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 Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 5:54 pm
Time seemed to slip by endlessly for Finn. The harsh oban sun no longer dogged him with every step simply because he no longer struggled to obtain meals. Since deciding to quit The Pit and become a stable hand Finn had been able to make a few upgrades in his life. At first it was little things; shoes to protect his feet against sharp stones, steady meals to put padding on his ribs, and clothing nice enough to gain the attention of a certified tutor. The old man had taken some convincing at first, but with a few kind words from his boss on his behalf Finn had his education secured.
It was far too late in his life for the yaeli to attend any sort of academy. A formal education was behind him, but the basics were not. There was only so much the old tutor could teach him about writing and arithmetic, but magic...oh, those possibilities were limitless. As Finn's body gained much needed mass his stamina grew, and with it came a world of opportunities concerning his magic. Instead of accomplishing a single spell then passing out he was able to start work on more complex tasks and to even pop of multiple rounds of blasts in quick succession. His tutor had called him a prodigy more than once, and while Finn wasn't sure what the word actually meant he knew it was a compliment regardless.
It felt...strange, to have so many things going his way for once. He'd even taken to living with Tacrith, which was arguably the strangest of all. The move had started gradually; one night here, another there, until he had inevitably been carved out a space of his own.
And now, late into the night, hunched over the dining table, Finn poured himself into his 'studies'. This was the part he hated the most. Letters and writing...it just didn't come to him at all. Every time he scrawled a new word out onto the parchment it looked sloppier than the last and his quill inevitably drug, leaving splotches in it's wake.
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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 6:28 pm
Tac had barely held onto the hope that Finn would find something better. Yet, day by day, his own eyes watched his brother improve and a subtle pride began to grow. He was used to watching patients take time to heal and recover from injuries, and this felt very similar.. but on a very different and much more personal scale. It shouldn't have been personal. Finn's efforts were phenomenal for his situation, and completely accomplished by the sweat and hard work of the boney scamp. It was a selfish temptation to believe he was actually part of that process. Still, the more Finn opened to improving himself, the more Tac was willing to offer his assistance and feel helpful. He didn't want to spoil the boy, but a little help now and then was surely allowable.
Tac had been gone on a treatment with a stubborn client for that entire evening, and returning home in the dark to see light coming out the little windows was still taking some getting used to. He couldn't remember actually offering his place up, yet he was rather accepting of his first ever roommate. They'd had their difficult moments, but overall..
Leg dragging slightly after the long day, Tac entered and found a small smile curve his lips at the sight that greeted him. "Hard at work, I see? I had expected that you would be in bed by now." He had to stifle his own yawn at the mention of sleep as he set his medical bag on the side table with his other tools.
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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 6:38 pm
"I should be," Finn groused. He'd heard practically every step Tac took on his way into the room. Whether it was from years of having his ear to the ground to avoid beatings or just Tac's general limp was hard to say. Leaning back for the first time in ages, Finn groaned and twisted his back sighing a little when his spine popped. He may have been filling out, but repairing years of damage to ones body wasn't a quick process. He still tired easily and sitting for long periods tended to give him cramps.
"I don't have to be at the stable tomorrow so I wanted to get caught up. I just don't understand why it's important to know this- " He waved his hand towards the book in front of him. It was basic, something a child might read, and his task was simply to copy a few pages to get a feel for the letters. "Who the hell am I going to be writing letters to?" Pausing, he looked over to the other yaeli and curled his scarred lip in a frown. "What kept you so late?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 7:09 pm
'I should be, too,' Tac thought to himself. He didn't spend his funds on frivolous good, and that included the bed he slept on. After a long day though, even that scruffy surface seemed more than inviting. "Well, it could be anyone," he offered as he hung his coat. "Perhaps there will be an upgrade in your position at the stable, or a future employer. Perhaps a long distance acquaintance might benefit from learning this." Maybe he should stick with something a little more relatable for the young man. "Worst case scenario, you could lose the use of your voice in some accident and writing will be the only way you can converse."
His brow rose as his brain worked to get over the mental lurch it suddenly felt. Opening up to having someone in his personal space had been one thing, but it still surprised him to have someone asking about his day. "There was a bad injury to an elderly woman. Her condition was rather uncertain, but she finally stabilized."
