Many thanks for all the comments on this. It started out as a two chapter wrap up. Not sure how it has ended up as 9 chapters and counting.

Thanks to one of my favorite people for the Beta KL – it makes life easier!

Mikko Gorma's is named after one of my host "brothers" from when I was in Finland.

I am a fan of the "minor" characters. Sometimes the supporting characters steal the scene, and it gives the background on characters we often wish to see in stories.

More fun coming!

Chapter 7

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Keith shook his head and smiled at the memories. Sergeant Bilkins still sent Cady presents on her birthday and the pair communicated electronically; although each message sometimes took months to arrive. Keith had asked many times for him to accept a transfer to Arus to help train the fledgling Arusian military, but the Sergeant had too much family near him to transfer. He had done the next best thing and scoured the rank and file, finding trainers without large ties to Earth, ran them through his own 'special' training program and sent them Keith. The young king could not have asked for better men and women.

Left arm twitching, the young king absently massaged it as he carefully backed away from his daughter's door. Turning, he looked his wife and smiled. Awake or asleep, Allura loved to snuggle and inevitably she scooched inch by inch until his share of the bed amounted to centimeters.

The twitching in his arm started to increase in frequency and duration. Stifling a moan, he walked to the sitting room where he had left the emergency injection Dr. Gorma had given him for these occasions. From experience, Keith knew the spasm would continue to grow and then spread, and he did not need another episode where Allura woke to find him on the floor. In fact, he could think of nothing he wanted less. Plus, Tsuyo still wanted answers, and Keith had ducked the questions long enough.

Damn, he felt so tired all the time. Tired of all the demands. Really, he just wanted quiet to figure out what to do next. To plan. To find a new path

Reaching out, he picked up the injector just as a particularly hard spasm hit. The young man bit his tongue and grabbed the edge of the cabinet to keep from falling over, dropping the injector in the process, and watched it roll under the cabinet.

"Well, fuck."

Taking a deep breath, and holding his left arm as tight as possible, he knelt down in front of the cabinet. At least the injector had rolled in a circle, and stuck out enough that he had a chance of retrieving it. Clenching his teeth together, the man let go of his arm to grab it, wincing harder as his arm flopped uncontrollably. Raising the injector to his mouth, he pulled the cover off with his teeth and unceremoniously jabbed the needle into his arm, pressing the button to inject the drug. Letting the device fall to the ground, Keith leaned his head against the cabinet and grabbed his left arm with his right hand as the injection began to work, and the muscle stopped spasming. With a sigh, he tried to stand, only to have his legs buckle back under him.

"Double fuck."

With a grimace, he turned to let his legs slide down until his back rested against the cabinet, right hand holding down the left, and head banging lightly behind him. "This beyond sucks. Stupid, stupid body. Lame ass crapshoot of a recovery." He stopped speaking aloud when he heard his wife stirring in the next room. Last thing he needed right now; her waking up and seeing him stuck on the floor.

After several more minutes, he put his right hand down, drew up his legs and turned onto his knees. Grabbing the edge of the cabinet, he managed to pull himself to his feet, left arm dangling uselessly, still occasionally twitching. He knew the injection would make him doped up and needing to sleep in the next few minutes, but where to go? Not to bed, again, Allura could not wake up to him in a drugged out state. Not the gardens, first place anyone would look.

Shit.

He leaned his head on his mostly good right hand. Which he still could not close in a fist. Standing straight as the idea came to him, the crèche. No classes today, and no one would look for him there. If he left his communicator behind. . . he could be alone. Blessedly alone.

Not bothering with shoes, he headed toward the door. Thankfully, they had dispensed with the door guards several weeks ago. They still monitored the corridors, but Keith had nothing to hide. If he looked like he had a destination, no one would remark on where he went. At least for a while. He hoped.

Feeling sluggish, he walked near the wall so if he staggered it would not appear obvious and no one would try to come and help him. As he drew near the crèche, he looked around, but it appeared still early enough no one walked the halls except him. Slipping in the door, he locked it behind him and breathed a sigh of relief. Going to one of the beds, he slipped under the covers and let sleep come.

Rolling over, the man hit the button to activate the com, "This had better be good."

"Sir, yes, sir. There is a bit of an. . . well . . . odd situation, and we are not sure what to do about it."

Running a hand over his face, the man slid out of bed, quietly, and took the com toward the sitting room. "Elaborate."

