spacejail | The Master Chief

It's fine.

[ Okay, he had to try. ]

It's faster if you tell me where you are.

[ Because otherwise he's losing his place to ~~sulk~~ ~~hide~~ sit that isn't medical. ]

Does that line ever work.

Observation deck C.

[Because he had absolutely been running thru various places a Spartan might sulk.]

Used to.

[ Cortana understood It's Fine. Spartan Blue understood It's Fine. ]

Got it.

[ And soon enough, the Chief rounds a corner. He's snuck back to his quarters and clothed up, apparently. Despite what Dorian knows about the shape he's in, the Chief's gait is steady and his posture mostly straight.

He doesn't say anything, he just tips his head and arches an eyebrow. Well? ]

[ There's not a great deal he can say to that, not with the knowledge of what little of the Spartan program has been made available to lowly doctors like him and what all of them have lost these long years.

He's relieved that at the very least, the Master Chief hadn't seen fit to slip back into his armor. Dorian still frowns up at him. ]

I'm going to check the tape on your ribs and your stitches. Would you be more comfortable here or somewhere you can sit?

[ Because even if he is INCREDIBLY ANNOYED with him at the moment, there's no need to make this more painful than it need be. ]

Lead me.

[ Alright. He'll be good, he'll come back. For now. Because it's important. Then he admits: ]

...They wouldn't let me suit up.

[ And because of that. ]

[ Dorian nods and leads him down the hall back to the elevator that has an express route to the medbay. ]

I should hope not. I specifically put in orders that you were not to be deployed without medical clearance.

[ A little extra incentive for the Chief to behave just a little bit longer. Dorian knows he has a narrow window to work with before some officer decides to override those orders. ]

I know it kept you alive through some rather terrifying encounters, but at this point, wearing the armor will just aggravate your injuries.

[ The war is over and he can afford the time to recuperate, for once. But that doesn't make him want to wait. Work feels... not exactly good, but it's normal and it's the only thing that does feel normal anymore. Anything else just leaves him to climb the walls and chew over the same list of problems he can't solve. ]

It was worth a try.

[ They really have him this time. Blue Team's already out on another assignment without him, no doubt deliberately. People are concerned about the Chief and he doesn't know what to do with it. ]

It compensates for me. I don't have to be at a hundred percent to be effective.

[ Things he's said before, and he expects no better response this time. ]

[ That makes Dorian pause all over and he can't help feeling a little stricken by that. This is why he started his career specializing in theory and cadavers, emotional distance is not his strong suit.

He turns sharply to frown up at Chief. ]

My dear Master Chief, the idea that something could ever possibly compensate for you is so far beyond the pale, it's offensive and I'll thank you not to say such things.

[ And that's not the least of what he has to say, but a good deal of it involves yelling at people who could make Dorian just disappear. He might yell anyway, but after he bosses the Master Chief into the medbay and points imperiously at a chair. ]

Effective, he says. Oh yes, do thank you for saving our entire species and the whole of the universe, but you might have been a smidge more effective about it.

[ The Chief tips his head a little in what, but lets himself be shooed along with a practiced sort of resignation. He wishes he could say something decisive to get this to stop. This is why this is so important. He's the Master Chief, he means something to people. John can be hurt, but the Master Chief is invincible. He has to live up to that, as much as he can.

...That, and he could also totally fight a Covenant platoon off like this. He's been worse. This isn't even bad, jeeze. ]

I think I could shave a few seconds off, next time.

[ It's empty talk, the best he can do, and it doesn't quite cover the hitch in the motion as he pulls off his shirt and sits down. The bruising is still spectacular. ]

[ Dorian is still on his ranting tear, though at a lower grumbling pace and far from being directed at Chief. The comment does pull a poorly repressed laugh out of him, though he absolutely didn't miss that little twinge. What's under the shirt isn't especially surprising. The Chief was dramatically worse when Dorian first saw him,
after all, this is an improvement. ]

Do try, won't you. These ongoing near apocalypses are so tiring, I'm enjoying the novelty of not being woken by the sounds of shouting and artillery fire.

[ And not having soldiers dying under his hands even as he tries to work a little more life into them. That's been nice too. His voice is light and airy for all that he's being a doctor now. Examining for remnants of a concussion, checking over and cataloging the progress of bruises and fractures and kneeling to check and re-cover stitches. Spartan physiology is a modern marvel and it soothes a bit of Dorian's bad temper to see someone who is healing for once, at least physically, instead of simply being kept alive. ]

You're getting along very well. Time and rest and you'll be back to whatever it is you do in no time. Emphasis on time and rest, mind.

[ The Chief is a well-practiced patient, once you get him to sit the fuck down. He knows the drill and doesn't fuss. ]

I'm starting to get used to it. Can't let anyone ruin that.

[ The war was a couple of years more recent for the Chief, and he was preparing to fight before it even began. This (relative) calm is alien, even threatening, because the only thing he can expect is something terrible is about to happen to break it. It's how his life has always worked. ]

How much?

[ He may be behaving himself, but he's still absolutely on top of getting back out there as soon as he can. He wants hard numbers, and he wants to push them once he has them. ]

You're a wretched liar, do you know that.

[ He's almost gentle when he says it, patting the Chief lightly on the shoulder as he packs away his instruments and disposes of the old bandages. And don't think he hasn't figured out your evil plan either. He frowns at him, eyes narrowed and mustache twitching. ]

That depends. How much rest are you actually planning on getting.

The Master Chief

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gestures vaguely @ medical shit

lol same

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