A Few Days Later, Arturo found himself burning the night once again as he was working through a formula and applying it to the Q.E.D. timers. He, and Quinn, had made several breakthroughs and they were so close to solving all the problems with the timers.
This night though, the heavy set scholar was so focused on his work that he didn't hear someone come into the lab. Then suddenly a dainty hand was placed onto Arturo's bulky shoulder, only to be met by the Englishman's startled yelp. Immediately turning to see who was there Arturo's startled eyes met by Naomi's concerned eyes.
Patting his chest to calm his racing heart, Arturo says, "Oh Ms. LaLache. You startled me."
"Sorry Professor. I heard that for the past two nights that you've been burning the midnight oil. So I just thought I'd come and check on you. But it seems to me that you're working this night away as well," replied Naomi.
Arturo, leaning back in his chair and stretching his sore back, responded "Well madam, I feel as if we're so close with this. I just can't simply stop."
Naomi smiled at his resolve. "I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate you working this hard but I can't let you run yourself into the ground."
"Your concern is appreciated but unnecessary. I'm fine."
With an unimpressed raised eyebrow and placing her hands on her hips, Naomi asked,
"Uh-huh. So when's the last time you slept?"
Arturo paused and had to think about that before answering, "About…two days ago I believe."
Naomi nodded before taking the big man's arm and tugged him into a standing position.
Arturo put his tools down as he allowed himself to be pulled forward by the small yet strong woman.
Once the sleep deprived scholar was standing, Naomi linked arms with the man and asked, "And when was the last time you've eaten?"
As they turned the lights out of the lab, Arturo actually thought about this question. In all honesty, he didn't remember. Arturo knew he missed a few meals and turned down every offer to eat his sliding family brought to him. But how many that was, he had no idea. And the more he thought about it, Arturo realized that he's never missed so many meals before. Especially on purpose. Unfortunately, to his absolute horror, before he could answer verbally his stomach growled grumpily and quite loudly.
Naomi smiled a crooked smile and patted his ample stomach gently with her free hand.
She then steered him in the direction of the large kitchen and as they entered Arturo couldn't help but look around. The spacious kitchen was rustic in design, with its robust cabinetry, an island made out of smooth rock, and rough mountain walls. On the right side of the kitchen were large cooking equipment such as mixers, blenders, and meat slicers and grinders. Set up against the far back wall was a large, yet out of date, looking commercial stove top oven. To the right of the large oven was three large sinks and to the left of the oven was more counter top space. The finishing touch was a medium sized table in the corner of an unoccupied area of the kitchen. Regardless of its size, the kitchen had a comfortable warmth.
Once the professor stopped taking in the new surroundings, he said, "Look madam, I don't want to be a bother. I can wait until morning for some breakfast."
"It's no trouble at all. Besides, I haven't eaten today either. So I would really appreciate some company."
Arturo pursed his lips and responded, "You're a true lawyer Ms. LaLache."
Naomi threw her head back and laughed. A delightful laugh that gave Arturo a pleasant view of her neck. But he had to mentally shake out of his revere and mentally chastised himself for such thoughts. Not only was there no time for these suggestive thoughts but also that she was the mother to the little girl who thought he was a living monster.
With that cold dose of reality washing over him, Arturo approached their former lawyer, who was taking out some vegetables and a big pot.
"Since you are quite persistent in doing this, at least allow me to help."
"You know how to cook?"
"Contrary to what our lifestyle demands, I generally don't like fast foods. I'd much rather cook meals myself."
Naomi, with an impressed expression on her face, nodded and motioned at the various vegetables on the cutting board. "Alright then Chef Arturo. Why don't you mince the vegetables while I clean the chicken."
But as Arturo approached the counter and picked up the knife, Naomi teasingly added
"Oh. And try not to hurt yourself."
Arturo threw an unamused expression her way before starting his new assignment. And in silence the two adults worked fast but efficiently. Not too long after they found themselves working smoothly and efficiently in the large kitchen. However, at one point in their cooking, Arturo let out a low groan.
