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 Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 8:20 pm
"That's good. Even soup can make an ill child more ill," Ada said to Dussander, "If you're feeling brave, perhaps some toast or crackers. You're right in not forcing meals."
It was something she felt that the man had to hear. He was doing things right in treating his son, as worried as he was, and he undoubtedly felt fairly inept at caring for his own child. Sickness was frightening, sometimes even to her.
"You are doing very good," she said then to Preben, "but I'm afraid it's too soon for real fruit. What I have, though, is something to soothe your cough." Guilt tugged at her chest. Had she ruined the poor child's day? She lifted from her bag a small re-purposed tin and opened it to retrieve a small, bluish lozenge. It was berry-flavored, mixed with honey and herbs to help with a cough.
"These will make your throat feel better. They may taste a little funny, but I promise they'll make you less scratchy. See these green things? Those are healing herbs. Now, if your daddy gives you one or two of these a day, I bet you'll feel even better even faster. Would you like one now?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 1:10 pm
Preben’s face fell at the mention of healing herbs. And they’d taste funny to boot! The boy had likely expected a real treat of peaches or strawberries, something they so rarely got. Even an apple would be better than herbs to a child. Dussander could understand the disappointment, but Ada was here to help, and her aid wasn’t going to be repaid with a pouty lip.
He stepped purposefully toward the bed, brow lowered sternly,” Preben.” He would not be ungrateful to Ada.
Preben lowered his chin and ruffled his fingers through Somnus’ fur,” Yespleasethank-you. I’m sure they’ll taste-“
Dussander’s eyebrows lowered. Even. Further.
“… very yummy,” Preben finished, with an unmistakable scowl.
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Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 1:29 pm
Ada actually laughed, a little tinkling sound behind a raised hand. These two were wonderful together, like a father and son should be. When she was able to contain herself, she lowered her hand again and breathed softly.
"I'm sorry, Preben," she said, beginning to portion out lozenges in the butcher paper that separated layers. She folded some into a piece and set it aside. "Actually, we should wait a minute. I wouldn't be a very good hedgewitch is there wasn't any magic involved, would I?" The woman stood and went over to Preben's head, sitting down softly.
"Can you sit up a moment for me, darling?"
Somnus gave a soft little rumble, almost a trill and stretched out, preparing to switch positions.
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Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 4:01 pm
Dussander watched the portioning intently. He could only guess how much each of those were worth. It was fine, though. All fine. He may not have been the most learned man around, but he could budget numbers with the best of them. They’d do just fine. Preben needed this, and Dussander would be damned if he allowed his son to suffer without.
The mention of magic wiped the calculating look right off Dussander’s face. Magic cost money. He didn’t have a damn clue how the stuff worked. He’d seen all of two magical displays in his life (that he recognized as such, anyway), and neither one looked cheap.
Preben, on the other hand, hadn’t seen any. His eyes grew impossibly wide. He shuffled back against the wall (no head board, on his little cot). He pushed himself up, the action causing him to wrack with muffled coughs. It petered out into an uncomfortable wheeze and he scrunched his face up with determination.
He tried to puff his chest out a bit, but frail and tiny as he was, the action was hardly impressive,” Will it hurt? Nobody’s ever done magic on me before.” He didn’t seem particularly frightened by the concept, but he cauht is father’s gaze regardless.
Dussander have him a short nod of reassurance. Whether it hurt or not, he’d have to endure it. Best not to get him worked up.
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Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 4:56 pm
Preben's reaction was not entirely unheard-of. It tended to be one extreme or the other; denial or devout belief. Really, there was no need for either. Magic rarely worked the miracles people were expecting, and she certainly had never had anyone complain of pain.
"No," Ada responded softly, holding out a hand to the boy and offering a smile, "You know, my grandma was a hedgewitch? My momma too. I had magic done on me when I was much younger than you, and it never hurt. You can kind of see it, you can definitely feel it, but it doesn't hurt."
Somnus hopped down off of the bed, sitting primly and watching their new patient intently. She had her own use when it came to magic.
"Somnus will keep you company, and I bet your daddy will sit with you too." She turned to Dussander, who she was surprised to find looking fairly emotionless. Certainly he hadn't imagined that she would hurt his son, but she had expected at least a spark of that old worry. Then again, maybe there was flattery in order now that he had calmed and looked less likely to have an emotional breakdown.
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Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 6:41 pm
Pain was easy. Simple to understand, wasn’t going to kill you, and there wasn’t much you could do about it anyway. Dussander understood pain. He lived with it every damn day of his life, since he made that god-awful mistake on the battle field. Preben had received his fair share of bumps and bruises as a typical, rowdy youngster.
It was the unknown that Dussander feared. Germs and diseases. Sickness. Didn’t matter if it hurt you or not. A sniffle could mean a thousand things, and it could kill you.
