[Infirmary] Zeltiva Puppet Theatre Part IV (Satevis)

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

89th Day of Spring, 512 AV Shortly after midnight (Opening scene starts the day before, late afternoon) Minerva had spent the last few days working on her puppets. The morning of the 88th, she'd reluctantly parted company with her boyfriend, Satevis, after spending a tender night together and then painting puppets all morning. She'd slumped off to work without any desure to be there, which was rare because she normally loved her job. But today, it was getting in the way of her personal projects. She was also starving. She sat at work all day, working on some simple carvings, some decorative touches for the houses her crew was working on. She sat through the afternoon with her broken foot propped up, mostly keeping to herself. Her friend James was avoiding her, and each time he walked by and she tried to call out to him, he pretended not to hear her. It was really getting under her skin, and her mood was already foul since she hadn't eaten all day. She would have gone after him and smacked him one, but it would take her too long to get into her crutches. So she just sat by herself, grumbling and gritting her teeth, and worked on her carvings. At the end of the day, when she was back in her crutches and ready to go home, she tried to snag him one last time. She marched her crutches up to him and grabbed his sleeve. "James, whatcher pro-- Oy!" she cried out and glared at him as he just pulled away. "Whazza 'ell's wrong wit' ya, mate!?" she shouted at the back of his head. She would have stomped her foot if her feet were on the ground, but instead she just kicked at the air. "Is everything alright, Miss Zipporah?" She turned and saw her boss, Jacques, stepping up to her. "Aye," she lied, glaring at the ground. "Jus' fine, Bossman..." Jacques looked her over, then looked at James's retreating form, and asked, "Is there a problem between you and James? I normally wouldn't intrude, but anything that could interfere with the work..." Tock glared at him and said, "Oy, Bossman, ain't nothin', aye? 'E's jus' done got 'is panties in a bunch, ain't nothin' what's gonna affect the work..." Jacques looked into her eyes for a moment, then nodded. "Very well," he said, "just so long as it doesn't. Oh, one last thing, that puppet show... it is tomorrow night, yes?" Tock nodded distractedly, looking at James as he walked away. Jacques continued, "I'll be sure to be there." Tock looked up at him and grinned, "Aye? Good fer you, Bossman! Didn't think ya'd show!" "Well," Jacques said, "I did make a contribution. It would be remiss for me to miss the end result. Good day, Miss Zipporah." She nodded to him, and as he turned to leave she groaned, clutching at her stomach. Jacques paused and looked at her. "Something else wrong, Miss Zipporah?" he asked. She shook her head. "Nah, ain't nothin'..." He sighed and looked her over. Tock didn't know it, but she looked like hell today. She'd been pushing herself too hard lately. She hadn't been getting enough sleep, and she hadn't had much food left in the house. She wasn't used to this whole 'rationing food' thing. Jacques, however, seemed to recognize the signs. "When was the last time you ate?" he asked. Tock started turning her crutches away, and Jacques stepped in front of her. She bit her lip and muttered, "Day 'fore yesterday..." Jacques sighed, and said, "Wait here." He headed off to his wagon, and returned a moment later with something wrapped in cloth. "Here... I can't have one of my employees passing out on the job, can I now?" Tock took it and unwrapped it, and saw what looked like it had to be the single most delicious sandwich she'd ever seen. She bit her lip, and looked up at her boss. She didn't like taking charity. She opened her mouth to say something, and Jacques cut her off by saying, "You're welcome, Miss Zipporah. Good day." He was gone before she could mount any further protest. Sighing, Tock wrapped the sandwich and tucked it into her toolbelt, intending to eat it the moment she got home. She piloted her crutches at top speed, which unfortunately wasn't much. She was nearly there when the Gods decided they wanted to mess with her. "But... sir, please?" a woman called out, slightly drowned out by the sound of a crying child. Tock glanced over and saw a young mother who looked about Tock's age, with a kid who looked barely old enough to talk saddled on her hip. She was haggling with a shopkeeper, which was something Tock knew was fairly useless right now. Food was being rationed... you only got so much per week, and that was that. "I'm sorry miss," the man said. "There's nothing I can do..." Tock stopped and closed her eyes. Petch 'em, she thought, as she heard the woman continued begging the man. People had to look out for themselves. That was how the world worked... ...back in Sunberth, anyway. She ground her teeth, letting out a frustrated groan. Back home, nobody would have cared about the suffering of another. People just looked out for themselves. She'd grown up dealing with that. She had that tough side inside her. She could just walk away... The kid let out a new, louder wail, and Tock shouted, "Oy, FINE!" Woman, child, and shopkeep turned to look at her, and she marched her crutches over. She shoved the sandwich in the woman's hands and said, "'Ere!" She then turned away before the woman could bog her down with thank you's and may the Gods bless you's. She didn't stop until she got back home, unstrapping from her crutches and flopping onto her bed. Naily rolled over to her, whining at her until she picked him up. "Yer lucky I didn't make ya so ya need ta eat," she told him. * * * After finishing the painting on the puppets, attending her Magecraft class, and taking a long nap, Tock made her way up to the Astronomy Tower. She left her crutches at home today, feeling like they'd get in the way this time. Her foot was almost better, and she was able to make her way leaning on walls, hopping, and hobbling about carefully. She made her way past empty classrooms on up to the tower, where Satevis had told her he had some kind of late test review group. She intended to surprise him. When she was almost there, she started slinking forward as quietly as she could, stopping by the door and listening to see if the class was still going on.

