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“You sure, Owen? You don’t think maybe you could just knock him out for a week and give him injections?”
“It’s an ear infection, Yami. I don’t think I can, in good conscience, put someone in a medical coma to give them a week of medication.”
“It’s Luck. Maybe you could make an exception?”
“He’s got tablets to take four times a day for a week. How hard can it be?”
“Last time, he electrocuted four of my squad. Two were so traumatised that they threatened to quit. I lost Grey for a month.”
The Recovery Mage shrugged. “He needs to take them Yami. Does he not realise it’s going to make him feel better?”
“He’s got a… complicated relationship with medication. And if he’s running a fever he gets delirious, which doesn’t help and then it gets messy.”
As if to make the point there was a crack of lightning magic and one of the junior staff ran out of Luck’s room squealing.
Owen looked about to speak, but Yami interrupted. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. You don’t have to say it. Just give me the pills and we’re going.”
The recovery mage handed over the small bag containing a week’s worth of tablets. “If the fever doesn’t improve after forty eight hours you should let us know.”
Yami swung open the door to the little examination room. The air was heavy with the scent of ozone and papers were still floating to the ground. Magna had Luck tangled in his arms and legs as he tried to prevent the delirious teenager from launching at the door.
“I can fight you,” Luck shouted as Yami entered. “I can fight you all.”
Magna’s hair was standing on end and he looked just as frazzled as the electrocuted room. “Tell me Owen says we can… Ow, Luck. Stop struggling… We can just put him under.”
“Ear infection. We got medication for him.”
Luck fired off another burst of lightning. It was uncontrolled and lacked his usual power, but it was still enough for Yami to step back and Magna to tighten his hold. Who would have thought that the constant running battles between the two would have built Magna’s tolerance to the point he could keep a grip of Luck despite the electricity.
“Tablets? We gotta give him tablets like this?”
“I can fight you, big man,” Luck declared. “Your magic is strong. You’d be fun to fight.”
“That’s Yami, you idiot,” Magna said. “Stop fighting.”
“I can fight all of you.”
“We know. You can fight us later.” Then, to Yami, Magna said, “You ready boss?”
“Ready.”
Magna released his grip and Luck lurched forward. But the first thing that went with his ear infection had been his balance so he managed two steps before he pitched forward to meet the ground. Yami grabbed him and lifted him over his shoulder. He continued to fire off lightning but the rapid shift in position had thrown his equilibrium altogether so the shocks were lacking even more power. He was burning up against Yami’s skin.
“They better have a portal open for us,” Yami said.
“Can we get Finral back from the Golden Dawn now?”
“We are getting Finral back if I have to ride a broom to fetch him. No Dawn mission is important enough to leave us having to deal with this without him.”
--
“I’m sorry Yami. They aren’t due to check in until tomorrow. They’re reaching the end of the mission, so I’m sure we can send him back to you as soon as they contact us.”
“You’re kidding me, William. We need him back. It’s an emergency.”
“I could ask one of the other spacial mages to help out? You know it was just that Finral knew the area better than anyone else.”
Yami sighed. “That’s not it. It’s Finral we need. Not a spacial mage.”
“I don’t understand.”
“One of my knights has an infection and needs to take medication. Finral is the only one who can do it without being electrocuted.”
“I still don’t understand, Yami.”
“Never mind. It’s a Black Bulls thing.” He turned off the communicator.
“They can’t help us?” Vanessa asked. She was refilling her glass of wine. Her fifth this evening.
“We should get him back tomorrow.”
Vanessa frowned. “You know that’s too long. We’re never going to survive until then. Luck is going kill us all.”
“Stop drinking, Vanessa. It makes you melodramatic. We are going to be electrocuted, the base may burn down and we are never going to get him to take those tablets. But we are going to survive.” He paused. “I think.”
“How does Finral do it anyway?”
“I was just so glad he did, I never…” There was an explosion from the direction of Luck’s room, followed by Magna’s shout. “Never thought to ask last time. Even if we could get him something to take the fever down…” another explosion. “So he’ll stop trying to kill Magna for a while.”
