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| RP Room one, standing in as mostly the medical wing of Shelter |
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| IC date of RP |
After being out in the snow for several days, Tiriel finally makes her way home empty handed which doesn't make her any the more happier. She comes into the warmth and as the door seals she reaches to finally pull her helm from her head. On one side of her head is a rather large bruise with several trickles of blood running down the side of her head and down and into her suit.
Dressed in sombre clothing, a warm cloak around her shoulders, Elodie is pacing the hallways, or prowling, however you wish to term the constant strike of her feet being heard on the stone floor. As the door is opened, she turns her steps back that way. Recognizing the armor, she quickens her steps. "Tiriel!" she calls out, her voice mingled relief and joy, until she sees the blood and bruising. "What in the devil were you thinking?" her tones and words turn instantly to something more of a scolding nature. "Traipsing around with a wound like that? Come on. We need to fix that before Una sees you and has a heart attack." The arms that reached out hug the knight in greeting now turn to escort her towards a private room in the medical wing.
Tiriel looks up to Elodie, "I am fine. Just came back to get some food and then go back out there." She reaches up and holds her head a moment, pushing the cobwebs away as she's done for a while now. She tries to push away and shakes her head, "I will be fine."
Elodie's grip tightens. "You and Ronan," she says with exhasperation. "I want that Hostile Leader dead as much as you do, but neither of you seem to be taking into account how much Una needs all of us, right now. /Especially/ you." Her blue eyes turn to Tiriel sharply. "She /needs/ you, Tiri. Probably more than she needs a Hostile's head."
Tiriel looks to her sister-in-law and rolls her eyes after she realizes the other woman is right. "I just…" As her voice trails off. "Is she all right?"
Elodie eyes Tiriel, then gives her a grin. "I hope you're not trying to lull me into a false sense of security by giving in so easily," she teases, but her grip loosens as she walks. She shakes her head. "She's been keeping herself busy. She's made sure to check in with us, to see how we are doing… but I don't think she's… I think she is pushing down her emotions, she's…" she pauses as she opens the door to one of the rooms and leads Tiri in, motioning for her to take off her armor.
Tiriel listens and lifts a brow to Elodie's words, "She is what?" As she settles down and begins to remove all the armor as leave herself in just the clothes beneath. "Not giving in easily. You know my weak spot is Una…"
By ducking her head, Elodie hides the little smirk at the admission of Tiriel's weakness. "She's quiet. And, I mean, quiet… by our standards." Her voice is serious at the last statement, and she scans the wound before beginning to clean it. "You're lucky," she murmurs as she works at it. "The cold kept the swelling down. You could have bled into your brain instead out of it with a wound like this."
Tiriel gives a bit of a nod, "I also came back to check on her." She looks to Elodie and shakes her head, "I just… I ran off in anger and then thought that she would need me here instead of out hunting the bastard." She looks to the floor and slowly sighs, "I… I was just so angry and had to."
Elodie's hands move with experience and deftness as she cleans the wound and then seals it with new skin. "I know," she says quietly. "I… Ro can't talk about it either. I still don't know… /what/ happened. I just know… that I've lost both of my parents without having a chance to … see them again. To even try…" She tends the wound and cleans it up. "I'm giving you a dose to make sure you don't get internal swelling on your brain, and to help the cracks in your skull to heal. I'd like you to stay around here for a couple of days, take the doses twice a day and get completely healed before you set out to find the Hostile Leader again." Her smile is grim. "And by then Ronan will be well enough to go with you. I know he wants to go as well."
Una has been more than scarce the last couple of days. Thankfully there's been plenty to keep her busy, so the fact that she's not been out of her rooms save on business isn't as glaringly obvious as it could be. Still, this is the first time she's been to the medical wing since the Hostile battle. Dressed in black leggings and a charcoal grey tunic belted at the waist, her hair pulled away from her face with thick black bands, she steps through the doors carrying two datapads. And nearly drops them when she sees that Elodie is not alone. And to hear the words Elodie speaks, about brain-swelling and skull healing, she turns a great deal paler than normal. Which is to say, pretty damn ghostly.