[Satevis]

OOC : Continued from this post. Most of the students that had been in the Astronomy Tower had already left, and as Tock stood by the door, she would hear only two voices coming from inside the room. One, a male voice, was undoubtedly Satevis. The other was female and high-pitched, belonging to a woman under a lot of stress. The voices spoke in hush tones, too quiet for Tock to make out the details of what they were saying. But as the conversation ended, the door to the observatory suddenly swung open, a girl running outside. She bumped into Tock's shoulder as she moved, the door to the observatory slamming shut behind her. The girl spun around and faced Tock, a look of surprise on her face. She was young, with brown hair and big, startling blue eyes. She seemed pale and tired, and looked at Tock with the same frightened intensity with which a cornered mouse might regard a lion. "Sorry," she said quickly, giving Tock an apologetic bow and heading quickly down the stairs. If Tock looked inside the room, she might see Satevis wiping down the chalkboard, with the same look of troubled concentration on his face that he saved for particularly pressing problems.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Fortunately for Satevis, Tock wasn't the jealous type, nor was she the sort to press her nose into other people's business. So when the young girl pushed past her, she was almost immediately out of Tock's mind. Her only continued thought on the matter came from the worry she sensed in Satevis, and her desire to relieve him of whatever pressure he was under. So she slipped into the room as quietly as her injured foot would allow, limping along and trying not to bump into anything. She pressed her lips together and held her breath, sneaking up behind Satevis with the hope that he wouldn't see her. Then, once she was in range, she JUMPED onto his back, wrapping her arms and legs around him. "Surprise!" she shouted, hooking her arms around his neck and shoulders and kissing one of his horns. "Miss me?" she asked with a giggle. If he knew what was good for him, there was only one answer to that question...

[Satevis]

Satevis was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice Tock creeping up behind him. As such, when she jumped onto his back, he was startled, and very nearly lost his balance. He stumbled back, his eyes widening in surprise, and he felt the Djed already collecting at his fingertips before he heard Tock's voice and he relaxed, slowly exhaling in relief. He regained his footing and straightened up. His Ethaefal form was bigger and stronger than his Benshira form was, and he managed to stay upright. A smile came to his face at her arrival. As surprised as he was to find her here, he had to admit that he greatly regretted not being able to visit her tonight. "Of course I did," he said, knowing that there was only one right answer to that question. "Why wouldn't I?" He gave her a smile, looking over his shoulder at her. Tock would notice that, just as he predicted, his hair had gone another shade darker, and the green streaks in his horns were slightly more pronounced. His smile faded slightly as he realized the time. It was past midnight, and Tock lived on the other side of town. She hadn't been getting much sleep lately--he remembered that much. What was she doing here? And without her crutches? He slowly backed up, using his hands to gently loosen her arms from around him so that he could turn around. He lowered her so that she was sitting on one of the classroom desks, a concerned frown on his face. "Tock," he said. "It's not that I don't appreciate the gesture. But it's past midnight. You've been pushing yourself too hard lately..."

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock grinned at his initial response, running her fingers along the thicker green streaks in Satevis' horns. She had the urge to measure the rate of change, and used her fingers to estimate the length, comparing it to the best she could remember of the night before. It was a pity she hadn't thought to take more precise measurements at the beginning. Having a color changing boyfriend was proving to be a fascinating study. Then she plopped down onto the desk, and his next statement brought a frown to her lips. She almost told him that she had taken a four hour long nap this evening just so she could come see him, but the way he spoke to her set her off. She folded her arms across her chest, arched a slender eyebrow, and gave him a look. "Oy, so you's my Da now?" she asked in an irritated tone. "I don't see nobody telling ya what time YOU should be in bed, aye? I's a big girl an' I think I done knows 'ow ta take care o' myself..." Of course, it was clear she wasn't taking good care of herself, between the dark circles under her eyes and her general disheveled appearance. Not to mention the empty ache in her stomach from two days without food. Without meaning to she let out a soft groan and a whimper, clutching at her stomach. She actually felt a bit sick.