Magna swung open the door to the common room. His clothes were torn, burnt, and for a reason that Yami did not want to know, wet. He had an oozing cut under one eye. He was limping. He dropped the paper bag onto the table. “It’s someone else’s turn now,” he said and dropped into the nearest chair.
Vanessa paused for a moment to give him a chance to continue. When he did not, she asked, “So. Did you get him to take one?”
“Does it look…”
“Hey, where’d you go? Come back and fight me properly!” Luck yelled along the corridor.
“... or sound like I managed to get him to take one?”
--
Twenty four hours later, the Black Bulls had accumulated five serious electrocutions, two losses of consciousness, one broken finger, two black eyes and a near drowning. The property damage was going to require Henry’s attention for at least two weeks.
And the number of tablets taken by the patient. Zero.
Luck had not slept and was now perched in the corner of the common room with a manic, delirious glint in his eye as he prepared to attack anyone coming close to him whether they held medication or not. The currently favoured technique of ‘waiting until he passed out and then taking him back to the infirmary’ had become a waiting game between Luck and the rest of the squad. And judging by the absence of the rest of the squad, Luck was winning.
The small communication disc buzzed and Yami thumbed it on. Alecdora was on the other end. “Captain Yami. Captain Vangeance said you wished to speak to me.”
“Yes. We need Finral back. Now.”
“I’m afraid our recovery mage says that won’t be possible for the....”
Yami pulled on the dark magic. “Have you broken my ride, Golden Dawn nobody?”
The protesting voice off the image was more reassurance than Yami would admit even to himself. Not just to help deal with the Luck situation. If Finral was broken, Yami might have to go back to brooms.
“I’m not broken. Well, a little bit broken, but… Let me go.”
Yami yelled, “Finral. We have a situation. We need you back at the base.”
“Our recovery mage says he can make a portal in two days when he’s less concussed,” said Alecdora.
“Damn. You did break him. Let me speak to him. Now.”
Alecdora moved his disc so that Finral was in the middle of the image. He was sporting a blood stained bandage around his head and a slightly dazed expression. The recovery mage was tying off a sling.
“The Golden Dawn do not ever get to play with my toys again,” Yami said. Then, to Finral he said, “Luck has an ear infection…”
“Are you going to fight me?” Luck responded to his name.
“... and we’ve got medication to give him.”
Finral stood up, then swayed. The harried recovery mage had to grab his arm to keep him from falling. “When?” he demanded.
“Yesterday.”
“Shit. Shit. Get this off me.” He pulled his arm free of the sling despite the recovery mage and Alecdora’s protestations. He was making a portal before anyone could stop him. It wavered into existence in the Black Bull’s common room and Yami grabbed him as he stumbled through.
The Golden Dawn recovery mage was in open mouthed shock. Either she was used to being obeyed, or she had never worked with a spacial mage that could make portals the way Finral did. She found her words by the time the portal vanished and Finral was back in the base.
“That was very dangerous, young man. You will have to…”
The concussion was making Finral bold. He reached past Yami and turned off the communication disc.
“It’s not that bad. She healed most of it up.”
“So, why are you not able to stand up on your own.”
“She’s only did most of it. Where’s Luck?”
Yami pointed out the blonde perched on the back of the chair. Luck twitched at his name and declared, “If you come near me, I will fight you all!”
“Yami,” Finral said, appalled. “What have you all done?”
Luck looked dreadful. He was flushed and shivering with fever. His clothes were torn and his hair spiked with sweat. He bared his teeth at Finral and Yami and hissed.
“He needed to take the medication. And you weren’t here.”
“He’s terrified. Good lord. I can’t leave you lot alone for a week.”
“He looks better than the others. I let Asta and Noelle take Magna to Hage. I gave them vacation time. That is how bad Magna looked. Vacation time. I never give vacation time.”
Finral shook his head. “I cannot believe you all.”
“I can fight you too,” Luck said to Finral. His voice was hoarse.
“Yeah, Luck, I know you can.” Finral said to Luck. He glared at Yami and his meaning was clear. There was going to be a serious talking to once Luck was sorted. Perhaps Yami could get Magna and Asta back to deflect some of Finral’s nagging.
