Not the bird flu / closed

[moreweaponsthanyou]

Who: Fil, Liam and Aaron
What: Fil dragging Liam off to Aaron's clinic in Locke to get him some REAL medical attention
Where: The clinic
When: Around 1/17?
Warnings: Nothing.

[He has never met anyone so...utterly frustrating. It had been an adventure in itself, getting Liam off the mountain in one piece. (Fil was seriously thinking about getting a leash on the guy.) Then there was the short car ride to the teleporter in Vegas. (He hated driving these days, mostly on account of how he had to have cushions just so he could see over the dashboard). The teleporter, as much as he disliked that too, at least was working properly now and he was getting used to the sensation of going through it. The convenience of being able to travel so far so fast outweighed his past prior experience with it. Then it was followed by another, thankfully short drive to the clinic.

It was with a sigh of relief that he parks the car.]

C'mon, we're here.

Comments

[elfstoned]

You have a choice, then: suck it up and eat food you don't like, or switch to a diet that's better for you.

[...but then, his face and voice soften. He looks less like a stern doctor now -- he looks kinder. He lets himself feel pity for Liam -- the poor boy is sick and neither of them know if he's going to die, and it looks like the message has gotten through.

...he made Legolas cry, he dimly realizes, and feels a little bad about that. Aaron really, genuinely wants Liam to pull through, and not only because of the avian influenza.]

There's ethically-sourced meat and dairy out there, if you look for it.

[arrowpoint]

Yeah, I know. I grew up on free-range. I went vegan in college.

[Which, if you judge his appearance, wasn't too long ago. Truthfully, most of his reasoning was due to peer pressure. He coughs through tears for a moment, then calms himself.]

Last summer I passed out and took iron pills for a while after but I stopped.

[It was mostly due to a numbered incident but...]

[elfstoned]

Tsk.

[He's clearly disapproving, but the lecture is over.]

So, why vegan, specifically?

--everybody else was doing it--

[arrowpoint]

[He thinks back, which is hard to do right now with his lack of ability to concentrate.]

Uh... My friends from Hiking club were taking this class on it. It's better for the environment, and you don't like, need to eat animal products so...

[Liam turns on the exam table, grimacing. It wasn't the most comfortable surface.]

Look, I get it. Poor life choices and all that - but if I die it's not going to matter if I'm vegan or not so, can we just, not, right now?

[There's a sigh and a few coughs before he mutters something under his breath;]

...I just want to go home.

[elfstoned]

[Ahh. Everybody else was doing it. He understands.

And he'll drop it.]

You should rest. Sleep, if you can.

[He considers Liam for a moment.]

Or, if you can't, I can talk about something better.

[arrowpoint]

Believe me, I'd love to sleep, but I feel like shit, I might die, and - no offence - this table isn't exactly comfy.

[He tries to shift, but between the aches, chills, hard surface and having to keep his arm relatively straight for the IV, he's looking rather unhappy. He pulls the blankets high, covering most of his face.]

So... I'd appreciate the distraction, man.

[elfstoned]

Most of what I remember of my old life isn't fit to tell. Speaking with you in the forest is one of the only happy memories of him I have.

But I do remember a story. It might have happened, it might be legend, or it might be pure myth. I don't know.

Would you like it in English or the Elf-tongue?

aw, bedtime story

[arrowpoint]

[Liam could understand that. He didn't remember much from back then, but the fire-demon was the one memory that stuck out in his mind. Then there was the thing with the Dwarves, and that was more neutral.]

Uh, either, I guess. I'm fluent in English. [Pause.] I mean Elvish. [Wait.] I mean both.

all aragorns tell bedtime stories, this is immutable fact

[elfstoned]

[A quiet snort of laughter.]

All right, then.

[You know what? What the hell. Aaron's not going to be able to do this to anyone else, since Julien isn't nearly fluent enough in Sindarin to get the full effect, so Liam is getting the Lay of Leithian, in verse. He'll keep an eye on Liam -- if he sees the kid's asleep, he'll stop.

If not, he has the whole thing memorized.

Aragorn was a nerd.]

...Oh. My. God.

[arrowpoint]

[There's something about hearing Sindarin that was soothing, particularly when spoken poetically. It does take some time before he's settled enough, but eventually Liam is snoring and drooling onto his jacket which he was using as a pillow. Looks like he'll be out for a while. Finally.]

he's successfully weaponized the lay of leithian

[elfstoned]

[He breaks off at the end of a line when he hears those snores. A smile plays across his face -- it's a shame, he was almost halfway through, and he'd been enjoying reciting it. But it's good that Liam's finally going to get some rest.

Quietly, Aaron pulls the palantír out of the bundle he'd brought in. As Liam sleeps, Aaron begins his search for Julien. At one point, his phone goes off, and he answers the texts from Thorir -- goodness, how long has it been since he'd spoken with the man? But when that's over, he puts his phone away and resumes the search.]