Pain? Nah. Pain just meant you were still alive! Put hair on your chest.
Dussander did move rather quickly to the other side of the bed, at Ada’s suggestion. He plopped the edge of his butt on Preben’s bed, legs stretched out in front of him – that bad knee not entirely straight. The cot was rather small, after all. Not enough room for a boy, a man, a witch, and… well, thankfully the vermin had removed itself to the floor.
Dussander took Preben’s hand and gave it a squeeze,” Nothing to worry about.”
Preben calmed visibly at his father’s presence. He relaxed back against the wall and gave Ada brave nod,” Alright. I can do it.” He paused, chewing a though,” And if… if I see it, I bet it’s pretty, too!” Then, a might bit quieter,” Just like you.”
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Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 7:00 pm
Ada held out her arms for Preben to come to her. The more contact they had, the better, and the child might as well be supported in case he fell asleep. She remembered her own illnesses as a child, the normal stock for any young girl. She had fallen asleep at her grandmother's hand more than twice, and she remembered a calm, strong slumber. Perhaps she could offer the same for Preben.
"Come here. If you could put your head in my lap? I'll need to touch you, just a little."
At the boy's soft side-note, she could only grin. She responded it was in the same hushed tone, her head slightly lowered.
"Why thank you, little Sir."
Somnus waited for the boy to move to her companion, and then leaped right back up onto the bed without a moment's hesitation. Dussander definitely didn't like her. She could tell. That didn't mean it particularly mattered, because he had been allowing her up since the start. Now it would be difficult to convince her to leave.
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Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 8:45 pm
Preben’s face flushed. He’d just called her pretty, and now she wanted him to come and cuddle with her? The poor boy looked nearly done in at the prospect. But at least it brought a spot of color to his otherwise pallid cheeks. He wiggled himself across the bed and flopped a gracelessly into her arms. He twisted enough to lift his chin and grin at her, with cracked, dry lips.
He was quite comfortable and warm. Almost like having his mum back again. He shut his eyes and nuzzled against Ada, snaking his skinny arms around her waist. Oh yes, he could certainly sleep like this.
Dussander hoped he didn’t, though. He didn’t want to take up any more of Ada’s time than he already was. Keeping her from her shop and other paying customers wasn’t a smart thing to do. Not for either of them. He reached across and brushed a fringe of sweaty hair from Preben’s face.
“You’ll be all better in no time, little man,” he said with soft affection in his voice. He glanced quickly at Ada’s face for confirmation. He almost missed Somnus’ return to the bed. Almost. He shot her a quick frown, but Preben had already snaked a hand out to touch her fur, clearly happy with her presence.
Hopefully he wouldn’t start asking for a puppy after this.
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 10:33 am
Ada laughed softly. Well, that hadn't quite been what she was going for, but it would work just the same. Somnus cuddled up beside the boy, rolling into a fluffy fox doughnut and relaxing with a sigh. She never know how long they were going to be with a particular client, and a nap was always nice.
"How about this, Preben?" Ada asked. "If you're feeling better by Monday, I'll come down and bring you some real fruit, how does that sound?" She smiled to Dussander and offered a soft nod in response to his questioning gaze. With the help of magic, his son should be better in a few days' time. The effects of magic were not always instant, but were often undeniable over a longer period.
Her voice was hopefully a distraction to her roaming hands. She laid them upon the child's back at first, then tried in vain to cup his head for a particularly direct stream. In the end, her fingers returned to Preben's upper back and rested there. Ada closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and exhaled slowly.
For a brief period, there was nothing but the natural warmth that flowed from human hands. A soft pressure would begin go grow then, though, and soon a spreading something. It was not quite hot and not quite cold, almost an invasion but holding a swell of comfort. Magic was making its way through Preben's chest and up toward his head while Ada concentrated.
Meanwhile, a soft glow was developing around the witch's hands. It looked as if the sun was streaming down onto Preben's shirt, but there was no sun to speak of with the way he lay in her lap. The shine didn't illuminate any further, just Ada's hands and the points of contact; it wasn't especially bright, but it was undeniably there.
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Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 4:44 pm
“I’d love that!” squeaked Preben, a little muffled with his face buried against Ada,” I love fruit.”
Dussander jerked his head up, taken aback by Ada’s offer of fruit. His lips pressed into a firm, thin, line. They didn’t need offers of charity, and Dussander didn’t want to owe Ada any more than he already would for her services. Preben’s health was one thing. Dussander would do whatever he had to, to keep Preben healthy and alive. But they could both live just fine without fruit. He’d have to speak to Ada after she was finished with Preben. Didn’t need his boy to hear Dussander turning her down.
Preben didn’t seemed to perturbed by Ada’s hands. He was breathing deep and calm, fingers of one curled in Somnus’ fur, the other loose in his father’s hand. He was as relaxed as Dussander had ever seen him. The little bit of tenseness in the boy’s shoulders eased away as Ada smoothed her hands down his back. He was quiet and still.
