His Very Own Space Episode

[ziedrich_bearer]

WHO: Gladiolus Amicitia, Open
WHERE: Spooky Planet Surface, Back on Ships
WHAT: A Crash Landing, Attacking Allies, Tired and Healing
WHEN: May Adventure
WARNINGS: CW: Violence (Gladio against whoever), Crash Injuries (Broken Leg)

I. This Was Not The Intended Roadtrip | Shuttle Crash

He did the best he could. But sometimes fate is just against you, and sometimes crashes happen. And today? Today was one of those days. He's got enough time to shout for people to brace and then there's all the motion.

It takes a minute or two for him to come back aware after everything stops. There's pain, a lot of pain. But he can't think about himself right now. Gladio groans and starts to move his leg. And then curses.

"Everyone alright?" he shouts. "And can someone get out the split kit? I think my leg's sort of fucked."

Yeah, that's the life he is going to deal with. Because he's got to focus on getting his people back to safety.

II. When Paranoia Comes | A Paranoia Storm

There's nothing fun about trekking over long distances with a broken leg. Using his sword as a crutch was not the most pleasant thing, you know? But hey, he was making it. Going forward, listening to the rumbling roll of thunder behind them, it was no good thing to hear.

And honestly, he might just tell them to go on without him, to speed on. But the thing was...

He didn't want left behind. But they would. They were going to, weren't they?

Gladio shakes his head, tries to tell himself it's not true. That they wouldn't. Even if they should.

They should. They will. They'll take your gear and abandon you. Which is why you need to do it first. TO survive. To get back to Noctis.

It's building up in him. And he doesn't know how to keep it out.

III. Dealing With A Broken Leg | Glitter Food

The cast was, at least, a dark blue in shade. Where the doctor had managed that he didn't know. But he was definitely left limping and wearing a cast. And yeah, there are new cuts on his arms too, and bruises. He looks tired and worn out, and like he might fall over.

Like pure stubbornness is keeping him on his feet.

Though right now he's glaring at the food dispensers, like he isn't quite sure how to manage it and get to a table. Or maybe it's later when he's in the Deep End, trying to juggle his crutches and a chair at a table to sit without knocking over his drink. And of course there is by his tent, where he's clearly having issues getting down onto a sleeping bag. Talk about a big, frustrated guy.

Comments

1.

[thelastechidna]

And Knuckles is swiftly there, holding said kit.

"Is this really all we've got to take care of broken legs?!" he exclaims.

He kneels down to examine the leg.

[ziedrich_bearer]

"Didn't expect that we'd be hitting so rough. Never had this much trouble with a shuttle," Gladio grits out in pain. He'll keep going, though, For the purpose of all of the others.

"Don't even know what hit us."

[thelastechidna]

Knuckles checks out the break and starts splinting it.

"You never know what's going to happen in space," he says grimly. "All kinds of unexpected trouble can happen."

[ziedrich_bearer]

"Yeah, well, we weren't supposed to be in space long. And never had this trouble with them."

And it wasn't usually him that was the healer of his group, so this was left field. He had been too busy checking other supplies and he'd just trusted these ones would go right.

"Dammit."

[thelastechidna]

"Yeah, that's how it always goes," Knuckles said in disgust. "Eventually something big goes wrong."

He wasn't much for the comforting type. But at least he seemed to be knowledgeable about splinting broken legs. Soon he leaned back.

"That's the best I can do for now."

[ziedrich_bearer]

Yeah, that's... not a bad point. Though he wasn't the one that normally patched this shit up.

His kingdom (actually not really) for Ignis and Noctis here. And Prompto. So many people he misses.

"Thanks," he grunts when the guy is done. Only then does he try and push to his feet. "Come on, let's check on the breathers. Important those."

[thelastechidna]

Knuckles misses people too. Although he doesn't know if he'd want Sonic here in this mess. It's already stressful enough without Sonic's laid-back attitude too.

"Right." He nods and reaches to try to help support Gladio if needed, which probably looks almost comical since he's three feet.

[ziedrich_bearer]

It is comical, given how tall Gladio is. But it's still appreciated.

"Right. We need to figure out what we're doing from here."

[thelastechidna]

“First thing is seeing if anyone else is hurt,” Knuckles says. “Then how bad off the ship is. And where we landed.”

II

[faceguy]

No, trekking over a barren landscape isn't fun, even without a cast. Though Leo's lucky that his shell and mutant biology mostly protected him from any serious injuries during the crash. He might just have a slight, itty bitty concussion. But that's fine! Pfft, he's been hit in the head plenty and he's still kickin'!

Anyway, he's hanging back a bit. Not because of the concussion, or anything, he just thinks it's not cool to walk up front. That's how he notices Gladio, moving slow on his crutch.

"Doin' okay, big guy?" he asks, slowing down a bit more to talk to him. His voice maybe a little quieter than usual. Every boom of thunder makes his head feel like it's splitting, he doesn't need to add his own voice to it.

Re: II

[ziedrich_bearer]

That's not what Gladio hears when Leo slows down.

You're just slowing us down.

Gladio snarls.

"I'm not getting left behind," he hisses.

[faceguy]

The reaction is strong, and Leo actually misses a step in surprise. Gladio's always been nice to him, so the sudden vitriol is a little scary.

