Closed [Alements] Desperate Healing (Caelum)

[Alaia]

21st of Summer, 514 AV

The 5th bell of the morning had just passed and Alaia was walking down the dock in a pair of pants that had been crudely cut into shorts and a torn long sleeve tunic. Both of which were covered and stained in large splotches of dried blood that had turned a rusty brown rather than actually being the white they had been this morning. Her hair was a mess, dreading from the lack of being brushed and even the sea water hadn’t completely gotten the blood from the ends of the pale strands. She was a mess and it was a mystery how she had made it to the pearl house without being stopped, she figured it must be the hour. Her skin was relatively clean after her dip in the sea though there was still sand clinging to her scales and the random smudge of dried blood behind an ear.

She couldn’t go home, she didn’t realize it until she stopped in front of the pearl house but she couldn’t let anyone who lived in the house with her see her like this. She also knew she’d need help extracting the shirt from her wound on her ribs, it clung to the congealed blood like a lover and if she ripped it she would reopen the wound. She didn’t know where to go, her eyes scanned the docks in panic because she knew that the sailors would be up and moving about any minute. That’s when the thought of Caelum, the lovely Ethaefal she had met only a few days before, crossed her mind. She remembered his Rak’keli mark and she felt her feet moving in the direction of Alements. She had no idea if he’d even be at his business but she had to try, she couldn’t go to the Gilia and she couldn’t completely heal herself.

It didn’t take long to reach the door of Alements, when she finally stood before it she paused and then reached up to knock on the door. Her knock was hard and rapped in quick succession, it was only a hope that he would be in his business at this hour. Syna was half in the sky by now, the shadows of the night shortening and the light prevailing. The first sounds of sailors echoed through the docks and Alaia knocked again, harder this time. Her hands were shaking as she fought the rising hysteria in her blood. The long walk back had been done in a numb daze but now that she was waiting to see if she could get help from the Alements owner she felt the black cloud hovering over her head.

“Caelum?” She called through the door, her voice somewhere between a yell and a whisper so she didn’t attract unwanted attention. “Caelum its Alaia… please be here.” She knocked again, there wasn’t much time between her series of knocks. Her heart raced in her chest, the emotions that she had so rightfully ignored in Kel’s presence after the fight were now beginning to bubble up. “Please.” She whispered desperately though the word was to soft to be heard through the door. It was a long shot she knew and after a few short chimes of her attempt to gather some attention from within Alements she wondered if she should just give up and weather the looks of the other Konti’s in the pearl house until she could disappear into her room.

[Caelum]

It wasn't every night that saw the proprietor of Alements crashing on a bed in his infirmary rather than making his way home to the Sanctuary. In fact, it was rare enough that when Alaia's knock echoed through the otherwise quiet tavern and summoned Caelum from the final vestiges of dreaming, he was disoriented. Ghostly pillars of light stabbed through the floor of his subconscious in a pallid imitation of the majestic glory of the Chavena. They flickered with slow dying star flares and wavered like sea fronds in the currents of mighty Laviku. Out from among them the ceiling of the infirmary attached to his tavern space bled into focus and the ethaefal blinked sleepily at the sunlight creeping up from the foot of his bed like a curious cat. The fresh scents of flowering plants, sea salt, and the astringent reek of purifying carbolic filled him and as he gained his measure of the morning. "Hi, Syna," he croaked at the puddle of daylight growing bolder at the foot of his bed. He raised his hands and rubbed them down his face, a breath leaving him in a long sigh a he recalled the previous night. There had been a great deal of wine. Long fingers pinched the bridge of his nose and he sat up abruptly to spill forward over his legs and more fully into the sunlight. Molten gold and cornflower colored hair -- the shades of summer also turning his horns a pearly white -- splashed over his face. Relief breathed out of him as Syna's energy suffused the whole of him, chasing away the lingering fog of night and almost instantly eradicating the clutch of his stomach for food and sustenance. It was better than a steaming cup of coffee or strong brewed tea. Though, he was rather partial to both. Another knock startled him out of his state of semi-thrall for his first goddess and he sat up, hastily swinging his legs over the bed. Bare feet hit the polished stone floor and he snatched his undershirt -- a sleeveless, white affair -- off the foot of one of the other five beds and went skidding into the tavern proper. Caelum struggled with locating the neck hole rather than the arm holes of his undershirt while half tripping, half stumbling across the brightly colored rugs and weaving around tables. Belatedly thinking about Kavala's exasperated face, he paused in front of the tavern's double doors and focused inward. A swiftly waking hand of power pulled strands of djed out from the center of him and it eased into being, a thin but incredibly potent smear of light against his palm. It stilled there, waiting to be ignited in case of danger. Stretching his neck to one side, Caelum then swallowed a yawn and unlocked the door to pull it open, undershirt still dangling and tangled in his free hand. "Well petch." He blinked, taking in the sight of a blood smeared Alaia. Hesitating only a moment, the djed dispersed between two beats of his heart and he reached for the konti's arm to pull her in. Golden eyes searched the docks past her, illuminated in morning light, and finding them empty he proceeded to slam the door behind her.

