Professionls

Writers: Bree, Eimi
Date Posted: 24th February 2007

Characters: M'galec, Abrei
Description: M'galec sees Abrei for a check up...
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 2, day 23 of Turn 4

Abrei

Abrei was fidgeting by the time M'galec slipped into the room near the back of the infirmary and closed the door behind him. Her hand was itching and sore, and her nerves were strained from a tense visit from Talrian earlier in the day. She paused at the sight of him, though, and tilted her head to the side. "I thought the apprentice said you were leaving."

"I was, but I thought I should see you first," M'galec said, trying to make looking over the sheet as natural as possible. He knew exactly what was on the chart since he had filled it out himself. But he didn't want Abrei to feel unease at his insistence at taking the case. "How is your hand feeling now?"

"Better. Healing, I suppose, as it itches terribly." She had her good hand tangled up in her tunic to resist the urge to scratch it. "That is a good sign," he nodded. "I have some salve that can relieve the itch a bit and soften the skin to keep it flexible. Let me see." The bronzerider held out his hand towards hers.

She placed her bandaged hand in his, trying to seem casual as she broached her next problem. "I think I might need a stronger tea for my stomach as well."

His eyes raised slowly to meet hers. She seemed too calm. It was a dangerous sign. "How bad is it?"

"Not too bad. I haven't felt much like eating for the past few days, but it hasn't really started hurting." The desire to fall into a bottle of alcohol to numb her memories of N'vanik had been overwhelming, but she'd managed to drown herself in work instead.

He began unwrapping her hand carefully now that he was satisfied that it wasn't as big of an emergency has it _could_ be. "Do you know why you have had no appetite?" She shrugged one shoulder and watched as her hand was revealed. "It's just an upset stomach, I think. But it's better not to take any chances."

"Yes, I would have to agree. After I am finished with your hand, I would like to examine you just to be sure." One couldn't be too safe.

Abrei sighed. "I suppose. But it's really not that bad, M'galec. I promise. I just have been tired."

"Can you think of a reason for your fatigue?" He lightly fingered the area around the injury, looking for any sign of redness or swelling.

After a brief hesitation she shook her head. "Just haven't been sleeping well. I'm sure it will get better, soon."

M'galec stopped examining her hand and instead cradled it gently, raising his gaze to meet hers. "Abrei, whatever it is that has been bothering you, you must say something to _someone_. Please do not sport with my intelligence by saying nothing is wrong. Talk to me."

Her shoulders stiffened. "I made some stupid choices, M'galec. They were stupid, and they're behind me. And they were private. I appreciate the offer, but our relationship has hardly been that of confidants."

"Abrei," he said, his voice gentle and full of concern, "we have had our moments, but I have always cared for you and your well-being. Can we not forget the past? Have I not proved to you that I want to be your friend?" "I don't think talking about it would help, M'galec." Besides, what could she possibly say? Admitting that she'd let N'vanik use her was humiliating. She could barely stand to remember it, much less discuss it.

"All right, Abrei. All right," M'galec sighed. "If you do not wish to speak of it with me, I will not force you. But promise me you will not just hold it in." The bronzerider had the curiously strong urge to hold her, and even more surprising, he allowed himself to reach out for her and act upon it. "You are too precious to us to lose." Abrei's body stiffened in his arms for a moment. It felt far too intimate compared to her usual interactions with M'galec--too gentle and too caring. Feeling uncomfortable, she cleared her throat. "I think you'd all manage without me."

She might not be reciprocating, but she certainly wasn't pulling away. That told M'galec that perhaps she didn't mind him holding her. If she couldn't spill her secrets to him, he had to offer what little comfort he could. "We would manage, yes. But we would surely miss you."

"I am not sure what to make of you, M'galec." She still hadn't relaxed into his embrace, but she hadn't pulled away, either. "We make each other very, very angry sometimes. Why are you so determined to be my friend?"

"I always was your friend, Abrei. We have had our fights and our differences, I know... Sometimes I am not an easy man. And sometimes you are not an easy woman. But I have always cared for you."

"Oh." Abrei lifted her good hand to awkwardly pat his shoulder. "Well, that is very sweet, M'galec. A little odd, considering our tendency towards vicious arguments nine meetings out of ten, but sweet."

"I just want you to know that I would be here for you if you need me."

"All right." She hesitated and then spoke her next thought, even knowing it was ill-advised. "But I'm not interested in sleeping with you."

M'galec pulled back to look at her. "You think I only care about you hoping for sex?"

She was already making him upset, so she might as well go the whole way.
"No. I honestly don't know if you care about me at all, sometimes. There aren't many people who have hurt me as badly as you have."

"Did I not just _tell_ you I care about you?" he asked, wondering if females purposefully only listened to half of what he said. "Did you think I would _lie_ about that?"

"You've also _told_ me that I'm a manipulative unprofessional immature woman who uses sex as a weapon," she pointed out. "Shortly after you had sex with me that was so violent I had bruises for almost a month."

"Well, you were at that time. After all, you seduced me," he pointed out matter of factly. "I have forgiven you, though, and I am willing to move past that. Obviously you have grown out of that phase."

Abrei's mouth fell open and she pushed him away with her good hand.
Hard. "I _seduced_ you? I _kissed_ you, M'galec. If that's all it takes, you've got even less self-control than I thought." Her eyes grew cold.
"And that is saying something."

"You did not _just_ kiss me," he retorted. "That was no peck, or even tender kiss. That was a kiss that was meant to seduce and arouse me, which I am ashamed to say it did quite effectively. I certainly cannot claim it as one of my finer moments, but you caught me off my guard and proceeded to very vocally encourage me to continue. Please do not forget that you were on top, after all."

She slid from the cot and shouldered past him angrily. "Not for very long, I wasn't. And this is exactly why I know you don't care about me, M'galec. Nothing is more important to you than being right. And you know what? _No one_ is right all the time."

She could be so exasperating sometimes! "And you have a terrible tendency to hold on to the past and let it fester like an infection in a wound. I am perfectly willing to look past that night and move on, and yes, even _care_ about you. Why is it so wrong that I should have feelings for you, Abrei?"

"Because you do it in spite of who I am, not because of it," she snapped in reply. "I don't need another man pretending that I'm someone who I'm not, thank you." Which was far closer to the truth than she had planned to go. Frustrated she opened the cupboard door and stood on her toes to reach a clean bandage for her hand. "I will do that," he muttered walking up behind her and reaching over her to retrieve a bandage. In the mood she had worked herself into, chances were she'd wrap it too tightly and restrict blood flow to the healing wound.

Feeling cornered, Abrei shoved her elbow back into his stomach. "Get out of my personal space."

"No," M'galec growled as he reached again for the bandage. How could a woman with so many curves have such a sharp elbow?! "Do not prove my former opinion of you right, Abrei."

"Which one?" she taunted, her patience totally shattered. "You're the one in _my_ personal space this time. Are _you_ trying to seduce _me_?"

"No, Abrei, I am a professional trying to do my job," M'galec corrected.
"After all, I am the one who still works in the infirmary."

Abrei's good hand clenched into a fist as she turned to face him, no longer caring how close he was to her. It would make it all that much easier to _hurt_ him... She planted her shoulder into his chest and shoved past him toward the door, resisting the urge to plant her knee somewhere a good deal more sensitive. "Good. That should make it easy for me to never have to look at your face again. You make me sick, M'galec." "Let me bandage your hand," he called after her. This display of childishness was so typical of Abrei. It made him feel less inclined to offer her his services in the future.

Last updated on the February 24th 2007

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