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Post by Nanuk on Oct 8, 2008 19:51:49 GMT -5
Hebirei looked around him, he was really itching to just get home and lay down. Of course, it seemed this girl would be chatty with him, making him wonder why he encouraged it in the first place, but he figured it couldn’t be helped. When she started to lose her balance, he was struggling to work with her, since she seemed intent on flailing until she got it right. For whatever reason, she seemed really bitter at Taartoq, but Hebirei could understand that, once he got to know the man more. When he first met the man in the Siege bunker, he was looking for a friend out of desperation, and the conditions weren’t exactly ordeal for making friends. Out in the normal world, he seemed a different person, but with the many problems in Hebirei’s life as it was, he could really care less what the archivist did.
His head turned a bit and looked at Aden, poking his head back out to let them know that it was ready for them. Hebirei let out a bit of a sigh, not even realizing that he had completely ignored Desna’s attempt at continuing the joke. I guess it’s showtime. “Well… shall we?” With this, he hobbled into the house with Desna and looked around, immediately becoming aware of the many furs on the walls. His father must be a trapper or something… Not that it mattered to him, it was merely an observation. His eyes drifted off to a small sofa-esque block of ice that was covered with furs. That would do.
As he was examining the room, he could hear, and partly see another person in the next room. From the look and sound of it, most likely Aden‘s mother. He figured if she was not there to greet them, it would be informal enough for him to make himself at home and begin. “Here, lets get you to sit down here and put your leg up.” With his free hand, he gestured toward the sofa, and began to help her make her way over to it.
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Post by aden on Oct 8, 2008 22:42:01 GMT -5
Aden held the doorflap open wide as the other two squeezed through and entered the living room of his house. He allowed the heavy sheet of leather drop down to the ground, and then stepped around Desna and Hebirei to position himself more towards the center of the room. The young warrior blew out a breath as he swung his hands forward idly and clapped them together. He felt like he should say something as their host, but instead settled for simply nodding along with the healer's suggestion. "Sure, the couch is fine," he said, acutely aware of how awkward this situation was making him feel.
And if that wasn't enough, the sound of his mother entering the room certainly contributed. "Well, hello there," she greeted the newcomers warmly. Aden turned a half-step back to regard her, but he didn't dare tell her to go hide in the kitchen so that Hebirei could heal her and they could be gone. She stepped up beside him with Tuli tucked up to her chest and surveyed the situation.
"What sort of hijinks have you kids been geeting into today?" the middle-aged woman asked, looking mostly at Desna though her smile flashed upon Hebirei as well. Aden remained quiet and let his mom take center stage for the moment. It was truly amazing that his parents were such social butterflies, while he greatly preferred to sink into the background rather than compete for the crowd's attention.
However, seemingly uncontent with his current position, Tuli began to claw his way up higher onto Aden's mother's shoulder. The kitten, still somewhat wild, broke free of her gentle grasp and then lept right off her shoulder and into Aden's hastily-raised arms. "Goodness!" she exclaimed, smiling in good humor at the cat after it had interrupted her greeting remarks.
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Post by desna on Oct 9, 2008 8:36:27 GMT -5
She was rather proud of herself, only flinching once or twice as Hebirei helped her into the room. It seemed very awkward, not socially of course, she'd figured she'd made enough amends, not like it was her fault for hurting herself, that needed no apology. She sat back on the couch not sure if she should get comfortable or not. It wasn't her house. Her hands almost immediately went to her leg to get a look at the ice cast but instead she took her time. Sitting up in a position that didn't hurt her back as much first. Honestly this might have been less weird at the healing huts, I mean they were made for that short of thing.
Desna pulled off her gloves with her teeth, her hand now bare as she touched the cast. She'd have to hand it to the archivist prick, he was a good bender. A small smile crept on her face but she didn't dare laugh, no one else knew the little silly details that created an amusing scene in her head as she'd well learned.
