A Robot and a Valkyrie walk into a Hospital Room...

Big Hospital, Sunday, August 23, 2020

It’s not the first time Atlanta has had to wait for hours in a hospital, but it is the first time that she’s been the patient. The low pain in her left shoulder is nothing compared to her anxiety about the upcoming arrival of her girlfriend and her mom. Mentally, Atlanta checks off the people she’s texted to tell she’s in the hospital: Boon, Melody, Ellen and Tay, Ernest. There are more people she should probably tell, but there’s only so many concerned/murderous responses from friends she can handle in a day.

“Melody says she might stop by later,” Atlanta says, putting her phone down next to the succulent Whiz had given her and looking over at Mel. “And Boon should be getting here any minute.”

Mel hums from where he's sitting at the foot of the bed, idly swinging his feet. "You wanna take bets on who's the maddest? 'Cause Boon's gonna be mad as hell, but I feel like Tay and Ellen have an edge over her in baseline murderous intent, y'know?"

Despite her growing dread of the upcoming conversations, Atlanta laughs. “Don’t count out Melody. She’s able to be subtler about her intentions, so if any of my friends could commit a murder and get away with it, it’d be her. I know Iconoclast is a villain and like, taking people’s powers and stuff, but I would feel legitimately bad for him if he ran into any of them.”

"Oooh, yeah, Melody's a good dark horse here." Mel grins. "Oh yeah, Iconoclast is fucked. But who would he be the *most* fucked to run into, is the question. 'Cause they'll all have to step up their game to beat out Boon's sheer gay rage."

At this moment the door swings open wide "Did someone say sheer gay rage?" Boon says as she enters the hospital room. "Because the only ones that should be in the hospital right now are the assholes who stabbed my friends." Boon quickly makes her way over to the bed and kneels down next to Atlanta's head "You doing okay babe? I'm so sorry this happened. If you need anything at all I'll be right here I promise.

Atlanta reaches across the bed with her right hand to squeeze Boon’s since her left shoulder was mostly immobilized. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s uh, just a little stab wound, you know? Having an elevator fall on me last year definitely hurt worse.” Atlanta tries to smile like that was a joke, but knows it was a bad one.

Boon forces a smile, but it's clearly undercut by a feeling of concern. "I'm- probably not able to give you a hug just yet, which kills me. You're a strong person Atlanta, and I know that I can trust you to face injuries like this and put yourself at risk to help others. But none of that helps me when I see you get injured. I can't stand seeing bad things happen to you."

"Oh, c'mon," Mel pipes up with a teasing grin. "She only got stabbed a *little* bit. I know you're gay and all but you don't have to be so dramatic."

“Sweetie I’m gay. I’m *required* to be dramatic’’

Atlanta giggles at her friends, then squeezes Boon’s hand. “I don’t like being hurt, either, but it’s worth it. I kept Wingnut safe, even if Iconoclast got away…” As she trails off, Atlanta looks down at her shoulder and bites her lip.

"Wingnut definitely appreciates it," Mel says. Wingnut leans down from her perch on the head rest and runs her beak through Atlanta's hair. "Besides," Mel adds. "At least you got stabbed on purpose doing something like, heroic. I just got jumped by a girl with, like, way too many knives."

“Okay so Iconoclast, and ‘Girl with like, way too many knives’ hold on let me write these down, they’re going on my hitlist.” Boon imitates writing down names on an invisible notebook. Despite the attempt at humor, it’s done nothing to defuse her worry “Again, I’m just- I feel awful that this happened. You two shouldn’t have to get hurt like this, and maybe if I was there I could’ve done something I-” Boon’s lip starts to quiver a bit.

“Hey, hey, Boon, look at me.” Atlanta moves her free hand up to Boon’s face. “We’re heroes. Bad stuff is going to happen. And we can’t stop all of it, or be there all the time. It’s not possible. But what we *can* do is be there after. You can always kiss it and make it better.” Atlanta smiles reassuringly, then glances at Mel. “Well, with me anyway.”

"Yeah, I'll stick to the magic healing high five, thanks," Mel says, lightly kicking Boon's shoulder. "And besides, I think we all know nothing can kill me by now." He cocks his head to the side thoughtfully. "Actually, now that I think of it, can you even really kill a robot?"