At his groan, Naomi turned around and asked, "What is it?"
At her question, Arturo wordlessly turned around and showed the lawyer a shallow but obvious thin slice with blood oozing out. And despite herself, Naomi started to laugh and found that she couldn't control the laughter once it started. Arturo joined in with her laughter as well.
Once their laughter died down, Naomi wiped away some stray tears from her eyes and approached him with a wet paper towel in hand. She took his hand and started to wipe away the blood and said, "Press this to the wound until it stops. Once it does we'll put a bandage on it."
"Thanks," Arturo said dryly, which in turn caused Naomi to giggle again. Due to the cut being so shallow, the blood stopped fairly immediately and Naomi retrieved a bandage from a drawer and wrapped Arturo's finger.
"Why don't you make the salad," offered Naomi.
"Alright, but only because there aren't any more vegetables to mince," Arturo countered with a smirk. Naomi smiled as she handed him the lettuce.
The two worked in sync as they were preparing their late night dinner. Then a thought occurred to Arturo and he broke the silence asked, "How's your daughter Breana?"
At the sudden question and that he was even asking Naomi was stunned silent for a moment but when she recovered she answered, "She's fine now. I tried to explain that you're not the same Arturo. But don't expect her to be comfortable around you any time soon."
Arturo nodded in understanding but before he could say anything else, Naomi added
"Thank you for asking." After she said this, the sizzling and delicious Gumbo was finished and then Naomi dished out both of their plates.
The two soon sat down at the medium sized table in the kitchen and dug into their meal in a comfortable silence. After a while though, Naomi said, "So I'm very curious. What's it like going through the portal?"
"Honestly. For myself…well a man of my size has the aerodynamic properties of a small grand piano," Arturo responds seriously, which causes Naomi to desperately try and conceal her amusement and giggles behind her napkin.
"Now the passage through the portal can be painless," continued Arturo, "But the arrival on impact is a different matter because it's jarring enough without Mr. Brown's insistence to aim for me as a landing pad." This statement broke Naomi and she started to laugh but in between her laughter she was apologizing.
Arturo shook his head and said, "No, no please don't apologize. You see, I'm simply waiting for the perfect opportunity to aim for him and flatten him on impact." This response made Naomi laugh even harder but once she calmed down, the lawyer said,
"Just when I thought I had you figured out, you go and do something like that. You're certainly an odd one."
"Are you saying that you've been trying to put me and my friends in a box madam?" Arturo said teasingly.
"Not a 'box', but it is within my profession to read people as fast as possible and then align what I see with the facts presented."
"An excellent defense Ms. LaLache," commented Arturo but then noticed a strange look on the woman's face. He didn't have to wait long for the reason behind it as Naomi responded to his previous statement.
"Look. Let's drop the formalities. You don't have to be so formal by always calling me 'Mizz.' We're both on the same side here."
"And what would you prefer me to call you then. Duchess LaLache?"
"As enticing as that would be, 'Naomi' will be just fine," Naomi said looking at him before continuing, "And because of this, what may I call you?"
Unable to ignore the question, he tried pitifully to deflect by saying, "'Emperor' has a nice ring to it."
At his deadpan statement, Naomi found herself doubled over with laughter. Arturo truly couldn't help himself from enjoying Naomi's company and laughter. Even though they were both at his expense. Then all too soon, her laughter died down and Naomi wiped away a stray tear at the corner of her eye.
Finally Naomi said, "I'd prefer to call you Max. Would that be okay?"
Arturo hesitated but relented. In noticing his hesitation, Naomi asked, "What's wrong?"
"In all honesty, I despise my first name. Always have. So I must say, when you do call me 'Max', please don't call that in front of the others."
"Alright I can do that. It makes me feel special; however, does everyone –including your sliding family-call you 'Professor'?"