[Satevis]

Satevis sighed at her reaction, smoothing down a slight flutter of irritation inside himself. He should have been expecting this. He might not have said anything at all, if it wasn't for the fact that Tock really wasn't looking well. She had been tired yesterday and had been working rather hard, and he was concerned for her. His concern deepened when she clutched her stomach, and it became immediately obvious that she wasn't feeling well. Tock had had a broken foot for almost twenty days now. Satevis had not heard her whimper. "I'm just concerned for you," he said, his expression softening as he rested his hand lightly on her shoulder. "I do care about your well-being, you know. If that offends you, so be it." He wasn't going to stand by and let her run herself ragged because it would hurt her pride if he tried to help her. But he wasn't going to start any unnecessary fights because of it either. He kissed her lightly in an attempt at mollifying her. "I really am happy to see you," he said truthfully as he pulled away. "But when was the last time you ate?" He had been with her all of last night and much of this morning, and Satevis didn't remember seeing her eating one bite of food. It was something he often forgot because food came as a bit of an afterthought to him, but he realized now that Tock had skipped two meals in a row back then. If she hadn't had lunch or dinner today...

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Satevis' declaration that he cared for her softened Tock's expression, and she smiled through the pain that was etched across her face. A rare sign of weakness crept into her eyes as he asked about the last time she ate, and she let her eyes fall off to the side. She bit her lip, hesitating for a long moment. For four years she'd been taking care of her own self, and never in that time had she had to ask for charity or help with anything. "Two days ago..." she muttered under her breath. Before he could judge her for it, though, she protested, "But it ain't my fault! They's rationin' everythin'! Blokes down the market says ya can only has so much each week, an'..." She wasn't used to this. She was used to being able to just buy food when she needed it, without question. "I ain't 'llowed no more o' the ration 'til first o' summer..." She looked up at him pathetically. She didn't like asking for help. Asking him to work on the puppet show had been different; that wasn't for her. "Ya can jus' eat the moonlight, aye?" she asked in a pathetic whisper. "Any chance I could... I mean, ya could...?" She swallowed and lowered her eyes as tears filled them. She hated being this weak. She hated having to depend on someone else.

[Satevis]

Two...days...? The words were on the tip of his tongue, but Satevis suppressed them. It would be so easy for him to scold her now, remind her that she needed to eat more, tell her that she shouldn't push herself this hard. But the memory of her initial reaction made him stop and think, analyzing his feelings. He smoothed down the blind edge of panic and concern, recognizing that if he spoke out in that way, he would only end up wounding her. Instead, he looked at her, and he thought about what he was going to say. She hadn't eaten in two days. And she was quite obviously on the verge of tears. That startled him, and he felt his heart swell with that same unnameable feeling that he had felt when he saw her shrink away from him last night, although the feeling was softer and less hungry for blood. He had never seen Tock like this before, and he realized with a start that he wanted to help her. Not just in this, because certainly that was nothing special. He had fed Yvera. He had fed the children in the slums during the famine. Charity work was not new for him. But this wasn't charity. He wanted to help her, not because it was the right thing to do, but because it was her. He wanted to protect her, to keep her safe. He hated the fact that she was in pain. The feelings were new, intense, and incredibly fragile, and for the first time in a while, Satevis shunned from thinking about what they might mean. He worried that thinking about them would turn them cold and analytical, a collection of facts that laid out in his notes rather than things with any true meaning. So he sighed heavily instead, his hands tightening protectively on her arms. "You should have come to me right away," he said, looking her in the eye. "I have plenty of rations left over." It was half a lie. He didn't need all of his rations (or any of his rations, as his actions during the famine showed, but there was no point in him going hungry anymore), so he had taken to giving the excess away, keeping just enough to take the edge off his hunger so he could focus on his studies. If he went to the Cafeteria now, there would be no food for lunch later. But if he had spent twenty-seven days without food for strangers, he could go one day without food for Tock. To see her smile like when she used your glyphs? His little, self aware mental voice echoed his deeper thoughts. Wow...you have it bad. He didn't say any of this out loud, though. But it was reflected in his eyes as he looked at her. What he did do was kiss her forehead again, lightly. "It will be alright," he said. "Come on. Let's go to the Cafeteria Hall. They should have something left over." He still needed to calibrate the scopes, but Leth take the damned things. The exam wasn't for two days. He would come back tomorrow night and do that.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

