blood flow, and treat similar conditions, than general medicine. She was more familiar with how to keep an ally alive long enough to get proper medical treatment than provide that medical treatment herself, so despite her slight confusion, Sylvana hadn’t voiced any objection. The last thing she had expected, however, was for Tristan for to forget a few letters.

"I apologize...you asked me to recite the alphabet, correct? A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K...” Sylvana’s eyes caught his, and she tilted her head in response. She wasn’t sure why he had paused. He couldn’t really have forgotten, could he? "Erm...sorry... P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z. That completes the sequence of letters in the alphabet."

Blue eyes widened in surprise. He’d skipped four, but to be fair Sylvana had thought that he’d mouthed the letters when he’d glanced to her. She hadn’t heard him voice them aloud though, so maybe not. The nurse seemed to think that his slight omission warranted a CAT scan, and while Sylvana wasn’t entirely sure it was necessary, she shared Tristan’s opinion. Better safe than sorry. It couldn’t hurt to have the test run anyway, so she nodded slightly as Tristan seated himself in the wheelchair. “He’s right, Ayame. What can it hurt? Besides it’s late, and you and I should be going. That way Tristan can get some proper rest after the scan.” Sylvana told her with a smile.

"I apologize for leaving you two so soon, your Highnesses. However, I'm sure I'll see you again soon."

Sylvana nodded, offering the captain a smile. “I’m afraid you will. If Anderson will be returning tomorrow, I would like to supervise him for my own peace of mind.” Sylvana told him apologetically. She didn’t wish to cause any additional stress for the captain, but she wasn’t going to leave him alone with the doctor. Sylvana hoped, however, that being prepared for a confrontation with Anderson would help her to remain calm and not be so quick to anger. No doubt a few extra hours of sleep would help her mood, but that was most likely too much to hope for. For Tristan’s sake though, she would make an attempt not to quarrel with the doctor.

[Sylvana Li Britannia]

~

[Hebe]

~

"I suppose it's necessary, Princess Ayame. As she said, it could be a disruption of blood flow or...well, who knows? I think I just zoned out for a moment, but it wouldn't hurt to get checked just in case, right?" Ayame snapped her eyes from Pon-Pon to Tristan, her mouth already in snarling formation. But just as she opened her mouth to call the man a complete dumbass, Sylvana cut in.

“He’s right, Ayame. What can it hurt? Besides it’s late, and you and I should be going. That way Tristan can get some proper rest after the scan.” She glanced at her elder sister, a disapproving look on her face. Idiots. She was surrounded by bonafide, genuine, pureblooded idiots! She sighed, annoyed, and ran a hand through her hair. Sheesh…was she the only one who saw the big fat ‘NO-NO!!’ sign that the monkey from the ceiling was waving?! ‘And they say I’m the irrational one…’

"Kid, get the hell out of my face.”

“Heh?” Ayame said dully as she blinked boredly over at the nurse. Who was in whose face? Last time she checked she was within the boundaries of personal air bubble space. Ayame blinked at the nurse before turning her attention back to Pon-Pon, continuing on stroking his head. Stupid one, wasn’t it?

“I'm sorry about your friend here, I am, but I'm working the last of a triple shift because my lousy boss won't let me blah blah blah… to take care of my sister, who's divorced blah blah blah I’m tired, I missed lunch and my next break in in three hours. Step. Off” Ayame stared boredly at the nurse as she ranted on the woes of her life. She fought back a snort. Oh boo freaking hoo. Would baby like a medal? A big shiny one? Or perhaps a comfort pat on the shoulder for being such a martyr? Ayame rolled her eyes. Life sucked. One had to learn to suck up with it.

“World’s smallest violin’s playin’ just for ya Oba-san.” Ayame said, rubbing her index finger and her thumb together in emphasis. Hey, just because she was born a princess didn’t mean she didn’t know the realities of life. While it was true she did not know what it was like to live the life of a beggar, she had seen enough to get the general image.

