Completed Yet More Study [Castor]

[Tsaba]

7th Summer 513AV

Tsaba strode into the now-familiar library, books balanced on one hip, and headed for her favourite little table near the Auristics section. She was a little early, but not ridiculously so; it seemed that she was adapting well to the whole human schedule thing. She quickly set up a little workspace and pulled out a fresh page of parchment for notes.

Castor's notes had been pretty useful, in their own way; they'd given her a good reading list, at least. She carefully put them to one side where they wouldn't be damaged, slipped on her woolen gloves and pulled open First Glances into New Sights and Sounds. She was almost finished the book, and was determined to have read it completely by the time Castor showed up.

Not that she expected that to take long. Punctuality seemed to be prized among the Zeltivans, so far as she could tell. It made things very convenient. Tsaba sat quietly, turning away from the book only to take occasional notes, as she waited for her study partner to arrive.

[Castor Riley]

Castor was running through the University campus, brow sweating, chest heaving, towards the Library and his meeting with Tsaba. On the first day he'd had a day off from work it seemed his body had relaxed to the point where he'd overslept, past his meeting time with the Nuit woman. Castor had gotten dressed and ready, snatching his backpack up as he had run, trying to limit the time the woman might have to wait. When he reached the Library's open, ornate doors, he slowed his pace respectfully, but still walked with a brisk step towards the Auristics section. As Castor approached the reading desks, he breathed a sigh of relief to see her waiting there, reading one of the books he'd suggested and taking notes. She seemed to be pretty much done with the book. Castor approached her, saying "I'm so sorry for being late, I overslept. Have you been waiting long?" with worry and consternation in his voice.

[Tsaba]

"Not at all," Tsaba replied. The concept of 'waiting' wasn't one that concerned her nearly as much as it seemed to concern humans. Technically, she'd been 'waiting' for him since the completion of her previous task, although not all of that had been done in the library, so it didn't count. If h had taken longer to get there, she would have kept waiting until she was required to perform a new task. It was no trouble to study in the library instead of her room, after all; in fact, it gave her a better sense of time passing, to see other people go about their work. His timing was actually excellent; she'd just about finished with her current book, and it was about time to pull herself away from the text for a few minutes anyway. She closed First Glances and set it aside, making a mental note to take it down and properly return it later. Then she handed Castor his notes. "Returned promptly as promised," she said. "I also included a record of some of my own experiences, in case the data is of use to you." She wasn't sure how useful the data would actually be -- one thing everyone seemed to agree on was that actually processing information in Auristics was highly subjective. But it couldn't hurt. She'd found the experience useful, at least.

"So, how have you been?" she asked, remembering that humans were a lot more into 'small talk' than her previous Nuit colleagues had been. "Haven't lost any major limbs, I see? Have you read anything interesting?"

[Castor Riley]

Castor was relieved to hear Tsaba's response and set his backpack on the desk, opening it and getting his things out. His breathing was slowly calming down, and he wiped a trickle of sweat from his forehead. Even if running did not appear to have been particularly necessary after all, as the Nuit woman seemed completely unperturbed, it still felt good to get his blood pumping. He made a mental note to try to get back into his running routine at some point. A wave of slight nausea came over Castor then. This could have been because of the running after his body had become unused to such exercise. The likely culprit, however was the alcohol still in his blood stream from last night's drinking session with Ricky. Truly, kelp beer should never be drunk in large quantities. He put the back of his hand to his mouth, trying to appear casual and not so obviously hung over. He took his notes back from Tsaba with a smile. "I hope they were useful to you," he said. He then started to read through the record Tsaba had given him. He was becoming engrossed in reading and understanding the information Tsaba had provided, when he realised she'd asked some questions. "Oh, I've been fine really." He didn't think anyone had ever noted the presence of his limbs as casually, and from anyone else the question might have been taken as a veiled threat, but he'd come to realise that losing limbs for Nuit was rather common. "Nope, all still here. I'm reading a bit into Flux for a project I'm working on, but nothing of particular importance." He then lapsed into silence as he finished reading the document, concern creeping into his expression. "Tsaba," he said seriously, "if you really have such trouble keeping track of time, you really shouldn't be performing Auristics on your own. It's one of those disciplines that can really draw you in, as you've seen. Please, promise me you'll try to have someone with you when you feel the need to experiment." He then added. "You know, I'm only a few blocks away, so just come knock on my door. I'm always happy to participate in magic research, and I wouldn't want you to get hurt when it would be so easy to just take a few precautions against it." He hoped he wasn't being too forward with the woman, but he had no intention of letting someone get hurt due to his own inactivity.

[Tsaba]

Tsaba knew she shouldn't have put that part in. Well, too late now. "I believe I can resolve the issue using timed candles, but if it bothers you, I will make an effort to be supervised as often as possible when I practise." Next he was going to lecture her about not waiting the recommended 24 Bells, she just knew it. Not that she really wanted anybody to watch her reading her own aura. That would be... strange, somehow. She rubbed the rune point on her right hand. "What's flux?" she asked casually, in an attempt to change the subject. She was sure she'd seen the word before, but couldn't recall where.