“Let’s not find out!” Boon protests. A flash of realization crosses Boon’s face. “Wait a minute… magic healing… Atlanta! I was so worried I forgot I could heal you” A grin crosses Boon’s face, juxtaposing the tears welling in her eyes. “So you want me to kiss it and make it better huh? Mel close your eyes.” She leans over and plants a kiss on Atlanta’s shoulder, channeling the familiar energy of her healing magic into the wound as she does so. “Any better?” She asks as she looks up at Atlanta.

Atlanta’s face has turned so red that her freckles nearly aren’t visible under the blush. Her mouth hangs open as she tries to think of words and how to respond, but Atlanta.exe has stopped working.

Mel rolls his eyes and pointedly puts a hand over his face to block his view. After a few seconds he drops it and looks back at them. He makes exaggerated gagging noises. "You two are so gross," he says lightly, reaching over to kick Boon again.

Boon laughs “Careful Mel, you distracted me and I think my magic put Atlanta in a coma!” she says teasing her catatonically gay partner.

Brought back to functioning by Boon’s laugh, Atlanta lifts her hands to cover her red face. “I’m not in a coma! I just! Uh…” Atlanta looks down at her bandaged shoulder. “Oh, uh. Yeah. I think it worked.”

Carefully, Atlanta moves her shoulder around to test how it felt. “The bandages make it a little difficult to move, but otherwise it feels great!”

Boon grins mischievously "Are you sure? Maybe I should try it again just to be sure" Boon leans over to kiss Atlanta's shoulder again, this time more playfully.

Atlanta is physically incapable of blushing any harder, but she lets out a squeak of embarrassment as Boon kisses her. “I...you…” Wishing she had a hoodie to hide her face in, she covers her cheeks with her hands again and looks desperately at Mel.

"Oh my GOD, get a room, you two," Mel complains loudly. "One I'm not in, preferably. Geez, Boon, I thought the point of this whole exercise was to *not* kill Atlanta, look at what you're doing to her."

"Oh no you're right, we should call a nurse. This patient is dying of sapphic overload!" Boon giggles.

At this moment Noah James walks through the door staring at a clipboard. "Okay Bean, I talked to the doctor. The cut's pretty deep so it may take a few weeks to-" Noah looks up from his clipboard and the color drains from his face. "Atlanta no! You can't be moving that yet!"

Atlanta jumps as her dad shouts. “Oh! No! It’s okay, Boon healed it! You know, with her magic and stuff! See?” Atlanta gently works her shoulder in a circle to demonstrate.

Boon gives a shy wave at Noah.

Noah narrows his eyes "I've seen what you can do Boon so I trust you and thank you for helping my daughter with her injury. But neither of us know what kind of lasting effects your magic can leave on a patient, so Atlanta it would be best if you didn't go moving your arm until we verify that it's safe to do so."

"No, it's totally fine, Mr. James!" Mel pipes up. "I got stabbed a bunch yesterday and Boon healed me up and I'm just fine now!"

Noah doesn’t respond and just blankly stares at Bolt for an uncomfortably long time. Finally he points at the empty hospital bed next to Atlanta’s. “Get in the bed”

Mel blinks back at him, looks at the empty bed, then looks back. "Um. What? Why?" He looks over at Boon and Atlanta like they can clarify it for him.

Boon shrugs in confusion.

Noah walks over to the empty bed. “Mel, I need to make sure you’re okay, both of you. I know Boon has magic powers or whatever but if you’ve just been stabbed you need medical attention, now get in the bed.”

“Just do it and get it over with. Jasper gets his stubbornness from Dad,” Atlanta says, nudging Mel with her foot. “And that goes double when it’s medical stuff.”

"Um… okay, I guess," Mel says, still off guard. He hops down from the foot of Atlanta's bed and sits at the head of the empty one. Wingnut flies over to perch on the headrest and fixes her stare on Noah. "This is unnecessary," Mel continues. "Like, magic healing and all, but also, like, I'm fake. We don't know that I can actually get, like, for real hurt."

“If robots can’t get hurt, I jumped in front of a knife for Wingnut for nothing, Mel.” Atlanta rolls her eyes.

