Time of Scorn

Chapter: the way I are

Lully zipped around the base and even though the day had been hectic, he was happy with how things were going. Dashiell had messaged him all the files, rather than meeting up. So Lully, in turn, had messaged each of the department heads, telling them anyone could request a transfer, change lunch hours, ask for time off, and a number of other things with these documents. Why they hadn't existed before Lully was unsure, perhaps everything had happened face to face. In an ideal place, people would feel comfortable talking to their bosses. This wasn't ideal yet.
He had met Cary briefly when they had wanted to talk to Libba instead of going home. And then Lully hadn't seen them again, since he got caught up with other projects. He hadn't even made it home to Esperanza for lunch, but she had messaged him that the new nurse wasn't letting her go until he ran some blood work. Blair was going to get her lunch.
He was on his way back from the printing bay when Alcott called him. He couldn't imagine what she needed, but answered.
"Hello?"
"Esperanza asked me to make sure you've eaten today," Alcott said, her tone mildly scolding. "Which I'm pretty sure you haven't. So come by botany and eat with Levi and me."
"It's late," Lully protested. "I can go home..."
"But you won't. So come on down, and by the time we're done, you can nip over to medical to take Esperanza home. See you soon!"
Alcott disconnected the call and Lully rolled his eyes. He was nearly at his office, but knew that if he ignored Alcott, she'd probably call Libba or Esperanza. He had promised himself that he wouldn't let work take over his life. He had promised Esperanza the same. Now he needed to follow through.
Libba wasn't at her desk and so Lully messaged her as he headed back out to botany. He remembered when the rooms were separate and they only had a tiny edible garden. The flowers were beautiful, but he was glad that the orchard had taken off, and the vegetables were doing well. He liked having the variety in his diet.
"Hello lieutenant!" Anatoly called as he entered. "How's your first day with Libba?"
"Busy," Lully admitted.
"So busy he forgot to eat," Alcott popped her head out of her office and shook her head at him. "There, sit down and eat that sandwich."
"But..."
Alcott pointed at the new table and chairs that were sitting underneath one of the trees. Lully wondered whose chicken salad sandwich he was eating. He should have remembered to pack a lunch this morning, but everything had gotten moonshy in the last six hours.
Levi came out a couple minutes later with a glass of cold tea.
"Merci," Lully said.
"Friends take care of each other," Levi replied, sitting down at the table. "You have a lot going on, the least we can do is make sure that you're eating."
"This is new," Lully gestured to the table.
"People like coming here; it's more colorful than the rest of the base combined, Alcott's garden notwithstanding," Levi replied. "Made sense to have a place people could bring a lunch and eat. Hopefully, we'll be able to take this outside after the next earthstorm."
"You're planting outside soon?"
"Soon," Levi agreed with a smile. "We have to coordinate irritation with environmental, but Wright needs space and food for his animals. We have the whole planet outside."
"I hadn't realized it was happening so soon," Lully grinned. "Wow."
"We're just quieter about our expansion," Anatoly said, coming up to the table. "And we've been saving our credits for this irrigation plan. Now that we have some materials and a new captain, we just need approval. Dumas has been seeding rolls and now that they're sprouting, we need to plant them soon."
"We could lie on a bed of grass, like in a film," Levi sighed. "I'm looking forward to it, even if it's years from now."
"Can I buy this for the lake? Lully questioned. "Won't grass keep the soil from eroding?"
He did like the idea of lying on a soft bed of grass, or at least, he hoped grass would be soft and not dusty like the hard earth outside the base.
Anatoly frowned. "It will, but I think we'd want a different blend of grasses for the lake. If you want, I'll have Dumas look into it."
Lully finished his sandwich and glass of tea and checked his holo-rib for the time; he wanted to get to medical before the end of the day so no one would have to wait on him. When he rose from the table, Alcott came out to meet him at the main door.
"Merci," Lully told her earnestly. "I should have eaten; you were right."
