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| RP Suites — Hospital Room at Ignis |
| Provided in-scene |
| July 09, 3013 |
Since the day of Lorelei's Awakening, Nitrim and her had been sending messages back and forth. Polite messages, each and every one, but the question that hung in the air was about what exactly had happened in that ice cave. Now, days have passed and Nitrim finds himself laying on a medical bed at the Pit on Ignis. Trapped within a hospital, he lays with his entire upper-right quadrant of his torso encased in a metallic device. His right arm sticks out of the device, locked into a stationary position while the medical unit holds his collarbone to his torso. His ribs are bandages and he lays in a quiet silence, watching a horror movie on a large vid-screen while waiting for guests…one in such being Lorelei, who he summoned to meet him earlier that day.
Lorelei will slowly make her way in, dreading this. she knows, but doesn't want to admit any of it. she's dressed in one of the dresses that Una had made for her, so , mush more expensive than she'd ever have on her own. she's stepping tentatively, but there's no limp anymore from the twisted ankle. A faint pink scar that will soon fade is on her left cheek, while the scars on her hands will probably fade as well, just take longer. Her hair is loose, her bangs falling lightly in her eyes, giving her something to hide behind. Her eyes will flicker to the horror movie, a frown crossing her face. She's never liked suck things. She work her jaw a moment, this was a bad idea…she should come back later…like never, and will turn at the door to hopefully leave before he sees her.
"Miss Quellton…"
The words break the light din of the screams on the screen. Catching her just before she gets to the door, the Khourni lordling turns his head to watch her from his place on the bed. He couldn't move without much aid to chase after her, but something tells the man that he doesn't have to. He reaches to the remote control beside the bed and presses pause. The video pauses just as some kind of arachnid is bearing down on a tough-guy character designed to leave the remaining cast less capable of the fight ahead.
"I'm glad you came." He starts, raising his voice just a little down that the movie isn't on anymore. "I trust you didn't have much trouble getting through the Ways?"
6 damned. She'll force a small smile, "No…it was fine. I can come back later, my lord. when you're done watching…that."She'll glance nervously at the door, like she still might bolt. A smaller, but more genuine smile appears briefly, "You weren't joking about the collar bone, huh?" He's practically immobile. she'll reach up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, but doesn't move any closer to the bed.
"No, I wasn't. Something threw this massive hover-cart for ore at me and there just wasn't enough room to get away. It's hands-down the most painful thing I've ever experienced." Nitrim replies with a wry, almost pained smile. Tucking the sheet over his belly, he motions for her to join him and looks for where the rolling chair, the one everyone would rather sit on than the uncomfortable stationary one, has gone to. "It's fine, the movie was just starting, Miss Quellton. It's nothing that I can't stop and resume, after all, you came all this way." A beat. "How are you feeling?"
Lorelei's jaw clenches slightly. why won't anyone ever let her run away? She'll move slowly to the rolling chair, "I've very sorry you're hurt. Are you on pain medicine for it? Do you need anything?" Maybe she can distract him with his own injury? She'll look down at her hands, her cheeks already doing a weird combination of paling and flushing at the same time. "My ankle is mostly better, I just have to move slow. My hands are fine, the scars should be gone in a few weeks….all in all, not so bad." She knows that snot what he meant, but that's what she's willing to offer.
Ignoring the movie, Nitrim's eyes follow her as she crosses the room and takes a seat. The edge of his lip twists in a smile and he gives a slow shake of his head. "It's fine. That which doesn't kill us, right? Besides they've got that whole part of my body numb. I can barely feel a thing now." He admits, motioning to a small plate of cookies beside his bed, there's five left, more than enough for her to take one for herself. "You're going to be fine, you know." She'll know that's not what he means, but that's how he starts this.
Lorelei looks to the cookies and nods, but doesn't reach for one. With another forced smile, she'll keep her eyes down cast, "That's what you keep saying…" Her breathing is rather shallow , like she's expecting something. Her hands nervously start playing with the edge of her sleeve.
Nitrim frowns. It's not a dissapointed smile, but the smile of someone watching another human being suffer through mourning. However, in this case, Nitrim is familiar with the mental territory, the nervousness, and the insecurity, as he made the transition once as well. "I won't force this conversation on you if you don't want it, Lorelei. It's not my place and for the moment, don't look at me as Lord Nitrim, okay? But…if you want to hear what I have to say, I do have something prepared to say to you."
