11.25.08 - A Funny Feeling

Location: Redwall Infirmary

Characters Involved: Harper, Tameus, Sivaine, Darklett

Tameus wanders down the stairs, pausing to blink sleepily at Nicodemus as the Abbot passes in the other direction. He stops at the bottom of the steps, Taye-doll tucked in the crook of his arm.

Harper is knitting by the fire. What a novice!

Tameus and his toy aim toward Harper. Taye-doll is set casually on the older buck's lap and the kit goes to take ahold of the poker from next to the fire. He prods the burning wood with the wrong end.

Harper looks down as the doll appears on his lap. He watches Tam, smiles a little. "Wrong end, Tammy." He gestures at the poker.

Tameus repositions the poker in his hold, and pokes the logs with the pointy end. The leveret looks fatigued as his muzzle lifts to regard the novice. "'ve d'cided I don' like tea, 'Arper."

Harper snorts! "Not all tea makes ya feel like /that/ tea..."

Tameus crinkles his muzzle at Harper. He angles the poker up and pokes his finger at the pointy end, attention drifting back to that as he huffs. "So .. I d'cided I don' like tea when 'm sad." Because tea + sad is obviously what caused the .. odd effects.

Harper looks up as Teela sits. He nods and offers a brief greeting, then focuses back in on Tam. He... nods. No sense in arguing. "That's prob'ly a good idea."

Tameus tilts his head, regarding Harper with a few slow blinks. He sets the poker back in place and goes to the older hare, leaning up and pressing his hands to the arm of Harper's chair. "Dust bunnies 'gain?"

Harper's eyebrows go up. "... Dust bunnies?" Ooookay, Tam just lost him.

Tameus nods. "Y' look like y' got dust bunnies in y' an' they's tryin'a get out. 'gain." Because Harper has looked like this before - and the kid said the same thing then.

Harper must have missed that conversation, somehow. Or misplaced it, anyway. "What does it look like t'have dust bunnies in ya?" Brow-quirk.

"Like some'n's wrong an' you're not tellin' no'n," is Tameus's reply.

Harper's head tilts a little bit. He smiles faintly. "I'm all righ', Tammy." He stands, then, plucking up his knitting as well as the couple of books he had with him. He tucks both under an arm. Talented buck! He extends the other paw. "You want t'come with me t'the infirmary? I'd like t'check in on a coupla things."

Taye-doll falls off Harper's lap - that's one thing he didn't remember to pick up. Tameus makes a slight motion forward, catching the plush and sliding his other hand into Harper's, giving him a soft chirp of approval. "How long 'fore Siv can leave?"

"Well, 'til her pain's a little easier t'manage, mostly. That broken rib of hers prob'ly isn't helpin'." He leads them towards the stairs.

Tameus ends up doing the leading, scurrying a little in front of Harper and pulling the novice along with him.

Harper has somehow gotten in front of Tameus in their trek up to the infirmary. He holds the door for the leveret, peering into the recovery room as he does so. Hmhmhm...

Tameus pauses in the doorway to glance around, eyes narrowed, his expression cautious. When he's satisfied that Taye isn't present, the leveret more or less flounces toward Sivaine, Taye-doll in hand, and climbs up onto her cot. "Psssssssst."

Sivaine is not on her cot, actually. She's up. _Why_ is she up. In fact, she's negotiating between the cot and the chair Ardice usually occupies during daylight hours with a determined and drawn expression, steadying herself with her good paw on the bedside table. "Tam?" she ventures, glancing over her shoulder.

"And Harper," says the very same. There's a distinct smattering of "boo, what are you DOING?" in his tone.

Well, then. He just takes over her cot, then, tugging on the blanket and loosening it from the mattress, then curling this around himself. "You're up!" he chirps happily. Much more approving than Harper, anyway.

"Oh." Caught. "Sort of," she tells Tam, and turns stiffly 'round to face the novice, standing there rather wobbly. "I'm up," she repeats. Her expression says it all - well, go on then.

"It's been four days," Sivaine adds.

Harper's lips part in readiness to speak... and then he doesn't. "Hm." He walks over to Siv instead and offers an arm. "If you're going t'insist on pushing yerself," and she obviously is, "at least do it with help. Okay?"

Tameus pulls the blanket up over his head. "How long's 't gonna take f' th' owl t' starve t' death?" he asks, muffled.

"It was a pretty fat owl," Sivaine replies absently. Harper's arm is eyed with suspicion; her fingers curl slightly around the edge of the table. "..well. All right," she concedes after a moment, taking the proferred limb. For a moment, her weight leans heavily on the buck before she struggles upright, wrinkling her nose.

