[Closed Thread] Malfunction

[blu-engineerin.livejournal.com]

Who: Sid and Cliff.
What: Fixing the water malfunction.
When: November 8th, 12:46 PM.
Where: Around the base. Starts in RED base, though.

A somewhat wet Cliff was going straight toward the RED Engineer's room, toolbox in hand and trying not to get anything important soaked. He had already been down to where the water malfunction was, and it was getting kind of flooded down there--high time he got Sid and went to fix it. Cliff looked back over his shoulder and frowned at the wet bootprints being left in his wake, making a mental note to come back and clean that up if it hadn't dried already when they were done.

Now that he was at Sid's door, he lightly rapped his knuckles on the wood. "Hey, Sid! That water thing's gotten a bit worse. 'S prolly a good idea if'n we go fix it." Wait. What if he was busy with something? Just barging in like this would be rude. "--uh, if y'ain't already occupied, that is."

...hopefully Sid was in there. Cliff hadn't bothered to check, and he didn't feel like being the idiot Engineer today.

Comments

[lugged-nut.livejournal.com]

Sid jumped, a little guiltily, and glanced at the door. Well, shoot. He hadn't been expecting visitors this time of day. "One sec!" he hollered back.

Shucking on the nearest pair of pants, he nearly tripped over the burgeoning pile of laundry, and emerged several seconds later, panting, but fully clothed.

"You say somethin' about a water leak?"

[blu-engineerin.livejournal.com]

Cliff blinked for a second when Sid appeared at the door. He couldn't help but wonder what he had been doing in the--hold on why was he panting. Oh god, was he really--no, that wouldn't--he should probably just stop thinking about that and answer already, shouldn't he? Cliff shook his head a little with a sheepish grin, rocking back onto his heels for a second.

"Uh, yeah. It's gettin' a little...flooded down there, an' we might wanna patch that up a'fore it gets much worse."

[lugged-nut.livejournal.com]

"Mmn." Sid never could fathom some people's passion for working after-hours. Besides that, the BLU was giving him some awfully funny looks. He raised an eyebrow, stepping out into the hall despite the heavy sense of reluctance. "I thought you was sayin' you were gonna take care 'a that?"

Oh, wait. Gloves. He might want them. Maybe a toolbag? "Shoot, one sec." He ducked back inside to rifle through his possessions.

[blu-engineerin.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, but...well, you'll see when we get down there. An' besides, I ain't th' best person t' be throwin' down there alone." Cliff watched him dig around, reminded of the time they fixed the AC unit. Somewhat of a deja-vu, in a way--Cliff couldn't help but smile at it. Sid looked a little reluctant, which only served to solidify his earlier theory (he had to interrupt, didn't he?). Still, at least the other Engineer seemed to be on board. He was probably going to need Sid down there anyhow.

[lugged-nut.livejournal.com]

Rewiring ACs had been one thing, Sid thought to himself dourly, but plumbing was quite another. Messier, for one, and not nearly as satisfying.

He untangled the handle of his toolbag from an overextended knitting project, grabbed the gloves off his dresser, and re-emerged a few moments later. "Y'turned the water off, right?" he asked curiously, noticing Cliff's sodden bootprints trailing down the hall for the first time.

[blu-engineerin.livejournal.com]

"For th' most part. Some'a it wasn't really wantin' t' go off." Cliff frowned a little, tucking his thumb into his belt. This wasn't going to be fun, but it was better to get it over with as soon as possible, rather than letting to go on any longer. He didn't deem it necessary to comment on the little bit of yarn that still clung to Sid's toolbag--he would probably notice it soon enough. If not, then he might have to point it out. "There's some pretty big stuff down there, though--we're gonna have t' be careful. If th' water's busted up, who knows what else could be."

[lugged-nut.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, guess so." Sid followed the trail of water with his eyes as they walked, wondering for the first time whether the basement stretched between the two bases. He hadn't bothered exploring down there since his first late-night venture to the fusebox.

Aw, well. They were doing this, might as well make the best of it. "How you been, anyhow? Heard you 'n that squarehead out there earlier."

