#actually using her tail to bonk people is a strict upgrade

[johannstutt413]

“Doctor!” As he was rounding a corner on the way to a meeting, the Doctor was blindsided by a powerful force and swept off his feet into the arms of an Acahuallan. “I’m back.”

He wheezed in her ear. “Welcome… back…”

“Oops, my bad. Here.” The Invincible Gavial set her dear friend back on his feet.

“Th-thanks,” he sputtered, coughing before finally getting a chance to catch his breath. Once he had, though, the Doctor immediately went back for a second hug. “How’s the new kit?”

The Archosaurian grinned from ear to ear. “Still a Medic at heart, but Zumama’s axe is pretty great. Couldn’t have cut that tunnel outta that rock with my staff, that’s for sure.”

“You couldn’t what.” He hadn’t seen the reports yet.

“I’m sure someone wrote it down.” She glanced around the hall. “Are you busy right now?”

The Doctor grimaced. “I’ve got a meeting, actually. After that, though?”

“Yeah… Yeah, it’s nothing urgent, I guess. I’ll drop by your office later.”

“Sounds great.” Gavial let go of him, but as he walked past, he couldn’t help but notice something. “Hey, Gav, did your tail-”

*SMACK* As if on cue, it slapped the ground. “Did my tail what?”

“Neeeeevermind.” He chuckled to himself as he continued his walk. Still a pet peeve of hers, it seemed.

The meeting went surprisingly fast, but rather than take a leisurely stroll back to his office, he hurried through the halls on the off chance that Gavial was waiting for him.

“Huh.” She was. “That was quick. Went to check on my patients, but they all got reassigned while I was out.”

The Doctor frowned as he closed the door behind him. “Really? Nothing serious, I hope?”

“I think they just thought it was a convenient time to be switched. Speaking of, how are you doing? Haven’t been here to give you a physical for a while.” The Acahuallan slapped the couch cushion next to hers.

“Sid and Hibiscus are trying to turn me into an athlete,” he replied, wincing as his shoulder reminded him of that morning’s workout, “but other than that, no major concerns… It really did get thicker-”

The Invincible groaned as her tail smacked the armrest it was draped over. “I need to carry my staff with something, and I’ve only got two hands. Doesn’t mean I want it getting thick.”

“What’s wrong with a thick tail?” They’d have this conversation before; it always made him laugh how flustered she got about it.

“I- we can do this later.” She shook her head. “There’s something serious I need to ask you.”

He straightened his back, making it crack, to reflect the new mood. “Something serious, huh?”

“Yeah. I… shit, I told myself it’d be hard to say, but I thought I’d still have the words to say it, at least.”

“Take your time.” She didn’t say anything for a while, so the Doctor continued. “Did something happen while you were out there?”

Gavial leaned back. “No, I’ve had this on my mind for a while, just didn’t make sense to bring it up before.”

“Really?” He had no idea what she was worrying over, then.

“I’m going back out into the field as a Guard rather than a Medic because Dr. Kal’tsit said a Medic shouldn’t be beating the shit out of people, and she’s got a point.” The Acahuallan glanced at her weapons resting against the office wall. “Thing is, most of my patients are already scared of me, and I don’t think waving Zumama’s ax and chainsaw around is gonna help with that… I don’t scare you, too, do I?”

He stared at her. “I’m not scared you’re going to hurt me, no.”

“Good.” The physician sighed with a smile.

“You do scare me, though.” The smile immediately disappeared. “I know you always reassure people that you know your body best, that despite your COA having risen over the past year even with all the precautions and treatments you’re still fit for the field, but every day I worry that it might be the last I get to see you. Now that you’re gonna be on the frontlines on Kal’tsit’s orders…”

The Invincible had never looked more vulnerable as she gently slid an arm around his shoulders. “I’m not gonna die out there, Doctor. Not while you’re still around.”

“You’ll always come back to me?”

“Yeah.” She rubbed her eye with her free hand. “Shit, why’d you have to go and say it like that?”

The Doctor wiped a tear from his face. “Sorry, I just remembered that one time you were in the ICU. I cried myself to sleep that night, you know.”

“...No, I didn’t know that.” Gavial slid closer.

“Even just the idea of you-” In the blink of an eye, he went from sitting on the couch to being gator-rolled into position; when the world wasn’t spinning anymore, he was lying on top of the Acahuallan, his head gently cradled against her neck. “I- How did you-”

She flipped back his hood to start stroking the back of his head. “If it works on a deer, it works on my dearest friend.”

“‘I’m your ‘dearest’ friend…” The thought almost made him feverish.

“The road’s not so lonely anymore, but there’s no one I wanna walk it with than you.” Her head turned, leaving her lips millimeters from his forehead. “I still haven’t gotten used to the air conditioning in this place.”

Oh really? “...Is that really the best you got?”

“The best ‘what?’”

“You’re friends with Tomimi,” the Doctor snickered, “I thought your pickup lines would be better.”

Gavial snorted. “Right, because hers worked so well on me. Why would I need a line, anyway?”

“I guess you’re right. All you’d have to do is ask….” He looked at her expectantly.

“...” The Invincible didn’t look nearly as tough blushing like that. “Wait, you actually wanna-”

He groaned. “Yes! Yes. That’s one-hundred percent how I thought this was going.”

"Son of a bitch. Alright, come on." The Acahuallan managed to get to her feet without unentangling herself from the Doctor. "I'm not risking your back on this stupid couch."