"Um." The truth? "I don't know, Tam. It depends on a lot of factors. Someone could be helpin' t'feed him, or he could've run into particularly stupid prey. So it depends." Harper lets his other paw hover just at the small of Sivaine's back, not touching but ready to add the extra support if she needs it.

"But 't /will/ die, righ'?" the blanket asks. Tam has his face pressed to it, trying to see through the fabric.

"It'd better." That's Sivaine, as she forces herself forward one step, then two. Harper isn't so much leaned on as, erm, dragged along - Siv's not really getting the whole idea of 'help.' Are her ears shading to a deeper pink? "Bugger," she hisses through her teeth, tail flicking agitatedly.

Darklett pokes his head into the recovery room from the main infirmary room. As the de facto leader of the volunteer movement against the owl, he feels like he should probably check in on the injured Sivaine at least once, right? Right. Of course, he sees her up, walking, and wincing. Heheh. The major steps into the room, stepping out of the way of the doorway so as to not block it, but kind of... Waiting for a good moment to butt in.

"If 't doesn'," Tameus says, poking his nose out from under the edge of the blanket, "y' should send -- Dar'lett!" Okay, that's not who he was going to volunteer for owl-hunting, but the kid is distracted by the Major's appearance in the room. He hops off the bed, blanket dragging, and makes it halfway across the infirmary before skidding to a halt. Darklett gets a suspicious look. ".. whose side y' on?"

Harper moves kind of jerkily along with Siv, looking wryly amused. There's a hint of it in his tone, as well. "Just. Take it easy, all righ'?" His ears flick as Tam exposes Dark's presence. He doesn't look around, but he does greet. "'Llo."

"Hey, Tameus. Harper." The major returns the greetings somewhat cheerfully, before turning his attention, with much amusement, to the leveret. "...Uhh. Your side!" Quick thinking, Dark.

"Y' better b' tellin' th' truth," Tameus huffs. A moment later he's beaming happily, reaching to take Darklett's hand and tug him over to Siv's bed. In the process the blanket drops off him and is basically .. ignored. On the floor. "Lemme show y' what I made."

Sivaine makes a little 'fft' sound through her teeth as she turtles forward. She'd never admit it, but those painkillers are tempting.. no, no, she can deal with this. In fact, she inhales (winces,) and loosens her grip on Harper to see who's come to visit. "Major," she greets, going for an even tone but ending up strained.

Harper was halfway to smiling a second ago but now all of a sudden, and with a sharp intake of breath, he's not. His ears flatten and, Siv might notice, he loses a good half a step before he recovers.

Darklett follows Tam obediently, raising his eyebrows in anticipation of what the little hare could've possibly made this time. "Evening, Sivaine. Lieutenant Taye gave me a report of what happened, and I'd like to..." He reaches down and picks up the dropped blanket, resting it over the foot of a cot nearby. "...Uh, commend you on your bravery. If there's anything I can do for you while you're hurt, just let me know and I'll try and make it happen, alright?"

Tameus is just reaching his hand out to get ahold of the stuffed animal when he stops, pulls his arm back in, and looks at Darklett with his ears stuck up. They're angled so the tips just about touch. "Y' said y' were on /my/ side.."

Sivaine does notice - by overbalancing. She comes down harder on her next step than she meant to and straightens up, letting Harper's arm go while she's at it. "Keep up," she half-smirks, or tries to - she's looking a little ashen and drawn - and.. blinks at Darklett. Wasn't expecting this. "..er. What? I thought I was an idiot."

"...Er, well." Darklett's ears flick. "I am on your side!" He leans in close to Tameus's ear. "You have to catch the enemy off-guard, see..." he whispers, winking at the leveret. And he's gotta respond to Sivaine, too. "Well, you're still alive and the owl probably won't be bothering us much anymore because of you. Getting hurt in a fight doesn't make you an idiot." Darklett actually sounds a bit confused, here. Whatever.

Harper mutters an apology, gaze drawing downward as he steps up back to her side. He glances up briefly, but past her. "Um. Maybe you should. Maybe you should take a break, Siv."

"But y' jus' said y' been talkin'a .. th' en'my," Tameus points out. Darklett isn't the only one wearing a confused expression, now.

Darklett nods. "Yeah, I know." Okay, so Taye's the enemy. "He thinks I'm an ally now, so it puts us at an advantage," he whispers again, obviously super serious. "Now, what were you gonna show me?" Disarming smile. Hah.

