Oh mai... This is new...(2)

Duel put his hand on Marie's harm and teleported her to his room. "Don't open just yet." he said and he left for a little moment to get his special surprise, he hoped this would go well and that Marie wouldn't freak out in a bad way. His tail flicked a little nervously. He kneeled down so he was now about the same height as Marie, he pulled out a little box and opened it. Inside was a dark red ruby surrounded by black diamonds on a silver band. "Ok...o-open." he said.

(Oh mai goodness, lots of drama today... *faints*)

Scotty just sat there, trying to figure out what the heck to say. He didn't even know what to think, though, nevermind speak aloud! Stressing out more than he had ever been stressed, the sheep suddenly smacked himself in the head with both hands, holding his head as though it was going to explode. He was seriously stumped, and overwhelmed, and angry with himself for just sitting there silently... His fingers tightened into fists, clutching at his curly, woolly hair as he struggled to say something, opening his mouth and then shutting it again without anything coming out.

---

"What I'm going to do first is shut the nerves off in your hand, okay? It'll let the machinery inside calm down, so I don't shock you or myself when I start to remove it," EJ said, approaching Nick and grasping his bionic hand carefully. He peeled open a panel on it by removing a few screws, showing him the inside, "Once I cut that wire, the hand will go dead-- your nervous system will no longer be connected to it. I'll have to let you sit for a few minutes before I can start, and in that time, Ruth will give you the anesthetic to knock you out."

Ruth had the anesthetic at hand, ready to start giving it to him. She smiled a bit at the fox, "You'll be out and won't feel a thing, now that we have access to anesthetic. Are you ready to start?" She glanced between him and EJ.

---

(Ruth: WTF ARE YOU DOING, DUEL?! *panicking*

Marie: O.O ......)

The mouse stood there patiently while Duel got ready, then opened her eyes when he said-- at first she was a little confused. They were in his room, and he was kneeling down to her level, "What are you...?" Then she looked down at what he held in his hands, falling silent and very still.

Stone was getting worried now.... Scotty seemed really upset, especially since the sheep was holding his head like that as if he was having a really bad headache. The sheep's jaw was clenching, as if trying to speak, but no words came out, "S-Scotty...?" The hybrid managed to break the awkward silence, and slowly approached the Scotsman, "Are....are you okay...?"

---

Nick watched as EJ took his hand and unscrewed part of the outer shell. It felt a little weird, but it wouldn't for long...finally. The fox wasn't smart when it came to this kind of stuff, and he only nodded a little, not bothering to ask anything else because he probably wouldn't understand, and he trusted the cat. Nick had also seen EJ's other prosthetics, like Roy's wing, Jayden's hand (even though it wasn't made by EJ), and a few others. He looked up when Ruth spoke, and nodded a little hesitantly, "I'm ready..." There was no turning back now.

Shaking his head, Scotty groaned, "No, I'm an ediot..." He was angry with himself for being so utterly helpless right now, unable to even think straight. How did he go so long without noticing Stone was gay, or had feelings for him? Now here he was, put on the spot, and he couldn't even think of a single thing to say to him.

---

Ruth nodded, "Alright. Please lean back, and I'll start giving you the anesthetic." She prepared the needle, while Quinn went to get an oxygen mask.

While the women prepared for the actual surgery, EJ pulled out his wire cutters and carefully snipped a few wires in Nick's hand, causing the artificial limb to go dead-- it was completely numb, and went limp, dangling there like the piece of junk it was. Gently, EJ laid Nick's arm across a little table he had pulled over, and strapped it down. He understood how this could be scary, and looked up to meet Nick's eyes while Quinn and Ruth poked the anesthetic IV into his arm and slipped the oxygen mask over his face, "Everything is going to be alright, Nick... I promise I'm going to take care of you. We're gonna get this awful thing off, and I'm gonna give you a new hand that'll put mother nature's creations to shame. And I'll be here when you wake up, to prove it to you."

Her motherly instincts kicking in, Quinn grasped Nick's real hand, gently squeezing his fingers to reassure him. She used her other hand to smooth his hair, hoping the anesthetic would take effect quickly.

(I will sadly have to poof again today. I'm going to get a haircut 030)

"I-I've been thinking about doing this for a little while now, but you seemed a bit stressed...um...M-Marie will you marry me?" Duel asked. He was very nervous about doing this in the first place, he thought Marie would faint or run off or reject it and him as well or never want to see him again or just break down in general.

Stone's ears angled back when Scotty said that, "Scotty, you aren't....It's okay....I get it." As much as it hurt, and as much as it could possibly shake their friendship to the core, Stone could adapt. Somehow. Shit.... 