"I apologize for leaving you two so soon, your Highnesses. However, I'm sure I'll see you again soon," Ayame stubbornly turned her head in the opposite direction as Tristan obliged to Oba-san’s requests and sat his booty down into the wheelchair. Iiiidiottt~ Complete and utter idiot~

“Don’t blame me if you get hijacked or something.” She glanced towards the door, seeing oba-san and Tristan just about to leave. She stared back down at Pon-Pon in her hands. And then back to Oba-san. Oh why not? You only live once. Plus, she had to repay the lady for calling her a kid. Lifting up Pon-Pon, Ayame paused for a split second as she aimed for her target. And flung.

“PON-PON BOOMERANG ATTTAAAACCKK!!!” she hollered as the panda flew in the air, promptly bounced onto the woman’s head and back then into the security of Ayame’s arms. Just like a boomerang. Ayame smiled lovingly at her weapon, dusting off his head. There. Urge satisfied. She glanced over at Sylvana and shrugged as if nothing had happened. “What? The stupid deserve to be punished. The gene pool is thankful.”

~

[Hebe]

~

Tristan quickly began realizing Ayame's suspicions weren't so off-base. The haste with which the nurse sped him off and the strange things she said to him. Something obviously wasn't right. It was just that this time, Tristan's intelligence and intuition were thwarted by his own trusting nature. Then again, being so exhausted - mentally and physically - that he just wanted to get it all over with probably helped his decision along.

The spider web could hardly be seen until the prey was already stuck in it. The same held true for Tristan. As the doors of the elevator closed shut and they were already on their way to whatever dark destination the young woman had planned, the "nurse" took off her wig and hat, laying across the wounded Captain's lap. She was sick...and twisted. She was the spider and he was the prey, but he knew it was too late to escape.

~

“PON-PON BOOMERANG ATTTAAAACCKK!!! What? The stupid deserve to be punished. The gene pool is thankful.”

“Ayame!” Sylvana was quick to scold her sister, but not quick enough to stay Ayame’s hand as she flung the panda at the nurse. For whatever reason, the nurse had chosen not to respond to Ayame’s outburst. Fear of the ‘princess’ title was a possible candidate but since the woman hadn’t had a problem snapping at the third princess after Ayame’s insensitive comment, Sylvana wasn’t necessarily sure that was the reason. Regardless of why she hadn’t said anything in reply, however, Sylvana was grateful. It was that much less stress she would leave the hospital with.

“Ayame, was that really necessary?” Sylvana asked with another heavy sigh as she rubbed her temple. “She’s only trying to help, and it is her job.” Sylvana didn’t exactly expect an answer. Ayame probably thought it was entirely necessary and perfectly justified. Yes, it was just a stuffed animal, but still… “Come on, Ayame, we should head back. It’s late.” Sylvana quietly left the room, but paused in the doorway to glance back over her shoulder, lost in thought for a moment. It really was strange wasn’t it – her being here. It confused her. Was it Ayame? Maybe, but Sylvana hadn’t known she was here before she’d arrived. Regardless of what the reason though, Sylvana wasn’t sure if this was behavior she wanted to repeat. Although… she had to admit, even just to herself, that she’d enjoyed it. She’d enjoyed talking with the two of them so casually. Ayame was well suited for such intimate conversation, but it was practically unheard of from Sylvana. Maybe it wasn’t strange that she was here. It was just strange that she had stayed and continued to converse. That could most definitely be at least partially Ayame’s fault, but that didn’t necessarily mean it was a bad thing. She had enjoyed it regardless of whatever subsequent consequences there would be.

Coming to her senses again, Sylvana continued out of the room. She couldn’t explain what it was that both bothered and intrigued her about her own behavior, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to understand it. The cap—Tristan hadn’t seemed to mind, but was that necessarily a good thing? Was she glad that he had called her by name? Did she want that level of familiarity? These were special circumstances to be sure, and Sylvana didn’t think it was likely to occur in any formal setting. Tristan didn’t seem the type to do that, nor did he seem the type that would hold her unprofessionalism, at least in this setting, against her. Would he ever call her by name again though? Sylvana wasn’t sure. It could very easily just have been an isolated incident, just his attempt to pacify her in that one moment. After all, she and Ayame had been ‘highnesses’ again when he had left.

