Volcano's edge [Closed] x3

[Satra]

She smiled, becoming much more comfortable, and opened the indicated door, holding it open for him.

"After you," she said, checking before he went anywhere that there was no chance of collision. His business was much more important than hers, and it meant nothing to her to check. She followed him in, closing the door. She was quite familiar with the mailing room, sending and receiving letters back to the Bog... especially her paranoid father who seemed to think that if he didn't send her a letter at least twice a week she would die. She looked at the stack of notes.

"You... look like you found out much more than just the reaction... so what were the results?" True, she could just ask to see a copy of his notes, but she needed an excuse to talk to him. She smiled, he was getting way ahead of himself. He didn't name who 'she' was he was sending this to. She remembered a name, Queen Iria, so she assumed it was her. "And 'a few other experiment results'? All pertaining to the Yarrow Garden citizens and the Bog since ? We are talking about Her Majesty Iria, right?"

[Nathalia]

She seemed to relax slightly...that was a relief.

"Thank you."

He said happily as she followed him in, setting the items down on the long table and moving slowly over to the wall in search of a box and some bubble wrap.

"Oh, I did manage to figure out a few more things. I learned that, even though it neutralized...it wasn't just water created by those toxins meshing...it's actually a...rather virulent poison. One that has an outstanding effect on Vermin especially, and that if you let it sit...it starts to...eat through things and unleash itself into the air. This copy here, is actually for your Queen, Ai. If a Yarrow were to wander into the Bog, their bloated corpse could poison over two hundred square feet in about a day... This copy however, is for Queen Iria, yes."

He smiled at her, moving back over to the table and setting the box down, wrapping things up and resorting the papers.

"I've been up for...awhile double checking, I'd hate to send false results so sorry if I'm a little slow...Heilyn?"

He glanced at her as he stuffed the bubble-wrapped flask and some papers into one box, then the other papers and books into a very large envelope.

"I...just wanted to apologize to you for..."

He sealed the envelopes and scrawled their destinations on them...his head felt..odd...light and he was a little dizzy?

"For how I reacted the other day...I was just-"

A strange look came over his face, as though something vaguely worrisome were occurring.

Then his eyes rolled up in his head and he crashed to the floor in a heap.

[Satra]

She listened intently. That was... whoa. She was about to ask if the reverse would happen: if Heilyn were to visit the Gardens would she-- then he got a bit of a strange look on his face. His movements weren't as fluid, his hands not as coordinated. Ugh, she would force him to sleep after he sent out those packages.

Wait.

Was he apologizing?!

What the freaking HELL?!

She shook her head and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Bernard... please, that was completely my fault. I should be the one apologizing to you. I don't know what came over me I--" It took her a moment to realize the change in the way he spoke, and the fact that he cut off mid-sentence. She looked up to find him already half way to the floor. There was a shocked look on her face for a moment as he crashed to the floor. She went to move to solve the problem, and so did the servants in the room.

The technical term for it is "clusterfuck".

The servants in the room at the moment were not trained and did not understand how to take care of someone in this condition. A sudden spark of an intimidating, dark aura flared up violently with her anger and the lower ranked cards huddled in a corner. Bright yellow eyes narrow at the lot of them, then, though the intensity of the hue did not change, those eyes softened as they looked down at Bernard. She knelt down and gave him a quick examination. The bags under his eyes (and one of his last statements) told her he was lacking sleep, his face was looking a little sunken hinting at undernourishment, and pinching his skin and releasing it quickly made it obvious he was dehydrated on top of it all.

For the love of all that's Sacred...

"You!" she barked, head snapping up to the mass of underlings, "You run fast? Good. I want you to fucking fly to the Court doctor and get a stretcher, and ice pack, and a nurse. You two! I need four liters of clean water and a full meal that's a fucking rainbow of vitamins and nutrients! Get it up to His Highness Bernard's room as fast as you can. It doesn't have to be elegant, just fast and edible. And you! make sure these packages get sent out. The rest of you are useless, so get the FUCK out of their ways! MOVE IT!" The ordered few sprinted to their assigned jobs, and the rest waited until they were no longer in danger of being in the way before they started slowly milling about, but, of course, gossiping about what happened.

