milliways_bar | (no subject)

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Guppy has something of a conundrum tonight.

Someone has been playing on his tablet, and has somehow managed to install some sort of Peppa Pig Mode, where every time he presses a button, it makes a pig noise, even when he tries to turn it onto silent.

None of the children owned up to this deed, or admitted knowing how to turn the mode off, so at the moment he is sitting at the bar trying to program the grunting, snorting tablet into submission.

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"Dr Sandhu." Athelstan approaches his table with a startled glance at the tablet. "Can I speak to you?"

"Sure." Guppy nods. "Er, you'll have to excuse this, one of the kids seems to have programmed it to make noises."

He closes the tablet, which oinks periodically nonetheless.

"Noises like a pig?" He sits down. "I've been told Ragnar was... angry with you."

"Um, just a little." Guppy says, going rather red and looking down at the bar, embarrassed.

"Then I've come to apologise on his behalf", Athelstan says frankly, "because - it seems right to do."

"It's hardly your fault." Guppy says quietly. "But thank you."

"No, but I know him. His temper burns bright but fast. And I know exactly why he was angry."

"He was angry because he was worried about you and because you wandering off was my fault."

"It wasn't", Athelstan says quickly. "You had to sleep - but it wasn't just worry. It was fear, I think, fear he'd lost me forever."

Guppy nods.

"Really, don't worry about it." he says. "I was upset at the time but you came back, so it's okay."

"I'll make him apologise, too", he says quietly. "When I see him again."

"Thank you." Guppy says, though he rather doubts Ragnar can be made to do anything.

The tablet makes a 'boing' noise.

He can when it's Athelstan, who knows him best.

"...that was a different noise."

"Yeah... I have no idea what happened to it." Guppy shakes his head.

"I wish I could help, but I'd likely only make it worse." He hesitates, and then asks, "Was that the last time you saw Ragnar?"

"Yeah, it was." Guppy says.

"I wish he'd come back", Athelstan says unhappily. "He never seems to when I'm here."

"He knows you're back though, right? I sent a rat for him when we found you."

"He was there when I was sick, and a little time after. But not since that bad fever. I hope someone's told him I've been back."

Athelstan misses him desperately.

Edited 2015-08-30 22:27 (UTC)

Guppy looks alarmed.

"Surely one of your group has seen him by now? He'd be hurting terribly if he still thinks you're missing."

"If he's been here, he'll have found Sinric. And I did get a note from him, but I can't be sure when he wrote it."

Guppy frowns worriedly.

"I would have searched for him had I known. I thought you would have found him straight away."

"If he'd been here", Athelstan says softly, "he would have been in this room or up in ours. But there are things happening at home that tear him away."

Guppy sighs. He wouldn't have put Ragnar through that on purpose, and he can only imagine how bad he must be feeling right now.

"I hope you're not blaming yourself", Athelstan says, looking at him. "It may be he's been here when neither of us has seen him, and Sinric has told him I've returned in better health."

"No, but I can only imagine what pain he must be feeling right now." Guppy says.

"He wrote that his boys are safe", Athelstan offers. "So he's had one worry taken from him."

"Maybe it would be unfair to tackle him about what he said to me, he sounds like he has enough going on."

"It was unfair that he said it. And when that terror is gone, he'll understand that."

Guppy nods.

The remarks on his cowardice stung as much as the accusation - because although he too felt bad about Athelstan, a part of him knows that wasn't entirely his fault.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Not completely", he admits, "but I'm getting there. I was persuaded to let the internal injuries be healed."

"Are you getting enough to eat and drink?"

"Certainly here, and I'm not starved when I'm there. They tend to treat me like a monk, but even a monk gets more than his brothers if he's infirm."

"Good... I guess that's something monks traditionally do well anyway."

"Most monasteries have an infirmary", he says with a nod. "Even on the island, we had a small one for the brothers, and sometimes the local people would come to us if they couldn't cure themselves."

Guppy nods.

"There's a lot to be said for good food and kind care."

"From time to time as well, we'd take in elderly men who had no family able to care for them - just as lay brothers, to do what work they could manage and live comfortably in their remaining years."

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