Lorelei lets out a small nervous laugh. They always say that. "Of course I don't want to hear this." she'll let her eyes finally come and she'll run a hand over her face, "I know you saved me from…I know it was you. I remember your voice. I owe you enough to listen." her lower lip trembles nervously, and watch him with wide eyes.
"But do you want to listen?" Nitrim fires back, cocking an eyebrow. "You owe me nothing, Lorelei. Nothing at all. This, I swear, is not a lecture."
Lorelei wants to go back the way things were before. that's what she wants. She'll wince slightly, "No…i think I do owe you, Nitrim." He wants her to be informal, fine. she can do that. Swallowing, "I have two friends whoa re…but neither one is around…I don't know why. And I don't know if I should be afraid to sleep, or go hide by myself….or what. I'm way to old for this…." she'll blink, almost afraid of what he's going to tell her.
"Take a cookie." Nitrim says, pointing to the plate. "You can repay me by taking a cookie. Take the time to just…enjoy a cookie and get out all of your fears and questions, because from this point forward I want you to understand that you're not in the presence of someone who's going to take advantage of your situation. I'm your friend, Lorelei, and thank you for trusting me enough to come."
Lorelei frowns slightly and will shake her head, "no. You and I both know that a cookie isn't going to do it." She'll let out a soft sigh, "They weren't just nightmares, were they?" She'll rub her forehead, like it's hurting, "I don't understand how this could even happen. shouldn't I have….exploded something when I was 10…or always got my way, or….some kind of indicator?"
"Sometimes there aren't any indicators, warnings, but in this case there were. You were having dreams." Nitrim replies, lowering his voice to a quiet volume meant just for the two of them. "None of us can tell if they're just regular dreams or Awakened dreams, and they're not always frightening, but I figured you were too old to be primed for Awakening…and yet here you are." He chews his lip and struggles, sitting up just a little bit. "You shouldn't view this as a horrible thing, Lorelei. There's an amazing new world for you to explore and your Awakening was a view of your full potential. For now, your potential is likely very little. You don't have to fear accidentally burning your loved ones, or anything like that."
Oh…even the awaken don't know. That's not…encouraging. She was hoping there was a secret hand shake and decoder ring and meeting to explain this…. Loree closes her eyes, trying to not look like she's on the edge of tears, "I have yet to find anything amazing about this."A shaking breath and her eyes open, "I can't hurt anyone? You're sure?" this is the first sliver of hope that's entered her voice since she arrived.
"Honestly, dear, you're probably less likely to cause enough of a spark to make a kid giggle, right now. As you grow into it and learn to do what you've been chosen to learn, you'll be able to help, defend, care for your loved ones in ways you never thought possible." Nitrim replies, motioning to her with a sympathetic look on his face. "You're a poet. Were you aware that when you read your poetry to someone you cared about, that now you can read the words and send them the exact emotion you mean to convey? You could make flowers move to face the sun. Not all applications of what we are is what people like I do, Lorelei."
Lorelei nods, although there's the briefest flicker of annoyance. she doesn't knowwhat she can do. She's barley slept for fear of this. "I…umm…That's not what I meant…I'm not a fighter. I barley kept it together in the ice. " She'll shutter before giving him a small smile, "That's cheating….sending emotions. Poetry should carry itself." she knows that has nothing to do with this, but her mind is skittering about, looking for anything she can have some kind of control over. she'll nod, "so…what do I do?"
"Well, the first thing that you should do is take a deep breath and understand and know that you're not a ticking timebomb." Nitrim replies, settling into a relaxed state. "You're not going to do what you did again on accident, it was just a very ill-timed Awakening, and with luck you survived it. From this point on, I suppose the question is what would you like to do? Do you want to learn? Do you want to keep this like a slightly adjusted sense? This shouldn't be at all about what others want for you."
Lorelei's eyebrows come together, Nitrim makes her feel safe enough to admit this, "I don't…I'm afraid of enclosed spaces…it wasn't an accident. It…exploded out of me…I remember that much. I just…I couldn't die….not like that." The flush actually takes over the paleness of her cheeks now, admitting that.Her eyes flicker over to the plate of cookies and she'll pick one up. She doesn't eat up but at least now she has something in her hands. "I don't think that's a fair question…You just said I could protect people I cared about with this. I can't…not. Even if I don't want to, I can't not learn." she'll grimace, "I don't suppose understanding the dreams or remembering them more helps any, does it?" She's only getting pieces, but they were scary enough.