Within minutes they were lifting Bernard's unconscious body off the stretcher and onto his bed. A few minutes after that, food and water arrived hot and ready to eat, she almost remembered to thank them for their speed as she requested they bring up the Earl tea and some vodka, in the mean time the nurse checked him over. After concluding he just needed some food, liquids, and rest, she sent them all out. The nurse frowned, but Bernard's condition was not serious, so she obliged. On the way down the hall, the conversation was a mixture of trash-talking of the bitchy Coyote and a new-found respect for the woman.

Heilyn sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed nearest to him after moving the food to the bed-side table, letting the delicious scent fill the room. She place the ice pack on the spot where he hit his head on the way down. She then torn a piece of pork fat from the meat on the plate and nibbled on it and waited for him to wake up.

[Nathalia]

Bernard slowly regained consciousness about forty minutes later...what in the Hills had happened? His head hurt like hell and he was...lying down? Huh...something about this was familiar.

.........and something smelled good...horribly good. He propped himself up on an elbow, rubbing at his eyes and looking around...he was in his room? When the hell had that happened, and what was-?

"Heilyn?"

The Coyote was sitting on a chair across from him and he felt something cold slither down his back. He jumped, eyes wide as he flipped over to grab whatever it was, making a rather interesting yelp and flopping like an inbred salmon.

It was an ice pack...oh.

He sat up fully, rubbing ruefully at the side of his head as he slowly recalled what had been happening...he must have...passed...out...ah.

"Um...heh. Hi, I guess I um, took an unexpected dive, did I?"

His face flushed and he put a hand up to his forehead, feeling stupid. He had promised his nephew he would refrain form doing that again too...hills, this was annoying, why couldn't his body just do what he told it to?

He looked up at the Bog Dweller again, wondering what time it was and how long he had kept her there...then the smell caught his attention again, his stomach growled at him. Glancing past the Coyote, he spotted the food.

"Oh, wow...I hope that's for me...because if it's not, I might have to fight you for it."

He said with a grin.

[Satra]

During waiting for him to wake, she decided that sitting his bed would not be wise in that for one, she would stink up his bed sheets, and two, she still didn't know where they stood on the whole Jack-touching-a-King-rather-inappropriately event. She'd relocated herself onto a chair and had eventually nodded off. She'd woken with a start when she heard her name. Ah, damn. That ice was probably melted by now. She smiled at his reaction as she stood up, wincing a bit and rubbing the kink in her neck from sleeping in a strange position.

"You did," she said with an amused tone, gathering some food and liquids on to a bed tray and brought it over to him. She placed it down in front of him and took away the soggy bag of water that once was an ice pack. She poked his shoulder gently.

"You'll have no fight from me, it's all yours. I even got some of the same tea we had a few days ag--" she stopped herself from finishing that. She really didn't want to remember that day... yes, they would speak of it, which is part of the reason she's kicked out the servants... but not right now. "with vodka, but it's gone cold by now." She went back to pick up her chair and brought it next to his bed side.

"Just let me know if you need anything else... and don't eat to quickly, please. I know you're hungry, but making yourself sick won't do you much good," her tone was light and a light smile adorned her face. She knew the man was very intelligent and it went without saying, but his hunger may override his sense of logical reasoning. She leaned forward with her elbows on her knees and her tail wagged lightly, glad to see the man doing so much better by now.

[Nathalia]

Bernard couldn't help the relief, she certainly didn't seem angry, and was staring to relax around him again...if the teasing and the shoulder poke were anything to judge by.

"Ah...that would explain the sudden change of scenery...sorry about that. I've done it once...maybe twice before, nothing to be too alarmed about...if I get really into something I tend to vanish for a few days...without realizing that it's been a few days. Hills, my nephew is never going to let me hear the end of this, I promised him that last time was the last time."