The emergence of Aden's mom was almost lost as she examined her own foot but at the last minute her eyes glanced up towards the door way, she could almost feel the humiliation floating off of Aden. Poor boy, she honestly could empathize but this shouldn't take too long. Her mouth opened to blurt out the days events but she didn't know how much Aden would want her to know, no need to give out all the details. Her synapses fired up and she didn't miss a single beat.
" I twisted my ankle out on the snow fields, luckily Aden and Hebirei were there to help." Honestly couldn't she have broken a wrist or something? She didn't need them as much. Walking across the shelf like she was not would be almost impossible and that was irritating. As usual she never let it get her down, but she did grin seeing Tuli so attached to Aden, they were a good match.
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Post by Nanuk on Oct 16, 2008 22:38:43 GMT -5
Hebirei didn't pay much notice to the Aden or his mother at this point. He glanced over for a moment, gave a quick smile, and returned to his work. Letting his fingers glide over the makeshift cast, the ice melted and was pulled away, leaving behind nothing. Without the cast on, the ankle was much more visible, and surprisingly, not very swollen. This was, of course, thanks to Taartoq and his quick thinking. However, it would swell if it was not taken care of quickly and put back on at least some ice.
Wasting no time, and working quickly, he froze the water that was used for the cast back into ice, and set it down next to him. It would be used in case the swelling returned, for it was water from the ground, not the most sanitary. Reaching with his right arm, he pulled a snap on the right side of his belt, releasing the water from the small pouch contained in the back half of his belt. Streaming the water out carefully, he examined the ankle for a moment. Then, making up his mind, he applied the water to the afflicted area, and began cooling the water as much as possible, to keep swelling low.
"Tell me if it begins to hurt too much.", he instructed.
He could feel where the muscle had been strained by feeling for where the chi had been knotted. It did require some high-level concentration, but it was a very effective method. Now, the next step would take some real time. Slowly but surely, he had to un-knot the energies in the ankle, using the water as a mediator. He began to concentrate once again, and the water began to glow, as he began the long task of straightening her chi paths.
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Post by aden on Oct 17, 2008 19:38:49 GMT -5
For a few moments Aden's attention was diverted by the task of handling the animal attempting to squirm its way onto his shoulder. "Tuli..." he grmbled in a scolding voice as he worked to disentangle the cat's claws from the fur lining the sleeve of his parka. Eventually he managed to shift the kitten around so that he was supporting one arm under its legs ahile the other looped around its chest, affording Tuli a comfortable perch where he could still survey everything that was going on. "Now stay," Aden commanded, absently petting a hand over the creature's ears to keep him happy.
Meanwhile, his mother had been making consoling noises as Desna related the circumstances of her injury, and watched curiously as Hebirei began to heal her. "That's a shame," she said,folding her hands near her lap. "But once you're done that I just put some soup on the fire if you'd like a bite to eat. It's always best to have a hot meal after a long day outside." She smiled warmly at Desna and Aden did well to keep from grumbling.
For some reason that even he didn't quite understand, he just wasnt comfortable with the thought of entertaining guests for long. Outside it was fine, and he could spend all the time in the world doing whatever, but this was his space, and something irked him about the two realms merging together.
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Post by desna on Oct 18, 2008 9:15:02 GMT -5
Viewings of the cat and master duo were interrupted when Hebirei began to bend. The cold around her leg drained away and she began to sorely miss it, the heat in her ankle was painful and distracting. Which she tried to do little to harm Aden's couch she found herself digging her fingers into it gripping the fur covering, she wouldn't cry though. Not over something silly like this. All too soon the magic glowy water began and it was somewhat soothing, aside from the intense urge to kick or flex her muscles in some way, it was a bit irritating.
Experimentally she clenched her toes then bent her ankle forward but like a shock to the body she sat back with her eyes a bit wider and her teeth clenched for a second, Closing her eyes tightly she managed to make out an " Ow, that hu~urt" then she pouted. No more moving it seemed, not until he was done. Her tealy eyes watched him sourly hoping he'd pull out some neon magic water and just fix it all up good as new, vaguely she knew that it was a long process without a miracle cure all but she could still wish.