"I am fine." Tir speaks to Una as she sees her and reaches out for the other woman's hand. "Little thing on my head and your sister is overreacting."
Elodie rolls her eyes. "She is fine… /now/. And as long as she takes the doses I'll measure out for her." She gives the knight a level look before she turns to look at her sister. "She's as stubborn as Ro, but at least I don't have to put 6 mg of Morphine in her in order to treat her." She reaches a hand to Una's shoulder to squeeze gently before she gets out of the way so the spouses can greet each other.
Una's grip on the datapads tightens until her knuckles are white. The light grows in her eyes, and for a few minutes it looks like there is going to be some very angry yelling. But Elodie's squeezing manages to calm Una down enough for her to nod and deflate a little. Dropping the datapads on the nearest table, she reaches for Tiriel's head with both hands to inspect the patched wound for herself. "Fine." She mutters, "Is what you said you were when you came back from that ice bear attack."
Tiriel looks up to her wife and grimaces a bit, "I am fine." She says and sighs a bit as her hands go up to take her wife's. "Go easy on the head, there. It's a bit sore." She admits and then rises up to look at Una, "How are you?" She searches Una's eyes for a bit, "And don't lie to me."
Ronan comes in to check on his sister. As far as he is concerned Tiriel is just another sister.. well sort of.. that would make her and Una's relationship a bit awkward, but besides that.. she's like a sister. The youngest of the Iahs stops in the doorway, leaning agaist the frame, looking as casual and lanquid as a cat. He grins slightly, "So how is everyone?" He has that 'yeah I had way too much to drink last night' look on his face. Also, his hand is casually resting on his right side, just like it's a convenient place for it to be.
With a tiny wince, Una allows her hands to be pulled away from Tiriel's head. Her eyes flicker to Elodie, the message clear to Tiriel: she doesn't want to speak the truth in front of her baby sister. Or Ronan, who enters just as she is looking over. She nods to her brother, as both of her hands are currently held in Tiriels', looks Tiriel in the eye, raises and eyebrow, and says in an imitation of her wife's tone, "I am fine." There's just a hint of teasing in her voice, enough to suggest she isn't /completely/ despair-bound.
"So, have you come for your dose of boneset?" Elodie asks her little brother, turning her back to Una and Tiriel for a moment. She rummages through the cabinets to find what she needs for brother and sister. She gives a smile at the return teasing, at least that much is still 'healthy'. She puts one to the side, then sets some others to the other side. Taking the first one, she beckons to her brother as she approaches for him to roll up his sleeve.
Tiriel gives Ronan a bit of a look over and lifts a brow. She gives Ronan a click of her teeth for a bit, "Please. Tell me you didn't get drunk." She speaks and peers at the knight. "I know the time is awful but you are a knight. I could have used you out there. Instead… You get drunk. What sort of bright idea is that?"
Ronan looks at Una, "Cut the crap, Una… I believe you about as much as I do, when Tiriel says something like that. You're not fine, Elodie is not fine, Triel isn't fine… I'm not fine.. We can put on the brave face for everyone else, but it's alright to not be fine with us." Then Tiriel lays into him. He sighs, "And I was told that I was in no condition to go back out. You think I didn't want to just jump down that hole right then and there?"
Una's eyes flash, first in defense of her brother, then herself. "He /was/ in no condition to go out." She murmurs after a pause to control herself, working to keep her voice calm even though a slight tremor can now be heard. "And neither were you."
"It was my bright idea," Elodie says evenly, but that's all she can say evenly, since her voice breaks through the next few sentences. "Forgive me for being selfish and keeping you down one knight. But I'd already lost one member of my family, and I feared losing another. I dosed him unconscious, and you're lucky that I haven't done the same to you." Her head bows, and instead of giving Ronan his hypo, she instead leans against the cabinets, her eyes closing tightly.
