A Day in the Infirmary

[general_chang]

Who: Chang and infirmary visitors.
Where: Infirmary
When: After he wakes up
Warnings: (if necessary) Mentions of death

Comments

[terminates]

[He's not the first to visit, but eventually, Slade does stop by to see how Chang is doing. His own wounds are healing already so he's feeling less battle-torn; other things are on his mind, though.]

General.

['How are you?' goes unspoken.]

[general_chang]

Slade. [His voice is a little hoarse, but he's been drinking water, so he's not so bad. He's taken to sitting up.]

[terminates]

[That's good. There's a brief pause before he says anything.]

You need anything?

[It's not pity that makes him offer (what use is that between people like them?), though he does wish he could have given Chang the final end he sought.]

[general_chang]

You have done what you could. [There really wasn't more to be done. He just wished he could find meaning in it.]

[terminates]

[He did what he could. That much was true. So why wasn't it ever enough?]

Think they'll try to stop you?

[general_chang]

I do not know. I have been transparent. If I am forbidden... [He's genuinely upset.] Ports and floods are not enough.

[terminates]

[He knows. It's not a cultural thing with him, but immortality is something that's been weighing on him for years now. Has he really been cheated out of death so many times just to entertain the whims of a would-be god? It's a hard pill to swallow.]

I know.

[Even the chaos brings its own monotony. He finds a chair and sits.]

Your warden's defended your choice.

[general_chang]

[Chang nods, though very briefly, because the room started to spin. He paused.] Yes. She has nobility in her.

[terminates]

At least she supports you.

[In that crazy way she's got.]

[general_chang]

She does. [It's the crazy that Chang likes. Reminds him of home.]

[terminates]

[That ears a flicker of a smile, however half-hearted it may be.]

You're lucky.

[general_chang]

There are those less fortunate. [He just wouldn't describe himself as 'lucky'.]

[terminates]

[Of course not.

Another pause, then:] Your blades are clean.

[All ready for the next bout.]

[general_chang]

[Curiously.] You still have them?

[terminates]

I do.

[He wasn't just going to leave them on deck, after all.]

[general_chang]

They are yours, if you wish them. [spoils of the fight.]