Echos of a fateful meeting

[Sebastian Arcturis]

Whether it was Leti's magic or Sebastian's determination (stubbornness some called it) that allowed him to keep going, Bastian didn't know. But he never had had the same inhibitions against pushing himself that others did. It wasn't always a blessing, but it was what allowed him to hang on.

Stay in bed. The warden tried to grumble about that too but such things required air he didn't have. So he simply grunted in response. It was likely the closest admission to his reckless behavior that Leti was going to get. It was also likely the closest he would get to acknowledging Leti's request. Surely he could do something other than lay there for the man. But fine. Not like he had the crutches anyway and as long as Leti convienently kept those from him...well, that made his job hard and Leti's easier.

Soak. Oh, right the tub. Thinking about it made him uncomfortable. For all his dislike however, Bastian was tired. Annoyingly enough. Resting wasn't something he did naturally but even he couldn't fight it in his already weakened state.

When Leti left, his eyes slide closed and while not asleep, it was a nice long moment. If he hadn't returned, he might have fallen entirely asleep. As it was, he didn't bother opening his eyes until the man moved him and propped up his shoulders. He blinked at the order and the bowl and opened his mouth to protest but got a mouthful of milk instead. Sebastian spluttered for a moment, tried to swallow what he could and coughed up the rest. It was his own fault for breathing at the wrong time. He didn't want food. He didn't feel like he could have more but he tried anyway for another couple gulps and then refused the rest. Sleep was better than making himself sick.

He wasn't a very good patient, no.

[Feleti Eidothea]

It wasn't a good sign how little milk he was able to get bastian to drink. Even so some was better than none. He really didn't want to risk bastian going to sleep again without eating anything. The guy had only had goats milk and soup for the past few days so getting even a bit more in him was important to leti. Once bastian began to refuse the milk he set the bowl aside and carefully laid bastian flat on the bed.
He eyed the man with a bit of hesitation. He didn't have anything too urgent to handle upstairs but he also knew cain would frown on him going back to sticking to their live in patients side night and day.
Still staying there for a little while couldn't hurt.
He'd sit by bastian's side for a while longer. He was mostly just worried about bastian suddenly being unable to breathe. There was a feeling of panic that he might move out of ear shot and bastian already hardly able to talk wouldn't be able to call out to him in time for help.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

It had never occurred to Bastian before now, but it seemed very likely he should ask about the exact nature of his chest injury. The leg was self explanatory. And normally, he wouldn't have bothered with details about being stabbed. Chest pain he could deal with but the whole lack of breathing bit was frightening. Perhaps a bit more understanding on his end would help.

It hurt, but there had also been a sort of tightness before. Thay was what had him concerned. It was mostly gone now, but he also hadn't noticed it so much a day ago. In retrospect, he probably should have noticed before.

He was already half asleep now though and considering words were a little difficult, he tried to give in to the exhuastion. Resting wasn't something he did well. But not given any other options and with enough proof that even a little walking and sitting and tying knots was pushing himself, even he had a breaking point. Most of it was physical. Bastian didn't have a whole lot else to go on.

Leti's presence was a comfort. Even with his eyes closed, he could tell the guy was still there. He appreciated it until he drifted off to sleep again.

Bastian swore he might never sleep again after this mess.

[Feleti Eidothea]

Once bastian seemed soundly asleep leti stood and went to get a few more things done. 
He spent his time rather distracted seeing as he kept coming back to the room just to check on bastian. 
When it came time to make dinner he set the soup to boil and gave in to his nagging desire to over his lone patient.

He soaked another rag to lay over bastian's chest and then settled in at his side. He hand resting on bastians chest he softly began to sing the old lullaby that helped him use his gift. It was likely more calming to himself than the sleeping man he was singing it to. The soaked rag seemed to glow ever so faintly that it might have been a trick of the light.
After some time of using his power for the second time that day, he himself grew tired. He fell asleep snuggled up to the bastian's side, his arm limply resting over his chest.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

Sebastian had more vague dreams he couldn't remember. Thick whispering woods, long winding stone steps that both lead up a mountain and down into the depths. Slowly those images coalesced in more connected moments. Climbing the stairs to exhaustion and ending up in a dark, cozy place, all to some vaguely familiar lullaby he couldn't quote make out the words to.

