Four Bells: [Voice] Somewhat Unwell

[simplestgift]

Doctor McCoy?

[It's Kennedy, and he sounds awful.  It's been a couple of days since he's left his room or contacted anyone over the journals.]

Are you in the clinic at the moment? Fever and aches aren't as much to my liking as I'd first thought. If I die before I make it there, please make sure Captain Jack stays out of my things until I return.

Comments

[simplestgift]

[But McCoy said something about salamanders before, so Archie is still wary.] What's in it?

[all7seas]

Only that which will cast your illness from your body the way a shaman might cast spirits out of a man. Except with less vomiting. Try!

[simplestgift]

[Jack is so earnest, but Archie grew up on a ship where hazing happened constantly to those who didn't know better. Take Horatio for example, although hazing, for him, ended up including at least one beating that nearly killed him as well as the typical "Lieutenant Eccleston wishes to see you on the fighting top" line everyone got when they first came aboard.] No salamanders?

1/2

[all7seas]

[all7seas]

Nah. [Just reconstituted salamander juice, Archie.]

[simplestgift]

[Archie does not look particularly trusting, but if he's going to do this, he's going to keep in mind that this may be exactly what he's doing and do it regardless. So he takes the mug, breathes its steam for a while, and sips carefully.

It's strange, but good. If it is salamander broth, it's not so bad. The steam, at the very least, is easing the tightness in his chest a little. He takes a longer sip before setting it down on a side table.]

[all7seas]

[Jack, meanwhile, takes a seat on a nearby chair and peers at the sailor intently.] Not fatal, now, is it.

[simplestgift]

Not yet. [Archie sighs and sinks downward until he's lying on the couch. It's good to have a change of scenery after spending so long in his room. His eyes close uncomfortably against the light.] Why did you come?

[all7seas]

To give you the salamander juice, of course. Check in on you, like; make sure McCoy's not abusin' you too badly.

[simplestgift]

[In a case like this, Horatio would gag, but that was Horatio's standard reaction to a lot of things. Archie somehow manages to suppress that instinct. Drinking salamander juice must not be too different from drinking chicken broth, and it's not unpleasant. In fact, it's far more pleasant than the majority of medicines he's had foisted upon him. The temptation to continue drinking it, however, is completely resistible. On the side table it stays.]

He's not been too unkind to me. He brought soup.

[all7seas]

Lucky lad; when he looked after me he knocked me unconscious. Soup, hmm? Far more better to you. Count yourself lucky he didn't make you wear one of them buttock-revealing shifts.

[simplestgift]

[Archie looks distinctly uncomfortable at the thought that such a thing exists.] Never. [Oh no, now that he's realized Jack must have been wearing one of those, the image gets into his head. He covers his eyes, cursing under his breath at his own imagination.] Damn.

[all7seas]

Oi----what's wrong, then? Best drink more of the broth, son.

[simplestgift]

No, no, I'm fine. [As if to illustrate this fact, he coughs hard a few times.] No more broth.

[all7seas]

[Jack draws a shriveled brown salamander out of his coat pocket and gnaws on its tail.] You're not going to finish it, then?

[simplestgift]

[An extremely pronounced wince. Seeing a salamander that could have made what he just drank is much, much worse than simply being told what was in that cup. Archie scrambles to sit up.] No. It's cured me already!

[all7seas]

Ah, then, see that? Pelegosto've got the most brilliant cures for horrible diseases. Pity they eat people.

[simplestgift]

[Aww great.] And I suppose a society that eats people is precisely the one we should go to to cure all our sicknesses. Will you put that damned thing away? [He raises a hand to shield his eyes from the light.]

[all7seas]

[Jack shrugs and pops the rest of the salamander into his mouth, crunching it up in a satisfied way.] Ffmmm ghffith.

[simplestgift]

[That goes unappreciated.] Well. At least you won't catch what I have.

[Not that "catching" is something Archie fully understands, since germs were considered a Scotsman's quack theory in his time.]

[all7seas]

[And NOW Jack is finishing your broth for you, Archie.]

...Obliged. I were feelin' peckish anyhow. Is there nothing more I can do here, then?

[simplestgift]

[There is some coughing as he stands up, bracing himself against the back wall and the lovely mural painted on it.] Who told you where I live?

[all7seas]

Magic compass, mate. [Jack removes it from his belt, flicks it open, and shows it to Kennedy. Right now it is pointing toward the door.] Leads you to what you want.

[simplestgift]

[Archie watches it curiously, then gives a bright smile.] Looks like we want the same thing, then!

[all7seas]

Right. I'm off, then! But you listen well, sailor: should your condition worsen, you let Jack know, savvy? And he'll bring you more shriveled amphibians.