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Post by Bee on Dec 4, 2010 0:24:20 GMT -5
Ananta decided to take a break when she got thirsty. There were plenty of Spades around to create some pure drinking water, but Ananta wasn’t really in the mood to socialize in any capacity. All she could imagine at the moment was rooting her fist in someone’s nose or windpipe. Thus, to the small nearby river she went, intending to collect a bit of water and boil the bacteria into submission.
She leaned down to the water with her canteen, and then she noticed a nearby fire, and at it, the boy from before, his back turned to her, bent and focused on something. For a moment she did nothing, merely collected her water and watched him. She wasn’t thinking of much of anything, certainly not making another go at helping him, but evidently her limbs had decided it was a good call, because a second later she was slipping her canteen back into her knapsack and walking over.
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Dark
Five of Diamonds
Bladed Hare
You are not prepared.
Posts: 2,105
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Post by Dark on Dec 4, 2010 0:24:56 GMT -5
Dev had set up camp, and started a fire. Under normal circumstances, he would have liked somewhere more secluded, but the necessity for fresh water made him reconsider and settle down close to the stream. He boiled it, and flushed out his wounds.
Besides the wound to his stomach, the rest of the cuts and scraps weren’t life-threatening, but he rubbed a bit of salve into each to expedite the healing process. The stomach wound needed a bit closer attention, and after he flushed it out a second time, he retrieved a sharp needle and a length of fine, sturdy thread; both had been boiled with the water so they’d be clean.
There was something fascinating about stitching flesh back together.
Dev had just begun when he heard someone approaching. He fought down rising ire—he really didn’t want to deal with anyone right now—and turned to assess the situation.
Oh. “It’s you.”
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Post by Bee on Dec 4, 2010 0:25:22 GMT -5
Ananta’s face retained its default setting: expressionless. She looked him up and down, privately pleased, at least, that he had given himself some attention, even if he hadn’t made the probably-wiser decision of finding an actual physician. His lack of enthusiasm didn’t bother her. He hadn’t been enthused before. But her feet had already carried her here, so she might as well do something. There was nothing she hated more than wasted time.
“Do you need assistance?” she asked. She didn’t have hands, no matter how much she craved them and strove for them, but little numbat-digits were quite agile and dexterous, and having someone else take care of the wound was, generally, much better than doing it yourself. It wasn’t pleasant, slipping a needle through your own flesh, stopping up your own blood and tending infection; she’d had that regrettable experience before. Quite a few times, actually.
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Dark
Five of Diamonds
Bladed Hare
You are not prepared.
Posts: 2,105
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Post by Dark on Dec 4, 2010 0:25:25 GMT -5
Dev eyed her with borderline disbelief, and no small level of growing suspicion. The woman really was too much: first, butting in at the marketplace and now showing up to offer medical assistance, with him camped in the middle of nowhere. Coincidence? Unlikely. Why would she be so willing to help a total stranger, and take up a fight not her own? To prevent unnecessary murder, she had said, and wasn’t that rich. But she had still cared enough to interfere on his part, whatever the real reason might have been, and that didn’t go as far as to explain why she had approached him again. Or found him.
“Are you following me?”
He wasn’t sure what he would do with her if she actually was following him, but he would deal with that particular issue if and when it came to that. There wasn’t any particular reason he could think of that she’d feel compelled to do so, unless she was spying on him for the benefit of the men he hunted—but if that was the case, why had she helped him in the marketplace?
Regardless, there was no way he was trusting her with the needle.
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Post by Bee on Dec 4, 2010 0:25:42 GMT -5
“Only incidentally,” she said, with a minute shrug. She wiggled her canteen by way of explanation. “Just getting water.”
The miscreants who had attacked him had either really put him on his guard, or people had been following him for quite some time now. The who and the how long and the why, she didn’t know. She was trying to keep herself from being curious—it was none of her business; every wary bit of body language from the kid let her know that he thought it was none of her business, too; and she really didn’t need to get involved in the mess of someone who was, by all indications, a snot—but the effort was futile and she grudgingly acknowledged it as such. Perhaps the paranoia of being pursued was causing his behavior.
In any event, he still needed to be stitched up. “You should let me do that.”
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Dark
Five of Diamonds
Bladed Hare
You are not prepared.
