A Sick, Perfect World

[Reiner Dornkirk]

Reiner parted eye contact with Kuno briefly to cast a glance at the Minister, but his eyes were on his friend and brother-in-law in that moment. He bit his lip, a bit disappointed that Stefan didn't check on him personally, but it wasn't like he ignored him completely. He clearly cared- after all, he ordered his personal attendant to keep an eye on him.

Reiner looked up at Kuno, forcing a wan smile as the lieutenant approached his gurney.

"Hiiii..." He said, through teeth bared in some silly amalgam of a grin and a cringe- a gringe, if you will. Whatever you call it, it looked at once apologetic and consoling. Also, in a strange way, it put up a brave front. He didn't look like he was in pain, even though he very much was. He didn't want Kuno to see him weak, even if he was wounded.

"Hey, um... Lieutenant, sir?" He suddenly defaulted back toward formality, recalling the august company in which they presently found themselves. He even lifted his hand in some semblance of a salute, even if it did cause him to wince and look rather silly because he was horizontal.

"Would you mind telling me about what you've been up to? I wouldn't mind getting my mind off of... downstairs Zaichaer." He might have still been a bit loopy from blood loss, or whatever they'd stuck him with to tranquilize him on the Noble Gambit. It wasn't just the panic and trauma that he hoped to be distracted from, it was also the pain. If they were alone, or closer to it, he might have asked for a hand to squeeze. Maybe even reached for it without asking. But even with an addled mind his walls were high enough to hide that kind of vulnerability, even with the vulnerabilities of a raw wound bleeding through its bandage perfectly visible.

[Rune]

Kuno stepped to one side of the gurney that Reiner was being taken towards the house on the moment the Minister was no longer addressing him. Something in his chest was tight and sick in a way he did not like at all. There had been moments, close calls in which his life had been in the balance that had made him feel something similar, but he'd never had such a feeling vicariously before.

When Reiner gave a simile of his usual grin Kuno returned a tight smile. Maintaining decorum was important but he was all eyes for his bed mate in the moment, he couldn't have told a thing about the other men carrying Reiner along except that they were probably in uniform. When they arrived in the room Lady Dornkirk was leading them to he was pushed aside so the doctor could get to Reiner and barely kept himself from snapping at them for it. Taking hold of himself he stepped up and took hold of one of Reiner's hands from his new position at the head of the gurney, leaning over so that he was what the younger man would see. It became immediately apparent that the man who cared so much for appearances did not, at that moment, give a damn.

"Good afternoon, PFC Dornkirk, lovely day, isn't it?" He snapped off in a good approximation of his officer voice, only changed in that he let a little humor slip in intentionally and a little worry less intentionally. Telling his friend that his afternoon had been spent lounging about the communications office was unlikely to help so instead he said,

"They've had me running about like a Kara's Cull whore, back and forth with so many messages about the poor Captain-Seeker needing all the coddling we can still scrape together. Said you were fine though, but of course I knew you were. Us Smokestack boys wouldn't even know how to take a wound if someone tried." He was not babbling, not exactly, his tone was still a combination of precision and camaraderie but his accent was slipping a bit.

The two doctors, an old woman and a young man pulled away the bandages and Kuno got a good view of the wound without changing his expression at all. The puncture was about the size of a bullet hole, but it wasn't one, which meant it could go either way. A punctured lung could be death without medical care but they seemed to have that ins spades currently. If it had missed the lung then it was just a little hole, would need to be closed but no real harm done.

When he saw that Reiner had seen him looking he rolled his eyes,

"Seriously?" He scoffed, "Its not even bleeding anymore." This was at least mostly true, though Kuno knew this type of wound could begin bleeding internally quite soon after it was made.

"Don't think this will get you out of duty tomorrow soldier. No shirking on my watch."

Thankfully, the doctors seemed to agree with Kuno's untrained assessment and, within a few minutes the younger one was applying mists only knew what necromantic substances to the wound. Thing was, Kuno knew the application of science to aether would do the trick, it just wasn't anything he or anyone he knew had ever been able to afford and, for some reason it made him a bit green about the gills, so he kept his eyes on Reiner as they continued to talk.

[Stefan Dornkirk]

In quick order, everyone was moved into the house, into the clean room that had been prepared early for Luca's labor, just in case. Delia ordered the staff expertly so that Eitan's wife could be with her husband and Stefan, who was nearly as beside himself but knew better than to show it, could concentrate on not showing it.