[blu-engineerin.livejournal.com]

Cliff scratched the back of his neck with a sheepish grin, looking thoroughly embarrassed. "Fine, but--uh. Guess I don' have t' ask if you heard all that. That was jus'...yeah. That." He wasn't really sure what to say about it, anyway. "Hope we didn't bother you or anythin'?" It had been a spur of the moment thing, and he didn't particularly mean to be playing that loud. If Sid could hear it, that means half the base might've heard it too--oh geez.

[lugged-nut.livejournal.com]

"S'a sight better'n his solo performance th'other day, tell ya that much." Sid snorted good-naturedly as they rounded a corner past the intel room. Why on earth Cliff was looking so flustered about the whole thing was beyond him. For a bugle player, he sure was awful timid about some things. "What d'you make of the fella, anyhow?"

[blu-engineerin.livejournal.com]

"Mmmm, well. I ain't too fond'a him, but I bet you can guess why." Of course, that was probably general opinion--who wanted to be woken up that early in the morning with a bugle? "Haven't really had a lot of time t' talk to' him, though, so I'm still makin' judgments." Cliff shrugged. From what he'd heard from Dan, though, he should probably be a bit less pleasant towards the Soldier. "From what I heard outta you when he came in, I'd guess you might be a decent bit less inclined t' be neutral towards him."

[lugged-nut.livejournal.com]

"Huh? Oh, that." Sid shrugged. "It ain't nothin' personal, really. Heck of a way t'wake up, but 'm always like that, mornings." He rubbed one eye, chuckling. "Guess I'm kinda holdin' off on it, too. He seems awful gung-ho. Dumber'n a box of rocks, though, from what I seen s'far, 'n I ain't usually one t'talk on th'point."

[blu-engineerin.livejournal.com]

Mental note: don't wake Sid up. "Maybe he'll mellow out a bit after bein' here a while?" Wishful thinking in all likelihood, but yeah, maybe. "Though he might jus' get worse, dependin'." Cliff shrugged, taking a quick look around. They were almost there, and he could barely hear the dripping that had been driving him nuts the last time he was down there. Something seemed a bit different about it, but Cliff didn't take much stock in it--water was water, and that was a water malfunction that seriously needed to be fixed.

[hurtful-healing.livejournal.com]

The hand was a mess, pure and simple. There was very little he could do in this location so the first order of business was to get Cliff out before he lost more blood and went further into shock. Bleeding first, then moving him safely, he decided. Mauritz reached for his bag of tricks and got to work setting up a tourniquet while asking Sid to keep Cliff talking. He needed to concentrate on this for now, he couldn't afford to make a wrong move. If there was any chance of saving this hand, he wanted to be sure they snatched that opportunity.

Once it was safely tied, the next step was to support the hand so no further damage would be done to it before he could really see to fixing it. He had modify a splint he had in his bag for the job, namely by breaking it a little, but it would do once tied in place.

"How ah you feeling Cliff?" he asked, securing the splint and doing his best to keep his voice level.

sdfd all these notifs how did I miss them

[lugged-nut.livejournal.com]

Sid, relieved of his burden, stood somewhat helplessly nearby with the flashlight, massaging his forearms and watching the blood pooling around their ankles. He wanted to offer help -- or do something, anyway, except stand and stare -- but seeing the bloody mess of Cliff's hand and the faint greenish tinge of his face made him queasy and heartsick.

The heck did you even say with something like this, anyway? He'd seen some nasty electrical burns in his time, but no way was Cliff gonna get to keep that arm -- the bit Doc was wrapping up looked pale as a sheet of paper. Best just to hold the flashlight and let Doc get to work, he felt, biting his lip and focusing on a line of valves in his periphery. Then a thought occurred. "Y'need anything else, Doc? How're we gettin' him upstairs 'n all?"

I've missed it before, no worries

[hurtful-healing.livejournal.com]

"Ve ah going to heff to lift him. Ve'll need to do it quickly, I don't zink he's in any state to be valking. It might be a mattah of just slinging his arms ovah ouah shoulders." It was the easiest way since he didn't think either of them had the body strength to carry Cliff over their shoulder.

Once the splint was done, he carefully swung the arm over his shoulder, one of his own going around Cliff's back and he waited for Sid's help.

