The Healthcare Boys get a Work Vacation! Part 3
(@hermitdrabbles56)
Legend rubbed his eyes tiredly as he stood in the registration area, holding onto his energy drink for dear life. Hyrule had already left in a frenzy, both excited about the fact that there were escalators inside a hotel (Legend quickly realized this was Hyrule's first conference he'd ever been to), and eager to get to his classes.
“I’m surprised you didn’t immediately hiss and melt the instant the sunlight hit you.”
Grumbling, the night shifter turned to see Warriors approaching with a cup of coffee in hand. He was honestly too tired for the banter, and his friend picked up on it quickly, shouldering the bag registration had given him and throwing a casual smile. “Come on, I know where our first lecture is.”
Legend walked alongside Warriors as they headed to a class about pediatric resuscitation when his friend paused, waving someone over. The travel nurse watched a stranger approach and smiled politely as Warriors greeted her cheerfully.
The nurses exchanged pleasantries with the new person, who turned out to be a nurse administrator for a nearby hospital’s emergency department. Warriors had apparently met her back in the war. When the brief conversation ended, Legend gave a nod and a little nice to meet you before awkwardly excusing himself.
Warriors chuckled. “You know for someone as mouthy as you are, I expected you to be more talkative.”
Legend rolled his eyes. “I don’t mind people as a general rule, but I hate networking.”
“You know that’s a big thing with these conferences, right?”
Legend waved a dismissive hand. “I’m here for the knowledge, not the people.”
Warriors shrugged. “You’ll get used to it. I used to hate networking too.”
That made the travel nurse pause. “You? You’re like the most sociable, confident person I know.”
His friend laughed at that. “Being confident in myself doesn’t mean I always know how to interact with others. Also, I’m a pretty straightforward guy, and networking doesn’t always allow for that, so it wasn’t something I was all that good at in the beginning.”
Legend hummed, smiling and then chuckling. “Oh, to have been a fly on the wall when you fumbled your way through it the first few times.”
"Pff," Warriors blew breath and gave Legend a playful shove. "You'll never have the privilege of seeing that."
"I suppose I'll have to make up my own stories, then," Legend surmised before smirking. "Or just ask Time, Sky, and Wind."
Warriors bit his lip, clearly holding a rebuttal back, and he grabbed a granola bar off the snack table provided by the hosting hotel. The pair entered the next conference room to settle in for the presentation.
XXX
Time paced the hotel room nervously, reviewing the material in his mind.
He was a surgeon, damn it, not a public speaker. He didn’t know why he let Malon convince him into this.
Never mind the fact that passing on knowledge to others excited him. This was—this was different.
There was a noise from the bed and he turned to see Sky stretching and opening his eyes.
“Morning,” he mumbled from under the covers.
Time glanced at the clock to see that it was, in fact, still morning, albeit barely. “You sleep well?”
He certainly seemed like he had, though it was hard to tell over Warriors’ loud snores from last night. Time had spent most of his night tossing and turning.
He honestly didn’t know why the idea of giving a talk to emergency clinicians made him so nervous. Hyrule had helped him recognize better how to speak to his target audience, and the topic was relevant. Time was not usually someone who gave much thought or consideration to things like nerves or other people’s opinions. He just did the job.
Sighing heavily, he pinched the bridge of his nose.
Sky propped himself up a little with an elbow, tipping his head to the side. “What’s wrong?”
He wasn’t going to talk about this. He could handle this on his own. Not to mention he didn’t know how to put his anxiety into words anyway.
Sky sat up in bed and leaned against the backboard. “You nervous about this afternoon?”
Time sighed. This boy was too perceptive for his own good. “I’ve not done this before. Malon may have exaggerated in her submission on my behalf.”
Sky smiled sleepily. “I’m sure she didn’t. You’re the best trauma surgeon I know.”
“I’m the only trauma surgeon you know,” Time reminded him flatly, unconvinced.
“Well…” Sky shifted, rubbing the drowsiness out of his eyes. “You fixed me up well enough.”
Time’s heart clenched a little, and he hesitantly sat on the bed and rubbed Sky’s shoulder reassuringly. His eyes burned through the young man’s shirt at the scar left behind from the bullet wound.
“You’ll be fine,” Sky assured him, reaching forward for a hug.
Time let the pilot hold him, and if he hugged Sky back a little tighter than usual, the young man didn’t comment on it.
XXX
Four stared scrutinously at the two dishes in front of him. On the table sat two identical apple pies, baked to perfection with a barely discernible glittering glaze of sugar on top.
Off to the side, Malon and Wild stood by, awaiting the initial prediction.
“I still don’t get why I can’t be the one to predict” Wind grumbled.
“Hush, you,” Wild shushed him. “Four is the most observant and has the best chance. We’re doing you a favor.”
“Hey now, you saying we ain’t observant?” Twilight asked, his tone mildly annoyed.
“Not as observant as Four.”
A black wet nose poked over the table’s edge, sniffing hopefully between the two pies before Malon shooed Wolfie away.
“Five rupees says he’s wrong,” Wind chimed, smirking mischievously.
“Ten says he guesses right,” Wild fired back with an expression to match.
“I’m guessing the one on the left was made by Wild,” Four finally said, pointing to the pie in question.
“Moment of truth, then!” Wind shouted excitedly, immediately cutting a slice for everyone.
Malon and Wild waited patiently as everyone took a few bites of the slice. Four nodded to himself. “Yeah, this is definitely Wild’s pie.”
“I think we should try the other one to get sure,” Wind noted after wolfing down his bite.
”Ah-ah!” Malon swatted Wind’s hand just as he reached for the other pie. “The game rules state that Four guesses which pie is Wild’s, y’all taste test and come to a decision whether he was right or not, and if y’all can agree and you guess the correct baker, you can eat both pies.”
Wind pouted and took another tentative bite. “It tastes good.”
Malon raised an eyebrow. “Honey are you saying my apple pie doesn’t taste good?”
“Wha—n-no it tastes good too!”
“No, this is definitely Wild’s apple pie,” Four argued. “His pies have a specific texture—“
“Specific texture?” Twilight repeated, rolling his eyes. “Give me a break. This is Mama Malon’s pie. She stuffs way more apples in her recipe than Wild. All you gotta do is pay attention.”
Wind suddenly grew frantic at the disagreement, waving his hands. “No, no, no, we gotta get this!! Is it Wild’s or Mama Malon’s?!”
“Wild’s.”
“Malon’s.”
“GUYS!”
Four crossed his arms. “I stand by my choice.”
Twilight mirrored his posture. “You do realize you can’t out-stubborn me, right?”
The pair glared at each other, leaving Wind to be the deciding vote. Sighing heavily, the student took another tentative bite and looked no more certain.
“”Speak now or forever hold your piece,” Malon said gravely.
“And forfeit your pies,” Wild added.
Wind latched onto Twilight. “I’m going with Twi! It’s Mama Malon’s pie.”
Four’s certainty faded just a hair and then he crossed his arms defiantly.
Malon walked slowly towards the group. “The answer is—“
At that moment, the table shook as a nose poked up once more, reaching the top of the pie platter and giving it just enough wobble to stumble to the floor.
Everyone gasped. “Wolfie!!”
The perpetrator started lapping up the pie shamelessly before being chased away by an incensed Wind.
43 notes
·
View notes