Scott and Kurt, Sunday morning

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Kurt and Scott run into each other early Sunday morning and engage in a little cranky banter.


He'd forgotten to replace the cold packs in the fridge in his and Jean's suite last night. Dumb thing to forget, Scott thought grimly, making his painstaking way down the hall towards the main kitchen. Especially when they didn't have any ice in the freezer, either. His knee seemed more swollen than it should be today, and it was certainly more painful than it had been yesterday. Not enough time elevating it, maybe...

Kurt chose that moment to emerge from the kitchen, cup and plate in his hands, and turned towards Scott's slow footsteps, looking faintly quizzical. "Good morning."

Scott stopped, leaning hard on his crutches. "Morning," he said, and was pleased that his voice came out level. Hardly sounds like I'm gritting my teeth at all, does it? He checked the shield on the link, glad that Jean was still asleep.

Kurt's eyes flickered to the crutches, and Scott's grip on them, then back up to his friend's face. "I have just made a pot of coffee. There is still plenty left, if you would sit a while."

Scott opened his mouth to say that he'd just come down to raid the freezer, but thought better of it. "Coffee would be good," he said, and concentrated on not hunching his shoulders as he continued into the kitchen. "I was up fairly late last night minding the coms while Marie had her team out."

Kurt followed him back in, regardless of what he'd been intending when they ran into each other. "...I do not remember it being your shift on the coms", he observed mildly, settling on a stool and putting his breakfast back down.

"I wanted to be there," Scott said, balancing on his good leg while he rummaged in the freezer for one of those handy strap-on cold packs. "Marie's first time out in charge and all..."

"And she did very well, as I understand it. The ice packs are on the fourth shelf down."

The casual statement made Scott stop and blink. He gave his friend a dark look over his shoulder, then turned his attention to the fourth shelf.

"Did you think I would not notice?" Kurt asked, completely calm. "Or guess what you might be looking for in the freezer, at this time of day?"

"I'm fine," Scott grumbled. "Just sore. Damned knee." Okay, very sore. To the point where he probably needed to break down and say something to his wife the doctor. Of course, that was going to open up other conversations entirely, which was why he was kind of hoping some quality time with an icepack would make it unnecessary.

"Just sore?" That got raised eyebrows. "Really?"

Scott didn't answer. Because he had the icepack, and there was a very nice chair right over there, and sitting down sounded very good. Getting his leg propped up on another chair took considerably more effort, and his jaw clenched as the throbbing pain in his knee was joined by what felt like muscle cramps. "Ow..." Now, what had he done with that icepack?

"On the floor", Kurt supplied. "Do the doctors know how bad it has got?"

Scott leaned over, managing to just barely grab the edge of the icepack. "Not really. You know me."

"Very well, by now", Kurt answered wryly. "Though I do not think this is a situation calling for abandoning you in the forest."

"Oh good. Because you get one free pass with the whole forest-abandoning thing and then I get cranky - er." He was going to be waking up Jean anytime now, Scott thought a bit faintly, grimacing as he arranged the icepack. There was only so much he could block from the link, being the non-telepathic party.

"I would remind you I was not the only one behind that. The blame must be shared. But I will not do it again, this time."

"Yeah, well, I hardly deserve it this time around," Scott pointed out. The spreading numbness coming from the vicinity of the icepack was very nice, and Scott sighed, resting his elbow on the table beside him and his head on his hand. "Who needs painkillers," he muttered.

Kurt's eyes sharpened as he caught the words, and he looked at Scott carefully. "I hope you have not been trying to use the ice as a substitute?"

Had he said that aloud? Whoops. "It's not been constantly this bad. I think I need to get Jean or Amelia to take off the brace for a while, that's all."

"Because walking on your knee with less support will help relieve the strain?" Kurt suggested, an edge coming into his voice. "Especially at the same time as not taking your prescription?"

"I just mean to start moving it around a bit," Scott said defensively, ignoring the bit about the prescription. "I remember Maddie doing that when I started getting muscle cramps the last time I did this."

"There are better ways to do that than take the brace off altogether", Kurt retorted. "Remember, I grew up with circus performers. I know all about strain and sprain injuries."

It took a fair amount of self-control not to snap at him. Pain didn't do great things for his diplomatic skills. Scott shifted the ice pack slightly, sighing. "Fine. Whatever. I'm sure Jean or Amelia will know better than me, too."

"As long as you tell them the full truth", Kurt said guardedly, watching him again.

Yes, because I make a habit of lying to my wife the doctor. Then again, lies of omission were still lies, weren't they? "Full disclosure," Scott muttered. "It's a beautiful thing."