"Yes, they do. But only just recently under dire situations they will call me some variant of 'Max'." But before she could ask any other questions concerning his name, Arturo changed the subject, "Concerning your earlier inquiry about 'sliding', are you becoming anxious?"
Naomi, seeing through his diversion let it slide for now, answered, "A little yes. I'm worried about a lot of things these days. And my work here has made me retire from law totally. I wasn't expecting my last case to be your group but it was obviously for the best."
Arturo made a sound in the back of this throat as he lifted his took a drink from his glass of water. As he set the glass down, he responded, "I can only hope that your trust in our abilities will get your people out of here in time."
Naomi looked at him with total trust in her eyes and said, "I'm certain you will."
~|S|L|I|D|E|R|S|~
That same night, back in the sliders room, Wade and Quinn found that they couldn't sleep.
"Psst! Quinn are you awake?" whispered Wade.
"Yeah. Can't sleep either huh?" replied Quinn.
"Nope. Since we can't sleep wanna go for a walk?" offered Wade.
"Sure. Just be quiet. We don't want to wake up the Cryin' Man." In response,
Rembrandt-who was still asleep- snored just a little louder. His snore caused Wade and Quinn to giggle quietly as they tip-toed out of the room.
As the two young sliders made their way down the hall they heard some people coming up behind them.
"Hey guys!" said Derek's voice from behind them. The two young sliders turned around and were greeted by Derek, Dorian, and two other girls with them. One woman, who looked to be Wade and Quinn's age, was a tall beautiful Caucasian woman. She appeared to be physically fit but not overly so. She had stunning hazel eyes and long dark brunette hair pulled up into a short bun.
The other was a short beautiful young woman, who appeared to be Dorian's same age.
She had wavy dark brown hair and light brown eyes that shown bright with a hidden intelligence. She was wearing a blue short sleeved shirt that complemented her bronzy-golden complexion.
"Hi!" greeted Wade and Quinn simultaneously.
"Couldn't sleep either, huh?" conversationally asked Dorian.
"Yeah, we thought we'd just walk around till we get sleepy or something."
"Well we were going to go for a night swim. Care to join us?"
"Like skinny dipping?"
The others tried to not laugh, but failed miserably and started giggling. Derek took it upon himself to answer Quinn saying, "No nothing like that. There's swim wear where we're going."
Wade and Quinn looked at each other and silently agreed. "Alright then. Lead the way!"
Not long after, they arrived at the swimming hole inside the mountain. The swimming hole itself was a rough circular shape and about eighty feet long. The water was crystal clear and was surrounded by grey and redish colored rocks. The rocks themselves were surrounded by plants and shrubs of various sizes and all had different but welcoming scents. On the surrounding ground was lush grass as the water from the swimming hole fed into the ground. "Oh my goodness," whispered Wade as she was unable to take her eyes off of the beautiful area.
Alex gently tapped the female slider's arm to get her attention. Wade reluctantly tore her eyes away and looked expectantly at Alex.
"Come with us. We'll show you where you can change into the swim wear we have," said Alex as Lisa gently led Wade away with them to a hidden door a little bit away.
"Come on Quinn we can change in the other room," commented Dorian.
Within a few minutes of each other, both groups came out and lowered themselves into the large swimming hole.
Once they were in their swim trunks, they all slowly dropped into the water. For a moment or two the occupants simply bobbed in the surprisingly warm water. Only occasionally, someone would bump into the smooth rocks that surrounded the swimming hole. The rocks had been smoothed out thanks to the earthbenders who resided within the compound.
Letting out a relaxed sigh, Wade said, "This is so relaxing and tranquil."
"I know right," Alex agreed, "It's honestly my favorite time to come swimming. There's nobody around but us! This makes the beautiful atmosphere so much more beautiful and quiet." But then the tranquil moment was dashed by Dorian, who started to splash the girls.