Noah’s eyes widen, “Wait so you’re a- a ro- robot?” Noah shifts uncomfortably. “Um, you know what, I’ve decided I don’t want to know, I’m sure you’re fine. Atlanta, I’m going to take off your bandages so I can get a look at your injury okay?”

Atlanta scooches so she’s sitting up straighter. “Yes, please!”

Noah carefully unravels the bandages around Atlanta’s shoulder. He inspects the shoulder carefully “Hmm, there’s some scar tissue here…” he notes, glancing in Boon’s direction.

Boon scratches the back of her neck nervously, “Sorry, I still haven’t figured out how to keep it from scarring, especially since my magic involves a lot of accelerating the body’s own natural healing.”

Noah nods, “I see. I wouldn’t worry about it, it was a deep cut so some scarring is to be expected, magic or otherwise. You did a great job Boon. Atlanta, the wound appears fine at a cursory glance. I’d like to have the doctor run a few more scans just so we can verify that the internal damage is resolved, which I’m sure it is. And the next part it is important to note that I’m telling you not as a nurse but as a father: you’re going to have to take it easy for a few more weeks. No heroing.”

[insert ironic cutaway gag of Atlanta fighting Undertow on the beach the next day]

Atlanta nods. “I...I’ll try?” She looks down at her shoulder and gently traces her fingers over the scar. “Oh man, what am I gonna tell the swim team?” A terrible thought crosses her mind and she looks up at her dad in alarm. “Am I going to be able to be on swim team? It’ll get better, right?”

Noah chuckles, “You’ll be fine dear. Like I said, Boon did a good job. But let’s give it two weeks and a bit of physical therapy before you start swimming again. We’ll get your coach a doctor’s note and then we’ll get you back in the water before the first meet, okay?”

Atlanta visibly relaxes. “Okay. Thanks, Dad.”

“No problem, love you Bean.” He leans forward and gives Atlanta a kiss on the forehead. “I’m going to go check in on some of my other patients now, you kids behave. Oh, and your mother is on her way over from the house, so brace yourself for that. I’ll see you all later.” Noah leaves the room with a wave.

“Bye, Dad.”

Boon crosses her arms in mock indignance “Hmph, And here I thought I did a pretty good job healing you.” she grins and then turns to Bolt. “Oh yeah Bolt, that reminds me dude, you never actually told me how you got stabbed.”

"I think he's just paranoid," Mel says, swinging his legs. He perks up at the reminder. "Oh! Yeah, uh, it was a whole thing. Basically, my parents thought Big Team brainwashed me so they hired a bounty hunter to kidnap me but forgot to mention that it shouldn't involve any stabbings. And, y'know, I'm not historically what you might call… good in a fight. So I got my ass kicked by a girl with ghost knives."

“Ghost knives???” Atlanta’s mouth falls open listening to the story. Her hand has been gently tracing her new scar since her dad left the room. “And your parents hired someone to stab you and kidnap you??? I guess, I mean, if you want your kid kidnapped, I would think they wouldn’t hire someone who, you know, stabs people???”

Boon throws her hands up “What is it with everyone using knives all of a sudden? Seems a bit brutal don’t you think?” She says, ignoring the fact that her weapon of choice is basically a knife on a stick.

"Hey," Mel protests, jabbing a finger at Boon. "I'm at least partially made of knives. Sometimes you have knife-based powers and, like, what else are you gonna do?" He shrugs, then leans back on his hands and looks back at Atlanta. "I think she said something about her employer? Like, maybe she was, like, a bounty hunter sub-contractor. I dunno. My parents seemed pretty upset about it, which was… reassuring?" He trails off, looking suddenly unsure.

Atlanta crawls down the bed to sit next to Mel and give him a hug. “I’m sorry your parents aren’t great. You know we love you, right? You’ve got a family outside of them.”

Boon also piles on to Mel. “And, I’ll obviously give my mom a heads-up first, But you’ve got a bed in the Ostenberg-Welles house for as long as you need it.” She proceeds to give him a firm noogie.

Mel hugs Atlanta back, resting his cheek on the top of her head for a moment before yelping and squirming away as Boon noogies him. "Yeah, yeah, I love you guys, too," he says, laughing and batting Boon's hands away. "And, I mean, whatever happens, I still have Cassi, y'know? Whatever's going on with our parents, she's not involved." Wingnut hops down from her perch onto his knee, and he scritches under her beak. "And Wingnut, obviously." He elbows Boon with a dorky grin. "The real family is the friends we made along the way."

