"Fucking fucker! Fucking again? What the fuck was he doing this time? What moron left him alone. We have a fucking buddy fucking system, why the fuck wasn't another fucking idiot there with him? What the fuck happened? Did he break some fucking shit again? I swear to fucking god he cannot afford to have his pay docked again."
"He was trying to save a cat." Angel said, reaching up to scratch said cat.
"Bet the fucking thing didn't even need to be fucking rescued, did it?!"
"Ah, probably not." Angel grinned. Carl let out a sound that's disturbingly close to something dying and Eddie immediately took his pulse again.
"Of fucking course!"
"Medic wants him to go to med bay for observation. Can you come grab him?"
Eddie lifted Carl's injured ankle and set it on top of his kit, then carefully worked the boot off. Generally, it was best to wait until you were already in the med bay or wherever you were going to rest, but with help on the way, it didn't hurt to take a look now.
"Where the fuck is he?"
"Hydroponics."
Eddie had no doubt another wave of cursing occurred after the transmission ends. Carl's ankle was swollen, red and already starting to turn purple, but the capillary refill test was good, and he flexed his toes when Eddie told him too. "Looks like it's just sprained."
"You just had to call him." Carl muttered.
Angel sighed and Eddie got the impression they'd had this conversation before. "He cares about you. We all do, or we wouldn't give you such shit when you don't listen to us and get hurt." Angel glanced at Eddie for support.
"He's right." Eddie put his tools back and opened his tablet, pulling the personnel database. "I yell when people get hurt doing exactly what I told them not to. What's your last name?"
Carl sulked. "Stuttbaker."
Eddie found him in the database and added a new medical chart.
"Cheer up, Carl. Nemo loves to fuss over you."
Carl turned red as a tomato and oh, that makes sense with all the cussing. Eddie could get pretty vicious when someone he cares about is hurt. "Don't need him fussin'."
He sounds like a toddler, but he still perks up when the doors slid open with their signature hiss and a man with a stock of terrifying red hair rushed in. He was half in uniform, sweaty, and covered in streaks of grease. His uniform top was tied around his waist and his arms and chest were bursting out of a white tank top streaked with grease and sweat.
Angel's eyes narrowed at the sight of him. "There a problem, Nemo? That's a whole lotta grease that's not in a container or a piece of equipment."
Nemo, intent on Carl, didn't even break stride as strode past Angel and Eddie and kneeled next to Carl. "You a mechanic now, boss?"
"No."
"Then everything's good."
Angel didn't look convinced, and Eddie shared the sentiment. Nemo, who looked like he could bench press a horse, gently poked at Carl's colorful ankle. "How the hell did you manage to do this in a fucking tree?"
Carl shrugged. "The cat was stuck."
"Cats can save themselves. They only go up in trees to make humans look stupid."
Which was, quite possibly, the most accurate statement of a fact about a cat that Eddie had ever heard, and it made Carl laugh. Though he stopped immediately with another wince. "Ow."
"You're going to have a headache for a while, I'll get you a pain reliever in the med bay." Eddie turned to Nemo. "Can you help him up?"
Nemo nodded and then, instead of helping Carl up, he just picked him up like he was light as a pillow.
"Or that works."
Angel beamed. "Great." He pulled the cat off his shoulders and set it in Eddie's arms. "You take her." He turned to Nemo with narrowed eyes. "While I go down to maintenance and see what's going on."
"I told you-"
"I don't believe you!" Angel waved a hand at all the grease all over Nemo. "That's like an entire engine's worth of grease." He spun back to Eddie, who froze in the middle of putting the cat down. "Make sure they go to medical."
Eddie watched him run out and turned to Nemo and Carl. "How bad is it?"
Nemo shrugged and headed to the door. "It's fine. It'll be hours before it explodes." He headed for the doors, leaving a horrified Eddie staring at his back.
"Explodes? Hey, wait! What's going to explode?"
~ tbc