Echos of a fateful meeting

[Feleti Eidothea]

Leti caught bastian's look and offered a small laugh. "It's mulberry juice, It just tastes nice." The dark juice was sort of reminiscent of blackberries with a sweet and tart flavour. There were no instructions for this one. Leti realized it must be odd constantly being handed new medicines and what not. Since he himself could identify a lot of medicinal herbs by smell he sometimes forgot that others just saw a bunch of leaves or paste.

It was nice not having to pressure bastian into eating either. He waited until bastian had finished off his food to fetch some clean supplies and had a better look at bastian's arm. It did seem like he had opened a wound in the night but it wasn't so bad that leti worried about infection. He cleaned it up, put a salve on it and bandaged it back up again. Bastian certainly was giving him quite the practice with bandaging.
Sitting back to look at the freshly tended arm he quietly contemplated letting bastian have the crutches. It would be good to get the guy moving around just a bit....but the last time had been such a disaster...

[Sebastian Arcturis]

Sebastian was only just getting used to being handed things. He still wasn't used to no asking about them. Mulberries. He sparred another contemplative thought for the dark liquid. Had he had mulberries before? Did Leti expect him to drink it? Was it supposed to help with something? His expression didn't hide his disbelief when Leti said it 'just' tastes nice. He tried it first and it was nice. A little too sweet but nice. Bastian finished most of the rice and some of the bread and juice. He felt a lot better though he didn't want to pack down food if he couldn't use it or might waste it again. He was still giving Leti odd appreciative looks every so often, still not sure how he managed to escape with not one lingering bad dream.

The man watched Leti tend to his arm, only offering a few winces. It was more acceptible collatoral to their ventures later night. He really shouldn't be working so much yet. Just when his injuries were closing... How long had it been even? Two weeks? Spending so much time unconscious made it difficult to track. Maybe closer to three weeks. It was good progress for where he had started, he realized.

He stretched carefully and then leaned back and got himself comfortable, deciding he would have to make an effort to not use that arm today to let it heal again. Which was mildly frustrating because he wanted to be doing other things and not just reading. Bastian didn't want to return to his feelings of yesterday. He'd felt particularly unmotivated then and right now he was motivated. The way his eyes followed Leti's while he worked probably implied what exactly he might be motivated to do, but he was honestly just watching.

"Perhaps I can watch you do chores?" He suggested. At least that would give him something to do rather than sit here alone.

[Feleti Eidothea]

Leti contemplated it and relented with a chuckle "well...alright, but just watching.." He stood and went to fetch the crutches from where he had stashed them away. It felt like ages since he had lent them to bastian.
He leaned them up so he could help bastian get to his feet "I guess it is important for you move around a bit...." But his tone made it clear that the first sign of bastian pushing his limits would see the removal of crutch privilege.

He did need to get a bit of work done in the garden.
Feleti helped bastian into the crutches with concern filtering back onto his face "do you need help with the stairs?" Those few steps had proved to be a pretty big hurdle recently.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

He nodded. Just watching. While it wasn't too difficult to hide things from a man who couldn't walk, he more than understood Leti's hesitation. It was not because he didn't know where the crutches were, but because he wasn't sure letting the soldier comport himself was a smart idea. Considering what had happened last time.

Bastian too would like to avoid that. He was slightly more inclined to share how he was feeling with Leti but it wasn't a natural inclination for the man. Certainly showcasing pain was not something he understood or liked doing.

Bastian too found it important to move. Clearly he was capable of picking himself up. His leg did in fact ache a lot with the nettle tea but he had become quite adept at ignoring it except when walking with support. The swearing spoke to that. He imagine his shoulder would hurt a lot today too.

He settled the crutches under his arms and took a minute of silence to adjust to standing. Bastian shook his head faintly. After a few awkward sligly painful steps however he relented. "A spotter would be welcome," he amended. It wasn't so much his leg but his shoulder, though he very careful kept that to himself. He liked crutch privileges and wanted to keep them.

There were only fifteen steps. The first one was easy. Fourteen steps between him and the stool at the table. He wasn't sure what chores Leti had to do but if he could make it that far he could handle anything. Just fourteen steps that he was determined to conquer. It took a while, but he only really stopped to give his shoulder a break and catch his breath after the first ten. It didn't hurt to breath but it was a lot. Bastian made it to the top panting slightly but intensely proud of himself over the stupidity of it all. Fifteen fucking steps and he wanted to take a nap.

The stool at the table never looked more inviting and he sank into it with a groan.