Dussander leaned a little closer, keeping a close eye on the proceedings. The warm glow was… not what he expected. The only light in the upstairs loft was from flickering candles, and the bit of daylight that poured in from the downstairs windows. There was no mistaking the glow for anything other than magic.
Preben let out a soft, contented noise and snuggled closer,” Feels warm and… and… like having dinner with all my family.”
Duss tightened his grip on Preben’s hand, just a fraction.
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Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 5:11 pm
"Does it?" Ada asked the boy, smiling softly.
Her eyes remained closed to maintain the focus within. It had taken her years to learn how to interact while casting, and her appointments had been dreadfully impersonal before that time. She much preferred to chat, to get to know her clients. Preben and his father were especially interesting, and not because she thought they needed help or because they would pay. In the face of a lost wife and mother, in whatever way it had occurred, they were held strong and fast by love. Dussander might have been a bit of a hard-a**, or at least seemed to pretend that he was, but she had seen the worry in his brow as he had thrown open her door. She heard the way he spoke to his son. He had a heart in him dedicated to his family, and that was something to be admired.
She couldn't say she knew that feeling of family so well any more. She had never known her own mother, and her father was not quite in the way of father and daughter. His wife was even worse, and she barely knew her siblings at all. She remembered dinner with her grandmother, though. She remembered the love and comfort that surrounded them as they laughed. If magic could feel like that, she would never stop.
The casting continued for several minutes. Ada could be hired for hours, if a customer thought it necessary. As it was, fifteen- to thirty-minute sessions gave the best the magic was going to get. People expected miracles, and perhaps magic could assist, but it would not rip illness from a person's chest no matter how long you sat and waited. When she was finished, even the witch was calmed. She opened her eyes and looked down to Preben, to see if he was asleep and perhaps plan her escape. She rubbed his back in a little circle, and looked to his father with a nod.
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Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 4:38 pm
Dussander wished he could get a taste of what Preben was feeling, if he was enjoying pleasant memories of his mother at the dinner table and a real, cooked meal made with all the skills Nele possessed. It hadn’t even been quite a year yet since she passed away and Dussander generally tried his hardest not to dwell on her. Not when Preben was around. His son had done so well. Been so calm, after the initial shock, and he was still so young. Hopefully, with time, he wouldn’t remember her at all. It would be better for him, that way. Nothing to tear at his heart when he smelled cloves or sea salt. Scents Nele seemed to wear wherever she went.
But, for now, he wanted Preben to enjoy whatever taste of comfort he was being given.
Dussander stroked his thumb against the back of Preben’s hand, staring at him as the boy snuggled deeper. His breathing evened out, slow, just as his mouth formed a slack jawed ‘o.’ He was drifting off. His sleep had been rattled by raspy coughs and struggled breathing for several nights now, but there wasn’t a sound to be heard apart from soft, ordinary snoring. Every once in a while Preben would stiffen and wheeze out a little cough, but it was infinitely, infinitely better than what Dussander had seen before.
Carefully he slipped his hand from Preben’s loose grip and pushed himself to his feet. He finally tore his eyes off his son, just in time to catch Ada’s nod. Slowly he eased his hands under Preben’s shoulders and moved him back flat on the bed. Once he was properly arranged, Dussander tugged the covers up to Preben’s shoulders – ignoring the fox, who he may have accidentally jostled with the action - and tucked the edges firmly into place.
“Downstairs?” he said to Ada, voice lowered to a hush,” Do you want some… tea?” Or something. He imagined the process had to be exhausting. Dussander wasn’t spectacular at any sort of cooking, but he could boil water and toss a teabag in it.
And a warm drink would make the discussion of payment go down easier.
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Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2013 1:24 pm
Ada waited for Dussander to move the boy before sliding carefully off of the bed. She didn't want to accidentally bump him awake and steal a good nap from him. The ill needed rest, perhaps above all else.
With the lifting of the blankets, Somnus gave an offended little gurgle and leaped to the floor. Well, if he was going to be that way! She trundled on over to her companion's ankles and lingered there, watching Dussander. Maybe she didn't like him much either. Ada crouched to give the fox a little pet.
"Certainly," she responded, her voice soft. She hadn't been expecting such an offer, but supposed that it was for the best. They hadn't discussed payment after all, and she felt the need to give her client a list of treatments for colds and flus. It would be good if he didn't have to hire a physician or a doctor, and if he could tell the difference between a threatening illness and a couple weeks-worth of an uncomfortable child.
She stood, clasping her hands at her waist and stepped back to be led where ever they were to go. Magic was quite draining, but it had only been one session, and she often had four or five in a day. She could use a little tea, however. A gentle pick-me-up was never denied.
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