He woke slowly for once, for a moment unsure where he was or what time it was in the darkness and then suddenly very aware on the arm over him and the body pressed against his side. He turned his head slightly. Even in the darkness, there was enough light to make out Leti's white hair.

"Leti?" he whispered, the words barely audible. He considered trying again and then decided he wasn't sure he wanted to wake the other man up. He deserved to sleep too, after all. Bastian wasn't sure what to make of sleeping with the man twice now, but it was starting to be familiar. Maybe he was just comfortable.

The warden was more than awake, but he didn't want to bother Leti. So he laid there and tried to justify his feelings or otherwise push them away for the sake of peace of mind. Until it smelled like something was burning. Maybe not burning but...that smell when something cooks far longer than it should. He nudged the healer. "Leti, wake up," he whispered urgently.

[Feleti Eidothea]

Leti fell into a comfortable sleep. He found himself in a dream of a familiar cavern, it's walls shining with iridecent light and a lake of strangly blue waters in it's depths. He wandered through the cavern to the waters edge and was drawn to dip his hand into the deep. He felt something calling him from inside the water.
Only the second his hand touched water a snake sprang forth and wrapped his arm, shocking him awake.
He was confused for a moment as his eyes wandered about in a daze.

Only after noticing in the dim light did he realize that bastian had woke him, and then he noticed the small. "oh! The soup! " He gently scurried out of bed and headed for the main room. Normally it was perfectly fine for the soup to brew for many hours but it looked like perhaps in his distracted state earlier he had built up the fire wrong and the soup was near bubbling out of the cauldron. He had to douse the fire to save the food.
Leti was gone fron the room for quite a while, at one point it seemed cain had returned because the sounds of leti getting an earful filtered down the steps.

Leti apeared down the steps a little while latter with a lit lantern and two bowls of soup. He set the lantern aside and then the bowls. He had a slightly bashful look on his face likely from being told off about the soup. " ....are you feeling better?'' He asked hoping the healing had at least brought him back up to speaking.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

He watched Leti slowly understand and then make a dash for the main room. It didn't smell entirely like smoke and flames at least. But...fot all Bastian knew they had slept through the evening and well into night. Again.

Bastian tried to relax, but laying in a dimly lit room with nothing to do and his only company were faint aches and pains wasn't enjoyable. He tried for the sake of a schedule to stay awake, however. And he tried for Leti's sake not to move so much. Nothing hurt so terribly anymore at least. The chest wounds especially were less noticeable. At least while he was laying on his back. The warden took some time to examine his injuries in private. He came to the eventual conclusion he wasn't much of a doctor and wasn't sure if he should be alive or not and that he would have some very dramatic scaring if he didn't push himself again.

The sounds from up the stairs suggested Cain had returned. Bastian couldn't make out most of the words but he had a feeling Leti wasn't getting off easy for doing exactly what his father's parting words had advised against. Be supposed that was his fault. He almost felt bad.

Pushing himself at the eventual sound of the footsteps he offered the other man a concerned look. Partly for the words from before, partly because there was more food involved. He supposed he wasn't so morally opposed to eating as he had been before.

"Better," Bastian agreed in his more normal tone. "Are you alright?" He asked. He wanted to say a lot more but he decided to take it slow again.

[Feleti Eidothea]

Leti's face melted into a gentle smile though bastian's question did give him a moment of confusion. "oh, don't worry about it. I should have been more careful. " he replied in a tone that was a little unconvincing. 
He moved to help bastian prop himself up on some pillows so that he might be able to eat the soup a little easier. He resumed a spot seated as bastian's side and took up his own bowl of soup. He seemed to be thinking something over as he stared into it's slightly burnt depths. 

Unbenknownst to bastian, father had lectured leti more on his attachment to a strange soldier than on the soup. He knew that cain did so out of concern, but he couldn't help this strange desire to be near their dark haired guest. He told himself that he wouldn't feel that way once the soldier was on his feet. Only now he wondered if his enthusiams at being able to talk to and spend time doing chores alongside him had encouraged that reckless behaviour.
He came very near to realizing something only to first realize he had been staring at his soup in silence that whole time. His eyes flitted back to bastian with a bit of an embarassed expression '' I'm glad you're feeling better. If it starts getting haed to breath again let me know, ok?'' A concerned smile on his face. 
He certainly hoped they wouldn't have more scares like that but it was hard to tell. Not everyone healed at the same pace.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

Hopefully the raised voice hadn't just been about some slightly overcooked soup. He could tell something was bothering Leti only he didn't feel comfortable enough to ask. And of course, his own relationship with his father had been rather stiff so he didn't pursue that line of thought. Seemed normal enough.