Running a hand over the top of his head to scratch the back of his neck, Nitrim looks away from her and bobs his head up and down in an understanding nod. "That explains why it kicked off there, yeah. I'm really glad we got you out of there, then. Lady Elodie's very good at what she does; a very caring girl." He comments and then looks back to her. He smiles widely, trying to encourage her. "Think of it this way. You're turning eighteen, a grown woman, you have the opportunity to learn anything at Academ that you wish. Every course, every experience, every bit of campus life is available to you. It's up to you to decide just how it changes you, if at all. THIS, Lorelei, is on your terms. The dreams? They come and go and sometimes they make life more interesting for good or for bad, but I swear…they get easier to manage."
Lorelei 's just looking at him as if she doesn't quite believe him. she hears his words, but… all the horrible things Taryn kept saying keeps echoing through her head. she'll nod though, no use focusing on the bad, that'll come no matter what. The cookie, still not tasted is moved back and forth between her hands. "so…what do I do? Eilara's been so busy, and I can't seem to find Lord Aidan now…" and she'll be damned before she asks Keanen.
"I have a meeting coming up with Aidan, but I have a number of Awakened friends and any single one of them, I believe, would be willing to be a friend and late-night counselor for you, myself included." The lord of Khournas reaches out and takes up his own cookie, pausing for a bite from it. "I can introduce you to them and you can ask all different kinds of perspectives. If you want to learn, you'll have to find a mentor, and there are three different flavors of our magics, if you will. One is of nature, another of science, another of the arcane. I'm of the science, though not calculator-type science, but more the black mathematics of Hermeticism and alchemy."
"Lord Aidan helped me with Hubert…spoke with him." Loree blinks as the realization she could speak with her horse almost brings a smile to her lips. Not quite, but there's her silver lining, she guesses. "I don't know how…public I want this. " She's apparently not heard the rumor yet. "At least not till I'm better used to the idea." A piece of the cookie finally breaks off in her hand, "I mean," eyes going down to the broken cookie, "I'm not opposed to meeting anyone, I just…it's a lot. My biggest worry has always been how to get out of the house without Ma and Da trying to marry me off or if I'd even get published." the rest she nods to, but it's clear it's almost too much to consider yet.
"Well, being able to speak, understand, see through the eyes of animals is something you could definitely have in your future. I see through the eyes of Daliah all of the time, but if you could only imagine riding in the senses of a bird, you'd find there's so much you can learn about life now that you couldn't before." Nitrim breaks off another piece of cookie and shoves it in between his teeth for a chew. While he talks, he chews, and motions to her with the remaining chunk of cookie. "This is new for you, but not for me, so understand that all you have now is a new muscle. You should take a lot of pride in the fact that you are who you are and that you won't use your powers in a non-Lorelei way. It's okay to be a little scared, but it's okay to be excited, too."
Lorelei nods, actually know a lot more about borrowing than the normal person does. She'll blink, "I'm not…excited. I just want to be able to sleep again, and not be scared." She'll reach up and rub her nose, not really looking like she's gonna cry anymore, just baffled as to what to do next, "Are all the birds just normal dreams, or awakened?" She'll take a bite of the broken cookie without thinking, and then almost looks surprised when there's cookie in her mouth.
"It's going to be hard to tell which dreams are your own and which are prophetic-type." Nitrim admits. Normally, he'd shrug a shoulder, but he's locked down tight, which he's been reminded of as he grimmaces. The metal device locking him down. "And you're not going to get them all of the time. I have plenty of nights where I don't dream, and I still have plenty of dreams that aren't disturbing. So you really should go to sleep, there's no pain in it. The other thing to remember is that even if the dream seems gruesome that doesn't mean that it means something bad."
Lorelei grimaces in sympathy, "Oh…be careful!" She'll actually roll her chair closer, as if that's somehow going to stop him from moving and hurting himself. This when situation is way easier if she has something else to worry about, "Do you need anything? When's the last time you had pain meds?" She'll frown , taking another bite of her cookie deliberately now, "Don't tell me there's no pain…they were cutting into me. I nearly threw myself off the hay loft. It meant something bad."
