Posted by Civilian Thyr Th’arialat (Resident) in Consequences for Bad Decisions

Posted by Civilian Jezem (Upstanding Citizen) in Consequences for Bad Decisions

Posted by Civilian Thyr Th’arialat (Resident) in Consequences for Bad Decisions
Posted by… suppressed (10) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Thyr had lasted about two hours in bed before he got bored, changed ever so carefully into the Orion wraps that were so comfortable when he was hurt, and hauled his sore backside into his living room. He settled in on the sofa and turned on an Orion soap, laying carefully with his injured side up and at rest. He didn’t expect Séan to be back anytime soon, he’d be at the hospital with the counselor girl for quite a while. So, he thought he had no reason to expect company.

~ Thyr

On the screen the dramatic climax of convoluted character arc played out. The characters shouting, on edge, knives and guns raised as the anger and fear they’d secretly fostered busrt to the surface at a wild boil. For several tense moments nothing happened, then one finger slips, a shot is fired. That one spark is all it took for artfully framed violence to play out. Jezem entered the room, carrying a mundane grocery tote filled with fresh finds from the markets. Shivan had been awfully quiet of late so a visit was in order.

“Oi!” Jezem shouted as a woman stabbed another on the screen, “Get your lazy ass up and help me put this produce away.”

Jezem Upstanding Citizen

Shivan jumped and looked up at Jezem, causing him to utter an involuntary “ouch!” Then he thought a string of colorful language. “I wasn’t expecting you to show up.” He said, not moving from his spot on the sofa. He turned slightly so the bandaged wound was against the sofa - not comfortable, but Jezem wouldn’t see it right away. It was on his left side near the back, up by his upper back. Like someone had stabbed him in the back going for the kill, but he’d moved out of the way and caused them to strike off target.

~ Thyr

Jezem raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow at the cry of pain. The idiot must have spent all on the couch all day and pulled something with the sudden movement. “Was I supposed to call ahead?” He said, tone dry and mocking. Shivan’s never complained about him showing up randomly before. The both of them coming and going as they pleased from either of their living spaces. Something wasn’t right. Jezem’s eyes narrowed, “Well? Are you going to keep lying there or are you going to help me? I bought all this fresh food for you so you don’t gorge yourself fat on processed junk.”

Jezem Upstanding Citizen

Oh, Shivan had missed that dry, mocking tone. It was essentially their secret language. He watched Jezem’s look. The Orion suspected something. Hmm… Séan had closed the wound at least, borrowed an autosuterer from the hospital. Maybe he could lie? No, Jezem could read him better than anyone. He’d call him an idiot for trying. Shivan chose option B: Pretend nothing happened and ignore it entirely. He slowly stood from the couch, picked a light back, and brought it to the kitchen.

~ Thyr

Oh, something is up. Jezem knew Shivan. You don’t live on the same small ship for years and not pick up on what made a person. Their quirks, habits and all the rest. The idiot had gone and injured himself again. Jezem kept this revelation off his face only muttering an annoyed, “About time,” as he carried the remaining bags into the kitchen. “What have you been up to? I called the other day but I didn’t get an answer.” Jezem scowled at the sad, disgusting state of Shivan’s fridge. Take-out boxes, smelly containers of liquid and not a fruit or vegetable in sight. “Ugh.”

Jezem Upstanding Citizen

There was at least, some fresh human food in take out containers from the square outside the hospital. Someone from the hospital had brought him food. So fresh, some of it was still a tiny bit warm. “I’ve been busy. Usual business, that sort of thing.” Shivan replied. He helped unpack the things Jezem brought, his movements slow and careful.

~ Thyr

Jezem’s frown deepened after inspecting one container. Hospital food. Someone that was just here. . . perhaps Séan? If Shivan had gotten hurt why hadn’t the counselor alerted him? Seems Jezem will get to be pissed at two people today. Oh will the joys of colony life ever cease? “Usual business,” Jezem repeated in that same dry tone but there was an undercurrent of something dangerous to it. The hint of a knife’s edge beneath the fabric. Jezem slammed the door shut and rounded on Shivan, “You’re lying” he hissed.

Jezem Upstanding Citizen

Shivan took a calm step back, as if surprised but (wisely) wary of Jezem when he was angry like this. Especially as not-yet-healed as Shivan was. “Not exactly lying, no. Depends on your definition of usual. Usual now or usual five years ago. Things that happen every day, or once in a while. See? Not lying.”

~ Thyr

“Not exactly lying?” Jezem advanced forward, rage building. Shivan never was much of a liar and this use of semantics further proved that he was hiding something from Jezem. “Why is it that you only use your head when you’re been caught and not before you get yourself injured again!” Jezem pounced, but he wasn’t aiming for Shivan directly. No, the goal was to get behind the andorian and see for himself what kind of injury has him weak and limping around.

Jezem the Upstanding Citizen

The injury must be bad because Shivan was in survival mode. He was on the defensive, and very carefully. Because when Jezem pounced, Shivan sidestepped and turned and punched, hard. It turned out the Orion wasn’t trying to hit him at all, just get behind him, but Shivan’s punch still landed, and solidly.

Jezem didn’t get much of a chance to see the wound, with the way Shivan turned to him and slugged him, but it was definitely a stab wound, some kind of large knife. Definitely illegal. The wound was deep and bad, and painful, though that was helped by the pain meds Séan had brought him. The surface was sutured closed with an autosuterer, but the wound hadn’t been mended with any regenerators. Then there was the various bruising of various severity, about a day old, maybe a little more, across his body.

“Sorry,” the Andorian huffed. The wound had him weakened. “Didn’t mean to hit you so hard.”

~ Thyr

Jezem cursed loudly at the hit as he was sent reeling back. Right before the hit he manged to catch a glimpse of the wound but that was all the time he needed to know that Shivan had badly injured himself and didn’t tell Jezem. Again. He pulled back, putting space between him and Shivan. Breathing heavily as he pressed his hand against the blossoming bruise across the side of his face. Shivan punched like an animal. Wild desperation and without restraint. “Sisters, Shivan!” Jezem said, spitting angry, “Were you out picking fights again?” He recalled the take-out boxes in the fridge and the anger only compiled, “I thought that counselor was supposed to keep you out of trouble not getting you stabbed!”

Jezem the Upstanding Citizen

Shivan raised his hands showing he wasn’t going to hit again. “No, I wasn’t picking fights.” He took a seat in one of the kitchen chairs and set a hand over the stitched closed wound. “He… he needed help. Thugs had taken his girlfriend.” Shivan shook his head. “I wasn’t going to help - honest, but damn that counselor is convincing… And well, it was a fun little mission.” He sighed then, “But yeah, I got stabbed by one of those thugs. I was just a bit too slow.”

~ Thyr

“Then what were you doing? And don’t tell me you fell backwards on one of your own swords!” He said though a part of him wished that was the truth. That Shivan did something stupid but boring. Despite wishing that he knew it wasn’t the case. The weapon that did that kind of damage wasn’t the legal kind. Jezem stepped closer, listening with narrowed eyes as Shivan explained what happened. His hands tightened into fists but was deadly still, “Is that all? Had so much fun you didn’t think to contact me?” Thugs stealing a Starfleet officer weren’t small time. It would have been a calculated move by a group with the resources to pull it off.

Jezem could have helped. Could have prevented the injury all together. And the counselor, who may as well been as big an idiot as Shivan, let him come along despite Shivan needing to keep a low profile. Jezem’s voice was tight when he asked, “If I hadn’t come by today would you have even told me at all?”

Jezem Upstanding Citizen