Andi smiled back and only resisted kissing him again because she'd just get a face full of soap. Rubbing her
knuckles softly against Hector's clean jaw line, she gently tilted his face so she could start on the other side.
"Tolkien and Lewis did meet up in a pub on a regular basis to read through each other's work and talk. I've often
thought what a grand thing that would be. To be able to sit there and listen to them talk. I suppose I'll have to wait a
bit longer for that." She shifted her fingers against the warmth of his skin. "I always thought Tolkien seemed sadder
somehow. His hero saved everyone and yet was too wounded to heal and enjoy what he'd saved. I always ended
the story wishing he'd been able to find peace in this world instead of having to sail away. Though I was absolutely
besotted with Aragorn as a young girl." She admitted with a curving smile, strokes steady and smooth. "Tall, dark
ranger out of the wilds." She slanted Hector a laughing look and then finished the last stroke. Dampened a corner
of the towel with more of the warm water from the bottle and gently cleaned his face of stray traces of shaving
cream. "There." She stated calmly, pleased with the results. "Now I can see your face again."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Hector asked with a laugh as his face was cleared of the last of the foam and
he kissed her lightly. "Me? I was a Sam fan. I mean, the guy dropped everything to make sure his friend made it
through safe, and if one really wants to point out the little details, it was that little hobbit who really saved everything.
Frodo went kind of kooky at the end, remember? But Sam stayed true through out. Frodo didn't fail because Sam
didn't fail."
"I was always a big supporter of Gimli. He should have had his own spin off." Potter said idly from his chair.
"I like your face." Andi commented before shifting her attention to the things she had scattered on the bed. "Sam
was the real hero." She agreed. "And no one, himself included, knew it but Frodo. I think he was probably more
comfortable that way." Andi dug into her 'bag o tricks' one last time and pulled out toothpaste and a toothbrush
which she handed to Hector. "Though did you ever wonder what Frodo would have used 'ultimate power' to do
anyway? Sam would, of course, have turned Mordor into a giant garden full of potatoes..." She rinsed out the razor
and set it on the table next to the bed and screwed the cap tightly back on the warm water before setting it aside as
well. "Though the Hobbit was much more dwarvish." She commented to Potter. "Not Gimli but dwarvish all the same."
"Better" Cara commented. "Dwarves in barrels."
"I am not going to discuss dwarves versus hobbits." Potter said. "Dwarves win. Hands down. They're just cool."
"He's jealous because they get beards and he doesn't." Hector said with a laugh after he finished brushing his
teeth. He held the emesis basin he had used for rinsing his mouth out and looked hopefully at everyone. "Let me go
dump this out and we'll discuss Tolkien rangers versus elves next."
Andi slanted him a look through lidded eyes as she chuckled. Slipping off the bed and taking the basin and the bowl
of shaving suds. Leaning forward she lightly kissed Hector.
"You're cute when you're delusional." She told him.
"Or something" Potter stated as she walked out of the room. Cara sighed.
"You're going to want a blanket for her, aren't you?" She asked, knowing someone with that little body mass
probably had a body temperature that dropped pretty fast once they were sleeping and the recovery rooms were
kept cooler than most of the makeshift tents and barracks. She'd never seen Hector this way before. He had always
struck her as a bit on the quiet, alone side. Maybe a bit standoffish. When he wasn't fighting like a mad cat on its
way to a bath at least. The later generally being the mandatory physicals he got dragged to. It was just a bit ironic
that he'd chosen a doctor.
And not one of the female ones that was already on base and single.
"Was worth a shot." Hector said with a roll of his eyes as he drank from a water bottle. "Yeah, a blanket would be
good, especially since all I've got is a sheet."
"Hey you're lucky you got sweat pants and a sandwich." Potter pointed out blandly. He cast a glance at Cara, he
could understand the non military thing. When you did what Hector did, or any of them, the last thing you wanted
was a relationship that revolves around that. The doctor part, however, threw him as much as it did everyone else.
Cara nodded and went off to hunt down a blanket, and perhaps spread some gossip while she was at it. The
available men on the base were always a topic of discussion, especially when one became so blatantly unavailable.
"Mike and Suz are gone." Andi reported when she came back into the recovery room. "And I didn't see any blood
splashed around or anything so Swanson must still be alive." It wasn't exactly normal for Suz to leave without saying
good by but it had been late and Mike was a big fan of slipping off into the sunset without a word. She'd see how the
French woman was acting when she came back tomorrow. Andi was a bit worried about her friend.
