After Boots

Late night, probably somewhere around midnight, finds the recovery room lights low. Dolan had been very clear and open with Zeke about his intentions to seek out Telamon in the dream realm that night, and thus the decision was made to put his left shoulder in the immobilizer out of an abundance of caution.

That was several hours ago, that Dolan went to sleep.

Without warning, he snaps awake, blinks, flexes his right hand, and his lips purse with just a little disappointment. "Bet it's possible," he tells no one in particular, rubbing at the side of his neck with his unbound hand. "Hope Tel didn't bring back that disaster with him." He pulls the hand away, examines it, then drops it and turns his head back to the wall.

Zeke snaps himself to alertness as Dolan wakes, his green eyes nictating as he comes to the quick realization that Dolan is whole. He sniffs the air just to be certain. No blood-smell. No hurt-smell. Nothing else to indicate that there might be something amiss. "Peasssce." He offers quietly. "Isss all well?" It never hurts to ask just in case other senses deceive.

Andelena looks like she's halfway to nodding off again over a section of a holy text that might as well be the most well-worn part of the spine from how often Andie's been flipping through the pages--and then Dolan comes to. So does she, her steel-grey eyes looking far more lucid, and she gives a soft yawn before she looks over at Dolan. "Hey baby," she says softly with a small smile. "You doing okay?"

The Sunguard puts the book down and walks over to the bed. "Slipped back in an hour ago. How were the dreams?"

"Fine. Thanks. " Dolan yawns hugely in response to Andelena's quiet one. "It worked," he tells them both, chuckling and turning his head back up to face the ceiling. "Andie, the next time you see Tel, tell him I said to ask whether he was able to manifest the boots? We were trying to dream a pair of boots and see if we can bring them into reality." He says this so incredibly matter of factly.

"It is easier to do when it's multiple people doing it together, baby. We had a couple of touch-and-go moments, but I was able to banish his bad stuff, and he was able to help me banish mine. Anything bad?" he asks suddenly, tilting his head so that both of them can see the bite scar on the side of his neck. It's just a scar, nothing to see here.

The blue-scale leans in to look, just to be sure that his eyes and nose are telling him the same thing. "No-thing bad. No sssign that you were dreaming at all." Zeke looks at Dolan astutely however, his eyes slightly narrow. "Were you bleeding in the dream?"

Andelena... blinks, just a couple of times. "Boots? Telamon? You know, if I didn't know the totems were involved, I'd ask what the hell kind of dream you were having and why Telamon was there. If you're trying to bring something out of the dream, though, something totally and utterly mundane--like boots--makes sense."

She looks down at Dolan. "No, nothing bad. Just a handsome man, but nothing bad about that." She grins from ear to ear, back to her old Andie spirit as she leans down and affectionately puts her hand into Dolan's hair. "I do need to meet back up with Telamon soon--said he was gonna get me in at a local tailor. He and I figured out an outfit for me to wear to Auranar and Verna's wedding. Your jaw's gonna drop when you see me in it, babe."

GAME: Dolan rolls bluff: (17)+3: 20

Dolan returns Andelena's grin, but he turns his attention to Zeke first. "Yeah. I was explaining to him about stuff manifesting from the dream back into reality, and it started bleeding on me. Probably because that's how I know that." He rubs at it again, as one ridding themselves of a sensation. "Tel and I together got it to stop, so working together definitely increases the effect."

He grins up at her at the hand in his air, and starts to sit up, slowly and carefully. Without the use of his left side, this is nearly entirely a matter of core strength. "I can't wait to see it, baby," his eyes sparkling. "Hopefully I'll get to talk to him soon."

Zeke nods. He had known that this business was dangerous, but Dolan was so cavalier about it. It was good that the man had a way to be useful, but Zeke could not help but feel a tingle of worry spread down his spine. "Thisss one isss glad that you are learning more about thesse thingsss and how they work." He hums to himself thoughtfully, his eyes skittering to the tea pots beside the table as the discussion changes to encompass wedding plans.

"He told me if I need him for any plans, just to say the word," Andelena says with a small smile. "You're not gonna believe it--I'm gonna wear a /dress/, but not the kind of dress Mother would have tried to make me squeeze into. It's bold as hell."

She smiles widely as she watches him sit up in bed. "And look at you go. How's the shoulder? Stiff? Need me to massage it?" She inspects it, just in case. "I'm glad the dreaming is working out again, baby."

"Yeah," Dolan answers Zeke first, once he is fully sitting. "Just - aching. Can you get me out of this thing?" His left hand wriggles in a way that clearly means the ring holding his left arm to his body. "I - I was hoping maybe I could use it to see some stuff -" he sighs. "That hasn't really worked out so far. My control's just not good enough," he laments. "It's getting better, and I can get out of the nightmares now. I guess I ought to work on making them stop."

He's finally sitting up fully in bed, and rubs at his face. "Don't know if you want me to still sleep in it."

"Is it something I'll need to take you out of afterwards?" he asks archly, of the dress.

Zeke looks at Andelena. She's taking up much of the space near Dolan, and Zeke doesn't want to crowd the man. He motions for her to see to the removal of the shoulder brace. "You can take it off if you do not intend any more dreaming to-night. It isss a precaution in cassse the dreamsss do not go well after all. No longer a necessity. Your arm isss already much sstronger." He sounds pleased with Dolan's progress.

"Provided the tailor doesn't fuck it up and I end up wearing a burlap sack, you'll want to," Andelena replies with a grin to Dolan's last question as she goes and removes the restraint from his shoulder. She seems more eager to take on the tasks that involve touching Dolan now, and she even leans in for a peck on the lips. "You hear that? Keep that up and we /will/ be headed home together in the coming weeks."

Once he is freed, Dolan carefully flexes the shoulder, and lies back down, letting her set the contraption aside with a grin and a return peck on the lips. "That's the plan. Just don't want to rush it. I don't ever want to have to do this again. One of the librarians down the hall is taking me through a few longsword drills. I remember how, but it's been a while, and it'll be a while before I can pick up the greatsword again."

Although Zeke does not interfere with Andelena's care, he does watch with sharp eyes. It is no insult to her abilities, but rather a mark of his own care as a healer. He would expect no less from her were she watching him perform the same actions after all.

Andelena smiles so fondly as she looks down at Dolan. "I'm glad, babe," she says. "You should get some more sleep if you can--I'll be here for the rest of the night, so I won't be far from you at all."

She gestures over to the book in the corner. "It's just me, Sunguard Zeke, and the wedding texts. Nobody else in the room. Although..." She peers at Zeke. "You're probably needing a break soon, yeah?"

The mobile half of Dolan's face is creased with warm affection as he looks back up at Andelena. "Thanks, baby. Who knows. Maybe I'll find a way to make that wedding. Don't tell anybody, though." He yawns again, and seems to be preparing to do exactly as bid. "Should read those texts myself," he murmurs sleepily.

Zeke nods once. "Sssa. Do not worry Dolan with it. Let him ressst." He shifts his tail a little bit and watches the man fall to sleep. Once the man has finally drifted off he will go to find his own room and his own bit of sleep. Leaving Andelena alone for a while with the man she loves and plans to marry.

-End