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Description

Broadway’s throat burned like he’d just swallowed a vial of acid; and that wasn’t altogether far from the truth. Stomach acid counted as regular acid, right? Broadway was definitely of the opinion, after puking his guts out around the side of the infirmary where no one could see him, that it definitely counted.

The medic braced himself against the scratched and worn wooden wall at his side and peered down at the mess he’d just left. Nausea built up in his stomach that had nothing to do with his apparently illness when he saw neon blue something that had just been ejected from his body. Bringing the back of his hand to his nose to wipe away some of the fluid that had trickled from his nostrils, he found the same sticky, blue substance there. He quickly rubbed the rest from his nose and wiped his hands on his fur. The blue was smeared into his coat and bandages, some of which were fresh from the day’s battles.

Something was really not right here. His eyes were captivated by the puddle of sick on the ground, the blue blood swirling and mixing into the stomach acid like tie dye. What was going on with him?

A noise behind him drew his attention and he quickly straightened himself up; it wouldn’t do for the head medic in the infirmary to be caught with his metaphorical pants down. The last thing the infirmary needed was to start panicking when they found out just how badly the leader was faring. Most of all, Broadway really didn’t want people worrying and fretting over him when he was supposed to be the one taking care of everyone else; it just wouldn’t do.

Two silken tailed Kukuri were just rounding the building; perhaps they’d been attracted by the smell or the sound or perhaps, Broadway thought quietly to himself when he recognized them, they were just walking together to be with one another. The amber one – Sune, Broadway thought with a glint of pride that he had remembered the face and matched it with the proper name – was in the lead, chatting quietly but excitedly to his raven companion. When Broadway saw that Ossys of all Kukuri was here, he could hardly hold back a groan of desperation; he hadn’t had much interaction with her, but from the little time they’d spent in each other’s company while he’d been patching her up in the infirmary, he knew she was sharp as a tack. If Sune, Mr. I’m-surprisingly-serious-when-I’m-not-mooning-at-Ossys, didn’t notice that something was wrong with Broadway, Ossys certainly would.

“Oh!” Sune had an odd look on his face. If Broadway had to guess, it was probably because the medic was unintentionally interrupting what Sune would probably call a date. Broadway glanced sideways and Ossys and decided that she was probably calling it something else by the slightly disinterested look on her face. Sune was a nice guy, if a little obvious, and Ossys, as far as Broadway knew, was slow to warm up to people. This was probably less of a date, to her, and more of a ‘casual walk with a new friend’.

Speaking of the dove, her eyes were intensely fixed on Broadway and, despite his usually stoic nature, he found himself shifting slightly under her gaze. As if subtly cued by his movement, she looked down and spotted the puddle of bile and blood that was slowly seeping into the grass.

“You were sick,” she stated, the bluntness in her tone almost making Broadway flinch. Almost.

“Woah, what?” Sune asked, dropping all traces of humor. The air around him seemed denser suddenly, as if his sudden change in mood was capable of altering the very atmosphere that surrounded him. His eyes were sharp, probing, as he took in the scene.

Broadway’s throat burned. He chuckled.

“I was out on the field earlier today,” he explained, pushing himself away from the wall and silently cheering when his legs supported his full weight. “I took a bite out of a few of those shroomies, but it looks like the taste really didn’t agree with me.”

His tongue seared with bile and lies, but it would explain away the blue blood in his vomit and hopefully keep these two from prying further.

Ossys’s narrowed eyes told him that he hadn’t convinced her, but it looked like she wasn’t going to say anything. Broadway was The Medic, after all, and he would know best if something was wrong. If he was brushing this off and saying it was fine, she wasn’t going to argue.

Sune, on the other hand, did look like he was going to argue.

“I don’t know, man,” he replied, pursing his lips as he once again looked between the fading puddle of sick and the Kukuri that had created it. “Are you sure-“

“I’m sure,” Broadway assured him, interrupting him before he could go and make any accusations or assumptions. The last thing Broadway needed right now was Sune poking into his business before he could figure out for himself what was wrong.

For a moment, Sune didn’t look convinced, brows furrowing and eyes narrowed and dark with shadows. Then, his smile was back and he got close enough to Broadway to nudge the rook in the ribs with his elbow playfully.

Broadway smiled back, mostly in relief that Sune’s scrutiny had been avoided. The elbow in his ribs jostled an internal ache and his stomach protested at the movement by doing a few painful backflips, but he managed to keep the easy smile on his face. It felt hollow; like a ghost of his usual expression, but Sune said nothing so it must have looked good enough.