When Tock was a young girl, when she was simply Minerva, she had been well used to abuse. Her tears were a familiar thing back then, before she'd left that life, and all the pain it brought, behind. When she first set foot on Mura, she had for the first time in her life cried tears of sheer joy, instead of pain. Ever since then she'd tried to be strong, and she had thought that these kinds of tears, the tears of anguish, were behind her. She wiped her nose on the back of her sleeve, watching as Satevis stared at her and sorted out his thoughts. She didn't want him to think she was weak. She didn't want that shame. She'd left that weak little girl behind the day she'd hit her father over the head with a frying pan and fled the city. Back home, showing weakness like this would have made her someone's prey. But Satevis just looked at her, and her breath caught when she saw the look in his eyes. She was trembling when he leaned forward and kiss her forehead, biting her lip as a soft, contented sound came forth. He told her it would be alright. No one had told her that since her Granddad. No one had taken care of her since he died. She had never trusted anyone else to take care of her since then. Her words caught in her throat, and she simply nodded. She stood, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tight. She squeezed him as hard as he could, her body trembling. Then she turned towards the door, and nearly fell flat on her face. Fatigue and hunger, along with a still somewhat wounded foot, didn't make for the best balance. She swooned, and fell backwards into Satevis' arms. She clung to his shoulders, whimpering, and turned desperate eyes up towards him. She still didn't want to ask for help... she hated asking anyone for help. But she knew she needed help, even if she still had too much pride to say the words.

[Satevis]

When Tock hugged him, it was all he could do to hold her back, wrapping his arms around her and keeping her close as she shook. One of his hands cradled the back of her head. The other held her close. He didn't say anything as he felt her tremble against him, but the gesture had words of its own. You're okay. You're safe. You don't need to be ashamed about this. Trust me. I care. I'm here. So on and so forth, as much as she needed. The words would have sounded stupid and shallow if spoken, so he didn't speak. Anyone could talk. It was something else entirely to do. When she stumbled on her way to the door, he caught her without question, supporting her. The request in her eyes was unspoken. She had too much pride to say the words, and Satevis respected her pride enough to not voice his response either. Wordlessly, he nodded once, moving one of her arms around his neck and pulling her up against his side with one of his arms. He could have picked her up. In fact, he wanted to. But he understood that she was proud. If he picked her up, then she would probably think of herself as dead weight, and it wouldn't make her feel any better. There were a dozen questions he could have asked as they slowly made his way downstairs, the first of them being--Where in the gods' names are your crutches?!, but he held his tongue for now. Those things could wait until she calmed down. At length, they reached the Cafeteria Hall. The building was dark this time of night, and completely empty of students. It was a sign of the hard times Zeltiva had fallen on, that the building was empty at any hour during the final days of term. People had told him that there were always at least three people at the Cafeteria during finals, sipping tea and trying to stay awake. A single light burned behind the counter, a bored looking man sitting on the other side. He looked up at the two of them, a frown on his face. Satevis brought Tock over to an empty round table near one of the windows, helping her into a seat. "Sit," he said. "I'll be right back." The Ethaefal walked up to the counter. The man behind it frowned, leafing through a ledger book. Satevis gave him his name and he frowned, tracing his finger along a single line. "You're cashing in early," he commented. "You know you're not getting anything more till the 90th, right?" Satevis nodded. "I'm aware," he said. "So, what'll it be?" asked the man, getting up. "We've got some soup in the kitchen, some fish, bread..." He frowned. He had spent quite a few nights this term at the infirmary, and in the peak of the famine, a lot of people were brought in with issues related to starvation. He hadn't dealt with them--his abilities would only make starvation and disease worse unless they were properly treated first--but he remembered the nurses telling him that if people who hadn't eaten in a while were given heavy food, it would upset their stomachs. "Something light," he said. "Some soup, and some bread. Nothing too rich." The man nodded, and in a moment, he returned with a bowl of hot soup on a tray, with a roll of bread next to it. "Sit where you like," he said. "But if you want light, you'll have to light them yourself." He made a vague gesture towards the darkened chandeliers in the hall, then went back to sitting at his desk. Satevis carried the tray carefully over to Tock, lowering it onto the table. "Here," he said, "Your body won't be used to the food after going so long without it, so eat slowly."