"DORIAN!" Lisa sputtered as she tried to shield herself from the onslaught of water being splashed at her and the others. But then Quinn and Derek started in on the fun and then a full out splashing war had broken out between them.
Once the splashing had come to a natural close, Alex couldn't help but notice Quinn's well-toned, but not overly muscular, body. The young genius looked even more handsome with his hair slopped back away from his eyes as water dripped from his face.
"So Alex how long have you been here?" asked Quinn not noticing the woman was checking him out. But because she didn't answer for a moment, Dorian ribbed the young woman who noticeably shook herself and said, "Oh, oh yeah. Um, I'm really nothing special. Honestly, my life before I came here was okay. My parents and I got along before they died. They were actually older so they died of old age several months ago actually. Before I came here, I was working my dream job as a P.I. for a big time law firm. Actually, it was during one of my cases to find someone and they were in hiding here! I met with several of the people here and decided that they were right. Something bad was going down and no one was talking about it. So, I told my bosses I couldn't find the mark and because it was a pretty massive retainer they had lost because I 'couldn't' find the mark they fired me. Once they did, I came back here and made it home. For fun, I like to play board games and keep up to date with my hand-to-hand combat skills."
"Really? Nice. What type of combat skills," inquired Wade.
"I'm got three black belts in two different forms of martial arts."
"That's so cool!" commented Wade.
"What about you Lisa? What's your story?"
"Like a lot of people here it's based around tragedy. I was only four at the time but my mom, Zoe, was working overtime and couldn't pick me up from daycare and so my dad came to pick me up from the center; however, on the way home we were run off the road by some thieves who then robbed my dad. They, uh, they then killed him right in front of me. They didn't touch me. Why, I don't know. But all I remember is being so helpless. I couldn't reach him. I couldn't do anything. It was thanks to some kind stranger that came over because of my crying. She found my dad's phone and called my mother. It was a defining moment in my life really. I decided from that age that I'd be a doctor and help people. Not just any doctor but the youngest. And I succeeded. At sixteen I graduated from medical school and all up until three months ago, I was a physician at San Francisco General Hospital." Lisa said with pride.
"Amazing Lisa. But what happened three months ago?" asked Quinn.
"I was fired for going against procedure to save a patient's life. See, the patient had a DNR order on file but we had an Angel of Mercy kind of nurse on staff and didn't know it at the time. When I came to check in on my patient and I saw that the patient was being suffocated by this nurse, I knocked said nurse out with an empty bed pan and revived the patient. But because I did this, the patient nor more bosses were happy about the situation. So the nurse was sent to jail and I was fired," explained Lisa.
"Oh come on! That's just not fair," exclaimed Wade with Quinn nodding in agreement.
"Hey, I totally agree but what's done is done. And besides, I can't complain when we plan to leave this world. But they keep me occupied with the injured and maimed here. So I'm still putting my degree to work."
"Not bad at all. You guys are all really accomplished," complimented Wade.
"Thanks but it'll all mean something once we leave," said Lisa.
"I can understand that. But that just means that we should be heading back," Quinn said as he let out a big yawn.
"Yeah, this swim really knocked me out," agreed Wade.
"I'm not tired just yet," said Dorian.
"Well you guys enjoy. Thanks for the swim!" said Quinn as he and Wade made their way to the get changed back into their night wear to head back to their room.
~|S|L|I|D|E|R|S|~
The next day after breakfast, the sliders were just about to go their separate ways off to work; however, a ruckus caused them all to stop and go investigate. Down a hallway the sliders haven't been to before, was a disturbing scene unfolding.
The scene was of two young boys being harassed by Captain Beckett and a few of her soldiers.
"You're hurting us! Let us go," exclaimed the smaller boy of the two.
"I will once you tell me what you saw!" barked Maggie.
"We told you we didn't see anything," yelled the taller and older looking boy.
"You're both lying! Mrs. Tweek said she saw you both leave the compound. Now tell me!"
"Come on Cap," said one of the soldiers, "Let's just go. They look pretty certain that they don't know anything!"