She grinned at him. "I usually am. Are you headed to the medical bay? I'd like to come with you."
"I am."
He offered his arm with a laugh and Alcott took it as they left botany.
"I would like to talk to Madison about my bone marrow," she told Lully. "No one has asked me to donate so I assume I can't while I'm pregnant. But I only have a couple cycles before he's born. We might as well schedule a date for the surgery."
"I think we had hoped that she'd get better before it came to that," Lully admitted.
They made it to medical in short order. Esperanza was seated with an IV run to her arm. She smiled at Lully when he came in, but didn't move from her seat.
"Come to rescue me?" she inquired. "Nelson is refusing to run my blood panel."
"Nelson?" Lully repeated.
A thin man with white streaked red hair popped out of the next room. He waved and began removing the IV from Esperanza's arm.
"I'm Nelson," he said. "The nurse you woke today. You must be Lully; I have heard a lot about you."
"Only good things," I hope," Lully chuckled. "Does Esperanza need rescuing?"
"Only from her own stubbornness," Nelson replied and then turned to Alcott. "Sorry, and you are..."
"Alcott," she said, bobbing her head at him. "I'm Esperanza's bone marrow donor, but," she gestured to her stomach. "Not right now."
Madison came out of her office when she heard all the voices, and then hurried to Lully to hug him. He reciprocated but was quite unprepared for the gesture.
"Thank you," she said. "Having Nelson and Cary is going to really help us here. And Rainier heard about our short staffing and is sending Moliere to pick up some shifts. We're going to be perfectly fine if Esperanza needs to shorten her workweek."
"If?" Nelson scoffed. "When. And by when I mean tomorrow."
"See?" Esperanza told Lully, gesturing at the man.
"You can come back to work when I've completed your blood panel, we've determined your medication and supplements and we have somewhere you can sit so you aren't on your feet the whole shift," Nelson informed her. "Lully, you know your partner better than I; am I being unreasonable?"
Lully smiled down at Esperanza. "He's not being unreasonable, petal."
She grumbled as Madison moved to speak with Alcott. Nelson glanced down at his holo-rib. "These are strange," he said. "It's going to take some getting used to; Lully, could you help me message Cameron? I have no idea where her berth is. If I'm going to be lecturing Esperanza about taking care of herself, I should probably practice the same. "
"You did just wake up today," Lully agreed and leaned in to show the other man the holo-rib menu. Lully couldn't imagine waking up and immediately getting to work like no time at all had passed. He wasn't sure how long Nelson was in cryo, not so long if he had known Cameron before. Madison and Alcott finished their discussion and Madison went back into her office. Lully was grateful they had spoken away from Esperanza, not wanting to add any stress to his partner's life. Alcott came back over with a smile.
"Merci, Nelson, for looking out for Esperanza," she said. "We've all been spoiled by Esperanza taking care of us."
"Of course," he told her. "It's my job and I take it seriously."
Out of Tyson's office, Cary emerged, spying Lully and Esperanza. They yawned once.
"Are you two going home?" they asked. "Can I join you?"
"Oui, and of course," Lully replied. "Both of you have been quite busy your first day here."
"Better than waiting around," Nelson pointed out. "I'm happy for the work, especially since I was expecting a partner and now, I'm in limbo, if you will. Work will be good."
"What did they tell you?" Alcott questioned.
"Not much," he admitted. "I've gathered that most people are still partnered, but that the rules surrounding our genetic matches will be dissolving soon. When are you due?"
Alcott frowned. "I think eleven weeks from now? It's feels very soon as well as a lifetime away. I cannot wait for little Marcus to kick somewhere else."
"Well, I'm sure he'll be as beautiful as his mother," Nelson grinned as Cameron came into the medical bay.
"Flirting again?" she demanded. "Honestly, Nelson. I can't leave you anywhere."
"This is just who I am," he protested.
___
Late update due to the stomach bug. Ugh, I need just one week to be normal. Thanks for your patience!