Although perhaps she shouldn't change the subject. For someone who was so adamant about knowing one's limits, Castor sure looked a little strained to be moving about and working. The breath, the redness, the subtle signs she'd picked up looking at patients as a child... Tsaba frowned and lifted her hand, intending to put it against his sweaty brow as she would one of Craun's patients and pull djed into her sight. At the last minute, she remembered that she was in the library with a friend, not the infirmary with a feverish commoner.

"May I?" she asked, hand paused mid-air. "You certainly don't look well."

[Castor Riley]

Castor held her gaze for a few ticks, before relenting, satisfied she would at least take basic precautions. He was about to point out that she really should have waited 24 Bells after overgiving, before attempting magic again when she asked about Flux. "Oh, Flux is one of the personal magics. It has something to do with amplifying physical attributes with djed," he replied. "I don't think it would be a wise choice for a person in your condition," he added though he hardly felt that he needed to. He flinched a bit in surprise when she suddenly reached her hand out to touch his forehead. He relaxed almost immediately, though, and nodded his permission. He started to explain "It's nothing to worry about, I just..." but then he stopped, before adding, with a mischievous grin "Well, let's see if you can diagnose me, Dr. Tsaba."

[Tsaba]

Tsaba laid a couple of fingers gently across Castor's brow, and pulled djed into her sight.

Heat. Rapid pulse. Sweat. Something curling in the blood. Fever, infection. But...

But...

No, the pulse was first. The rapid pulse was a causal entity; the heat came later, wasn't extreme, and seemed to be fading already. Exertion. She'd forgotten about that. She really needed to get better acquainted with humans.

"You have minor blood poisoning," she said with some concern. "It's... playing havoc with your blood and I think you might be at risk of dehydration, but it isn't dangerous yet. You don't have a fever that I can tell, but a lot of kinds of blood poisoning create one. Do you want me to walk with you to the infirmary, in case you pass out? This is way beyond my ability to treat."

[Castor Riley]

Castor tried to stop himself, but couldn't and burst out laughing. Tears started running down his eyes, and he wiped at them with his hands. The exertion of emotion and the spasms of his laughter were making him feel nauseous again, so he soon stopped. When he'd finally settled down, he said "I'm sorry Tsaba, it's just I've never heard my condition described in quite those terms." He mused aloud "Though it is an accurate description of it, nonetheless. This is a controlled poisoning though. I'm just hung over from drinking too much Kelp beer last night. Though, to be honest, any kelp beer is too much kelp beer." Castor made a face of mild disgust. He hoped the taste would eventually be gone from his mouth. "Was it interesting to Auristically determine the effects of alcohol?" he asked, but another, more interesting one popped into his mind "Can Nuit get drunk? Have you ever been drunk?"

[Tsaba]

Alcohol? Oh, that made sense. Tsaba smiled as well, relieved that Castor wasn't in danger. "I've never been drunk, no. I was eighteen when I underwent the Daek-Nuit, and as a kid I was too busy with patients and I'd seen too much damage caused by alcohol to really want to try it. And now, well... Nuit don't digest, so it's unlikely that we can get drunk. To be honest, I think your low level of intoxication threw me -- most of the alcoholics I've looked at were very dehydrated and had liver damage. But..." she bit her lip. There was one thing she'd been wanting to experiment with...

"You know, I'm not actually sure of the effects of alcohol on a Nuit. I doubt very much that it would be harmful. There's not really too much to harm, and alcohol is a preservative. It's not one we use on Savoha, but that might just be a method of availability. In fact, I think alcohol might be good for us. If used correctly." She grinned. "You know, I think it would be remiss of us not to experiment. Mister Riley, will you come drinking with me tonight?" Dull as they might be, her eyes said it all -- You wanted me to have supervision with experimenting, so here it is. I'm going to go anyway. You think you can make me safer? Fine. Then let's do this.

"Or, you know, any other night. But the sooner the better."

[Castor Riley]

Castor listened as Tsaba spoke. He always found the viewpoint of the Nuit to be so vastly different from the expected, and so informative to boot. He smirked at the end of her sentence though. He'd wanted to say 'Most of the alcoholics? I'm not an alcoholic, Tsaba,' but he could see from her thoughtful expression she was already considering a train of thought. It was an expression he had quickly come to recognise in the short time he'd known her. Her proposition intrigued Castor. He was certainly interested in investigating it, however he had no desire to even smell kelp beer. Not that anyone in their right mind would, even under normal conditions, but the thought of drinking more of the vile stuff in such a short period of time... It was almost too much for Castor's stomach to bear as another wave of nausea rolled over him. Once he'd gotten himself under control, yet again, he spoke "I'd love to go drinking with you, Tsaba -- and by the way, do please call me Castor -- but, as you saw, I find myself currently rather... indisposed. If you can't wait to try this out, I could accompany you on your... experiment, but I'd have to respectfully decline to drink myself, or I'm sure the results will not be pretty to see." Castor then would listen attentively to her response, and go along with whichever she chose. "Right then!" he said, clapping his hands together, and immediately regretting it, as it sent vibrations through his poor head. "I wanted to ask you this earlier, but got sidetracked by the whole losing-track-of-time issue, but could you explain this diagram you've drawn here? You mention rune sites. Are those from the Daek-Nuit you told me about?"