Finral pushed up his sleeves. He steadied himself against the table. “You need to get out of here.”
“Not happening. You can’t stand up straight.”
Finral looked conflicted for a moment, then said, “Okay, but you have to understand, I only do this for Luck. And only because he told me I could. You can’t tell any of the others.”
Despite himself, Yami was intrigued.
“Give me the tablets he needs to take. And some water.”
Yami poured a glass of water and handed over two sets of tablets. “Red ones are for the fever. The little white ones are for the infection.”
“Is there anyone in the garden?”
“No. I don’t think so. Why?”
“Because that’s where I’m going to send the lightning.”
“That recovery mage said you weren’t to make portals.”
“Hmph. And yet, here I am. I said that she mostly fixed me up. It’ll be fine.”
“Don’t push it.”
“I’m going to remember you said that, Mr push-past-your-limits.”
“Damn, but your mouthy when you’ve got a concussion.”
Finral gave him a cocky thumbs up. That recovery mage was right. He should not be making portals.
Luck had been quiet and watchful as they talked. He had not threatened them, but Yami knew it was a ruse. It was as if he had an ‘I’m ready to fight you’-alarm ready to fire off if anyone got closer than fifteen feet. Closer than ten and it was lightning time.
“It’s the water that’s the tricky bit,” Finral explained. “Normally it’s okay, but you’ve all put the fear of death in him, so it’s going to take a bit of work.”
Yami nodded.
Finral took the glass of water and stared at it for a moment. Yami thought he was gathering courage, but it could have just been the head injury. He seemed to steel himself, then approached the feverish teenager. Luck yelled at him despite the hoarseness of his voice. “Come closer and I will fight you all!”
“Yes, yes,” Finral said, but did not stop his advance. Luck fired off his lightning and Finral opened a portal. The cracking of electricity could be heard from the lawn outside. “Luck, you need to drink this for me. Look. It’s okay.” He took a sip before placing the glass just within Luck’s reach.
“No. I’ll fight. I told you I would.”
More lightning discharged safely through another portal. Finral was sweating with concentration to maintain it.
He edged backwards again. “I know Luck. It’s just water. Like you told me.”
Luck tilted his head to one side and watched Finral. It was more awareness than he had shown since before they visited the infirmary. “Like I told you?” he said.
Finral grinned. “Yeah. You told me. A glass of water. That’s all. It’s safe I checked. I can check again?”
Luck did not answer.
Finral walked back to the glass of water. There was no more lightning and Luck only watched him. He had his arms around his knees and he was shivering again. Once Finral had taken another sip from the glass, he walked back to the far side of the room and sat on one of the chairs.
“It’s safe?” Luck asked.
“Yes. Drink it and you’ll feel better.”
Twenty four hours of battling with Luck made Yami sceptical, but the boy put out an uncoordinated hand and lifted the glass. He kept his eyes fixed on Finral as he drank the water.
He must have been thirsty. He was still running a temperature and had barely had any fluids for more than 24 hours. He finished the water then placed the glass back on the table.
Finral gave a tired smile. “Good job Luck. I’ll get you more in a minute. First, this.” He glared at Yami. “Only because he said I could do it, you understand. And you don’t tell anyone.”
“Yeah. You said.”
Finral made a tiny portal. He popped each of the tablets into it, then closed it just as quickly.
Luck did not react.
“Did you…” Yami started to say. “Can you even…”
“Yes. And yes. Obviously.” He leaned back onto the chair and closed his eyes. “My head aches.”
“You just made a portal into Luck’s stomach and put the tablets in?” Yami said. He was not quite ready to leave this.
“What do you think I was doing? Yes.”
“I didn’t think that was a thing. I’ve never heard of anyone doing that?”
“That’s because I told Luck I wouldn’t tell anyone.” He opened his eyes and pulled himself back up. He took the water jug across the room and refilled the glass. Like the last time he took a sip before putting it back on the table. He was more unsteady on his feet as he walked back. Yami waited until he was beyond Luck’s lightning zone before he grabbed Finral’s arm and pulled him to sit down.
