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Bereck usually had a remarkably precise internal chronometer, ironic really given how little attention he paid to a schedule that anyone else could consider normal. Just at the moment however the hands of his internal clock were skipping and jumping a bit, distorting time into a rather vaguer entity. So it was that when he heard Rochelle's voice he wasn't quite sure if Aleck had left five minutes ago or more like fifteen, but either way he was glad of having company again.

Human company, that was; he had plenty of company of another sort. Currently he had three young firelizards asleep on him and two eggs in a pot beside his bed, which was a bit much when you considered that before the fall of Malvren he hadn't owned any at all.

Blinking and giving himself a mental shake Bereck turned his head to Rochelle as she approached, acknowledging her with a nod and a small tired smile. "Rochelle, good to see you," without glasses on his missed the flash of worry, "and have you? Thank you, that's very.... What's that on your lip?" The healer blinked, squinted, gave up and fumbled his (new) glasses off the table beside his bed. He put them on and then frowned again. "Is that a piercing?"

The sceptical 'hummm' going through Bereck's mind was visible on his face, but any disapproval he might have launched at Rochelle was rather squashed by pleasure at her gift. While not difficult to get hold of per se firelizard eggs were reasonably valuable; that she was choosing to give it to him rather than sell it was very gratifying....

How many was it?

"That would be... six." He'd had to think about it for far too long. "Provided they all hatch. Those two there ought to," he made a small gesture at the pair he'd already had, "checked them by a candle flame, there are definitely firelizards developing in there. My guess for them is either two greens or a green and a blue, the bigger egg could do either way.

"Having all of them to train and look after has certainly kept me occupied," Bereck went on, stroking the slightly rough and patchy hide of the recently rescued blue curled up in his lap. "They're all very different from one another, once I've instilled some basic training in them I think I shall teach each to do different things, and of course teach them to work together to accomplish various tasks." Like confusing and harrying whers, for example....

Had Rochelle's chest just cheeped?

It had taken some moments for it to register with him, but yes it certainly has. Bereck raised his eyebrows and smiled a little more. "Ah, I see - hear rather - that you've developed a unique transportation for your blue; very innovative of you!" He wasn't exactly an expert at joking around, but he was trying. "As for that piercing, just make sure you wash it well. Boil water and add salt to that, or alternatively use redwort. If it starts feeling hot or gets red and inflamed see a healer sooner rather than later; I don't want to have to extract an embedded piece of glass from an infected lip."

"A faire," Bereck replied in his usual matter of fact manner, "and I do hope they shan't need to be a murder... not to anything besides local wildlife that is." Once they were old enough he planned to make the firelizards hunt their own food; save him some trouble and expense, and train them to work as a team at the same time.

There really was something very Rochelle about keeping a firelizard in your shirt. "Glad to see yours hatched healthily," he nodded after peering at the blue for a few moments. "The sash though? Don't tell me you're one of those people that dresses their pets up in ridiculous outfits." He certainly hoped not. A collar he understood, and practical items such as a leash for a canine or a message harness for a flitt but much more than that was just pointless.

"Moving on," he didn't want to linger on the possibility of sailor suits in 'Sassy's' future, "I'm pleased to hear that you're...." Bereck trailed off. That comment had definitely been edged, and pointed. From what Rochelle had said before he gathered that she and Becka hadn't exactly hit it off but perhaps it had been worse than he'd imagined. He would have to come back to this point in a moment.

"I am improving, yes," the healer went on after a rather obvious moment of silence. "It's gradual but given... the circumstances that's only to be expected. I'm not sure quite who you'd class as 'super awesome'," the quotation marks were just about audible, "but Aleck's been here and a few others, that Benden goldrider for one." The less said about that the better.

Speaking of things that he would rather not confront (but in this case couldn't evade).... "So what exactly happened between you and Becka?" He'd been trying to find a more subtle way to put it, but he had failed.

Oh.

That was a lot to take in.

Any snarky comments he might have made about the gold rider went out of his head as Rochelle talked... and kept on talking and got angrier and angrier.

The idea of Becka hitting somebody was alien to say the least. And she hadn't sterilized his wounds? Well that explained a lot. An apprentice thrown into that situation though, well, they weren't going to perform perfectly; perhaps she'd forgotten, or just thought there wasn't time. He was alive and he should remain glad of that even if he wasn't going to be quite.... Anyway, he certainly couldn’t blame her for crying but-

He'd snarked at Rochelle? A frown started to form on Bereck face, and for the hundredth time he tried desperately to remember what had happened after he was injured. For the hundredth time he failed. After clawing at the wher's face everything dissolved into a red haze of pain and fear and then blackness... and the next memory was looking at the ceiling, wondering how long he had been looking at the ceiling and why the shaff his ceiling was suddenly made of wood.

