LongBow ~ LGBT (Historical-Romance-Fantasy)

Metastasis

After the turbulent roller-coaster voyage through the temporal displacement, intense vertigo once again finds Rikkar and Daniel nailed to the floor of the bridge. The blue glowing warmth of the amulet strewn around Daniel's neck unbeknownst to him rouses him to consciousness. 

Rikkar first breaks the silence with a whine, "Are we there yet?"

Daniel breathing shallow and slow, attempts to appear coherent, "Ha-Haaa... Ya know whawt?"

"Whaat?" Rikkar answers in a sluggish disinterested tone.

"I'm tired of waking up feeling as though I've been in a blender.. and... wet as a dog left out in the rain," Daniel manages to describe the state of his body.

"Indeed. Want to shower?" Rikkar weakly suggests.

"Yeah, but body just ain't quite up to the task yet," Daniel bemoans.

"Where do you think we are?" Rikkar wonders aloud.

"Don't know, but hope it's far awaaay from gargantuan serpents," Daniel resolves.

"Come on... ARrrrrgggg.. Let me help you up," Rikkar presses. 

Rikkar and Daniel take their time in the shower as the lavish warm water soothes their deep aches and bruises. After toweling and redressing, Daniel searches his leather manbag for some relief, Happy hydro.. I've never been so relieved to see you, although I despise your existence at the same time. So, do I take a quarter, half or a whole? Hmm... I'll start at the usual quarter with a Phenergan, Cyclo and maybe toss in some Naproxen too. 

 "Tapping into the drug surplus eh?" Rikkar pokes. 

Daniel flashes a look of insult, "They're not drugs, they're prescriptions by a physican. And for the record, I hate taking them. When I do, it's as though I'm 'defeated'. But if it makes you feel better, half the time they don't work. They only succeed in knocking me on my ass or making me nauseated to where I can't operate, but still have pain."

"Then why do you take them?" Rikkar questions.

"On the off-chance that it will relieve the pain, allowing me to be awake and enjoy life or do something," Daniel bemoans.

"Is that really life?" poses Rikkar.

"Yeah.. For now. As long as I have some measure of life in which I can help others and enjoy some of my interests now and then," Daniel proposes.

"Strange... Your world that is. You consume this insipid brew to forcibly wake up, then work at a neck-breaking pace, and then ingest substances to make you sleep," Rikkar criticizes.

Daniel rebuts, "Yes, but what a life it is in between those hours. The flowers, vegetables and trees we witness growing from our hands. The sights, sounds and aromas our senses drink in from the world. The full range of emotions we experience on a daily basis. Sometimes bad emotions but we live for the good ones to touch us, discard and learn from the rest. And the people we meet along the way who embody all those emotions,"

Daniel continues, "That reminds me, I need to see if I can connect to a satellite from the Iridium Satphone modem and send an email to Kev, back home. He's bound to be worried sick. Or maybe not. Who knows. And I need to discover the whereabouts of Jack, and what has happened to him," 

Rikkar's eyes flash, "Who's Kev? And maybe it's best for you not to know about Jack's demise? "

"Long story on Kev. As for Jack I can't knowingly leave someone stranded out here on the ocean without power, food and water," Daniel stresses. 

"We have time. Besides, before you can locate Jack, you must know your own coordinates, correct?" Rikkar 

'"Roger, The coordinates will come from the Iridium Satellite GPS. That reminds me, are you able to contact headquarters, since we probably are far enough away from the electrical disturbances?" inquires Daniel.