Finral let his eyes close again.
“Explain,” Yami demanded.
“Can’t I wait until his next dose is due? I want to sleep first.” He cracked open one eye and looked at Luck. “He hasn’t slept for twenty four hours, has he? You’re going to have to pick him up once the fever meds kick in.”
“And what am I supposed to do with him then. Provided he doesn’t electrocute me. Again.”
Finral shifted over on the chair so that there was more room beside him. He patted the space. “Just leave him here.” He closed his eyes and he was asleep within a couple of breaths.
Yami chucked a blanket over him. If it didn’t quite cover him completely, and he woke up with a crick in the neck and cold feet, then that served him right for the nagging.
It took ten minutes for Luck to begin to sway on his perch. Five minutes later, his eyes closed, then flicked open just as quickly. The third time it happened, he looked around the room as if seeing it for the first time. “Yami?” he whispered, then toppled off the chair.
Yami had been ready. He caught the kid as he fell. Rather than a lightning attack, Luck snuggled into his arms and sighed.
“Right, little brawler. Time to sleep.” He deposited Luck beside Finral and tucked them both under the blanket.
--
Finral’s internal body clock must have been on Luck’s medication schedule. Just as Luck’s fever began to rise again, but before he started to wake, Finral’s bleary eyes opened.
“Hi Yami,” he said.
Yami pushed the paper bag of tablets and a fresh glass of water towards Finral.
“Give him his meds, then talk.”
“Don’t suppose you’ve got any painkillers there for me?”
“No. The Golden Dawn Recovery Mage called back. She said that you can’t have any, but I’m not sure if that’s because of the concussion or because she thinks you deserve it. That’s another recovery mage that hates you. At this rate the only one that’ll treat you will be Owen.”
Finral sighed in resignation.
Luck was leaning on Finral, drooling onto his shirt. Finral checked his temperature with the back of his hand and hissed. “You might want to stand back. I’m going to have to wake him up.”
“Can’t you just use the same portal as last night.”
“It doesn’t work like that. Last night he was over there.” Finral pointed across the room. “I make a portal to the same place it’s going to be over there.”
Yami nodded. He moved back, out of Luck’s line of sight.
“Hey, Luck. Wake up.” There was a crackle of electricity, but it was no more than background static. “Luck. It’s Finral. You need to drink something for me.”
Luck opened his eyes. There was more focus, but there was none of the usual spark. “Finral?”
“Yeah.”
“I could… fight?”
“Later. You can fight me later. First, drink. Like you told me. It’s safe. Look.”
Finral took a sip of water then put the glass back down.
Luck’s hands were unsteady, but Finral did not offer to help. Once Luck had finished half he replaced the glass and lay back. He closed his eyes again, so he did not see Finral’s tiny portal and the two tablets that he slipped into it.
Yami leaned across the table. “You. Now. Explain.”
Finral closed his eyes and said, “It’s what it looks like. I use a portal to put the medication into his stomach. I put the marker on the water so I don’t accidentally stick tablets into his liver. Don’t you remember that eating contest? We did the same thing then, which was completely Luck’s idea.”
“Okay, I understand what you’re doing. I don’t know why. Why do you keep saying that he told you to do it, and why shouldn’t I tell everyone.”
“Because it’s a massive invasion of someone’s body, that’s why. It’s like the worst thing portals could be used for. Have you thought about what this means I could do? Who needs offensive spacial magic when you can just pop a tiny bit of poison into someone’s blood stream? Or an air bubble inside the heart? A bit of metal inside an eye? I could do all those things if I wanted to. It wouldn’t be hard to learn. And, I really, really don’t want to know how to do that stuff. I didn’t even want to do this, but Luck asked me.”
Yami considered. He had never thought about this aspect of spacial magic, but it was obvious that Finral had. He always was prone to overthinking. If you started by popping a couple of tablets in a friend's stomach, you could do pretty much anything…
Finral wriggled as far back into the chair as he could without disturbing the boy using him as a pillow. “See. You’ve got that face. You’re thinking about all the things you could do with this, and it is why I did not ever want to tell you or anyone else.”