Aden and his mother snagged her attention, she needed something to keep her mind away from the pain even though every second made the idea of yanking her foot away more appealing. Forcing a bit of a smile she tried to remember Aden's surname, coming up with a blank she chose to leave 'mrs-so and so' out of her speech " Thank you, but I don't want to stay too long." It honestly wasn't that she wasn't hungry, but more because Aden looked so stressed, he didn't want them here, it was pretty obvious.
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Post by Nanuk on Oct 19, 2008 22:50:04 GMT -5
Hebirei wasn't exactly sure how he felt about this 'Desna'. She seemed nice enough, perhaps a bit... spontaneous, and possibly obnoxious in some circles. Keeping true to his current mindset, he was impartial. The idea wandered through his mind that he may never see her again, so he should be nice. Another idea crossed that he may suddenly be a victim of fate and he would go home and find that he was now arranged to be married to her. His impartial and passive mindset had geared himself so that this thought didn't phase him. If it were so, so be it.
Keeping to his work diligently, he was relieved to see that the sprain wasn't very bad. Nor was it good, but it definetly could've been worse. A day or two off of it would most likely put it back in good shape, as he would well let her know when he was finished. Slowly but surely, the chi was being straightened, though it was difficult. One could compare it to attempting to straightening one's hair with merely a stick. Still though, he worked persistently, making barely audible sounds of concentration, occasionally shifting, but for the most part, he may as well not have been there.
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Post by aden on Oct 20, 2008 21:54:47 GMT -5
As Hebirei continued to work on Desna's leg with an admirable amount of concentration, Aden slowly wandered around the perimeter of the room and eventually took a seat on the center of one of the furs with Tuli in his lap. When Desna answered his mother's offer about the soup, Aden couldn't help but chime in with a response of, "That's right... She's got more snowmen to assault."
Aden looked over and tried to catch her gaze with a slight smile to see if she got a little chuckle out of the inside joke. Despite the strangeness of having company, he couldn't resist making a quip on that humorous situation that led to her injury.
"What snowmen?" his mother asked, an eager half-smile on her face as though she knew there was something amusing behind that comment and she wanted to share the laugh too. "Have you two been terrorizing little kids on the snowfields?"
"No, no," Aden assured her, still smiling as he played around with Tuli who had relocated himself onto the rug. The young warrior used his hand to roll the kitten over and playfully keep him pinned as Tuli tried to break free. "Just something funny...."
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Post by desna on Oct 20, 2008 22:29:28 GMT -5
She was honestly surprised that the bending was beginning to feel so good on her leg. It was odd to be anywhere with her leg as exposed as it was right now, she was only thankful she'd shaved, more out of boredom in the hot water of her previous nights bath, once you were in the tub you rarely wanted to get out, it took a lot of work so best to enjoy it until it was chill to the skin. Her eyes skimmed over the work Hebirei was doing and honestly she was grateful he'd shown up.
It was a little dull though, thankfully Aden who'd recently come out of his shell was more than willing to fill the silence with chatter. Something she was curious about. When she met him he was sullen, but she'd managed to scratch his surface. He seemed to be slowly crumbling every time she saw him. It was a curious thing, she was curious about the sort of outside force working on him. It must be something odd to unravel a boy so wound up in himself.
His words did manage to erk her though, she huffed and turned a slight shade of pink. How was she to know he was inside the darn thing? Was she a mind read? Most certainly not and he broke his promise. Short of sticking her tongue out at him she instead crossed her arms.
" Yeah, those snowmen, you know how they are, turn your back for one moment and they start cheating." Her smirk found her way back to her face, honestly it was a little funny even if she was annoyed with his literal bending of the no bending rule she'd put in place.
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Post by aden on Oct 23, 2008 9:23:10 GMT -5
Aden continued smiling in amusement as he kept his attention focused on Tuli for the moment. Regardless of the 'no bending' agreement put in place for their snowball fight, he figured it was forgiveable since he used his bending for a good laugh and not for any real strategic advantage.
