Updates two days in a row, cool. Still, thanks for the kind reviews!
Embrocation
noun
a liquid used for rubbing on the body to relieve pain
"I can't believe you," Levi says, ducking around the curtain into the medical tent.
Hanji lies on her stomach on a cot, idly flipping through a book. She isn't wearing a shirt, but meters of gauze and bandages cover her torso from her lower back up to her armpits. Extending above the wrapping over her shoulders and to her neck, is what resembles an angry red rash. Her hands are also wrapped up, but that seems to be the extent of her injuries. He exhales.
"I thought I told you to be careful," he says, sitting down next to her and unscrewing the jar in his hand. She cranes her neck around to look at him.
"I was," she says cheerfully. "My grapple hook fell out, I slid down the tree on my back and cut my hands when I tried to grab the wires. Nothing that happened was through any fault of mine. You should see my cloak and jacket though. Ripped all the way through."
He shakes his head. "I knew you wouldn't be able to take care of yourself without me there." He remembers their first expedition. She'd come so close to dying because of her own dumb rashness and overconfidence. His stomach clenches.
"Oh please." She rolls onto her side, propping herself up on an elbow. "What's that?"
"Salve," he says flatly, making a face at the strange smell. "It's the only way they'd let me see you." He reaches out to push her back onto her stomach to get a better look at the injury. "Damn, Four Eyes. Does it hurt?"
"At first, yeah, like a bitch; I couldn't even think straight," she mumbles into the pillow. "Not too bad anymore now. But I was pretty doped on morphine last night and they gave me a little more this morning, so I doubt it's worn off yet."
"Tch." He dips his hand into the jar and scoops out some of the thick white salve, slopping it onto the exposed skin. "You'll need a whole new layer of skin to grow back before that heals."
"That's what the medics say." She shifts. "I'll be out of commission for a while. Now the shoe is on the other foot, huh?"
"I guess," he says, only half listening, focusing on his work.
"And since the shoe is on the other foot, you get to take care of me," she continues. "Won't you, Levi?"
He pauses, considers this, then shrugs. "I guess," he repeats flatly. "Since the medical team is incompetent and all. You know, they still haven't cleared me to rejoin training."
"They're just taking precautions, Levi." She sounds like she's smiling. "Remember when I got hurt the first time? You spent a week after I'd been cleared nagging me not to overexert myself. All I did was sprain my wrist a little!"
He's silent, then, "I wasn't nagging."
"You were too," she replies, voice muffled as she presses the pillow closer. "Terribly."
He considers arguing further, but just accepts that she won't let up. "Fine," he says. "What do you want?"
"Some of your t-shirts," she says instantly. "They're bigger sizes than mine."
"Weird, but okay." He rolls his eyes. "Anything else?"
"You could harass the medics for more painkillers later. After the morphine wears off."
"Done. And?"
"If you can get into the lab without me, some books. Maria Anna just got me this silly children's novella from one of the other girls."
"Shirts, painkillers, and books," he recounts, accentuating each one with a light tap. Her hair is a mess too, and he makes a mental note to get a comb as well. "All?"
"Yes, thank you. But it'd be great if you could read the books to me too. I'm sure you need the practice."
He sneers, but of course she doesn't see it. "Don't push your luck."
She laughs.