Bastian cradled the soup in one arm and forced himself to eat. Because he knew he should. And because Leti was clesrly worried about that. And because the soup wasn't that great but it was still food.

The silence didn't bother him but Leti's far off stare into his soup had Bastian wondering what he was thinking about. And then he caught himself abruptly. Why did he care? The warden wasn't certain he jad ever wondered such a thing so casually before. It made hin uncomfortable but he didn't interrupt the other man's reflection.

He had finished half the soup when Leti spoke. The embarrassment was audible but he wasn't sure why the guy felt that way. Had he done something?

"I hope not." Bastian liked breathing. "Should I...expect it to happen again? I punctured my lung?" He couldn't quite get all the words out without an extra breath.

He set down the rest of the soup. It was more than he wanted to eat right now. He was silent a moment, watching the other carefully, still sorting through his thoughts from earlier.

[Feleti Eidothea]

Leti nodded in response to bastian's question. He didn't even really like thinking about the state he had found the man in that field. " I would surprised if that was all that you're suffering....the slashs were .....really deep.'' He replied for lack of a better way to explain it. He still wasnt to used to that part of being a healer. They normaly only had to deal with colds or sickness of aging, or the occaisonal farming accident. 
Bastian had clearly been in a fight for his life. 

His expression brightened slighty as he noticed how much bastian had eaten. "at least your apetite has gotten better.'' 
He took a few more bites of his soup with vigor. Only for something to occur to him and his face fall to concern again. 
"are you....worried? Because you're a soldier I mean......'' he knew that being a soldier let alone one defending the capital must call for peak physical condition. 
He offered the warden a determined expression '' don't even spare wink on it. I'll make sure you leave the mountain in tip top shape.'' He thought for a moment '' you're a swordsman, right?'' 

[Sebastian Arcturis]

Bastian shifted slightly. Well, knowing was half the battle. He wasn't thrilled about it happening again. A thoughtful noise left his throat. He was suffering from a lot, thought he hoped there weren't anymore surprises. Hearing Leti skirt around the subject...he had almost died. "I've never been this hurt in a fight before," he confessed. Sure, he had a lot of scrapes and other scars but nothing anywhere so...vital.

Seeing Leti smile at something so simple as him eating was...confusing. and nice. And he had done it for exactly that reason. "A little, yeah," he lied.

He glanced away at the question, grimacing. He was worried. But for the moment...his first step had to be living. In whatever condition. Whatever he had to do to heal. To breathe normally. To walk. To cope with that and go back to his life. To be better.

Leti's assurance surprised him and he was silent a moment. He allowed a slight smile. "Thanks," he said awkwardly. "Let's get to breathing and walking first. Then I'll worry about getting back into shape." As much as he wanted to rush...he shouldn't. But Leti was right, he was worried. Uncertain he would be able to match his previous standards. Frustrated that he might not recover completely enough.

"Yes." He had been trained in...well, a lot of ways to fight. But he liked swords. And Allerick had granted him a fitting magical blade. As much as he hated the weapon...he liked it too.

[Feleti Eidothea]

Leti wasn't suggesting that they rush the process of course. But his gift hadn't failed him yet. This was certainly putting it to the test though. Healing Bastian felt like wrangling a wild thing, especially that first night had felt like he was fighting some cosmic force and pulling bastian hand over hand back to the living. He wasn't exactly about to say as much considering that probably wasn't much of a confidence booster.
Still at least now he knew that bastian didn't make a habit of getting into fights that could end his life.

His heart warmed when bastian returned his smile and he felt it skip a beat in a way that was hard to ignore.
He had gathered that the sword was important considering how panicked the guy had been when he thought he lost it. But the sword had been part of why Cain had yelled at him. He didn't like Feleti trusting bastian so easily when bastian was clearly hiding things. Cain said that a sword that fine must have been forged by a master blacksmith. He had hardly ever seen such a sword in all his days as a medic and that likely it was far too expensive for a simple soldier to own. That and no one in the village had heard of him.
Even so, Feleti wanted to trust him. There were things that were hard to talk about for everyone right? Even his father had secrets.