She sat back down on Hector's bed, absently slipping out of her shoes. Technically she should be sleeping in one
of the other beds. It looked better and on a more practical level, it guaranteed she wasn't going to accidentally hit
Hector's bandages while she was sleeping. The problem with that however was - she didn't want to. She wanted to
sleep next to him. With his arms around her. Tucked in close and safe.
He hadn't invited either. But frankly, she hadn't asked for that matter.
Tucking her legs up on the bed and shifting to sit close to him, she started unbraiding her hair now that is was, for
the most part, dry. "I read a story about a man with your name once too." She told Hector softly. "All about fierce
battles and fallen heroes and a great hollow wooden horse." She looked over at him. "I didn't like the way it ended."
"Or Suzette just hid the body and cleaned up after herself." Hector said with a chuckle. He wasn't discounting that
scenario until he saw Swanson, who, unbeknownst to Hector wasn't showing his face until the hand mark faded a
bit. "Yeah I read that story too." Hector said and looked at Andi, Swanson's words (felt so long ago) about names
coming to mind. "What's Andi's short for, by the way?"
She'd finished unbraiding her hair and shifted it off of her shoulder now. Buying time. There was usually one very
good reason for not telling anyone her real name. It saved a great deal of teasing and joking and having to explain
things. This time there was an entirely different very good reason for not telling. Her name made things awkward in
that weird 'you're kidding' type of way. There was a reason after all, she'd taken so long to say his name in the first
place. She looked over at Hector. "My name's in that book too." She met his eyes. Which limited the choice of
names way down in the female section. "It means 'battle of a man'. Da liked it. But she lost her Hector."
He gave her that 'you're kidding' look. Oh his sister would never let him live this down. And Swanson.... "Wow." He
said. "Then she went off to Greece as a slave and later married his brother. Should I tell Pete to rent a tux now?"
He wasn't making light of it, he was assuring that despite the rather....odd....name connection, that was it.
She looked away. Rubbed at the edge of her nose. "I always thought she married Helenus because it was as close
as she could get to what she really wanted and she was tired and growing old and she wanted comfort if she
couldn't have anything else." There. It had gone back to awkward for her. She'd probably have to work herself up
to using his name on a regular basis all over again. "I wish Da had been reading Danielle Steel instead of Homer."
Her lips curved tightly at the edges and she looked at the far wall. "At least than I would have had a racy name."
He sighed a bit. "And if a schmuck named Henry falls for a beauty named Anne, that doesn't mean he's going to
have her beheaded." He pointed out logically then smiled. "Besides, I like that name. But geez, we got saddled
with weird names as children."
She shot him a look. "You don't like that name." She stated, edges of her lips twisting upward. "No one can even
pronounce it properly. First day of class each year was a nightmare for roll call. 'Andi' was pure self defense." She
shrugged. "And my grandda's name. Why?" She asked curiously, shifting to face him as she tucked her legs back
up. "Did you get teased over Hector?"
"Okay, a five year old called Hector. Can't even shorten it to something cool." Hector said with a chuckle. "Then
we come to tenth grade English class...and wouldn't you know it, there's my name. Believe me, wasn't a picnic." He
said with a laugh.
"I don't even tell my friends." She agreed. "Even most of my 'official' IDs have 'Andi' listed. No one ever seems to
mind if I use a boy's name." She looked at him and her brows came down slightly as her lips curved. "No one even
asks. Why did you?"
"Hard to justify not knowing the woman you love's whole first name, don't you think?" He pointed out with a chuckle.
She smiled back. It wasn't the name itself she didn't like. It was just everyone's reaction to it. And Hector could
relate to that. "So, I suppose I should ask what your middle name was that you wouldn't use it instead." She stated.
"I would have used a middle name had I had one." Hector said with a chuckle. "My mother made sure her two
children could never have the typical Southern names. So we didn't get middle names, just so we couldn't we called
some whacked out combined name. Do you have a middle name?"
She rolled her eyes. "Ahuda. And please don't. My parents went Hebrew because one odd name wasn't enough.
And yes, that does leave my initials aaw." She shifted onto the bed next to him and lightly tapped his chest with a
finger. It wasn't so bad really. Not if he'd suffered too. Though she still thought she had gotten the worse of the
two. "And I will personally hunt you down and kill you if you ever mock either of my names." She shot Potter a
dangerous look. "Either of you." She warned.
He eased himself a little ways off to the side of the bed, so she wasn't hanging off the side. The bed was marginally
bigger than a cot, as Cara returned with a couple of blankets, having wrongly assumed she'd be making up a
separate bed. "It's not that bad." He said, though she made a face that said she didn't agree.