He chuckled as she handed him the food, taking the plate and desperately refraining from tearing into it, eating slowly so as not to make himself ill...he remembered doing that...one of the more unpleasant nights he had lived through.

"You did? Here, hand it to me, I can heat it up again easily."

He took the tea pot and in his right hand created a small blue flame, then he simply placed the pot in his hand and held onto it for a few moments.

"That should be fine...did I hear you mention vodka? Or was that wishful thinking?"

He asked with a grin, hoping he hadn't in fact, misheard her...he could really do with some. After he had managed to get some of the food down and had some of the tea, he held his hand out to her.

"Thanks...Heilyn, sorry to be such a mess all the time."

If she gave him her hand he would bend to kiss it lightly, face flushing as he turned away. If not he would simply let it drop.

"I've been told I'm erratic and difficult to deal with, and I've never disbeilived it. I was wondering...if it's not too much trouble..."

He looked anywhere but at her trying to hide his embarrassment.

"Would you mind telling me how people in the Bog use contained fires...you know, without ending up like my window."

[Satra]

She watched with interest as he created a fire to heat up the tea. It may or may not be over brewed by now, having sat for so long, and the taste with certainly not be as fresh, but it would do. She really didn't want to deal with servants again. She smiled up at him.

"Yes I did. I'm only going to let you have some when you've eaten enough food and had enough water and/or tea to satisfy me." Her ears went up from their usual position as he reached out his hand to her. Did... this mean he forgave her? She was always surprised when a friendly or forgiving gesture made her so happy, her tail making a wider swing. She would not make him feel unwelcome with her. She reached out to take his hand... and then he kissed it. It was light, yes, but... ungnfhh... she just craved physical contact. She did everything in her power to stop her tail from wagging harder and suppressing inappropriate thoughts that were making a resurgence.

She pat his hand and got up, not wanting to ruin his chair more than her oily fur may have already, and went to get the vodka from the table and brought it back, setting it on the bedside table.

"Trust me, I've dealt with worse taking care of Dad after Mom died, it doesn't bother me so much. At least I have hands this time," she joked. Did I just... reveal a little of my history? Damn, I must be really comfortable. She felt comfortable sitting back down, as telling these kind of stories had no risk of her getting.... of messing up his chair.

"We use fire for lighting, mostly. All of our lanterns are magically charged so that they convert the air being burned up going into it into toxin-free air, much like a reverse of what my mask does. Any and all air that touches the inside of a lantern in changed. We use a cold brewing method to make tea, and much of our food is prepared cold for the less financially fortunate or those without a Heart in the family. We do have ovens and stoves, but the set up is very complicated. The fire is completely contained in a closed area, with the same magical set up as the lanterns. The problem is they tend to be expensive as metal is hard to come by in the Bog.

As far as us Hearts and our affinity to fire goes, is quite different in the Bog. Instead of creating fire, we've actually figured out a way to make a fire-less heat. That ability is exceedingly useful in the Bog, and when a Heart doesn't know that ability, it's a source of shame for some. I used to get lectured endlessly about how I concentrated more on raising my rank than learning it, especially being born such a low rank as I was. Many 2's and 3's are actually paid to sit around and do nothing than to act as a furnace for a room and are a very welcome comfort," she added thoughtfully. She looked back down at him and smiled, "Feeling better?"

[Nathalia]

He managed the plate of food without trouble and then got his tea with vodka...damn but that just made the day better. She didn't seem to react badly to his idiotic gesture of kissing her hand either...her tail wagged and she grinned. Good, she was getting comfortable with him just joking again, he smiled back, sipping the tea.

"Ah, you too? After my dad died I had to do the same...though she probably wasn't as much trouble as your dad was." He teased, handing her the cup in hopes of a refill. "My dad's eating habits were what killed him, he finally got too fat to fly in his old age and his heart gave out, my mother went ballistic...she wasn't sad at first...just furious. In retrospect, it's kind of funny to think about her kicking his coffin as it went into the grave and calling him a fat-ass. She went downhill for awhile afterward though, then perked back up, she was scary, my mother."

