If I fall back down...

[recognize_an_opportunity]

Who: Ned & Meyer
What: A piemaker and a gangster walk into a... no, wait, a piemaker is trapped underneath some fallen things, and a gangster has to help get him to safety.
When: Day 110 (post earthquake)
Where: The library.

The collapsed wall in the house that he and Charlie shared had been unfortunate. Maybe "unfortunate" was putting it mildly. A "real big goddamned pain in the ass" would have been more accurate, but at least the earthquake was over. He'd waited some time before venturing out of the house, making sure that there wouldn't be any aftershocks, monitoring the network to see what the general response had been, but there was only so long he could sit still and do nothing, and there was a wall that needed immediate repairs.

Neither he nor Charlie exactly had experience fixing buildings. Sure, Meyer worked on cars from time to time, but, as Charlie had pointed out, cars weren't made of wood, and they didn't require the same skills that fixing a wall did. That means there's only one thing to do: research. And while the town might be lacking in most amenities, it has a library. Surely he'll find a home repair guide there.

When he enters the library, he realizes immediately that it's not just their house that had been compromised in the earthquake. The library had taken less damage, but things have fallen off the shelves and are scattered on the floor, and as he rounds the corner towards the back of the library, he realizes that some of the shelves themselves have fallen over, too. He's about to abandon his mission and figure out a different way to do this when he sees something that gives him pause. 

There's definitely a hand sticking out from under one of the collapsed shelves. And that must mean there's someone trapped underneath the shelf. He's no hero, but there's no way he's going to walk out of the library and leave someone there trapped underneath a bookshelf. He approaches cautiously, hoping like hell that whoever's trapped isn't unconscious or dead.

"Hello?"

Comments

[recognize_an_opportunity]

He chuckles quietly at Ned's comment. Height jokes rarely bother him -- he'd have to be unbearably thin-skinned for them to make much difference in his self-esteem, since he's been hearing them ever since he'd been a child. Even his own younger brother is taller than he is. The quiet laugh and the continued support as he pushes open the door to the library and leads Ned outside is indication enough that he certainly doesn't take the joke poorly.

"He's fine," he says, noting and appreciating Ned's concern. "He got woken up by it. Twisted his ankle trying to get up off the floor, but it's not bad. At this point, he's mostly sulking."

That's perhaps not the most charitable way to put it, and he doubts Charlie would appreciate it, but it's true enough. Part of the reason he'd gone in search of a home repair book and left Charlie back home was to allow him to sulk and get the irritation out before they began fixing the wall. Handing Charlie a hammer in this state would be a recipe for disaster.

"Is Daneel at home?" he asks, remembering suddenly that there're people who care about Ned quite a bit, and might be alarmed if he were hurt or missing. "He'll want to know you're all right."

SOB I'M SORRY THIS TOOK ME SO LONG

[nedofpies]

It might not be a charitable bit of phrasing, but Ned knows that Charlie is capable of a good sulk when he sets his mind to it. A twisted ankle isn't exactly nothing, but it's better than what Ned had imagined. It starts to sink in then, just how badly he himself might have gotten hurt, as they continue to move and as the numbness of shock starts to fade. The pain is gradually increasing, but he worries his bottom lip between his teeth, white in the face, and does his best not to show it.

His head really is killing him, though. It's hard to make Meyer's words fit to a particular meaning, to form his own response. "It's not good for him," he says, realizes he abridged several steps of logic, tries again. "Daneel. It's hard for him to see injured humans."

Re: OH MY GOD HOW DARE YOU

[recognize_an_opportunity]

"Then maybe we'd better get you to a doctor, first, and you can see Daneel after that."

That's right; he remembers something about Daneel's need to protect humans, to not see them be harmed in any way. The last thing he wants to do is bring a very obviously injured Ned back to the house and force Daneel to deal with it. It will be better for everyone if Ned is considerably less dazed and injured before he returns home.

"They'll give you something for the pain," he reassures Ned, because although Ned is attempting to hide how much he hurts, there's no way he could have been pinned beneath a bookcase and avoided getting injured. It could have been much, much worse, admittedly, but this is bad enough as it is.