Tears start to well in Boon’s eyes. “I’m seriously just so happy that I have you guys in my life, I mean that.” There’s a pause “And again I’m seriously going to destroy whoever stabbed you.”

Atlanta reaches up to touch Boon’s cheek. “Remember, I can’t kiss you if you’re in prison, so don’t actually kill them, okay? And you’re terrible at keeping secrets, so you’d never get away with it.” She winks at her girlfriend, then leans against Mel, yawning. “Believe it or not, getting stabbed is kinda tiring.”

Mel wraps an arm around her. "I wouldn't know, I'm a superior lifeform who's immune to being tired." He immediately yawns, then adds sheepishly, "But, uh, this superior lifeform was also up until like three am last night committing some emotionally charged food crimes with Ernest, so I get where you're coming from."

“I’m getting pretty tired too.” Boon says as she yawns and sits down on the chair next to Atlanta’s bed. She takes her jacket off and lays it over herself, kicking back as she does so. “Might turn in for the night you know?”

Atlanta tilts her head to the side. “Do you mean take a nap until my mom gets here?”

Mel cocks his head to the other side. "Boon, there's a free bed."

Boon does a shushing motion to Mel. “Oh, haha, no. I’m sleeping here. You need the company. And uh, no I can’t use the bed they might need it for a patient or something! I guess I’ll just fall asleep in this chair.” She winks.

Atlanta shakes her head affectionately. “You’re ridiculous.” She looks up at Mel. “Are you going to stick around while my girlfriend fake naps her way through my mom’s lecture, or do you need to get going?”

"Listen, I'm already two missions and a crisis in this weekend," Mel says. "I'm clearing my schedule. I don't *need* to do anything. So I can go if y'all wanna like, make out or whatever but if Boon's gonna nap through your mom yelling at you I'll stick around for moral support."

“Atlantaaaa I’m trying to get you to ask me to cuddle with you!” Boon whines. “Of course I’ll stay here while your mom lectures you. But I fully plan on sleeping here afterwards. Whether that’s in this chair or… you know”

Atlanta giggles at her girlfriend. “Well far be it from me to make you sleep on a chair all night. But if you wanna cuddle, you’ll have to stay awake until after my mom and Melody leave. And I wouldn’t mind if you stuck around, Mel. We can just hang out. There will be no kissing, I promise.” Atlanta laughs again, then gets more serious. “I know I said it before, but I really appreciate you staying. And, you know, coming with me in the first place instead of following up on your lead.”

"Yeah, of course, Atlanta!" Mel squeezes his arm around her shoulders. "I'm pretty sure it's in the bro code that if your friend gets stabbed that becomes the priority. Like, that's rule number one. Besides, we're stab buddies now. That's an unbreakable bond. You're stuck with me." He jostles her a little bit.

“Aww, well there’s no one I’d rather be stab buddies with.” Atlanta pauses, realizing that sounds weird, but shrugs and lets it be.

Boon once again feigns grumpiness “If I can’t kiss you then what’s even the point” She crosses her arms for emphasis. “I’m just kidding, I will happily wait here patiently until Demeter and Melody are gone and *not* gross out Bolt, because I love you.”

"Aww, I love you too, Boon," Mel teases, poking her with his foot.

"I meant Atlanta!" She giggles "I love you too though Bolt, you dork."

Still tired but unwilling to take a nap until all her visitors have left, Atlanta fights back a yawn. “Do you want to do something? Like, we could rank all of the jello from the cafeteria from worst to most worst. I have heard *stories*.”

“Ooorrrr” Boon says, reaching into her backpack and pulling out a Bitendo Verse “We could play some Bario Kart”

Mel claps his hands together and hops off the bed. "Okay, you set up Bario Kart. Wingnut and I'll go get some jello."

“See, just because you’re stuck here doesn’t mean you can’t have fun!” Boon exclaims.

Atlanta laughs. "I can think of a lot worse things than being stuck in a room with the three of you."

Mel scurries off to go steal a bunch of jello as Boon takes advantage of his absence to cuddle with Atlanta.