Shattered Reflections

13. An Odd Request

Knock Knock Knock

Knocking at this hour was quite odd, it was too formal, Elsa and especially Olaf tended to head in unannounced. The only person who came by and actually knocked was the Doctor, but they'd already checked in not too long ago, so whoever was behind the door didn't customarily come visit. "May I come in? I wish to have a word with you." called a familiar voice.

~~*~~

Hans shifted a bit on the bed, still in mass amounts of pain, but doing his damnedest to get past that. "Please do, distract me from the stab wound." He remarked airily. And god did he need a distraction from that. Still, in his usual stubborn fashion, as his guest entered, he made an effort to push himself up into at the very least a sitting position, in spite of the pain. It felt weird to lay down and let people address him from the ceiling. It was awkward for everyone involved and he wanted none of it.

~~*~~

The door opened and in came a familiar well built man. It was the Captain of the guard. Bandaged and scratched up himself, but in far better shape than Hans. "'Evening, Prince Hans," he greeted with a nod, choosing to omit the 'good', knowing he was probably not having a good evening being bedridden and in pain.

~~*~~

"So it is, you can omit the 'prince' part too, Captain, if you must pick a title at least use the one I earned." Hans joked, holding his wound but offering a wry smile through the pain. "I'd say I owe you my life for fetching Elsa and the doctor last time, are we even now?" He joked gently. "Come on then, sit and have a chat. It'll be refreshing to talk to a working man again, like my crew. I'd suggest we get drinks, but the doctors disagree with that suggestion. Or they did for me, maybe you got lucky and missed that directive." Hans spoke with the Captain like they had been crew mates for years, and on equal terms. None of this prince or prisoner business, just working men in his book.

~~*~~

" You jest, and yet I truly think we are even," stated the Captain as he brought a chair to the bedside, the back of the chair facing Hans. "One of the reasons I've come to speak to you is indeed to thank you, for undertaking my responsibility of protecting the Queen, when I failed to do so in battle. I guess I made the right call saving you, after all." He half-jokingly quipped back, taking a seat in the chair backwards.

~~*~~

"I'm glad to hear it, if nothing else, a traitor makes for a good sword-stopper, may as well use that fact while I have it." He suggested dryly, gesturing to his wound. "I'm sure my reasons for what I did at the coronation never got back to you, I'd try to reassure you, but after the original traitorous events I'm afraid it wouldn't matter much to explain myself, I've rather a liar's reputation. I'm afraid that one I can't make even no matter how many scars I earn in the process, but I've nothing better to do but try, anyway. Here, if we're to gossip, I ought to know more than just your title?" He checked his hand for blood before offering it to shake. Holding his wound as much as he had it, it was worthwhile to check.

~~*~~

" I guess, a proper introduction is at hand," he agreed, accepting Hans' offer to shake. "Name's Kristofferson, Johannes Kristofferson. Friends call me Johan."He gave Hans a firm handshake. The Captain was a man many years Hans' senior (by a decade, at least), approaching middle age, but not quite old enough to be his father. He had a rather large bulbous nose, dark hair and sported a thick mustache.

~~*~~

"'Johannes'? Johan it is, I'm deeply sorry for the alternative nickname." Hans remarked, mingled amusement and apology on his face, as he knew that meant they could have shared a nickname. No doubt friends wouldn't call anyone in their country 'Hans' for a while without starting a fistfight. "Good to meet you properly, Captain. Her Majesty is planning to get some retraining for the guards, I'm expecting to be assisting in that-- mostly teaching your men to be careful with tricky bastards like me. I know enough thieves, fought enough pirates, and lied enough times I think we could get a few solid exercises going." He tried to keep a conversation running.

~~*~~