"Pain meds and a time machine?" Defeated by his medical contraption, Nitrim settles back against his pillows with a sigh. Someone so often known for wandering the Ways, being in one bed for days on end must be killing him. Eyes closed, he smiles wistfully. "I didn't say there wasn't a downside, but you know, like anyone with allergies, a hearing loss, some different condition in life, after a while you barely notice the difference. All of this just becomes who you are. I have faith in you Lorelei. You care about people. Six guide us if you'd been a bloodthirsty girl."
Lorelei stands up and walks over to the foot of his bed where his chart is, looking to see if he's due for meds anytime soon. she can go get a nurse is so. "Well, i can't do anything about the time machine…" she'll try to not make a face as he compares what's happened to her with a condition. she knows, but still….she'll blink when he finishes talking, looking up, "why do you say that?"
Nitrim cracks an eye open.
"Because, Lorelei, this is no different than anything else in your life. You've used a knife to cut bread before, aye? But would you rob someone with one? Would you cut someone with one? What if someone innocent was in danger? What you have now can be a weapon, a tool, or simply just something that you use as conservatively or liberally as you choose." He smiles quietly. "I have some friends that prefer to just be people, and rarely, if ever, access their power."
Lorelei glances down and shakes her head, a small smile actually gracing her lips, "Oh…yeah….you could use more. They've got you on some pretty heavy stuff, it looks like." She'll set his chart back down, sighing , "I know…I don't want to hurt anyone…but if I can help. If I can make it so someone else won't get hurt…isn't that my responsibility? I know too many people fighting in this war, doesn't that mean if I just sat back, that I wasn't helping them?" she's not completely convinced of this, but is clearly leaning that way.
"Miss Quellton, I can't answer that question for you, can I?" Nitrim sighs with relief as he learns that he's due for medication. Blindly, he reaches for the nurse's call button on the cord and offers it to Lorelei. "All I can answer for you is that you have people who care for you, believe in you, and that believe that you're going to be just fine and, from medical bed or not, think you're going to live a long, happy life Awakened or not…and I think that's a very good thing, don't you?"
Lorelei takes a deep breath. He could, technically. She'll frown not wanting to be a downer, so instead she'll nod, "You should get some rest after you get some pain meds. Not watch movies." She'll wrinkle her nose at his choice of movie. "If you want, I can come visit you tomorrow?" she hasn't moved to sit down again, and is standing at the foot of his bed, studying him.
"Sure, if that's what you'd like. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be in this thing but once I'm out I'd still be happy to see you." Nitrim replies, getting a little tired. He brushes a hand over his face as his lips part into a wolfish, tired yawn. "But you get some sleep too, okay? Don't be afraid of sleep at all. In the days ahead I'll introduce you to some of the others and you can decide where to go from there. There's no fire."
Lorelei nods and simply answers, "ok. I'm come by tomorrow. Do you need me to bring you anything?" He's alord probably not anything Loree can get him, but she feels like she should offer. she'll give him a smile, a real one, it actually reaches her eyes a moment, "Yeah…sleep does sound nice." she'll then laugh, "I don't know what dreams you've been having…but there's plenty of fire." It's hard to tell if she's joking, or serious and trying to make light of it. She'll hesitate a moment more, then walk over to the side of his bed that has his free arm, "I know you said I didn't need to, but…" She'll lean down and place a soft,chaste kiss on his cheek , if he allows. "Thank you." straightening up, she's blushing again, "I'll…see you tomorrow." And with a smile, she'll leave, unless he stops her.
Waiting for the nurse, Nitrim smiles at the kiss to his cheek and raises an arm to wave goodbye for her. Everyone knows the rumors. Nitrim's had plenty of kisses, so unlike her he doesn't blush, instead he takes it in stride. "Maybe a book? I'm going to probably run out of movies soon, and maybe something good to eat? Hospital food, you know…" He chuckles, flashing a smile towards her. "And don't come back until you've had a good night's sleep, okay? Get some sleep and when you wake up and for that one moment in the morning you completely forget about all of this stuff, realize that's going to be almost every morning ever. So you sleep tight, alright?"