---

Leaning back against the bed more, the paper crinkled and bunched up a little, but it wouldn't do much. The fox's eyes watched every move from the three others as he tried to relax. Unlike Roy, or a few others, he wasn't afraid of needles, so that wasn't much of a problem. His breath fogged up the oxygen mask as he breathed, but he pulled a bit of a face when EJ cut the power to his hand, and the numbness was uncomfortable and a bit painful. However, the fact that EJ was strapping down Nick's hand unnerved him a little, but he forced himself to look away. Just think of how Mum and Dad would be so happy that it's fixed... it'll be fine... calm down.... He also pulled a face when the IV was put into his arm after finding a blood vessel, and he already started to feel woozy, and almost didn't catch what EJ said. Groggily, as the anesthetic was already working, Nick looked over to Quinn, and couldn't really squeeze her hand back because he was already feeling weak. Slowly, but surely, Nick fell unconscious, and fell into the dark. medicine enduced abyss, his mind going completely blank.

(Oooh, okay. o7o Make your hair fabulousssss! XD)

Stunned, Marie just stood there, staring at him. She had honestly never expected this-- the two had been together for a few months, but... It was still just a huge shock. The mouse lifted one hand to her head, feeling a little dizzy, and her knees buckled; without even realizing it, she fell towards the floor, unable to help but faint a little.

---

Realizing that Stone was taking this the wrong way, Scotty lifted his head, "No, no, et's not that! Don't think I'm rejecting you!" Feeling a little panicked, he held his hands up, his ears angled back, "I-I'm just, w-well..." Confused? Overwhelmed? Freaking out? There wasn't really a word for it.

---

Quinn rested a hand over Nick's forehead after he was out, hesitating for a moment, "Are you sure you can do this...?" The whispered question was addressed to EJ, though she didn't dare look up at him for fear of panicking at the sight of his youthful, wide-eyed face... he was still a child to her, and it was hard for her to accept that he was about to do this.

The cat, on the other hand, had a resolute expression on his face, not an ounce of fear anywhere to be seen. Sure, he was feeling nervous, but he wasn't going to show it. "I can do this, Quinn..." He took a deep breath and prepared his tools, starting to dissect the poorly built prosthetic so he could remove it piece by piece...

How long the three were in there, working over Nick, they weren't sure. It had to have been a few hours, with the amount of intricate work needed to remove the prosthetic without causing damage, and then cleaning and sealing the wound that remained. The fake hand was put into a sealed box to be discarded, unless Nick decided to keep it for some reason-- Ruth put the box in a little storage room, so she knew where it was, while Quinn and EJ moved Nick from the operation room to a more comfortable, homey space, so he could recover in peace. The one-handed fox had some gauze wrapped around the stump of his wrist, and an IV with pain medication and fluids; he still had a tube in his nose for oxygen, rather than the whole mask.

Feeling oddly tired, EJ slumped into a chair next to Nick's bed, his limbs suddenly a little weak. Perhaps he had been more nervous than he thought... With all that tension leaving in a rush, he was suddenly left with jelly legs. Yeah, he had seen the inside of a guy's arm. He'd poked at muscle, nerves, and wires, having to stop every five minutes to wipe blood off his hands so he wouldn't drop his tools. It made him feel a little sick, thinking back, and he was glad it was over.

Quinn smoothed a yellow quilt over Nick's still, sleeping form, but she glanced up at the boy she had raised since he was eight years old, "You should go find Rachel and her parents... they were very concerned when they heard you would be doing the procedure... I just hope they didn't tell Roy..."

Rachel and her parents were worried... and Roy would probably be pissed if he found out the healers let EJ do that. He'd been almost unbearably protective lately, probably from having to take care of the cat for a year while the Barnabys were missing... who knew what the boys went through together in that time? Quinn had very little idea, and wished she knew every little detail of EJ's life while she was absent.

(Long post is long. XD)

"Woah!" Duel said and caught her, he didn't drop the ring it was in his hand the box was just closed. He teleported Marie to her room and he laid her down on her bed, if she was doing to pass out it might as well be on someplace soft. Without thinking about it Duel placed the little box on her side table and teleported away.

(Shiloh. She is my avvie now. o7o)

Marie was already recovering by the time Duel vanished... She wound up just sitting there on her bed, wide-eyed and confused with that ring sitting there on her table, as though glaring at her. The mouse rubbed at her face, wondering if this was all just some dream, but the ring was still there when she looked over at the table, He... he just... proposed...?