Re: I've missed it before, no worries

[lugged-nut.livejournal.com]

Sid tucked the flashlight into his pocket and ducked dutifully into place below Cliff's uninjured side, grunting as they swung Cliff upward with a splash and the other Engineer's weight pivoted onto him. At least the motion of moving gave him some feeling of purpose. "C'mon, buddy," he murmured through gritted teeth to Cliff, who had gone quiet except for a few whimpers of pain. "Jus' get you upstairs 'n you'll be fine. Doin' good. Hang in there."

The three of them lurched toward the door, sloshing through water at every step and all but dragging the other Engineer between them.

o hey a Falco, dropping the ball forever.

[blu-engineerin.livejournal.com]

Everything just kind of felt...weird. There was a cold lump in the pit of his stomach, and he was only faintly aware Maur working on the wreck of his hand. Cliff was about to respond to Mauritz when Sid hauled him up and added his support, and he made a small hiss of pain when they started moving. Cliff tried his best to help them along, sort of stumbling and cursing the way his feet didn't seem to be doing what he wanted them to. One thought kept nagging at his mind the entire time, and he frowned for a second before giving it voice.

"...man, E is gonna kill me."

Re: o hey a Falco, dropping the ball forever.

[hurtful-healing.livejournal.com]

"Don't vorry about zat right now, vorry about getting varm und dry." Mauritz grunted. Once they were on dry ground, he motioned to Sid to help him prop Cliff against the side of the wall.

"I - I zink I heff a stretcher in my office." he said, glancing over Cliff in his sodden and bloodied state. "If I get it, ve can use zat to carry him und it might make zis easier."

[lugged-nut.livejournal.com]

Sid felt bad then for chuckling a little at Cliff's observation. "Y'wan' me t'go for it?" he asked, glancing at the pale tissue protruding from between the bandages of the splint. "Might be better 'f you stay with 'im, case somethin' happens. I ain't -- y'know. Trained or nothin'."

[blu-engineerin.livejournal.com]

"...well, 's a l'gitimate reason t' be worried, anyhow." Cliff gave a shaky grin and covertly tucked his damaged hand out of Sid's view, leaning heavily on the wall. "I might be able t' get goin'? Think I'm a bit less...all over th' place." Not really, but maybe he could downplay it and perhaps keep the other two from worrying too much. It was worth a shot, anyway, and he could at least give it a try.

[lugged-nut.livejournal.com]

Sid snorted. "Buddy, I seen wet noodles with more snap to 'em than you. You jus' sit tight. Won't be but a minute."

With a nod to Mauritz, he loped up the stairs again and disappeared out of sight.

[hurtful-healing.livejournal.com]

"...Zat is za vorst idea I heff evah heard. You ah going to sit right zere und not move a muscle." Mauritz couldn't allow Cliff to just walk away, not with his hand so mangled and with such high blood loss. The Engineer could collapse and simply fail to wake up again. He wasn't going to take that chance. "I'm going to stay vith you, since Sid kindly offered to get zat stretcher." He turned to the RED and provided directions to the stretchers location in his office.

[blu-engineerin.livejournal.com]

So much for that? Maybe it was better if he just stayed where he was after all. "Jus' a thought." Cliff half-shrugged, watching Sid go. He was oddly tempted to poke at his other hand, just to see if he could feel anything from it, but decided against it--Mauritz didn't look so happy, and that was probably a stupid idea anyway. He'd just wait for Sid and the stretcher then, seeing as that was better than poking at the injury and making it worse or something like he might do. The glove really hadn't done anything to help, and he idly tugged at the still-slick edge of it with his other hand.

[lugged-nut.livejournal.com]

After some minutes, Sid reappeared, face pinched with worry and a large bodyboard tucked under his arm. "Sorry for th'holdup, Doc. This good?" He handed it over, scanning Cliff's slumped form anxiously. "I didn' know which thing y'wanted. Saw th'big stretcher, coudln' figure how t'collapse it."

[hurtful-healing.livejournal.com]

"It vill do foah zis. Set it down. Cliff, vould you kindlylie still vhen you ah on it?" The straps were designed to make sure he didn't fall but he didn't want to take any chances. If Cliff fell then that hand would be damaged even further and as it was Maur was dreading to think what would have to be done to save Cliff's life.