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Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2020 7:03 pm
[3/10]
Finn snorted and tossed his arm over the back of the chair. "If I didn't' lose my voice when my throat was cut then I'm not likely to lose it now. And if I did all they'd need to know is this-" Finn held his free hand up to show a thumbs up, thumbs down and a certain middle finger.
A bad injury for the elderly? And she survived? In Finn's experience most geriatrics killed over the moment they got a bad cut. Then again, he was also accustomed to them gaining infections over the slightest of things. Perhaps it wasn't that way when they could actually afford medical care?
"...How long do people normally live? If you take care of them?" He furrowed his brow, as if it were really a question to contemplate. "I've seen a lot more people with grey hair since getting the stable job and I don't know if that's normal."
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Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2020 7:27 pm
"Well, whoever tried cutting your throat clearly did not do a very good job of it. Someone else might do more damage." Though Tac was naturally curious about the origins of the multitude of scar's along Finn's figure, it would have been pointless and a waste of time to ask. The simple gestures actually brought up a snort of a laugh from Tac. "Some situations require a little more information than that," he mused.
He walked over to the cabinet to pull out some dried meat, cheese, and a pear, and sat down across from his brother. "I suppose it depends on your idea of normal. The oldest patient I ever treated was almost 120 years old. Then there are others.. they feel as though they're lucky to live to their 40s. With the high risk lifestyle you had, I am not surprised that you did not see many elderly folk."
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Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2020 7:55 pm
[4/10]
Finn couldn't help twisting his mouth in a speculative frown. Are you happy that they didn't or upset the damage wasn't greater? Thinking on the gestures, however, brought on a non-committal shrug. If someone wanted more information than that then coming to Finn was a waste of time. Chances were high that he wouldn't know what to say anyway and even if he did he wouldn't stick around long enough to share it.
He'd been focused on his work at first, but the moment Tac went towards the cabinet his attention turned towards the food. Even though he'd been brought indoors Finn still wasn't entirely trusted around food on his own. The man had binged enough that most things had to be stored and locked away in places that he couldn't access.
"One hundred and twenty? Their bones should have turned to dust." Would he even want to live that long? Spirits no. "The oldest I've ever seen was a woman whose hair started to grey. Before her I didn't even know that could happen, but she didn't last very long."
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Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2020 9:04 pm
Oblivious to how his previous observation sounded, Tac instead spent a moment thinking further on the hypothetical situation. Just about anything could be communicated in some way if one wanted to, and the opposite was true, too. He'd had plenty of patients able to speak fine but unwilling to cooperate for one reason or another. In his field, he just could not understand the contentment of sticking to the most basic communication. Of course, outside of his field, simple did work just fine.
"I believe they nearly were dust. He was physically quite fragile by that stage of his life. His spirit, on the other hand, was as boisterous as a youngling's." It had been a unique and eye-opening experience, for sure. "One's longevity is based on how they care for themselves, how others care for them, and plain luck. After all, a man can live the healthiest life, but that won't save him if his head gets crushed. ..When did you eat last?" He had noticed Finn's attention to the food he had pulled out, but attention alone told nothing. It could have been five minutes since his last meal and Finn would still eye up a nearby snack.
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Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2020 5:36 pm
[5/10]
"A few hours ago." Finn lied easily. While it was true that he had eaten a while ago he'd also had a few snacks in between that meal and this one, including a full supper. If he wasn't sharing his meals with Tac then it was his boss or his tutor; all of which somehow managed to stay in contact with one another should he start to falter. One too many times of coming in to his lessons after a purge and getting sick over the texts had spurred his tutor into coming up with a loose system. In all honesty Finn wasn't sure how often the three checked in with one another, if at all, but it was something to hang over him.
Sometimes it even spurred him to make better decisions. Sometimes.
"Oh, also, you'll need to stop by the cobblers tomorrow." He said passively, trailing his fingers along the table top as his eyes never seemed to leave the food. "I accidentally caused lightning to strike his house. Told him I would pay for the damages, but he said if I come close again he'll have me arrested." At the very least he hadn't leveled the home like he could have. If it had hit the center of the structure then maybe, but thankfully it had only caught the tail end of the home.
"We were practicing rapid fire spells and I got mad so I lost focus."