His mother wasn't quite sure how to interpret Desna's words though, and looked between her and Aden curiously. It sounded like Desna was accusing her son of something, but by the way the two of them seemed to be in good spirits about it, she decided it couldn't have been anything bad. If it were, and she found out Aden wasn't acting gentlemanly, then she would have to have a word with her son... which for Aden's mother meant a whap on the head with a whalebone stirring spoon.
"Ah, well, at least no harm done," Aden's mother said, "None that can't be fixed straightaway, that is." She glanced around the room for a moment and then decided to let the kids have their privacy for a bit. "Well, I'm going to keep an eye on the soup. Just give a shout if anyone would like some." She smiled and bowed slightly before backing out of the room and disappearing behind the dividing wall that seperated the kitchen.
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Post by desna on Oct 23, 2008 9:59:41 GMT -5
"It smells good, I think I may change my mind." Desna added when the woman left the room, it was odd to be sitting on someones couch while another boy all but water massaged her foot and another boy watched while his mother was offering soup about. Well it wasn't a bad thing, if Aden wandered over and got the other leg going...
Alright odd foot themed fantasies aside it was still awkward being in someones house like this but she was relaxing. Aden's mother was all but willing to please, that woman would become Desna's new hero. That privileged always came with deliveries of herbs and her special home made jerky. More often than not it also provided people with a little helper for most of the day when Desna found wandering around city much too boring to bear.
She smiled at Aden a bit, holding back a laugh, he was so, she didn't know how to place it but it was funny. She hissed through her teeth at the mild pain the bending offered but after that it felt like something was even and flowing in her leg. She looked down at Hebirei in a bit of amazement, she pointed her foot and brought it back, no pain. Her smile spread into a bright grin. As much as she thought bending was a waste of time it seemed to have it's perks, and those weren't surprise attack snowmen. " Oh wow! That feels great!."
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Post by aden on Oct 23, 2008 21:56:06 GMT -5
'You've got to be kidding me...' Aden mused silently when Desna seemed to reverse her decision and stay for soup. He only slightly raised one eyebrow at her as an external response, but he had a feeling she was doing that to spite him for bringing up the snowman trick. Or maybe she really was just hungry... Aden generally liked to assume the best of other people, but Desna had shown herself deceptive enough to warrant his suspiscion.
"Coming up," Aden heard his mother say from the kitchen, and he simply blew out a breath of air while getting to his feet. Tuli protested about the sudden loss of his playmate and pawed lightly at his master's pant leg. Aden nudged the kitten lightly with his foot to stop, and walked over toward the kitchen with Tuli on his heels.
He rounded the entrance just as his mother was done ladeling a helping of soup into a bowl and he extended a hand to take it from her. She looked up and caught sight of him and immediately uttered a quick thank you. Aden nodded and waited briefly for his mother to place a spoon in the bowl before starting back to the living room.
"One bowl of the city's finest eel broth soup, served steaming and with the finest utensils that three copper pieces can buy," he announced sarcastically as he walked across the room toward Desna. He paused for a moment beside the couch where she lay, and with his free hand he reached toward the bare patch of ice near the edge of the room. With a wave of his palm he liquidated a section of the floor and pulled it toward himself.
With a few moments of careful, one-handed bending he shaped the water into a little pedastal of ice and then set it down beside Desna so she had a spot to place her bowl. "Here you go," he said, putting the bowl down and then sitting back where he had originally been. "Won't find this kind of service at the healings huts..." he said with a smirk, looking from Desna to Hebirei, and hoping the young healer wouldn't take offense.
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Post by desna on Oct 24, 2008 0:46:40 GMT -5
Desna was surprised when her words were taken seriously, did people not know her all that well? You never took her seriously, it was a bad bad thing to do that. It would lead to spontaneous boughs of crazy of which no one would be spared from but she couldn't do much, Her mouth opened to protest but his mother was too quick and she shut her mouth. Honestly she hadn't had much to eat and anything would be amazing, her stomach would be grateful for any manner of food but she kept to herself usually.