Tiriel looks to the sister and then the brother and takes in a deep breath. "We are all grieving in our own ways." She looks to Una and into the other woman's eyes, "It was not that I was down on night… I did not want him to be drunk and causing people to not look upon their rulers as weak." Her eyes flash to the others, "We cannot be as such in this time of our need. Pain is all around us…"
Ronan shrugs slightly, "Well, you can look at it like this me getting drunk and having a good time… is reminding people that everything is status quo." He grins slightly, slight dimples framing the corner of his mouth as he does, "If I was all serious and everything, then people might start to worry… And drinking and partying was exactly what I was suppose to do… 'Die and I made a showing at Young Lord Volen's little beach party last night… I figured that it was a good thing for us to respond to the invitation, and I didn't think that the two of you were really going to be in the mood for pointlessness." There is a sobriety about him that's a little unsettling actually. "Now, if you're through biting my head off… I'll ask again.. How is everyone?" He looks to Una, "And this time, I would like an honest answer… We kind to need to know how you, especially, are… "
"El… " Una turns to her sister, starting to reach out to her. Tiriel's words bring her back, though, and she pulls short to nod. Reaching a hand to her forehead, she closes her eyes for a moment. "I can't… " Her voice cracks, not unlike Elodie's, and she takes a moment more to strengthen it. But its impossible, with the words everyone seems to desperately to want from her. "She died. Right in front of us, that Hostile… we couldn't do anything. I wanted to… destroy him myself… " She tightens her hold on Tiriel's hand, a silent thanks despite her worry for having hunted him down, "But to loose another of you… both of you in here… wounded… "
Elodie is spared having to explain to Tiriel that representing the family at the Lord Volen's affair and that Ronan drinking at such a function was not out of the way, or making him appear weak, by Ronan beating her to it. An anomaly that's not lost on her, but she's too busy wrestling with her emotions to comment on it. "We cannot be as what, Tiriel? Ronan's right. Outside we do what we must, but here, alone? We can admit that our hearts are broken, that we feel pain, and that we're here for each other when it feels like it's too much to handle alone, we can handle it together." Her grief is evident in her shattered tones. "We can't just keep it all down inside, and run the risk of breaking at the worst possible time when being strong is the difference between life and death."
Tiriel lifts a hand and waves off some of what the other's say. "Outside here we are examples for everyone else." She touches her head a little bit, "Now more than ever. They look to us…" She winces a bit and moves to sit back down. "Being knights, we set the examples. I know there is pain. I know it is easier to drink and forget it… I'd rather that was done here and not out in the world."
Ronan clinches his jaws slightly. "You don't have to lecture me on what it means to be a knight, Tiriel… When the occassion calls for me to be all dignified and respectable I can play that role, just as easily as I can that of the social butterfly.. Someone has got to do that for the family…" He cocks his head, "Una can't, she has got to be the serious one… I'm not sure you could even if you weren't in the same boat as Una… You have always been a little prickly… Sure I like having fun… but that is kind of important too.. Well, not having but hobknobbing while I do it is."
"Let it be." Una, eyes still closed, manages to get some of the steel back into her voice. Its not much, but enough she hopes that she will be listened to. "We all did what we thought right. Now is not the time to be questioning one another's motives." She takes a deep breath, then opens her eyes and looks to her brother, "Ro. When you have time tomorrow, would you please come and speak with me about the party? I'd like to know how it went." Then to Elodie, "El, will you send messages to the healers that came to thank them for all of their help here?" She leans slightly against Tiriel as she speaks, needing some of her strength. What requests she has to make of her wife will wait for the moment.