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Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2020 7:35 pm
Tac watched Finn for a moment before he nodded and slid the jerky over the table, too tired to bother getting up to get something different. It was probably best to not eat too much before bed anyway. As Finn elaborated on the cobbler story, Tac's hand paused its forward motion with the jerky. "I suppose we should count ourselves lucky that you were not arrested on the spot." His lips pressed with disapproval, using a little effort to not drag out a groan. "Have you enough funds saved up for me to take to him?" he asked. On another note.. "What was it that upset you about the practice?"
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Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2020 6:55 pm
Finn greedily snatched the jerky up before Tac could refuse and ripped a huge chunk off with his teeth. He may have been dressed like a sorcerer's apprentice, but at his core the boy was still inherently feral. The possibility of him choking on the jerky would have been higher if it wasn't so dry, forcing him to pause long enough to breath and take a drink of water.
"Surprised I wasn't," He mumbled, mouth stuffed with food. A long piece hung out of the right side, wobbling up and down as he talked. Finally, as if it were truly starting to get to him, Finn pulled it out but made sure to keep the jerky close to his body.
"Half." Finn pulled his right leg under himself and sat up a little straighter in his seat. "I'll just pull more shifts to cover the rest." He snapped off another bite of the jerky, mulling it over as he thought about what to say next. What did it matter what made him mad? It was already over with; not like that would help him out now.
"Perin walked by and said some s**t about me," Pausing a moment, he added, "We fought together. Didn't think I'd be seein' him again, but he said wasn't much point in teaching scum because scum would always be scum. I was aiming for him; got the house instead."
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Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2020 2:16 pm
Tac leaned back once he was certain that he still had all of his fingers. That was a habit that was going to take a lot more time to grow out of. His nose twitched at the sight of the hanging piece, and kept his eyes on his own food until his peripheral vision caught the unpleasant scrap removed.
So, an old rival just walking by decided to interject his unwelcome opinion. "It sounds like this Perin fellow is rather put out seeing you doing better for yourself. Hardly worth your time." He took a bite of the pear and sighed. Some people just could not keep to themselves. "Will you be able to ignore him if he stops by again?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2020 3:45 pm
[7/10]
"Won't have to listen to him at all if my aim's better." Finn stated pointedly. He popped the last of his jerky in his mouth and chewed with all the fervor of a street dog. Perin had a nasty attitude, just like everyone who worked in The Pit, but he'd always had it out for Finn. Maybe it was because he was a foreigner or maybe it was even because he knew that outside those sanctioned matches he wouldn't stand a chance.
Sure he had daggers, but if Finn took the air out of his lungs before he could move then what good was a stabbing?
"What can you do with your magic? Besides healing? What kind of spells d'ya know?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2020 4:19 pm
That.. was true. Tac nearly laughed, but what sort of message would that send? "You're not in the fighting ring anymore. There are less destructive, and less expensive, ways to be rid of problems. It is best to not humor those trying so hard for attention. Out there, killing him for being obnoxious will bring you more trouble than he is worth."
Chewing on a bite of the pear, he thought a moment before shrugging lightly. "I never bothered to explore that side of my magic very much. There are a few basic defensive and protective spells, but unless I could apply it to my work.. I did not care for practicing anything else." He waved his hand dismissively. Talking about himself was still strange. "Does your teacher intend to train you in more than your lightning?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2020 4:29 pm
[8/10]
Finn curled his lip back with a snarl, but made little more protest than that. He hated to admit when Tac was right; there was just something that burned in his soul to admit it. And yet, he did have a point. Giving Perin more attention than he was worth was just distracting from Finn's lessons and now thanks to that stain Finn was going to be out a hefty sum of gold.
Finn held up his hand, palm up, and in an instant a little flame sputtered to life. The more Finn focused the more it's shape began to change until it resembled a lotus blossom opening with each petal splaying out along his hand. "He thinks with training I can master any element I choose, but I have to learn self-control first." And just like that the flames began to change. Where they were first a healthy, controlled orange they started to darken. First the fire became an indigo and then, all of a sudden, it was a brilliantly bright blue and growing in size! Before it could get larger than a melon Finn clenched his hand into a fist and extinguished the flame. "I've never had to worry about it before now. It was always more important to make the biggest impact the fastest before I passed out. Now it's all about 'don't accidentally kill yourself'." He groused.
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