"Well, sir, the King is wandering the halls, and, well. . . "

"Right. Ok, where?"

"Well, sir, he seems to be heading toward the crèche."

"Ok, understood. On my way. Leave a message for Gorma that I am handling. It."

"Yes, sir. Should we. . . "

"No. Return to your posts."

"Yes sir."

"Out."

The man rolled his head on his shoulder and sighed. Taking a minute to put on clothes, he strolled out of the room, ordering a breakfast from the secondary kitchen, and pulling out his data pad as he walked.

He arrived at the crèche doors, and scratched his chin while waiting for his breakfast to arrive. When it did, he thanked the delivery girl, and took a long appreciative swallow of his coffee. Quad tall skinny vanilla latte with cinnamon on top. After so many years, Arus had finally started adopting the drink as more Earth natives and near-Earth natives brought their tastes to the growing planet. The Arusians had grabbed onto the drink with gusto, and started exploring different kinds of native plants similar to coffee beans. It leant a nutty taste to the drink that he had become not only accustomed to but enjoyed. Unlike Earth coffee beans, the Arusian ones did not need excessive roasting, and leant a fuller body with less burnt taste to the drink.

Shaking his head, he walked into the main room of the crèche, and set down his breakfast at a table with his data pad. He then glanced in the rooms, looking for his friend. He saw him, curled on his right side, right arm resting on his left, fast asleep. With a nod, the big man walked back to the table with his breakfast. Pulling up his messaging, he let Saria know what had happened. Putting down the tablet, he stood to stand in front of the view screen. It currently showed the view over the lake. The sun had not yet risen, and the two moons reflected onto the surface. He did not know how long he stood, watching the moons as the smaller chased the larger across the surface of the water. Just as the sun started to rise, he finally nodded his head and walked back to pick up his tablet from the table. Returning to stand in front of the brightening screen, he began to dictate his thoughts.

As the sun continued to rise, he paused to rearrange his schedule and put a "do not disturb" message on his inbox. It would take a large change to make this right, and he had a large plan to create.

The smell of coffee and the low rumble of male voices floated over his head. Sleep pulled him back but the delicious scent of coffee woke his stomach. With a sigh, he opened his eyes, wincing at the tingles in his right arm from sleeping in such a position. Looking around, it took a minute for him to recognize the room. Right, I came to the crèche. What in the world was I thinking? Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly brought himself to a seated position, wondering what manner of trouble awaited him in the next room. Low male laughter brought him to a standing position and he took a few steps to stand in the doorway and look at the scene before him.

At a table, sat Gorma and Tsuyo, with a game of chess between them. Empty food dishes sat next to each of them, and steaming mugs of coffee on the other side. Tsuyo studied the board, while Mikko sat back, picking up his coffee mug, a smug smile on his face. "Mate in three, my friend."

Tsuyo studied the board for a few more minutes, then with a deep, pained sigh, tipped over his king. "Mate in three. The game is yours."

The doctor laughed low as he stood to refill his coffee mug from the thermos on a table nearby, set-up with warming dishes. As he poured, he noticed the young king, standing in the doorway, looking simultaneously bemused and tired. His hair stuck up in odd places, and his clothes looked wrinkled from the long sleep. "Ahhh, the sleeper awakens at last. Wait, what is the time, Tsuyo?"

"Ahhh, 15.20. Pool goes to, let's see, Saria. Again. How does she do that? Fine. Well, it will make up for putting most of the planning on her shoulders."

"Hmmm. True." Picking up another mug, he filled it with the fragrant, dark brew and walked the half dozen steps to hold it out to Keith. "Good afternoon, highness. Coffee?"

The man reached out and took the mug is his right hand, left curling around it slightly for the warmth, and sniffed deeply in appreciation before taking a long sip. As he stood, cradling his drink, Gorma picked up a pastry, and moved back to sit in his chair, while the yellow pilot put away the chess pieces and pulled up a third chair to the table. "Got some good vittles to tempt you this afternoon, Keith when you wake up a bit. Convinced Magda to make some of those cheesy pastries we all like. Even found some fresh mushrooms and some peppers to add to them. Plus, oh rapturous joy, almond croissant. Jana just baked some this morning, and I managed to snag a whole tray fresh out of the oven. You best hurry and grab one before I eat them all. 'Course, you cannot tell Saria. She is bound and determined, I will eat healthy."