[Feleti Eidothea]

Even if bastian hadn't asked for one he'd have a spotter. Leti stayed within arm's reach of bastian the entire way, ready to catch him should the man lose his footing. Even though bastian had made the journey of those fifteen steps twice now Leti too felt a victory in every step.
When bastian made it to the top he was just as proud. As bastian settled into the stool at the table he refrained from clapping or voicing his congratulations...he knew it might wound the man's pride. The healer did of course offering a beaming smile and set some nettle tea on to boil.
He puttered about in the main room doing a few chores like counting stock while the water boiled. When the tea was ready he set a cup and the kettle near bastian at the table. "If anything starts to hurt have some of the nettle. I'll be just outside in the garden....but don't push yourself to join me." He instructed before wandering off to tend to the herbs, as he exited the cave he glanced back at bastian as if to say 'I mean it!'.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

He probably would have been embarrassed if the feat was recognized out loud, but as it was, the look from the other man and the smile, he couldn't help but return it, if only for a moment. He had known he could do it but there had admittedly been a moment there were he hesitated.

Even without words, Bastian knew what the water was for. He could tell from the smell once it was steeping too. Nettle. He grimaced unconsciously at the memory of the taste but he wpuld in fact drink it in silent admission that he needed it. He hardly needed the encouragement. "Yes, sir," he mumbled, still catching his breath.

He tried to supply a reassuring smile to Leti's look back. Message received. He waited until he caught his breath and finisbed the tea slowly and then even rested a bit longer to let it take effect, studying the hearth and the hanging herbs and how homey the cave really was.

Then he picked himself up and used the crutches to make his way outside. He paused at the entrance to cave to see what his friend was up to, leaning on the crutches heavily.

[Feleti Eidothea]

When bastian moved out into the sunlight he would find that leti was inspecting some vine like plants growing along some lattices against the outside of the cave. He turned from what he was doing to smile at bastian and gestured for him to sit at the bench. He wasn't about to give the man any work to do this time but he would let the man sit in the sun.
It would do him some good considering how much time he had spent in the darkness of the cave.

He turned back the garden and seemed to be pruning some of the plants.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

It was entirely enjoyable to be outside even for a little bit. Between the sunlight and fresh air and the breeze, he felt a renewed sense of being. He spent a lot of his time outside. The rest he spent in the castle and he hated every moment of it. It was more a subconscious hatred of course, Bastian didn't have an concept of hating a space or being an outdoor versus indoor person. But certainly walls, while logical and necessary, were not something his soul enjoyed. He had enough walls within that he preferred to not have any without.

Maybe that was why the cave bothered hin so much. Not that this was a conscious thought.

He watched Leti for a moment, not seeming to process the indication toward the bench, too caught up in the feeling of the sunlight kissing his skin and sending a shiver down his spine. It was a strangly likeable feeling. Finally he pulled himself out of it and moved to the bench to sit before he got any further warning looks.

The soldier watched the healer be a gardener in silence, only half really seeing him. He thought about asking for something to do, but he could also feel that Leti was pointedly not speaking to him, as if Bastian's presence was acceptable but only if he did exactly as told and nothing more.

He was silent for a while, watching Leti trim the plants and vines and tend to various other herbs. "You grow a lot here, he observed, his tone even. It was perhaps an awkward way to start conversation but he actually wanted to talk to Leti. Or have the man talk to him considering he couldn't add much to a discussion about plants. Still, as confortable as he was with silence and enjoying the sounds of the wind rustling leaves and birds (birds! He hadn't seen an animal in ages, so watching them overhead was stupidly satisfying), he really liked the sound of Leti's voice.

[Feleti Eidothea]

Leti hummed in acknowledgement but didn't answer immediately. He enjoyed bastian's company but it also felt as though it had been ages since he tended to the garden properly. Leti really did love gardening.
"It used to be rather small. When I was a lad I spent my time foraging around in the forests to find the herbs from the books. Whenever I found one I would bring it straight home." It was nice to reminisce a little. They hadn't been in desperate need, all the most important herbs had already been there, and there was quite a lot dried and stored away.
But anytime he found a nice fresh one and hauled it back up the mountain to show cain the man would beam with such a proud smile.
"Whatever we don't need we send off with the traders that visit the village. Perhaps some of the medicines even make it as far as the capital." He mused happily. There was often a lot of excess, greyshollow was a small village after all. They could probably have been making a tidy sum off the medicine but they usually traded it or sold it for cheap. Cain couldn't abide by the idea of a rich healer.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

He split his time between bird watching and watching Leti move about the garden. He was vaguely familiar with some of the plants from the bit of time he had spent reading and from a little personal experience. But healing and herbs had never been high on his list of things to know. Meanwhile Leti clearly knew his way around the garden and the herbs within. He listened attentively, finding it quite impressive and perhaps inspiring that the young man had done a lot of the work to make it what it was.

"Do not most children bring home animals?" He mused. He wasn't judging. Nor was he joking. Bastian himself had never had that sort of freedom. Nor had he ever had a pet.

