Leaning 04: Dinner Invite (Izzy, Hannah, Carlos, Trace)

Visiting hours are over, but people sneak in to check on the injured.

Swears, hurt, all OCs. Editing? (evil laughter)

All the good things belong to Monolith Soft.

Izzy hadn't exactly bribed the Mim Center flunky to let him into the recovery hall. A promise to get her the details on the next Hawaiian BBQ pop-up couldn't be considered an actual bribe. Izzy would have been glad to tell her anyway. But he wasn't above dangling it as a reward for letting him check on the kid.

He didn't have long, she warned him when she gave him the number of the tube. Her shift only lasted for 20 more minutes, covering for a guard on break. And for god's sake don't tap on the glass. The occupant needed to rest.

Izzy was surprised how long the row of recovery tubes was. You wouldn't expect so many BLADEs to be getting hurt these days. Conflict was way down, exploration was pretty complete. Matt was still dead. Izzy shuddered. Yeah, maybe teams were still getting hit hard.

He wasn't alone in the hall. As soon as he entered, he spotted a pair of soldiers, still in their kits, standing in front of a tube about 20 steps in. A quick estimation told him he might be joining them. He slowed his steps and counted carefully.

One was a woman, younger and taller than Izzy, her face screwed into a glare that barely changed her naturally sweet expression. He recognized her vaguely, a friend of a new Prospector he'd been tutoring. (Izzy paid the fee to bounce between divisions with wallet-emptying regularity. Izzy liked rocks. A lot. He liked fighting big things in equal measure.)

The other visitor was a guy, also young and even taller. He was leaning on the pod, his forehead pressed against the window. The weird aquarium lighting of the whole place had turned his face into jade. Izzy did a double take. He hadn't expected to meet a merman in the Mim Center.

Izzy coughed politely. The girl glared. The man ignored him, eyes closed, lips carved from emerald whispering silently. Izzy shuffled to a halt. "You guys visiting Sal?"

"Go away." Even hissing, the girl's voice was perky and sweet.

Izzy stood, solid as a fireplug. "Yeah, so, the guard said I only had a few minutes. I'd appreciate the chance to see the kid, just to rest easy." Light shimmered on the decking and Izzy closed his eyes for a second. He'd seen enough liquid sparkles for a lifetime. He still felt damp, 12 hours later.

The girl planted her feet firmly. Her arms crossed, raised. Hands in small but solid fists. She was going to fight him, he realized. Here, in the recovery hall. Normal odds would be on Izzy, compact and mostly beef, although her reach was better than his and his hand-to-hand technique wasn't much to brag about. Smart players would say 60-40. But today he was exhausted and too damn sad to even think of fighting.

"Easy." He hadn't said that. It was the man by the tube. He'd pulled himself away and Izzy had his first good look at him. The uncanny merman vibe increased, pearl and coral and golden scales and the impossible dark blue black of the depths. Izzy closed his eyes again. The ocean wouldn't ever be beautiful.

"You can have a turn. We should be going." The man started to walk away, his friend following him while managing to continue her glare.

"Hang on." Izzy gestured for them to stay. The pair paused. Izzy took a fast look into the tube. Sal, check. Gash in forehead (Izzy still was doing that thing, calling a mountain a molehill), gash was repaired, check. He wasn't tall enough to tell if Sal had both hands again, but he'd take that on faith. The regret that had been eating away at his stomach faded somewhat. He'd failed Matt but he'd done okay for Sal. That was a start.

He whipped away from the tube and plastered a broad smile on his face. "You two like egg rolls?" he asked, waving his hands as if to summon the culinary wonder from thin air. "I know a place. I hate eating alone and I don't know about you, but I haven't seen anything but re-hydration goo since yesterday." He snorted. "They pull me out of a three hour bath and they worry about hydration."

Izzy had steered them all into an overstuffed red booth in the corner, next to the kitchen, grabbing a waiter and placing an initial order before the vinyl leather had finished squeaking. Egg rolls had only been a side mention. He started shooting questions at Carlos about everything under the sun, everything that did not include Sal. He hit paydirt when he asked about labor rights and compensation for missions. Carlos had opinions and good arguments, both logical and historical. Izzy fed him just enough counterpoints (as well as the occasional hors d'oeuvre) to keep him talking brilliantly.

Another soldier approached them, timidly. Izzy recognized the Prospector kid, the friend of the girl, and boomed at them to join the group. "Gives me an excuse to pull up the 4 item dishes. No need to worry about fighting over the last onion pancake, you get me?" He pushed and pulled his guests until there was space for the newest member.

Izzy didn't look at the kid, Trace was their name, as they settled quietly next to Hannah. Izzy focused on Carlos and pulled his biggest question, one that he had been holding in reserve for when conversation flagged, but he wanted Carlos to fill the space for a moment. "Sure, that works for us humans, but do you really think that contracts mean a thing for Nopon? Or Orphe? Very different peoples, my friend." Carlos was on it like Outfitters on a new skell. Izzy settled back and let night creep into morning.

Trace fiddled with their small plate. They leaned over and whispered something into Hanna's ear. Hannah shook her head. "Nope. I'll let these two talk. You want to say something?"

Trace shook their head. "I never have anything to say. All the time."

Hannah looked at them with concern. "Oh, Trace, honey." She turned and gave her friend an impromptu hug.

Trace hung on to her arms. "Someday I worry I'm gonna get so quiet that I'll disappear." Hannah's hug became almost brutal in a blazing way.

Izzy laughed loudly at something Carlos had said, then reached across the table to set a fluted dumpling onto Trace's plate. "Hey, Trace, friend." Trace looked startled, but Izzy just smiled as if nothing was wrong with the world. "I'm going to need so many Prospector runs to compensate for all that fucking water I swallowed. You heard about the shaft in Sickle Rock? People are going wild that something that important has been sitting just outside our gates all this time. Wanna hit that tomorrow?"

Sal was fine, Carlos was fine, and Trace would be fine. Izzy was going to make sure of that.

a/n: Trace also showed up with Hannah and Carlos in "Drunkard, Hobo, Liar." The shaft in Sickle Rock appeared in Apriltober 2020/23-25.

Next up: The return of Frye!