Who: Erato and Herakles What: Nursing! Where: The Hospital When: Following Alana/Herk scene (TBD) Warnings: Flirt talk and sadness
All the nurses in the hospital liked Val--she kept giving them jam. This was good because they handily ignored the cooler she had taken out of Herakles's room and was now bringing back. She stepped into his room for what seemed like the millionth ti,e, pulling back the privacy curtain by his bed.
"Good morning, sunshine. How are you feeling today?" She grinned, leaning over to kiss his forehead.
The tall blonde was sitting up today, with a remote in hand. Thank the blessed Fates, they'd found a way to switch it from the soap opera channel! He was happily watching Olympic replays as she came in, hence the big dopey smile on his face. Spooooooorts. "Hey! Pretty good. How's the fort holding down?"
"We're surviving. It seems like almost everyone but me is camping out at Hestia's for protection--" Val had more important things to do than huddle...like taking care of Herakles. "So Greg...how's the healing?" She needed to see if he was up to taking the shot Apollo had given her.
He pulled back the hospital gown to show her where he'd been hit with the large needles. The bruising, though it'd leave a scar, was all but gone. "They said I'm almost totally chemical free. Though they said my testosterone levels were a little high..." The god-- er, former god laughed at that. "But I think I'll leave in a day or two."
"Okay," Val murmured, inspecting him. "I think we should try Apollo's solution now...is that okay with you?" She didn't want anything bad to happen to him because they had waited too long.
"The cure?" Greg eyed the little cooler. "How do we know it'll work?"
"It worked on Dionysus," Val pointed out. "And he was pretty badly off from what I heard..." She opened up the cooler, pulling out a bottle and a sterile needle. She pulled the privacy curtain back around the bed. "Would it help if I played naughty nurse?"
... Tempting. But being alone in a bed with nothing but melodramas had given him a bit of time to think. With a few moments of pause, Herakles shook his head. "No."
"...no?" Val quirked her head. "Well, the naughty nurse thing was just a suggestion. I could be a regular ol' scary nurse with a needle..."
"No, I mean like, I don't want the needle."
"........what?"
"I mean I don't want it. I... I don't care being a god," he said with a shrug. "I mean, I know that's weird for you but... I don't know. I wasn't born a god. It's not something I ever worked for, or wanted, you know?"
"But..." If he didn't, Herakles was going to die. If not now then later, and for Erato it was going to feel like the blink of an eye anyway. "But that stuff they shot you with could kill you."
"I thought it just made me mortal?"
Val rolled her eyes. Honestly. Men! "You don't know that. You've been lucky so far it seems--Dionysus really suffered with whatever it was they did to him." Again, heresay. But she didn't want Teddy to forego this treatment for any reason.
"Oh." Well, now he felt dumb. "I thought that's what you meant by cure."
"Look--" She settled down in the chair next to the bed. "Apollo used this on Dionysus to reverse the affects of what Subrosa had done to him. Because whatever they did was very unnatural...I'm just worried for you. But..." She sighed loudly. "I won't inject you with anything if you don't want me to..."
Bah, she looked so sad. Reaching over, he picked her up and put her next to him on top of the sheets. It was still so easy, but he could feel her weight just a little bit more. "I'm saying, if it doesn't turn me back, I don't much care. If it's needed, though, I'm not gonna play stupid."
"Well, I just want to know we've done everything we could..." Val replied, glancing up at him with resolve in her eyes. She reached over, unwrapping the sterile needle. She depressed it before sticking it into the small container of solution. When it was full, she tugged the needle out, tapping out any trapped air bubbles. She grabbed Herakles's arm. "This is okay right?"
He frowned at the needle. He could face lions, Titans, armed mortals but oh man needles still sucked. "... Yeah."
Val smiled, leaning in to press a kiss on his lips. He was being brave. That deserved a reward. She leaned over his arm, finding and vein and slipping the needle into it. She slowly pushed the cure into his system. "All done."
And he waited. And waited. And waited some more. "I don't feel anythi--"
The demigod stiffened, feeling a sharp but not quite painful tingle starting up his arm and around his chest. "Whoa. Um. What's it supposed to do, 'xactly?"
"Just supposed to bring your godly strength back--" Val frowned. Apollo was going to get an earful later--this was why she didn't want him just leaving her the injection to do herself. "What's wrong?"
"It... feels weird. Like soda or something, but under my skin," he said, idly itching at the injection spot.
"Don't do that," Val murmured, swatting his hand away. She grabbed the needle again, taking Herakles by the hand. She quickly pricked his finger, wanting to see if the cure had had its desired affect.
He was still bleeding red. She frowned. "Maybe we need to wait longer..."