He didn't want to think about how worried Aleck must have been throughout all of that, didn't want to think about what his son must have thought and felt about it at all, or what he still thought and felt. He was supposed to be strong, capable, he was the one who was supposed to look after Aleck not the other way around. Ridiculous though it was he felt as if he'd failed. Aleck should never have had to see him like this let alone worse, teetering on the edge of death....

And Becka had slapped Rochelle, and shoved her and.... He was going to have to get Becka's side of the story. Shards this was a lot to take in. Bereck took off his glasses, closed his eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose. He should be able to process this easily and think of a way to respond to Rochelle but he couldn't, his mind kept grabbing onto details but flitting to the next before he could deal with it properly. He was tired of being like this, he hated what the fellis did to his mind but he knew that just at the moment he needed it; he could get no rest without it dulling the pain.

He also hated how he kept thinking about himself, it wasn't like egocentrically tormenting himself was going to change anything; he needed to focus outward, think about other people and other things. That was easier said than done.

How long had he been quiet?

Sighing wearily Bereck lowered his hand and opened his eyes, but didn't yet put his glasses back on. "So it would appear.... I'll talk to her. Regardless of the circumstances hitting people isn't acceptable, especially in an infirmary of all places." She had been under a lot of pressure, he understood that, but nobody had ever said he was a soft kind master. If Becka had erred - he still intended to hear her side of the story - then she would be reprimanded.

There was another thing.

Bereck looked down at the firelizards in his lap. "I... apologise, for whatever it was I said. As I've told you I honestly remember nothing after," he paused involuntarily, words hitching in his throat, "after I was hurt." Bereck's jaw tightened and he started stroking the little pile of sleeping flitts; he refused to start thinking of that now, refused! Firelizards and Rochelle would distract him.

"Of course he did, he's a very capable young man," said Bereck in a pleased tone of voice, every weary inch the proud parent. He did not, however, say any more than that about Aleck; what his son chose to reveal to Rochelle about what he really thought was his own business. He was pleased to hear that Rochelle liked him regardless though; he knew they had been friends before but it was good to see she still regarded him fondly. Aleck didn't have many friends, and sometimes he wondered if that was partially his fault. Had he emphasised too much that they weren't like normal people, and that normal people probably wouldn't like them that much? He'd thought he was just being honest, but maybe he had discouraged Aleck from really trying to make friends.

At least Aleck seemed to have Rochelle back now though (whether or not he still had a crush on her Bereck had no idea and tried to make a mental note to suss out), and apparently that Carltis boy as well. Mmmh, well, he supposed he approved of Aleck having friends more than he disapproved of Carltis; no need for him to try to get the big boy to move along....

And he still felt bad, regardless of Rochelle's acceptance of the apology. He couldn't change it though, you never could really fix your mistakes; wise men were fully aware of that, and worked to make up for them however they could. "Well. Thank you.... Did you enjoy the gather? I gather it was quite the party under the circumstances... no pun intended." He might despise gathers but that didn’t mean everyone did, in fact if Rochelle didn’t love gathers he would be rather shocked; they were just her kind of ‘scene’, or so it seemed to him.

Bereck gave a crooked little smile and shook his head very slightly. "He doesn't hate you." He might not be sure of the specifics and he wouldn't tell Rochelle even if he was but he knew that much, and knew also that Aleck would be happy for it to be passed along.

The smile faded away then, replaced by Bereck's default slightly serious expression. "Well I'm sure he was very pleased with himself," he said neutrally, not as disapprovingly as he once would have. Carltis might be trouble but the boy had given him Sanguine, and had apparently been useful to Aleck during the revolution.

"I don't mind, and I probably was asleep," he continued. "I'm rather glad of somebody keeping her company to be frank.... How does she look?" Aleck had told him she was healing fine, and she said she was healing fine, but while he wouldn't accuse either party of lying to him he wasn't ruling out obfuscation of the truth in the name of not worrying him. The sooner he trained the flitts to let him use their eyes the happier he would be.

Rochelle was not known for adroitness or inclination towards obfuscating and so Bereck relaxed a little, still worried but less so than he had been. "She's tough," he said proudly, "it'll take more than a little revolution to take her down. Still, it's good to have that confirmed. Oh, and none taken." Having Rochelle keeping an eye on her as well as Aleck definitly sounded good, the more eyes the better.

As the pile of firelizards in his lap shifted slightly Bereck looked over at the jar Rochelle had brought. "Would you pass that egg to me please?" he asked with a slight nod to it. "And there's a pair of reading glasses beside the other pot, those too."