"Sometimes father teaches me some of the hand to hand techniques. He said that when he was younger there used to be quite a few medics training here and he trained in defense with a whole bunch of healers. Hard to believe now considering how quiet it is....." He wouldn't have said he was all that good but he could certainly deter a would be bandit. Actually to his own surprise he was pretty strong, from all the hard labor it took live this high up. He had bested a few of the farm boys and the blacksmiths boy at arm wrestling down at the pub once to everyone's confusion, and one lucky betters delight.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

Bastian made a habit of getting into fights that he could win. But clearly that wasn't a guarantee and he didn't act like it was. His job was to kill people, not be killed. This whole incident had him frustrated on that point.

The man had also panicked over the sword because if he lost it, he might as well not go back to the wardens. It wasn't exactly cheap. He was glad he only had to deal with surviving and getting home and not also making a whole quest out of looking for a lost blade. It was also the only thing his fsther had ever given him. That also made it important.

Everyone had secrets. He didn't exactly trust his saviors either. But it was more his inherent discomfort than anything. Just because he hadn't seen the entire cave or Leti practiced strange healing didn't mean the father and son meant him or others any harm. Of course, saving his life was a major step there to assuaging his own concerns.

Imagining Leti and Cain amongst other monks on the hillside was...strange. he supposed there could be room. "Monks of some sort?" Healer warrior monks. He carried a thoughtful expression for a long moment over the idea and eventually nodded to himself. It made some sense. It was an interesting thought. Leti seemed a very well built sort. Carrying water and strangers up a mountain would do that. "You ever get in...a fight before?" He meant a real fight. Leti didn't seem the type to instigate but certain defend himself or even others. Bastian supposed that, eventually, it would be helpful for both of them to spar.

He slid back down on the bed with a forced long breath out, nice and slow to avoid it hurting more than usual. He was almost used to that and he didn't like it. "Resting is already boring," he moaned.

[Feleti Eidothea]

Leti had to think about that question. He had once or twice been bullied a bit in hopes of that and he had tussled with a boy or two. Then again that never amount to much more than a game of chase and maybe some rolling around in the dirt. He wouldn't have called it a real fight and certainly no one came away with more than bruises....or a bruised ego in some cases.

He shook his head "I don't like fighting much....I don't like seeing people in pain....so it feel sort of weird to go about punching folks." Feleti supposed he would come to blows if he had to but this was a pretty quiet place for the most part and cain was a deterrent all by himself.
His eyes followed Bastian back to the bed and he had to let out a chuckle "Just remind yourself that every second not spent resting is one second longer you'll have to rest latter."
Then he set about cleaning up their bowls. He left but he was back soon enough and settled at Bastian's side once more.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

Bastian wouldn't have been surprised to hear Leti had never been in a fight. Oh, he knew how children could be and after Leti had explained the superstitions about his birth and hair, the warden figured he'd been the victim enough times to know it wasn't fun.

"World needs more people like that. Fighting shouldn't..." he closed his eyes and shifted painfully against the breath. Too many words. "Be taken lightly." Obviously Bastian was a soldier and not a healer. But that didn't mean he didn't agree with Leti finding it weird to throw punches. The warden hadn't been given the chance to pick which side he himself was on but he had a very clear understanding of what he did. Of what his job was and how useful a soldier was. Therefore he more than understood how useful a healer was. A teacher. A leader. There were a lot more useful jobs than soldier. And there were a lot of jobs a soldier needed in order to do theirs effectively.

Every second not resting... Bastian frowned. He didn't want to rest now or later. There was a saying that the warden was positive Leti wouldn't like. One about a pessimistic final time he could do all his resting. Not that Bastian had much choice. Even without the leg.

Sitting more or less in the dark left him uncomfortably alone with his thoughts. About the fight. About Leti. About what he was supposed to do besides sleep. About going home and whether he really considered the castle home or not. About his own father. He actually missed having the white haired man around. At least then he wasn't in danger of talking to himself. Regardless he was in danger of sleeping even more if he didn't find something to do.

He toyed with some of the bandages on his chest to distract himself, tearing his blank stare away from his broken leg and back to Leti when he returned. "You have anything I can write with? Graphite maybe?" He asked softly.