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 Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 7:48 am
"Ah yes. All the baby dragons." She smiled, her hand lowering from his hair from the pets. She'd not like to be bedbound either but at least it came with cuddles and relaxation. Once you knew Bereck enough, it became easier to feel the fractions of tension slip from him. Whers gnawing on him didn't change that.
Alina leaned, shifted slightly in what could be called a cuddle. He'd not indicated that he wanted her gone so she did what she could to be nearer. It'd been much too long. She patted at his leg gently.
"Mini-dragons have good opinions in deliciousness." The Starcrafter grinned at the little chorus of adorable. "He could be Bacon. Or Patella." Something clever. Anything clever! She put her head onto Berecks shoulder instead.
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 8:13 am
"Ha. Bacon." Bereck snorted and shook his head. "That would rather break my medical theme; contrary to what you may have been led to believe, Bacon is not a medicine. Patella is an option though; so far I have Sanguine, Capillary, Carpal, Scalpel, Ichor... and this fellow. Oh, mind that pot on the table by the way," he nodded at it, "that contains Ichor. She's... not all there; somewhat denser than gold as far as I can tell but perfectly amiable. She's like a stuffed toy you have to feed, and that moves around occasionally."
This was nice: the close contact, the head on his shoulder, the gentle arm around him. He was half afraid that if he said anything she'd pull away, that she was only doing it out of distracted habit or something. A silly thing to worry about but... well it had been a long time apart, and he wasn't sure what she was comfortable with yet, or what he was comfortable with come to that. He was comfortable with this though and that was enough for now.
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 8:48 am
When they broke up, she always thought that after they received their respective Masteries, she would, that they would, maybe, start talking again. It's not as if they broke up due to lack of affection. She loved him, went into the breaking up with the vague sense of hope that perhaps he'd been keen in a few turns, and...pregnant. at that time, she felt a little anger towards her swelling abdomen but now, over two decades later, she couldn't be. No matter the kid, he made Bereck happy.
So that was good.
"I like floppish creatures. They are cute. Like lap-pets." She craned her head to look at the pot, eyebrows arching. "You can name one Fellis. Bandage? I'm sure you'll come up with something clever."
The starcrafter sunk down against him further, head returning to its previous position on his shoulder. "Tell me a story about Aleck?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 11:02 am
"Yes, I'm sure I'll think of... something?"
She wanted to hear an Aleck story? That was a surprised and a good one too; he wanted the two of them to get along, so Alina showing interest in Aleck was definitely positive. As for Aleck himself... well perhaps he would warm up to the idea of Alina. He hoped he would. If he didn't... if he didn't then could he even pursue a relationship with 'Lina? If it made Aleck unhappy then....
Well there was no point in worrying about that right now.
"Let me see then," Bereck mumbled, sinking further against Alina in return and then abruptly wince-twitching into a slightly different position as a couple of the wounds on his back stabbed him, objecting to the angle or the pressure or something. "Ow," he muttered as he started to relax again, "a story, right." He could tell the one about the oil, but maybe that was best left for when (if) Aleck approved of Alina; it had the potential to be even more embarrassing than your average early childhood story.
"Well there was the time he caused a minor explosion in the crèche when they were baking cookies; how about that one?" Bereck suggested after a thoughtful silence.
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 11:52 am
"I'm sure you will."
She had all sorts of faith in him and his naming abilities. Alina relaxed with him, though she jumped a wee bit with his flinch. another shift and whe closed her eyes, comfortable and relaxed even with the odd thinness and keeping in mind Berecks injuries.
"...he made baking explode?" Alright, an eye opened and Alina looked up at him with a vague smile. "How... yes. That sounds like a good story. I want to know how he made the creche to explode a bit."
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 12:34 pm
Bereck grinned, and his eyes crinkled along long worn lines with fond nostalgia. "Easy," he replied, "He got bored of the cookie making and took a sack of flour into an empty storage alcove the crèche had at the time. It seems he decided to make it snow - he'd been very excited by the snowfall the previous day - so he shook the flour out all over the alcove." Bereck paused to shift slightly again, and maybe a little for effect. "Anyway, this resulted in a fine suspension of flour in the air. Aleck discovered of course that flour in the air is not at all like snow, and so - he told me afterwards - he needed to find out what it was like. He wave his hands around in it, tasted it... and then he decided to introduce a candle to the mixture...."
There was another pause here, definitely for effect this time; he presumed Alina could put two and two together to get 'dust explosion'. "Fortunately having been taught that one is careful when introducing fire to something when you're not sure what it will do - of fire in general in fact - rather than walking into the alcove with it he tossed it from around the corner with a pot on his head for protection. Approximately half a second later the flour in the air ignited, and a large fireball exploded out of the alcove and left a scorch mark on the opposite wall." Bereck grinned and shook his head as the pin-sharp memory played on through his head. "I was summoned immediately of course and read the riot act by the head crèche worker. I then read her the riot act for failing to keep tabs on Aleck when she knew what he was like. Luckily nobody was hurt though other than one crèche worker who bruised herself a bit fainting in shock, so the matter wasn't taken any further, though Aleck was cross at being told off and said 'flame test is a legitimate procedure!' They never let him near flour again though; he accumulated a very long list of 'banned substances' by the time he left for the last time."
It felt almost like yesterday that it had happened; how had Aleck grown up so fast? Maybe he should have made more time for him, and between with his work. Maybe he should have, but he hadn't. He had made time, but maybe not enough, and it was too late now. Aleck didn't need him anymore, or at least not like he had back then.