Duel was a bit heartbroken. He honestly thought something like this would happen, he had almost forgotten where he even went until he saw that he was at his old home. Everything was so high and huge in his home that he himself felt small. He went into his mothers room, he didn't know why he even teleported here in the first place or why he would even go into his mothers room. He looked around a little bit and sighed. "...I'm so stupid..." he said to himself. He felt even sadder by being at his home since he saw a cracked picture of himself when he was little, his parents weren't in the picture. It was only little Duel looking distant and distracted. He teleported back to his room at the Safekeep and sat on his bed, his bed was short for him and he didn't care. He sniffed a little bit and was kind of preparing himself for rejection from Marie if she even wanted to be near him at all.

(It's all good. o3o" I had to go and eat, anyway. :p)

Feeling a bit relieved by that, Stone relaxed a little, although he had no idea what the sheep actually meant, "Okay.. but, what do you mean...? I understand it was a little sudden...." The hybrid rubbed at his arm a little again, feeling awkward and out of place again. 

---

Somewhere in Nick's mind, he was just there. It was nice and quiet, and he felt nothing. However, he could faintly hear voices, not that he understood what they were saying at all. He didn't think they were all that important, so he didn't bother to try and understand, anyway. The fox didn't think of the surgery once during the time he was out, if you count him 'thinking' at all. Time was a blur, even to him, but it wasn't long before he was starting to come too. It wasn't quick, and was very gradual, but he didn't dare move, as it felt like all his limbs were weighed down my thousands of pounds. However, somehow, he felt more at peace than he had been before. He just focused on something that didn't feel right-- it wasn't pain, but it was something that really wasn't there. 

---

Saying that the Brodeur family, minus Roy, was concerned about EJ performing the surgery, was an understatement. There was a tension between them that was heavy set and pressed down on them, sucking the life out of the three of them. They didn't want to tell Roy at all, but they knew, eventually, he would hear it. Inwardly, the three of them were relieved that Roy was sick and with Laura, so he didn't have to know what was going on. 

Rachel was probably taking this the hardest. She met Nick herself, and concluded he was quite nice and a little taller than her, but his hand freaked her out. It was totally different from Jayden's, and it was good that he had it removed, but she was more worried about EJ than him, now. He was doing a lot better than he had at Flare's old camp, which was great news, and she wanted it to stay that way, as selfish as it probably was. She just hated to see him succumb back into his slight depression and nightmares again. Ever.

Sometime during the time that EJ was absent, the bat couldn't take it much longer. Rachel had told her mother and father that she was going to the infirmary to wait for EJ to return from Nick's surgery. The Brodeur parents didn't object, and let her go to the infirmary.

That's what she was doing now-- there was a little waiting room in the infirmary where she sat, her eyes fixed on a certain spot in the room. Some others were in the room as well, but she didn't pay them any attention. Rachel's heart was in her throat as she struggled to breathe properly. Her hair was braided down her back, it slightly twisted, but she ignored it for now as she played with the ends a little. Jeez.... these split ends are bad.... 

(Should come in and see Nick? XD)

(Sure. XD)

Meanwhile Malt came in to see Nick to see how well the surgery went. She was happy to see that everything went ok. She waited a little bit for Nick to kind of be in a mind set where he could at least talk.

Marie honestly had no idea what to do now... she had no idea if she was ready for marriage, and judging by the way Duel fled, he wasn't sure, either... She didn't want to marry someone who was going to just run away like that, as though he was afraid of her... Is this what he meant by giving me the life I missed out on?


---

"A lettle...?" Scotty managed a slight chuckle, since he felt that this was very sudden, "Everything about us feels sudden right now, lad..." He rose to his feet again, still quite overwhelmed and very shirtless, but he managed to actually face Stone and speak instead of just sitting there like an idiot, "What I mean es... I don't know ef I'm gay, too, but I care about you, lad... I just honestly don't know. I've never had either a girlfriend or a boyfriend before." He awkwardly fiddled with his beard, having admitted that.

---

"I told him I'd be here when he woke up..." EJ told Quinn, knowing she was tempted to force him to leave, "He needs someone here that he knows..." The cat was looking a little pale and shaky as all that tension vanished and left him with just that queasy feeling, and he wondered if he actually managed to operate like that. He had stared at a bloody arm of a stump for hours, and he was actually sort of okay. Damn.

Quinn hesitated, then said, "Wait, someone walked in with him, right? It was Malt... she might be in the waiting room. I can bring her in."

She turned and hurried out to the waiting room to see if Malt was there, and the first person she saw was Rachel, "Oh... Rachel... what are you doing here? No, that's a stupid question, you're obviously here worrying like I thought you would be." She smiled a bit, "Everyone is fine, but is Malt out here?"