"We've already told you that Ronan's behaviour was appropriate. He hasn't embarassed this family in way," Elodie tells Tiriel through clenched teeth, turning to face the woman. The old habit of sticking up for her little brother making it's way to the top of her brain that's floundering for survival among her turmoil. "I was there with him to make sure he didn't overdo it. Ronan. Was. Fine. He doesn't need to be told how to behave 'out in the world'." Her face is streaked with tears again, and she reverts to another age old habit… manhandling Ronan into what's best for him as she rolls up his sleeve and injects the hypo. She stills at Una's command, but her chin is set and a little tic works in her jaw, whether to choke back her sobs or because there's a lot more she'd like to say, it's not clear. "Already done," she says quietly.
Tiriel rubs at her head once more, "And once again I am the odd man out here." She shakes her head, "I am going to bed to get a good night of sleep and hopefully curl up with my wife." She rises up from her seat once more and looks to her armor, "I will take care of all of that tomorrow." She reaches to touch Una's cheek and smiles to her, "I love you." And then leans in to kiss her forehead before she looks to the other two, "I love the two of you but damn you get on my last nerve." She breathes in deep, trying to calm the headache she has now.
Ronan moves to Tiriel and goes moves to give her a hug, but he flinches. He takes a deep breath, "And I love you too… " Instead of a hug, he puts his left hand on her shoulder, offering a bit of a squeeze. He's putting on a 'I can deal with this face' but he's about in the same boat as Una and on the verge of breaking. "Rest well, you can bitch at me some more tomorrow…" He then moves past her to lean in and hugs Una, which he does regardless of the pain. "It will work out, Una… You'll make her proud.. I have no doubt of that… If you need to punch someone…" he pauses, "Well, hit Tir… she can take it better than me… but I'll be there if you want to beat someone with a pillow." He looks up at Elodie, "And yeah.. make the drum concert stop please."
Una sighs. She's starting to loose hope when Ronan speaks up. She returns his hug with a single arm, though she grips him tightly, nods and even manages a weak laugh. When he steps back, she gives Tiriel a smile and a nod, "I'll follow in just a moment." Then she turns to Elodie. Taking her sister in one arm and her brother in the other, she pulls both into a as tight a hug as she feels is safe (as in won't hurt the wounded Ronan). "Go easy on her." She murmurs to her sister, "She is nervous too, she was not raised to take on the position that is now suddenly hers. You're doing wonderfully though. And tomorrow we will speak again. We have plans to make, and I want your help. Both of your help."
"Give it a couple minutes, they should at least sound more like a light rain, if not go away completely," Elodie tells Ronan with a watery smile. She ducks her head and turns around, double checking the other hypos she's laid out while Una talks to her brother. When the chance for hugs comes, she puts both of her arms around Una, figuring that Ronan's already been 'babied' more than he can stand in the past couple days. She lets go and nods, wiping at the corner of her eyes. She lifts the two hypos and hands them to Una. "Make sure she gets these when she wakes up in the morning." She doesn't look at Tiriel after the last nerve comment, just rubs at her nose and works on composing herself before she'll be leaving the room.
Tiriel gives a little nod to Ronan. "I'll beat you with a staff." She says and smirks to her brother in law. "I am going away. Good night." As she casts one last look to all in the room and grumbles something under her breath as she touches the side of her head once more.
Una relaxes visibly as Elodie's anger cools. She gives her siblings one more hug and a small smile, then with a nod to her brother and sister turns to follow Tiriel out.
Ronan looks like he's about to say some smart ass remark to Tiriel that will most likely get him seriously hurt, but he shows restraint and doesn't. He nods to Una and doesn't resist the hug. "Of course.. you know I'll always be here for you Una… " He offers her a smile, then as Elodie gives him the medicine, he closes his eyes for a second, "Thanks…"
Watching the older women leave, Elodie sags against the cabinets where the medicines are kept. She lifts both hands, first to cover her face, then to scrub at it, erasing the tears and rubbing circulation back into her pale cheeks. Finally, she takes a breath and pushes away, turning around to make certain everything is in order before she closes it up. Her gaze stays downcast for the moment, having used up all her 'fight' with Tiriel.