He smiled and accepted more tea, pleased to see the Coyote sitting back down, why she kept popping up and down he had no clue. He sat entranced as she explained about the fire situation in the Bog...he wished he had a notebook or pen, he would have to try his best to remember this...

"Really? That's fascinating? I'm especially impressed, you'll have to let me get my hands on those spells...how did you all manage the flameless heat? That's astounding! I would love to know how to do that? What kind of metal? I ask because we have great trade with the Selkie Lakes, maybe we could start exporting the right kind to the Bog?......and there I go again, sorry."

He shrugged, with a smile. He knew he tended to ramble.

"You don't have to answer all of that now, just realize that I'll grill you later."

He looked slightly taken aback at her question, then flushed slightly and nodded.

"Rather, thank you...sorry about that...again, I can't seem to help being more trouble than I'm worth sometimes."

[Satra]

Heilyn rolled her eyes at the teasing about her father.

"Tell me about it. The man was a paranoid nervous wreck before his wife and bodyguard died. He's better now, for the most part, but it was a very rough time." She didn't go into how her father continually called her by her mother's name or the mistrust and anger she still harbored for her sister who did nothing to help during that time. She shrugged.

"Honestly wish I could tell you. When I go back to the Bog, I'll ask to learn it and teach it to you when I come back. No promises, though. I have a bit of a reputation among the magicians in the Bog, no doubt blow completely out of proportion by my old one, especially after lighting him on fire, so it may be difficult to find a willing teacher," she almost looked embarrassed. Almost. She then gave a fake modest look.

"Well, I doubt mean to brag, but I did establish a fair amount of trade between the Bog and the Outside. There's less exports from the Bog, as it's difficult to detoxify anything from the area, save for the glasswork and metals. Strangely enough, iron ore is harder to find in the Bog than silver. Because we have to little of it, our ability to make steel from the iron is not as refined as it is here. Most of the weapons made of steel we have are repaired or recycled antiques that we've found, the parts without any magical charge, of course. Those with are always kept for research until they've run they're usefulness. Nothing gets wasted, really." She looked at him. Yes, this whole not eating and sleeping for a few days things was a huge pain, but it really gave them this time together, which she was so grateful for. She picked up his empty plate.

"Did you want more?" she asked, still with a soft smile. She would bring up the uncomfortable apology in a bit, just to make sure they were on the same level on it. It was not within the Bog temperament to brush something under the carpet and pretend it didn't exist.

[Nathalia]

"Oh, I believe it." The King murmured in response...he could tell that she was leaving something out, but didn't push it, she hadn't pushed him when he hadn't wanted to talk about his last Queen so...

"Heh, no promises, understood. It is especially hard to get a teacher to let you near them again for so much as tea after you've set light to them."

He chuckled wryly, raising an eyebrow at her fake modest look. Listening intently.

"That mode of thought is rather intriguing...I wish more people around here and in the Capital would reuse a few more things instead of just pitching them, it's irritating...you know, I will have to visit someday...otherwise I do believe my head will implode."

He was at least glad that hse didn't appear annoyed with him. He pushed the plate at her and shook his head ruefully.

"Just tea, thanks. I'm good as far as food goes."

He glanced over to his window, the curtain was drawn but through the cracks it looked like the sun was on its way down. Damn, he certainly knew how to waste a day...his nephew was right.

Without looking, he would take the tea again, when offered and sip at it absently.

"You know, I really appreciate this...I don't have many friends, Heilyn."

He mumbled, blushing a bit and sipping more tea, the taste of alcohol was still strong, but he just assumed that was from the last cup.

((OOC: There's no way for Heilyn to know this, so just let her keep preparing the tea the way she normally would...but poor Bernard usually only takes vodka in his first...maaaaybe second cup of tea, after that it's just tea XD Otherwise...he gets...heh. Anyway, we'll have to see where this ends up <3))