Tameus is convinced. He grins again and makes a little lunge to snatch up the plush toy, then turns to Darklett and holds it up. Definitely hareish, with two different sized eyes - one black, one blue, and stitches on the face. "Doesn' have a un'form yet. 'Arper, w' still gotta make th' un'form."

The mousemaid seems to be in agreement, because she doesn't protest when Harper returns her to her cot. He then stands stiffly away, arms folded one over the other and hidden away in his habit sleeves. His nails digs little half-moons into his forearms as he stares in silence at Darklett and Tameus.

Harper blinks. "Hm?" He speaks as if from a distance, eyes focusing briefly on Tameus. "Oh. Sure. I'll do that."

"S' gotta look jus' righ'," Tameus tells Harper. "With th'.. th'.. thingies. On th' shoulders."

Darklett smirks, recognizing the stitches, at least. "...You made a stuffed Taye doll." The buck chuckles. "Why's he got two different colored eyes?"

"Th' black one's where 'e got hit," Tameus explains.

"The badges. Yeah. Okay, Tammy." Harper gets around to responding way too late. "'Scuse me," he kind of forces out, then walks over to the storage closet, stepping inside. He makes a show of making rummaging-around noises.

Darklett nods, "Oh, okay." Yeah. Ultra-realism here! "So, why a doll of..." His voice lowers. "...The /enemy?/"

The leveret's expression darkens, and he drops his gaze to the doll. "'E wasn' th' en'my when we were makin' 't," he mumbles. A curious look goes toward Harper's hideaway.

"Ahhh. Turncoat..." Darklett half-scowls, shaking his head in disapproval. "What, uh. What did he do to become the enemy, anyway?" Of course he's curious.

Tameus scowls further. "I was try'n 'a help 'm an' he lied an' was mean t' me."

Harper turns 'round inside the closet, staring rather balefully at nothing for a moment. And then he digs into a pocket and pulls out a flask. He unscrews the lid hastily, aaaand. Bottoms up! His eyes close with a half-shudder and he leans back into the shelves. Deep breath.

Darklett raises his eyebrows. Oh? "Tryin' to help with what?" The major kinda frowns at this. Seems awfully uncharacteristic of Taye to be mean to anybeast.

Harper's nostrils flare. Without saying anything, he tilts the flask again. Tilts it 'til he drains it, actually. He chokes a little.

The kid's eyes slip back around to Darklett. He hears Harper's motion but his focus is on Darklett for now. "Helpin' t' fin' some'n." Nod. His eyes are on Taye again - playing with the doll's ear. "He doesn' have any'n so's I asked 'm what 'e wanted some'n t' be like. He said brown fur, green eyes, an' an 'S' name." Scowling again.

Darklett's trying to find some way to not show too much reaction to that. Hah. Brown fur, green eyes, and an 'S' name. Taye, Taye, Taye. "...Maybe he was tryin' to make it take a while for you to find anyone. Maybe like a game for you...?" His ears perk, and he glances over to Harper-- or at least the cabinet door that shields Harper from view. "You alright? Need help finding anything?"

"But I /did/ fin' some'n, an'.." Tameus falters, and his eyes cut over to the supply closet. He edges to the side and goes over to peer toward where the novice is. "'Arper?" Temporarily distracted from story-telling.

The empty flask is resting on the shelf behind him when Tameus comes 'round the corner. He's bent forward a little bit, making little choking faces. Actually, he looks like he's about to throw up. He holds up a paw, warding Tameus off. "Fi- I'm fine."

Darklett was really wanting to hear how this went. But Harper doesn't seem so well, over there. He cranes his neck and finally stands. "...Are you sure? You don't look very good."

Tameus looks alarmed, and goes forward a little hurriedly to grasp Harper's arm. Taye-doll is dropped. "'Arper, what's wrong?" he whines. "You're not sick, are y'?"

Well, the warding off thing didn't work very well. Harper stands very still, paw not moving in Tameus' grasp, and squinches his eyes shut. He fights the gorge rising in his throat, because after all, throwing up a flask full of alcohol onto a little kid's head isn't really the nicest thing to do. He nods /and/ shakes his head, which, if you can figure out who he's responding to with which, you just kind of win.

Darklett's front teeth bite down on his lip, and he takes a couple of steps away, finding a basin - of course there are basins in a recovery room! - and grabbing it, offering it to Harper with a sympathetic wince. "...Uh..."

Tameus can't figure out which is which - he kind of tuned Darklett out. Anxiety is apparent on his expression, and he tugs at Harper's arm, chirping worriedly and trying to encourage him out of the closet-thing, toward the nearest cot. "'s th' dust bunnies?" Because if dust bunnies really were to be stuck in Harper, trying to gnaw their way out - this is what it would look like.