As much as she was enjoying being pampered she couldn't help but feel like she was imposing, Hebirei seemed focused, not paying much attention to the two of them or Aden's family. Hey it wasn't another foot massage but she was being served piping hot food by another young man. All that she was missing was Aden's father who she honestly was amused by, the man was nice, and good looking for his age. Not that his mother wasn't a sweet woman, inside and out.
Compared to them she had to look like a rag doll whose novelty has long since worn off, in a different world could she be in Aden's place? In a home standing by awkwardly as some boy was being healed on her couch. Worrying about being embarrassed in front of peers and wondering what would be served for dinner?
It was too obscure of a possibility for Desna to think about directly, she'd never really been a part of a family like that, it was painful to think of. Her eyes followed Aden as he moved across the room, she smirked trying not to laugh at him but he was just to cute, she put the back of her hand to her face giggling just a touch, " And here I thought I was getting some first aid, I didn't know I was at a spa."
Her smirk faded away into a genuine smile, a little sheepish at that. "Thanks...."Gratefully she took the soup taking a spoonful of it. If she was getting the royal treatment there wasn't much she could do about it but be a very thankful house guest and remember the kindness for a time when she could return it. " This is really good, your moms a great cook."
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Post by Nanuk on Oct 29, 2008 21:16:41 GMT -5
Hebirei kept to his work diligently, partly due to the fact that he wanted to finish and go home, partly due to the fact that it was his norm to do so anyway, and mostly due to the fact that he didn't know these people, so he really felt like an outsider. He was barely addressed, but perhaps that was just respecting his concentration while he worked. He was about three fourths of the way there, he estimated, as he began reforming the chi-paths. Once he had straightened them, the pain may have been gone, but it still wouldn't function at 100% unless he repaired the small damage that straightening them could cause. So, when she moved her leg, testing it out, he became agitated, and threw her a bit of a nasty look, before calmly saying, "Please, I am not finished yet, and it would help if you didn't move."
His ears perked at the male's voice, apparently he was trying to be hospitable, but whether or not he did didn't matter to Hebirei. Trying to be casual, he just shrugged and mentioned, "Well, the huts also attend to dozens of people a day, they don't really have the capacity for a very personal experience. You're in, you're fixed, you're out. It's just more efficient that way." He then returned to his work, now not straightening the chi paths, but restoring them. What happens when they are straightened, is that the paths get bunched up in some areas, and thinned in others, almost like a blood vessel with constricted walls, it's bound to burst if it's not fixed.
Now it was just a matter of evening the paths, which wasn't nearly as hard as straightening them, but was still a chore in itself. As he worked, he addressed Desna, "Of course you know, that even after I'm done treating you, you'll have to stay off of it as much as possible over the next day or two. And you should consider yourself lucky, it could've been a lot worse."
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Post by aden on Oct 29, 2008 22:18:40 GMT -5
Aden smiled slightly as Desna responded to his little quip, and he offered an appreciative nod to her compliment on his mother's cooking. Hebirei eventually tore himself from his healing to make a comment as well, and Aden quietly agreed with his remark about the healing huts being efficient. "No offense intended," he said with a smile, and he stood up then to go wander towards his own room as Hebirei finished up.
Aden leaned through the doorway and glanced around the floor of his bedroom. Tuli had been using his bed to sleep in, and he wanted to make sure that the kitten wasn't using it as a bathroom as well. After a few moments of searching with his eyes and nose, he concluded that there hadn't been any 'accidents' recently and began drifting back towards the center of the den.
Hebirei seemed to be finished, and Aden wasn't sure whether to show him to the door or just let him leave of his own accord. "Well," he started, somewhat hesitantly, "Thanks for your help." He offered a small bow and then glanced down at Desna to see if she was back to her usual self.
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