He was grateful to his wife for her insight as well as her oversight that allowed him to simply move over to Eitan and ask, if not the questions he wanted to ask, at least ones that would reassure him that his brother was well enough. He might want to behave similarly to how Luca was and his instinct on seeing the limp and bandages had been to sweep Eitan up and carry him into the house himself, it was wiser to try and maintain decorum around the various military and Order officers that were present. Keeping his voice low while the doctors examined Reiner, he put a hand on Eitan's shoulder where he was sitting with his wounded leg raised,

"What went on down there? I thought the place was already secure when you arrived?" It was not an accusation, or even a higher-ranking officer asking for a report but if there was a new danger that might affect the islands, Stefan needed to know. The hand squeezed lightly, offering a solid comfort even as it calmed his mind to feel Eitan, warm and alive under the touch. After a moment he put his other hand on Luca's shoulder, offering her a similar comfort, a brotherly thing.

That his idea of what being Eitan's brother meant was utterly different from what he thought of as his brotherly relation to the man's wife did not occur to him, and, if he were lucky, it never would. He had never had a sister and the experience had been a steep learning curve. He hadn't had the time to get to know Delia's two sisters and he suspected that if he had their connection would have been quite militant as they had still been active duty officers on the 34th.

[Eitan Angevin]

Major Trier had said his piece, it seemed, and Eitan was glad he went to see to the stationing of his men at the Windworks, allowing Eitan to fill in any gaps in the report. Delia shooed most of them out of the delivery room, anticipating that she would be softer about it than Stechpalme. She stayed to make sure the doctor had everything she needed, gave Reiner an encouraging squeeze on the shoulder, and then quit the room, leaving a servant outside in case the doctor needed aught. Then she made for the sitting room where the Dienerins were offering everyone a stiff drink.

"Stay on that side of him if you please, Lieutenant," Stechpalme said to Kämpfer. While she approved of him distracting the patient, she didn't want anyone in the way of her work. The good doctor observed, giving Storlock advice as he once more cleaned the wound and applied his special touch to things. It would heal faster for his application of aether, but she was the more experienced surgeon and she was already certain the patient would recover. Whatever they had given him for the pain would be dulling the worst of it, but the distraction of a friendly face would help them get their job done efficiently.

Meanwhile, Lucrece and Stefan were on either side of Eitan on the sofa while the Dienerins were serving. Delia closed the door quietly behind her and came to kneel at her husband's feet, close enough that she was able to reach out and place a steadying hand on Eitan's good knee.

"The place was secure," Eitan was saying. "Everything was continuing apace. New, improved wards were going up with the help of my assistants. The attack didn't seem particularly perilous until the creatures started chewing through the aether of my wards. There was a learning curve until the snipers on the Noble Gambit realized what was happening, that their covering fire was coming through the shredded wards. We had some friendly fire." He gritted his teeth. "All in all, it could have been much worse. Trier and the groundpounders did well. Reinchen was outstanding. We made the best of a bad situation, and once Beeman and Stechpalme come up with a way to combat the mutated parasites, I intend to retake Schiller and prepare the other forward bases for those dangers. It was just an object lesson that we don't know enough about our enemy, even now."

Eitan sighed.

"Thank you, Dienerin."

"Sir."

He rather gulped his first sip of whiskey.

[Reiner Dornkirk]

Reiner's smile broadened straight away when Kuno took hold of his hand. It was as if he knew Reiner wanted the affection but questioned the decorum of the gesture. Like he was reading his mind! Only, not at all like that, because that would be wretched witchcraft and a gross invasion of his privacy. No, it was more a sign of how in sync they were. It stood to reason, given how much time they'd spent together... the schnapps and secrets shared.

He chuckled at the lieutenant's jokes about Eitan, and the lionizing of their common ilk. It wasn't rare for Reiner to feel more kinship with Kuno than his actual kin. They had more in the way of shared experience from childhood to even now.

"No, sir!" The Private dismissed the notion, however jovial, of trying to get out of his duties because of his wound. "I'd be off this cot doing jumping jacks if you ordered me, sir!" He laughed again, and again it made him wince. He glanced awkwardly and a bit apologetically over to the doctor, who seemed to have little patience for patients' monkey business.

He sucked in some air through his teeth, and his eyes fell back to their hands- still clasped. It felt weird to be holding hands with Kuno at all, let alone in public... in full view of the most important people in his life... the Islands... Zaichaer itself. It was the circumstance. It made a bit of vulnerability acceptable... perhaps even encouraged. People liked to dote on their heroes. Reiner felt a bit more like one of those, after their recent conflict on the ground.

"I guess I oughta write a will now that I've had a brush with death..." Reiner pouted slightly as he pondered, "I'm leaving all my porn to you, as long as you come by and hide it before anyone else finds it."