"Did he say when to do it?" he asked, assuming 'him' was Apollo; he couldn't think of anyone else in the family, except maybe Hephaestus, who could conjure up a cure for mortality.
"He said when you were feeling better," Val murmured, cleaning up some of the things from the injection in case a nurse decided to come around. "He could have done it before but you were too beat up. It would've looked strange..."
Herakles nodded in agreement. "The tingling is gone," he noted. "But I dont' feel any different. A little more awake."
Val nodded, nestling against his side. They'd just have to wait. And she'd just have to watch the Olympics with him because he seemed to be enjoying it. She let her mind wander to the other day with Apollo...in the bathroom. It wasn't the most cheerful thing to have on her mind, but it was better than worrying that Herakles was not going to be okay.
Greg closed his eyes and tried to feel the drug coursing through him. He felt back to normal... whatever normal was anymore. But Val was quiet, and that was abnormal. "You okay, [big sister]?"
"It's been a very odd couple of days," Val murmured. "But I will be fine."
Offering his sister a smile, he leaned over to kiss her cheek. "It'll be okay," he whispered and wrapped an arm around her for a squeeze. "Dad's tough, right? He can't... he wouldn't go down without a fight."
"Yes and many of our strongest and smartest are out looking for him," Val spoke in agreeance. Truth be told, she was fine letting the others worry about her father. They were more capable in those matters. "Apollo and I seem to have come to some kind of...semi-truce. I think?"
Greg's smile fell into a frown. "Oh, is he still being a raging dickbag?" Oh, wait, shit. He caught himself but too late, and added apologetically, "Sorry."
"A little, but..." Then we had awesome angry sex in that bathroom right over there. "I think he's coming around." She wouldn't fault anyone for calling him a raging dickbag considering how she'd gone off on Apollo when this whole matter with Zeus happened.
He heard the but, but guessed it was something between them. Of their entire clan, he couldn't think of any group tighter than the Muses and their Chief Dickbag. Er, Musagates. He didn't really have the desire to get into it unless asked or needed. "Well, that's good. We're gonna need him."
"He grumbles but he's a good guy. He knows when he's needed," Val murmured. How much time had gone by? She jabbed his finger again. Still red. She frowned.
"You're gonna poke me full o' holes, sis," he teased.
"Why isn't this working?" she hissed in frustration. Realization was setting in on her--it wasn't going to work.
Oh... she was getting upset. "It's okay, Val," he murmured. Wiping the blood off, he took her hands into his large ones. "Really."
It wasn't okay. Valentine was starting to wonder is she didn't put a curse on everyone she loved. She didn't want to have to watch her brother die one day. It was starting to feel like too much to process at the moment. "...it's not going to work is it?"
She looked so sad. "I was mortal before, remember?" he reminded her gently. "I was going to die. And, I'm okay with that. I don't... I don't like living forever, seeing the years pass by while all the places and people I knew change and go away while I stay the same. I watched my children be buried by their own children, I saw the world get smaller until it just feels like you could hit the otherside with a stone's throw, and it's never sat right with me. It's not always a good thing, for some, to last forever, [sister]."
Valentine nodded, though for self reasons she could not be at rest with this. "Your friend came did see you, didn't she?"
Phew. She looked a little more calmed down, so he gave her a kiss to her forehead. "Alana? Yeah."
"Good..." He had someone to look out for him. "That's really good." Val smiled up at him, leaning in to kiss his cheek. "I have to go to DC for a few days...it's where my children are. And I need to be with them for now."
Nodding back, he gave her another squeeze. "How're they doing? Still singin'?"
"Singing beautifully--" She wouldn't tell him about Atlas's rehabilitation. There was nothing Herakles could do about it now anyway, and she wanted to give Hephaestus the benefit of the doubt. "And probably being spoiled rotten by their aunts."
She slipped out of bed, gathering up the cooler and her things.
He chuckled, but when he saw her getting up, he reached for her hand. "Hey."
Val stopped, glancing back over her shoulder at him. "Yes?"
The former god gave her a teasing grin. "I never got that sexy nurse, y'know."
Val laughed, leaning over and kissing him on the lips. "It's a little unnecessary now, doncha think?"
"Tease!" he accused, putting a hand over his heart. "I'm totally wounded." He did his best to sound hurt, but oh man, he'd forgotten how great those kisses were. Damn that Norseman. Damn!
"Why don't you get Alana to be your nurse?" Val challenged, tossing him a wink. She stepped away from the bed, slipping around the privacy curtain. "Just a thought."
"Oh, that's low," he hissed, and folded his arms in a huffy display.
"[Goodbye brother,]" Valentine murmured, her face hidden by the curtain. She wiped away the tears falling from her eyes as she left the room.
Summary: Val tries to give Greg the de-godding cure. It doesn't work.