"Shut up! They do know something. Now help me haul their little asses back to my office," commanded Maggie.
In response to her command, the smaller boy pushed Maggie hard and he unintentionally let out a blast of air from his palms. Which in turn, sent Maggie flying back a little ways. But she didn't stay down. In fact, as she stood up and approached the boys, she snatched a rifle from one of her soldier's hands.
"Alright you little bastards. I want to see you try that again!" threatened Maggie as she rifle cocked at the two boys.
Aghast at what they saw, the sliders ran toward the horrid scene. Once they were close enough, Rembrandt knock the weapon from the captain's hands and then Quinn spins Maggie around and envelops her in a bear hug.
The three other soldiers were surprised that their fearless leader was caught off guard. But they were even more surprised that Wade, Arturo, and Rembrandt went after them. Wade had kicked the soldier in front of her in the gut. Rembrandt delivered an uppercut to the soldier nearest to him. And Arturo slammed his forearm against the soldier's nose next to him. All which were fell to the ground moaning in pain.
But before anyone could ask any questions, Maggie had drove her heal into Quinn's foot.
Bellowing in pain, Quinn released her; however, Wade had cocked a rifle at Maggie.
"Say hello to my little friend, bitch," said Wade with a cocked eyebrow.
Maggie raised her hands in a non-defense gesture as Arturo asked Quinn, "Are you alright my boy?"
Quinn, who was hobbling on one foot, answered Arturo, "Yeah Professor, I'll be alright."
Turning his attention to an unremorseful Maggie, he said, "Alright lady, I got some questions for you."
"And I don't intent to answer any of them," Maggie replied stiffly.
Arturo gave a hard look to the Captain and said tersely, "Captain have you no conscience? These are simply children. What have they possibly done to deserve being treated as so badly?"
"Don't waste your breath professor. She doesn't have a soul. And her drones here are no better. They feel big and bad because they can threaten little kids," Wade said harshly. Because of her words the soldiers, except Maggie, had the decency to look ashamed.
Rembrandt nodded in agreement of Wade's assessment and added, "You all have all of ten seconds to get away from here." To backup his statement, Wade cocked the gun again which in turn caused the soldiers, except for Maggie again, to jump.
With that sound, the soldiers ran swiftly away from the scene and Maggie looked at the retreating backs of her men with disdain.
"Leave Maggie. And don't bother these boys again," said Quinn.
Maggie looked at the sliders surrounding her and then at the boys who stood behind Rembrandt and Arturo. "You all are going to pay for this. Don't think I'll forget this for even a second," the captain threatened before she left with a huff.
"Are you kids alright?" asked Rembrandt as he finally gets a good look at the boys.
The obvious older boy was slim and of average height with a russet colored complexion and he wore his jet black hair pinned up in half bun ponytail style.
The younger boy, with espresso brown skin tone, had brown eyes and his black hair was cut in the style of a lineup and buzz cut.
"Yeah thanks to you guys."
"Why was Captain Beckett doing that to you two?" asked Wade.
"She thinks we snuck out of the compound and saw something that might've meant something about her husband's death."
With a cocked eye brow, Arturo asked, "Well did you?"
"No. It really wasn't us. Captain Beckett knows that a kid air bender and kid water bender left the haven and that they'd have to be pretty high level benders. So she thinks it was us."
"Yeah and she forgets or at least ignores the fact that they're tons of kid benders here.
And more than a few are high level benders! Not just me and Malcolm here."
"Malcolm? You're Zoe's son?" asked Rembrandt.
"Yes sir that's me and this is Sokka Lee," replied Malcolm.
"Ah, Harold and Wendy's son," commented Wade.
"Who are you guys anyway? Haven't seen any of you around before," Sokka said tersely.
"Dude, really? Rude much," commented Malcolm. Sokka merely sighed dramatically but before he could rephrase his statement Zoe and a little boy by her side came up to them.