"No one said anything about leaving you behind," he says, tone placating, even as he edges away. Augh, his head hurts...

[ziedrich_bearer]

Who told you we're leaving you behind? he hears, the voice with it sounding angry that someone betrayed a secret.

And so Gladio does the only logical thing.

He summons his sword to swing at the turtle.

[faceguy]

Whoa-

Leo leaps away just in time to avoid that strike; it helps that Gladio is injured, and not moving with the speed and strength Leo knows he can. Immediately, Leo has his own swords out, gripping them tight in his hands as he squares off against Gladio.

His head is throbbing, and rationality slips. Is Gladio betraying them? It certainly seems that way; why else would he attack Leo so suddenly?

He's as bad as those ghost guys, and Leo isn't making that same mistake again. He's not letting this guy anywhere near his brother. And unlike Stu and Billy, Gladio isn't some fragile human on an ego trip. Leo knows he can fight. And so, Leo feels allowed to fight back.

"Okay, fine," he hisses, swords crossed in front of him. "Come and get me then!"

[ziedrich_bearer]

This is a mistake. A mistake for them both. But he can't really stop himself. Not when he's certain that the guy is out to get him. So he lashes out. This time he strikes with the full force he can manage.

Which was, of course, far lower than it would normally have been given the broken leg that was stabilized before.

[faceguy]

Leo dances out of range of the blow, then immediately spins into a counter attack. Is it poor form to take advantage of an opponent's injury? Maybe, but this isn't sparring anymore, this is serious life or death stuff.

At least, to Leo's addled head it is.

So he lashes out to hit Gladio's leg cast directly, with the blunt edge of his sword blade.

[ziedrich_bearer]

The blow is more than Gladio expected or has had to deal with in the past. So of course he tries to deflect it because of the simple fact it's a blow aimed for his leg. But it gets through.

And he roars in pain. Well, maybe not that. After all, he's already winded from the atmosphere here. But he's definitely falling to the side. Only even still standing because he slams his blade into the ground to hold himself up.

III

[tempredmental]

Keith spotted Gladio with the conundrum of food and crutches. He honestly smirked just a little before making his way over. Granted, he wasn't exactly limp free himself right now, but he could walk unassisted.

"Well, aren't we a pair," he said with some snark. He held out a hand to grab Gladio's food for him. "Need an extra hand?"

Re: III

[ziedrich_bearer]

Yeah yeah, it was a reversal of a few months ago. Gladio isn't going to be annoyed by that at all.

"Yeah. Feel like turnabout is fair play in this case."

[tempredmental]

Keith huffed a small laugh.

"Consider it repaying a favor," he said easily, taking what Gladio had. He tilted his head, indicating for the other man to pick a seat. He'd follow.

[ziedrich_bearer]

Yeah, Gladio chuckles. That's so very true. A favor repaid.

So like Keith did months back, Gladio hobbles over to a table, the nearest in this case, and settles down at it.

"Thanks, man."

[tempredmental]

Keith wasn't currently without his own issues thanks to Stu and Billy's second ambush (with the fire having been the first for Keith personally), but he was at least more mobile this time... and definitely more mobile than Gladio. He still had use of his hands to carry things. He was recovering with his own limp at the moment, but managed two trays easily enough to bring them over and put them on the table.

Closest table to the food machines was fine by him, too.

"Sure thing," he said. "How are you holding up?" He noticed the additional cuts and bruises. The ones on Keith's face from his fight with Stu were mostly healed, but the shuttle crash hadn't exactly helped his concussion. It had been a rough time on the planet, even without the effects of the atmosphere. Keith had managed to avoid the worst of it by using his Paladin armor, but even that needed time to recharge or he would have used up all the air reserves. As a result, he hadn't been wearing the helmet with the facemask sealed closed the whole time, only when he needed the additional air.

[ziedrich_bearer]

"Annoyed that I crashed a shuttle, even if it wasn't all my fault. The repairs are going to be annoying," Gladio says with a sigh.

Even if it wasn't his fault. Of course it wasn't his fault. But it was still a pain to consider all of this.

[tempredmental]

Keith looked a bit sympathetic.

"Yeah. Repairs suck," he said. "But we all made it through." Keith hadn't been cleared for flying yet because of the concussion, but, even if he'd been okay enough to do it himself, the storm would have caught him off guard. He was good, but...

"Heck, even I've crashed a few times, and I'm experienced at this stuff." Granted, his first crash was was nosediving the Red Lion into soft sand because Lance didn't know how not to rile up Keith's competitive side, and Keith didn't know how to resist it... and Coran had activated the blind training visors in an attempt to get them all to connect deeper with their Lions. And the second? Well, Red had been disabled in a fight and then tossed out of a wormhole into an uncontrolled decent on a strange planet.

"But, really... like you said, it wasn't your fault. That storm was rough." Yeah, Keith had issues with controlling his urge to backseat drive sometimes, but he'd managed to keep himself under control for the trip.

[ziedrich_bearer]

"Yeah, I never did things more complex than cars before coming here. And the ships are more graceful than expected otu in space."

Really, he was depending on Keith if things got complicated in space flight. The guy was better at the three dimensional thinking that was required.

"Rough, and what came after was rough too. I almost killed Leo. And vice versa."