Despite these internal worries Bereck was still smiling faintly to himself, recalling Aleck's retelling of events later that night. "He thought it was really very unfair that they banned him from flour," the thin healer murmured quietly, "we went out together later in the week to try it some more down in a little cave. He wrote his own little hypothesises about what the different powders we used would do... wrote up his own method, and results and conclusion. Suggestions for further study: more explosions."
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 1:11 pm
Aina's craft required a lot of patience and watching, alongside the charts and graphs. She cuddled down against Bereck as much as she dared with his wounds and her own hesitance. What started as a small smile softened and warmed as his story continued, the line of her shoulders loosening.
"A long list, mm? It sounds like you had some adventures." She laughed quietlyn eyes closing again. "Also sounds like you raised a rather cool kid. I'm jealous he didn't decide to go into Starcraft - it'd be useful to have an apprentice with a head on their shoulders.
The urge to ask if he kept any was strong. She resisted and instead patted, very gently, at his knee. "How'd you make it through with all your eyebrows?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 1:24 pm
"We did," Bereck replied softly, his drawn features lit by a warm smile. "Still do, actually... and I did my best. I can't claim much credit; he would have been himself with or without me, I suppose I just... gave him a more advantageous start than he otherwise would have had, and support and guidance when he needed it." He did worry that not all of his advice had been good especially when it came to social matters but he had done his best, Aleck loved him and wasn't utterly screwed up; that was what mattered most.
"Oh, and I didn't," Bereck responded, raising those impressive red and white brows. "I lost them plenty of times but they've always grown back, never had facial burns bad enough to leave a permanent mark. Just looked like I'd been badly sunburned on a number of occasions when something worked unexpectedly well. We always had safety goggles though, so our eyes were safe! Ha, his toy tunnelsnake had them too...." Another item lost to the revolution, one more important than most. Hissyfit had been his when he'd been a child, one of the few things he'd been able to keep as his own when he was moved to the crèche. The toy had been patched so many times there was no original fabric left, and it had been through countless ribbon tongues, but still had its original glass eyes. He hoped that nobody had destroyed it, just for the sake of ripping apart something that had belonged to a member of the resistance.
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 1:40 pm
"Intelligent people go bonkers when repressed, Ber, you know that. You kept the little dude from flailing constantly, I'll bet you two marks." She knew too many intelligent people not allowed to be smart turned bitter and quiet from lack of outlet. Alina smiled, eyes up on his face.
It was good to see him smile, especially with that warmth. Then he brought up the stuffed toy and Alina started to giggle, one ink stained hand up to her mouth to keep from hiccuping. "Your old stuffed toy? I don't believe it. I refuse to believe you detached that thing from your bed."
Shards, she remembered it. Patched, old, well loved and on the end of his bed. She woke up enough times staring at the stuffed toy to remember it quite clearly. Once, she'd woken up with her face pressed against it and the explination he finally provided.
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 1:46 pm
Bereck smiled ruefully and shrugged. "Yes, Mr Hissyfit. I thought Aleck probably needed him more than I did so I passed him on. Last I saw him he was stretched across one of Aleck's bookshelves looking critically over at the door." Perhaps... perhaps he could get him back. It wasn't like an old toy was a thing of any significant value, but he doubted the revolution believed in waste. There would still be a crèche; perhaps Hissyfit had ended up there. Perhaps he could send the firelizards to find out.
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 2:00 pm
"Better him watching over a boy than what went on in your bedroom." Alina continued to giggle, her head shaking again. "Sometimes I felt like it judged me or something. Poor patched stuffie."
The giggles tapered off for her to reach up and touch at his impressive candy cane eyebrows. "And as for these, looks like they grew back just fine. I agree with your assessment. Did he lose his too?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 2:13 pm
"Alina!" Bereck exclaimed with an incredulous choked laugh. "You are terrible!" He didn't resist when she reached up to touch his eyebrows though, terrible awful woman or no. "Sometimes I think you live to scandalise," he muttered in grumbly tones that he completely failed to keep the amusement out of.
"He did," Bereck added for completeness' sake. "Several times, like me, but also like me they always grew back....
"I can't believe you just said that."
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 3:24 pm
"What? It's not like anyone is listening!" She laughed and cocked her head up to peer at the man. "I'm not going to go publicizing our past sordid details. Mr. Hissyfit can go and brag about it t others that aren't our son. He saw all the horrible details - and you were the one who insisted on having something at the foot of the bed with eyes. Maybe you didn't see him staring. I did."
Alina paused and pursed her lips to make a soft 'hsssssssss' through her teeth. that's when her hand stayed away from eyebrows and face in general. The option of him biting still remained and she liked her fingers where they were.
"I can say worse things if you want. I'm not that scandalizing. Can you remember any time I said something horrible in public? I can't. Not loudly, anyway."
She would die if anyone heard this. ******** die. This was 'close friends only' talk and... well, she had Bereck, now, probably.
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 3:47 pm
Bereck was grinning now and shaking his head in disbelief. "You really are-"
-And then she hissed at him and he burst out laughing again; it was only for a moment or two but the sound was hearty and genuine.
"Terrible," he repeated, "and I certainly appreciate you not saying it in public! Shards, I'd forgotten this about you...." He really had missed her. "I really have missed you. Dreadful woman." He looked down at her - an unusual perspective - and smiled softly. "Really terrible, as you ever were," he murmured softly, reaching up to brush her cheek with the backs of his fingers, holding her gaze. "Beautiful you ever were as well."
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