“Settle down, Finral. You’re right. If it’s crossing a line you don't want to cross, then that’s okay. Just, I’m glad you're on our side.”
Finral relaxed. “Thanks. Thank you. You promise. You won’t ask me to do this to anyone?”
“I promise Finral. I can’t promise I won’t think about it, because there are some people who just deserve an air bubble in the heart. But I get what you mean.” He paused, then said. “So, that's how you’re doing it. Why are you?”
Finral smiled. “Well, have you ever tried to get him to take medication any other way?”
“That’s not explaining.”
“Haven’t you ever asked him why it gets like this then?” Finral patted Luck’s hair in an unconscious gesture. “He’d tell you if you asked.”
“No. I never asked. I’m thinking I should have, but we had you.”
“Okay. But I’m only telling you because you're the squad captain, and you can’t tell anyone else unless Luck says you can. ”
“I won’t.”
“When he was a kid, his mother used to give him things. Tablets. Medicine. I think it was because she didn’t know how to cope with him. I get the feeling that she was pretty unstable. From what he said, it was likely all kinds of different sedatives to try to make him sleep or calm down or something. They didn’t always work the way she wanted and he had some terrible side effects. Hallucinations. Nightmares. Panic. Physical stuff too. He was matter of fact about it. Very Luck. But if he tells you, you know why he won’t take tablets from anyone, especially if he’s not thinking straight because he’s sick. That’s why I’ve got to taste the water first. To prove that it hasn’t got stuff in it.”
Finral was patting Luck’s back gently. The smaller boy was snoring in sleep again.
“The time he was supposed to take painkillers when he broke his ankle, I asked him why he wouldn’t. And he explained. He knew that he had to do it sometimes and he was sore and upset. I think I fetched a handkerchief or something, and he said, ‘why can’t you do that? I trust you.’ I didn’t understand at first, but he was insistent. ‘Just put them in the right place’. It took a while to work out if I could even do it without killing him, but the water seems to be best. So I promised that if he needed to take medicine, I would help him. Except if the Golden Dawn decide that they want to carry out secret missions with timed communication windows.” He looked at the sleeping teenager and said, “Sorry Luck.”
Luck wriggled closer. Watching him like this it was impossible to reconcile this sleeping child with the raging maniac who had tormented the base for more than a day. Yami could almost forgive him.
“Finral. I think Owen should know why he won’t take tablets. That might have helped us a lot.”
“Yeah. But, I thought someone else would have known. It wasn’t like he was trying to keep it a secret. I just asked why he didn’t want to take the medicine and he told me. To be honest, I don’t think he knows how to keep secrets.”
“Shit. You’re right. I don’t think anyone else asked.” Yami sighed. “I hate this stuff about being squad captain. It’s why I have minions. Okay. You carry on looking after Luck, I’ll explain to Owen.”
“Not about me… about that…”
“No. That’s your thing, between you and Luck. I’ll tell Owen something.” Or gloss over the truth and leave Owen to work it out. The recovery mage was smart. And diplomatic.
They sat in silence. Luck’s quiet snores were muffled against Finral’s chest.
“How’s your head?” Yami asked eventually.
Finral raised his hand to the bandage. “Better. No more double vision. That recovery mage did really sort me out.”
“And how did you get a concussion? Again.”
He blushed, then murmured, “Vangeance will tell you. I think Alecdora going to fill in an incident report. Or two.”
“I imagine I’ll enjoy reading them.”
“Just remember, Alecdora has no sense of humour and needs to see someone about his eyesight.”
“Noted.”
Finral lay his head back onto the cushions and said, “Yami. I’m hungry. And covered in Luck’s drool and sweat and I’m not meant to be making portals.”
“Are you asking me what I think you’re asking me?”
Finral grinned. “If I moved, I’d probably wake Luck up. And if I can’t make a portal, I could starve and…”
Yami growled. “You. You never tell anyone about this.”
By the time Yami returned with a clean set of clothes and sandwiches, Finral was curled around Luck again. They were both fast asleep.
Yami sat back, drank his beer and ate his own sandwich. There were not many quiet moments in this hideout, so he savoured the ones he could.