Apriltober 2020 25 Safe (Cave end)

a/n: Frye waits for the cavalry to come. Concluding 23-24.

Swears? Alcohol? Dr. Karen?

All the good things belong to Monolith Soft.

It was getting cold, or maybe that was just Frye. Rock sucks heat out of you given enough time. He'd been lying on this grotto floor for a while, at least 30 minutes. Or was it a couple of hours? That was part of the problem with losing track of time. He supposed he could figure it out from the emergency warnings still flaring in his eyes, but that came too close to noticing the pain creeping along his back. It definitely came too close to noticing how the pain stopped before it reached his legs.

He couldn't check the time the normal way because he'd sworn he wasn't turning on his comm device until it rang. They'd tried contacting the outside, but neither had been surprised to find that there was no signal, down in this unknown pit. Phog had muttered a little about miranium excretion flow and ether interference, and for a while Frye had had something besides the pain to ignore. Then Phog had fixed his device enough to emit light, handed Frye his comm device back, and stood up. "I'll call you when I'm at the top."

"Your comm doesn't work," Frye had said.

"I'll borrow Veena's."

Frye had lain there, watching his brother scramble up the wall of the shaft. The light had diminished as Phog had climbed, until Frye was lying in darkness. It wasn't completely black, not like it should have been. Those damage messages were flickering onto the walls, outlining the seams in faint red traces. Added to that was the occasional flash of ether particles. Or maybe that was a flash of pain made visual, Frye wasn't completely convinced. In any case, he wasn't adding the light from his screen until it was completely necessary. Better to be blind for the moment and ready to notice any new light than trapped in a tiny bubble of light and unable to see anything coming at you.

He lay there, waiting for the shivering to begin, watching each flash of ether (or pain), vaguely planning what he'd drink when he got back to NLA. A whiskey drink, then a vodka drink, then ... what came next in the song? Bourbon, and that native Miran mescal that Alexa was developing with Prof. B. That stuff brought on the flashes that Frye would have preferred to be seeing right about now.

He didn't answer the comm device on the first ring. All this time (or was it only a few minutes?) and he still needed to prepare himself. He angled the phone carefully, wiped the pain off his face, and hit "answer". The blast of light made him close his eyes, but he kept that shit-eating grin on his face. "Hey Phog."

"I'm coming down now."

Frye opened one eye worriedly. Phog sounded uncomfortable. Frye saw two faces crowded into the screen. Dr. Karen was bumping against Phog, peering worriedly through the shining rectangle. "Uh, hey Doc. What are you doing there?"

"We've worked out a plan, Frye. Phog will be climbing down to you and I'm on rope and communications duty."

"I expected Veena."

"I sent her back to NLA for a proper team. If we don't manage to get you out, they will."

"We will," muttered Phog.

"Then we've wasted their time and I could care less," snapped Dr. Karen. Phog sulked, and Frye noticed he was wearing a climbing helmet with the initials "K.S." on it. Phog hated those things. Their dad had never managed to make him wear one for long. Frye needed to ask Dr. Karen what her last name was and also if she was free to baby sit his brother.

"So, are we clear? You keep your comm device on so Phog can head down. I'll keep you company when I'm not untangling the ropes when your brother gets in a spin."

"I won't spin."

"Then you won't need untangling. When he reaches you, we've rigged up a little surprise that should make the return trip simple. So, everyone ready?" Every line around her weather-beaten eyes crinkled when she smiled, and Frye felt something that surprised him. He felt safe.

a/n: I told you he'd be okay. I could tell you about Dr. Karen's lack of last name ("I'm not sure if I'm divorced or dead, so I really can't tell you"), or the surprise (she studies rocks that float and has ideas), or the time she stole Nagi's drink at the Repenta before... But I think the story's done. Maybe another time.

Next up: Sunday. There's a few spaces if you have a prompt, idea, suggestion. 28th will be Rosalee vs a name on a knapkin. 29th will be short because:

5th
Anniversary
XCX
WHOOOOOOOO!