When he feels Tameus tugging on his arm, and once he feels settled enough to not upchuck all over the kid's head, Harper's eyes slit open. He looks around the room and - visibly relaxes. He waves off the basin, though he lets himself be led over to the cot. He's kind of pointedly not breathing on Tameus. Alcy breath!

Nodnod. Darklett puts the basin down, but continues to watch Harper carefully. "...Think you may've been working too hard?" The major just... Guesses. What would cause this sudden change in health? "Should I go get another healer?"

"Y' can' get sick, 'Arper," Tameus whines, maneuvering Harper toward the cot to sit down on the edge. "I won' let y'. .. an'. An' if y' do 'll take care'a you!" His hands press against Harper's thigh as he stares unhappily at the novice's face.

Harper sits on the edge of the cot, then lies down so he can kind of roll away. Must. Get away from Tameus with this breath, to talk. "... M'fine. Just feelin' kinna... kinna funny, s'all." Yeah, he's starting to feel 'funny', all right. "M'jus' gonna. Sleep." He waves his paw vaguely over his head, to indicate they should go. "S'okay."

Tameus emits a worried noise and scoots around to the other side of the cot - because having Harper's back to him doesn't make the kid happy, nono. He reaches to pet at Harper's long ears with his small hand. "I'ma stay wit' you," he mumbles, still sounding distressed. "Jus' 'n case.."

Darklett's lip curls outward in thought, brows quirking one higher than the other. He just kinda watches curiously, speechless. I mean, he was just fine a couple seconds ago, and suddenly he's wretching, then suddenly he's just feeling 'kinda funny?' Hm.

Harper's eyes close. He actually looks pretty, um. Pretty content, at the moment. He was maybe planning to say something, but actually he's kind of, um. He's... snoring, all of a sudden. Must've been some pretty strong stuff.

Tameus looks alarmed again. Harper never goes to sleep first! Harper always puts him to sleep and Tam crawls into his bed later. Everything is all wrong and he whines while pressing both hands to the hare's shoulder and shaking him. "'Arper.. 'Arper.."

Did Harper just pass out? One of Darklett's ears folds over, and he looks incredulously at the novice. "Tameus, I think you should let him rest."

Tameus angles his head to look at Darklett, his dusky eyes wide and blink-blinking a few times. "But." Pause. His nose twitches. ".. I smell someth'n.."

Darklett raises his brow. Again. "You smell somethin'?" Darklett sniffs, smells nothing. "What do you smell?"

Tameus ducks his head more and snuffles near the muzzle of the snoring buck. His whiskers bunch up. "I smell ... booze."

"Booze." Darklett sniffs again. And then notices where Tam is sniffing, and blinks, piecing things together. His head goes slightly off to the side, glancing toward the cabinet Harper was rummaging around in. "Hm, I'd better go close this before something gets knocked off the shelf." As for the booze? "He might have had a drink with dinner and it's still on his breath." He sounds convincing enough for a leveret to believe, shielding what he's doing as he rearranges some things on the shelves, slipping that out-of-place flask into his pocket. Then, he closes the cabinet, biting at his lip.

Tameus looks more confused than anything, and is too busy sniff-sniffing sleeping-Harper to really pay attention to what Darklett is doing. ".. but havin' a drink wit' dinner wouldn' make 'm sick?" he mumbles, looking back up at the Major while going to take the blanket he dropped earlier, carry this back to Harper, and spread it over the novice's form. Very carefully he smooths it out.

"Well, with Taye and Sivaine, he's probably been losing sleep and working long hours." Darklett shrugs, turning around with a smile. "That kind of stuff'll catch up to you. Give him a night of rest, he'll be just fine in the morning."

Tameus says, "'m worried, Dar'lett.."

Tameus tucks the blanket up to Harper's chin and then goes to pick up Taye-doll, then returns to the novice and gets up onto the foot of the bed.

Harper lets out a snort, one ear briefly sticking up in the air before flopping back down.

"There are open cots. You could probably keep him company, but don't get too close in case he really is sick." Darklett keeps on smilin'. Stop questioning, kid. He walks over to Tameus and pats the middle of his head, ruffling his headfur. "He'll be fine. I'm sure of it."

Tameus's cowlicks get more cowlicky from the pet, and he grunts, looking from Harper's snortiness up to Darklett. "I jus' don' want an'thin' t' happen t' him," he mumbles, reluctant to go to another cot. "... can y' stay f' a while? Jus'. Jus' 'n case he .. needs 'elp."