It was quite noble of then to send away medicine like that. It didn't quite make sense to the man when he believed in equal trade, but he also understood. There was something both noble and entirely mundane about paying it forward like that. He hummed faintly. "You do a lot of good here," he said.

Bastian stretched his shoulders, massaging his left faintly. The nettle helped with the pain but everything felt tight.

[Feleti Eidothea]

Let chuckled he supposed maybe it was a bit weird but it had felt like challenge. Like a great big scavenger hunt. "Well...I might have taken a toad or two as well." He admitted though you couldn't keep many pets on a mountain. That and maybe it was living in such dense nature that left him feeling like he didn't need to own the animals. They were everywhere he looked regardless. Though he was very fond of the goats they kept.

He shrugged watching Bastian for a moment "I suppose so..." but he sometimes wondered if there weren't some where he could do more.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

"Ah," he said. Animals and plants apparently. He didn't exactly understand the need to own animals either. Companionship was the big one people claimed but he had a hard enough time understanding people. Animals just seemed like more work. Plants at least might be easier.

"Toads are alright. I like reptiles." Considering the piece of art he had sketched, that seemed obvious. He blinked to clear his mind of the thought, turning his attention to Leti.

The way Leti trailed off seemed to indicate something bothered him. "You...want to do good somewhere else?" He asked confused. He wasn't sure where the notion came from.

Considering that piece of art... Sebastian's attention grew distant. More than usual. If Leti answered him at all he wasn't listening.

[Feleti Eidothea]

Leti stood up from pruning the plants to stretch his back "It's just a feeling." He answered rather noncommittally, only to look over and find bastian was a bit checked out. He took another stretch and came to sit next to bastian on the bench.
"are you...tired? I can help you back inside if it gets too hot out here?" The sun was pretty strong up high on the mountain like they were.
Bastian's face was all more handsome to leti when he was pensive, the little ridges it made on his forehead were so reflective of his personality that Leti sort of missed them when they weren't there. His own face held only earnesty.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

He didn't believe in fate. At least, he hadn't before his last fight. How could he? The bastard son of a king who could just as easily have recognized his son, whether he legitimized him or not. After everything Allarick had put him through, after everything the Wardens had put him through. After all the people and families he had seen torn apart over this war. After everything he buried...

The Church might support magic as evil but that hardly made Sebastian a believer. That hardly gave him any reason to think something or someone might have plans for everyone. But maybe that was because he was looking at it the wrong way.

He was looking at it as an excuse. That people used Fate and God as a means of avoiding what they had done. But that was wrong. Fate was about finding meaning in something even before a pattern emerged. Fate was about the belief that while something didn't make sense now, it would later.

Nothing was ever fated in the moment. Claiming or expecting as much was the excuse. But after...

Why had he ever drawn a picture of Leti anyway? Why compose it just so with the stairs and the snake? Why hadn't he paid any attention before? Clearly Leti hadn't but he shouldn't be expected to. Though he wondered suddenly why the healer hadn't asked him a lot of things. His last name, if he remembered the fight. Or more recently with his nightmares and everything that came with them. And whatever had possessed Bastian to-

The soldier didn't jump more than two feet when Leti spoke to him. He didn't even realize the man was next to him amd barely registered the question. Actually, he'd asked Leti something before too and he had no memory of listening to the answer, though he was sure he had heard.

In fact he hardly heard Leti's question to him, meeting his eyes in confused uncertainy as he gathered himself. He had a guess though, from Leti's expression. "I'm fine," Bastian offered the blanket statement firmly. It was also a lie, but one the white haired man was probably used to hearing at this point. Tired of hearing, maybe.

[Feleti Eidothea]

Leti quite unaware of the moral quandry that had been filling bastian's mind simply offered a raised eyebrow. With a shrug he decided to let it be. As he had those many other things.
The healer had already come to his own conclusions long ago when Cain told him his suspicions. He knew that dwelling on it would only waste the time he could be enjoying with bastian. Of course there were still dark doubts hiding in the recesses of his mind but he let them lie.
"well alright then." his gaze turned to look out at the scenery beyond the cliff edge, the rolling greenery of the trees, the vast blue sky. Taking life at an easy pace was something he was accustomed to. He sat there beside bastian simply taking a break until he spied a the familiar figure of his father slowly making his way up the mountain steps.
The older healer was already quite a ways up the steps for them to be able to make him out at all. Even from this distance Leti could see that cheese wheel had accidentally landed the man much more than intended.
Feleti let out an annoyed sigh "I'm always telling him not to accept more than he can carry! He's not young anymore..." He stood up from the bench and made off to go relieve the burden off cain's shoulders.

It took a surprisingly short time for Leti to return, laden down with two heavy looking cloth satchels. Cain was only a few steps behind him looking very pleased but leaning heavily on his walking stick.