A frown curved Sylvana’s lips at the thought. Did that bother her? Not necessarily, but something still just didn’t sit right with her. It was such a little thing, such a silly thing. What did it matter what he called her? Her name, her title, they were both her. She knew who he was talking to, so what difference did it make? The professional side of her, the practical side didn’t care, so long as her name was kept to informal meetings such as tonight, but the other side of her… It mattered to Vana that he had chosen to call her by name. She couldn’t say why he had, but in reality it was probably just to calm her down, but it mattered that he had. It mattered that it had even occurred to him to use her name. No one else ever had, except her family of course. No one else had probably ever considered it. In actuality that was probably Sylvana’s fault; a result of the professional front she insisted on putting up, but what had she done different this time? Had she done anything different? Or was it just Tristan? Tristan, who had acknowledged that Vana disliked his protection, but was duty bound to protect her nonetheless. Sylvana had had other guards. They’d done their job, their duty. But not one had ever, in Vana’s opinion, thought of her as a person. She was an object. A diamond, a painting, a secret weapon to be guarded. Sylvana respected the fact that they had a job to do, and that was exactly what they had done, but that didn’t mean that Vana had trusted them. She had never trusted a guard or a soldier like she trusted Tristan. Something was different. He was different. And even though Sylvana wasn’t sure how comfortable she was with what was new territory for her, Vana didn’t want to leave it entirely. New territory warranted a bit of exploring.

“There’s no way I’m leaving him alone with Anderson tomorrow.”

~

[Hebe]

~

[Anderson]

~

The young noble shivered a bit, but didn't budge, as the girl licked his face and said, "I worked hard, I did, and I'm sore all over. Will you kiss me all better?"

Tristan mentally refused to reply. She really was a sick spider, finding some sense of pleasure in playing with the prey she trapped in her web.

It all came together when she mentioned a familiar name and Anderson stepped forward. "So...Sylvana was right about you..." Tristan muttered weakly, mentally accepting his fate. This had to be some attempt to get him out of the way. After all, an assassin tried to kill Sylvana during a conveniently timed rebellion in the ranks - and after Tristan was labeled as her savior, the doctor finds his way in to double-check his injuries. All signs pointed to an imminent death, and Tristan was prepared to accept it.

However, upon sighting the doctor's needle, Tristan moved to fight. His female assistant was able to intercept the blue-eyed Britannian enough for the doctor to inject his poison. Tristan fell to the wheelchair and gradually faded away...

~

[Anderson & Hebe & Tristan Exit]

~

Ayame grinned victoriously at the door, pride radiating from her as she stroked Pon-Pon’s head lovingly. While Oba-san did not give the reaction Ayame would have like (odds were she was used to this sort of thing, being creepy and all), but the action itself was satisfying in its own right.

“Ayame!” Ayame cringed slightly. Uh oh. “Ayame, was that really necessary?” Here it comes. The Discipline Speech. “She’s only trying to help, and it is her job.” Ayame smiled innocently at her elder sister, laughing nervously. Well, it wasn’t as if she had done anything wrong…she had only thrown a stuffed panda…sure her Pon-Pon was considered to be lethal by many, and sure she had been told that it posed as a safety hazard to the general public, but it wasn’t as if the lady got hurt…she had a solid enough head to handle her Pon-Pon. No harm done, thus there should be no repercussions. Simple as that.

