A deathly cough echoed through the wing of the guild hall, followed by pained grunting. To an uninformed outsider, it would sound like someone was dying in there. To the nurse on duty, it merely marked that Lantea was still alive. As she walked to the infirmary which was located in the wing, she sighed. The blue knight was the worst patient ever, largely due to the fat that she was presently the only one. She couldn't blame the Blue for being bored - lying down all day under several blankets and sipping tea had that effect one a person. What she didn't approve of was the fact that Lantea had Cryker set a target opposite her bed and practiced her aim with the gun they were unable to make her part from.
Lantea wasn't without troubles either. usually her antics would get overlooked by the head nurse Meddi-Cal, however the CMO was absent, helping out in Emberlight. In her stead was Squeakums, who took to pranking the gunslinger for causing ruckus. It started easily - salt instead of sugar to put in her tea, a rubber spider put on her pillow when she slept - but as Lantea started to shoot back such as putting Squeak's photo on her target, the nurse's pranks got elaborate, thought through, and in a very short time made the blue knight lie still in her bed, beware of the hour the nurse would return.
As Squeakums turned the corner and entered the infirmary, she was greeted by a 'hmph' and a sulking knight. So she still didn't forgive her for putting ghost chili in her meal yesterday. "Oh come on, it wasn't that bad, I tasted it you know." she said as she set a plate with her food on the table next to the bed. "If I die, you are so haunted." Lantea shot back, eyeing the food suspiciously and taking a very small bite before very slowly digging in, her sore throat making eating painful. "Next time I want to go into a frozen over part of clockwork, just shoot me in the foot." Blue said bitterly, making the nurse chuckle. Apparently wearing armor with cool blue theme didn't improve Lantea's hatred of cold weather at all.
"We'll, you'll be less bored now. A rattled knight will join you for today, and then you can go heal the rest of the flu to your quarters. I need the beds for the sick and wounded here, not the simulants." the nurse jabbed, with s grin that marked she meant that in jest. "Just being rid of your god awful cooking is its own reward!" she shouted after the leaving nurse who blown a kiss at her in return.
Just as Lantea was about to return to the ordeal called lunch, two medics wheeled in a bed with another knight. All she could see in the fluffy pillows were strands of purple hair, tied into pigtails much like her own. The rest of the knight was obstructed by bandages and casts that apparently held her in one piece. There was silence in the room as the medics left. Lantea was listening for a while whether the knight would make a sound, until she grown too bored again. "Are you still breathing?" she snarled, swallowing another bite and taking a few sips of the steaming tea. "Talking hurts. Got lumbered." the purple knight heaved, explaining the state she was in. Lantea shuddered as she remembered her own experience with the giant construct.
Getting out of her bed to stretch her legs, she walked over to the crushed knight. She looked terrible with casts on her left arm and a few stitches here and there. What surprised Lantea though was how young the other female looked - she couldn't have taken missions for too long. Melting at the sight of the cute, almost babyish face that was trying to hide the pained grimace bravely, she reached down and rubbed her cheek gently. "Shh, it's all right, you'll be fine now." Purple leaned into her hand, and... purred? It must have been Lantea's imagination. "Thirsty? uh..." she said, offering her own mug, and trailing off not knowing the knight's name. "Jibril. Thank you." she said as she took a few sips.
Introducing herself, Lantea wondered what exactly happened to the younger knight. "What weapon were you using? Please tell me it's not cobalt." The knight's face turning aside and blushing was answer enough. Lantea giggled. "Oh worry not, it took someone else to make me switch gear too. You know, if you can't dodge something as slow as lumber, maybe you should ditch the sword..." the older knight suggested. Seeing Jibril frown at the suggestion, she returned to her bed and reached below the pillow. When she returned, she held in her hand a shimmering, silver gun with a wing on top. The younger knight's eyes went wide as she sat on the bed, her eyes hypnotizing the weapon: "It's beautiful!"
Nodding, she held the silversix out for the other knight: "Go on, try it out. Target is right over there." Lantea pointed to the target, which got a few new holes in it since it was brought here. "We have targets in the infirmary?" Jibril raised en eyebrow. A 'Don't ask' was all the reply she got. Shrugging, the injured knight took aim. A pop of a shot echoed through the hall, followed by the sound of medical equipment shattering and Squeakums hyperventilating into a paper bag.
Thus they were both discharged from the infirmary the next day. dishonorably. Squeakums wheeled Jibril out on a wheelchair, then pushed Lantea out to the hall as well. The nurse pointed at Lantea, then on Jibril's wheelchair, then into the hallway out and then the door in to the hallway slammed shut with a thud as the nurse set to repair the damage. The two troublemakers silently left, Lantea pushing Jibril along, giving Rayfan's office a wide berth.
"So, do you have quarters assigned to you yet?" the blue knight asked, an idea forming in her head. She still had a week ordered of rest before they would let her anywhere near a clockwork elevator, and she could use some company. Since the mission to the royal jelly palace, she was able to complete all of her missions alone, and while she was getting good pay, the blue knight was lonely and bored out of her head.
"Nope. One of your guild found and rescued me from the clockworks, offered me to join. a pink hyperactive... thing." the younger knight shuddered, earning a chuckle and a story from Lantea about her first encounter with Misty Wellington. "Say," said the older knight, "Stay with me for now? There's a spare bunk. And I cook better than she." Lantea offered, receiving furious agreement.
Their room was sparsely furnished, but all the essentials were there - two moderately comfortable beds, a kitchenette, a shower and a table with chairs and TV. The only problem was that it was on the topmost floor. By the time Latnea pushed the wheelchair all the way up there, her lungs were failing to supply enough air to her. She sat down on the bed, and watched as Jibril got up from the wheelchair and started scouting the furniture - "Wait, you can walk?" she asked, confused. "Uuuuh, yeah? The nurse said I should wait a few days, but I don't know why, my leg's were'n injured..." the purple knight wondered.
Meanwhile in the infirmary
Squeakums was counting in her head the time it would take them to reach the room. "Three, two, one..." Then Lantea's angered roar rattled through the hall: "THIS IS NOT OVER, NURSE!" Squeakums grinned and gone back to fixing the equipment.
The rest of the day was a lot calmer than the morning. The duo shared stories from their missions so far, making notes and learning a bit from and about each other, all to pass the time while they laid in their beds, one trying to grow her arm back together and the other fighting off fits of cough.
By the evening they both felt hungry and got up to eat. After a few minutes watching of watching Jibril handle the knife in a way that frightened the soul out of her, Lantea confined the younger knight to a chair and instructed her to deliver her calibur to the armory and never touch a sword again. "But I know nothing of guns!" Jibril whined. She didn't feel like starting from ground zero and learning by trial and error again. One broken arm in a month was enough.
Seeing her peril, Lantea briefly hesitated. She had help, but was she good enough to give it? Inhaling a deep breath, she calmed herself. It didn't matter. She was the one to turn the younger knight a gunslinger - it fell to her. Stepping closer, she lowered her head to Jibril's level, staring eye to an eye: "I do..." she said, ruffling the purple mane. Grinning, the student gave her new master a very careful, one-armed hug.
With the warm meal in their stomachs, the two of them fell asleep shortly after.