[Stefan Dornkirk]

If he was being honest with himself, Stefan had hardly been able to listen to Major Trier's report. When he'd understood that nothing was going to be immediately attacking the Islands, he had ordered Captain Merovech of the Gabmit's to see that the Major and his men were processed, which would include their registry and assignment to suitable accommodations. Eitan's words penetrated significantly better than Trier's hand and the scientist in Stefan raised his eyebrows at the notion that his experiment had broken containment in such a way. It did make sense, biologically, and the implications could be wide spread for both good and ill. He nodded, letting his mind whir away at the problem while he continued to listen. Of anyone left in the country, Stefan surely knew the most about the parasites, but he understood why Eitan had not included him in the suggestion of finding a solution. He simply did not have the time, and the Order and Science teams had all his notes to work from, it would be left to them.

"We'll take it back as soon as we have a solution." He agreed. Adding quietly, "We'll take it all back."

He stayed with Eitan until Stechpalme and Storlock finished with Reiner and moved on, after washing their hands in the hot water the servants had brought, to their next patient. Letting the wives stay with his brother he moved to where Reiner now seemed to be resting, if not easy, easier. There was less panicked white around his eyes.

Offering the sort of smile he'd used to encourage injured men in the past, perhaps a bit more familiar than that, he looked over the well dressed and bandaged wound and asked,

"How is it?"

'How are you?' would have felt too intimate in a relationship that was established but still not sure of where it stood. Stefan knew he wasn't particularly easy to get close to and while Reiner seemed eager about most things he hadn't shown particular interest in persuading closeness. He seemed mildly uncomfortable any time Stefan was near by, actually, and the elder Dornkirk didn't want to force anything.

"Captain Angevin says you conducted yourself admirably, that you saved lives today." There was pride in his tone, in his stance, saying that this Dornkirk had a place among those who bore the name.

[Rune]

"Good man!" Kuno encouraged at the suggestion that Reiner might be up and performing exercises should Kuno order it. The implications of obedience did not escape him but he tucked them away to enjoy later as there were more pressing matters at hand.

Giving the private's hand a little squeeze to accompany the praise he continued to have the same sort of conversation as the doctor's literally wrapped up, until Reiner suggested that he ought to be writing a will, quipping off a quick,

"Write it if you must but you are hereby forbidden to even attempt death unless given specific orders to do so." Before succumbing to a hearty laugh at what it was he would be bequeathed. Switching his expression to one of solemnity he answered,

"You have my word, as an officer, none shall find your stash but me." Then he broke and laughed again, only to choke it back as suddenly the Minister was there too. That Kuno hadn't even been keeping track of the most powerful man in the room spoke volumes of where his attention lay, something else he might need to explore later, but in that moment he pulled his hand away from Reiner's quite as quickly as he could without jerking away in a way that would make the touch more obvious rather than less.

As the Minister was already talking the Lieutenant didn't salute, but his posture did shift into something much closer to standing at attention. Hearing his friend complimented filled Kuno with a fierce sort of sideways pride, and, for once, did not engender any jealousy. He too looked proud of Reiner, almost defiantly so, but perhaps the air of defiance was simply how Kuno looked.

[Reiner Dornkirk]

"Wouldn't dream of a deathly dereliction of duty, sir!" Reiner grinned to Kuno, before he took note of Stefan's approach and reflexively (And less subtly) withdrew his hand. He whipped it back at an angle and velocity that unkindly shifted his core in a way that made the wound sting, eliciting a wince.

"C-cousin!" He stuttered a bit because, as Stefan had noted, he was nervous around his esteemed kinsman. Part of him always wanted to call him by his title and even when he knew it would irritate the Minister more to call him such, the instinct remained. This was such an instance, when they were in intimate enough company and under such circumstances that familiarity was expected of him, but still... He felt like a beggar at the feast, even when he'd almost been the feast for some strange Mistbug.

"It's good! Er, fine! It's... just a little scratch, it all." He chuckled awkwardly, "I just thought a pimple popped before I saw Eitan-... er, The Captain Seeker's expression." His grin was forced, but it was angled by his stiff upper lip. There was something of Brenner in it, but a very self-conscious, guileless version. Far different anything the consummate politician would have exhibited.

"To be honest, it's all kind of a blur... Everything was happening so quickly, and I just relied on my training. Got in the zone and stayed there until my orders pulled me out. I'm sure the Captain Seeker is being generous, but I can say he surely saved me back there... He saved us all." Even if he couldn't have brought himself to volunteer the fact that he'd done so via mystical means that still felt viscerally wrong to his Zaichaeri heart.

"Just happy to serve the New State!"

[Eitan Angevin]

"Nobody dies on my watch," Stechpalme said to Reiner and Reiner's little friend. Her tone wasn't warm, but it was assured and perhaps they would take some comfort in that. She might have been the most talented and experienced surgeon left in Zaichaer at this point, and she was mentoring someone she thought could surpass her with or without his skill with aether-enhanced treatments. She didn't like to think of it in terms of necromancy, which smacked of primitive shamanism and death cults. Instead, she saw how his work could take scientific rigor to silly ideas like the humors and such. Bodies were aetheric machines; he understood how aether was supposed to flow through a body. It was much like Minister Dornkirk building wonders such as the islands they stood upon, merely because he understood how aether flowed.