“Come on, Ayame, we should head back. It’s late.” Ayame glanced out of the hospital room window. Yeesh…talk about pitch black. How long had they been here? An hour? Two? She mentally shrugged. Bah, what did it matter. Ayame stifled a yawn. Fact was it was late…even the speed demon herself got tired. She glanced at the bed, where her obscenely large basket of baked goods still sat, and tilted her head slightly. Should she take it? Odds were Wounded-san wasn’t going to be back tonight…and baked goods became stale if left out overnight…but then again, she did bake them for Tristan…

“I guess if I wrap it properly, it should be ok…” Ayame said to herself as she headed over and rewrapped the basket in it’s cellophane, double taping it so that no air would get in. Once satisfied, Ayame glanced around the room for a second time, her mind floating off elsewhere. As much as Sylvana had claimed that the nurse was innocent and only doing her job, there was something about her that just made Ayame feel…uneasy. Perhaps it was her eyes. Ayame shivered slightly at the memory of seeing those piercing green orbs. She bet that if someone stared at them for too long, their eyes would burn from the intensity. But beyond her abnormal eye color, the woman herself just had an aura of sheer…evilness…about her. Perhaps it was biased of Ayame, since she never really did fancy doctors or nurses to begin with, but still…the vibe this Oba-san gave off sent a red flag shooting up in her head. With a big ‘WARNING! WARNING!POTENTIAL PSYCHOPATH!’ sign on it.

And then there was Anderson. Now Ayame had no clue what to think about that Doc. From what she saw from Sylvana’s end, this guy was not some biff of her sister’s. He also did not give off the whole cuddlebuckets vibe either…in all, he too seemed very sketchy to Ayame. Perhaps she wouldn’t have dwelled on him as much as she had if that nurse hadn’t come in suddenly right after he had left. It just seemed too weird…having a nurse coming in immediately after being checked by the doctor. Ayame had been in hospitals before, not for bullet wounds, but for broken bones and whatnot. And never in her experience did she get a visit from a nurse immediately following a visit from the doctor. So to her, it just seemed odd. ‘Plus there was that pill…’[/i] Ayame mused to herself, as the memory of Tristan taking a tablet that would supposedly cure his fever. Did the man really have a fever? And did he really need some CAT shmat scan? Ayame glanced at her sister. Well…it was obvious why Tristan got all lightheaded…odds were the reason for the sudden increase in body temp was the same.

“There’s no way I’m leaving him alone with Anderson tomorrow.” Ayame grinned to herself as she hopped off of the bed, holding Pon-Pon close to her as she left the room.

“I figured, Sylvie-neesama…after all, who in their right mind would leave their Beloved Capitan with the likes of Quack-pot and Nurse Freakazoid.” She said, throwing Pon-Pon up and down. Glancing at her sister, Ayame’s mouth twitch slightly. She couldn’t hold it in any longer…she had been restraining all evening! Now, she had to let it out.

She skipped down the hall, making sure to give herself some distance before calling:

“I won’t come. Give you two some ‘alone time’.”

Cue maniacal laughter.

~

Beloved captain? Sylvana would hardly call Tristan that, but she smiled slightly at Ayame nonetheless. She watched her sister toss her beloved stuffed panda in the air, contemplating swiping it from her. Vana could easily justify to her conscience that that was Ayame’s punishment for throwing the toy at the nurse earlier. Confiscation of the weapon used was a just punishment indeed. Ultimately, however, Vana decided against it. It really wouldn’t do any good in the long run. It wouldn’t really teach Ayame a lesson, and Vana certainly didn’t think that it would deter her sister from doing it again if provoked.

“I won’t come. Give you two some ‘alone time’.”

Sylvana stopped at that comment, utterly stunned and inadvertently gave Ayame more of a head start on her. She didn’t know how to take that comment, but was the really more than one way to do so? She could truly only think of one thing that her sister had meant, but Vana couldn’t believe that she had said it at all. Ayame’s laughter echoed down the hall, and Vana came to her senses. “Ayame! What are you talking about? That has nothing to do with it!” She called after her as she quickly gave chase to her sister, though truthfully Vana wasn’t sure whether to be embarrassed or angry at the remark. Unable to choose one, she settled on a bit of irritation as she ran after Ayame, suddenly regretting letting her keep the bear. Definitely should have confiscated it from her. Maybe it would just have to disappear in the middle of the night.

~

[Sylvana & Ayame Exit]