However, as she drew closer to them she saw the bruises on their arms. "Are you boys alright? What's happened" asked Zoe with much concern.
"We're fine Mom. But it's thanks to these guys," said Malcolm as he motioned his arm towards the sliders. "Sorry we still didn't get your names," continued Malcolm.
"Right sorry little man. I'm Rembrandt but they call me Remmy. This is Quinn, Wade, and the Professor."
"Nice to meet you guys," Malcolm and Sokka said simultaneously.
"And what's your name pal?" asked Quinn to the little boy who came along side Zoe.
"I'm Joon, Sokka's little brother," said the olive hued boy. Joon had brown eyes and thick Hershey chocolate dark hair. Like the other boys, Joon seemed friendly and optimistic. It was very evident when he asked excitedly, "Hey aren't you guys helping us fix the portal?"
"Yeah," Quinn said with surprise, "We're working on it anyway."
"This is obviously not a secret anymore," commented Arturo.
"Was it really ever," countered Wade.
Zoe answered saying with a smile, "Not really considering the topic."
The sliders paused for a second and then nodded in agreement.
"Well then we should probably get to work. It was nice to meet you boys," said Rembrandt.
"Will we see you guys again?" asked Malcolm.
"Sure thing little man!" answered Rembrandt. All three boys smiled at the reassuring and overall kind attitude the sliders showed them. And with that, they all went their separate ways.
~|S|L|I|D|E|R|S|~
While the sliders were eating dinner that night, a group had sat at the empty table next to them. The new group were their new associates: Dorian, Alex, Derek, Lisa, Sokka, Adira, Malcolm, and Joon.
"Hello everyone," Derek greeted the sliders on behalf of his table.
"Hi!" greeted Wade, "How're you guys doing?"
"Pretty good. Thanks again for saving us earlier," said Malcom.
"No problem little buddy!" replied Rembrandt. But before anyone could say anything else, someone started to speak over the loud speaker, which naturally shushed the entire cafeteria from any further chattering.
Over the loud speaker Naomi's voice could be heard saying, "Hello everyone. I'm speaking to you all right now because the other founders and I have some devastating news. Today we lost three great people today. On their way back from the city with new materials and other miscellaneous items, Krissy Parker, Omi Taggart, and Isaac Stein all died. We received an urgent call from Isaac requesting backup; however, by the time backup arrived they and at least six of the attackers had were already dead."
The community cafeteria was a mixture of gasps and angry whispers due to the announcement. Naomi continued in a shocked up voice saying, "We were told by our leading officer who responded, Vance Wagner that it looked to be about fifteen different sets of foot prints who attacked our three scouts. Why? At this time we're unsure but in a few moments we're going to give our respects to our fallen comrades with a moment of silence and then in song."
After Naomi finished the announcement, everyone in the community cafeteria was silent. And within moments, the giant cafeteria's atmosphere was changed from its usual chatty tones to a mournful climate. The sliders were also distraught because of the announcement. During their stay within the compound, they had gotten to know quite a lot of people and Krissy was one of them.
Rembrandt was brought back to the memory of Krissy bringing all of the horses across the desert to aid them when they had escaped the labor camp. The young woman was like Wade in a lot of ways. Krissy was spunky, independent, and very kind. Rembrandt was then jolted out of his thoughts by a sudden loud wail from a distance.
Due to the wail, Rembrandt looked around but his eyes settled over at the table where their new friends were sitting. He saw them trying to desperately comfort each other.
But it was Malcolm's words that got him to leave his seat. "Why did Krissy die? Why do they all have to die?" Malcolm said through his tears as he held onto his sister Lisa.
Rembrandt crossed over to their neighboring table and knelt down beside him. The singer wrapped his arms around the young bender and held him. Not knowing what to say, he simply held Malcolm as he cried for his friends. Looking at the boy's older sister, who was just as distraught, Rembrandt held out an inviting arm for her as well and she tentatively went into the older man's arms. As she was in his arms, Lisa found comfort and couldn't help the tears that flowed out.