Darklett nods. "Yeah, yeah, I can stay here for a while." The major smiles and settles onto a cot. "You know, you should be sleeping, too. It's getting kind of late."

".. yeah. Well I slept a lot b'fore," Tameus mumbles. He draws up his knees and hugs the plushie, watching Darklett. ".. maybe. Maybe he drank th' tea an' he was sad? s' what I did an' I felt funny..."

Darklett hms. "Yeah, maybe he drank the tea." Hey, no idea what he's talking about but if it's a good explanation for Tameus, then he'll go with it.

"D'know /why/ he'd drink 't," Tameus mutters, shaking his head. "An' that'd mean he's sad. What's he got t' be sad 'bout?"

Tameus says, "/I/ was sad 'cause 'f Taye bein' mean. No one's been mean t' 'Arper.. s' I don' un'erstand...""

"Well," Darklett sighs, but tries to keep it inward. "Maybe he didn't drink the tea. Like I said, he probably worked really long hours and got sick because of it. It's happened to me before, you know." Maybe he can distract him with a story! :D

Tameus is effectively distracted. Another pouty look goes to Harper and he pats the novice's leg. Giving comfort. "When'd 't happen t' you?"

"A few seasons ago, the Long Patrol was at odds with a bunch of vermin. Believe it or not, I was captured and being held at the vermin encampment." Very serious. Darklett dips his head forward to let Tameus know that. "When two of the hares came and rescued me, we couldn't get back to the mountain so we ran to a nearby town. We hid out there and I kept watch for a full night and pretty well into the morning without sleeping. The vermin came into the town looking for us, so we had to escape... I couldn't sleep because I didn't want us to get captured again, so I was awake for a couple more days until we made it out. We ran back to the mountain, and I collapsed in my bed... Slept for the better part of a day." The major smirks. It's weird, it's almost like he had an easier time lying than telling a story of something that actually happened. Huh.

Tameus has his head tilted and ears up, one higher than the other, while listening to the story. He grunts and glances at Harper, then back at Darklett. "Yeah but. ... he hasn' stayed up like /that/. An' he wasn' .. captured.. by vermin?"

"Of course. He's a mild-mannered Abbeybeast." Darklett needs to distraaaaaaact Tameus! Bravado! "I'm a Long Patrol hare! I can take a lot more than he can."

A perplexed expression is still there. Now he just looks tired as well. "'ve gotta 'dea," the leveret says, nodding. "'ll do like /you/ did. Stay 'wake 'til I know 'Arper's okay. Same 's you did wit' th' other hares."

Haha. Success! Darklett nods. "I can assure you right now that he's okay. But just lay down and watch him, just in case, alright?" He's... /kinda/ sure Tameus will just fall asleep in no time. Kinda.

"Y' couldn' be sure 'nless y' know what's wrong wit' 'm," Tameus says, eyeing Darklett thoughtfully. "... do y'?"

Darklett nods. "I know for sure. Just exhaustion, plain and simple." After his confident reply, he sweetens the deal. "I'll stay up here with ya if you wanna stay anyway, though."

"Mkay," the kit says, nodding, before his muzzle opens in a slight yawn. "Mmf. ... who d'you know wit'.. brown fur an' green eyes an'.. an' an 'S' name?"

Giving a few moments of what looks like pensiveness, Darklett shakes his head with a shrug. "I've got no clue, Tam. I'll let you know if I find somebeast."

Tameus closes his eyes while settling down on the foot of Harper's cot. He uses the toy as a pillow, leaning it against the sleeping buck's foot. ".. I know there's some'n. Taye lied 'bout 't.. but I know... 'm not a stupid lil' kid like 'e thinks." Yawn.

Darklett smiles, watching Tameus lay himself down. "I'll let you know if I find anybeast that fits the description." And with that, he just sits there, on the cot, waiting for the kid to fall asleep.

He has to wait longer than he maybe expected. Tameus reaches to pat Harper's knee and mumbles, "Night 'Arper," then lays there with his eyes half-open. His fingers flex and pet at Taye-doll's foot and he focus on a spot on the wall, keeping himself awake for a while. Eventually it's beyond the kid's willpower to do so, and he lets his eyes shut, first for a little while, then longer, and finally they stay shut. He's dozed off, despite all his determination not to.

Whew. Darklett shakes his head and lays down on the cot on his back, crossing his paws over his stomach. With... a bit of curiosity, he takes the flask out of his pocket, opens it, and sniffs. Whew. Strong stuff. He pockets it again and closes his eyes.