HAI A-GAIN. Here this is, one more chapter before I head back to the middle of nowhere. But since I'm taking my computer with me (damn English paper...), I'll probably have another chapter or two for you all when I get back.
P.S. I have never actually seen "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", but I want to.
Disclaimer: I don't own MD:TAS or any movies mentioned in this chapter. If I did, I'd be rich
Nosedive peeked into the room after Duke's door opened.
Tanya had told everyone that the older drake had been sleeping when she left almost two hours before and that his side was infected. That had alerted the leader of the team a bit, but Tanya had assured Wildwing that Duke just needed to rest. The teenager wasn't sure why his brother would be upset over the fact, but shrugged it off. Maybe it just had to do with the fact that the former jewel bandit had just come out of his coma not long ago and they weren't expecting anything else to happen.
So Dive gathered up a few movies he had recently gotten and decided that it was his turn to visit since he was meeting Mookie and Thrash later in the day. He figured that Duke was going to like the movies he had bought, considering the ex-thief liked movies with a good heist or something that related to literature. The last movie they had watched 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen', had been a good movie for the two of them to comment on the whole time since the characters were based off human literature and Duke had acquired a taste for it.
"Duke?" Nosedive asked, looking a bit more into the room. "You awake in there?"
"Have been for awhile," a voice from the bunk answered. Duke opened his eyes and yawned. "Just been so bored, I tried to go back to sleep."
The youngest smiled and entered the room, pulling a chair away from the wall and bringing it to the injured teammate's side. "Well, I've got some good movies today," Dive said, pulling some movies from a bag he was carrying. "I've got 'The Godfather', uh…" he picked up another movie. " 'Pulp Fiction', and 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'. Which one sounds the best?"
Duke thought for a minute. "How about 'The Godfather'?" he suggested. "Sounds like it's mob-related."
"Actually, it is," Nosedive said, putting the other two movies down. "I heard about it from Thrash. Says it's the ultimate movie or something like that."
Duke smiled sadly at the kid as Nosedive went over to the TV that had been set up in the room and put in the movie. The older drake had noticed old bruising around the teenager's right arm where his elbow joined the two parts of his arm. Duke had dual feelings whenever he saw the bruises: one, he felt bad that the kid had been the one to have to give blood. Two, he felt happy that Nosedive had given him his life back since he didn't have to donate. Puck, if the kid hadn't of volunteered or if Wildwing had said no, the ex-thief probably wouldn't be alive right now.
"Hey Dukester! You awake in there?"
The former jewel thief was snapped from his thoughts when he noticed that Nosedive had taken his seat and the movie previews on the tape were playing. "Sorry kid," he apologized. "I was just thinkin' 'bout somethin'."
Nosedive looked at him funny. "Like what?" he asked.
Duke sighed, then spoke. "I wanted to say…sorry. And thanks."
The teenager looked thoroughly confused. The look made Duke smile, realizing just how innocent the kid could be sometimes. "You helped save my life. Donating blood was a big deal in the Brotherhood, since we could hardly ever get any otherwise and usually the other members refused donations when they got hurt, or just refused to donate at all. So…thanks kid."
Nosedive looked somewhat embarrassed. "…how'd you know?" he finally asked.
"Your broth'ah," Duke lied, smiling. The ex-thief couldn't tell the younger one that he had heard the whole thing when he had been in his comatose state. "And your bruises on your arm kinda say somethin' too."
The teenager quickly looked at his right arm and cursed himself. When he usually went to visit Duke, he would put on long sleeves under whatever shirt he was wearing or put on a jacket. But he had forgotten today, so they were showing, though the bruising was almost gone. Dive hadn't wanted the older drake to see the marks to show what he had done because he was sure he would get embarrassed by the discussion.
"You saved my life y'know."
Nosedive looked back at Duke. He studied the ex-thief's face, only to see an expression of thanks. The younger one smiled, still feeling slightly awkward. "No problem," he said, looking away to the TV screen…
RVRVRVRVRVRVRV
Nosedive walked out of the room nearly three hours later, the door closing behind him. He wandered off to his room, thinking about what the older mallard had said to him.
No one had ever thanked him for saving their back or helping them. Not from the time he was a duckling to now, on a Resistance team. He had eventually gotten used to not being thanked when he would help other kids his age (which is probably why he had ended up spending almost every single waking minute with Wildwing after he turned six or so,) and hadn't even given it a second thought when he and his brother went with Canard into the Resistance.
So this was a first for the teenager. When he had volunteered to give blood, he hadn't been expecting Duke to ever know about it or to receive a 'thank you' for doing what he did. And the look on the ex-thief's face when he said that Wildwing had told him didn't look like he was telling the truth; but Nosedive wasn't about to question that.
If there was something to tell, Wing would explain it later.