“Alright then. Go catch some shut-eye and leave me and Ossys by our lonesome,” he suggested, waggling his eyebrows comically in a way that implied what he and Ossys would be doing alone together.

The humor lifted Broadway’s spirit slightly and he couldn’t help letting a little snort escape him. One glance at Ossys, with one of her eyebrows raised and a deadpan expression on her face, told him that Sune was going to be very disappointed if he thought his implication would become a reality.

“Alright,” he lied. He could hear the fighting approaching, getting close to the infirmary, and he could see faint flashes of blue luminescence. Medics were sure to be needed on the field very soon and he couldn’t afford to stop his work just to try and ‘catch some shut-eye,’ as Sune had suggested.

He slipped past them, for the moment just concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other until he was sure his legs weren’t going to betray him and stop working. When he was confident that he would be able to bull his way through the rest of the day, he looked up and glanced back at the other two kuku, noting that both of them were staring at him.

“Have fun all on your lonesome,” he joked back, eliciting a smile from Sune. Hopefully that would be enough to throw them off his trail.

Then, the medic was off in search of a partner; preferably not Avens because he really didn’t feel like being stared down until guilt weighed his stomach down further than it already did. He didn’t want her to be worrying about him on the battlefield when there were already so many other things to worry about and he definitely didn’t want to be cornered by her after the fighting so she could press harder and try to figure out what was wrong with him.

Sune stood side-by-side with Ossys as he watched the sick medic trot away and the smile slipped from his face.

Ossys glanced sideways at him, easily getting a read on what he was thinking about. While she had no attachment to Broadway, she did have a small, yet growing, attachment to Sune. She may have been indifferent about the medic’s health, but it was clear that Sune was taking this as a challenge and he wasn’t going to back down for anything.

“So?” She asked, intending to prod him a little so he would spill whatever was on his mind.

It didn’t take more than that.

Sune glanced back at the vomit that had almost completely disappeared into the grass.

“He’s hiding something.”

“Of course,” Ossys agreed, in much the same way someone less dignified would say ‘well, duh.’ “What are you going to do about it?”

Sune frowned to himself. What was he going to do? It was clear that something was very wrong with Broadway, even if the rook wasn’t willing to admit it.

“I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”

Description

Broadway’s throat burned like he’d just swallowed a vial of acid; and that wasn’t altogether far from the truth. Stomach acid counted as regular acid, right? Broadway was definitely of the opinion, after puking his guts out around the side of the infirmary where no one could see him, that it definitely counted.

The medic braced himself against the scratched and worn wooden wall at his side and peered down at the mess he’d just left. Nausea built up in his stomach that had nothing to do with his apparently illness when he saw neon blue something that had just been ejected from his body. Bringing the back of his hand to his nose to wipe away some of the fluid that had trickled from his nostrils, he found the same sticky, blue substance there. He quickly rubbed the rest from his nose and wiped his hands on his fur. The blue was smeared into his coat and bandages, some of which were fresh from the day’s battles.

Something was really not right here. His eyes were captivated by the puddle of sick on the ground, the blue blood swirling and mixing into the stomach acid like tie dye. What was going on with him?

A noise behind him drew his attention and he quickly straightened himself up; it wouldn’t do for the head medic in the infirmary to be caught with his metaphorical pants down. The last thing the infirmary needed was to start panicking when they found out just how badly the leader was faring. Most of all, Broadway really didn’t want people worrying and fretting over him when he was supposed to be the one taking care of everyone else; it just wouldn’t do.

Two silken tailed Kukuri were just rounding the building; perhaps they’d been attracted by the smell or the sound or perhaps, Broadway thought quietly to himself when he recognized them, they were just walking together to be with one another. The amber one – Sune, Broadway thought with a glint of pride that he had remembered the face and matched it with the proper name – was in the lead, chatting quietly but excitedly to his raven companion. When Broadway saw that Ossys of all Kukuri was here, he could hardly hold back a groan of desperation; he hadn’t had much interaction with her, but from the little time they’d spent in each other’s company while he’d been patching her up in the infirmary, he knew she was sharp as a tack. If Sune, Mr. I’m-surprisingly-serious-when-I’m-not-mooning-at-Ossys, didn’t notice that something was wrong with Broadway, Ossys certainly would.