The other sliders joined Rembrandt in comforting their new friends either with hugs or with a comforting hand on their shoulder as they all mourned the loss of the fallen ones.
Soon, over the loud speaker, a group of women started to sing a beautifully haunting Latvian folk song. The song got really chilling when one of the sopranos sung their wails of 'Aaaah' over the harmony of the others.
Kur tu biji, bāleliņi, Kad es tevi neredzēju?
Tad es laikam rudzus sēju, Kad tu mani neredzēji.
Kur tu biji, (Aaaah Aaaah) bāleliņi, Kad es balti kājas āvu?
Tad es laikam sienu pļāvu, Kad tu balti kājas āvi.
kur tu biji, bāleliņi, Kad es gauži noraudāju?
Tad es krogā diži dzēru, Tavas skumjas neredzēju.
Kur tu biji, bāleliņi, Kad es tevi neredzēju?
And just like that the song ended. Wade knew immediately that she wasn't going to get a good night's rest until these people and her sliding group gets out of this world. And from what she could tell, the others were feeling the same way she was according to their individual expressions.
Soon after a new song began, but it was apparent that the community had been through this before as a quieter conversation broke out about the fallen ones. They were talking amongst each other about stories of the fallen comrades.
Lisa started to recount times she had with Krissy. "Krissy and I were really close. She was an amazing…well thief. Most of the high tech things we have, or at least were able to get successfully, was because of her. Krissy was always testing her skills and because of this I was always the one to patch her up. Because of her childhood, she didn't trust people easily but once she did she was in it for…life." At her own statement, Lisa started to choke up again.
Picking up where she left off, Alex asked, "Do you guys remember when Vance and Krissy went on a recon mission? Remember, they were supposed to gather information about some CEO and recover his passcodes to his lab?"
At this Derek started to chuckle and responded, "Do I ever! Vance advised her to find out his deepest wish and surprise him with it to gain his trust but, of course, Krissy thought that would take wayyy to long."
"So what did she do?" asked Arturo.
"Krissy disguised herself as a secretary and walked into the man's office and asked the CEO if the rag she was holding smelled like chloroform. And before he could even react to such a crazy question, Krissy shoved the rag into his face til he passed out a few seconds later!" Derek answered as he and the others dissolved into laughter.
In between fits of laughter, Quinn asked, "Wh-what… did Vance say in response?"
"Vance was in shock! And Krissy told him, while he was unable to speak, 'What? He's gonna wake up in like three hours.' She really thought that was okay," Derek said while the others laughter started again.
With these happy memories playing through the groups minds, they were all settled in a content silence for the time being. All, that is, except for Arturo. The British academian's mind wondered to his and Quinn's work in the lab. Arturo could only hope that with the new improvements he and his young protégé had installed will work for tomorrow's testing.
..:TBC:..
Author's Foot note: For those who don't know this piece, Kur tu biji Balelini truly is a Latvian folk song. I had to sing this in choir and the experience was truly moving. Our guest conductor was from South Africa and he wanted us to truly feel this desperation and sorrow of the piece. And he described to us certain examples from South Africa that are just too heart breaking and terrifying to write. But we, as a choir, were able to understand where he and the piece itself was coming from. Here is the English translation of the lyrics. Oh, wait, FYI Balelini is a name given to a beloved brother/friend.
NOW here are the translated lyrics. Where have you been Balelini? Why have I not seen you?
I have been sowing grain, that's why you did not see me.
Where have you been Balelini? When I wore my best clothes?
I was ploughing the hay, when you wore your best clothes.
Where have you been Balelini? When I cried out for you?
I was having a drink, and I did not see your grief.
Where have you been Balelini? Why have I not seen you?
Isn't this soo sad?! But I thought it was appropriate for the section of the story. Hopefully, it wasn't too much of a downer for you guys.