Posts: 2,105
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Post by Dark on Dec 4, 2010 0:26:05 GMT -5
Dev considered; it was quite possible it was all one big coincidence--people needed water, after all, and he was the dumbass camped right next to the only stream for miles; the chances of someone wandering by were fairly high--but that it was her, especially after what had transpired in the market earlier, made him on edge. He didn’t trust her, not at all. But--he starred at the tiny needle and thread--he could use the help; it was a bit of an awkward angle, and the faster it got stitched up the better.
What damage could she do with a needle, besides? Quite a bit, actually--she could stab him in the eye, or jam it through his temple--but he imagined the process would be hindered slightly by the sturdy thread attached to it and stitched into his flesh. Maybe. He supposed she could manage it if she was determined enough.
It was disquieting that she wanted to help, and he couldn’t help but wonder about her motives, but he really could use the help. If she tried anything, he’d deal with it then.
“…alright.”
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Post by Bee on Dec 4, 2010 0:26:12 GMT -5
“Thank you for your cooperation in this matter,” she said, seriously. It boded well that he was able to relent in this small thing, even if he didn’t look wholly comfortable with the situation. She was just going to have to do a swift, efficient and painless job, then.
Ananta never imagined she’d have fine hands as a human, necessarily; she handled weaponry and played in the dirt far too often for that; but they were steady and confident and nimble as they were, and suspected they would remain such later. She took the needle from him gently and set about finishing the stitches, quick and intensely focused, with a small frown of concentration. She had a particular talent for narrowing her scope to the most minute of tasks. It served her well, generally, no matter how trivial the task might seem.
She broke the thread and tied it off.
Neat and clean.
“There,” she said, satisfied. “I hope that was moderately painless.”
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Dark
Five of Diamonds
Bladed Hare
You are not prepared.
Posts: 2,105
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Post by Dark on Dec 4, 2010 0:26:22 GMT -5
Dev nodded slightly in acknowledgement, vaguely uncomfortable with the focus she had given his wound and her overly formal speech; he couldn‘t decide if she was serious, or subtly mocking him. Still, her stitches had been small and proficiently sewn, and she hadn’t tried to stab him with the needle--besides what was necessary to stitch close his wound. He still didn’t trust her, or her motives, however--
“Thank you.”
He retrieved the needle and thread before she could change her mind, and put them away in his pack, before poking at the fire, uncertain with how to proceed. Good manners suggested he repay her kindness, but--he still didn’t trust her, and he’d never been keen on good manners either. Still, the silence was awkward.
His gaze slid toward the stream, registering the splash of fish as they leapt from the water for their dinner, and felt his stomach growl in response. It had been awhile since he had eaten.
“…want some fish?”
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Post by Bee on Dec 4, 2010 0:26:46 GMT -5
She hadn’t connected the water with fish; it was strange, the fundamental leaps the mind could fail to make when it was raised in the right environment. The Wastes had several words for different kinds of sand but only one for snow. Some royals, she’d heard, saw items as gardening tools instead of weapons.
There were very few edible fish to be had in the part of the Wastes her family had roamed. They had been regarded as a sort of rare seasonal treat, usually accompanying some celebration or other. The memory threatened both a smile and a frown. Her face split the difference and retained its typical expression of neutral severity. She wouldn’t think about it.
“I would enjoy that very much, thank you.” The young man seemed prepared to do the fishing himself. She grabbed her satchel and rooted through it. “I have fruit to contribute. Are you fond of apples?”
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Dark
Five of Diamonds
Bladed Hare
You are not prepared.
Posts: 2,105
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Post by Dark on Dec 4, 2010 0:26:48 GMT -5
Dev eyed the apples with poorly concealed surprise, his mouth immediately starting to water. Fruit was hard to come by in the Wastes; it was mostly imported, and cost a pretty penny. That she was offering to share such a coveted prize was beyond his comprehension, but he wouldn’t refuse. (He would make sure she ate first, to be sure of poison, of course, but he couldn’t really imagine anyone befouling a sweet, glorious apple with poison.)
He settled for nodding, and tried not to think about the sweet treat while he fashioned a spear out of a relatively straight stick and set himself to his task. It took a certain finesse to skewer the quick, agile flashes of silver darting about the pool, but Dev was quick and precise and soon had a respectable number of fish for their supper.
The entrails went into the skillet to be fried with a pinch of spice from the small pouch he carried for such occasions, and the fish were cleaned and skewered on the spear-turned-spit to be cooked over the fire. His stomach growled in anticipation.
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