(Whoops, just had Quinn go into the waiting room to find Malt. XD)

(Well shit.... ouo' )

Right.... 'little' is an understatement.... Feeling a lilttle awkward at Scotty's answer to that, Stone smiled a little sheepishly, before just watching as Scotty walked up to him. The hybrid, again, tried not to stare as he replied, a little taken back, "Um, really...?" Well, that was a bit of a surprise... That had never crossed Stone's mind that Scottyn never dated before.

Duel did want to marry Marie, he loved her so much. When she fainted he took it almost like she said no, so he teleported to kind of give Marie some space. He also didn't want Marie to see him crying and have her say she would marry him so that he would be happy and not crying anymore. He did want to go back, but he didn't know if Marie was even awake.

(Duel irl thought that KF3 would be his revive ticket if he ever dies in KFD and yet it won't XD Duel might actually die here)

(Don't worry Chirp I can fix this.)

"Yes I'm right here Quinn." Malt replied from a chair behind Rachel.

Rachel's ear twitched when she heard someone approaching the waiting room again, and she looked up. Her eyes widening a little when she noticed it was Quinn, she was about to speak after getting it up, but Quinn answered it before she even uttered it. The bat visibly relaxed a little, her rigid shoulders sagging a little, "Oh, zank Aurora..." However, she hadn't noticed that Malt was there until the girl spoke up, and glanced at her, not really knowing why she was important right now.

"You can go back with Nick, now, Malt," Quinn replied with a slight smile, "EJ was going to stay back there with him, had nobody else been here... now I have an excuse to make him let me get him out." The hedgehog let out a heavy breath, "He's a little shaky now that it's all over..." She turned around to head back into the room, so she could drag EJ out of there now that Malt had come to keep their patient company.

EJ looked up when Quinn returned, and let out a little mew of surprise when she took him by his arms and hauled him to his feet, "H-hey..."

"Don't 'hey' me... Malt is going to stay with him, and you're going with Rachel whether you like it or not..." the hedgehog replied, wrapping an arm firmly around the boy's shoulders and practically dragging him out of the room, bringing him out to the waiting room so his girlfriend could take over.

---

Scotty rubbed at his beard again, saying, "Well... you're my best friend, lad. And sence I don't really know anything about relationsheps, who am I to push you away, eh? You can be you around me, lad, all you want to... ef I fegure out that I'm not enterested, I'll tell you, but ef et turns out I am, then... well... I dunno what then, sence I just don't now..." He didn't want to just shut poor Stone out after this, or commit the horrible "friend zoning" that Shay told him about. Apparently, the bat was afraid that Celeste would do that to him, and Scotty didn't want Stone to feel that way.

---

Meanwhile, Marie was having her own little relationship crisis. She snatched up the little box on her bedside table, shutting it so the ring wouldn't fall out, and hurriedly left her room. The mouse went in search of Duel, unable to just hide from him like a... well, like a scared little mouse.

Malt quietly came in to see Nick. She sat down near him, she waited to see if he would say something.

---

Duel was nervous for the fact if Marie said one little word he could die. He had survived a war, survived from being a fleshy person, but he could die from a little cute mouse. He hoped Marie was angry with him or just flat out terrified.

"Oh." Well, thank goodness Malt was there to stay with Nick, not that Rachel would admit it aloud. She just watched, eager to see EJ, as Quinn lead Malt to the fox's room, and brought EJ away from the ruckus. The cat looked better than she expected, but still shaky and pale-- she didn't blame him, though, "Ezhay..." She approached the hedgehog and cat, "Zank you, Kueen..." Watching as the hedghog bid them goodbye and went back to Nick and Malt, the bat let worry seep into her brown eyes as she held EJ's shoulders, "Are you alright...? Do you want to seet down...?" She was trying to be helpful, but it depended on how EJ was feeling right now.

---

(Wait, so Shay actually admitted to liking Celeste kind of? ouo?)

That made sense.... and it could work out in his favour, which lightened the hybrid up more, "Really?" It would be dissapointing if Scotty wasn't interested in the end, but even for a little while, it was all he was asking for, "I can live with that... thank you." Again. 

Nick was still out cold by now, and was unaware that Malt was sitting next to him, but he was slowly starting to wake up. However, he felt too groggy to move, even though his mind was starting to pick up again. Agh... It had taken a lot to put him out for a few hours, and it was taking its toll on him now, as it was taking him a long time to wake up. However, his tail twitched a little under the yellow quilt, but it wasn't that much.