Fifteen Bells: [ACTION/WRITTEN]

[simplestgift]

[Archie woke up yesterday.  How is this new?  Well, after getting some fairly critical stab wounds from Grell, he was put on a ventilator and kept under sedation for a few days.  The ventilator was exchanged for a less impressive-looking concentrator yesterday and he was taken off sedation.  He spent yesterday sleeping anyway, since anesthesia doesn't generally leave you bright-eyed immediately afterward.

This morning, he is talking and eating Jell-o, which is a new experience. The most important bit comes written on the journal network in wobbly handwriting courtesy of the heart monitor clipped on his finger.]

I have been informed that I may have visitors. I'd like to know everyone is all right.

Kennedy

[Anyone who comes in will find him looking predictably weak and pale but lucid and in good spirits, or possibly catnapping after a dose of painkillers.

OOC: Purely for the sake of mercy, Archie is unaffected by the event.]

Comments

[simplestgift]

Of course! I'm afraid it's still your turn.

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

Oh! Ah... I didn't have any knaves, so... what do I do now?

[Seriously, she was like six the last time she played.]

[simplestgift]

[He draws a card.] Ask me if I have anything you want.

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

[She studies her hand.]

Do you have any tens?

[simplestgift]

[He slips her a ten.] Do you have any aces?

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

[Groaning good naturedly she hands him two such cards.

She's having to bite back questions about the circumstances of Archie's injuries. She knows he was attacked and not much else. But Giles told her not to get involved, and she figures it's a sore topic. So she casts about for a different topic of conversation. For now she just asks:]

Do I draw a card now?

[simplestgift]

[Not simply a sore topic, but a dangerous one. Ingrid does not want to get involved in this. Kennedy blinks at both cards, then hands them back.] Actually, if you have two of them, they're yours. You place them in front of you--they're a pair.

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

But don't you have to have four of them to lay them down? [But she still accepts them back.]

[simplestgift]

[Blink.] I thought you only had to have two at a time.

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

[Also blink. She holds his gaze for a moment, and then bursts out laughing.]

I'm sorry, I just can't believe I'm really his bad- at playing- Go Fish!

[simplestgift]

[He'll pause, then a grin spreads over his face and he chuckles.] I can't attest to my knowledge of the rules, mind you. [He draws a card. Oh, there's the other ace. He lays both cards down.] Do you have to remain here just in case you fall ill?

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

More like... to keep me from falling ill.

[Hesitantly she lays down her two aces and asks,] Do you have any eights?

[simplestgift]

Go fish. [He peers at her over his hand.] How can it keep you from falling ill?

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

[She draws an eight! And lays down a pair.]

There's a... bubble, in the back. It keeps any germs or bacteria from getting inside, since I wouldn't be able to fight them off. This suit does the same thing, essentially.

[simplestgift]

[Okay, excuse him while he forgets about the game and stares in horror.]

Then you...have to stay inside this...this bubble, every hour of every day if you don't have the suit?

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

[She nods, looking at her hand, feeling like a six year old girl again, realizing for the first time exactly why those camera crews were always around.]

It's not so bad, [she says softly, but mainly out of habit.]

[simplestgift]

How-- [His voice breaks, and he starts over.] How small is it?

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

[No, not pity, don't you dare pity me.]

Not very. About the size of a room. [A broom closet is a room. (Actually, it's about 6 by 8 feet.)]

[simplestgift]

[Oh, not pity. More like unsettling familiarity.]

And you can see out?

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

[Surprised:] Of course. The walls are clear. [Oh dear, is that what he thought?] It really isn't so bad. The one back home had gloves attached to the walls so that people could reach in or I could reach out. It was always... [Shrug.] Just the way things were.

[simplestgift]

[Okay, he feels like he can breathe again. The entire reaction was as stifled as possible, mostly a lot of blinking and a little stammering, but he's visibly relieved. And a little embarrassed.] I see. Good. Beg your pardon.

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

Not a problem. [But she's a little more withdrawn now.]

Is it your turn?

[simplestgift]

[A blink.] I've no idea.

[intangible-girl.livejournal.com]

[Nervous laughter.] We could just move on to checkers now if you like. I promise I do know how to play that.

[simplestgift]

[He tosses down his cards as if they're yesterday's news.] Very well. What sort of game is checkers?