Bemused, Keith meandered to the warming pans, and found lots of small bits to tempt anyone's appetite. In addition to the cheesy pastries and almond croissants, fresh fruit, and his favorite yogurt drink rounded out the offerings. Putting down his coffee, he picked a few of his favorites, placing them on a small plate and walked it over to the table before returning for his coffee. While Keith filled his plate, Gorma refilled a carafe with fresh coffee, topping off all the mugs on the table as he reclaimed his seat. Mikko and Tsuyo kept up a running conversation reviewing their chess game, while Keith ate and drank his coffee.

"If I had moved the rook before the knight . . ."

"I would have countered with my bishop."

"Right, but that would have set up my other knight,"

"Who would run into my pawn."

Keith just smiled and sat back, relaxing for the first time in months, if not years. At least it felt that way. Neither of them expected him to participate, and only refilled his coffee cup when it emptied. About fifteen minutes later, a very light knock sounded on the door. Tsuyo went to answer it, and one of the kitchen servers came in a few moments later. He quickly left fresh coffee carafes, and refilled the warmers with other finger foods, added some fresh fruit, and a pitcher of a green liquid, then quickly left with the dirty dishes.

Out of curiosity, Keith wandered back over to the food, and picked out a few more nibbles to try. He missed the look between the doctor and his friend as he returned to the table with a few more bites. Tsuyo stood up and brought the green liquid and three glasses to the table, pouring some for each of them. Raising his glass, without stopping the conversation with Mikko, the other two followed suit and took small sips of the liquid.

Keith paused and looked at the drink before taking a larger sip. It had a vaguely creamy minty flavor, with a hint of citrus and the bite of alcohol.

Seeing the look on his face, Mikko smiled, "It is a drink my wife makes, highness. An old, old family recipe. She usually sets up batches in the Spring, and allows them to ferment for a year or two. It took some wrangling, but I managed to convince her to part with some. For hmmm, medicinal purposes, you know."

"Doctor, you have more medicinal purpose drinks than Haggar has warts."

Both men laughed. "That may be a true statement, but one should find pleasure and enjoyment where possible."

"To your health then," Keith replied, holding up his glass.

As the conversation continued, Keith felt himself relaxing and returning for a few more bites of food. He actually felt hungry, and the food actually tasted good for once. His arm and back did not hurt at the moment, so he decided to just let things be. In his relaxed stated, he did not notice the number of times either Mikko or Tsuyo refilled his glass or his coffee, as the three men talked about subjects far and wide. Sometime later, he reached out to put his empty glass on the table, but missed and watched as it bounced off the floor and rolled to a stop. Blinking hard, he watched as Tsuyo leaned over to pick it up and plunk it back on the table. "Ok, oh Captain my Captain, I am cutting you off."

"Cutting me off?"

The yellow pilot nodded ponderously, "Yep. You are cut off. Finished. Done. No more for you!"

Mikko snickered behind his hand. "I forgot how much a punch this packs."

Keith looked back and forth between the two men, a smile blooming on his face, as he tried to stand, only to fall back in the chair. "Whoa, Nellie."

"Need some help?"

"Wouldn't that be the blind leading the deaf?"

The other two men started laughing uproariously.

Keith finally managed to stand and weave his uncertain way to the retiring room, listening as the two men behind him struggled to gain control. "S'not that funny!" He called over his shoulder.

"Snot funny?" Tsuyo laughed harder. "SNOT funny?" When the door closed behind Keith, he looked over at his co-conspirator. "See, tol' ya. So, NOW you on board?"

Mikko nodded, "I am." He pulled his tablet out of his pocket and opened up a message, "Annnnd, Saria is starting the process."

Tsuyo nodded with a grin. "Excellent. Now, I see there is still some of that delicious green liquid in the pitcher. Shame for it to stay there."

The doctor refilled all three glasses, and then held his up to Tsuyo. "To a brilliant idea, flawlessly executed. Let's hope the rest works as well."

Tsuyo clinked his glass against Mikko's. "To hope."

They each took a drink.

Several hours later, Saria and Mikko's wife came to pour the three of them into some of the beds in the crèche, after determining they would not likely make it to their rooms. The women laughed at the antics of the three trying to 'help.'

Fifteen minutes later, the women sat in two comfortable chairs, with glasses of green liquid in their hands. "This is going to work, Saria. Your Tsuyo came up with a brilliant, out of the box plan."

Saria nodded and raised her glass. The two clinked glasses together, then sat back in their chairs, finalizing plans while hope grew in their hearts.