"Think we can take those down now that I'm drinking?" Hector asked hopefully, glancing up at the IV fluids still
hanging over his head.
"A bottle and a half of water does not constitute drinking." Cara said, shaking her head as she left the folded
blankets at the end of the bed.
"She's in love with your big, beautiful, bulgy veins." Andi commented with a smile as she leaned down to collect one
of the blankets. Cara opened her mouth to protest and then snapped it shut and asked:
"So?" Potter gave up entirely on his 'I'm not actually paying attention' act and stated flatly:
"You've got to be kidding."
"Not at all." Andi shook her head as she shook the blanket out of its folds. "Girls like us just get scary gleams in our
eyes when we see veins like that."
"Okay. For the first time - I'm officially disturbed" Potter had actually set down his book.
"You've got nice veins too." Andi assured him warmly. Which did nothing to settle him. The lean doctor settled down
on the bed, moving the pillow. "Would enjoy popping a 16 in there." Potter, despite himself, got a bit pale. Cara
started to snort laughter.
"Now that's just mean." She managed.
"I try." Andi admitted without guilt.
"Yup, that's how I got dates in high school. On the account of my veins." Hector said with a laugh lying down also,
not minding having to share his hard earned pillow. At least not with her. "Course, I also lost dates by running when
they used lines like that."
"And this time I'd let you get a head start." Potter said, still perhaps a bit disturbed by the mind set of the
conversation. "Do I even want to know what a 16 is?"
Hector, unfortunately, knew. "A really really big needle." He said, gesturing to his arm with one of the IVs in it. "This
baby's an eighteen."
"And you nearly killed us. You should see a fourteen six inch." Cara teased. "We use them for Lumbar
punctures....about the only thing we haven't done to you. Or bone marrow biopsies."
"Andi will save me. I'll hide behind her." Hector said.
"Mm. I would too. Because I'm quite fierce and intimidating." Andi agreed with a crooked smile. Thinking... she
probably managed to be far from that even when she tried. But it was a funny picture. Still... "If anyone ever tried to
steal a date with you by offering a biopsy I would definitely let you hide behind me. I would probably even feel
compelled to scare them away."
It was a bit like dormitory really. The talking after you'd settled down to bed. In the Red Cross camp even if you did
end up with someone sleeping the same time you were everyone was usually too tired for talk. Except for Molly who
was always cheerful to talk. The main difference of course, she thought as she shifted more comfortably on her side
to tuck in against Hector, was that she'd never been snuggled up against a man before while doing so. It was
surprisingly really, how quickly her body had not only grown accustomed to the feel of him against her but started to
expect it. Miss it when he wasn't there.
She exhaled, draping the blanket across both of them, careful of the IVs and his side as she left her arm across his
ribs. Considering he'd kicked off the sheet, he probably didn't need the blanket. Practically it would hold his body
heat close to her. But more, she simply liked the way it felt, sharing a single blanket with him. She rubbed her cheek
contentedly against his chest before raising her face again. Glad they hadn't gotten him a shirt as well.
It was easy to forget there was anyone else in the room... "Of course," she informed him seriously, lips curving as
she looked at him, "if anyone tried to steal a date with you even without a needle I would feel compelled to scare
them away, you know."
"Really?" Hector said, amused. Other than the mothers back home trying to put their unmarried daughters on him
whenever he was home (because that's what mothers do), he was usually too quiet for anyone to actively pursue
him. They usually went for the much more extroverted Swanson, where, in the pursuit, you could see if you were
getting somewhere. "Think this means I have a bodyguard then." He said with a chuckle, which made Potter chuckle
at the image of the slight doctor guarding the hulking Delta from hordes of women foaming at the mouth.
Cara found it amusing too. But she found it amusing that the two men didn't get Hector's attraction the way most
women would. It wasn't just the way he looked, which certainly didn't hurt him at all. It was all the quiet things inside
you could sense but not get to. Andi smiled, pleased and rubbed her nose lightly against Hector's before pulling
back enough to watch his face. She didn't think she'd ever get tired of watching his face. Shifting her free hand, she
brushed fingers down the side of his face.
"My Hector." Her voice was soft and just for him. "I'll protect you." She brushed a kiss to the tip of his nose.
"Good." he chuckled, and wrapped his arms around her as best he could with all the medical devices still hanging
off him. The oxygen was long gone, on the floor somewhere, and they knew better than to press their luck with that.