Ronan walks over and slings his arm around Elodie's shoulders, "Come on… don't let Tir get the better of you… You know she's all bark and well a lot of bite… but mostly bark… " He smiles, "Come on… let's go find some trouble to get into…" He grins wider, "Well, trouble for me to get into and for you keep me out of."
Elodie gives a sniffle and grins up to her little brother… she has to grin 'up' to him, now, darnit. But she slides her arm around his waist, without any pressure, then turns and heads out to the corridor. "There's probably some trouble in the form of cookies in the kitchen," she offers. "And maybe a little bit of the hair of the dog that bit ya to wash them down with." She glances up as she reaches forward to open the door. "Speaking of the party last night, what did you think of Lady Dowling's dress?"
Having Been out on routine patrols, Morrigan has returned and made hsi report. and Wouldn't you know it, after 2 years, he still gets bloody lost in this bloody castle. Though if you consider the fact that he grew up in a tent, it makes sense. Hands shoved in his pockets, now that he's off duty and allowed to do things like that, he mutters quietly to himself as he makes his way along the corridor, pausing for a moment to look out a window and just slumps against the windowsill as he realizes he has managed to get farther from his intended destination
"A little bit of the hair of the dog… screw that.. I say we eat the whole damn pooch!" Ronan chuckles. He shakes his head, "Oh please… It was so out of date it's already come in and back out of fashion three times since it was made."
Elodie grins. "I thought the expression is supposed to be 'screw the pooch' not 'eat the pooch'." She looks up the corridor as they walk, and her eyes follow the unfamiliar man as he walks then stops to look out a window. "Well, I would have estimated twice, but you know more about fashion than I do… so I'll take your word for it. Who is that?" She nods her head towards the man who is now leaning against the sill.
Engrossed in tryuing to figure out where he is in relation to the rest of the world at the moment, Morrigan sighs as he thinks. Forehead pressed to the window he looks left, then right trying to take in as much of the landscape as possible and get his bearings. "Ok…Took a left at the kitchens, A right at the library…and a…left at the….Oh I should have turned right there…so that puts me….in…."
Ronan shrugs slightly, "Dunno… " He grins, "One way to find out." He leads Elodie over to the lost looking man. "It would put you by the medical center… where are you trying to be?" The teenaged Ronan asks.
Elodie angles her head first towards her brother, then towards the man who now appears to be lost. "I thought you knew everyone," she teases, her grin starting to appear a little more naturally, now.
Turning quickly. Morrigan comes to attention, he was afterall still in Uniform. Sergeants insignia on his shoulder. "My Lord!" the bark comes out a little louder than was meant to, he was startled afterall. "Barracks, My Lord, seem to have zigged when I should have Zagged, so to speak."
Ronan chuckles. "I don't know everyone… I just act like I do. After all, if you worry about not knowing someone, you waste all that time instead of getting to know them." He looks to the sergeant and smiles. "Barracks… The Barracks are like seven flights down… " Most knights would get all snarky about being just called lord, but right now, there are so many things more important to worry about. "We're headed past that point. Why don't you walk with Lady Elodie and me, at least that far."
Elodie raises here eyebrows in startlement at the first barked response, but his calmer response after being startled brings a softer smile of underestanding. She gives a nod of agreement to Ronan, "yes, we can make sure you don't get lost again. You must be new, I don't recognize you, and I saw most of the soldiers before I left."
Offering a polite Bow to Elodie, Morrigan speaks softly. "Morrigan Wolf My Lady…Fairly new I've only been here 2 years." Nodding to Ronan once more, he adds. "I would appreciate the assistance…buildings can be problematic for me."
Ronan chuckles, "Well, we do have over twelve hundred soldiers… Even I don't know all of them personally." He offers the man a smiles, "Come on, Sergeant." Ronan is walking more than a touch stiffly. "Luckily for you, I grew up here… so I know the place like the back of my hand… and luckily I know the short cuts." With that he leads Morrigan to the barracks, before he and Elodie go for cookies and whiskey.