“Oh!” Sune had an odd look on his face. If Broadway had to guess, it was probably because the medic was unintentionally interrupting what Sune would probably call a date. Broadway glanced sideways and Ossys and decided that she was probably calling it something else by the slightly disinterested look on her face. Sune was a nice guy, if a little obvious, and Ossys, as far as Broadway knew, was slow to warm up to people. This was probably less of a date, to her, and more of a ‘casual walk with a new friend’.

Speaking of the dove, her eyes were intensely fixed on Broadway and, despite his usually stoic nature, he found himself shifting slightly under her gaze. As if subtly cued by his movement, she looked down and spotted the puddle of bile and blood that was slowly seeping into the grass.

“You were sick,” she stated, the bluntness in her tone almost making Broadway flinch. Almost.

“Woah, what?” Sune asked, dropping all traces of humor. The air around him seemed denser suddenly, as if his sudden change in mood was capable of altering the very atmosphere that surrounded him. His eyes were sharp, probing, as he took in the scene.

Broadway’s throat burned. He chuckled.

“I was out on the field earlier today,” he explained, pushing himself away from the wall and silently cheering when his legs supported his full weight. “I took a bite out of a few of those shroomies, but it looks like the taste really didn’t agree with me.”

His tongue seared with bile and lies, but it would explain away the blue blood in his vomit and hopefully keep these two from prying further.

Ossys’s narrowed eyes told him that he hadn’t convinced her, but it looked like she wasn’t going to say anything. Broadway was The Medic, after all, and he would know best if something was wrong. If he was brushing this off and saying it was fine, she wasn’t going to argue.

Sune, on the other hand, did look like he was going to argue.

“I don’t know, man,” he replied, pursing his lips as he once again looked between the fading puddle of sick and the Kukuri that had created it. “Are you sure-“

“I’m sure,” Broadway assured him, interrupting him before he could go and make any accusations or assumptions. The last thing Broadway needed right now was Sune poking into his business before he could figure out for himself what was wrong.

For a moment, Sune didn’t look convinced, brows furrowing and eyes narrowed and dark with shadows. Then, his smile was back and he got close enough to Broadway to nudge the rook in the ribs with his elbow playfully.

Broadway smiled back, mostly in relief that Sune’s scrutiny had been avoided. The elbow in his ribs jostled an internal ache and his stomach protested at the movement by doing a few painful backflips, but he managed to keep the easy smile on his face. It felt hollow; like a ghost of his usual expression, but Sune said nothing so it must have looked good enough.

“Alright then. Go catch some shut-eye and leave me and Ossys by our lonesome,” he suggested, waggling his eyebrows comically in a way that implied what he and Ossys would be doing alone together.

The humor lifted Broadway’s spirit slightly and he couldn’t help letting a little snort escape him. One glance at Ossys, with one of her eyebrows raised and a deadpan expression on her face, told him that Sune was going to be very disappointed if he thought his implication would become a reality.

“Alright,” he lied. He could hear the fighting approaching, getting close to the infirmary, and he could see faint flashes of blue luminescence. Medics were sure to be needed on the field very soon and he couldn’t afford to stop his work just to try and ‘catch some shut-eye,’ as Sune had suggested.

He slipped past them, for the moment just concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other until he was sure his legs weren’t going to betray him and stop working. When he was confident that he would be able to bull his way through the rest of the day, he looked up and glanced back at the other two kuku, noting that both of them were staring at him.

“Have fun all on your lonesome,” he joked back, eliciting a smile from Sune. Hopefully that would be enough to throw them off his trail.

Then, the medic was off in search of a partner; preferably not Avens because he really didn’t feel like being stared down until guilt weighed his stomach down further than it already did. He didn’t want her to be worrying about him on the battlefield when there were already so many other things to worry about and he definitely didn’t want to be cornered by her after the fighting so she could press harder and try to figure out what was wrong with him.

Sune stood side-by-side with Ossys as he watched the sick medic trot away and the smile slipped from his face.

Ossys glanced sideways at him, easily getting a read on what he was thinking about. While she had no attachment to Broadway, she did have a small, yet growing, attachment to Sune. She may have been indifferent about the medic’s health, but it was clear that Sune was taking this as a challenge and he wasn’t going to back down for anything.

“So?” She asked, intending to prod him a little so he would spill whatever was on his mind.

It didn’t take more than that.

Sune glanced back at the vomit that had almost completely disappeared into the grass.

“He’s hiding something.”

“Of course,” Ossys agreed, in much the same way someone less dignified would say ‘well, duh.’ “What are you going to do about it?”

Sune frowned to himself. What was he going to do? It was clear that something was very wrong with Broadway, even if the rook wasn’t willing to admit it.

“I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”