"I apologize. We are running low on anaesthetics. They gave you something en route and there will be more painkillers to come, but we have to ration these things out. A positive side effect is that you will have less chance of developing an addiction to them. So there's that." She didn't attempt a smile; her bedside manner was lacking. But that was what nurses were for to her mind.

Storlock noticed her motion him, and he hurried to finish. Apparently, the Minster wanted them to be done. Well, they had samples, he had corrected a few things that had been done in haste aboard the airship, and he had no personal attachment to the patient, so he was fine doing what he was told. Soon enough, they were out of the way, and the Dornkirks could have their reunion. The physicians washed their hands once more and went to check on Eitan's knee.

Lucrece was unhappy moving from his side, but Delia stood and took her a few paces away where they could watch without being in the way. Eitan smiled manfully to his wife and his sister.

"I can have a ship back to Schiller on the morrow," he promised Stechpalme. "They can retrieve one of the carcasses for vivisection."

"Well, I can hardly blame you for your knee-jerk reactions, lad," she said, which was generous coming from her.

"They did a fine job, Doctor," Storlock said. "The wound is clean. I can sew it up with sinew thread so it won't scar and the wound will heal better."

"Do it," she said with a nod. Stechpalme had a proprietory sort of feel for Eitan Angevin's body. Then, peremptorily to Lucrece, "Girl. Once Storlock has stitched the boy up, you and his valet can take him for a bath. Cleanliness will be important. I'll leave an ointment to apply to his wound and bound before you get him into his nightclothes. Sleep will be important, as well as regular watering and feeding so his body has the resources to heal at an accelerated rate. Make sure his valet carries those orders about the specimen before he falls asleep, though."

"Dienerin..."

"Sir!"

"If you could catch Captain Merovich before he flies, we will need any available specimens from Schiller. He can take whomever can be spared from the Order to keep his airmen safe. On my authority."

"Sir." Dienerin departed, wanting to be back to help his master into the bath and all. Lucrece was in a family way, after all.

"Thank you, boy," Stechpalme said.

"Don't thank me yet. I'll be hounding you for answers soon enough."

The good doctor smirked.

"I'm done," Storlock announced, standing.

Stechpalme handed the ointment to Lucrece, and then she and her protégé were ready to quit the premises.

"The Minister, Orator Beeman, and you will have my preliminiary report within twenty-four hours of my receiving a viable specimen. Don't keep an old girl waiting, boy. I don't have much time left." She chuckled at her own joke, and they departed.

Lucrece and Delia immediately took their places on either side of Eitan, letting the doctors see themselves out.

[Stefan Dornkirk]

Stefan did notice when his young cousin jerked his hand from his friend's, but it neither surprised nor bothered him. Seeking comfort as a young officer was a delicate thing and often open to mockery or criticism. Anything he might say to suggest that it was alright to need such things would only imply that it was, in fact, not okay, so he made no reference in word or look.

The Lieutenant took a step away to give the cousins their time. Being satisfied that Reiner was not about to perish, and was even in a good humor under the circumstances, Kuno was prepared to give way to greater men, for the moment.

A raised eyebrow was his response to the bravado, but his expression was softer than it might have been a few years before, and bore a small smile.

"Good man." He unintentionally parroted Kuno's compliment, but it sounded less funny, more genuine coming from the Minister. "I hope to see you on your feet again in due course, but don't push yourself before the doctor's allow it. We can't afford to lose any more Dornkirk."

Placing his hand on Reiner's shoulder with fraternal affection he added,

"Delia has insisted you remain with us at least until you healed, and we know better then to argue with a lady, don't we?" If Stefan had said that he wanted Reiner to stay there would have been objections, this way was simply easier, and not untrue. Delia had mentioned several times making a place for Stefan's cousin in their household.

The cousins exchanged somewhat awkward pleasantries for a few moments before Stefan took his leave, adding before he quit the room.

"Your assistance was greatly appreciated earlier. You should stick around as well, to ensure Private Dornkirk follows Doctor's orders. We'll find a place for you."

Soon after the Minister left the doctor and her assistant returned to give Kuno a list of instructions. It seemed he'd been appointed de facto nurse to his wounded comrade. Which was fine, so long people remembered he was a solider and not a some kind of servant.

Looking down at Reiner after the doctors had closed the door behind them he said,

"Well, you heard them, time to get you into the tub, liebchen. Can't have you showing up for dinner looking like you work for a living, can we?"