After the doctors had repaired what they called a hairline fracture of his shoulder blade, Elnor hurried back to his room, his arm in a sling. As expected, Nathan was waiting for him there, pacing impatiently.
"What took you so. . . oh! Let me change my question. What happened to you?" Nathan demanded.
"We had a guest instructor for my unarmed combat class. Worf. As in, the Worf, currently captain of the Enterprise."
Nathan's eyes widened appropriately. "So you met another one of Picard's circle of living legends. What exactly does that have to do with you having your arm in a sling?"
"We did a demonstration fight for the class to see how practitioners of different methods of combat might interact with each other," Elnor explained. Noticing that this didn't seem to satisfy Nathan, Elnor added, "Worf cracked my shoulder blade."
"At least you had enough sense to go to the infirmary."
"Absolutely! The doctor fused my bone back together. She said I'm fine now, but wants me to wear this sling for a few days just as a reminder to take it a bit easy on this shoulder. I have to admit, I'm rather enjoying the medical benefits of life in the Federation. An injury like this on Vashti would have sidelined me for weeks, maybe months."
"As long as you're okay," Nathan said rather dubiously. "Are you ready to get that lobster ordered?"
"Let's do it! I'm eager to be on my way. And thank you for helping me with this."
"No problem. Just remember this when it's time for that double date with Sabrina and Cherie."
Elnor groaned. "Yes, I will remember."
With Nathan's help, Elnor was quickly able to locate a lobster fisherman in an ancient little village called Honfleur who was willing to have three live lobsters delivered to Picard's Chateau in La Barre the next afternoon.
"Have fun with that," Nathan said. "It's going to be a great dinner!"
"I certainly hope so," Elnor replied as he added a pouch of treats for Candor to his weekend bag, which also now contained the dried grains and spices he would need for making the vegetable and grain dish to go with the lobster, as well as the dry ingredients for the flatbread as made by the Qowat Milat. Elnor had been pleasantly surprised to find a small, but thriving, Romulan market within walking distance of the Academy grounds. He had also been surprised by how strange it felt to hear nothing but Romulan spoken around him for the short while he'd been at the open-air market.
"See you Monday," the two friends called to each other as they headed their separate ways.
Elnor hurried as he was later than usual crossing the large, square blocks of the plaza aiming for the transporter nexus. He would be closer to dawn arriving at the chateau than he cared for, which would mean a very short night's sleep, but it couldn't be helped. He thought about Candor as the transporter beam sparkled him away with a smile on his face.
Elnor was grateful to see Picard's flyer waiting for him when he arrived in La Barre. He carefully moved his bag off his right shoulder and into the luggage area in the back. Maneuvering with his left arm in a sling was proving to be more cumbersome than he'd expected. Climbing into the front of the automated flyer, he paid attention, but let the machine take him without incident to the side door of the chateau. After he got out and retrieved his bag, the machine departed, presumably to put itself away wherever it resided when not in use.
He pulled Candor's treats out of his bag before putting in the code to let himself in. He thought warmly about the day Laris had given him the entrance code and sternly told him he was family and to start behaving like family by letting himself in. He barely had time to close the door behind him before he heard the soft patter of the small black cat's feet as she raced towards him. Her infinity symbols around his legs were a warm welcome now, in sharp contrast to the ungraceful fall she'd caused him last weekend. Last weekend, he'd never even heard her before she'd ambushed him then sprinted away. At the time, he'd been a bit stunned as he'd never even met a cat before. The entire weekend had been a mix of pain and pleasure as he learned about cats. This weekend was getting off to a much better start. Candor purred gratefully in approval of the non-replicated salmon treats he placed on the floor for her.
Elnor waited for her to finish her snack, then both of them moved nearly silently to his room. As he entered his room, he could hear Number One's snores from several doors away. No doubt the friendly pit bull was making sure his master was safe. Elnor grinned again thinking about Will Riker's reaction when he'd asked him if Number One was named after him. That conversation from a few days ago already felt like weeks ago to him. So much had been packed into this week!
Elnor briefly considered what to do about the sling before deciding it would be fine to take it off as he was unlikely to re-injure his shoulder while sleeping. He pulled off his boots, laid down and was asleep within moments, Candor cuddled up next to him purring.