[Alaia]

The door to Alements opened just when she was about to turn and go to the pearl house, her eyes widened at the male who stood before her. His hesitation was long enough for her to scan her gaze over him, the horns that graced his head and the golden hues that accented him made her mouth open. She didn’t know who he was, this was not the Caelum she met a few days ago. That Caelum was shorter and was littered with beautiful tattoos, this was not her Caelum. Alaia’s eyes widened into discs blue discs of fear and then she was grabbed and dragged inside, resistance tightened her muscles and tore pain into her side and collar bone. This was not her Caelum. This tall creature was shirtless and naturally a blush came to her cheeks and she averted her eyes. “I-erm …” She stuttered over her words and looked around cautiously as the door shut behind her. “…I need to see Caelum. Please.”

She was thankful she was wearing long sleeves so he wasn’t touching her and if he let her she’d try to extract her arm from him and back away deeper into the building but farther from him. Looking around her arms wrapped around the middle of her body as if her forearms would be enough to cover the blood that stained her clothing. “I ... can you please get him?” Biting her bottom lip the Konti looked around and then adjusted the strap of her backpack, which was weighted by her suvai, on her shoulder not yet putting it down since she didn’t actually know who this man was.

Alaia shivered unconsciously and felt her throat thicken, she had to hold it together. Taking a deep breath through her nose she let it out in a slow shaking breath that seemed to stitch together some part of her unraveling psyche. The man who pulled her into Alements was well, by any normal standards he was absolutely gorgeous. Perfect almost and normally this would have made her shyer but there was something about him that settled her slightly. “Can you tell him Alaia is here? It’s important.” Trying to tug at her clothing to make it presentable, something she did realize was a bit insane when it was covered in blood, she watched the man for another half chime. There was something that was familiar about him, maybe it was the look in his eyes or the echo of his voice from when he answered the door but she couldn’t put her fingers on it. With a shake of her head Alaia frowned deeply, she just wanted to see Caelum rather than trying to figure out who this man before her was.

[Caelum]

Caelum hastily relinquished his grip on Alaia and rolled back a step, giving her the distance she desired. The undershirt was snapped out in his hands and he pulled it over his head, tugging down the hem until he was decent. His hands settled on the slant of his hips and he frowned at her with consternation. It took a few ticks but realization eventually dawned. "Nitya, it's me." A hand rose, gesturing towards himself while he ducked his chin in an attempt to catch her eyes. "Alaia, I mean. I'm sorry. It's me, Caelum." He rocked a tentative step closer to her, gesturing hand extending out. "Remember how I told you I'm an ethaefal? This is what I look like during the day, while Syna is in the sky." He waited with immortal patience for recognition to creep into shocked blue eyes. His expression gentled and he dusted his hand lightly down her arm, heedless of the blood splattering her and careful to not touch her skin yet. He did not know the details of her konti gift, but he knew enough that it required touch. "C'mon," he murmured, turning them toward the infirmary. He walked them, still barefoot, through the tables in the not-yet-opened tavern toward the door at the end of the bar. "Let's go in here and have you sit down and you can tell me where it hurts and what happened. I'll fix you up, alright? Here we are --" The infirmary was welcoming and peaceful in the morning light.

[Alaia]

If Alaia had been anyone else she would have openly frowned at the fact the male was putting his shirt back on, she wasn’t a cold enough ‘fish’ to not notice a handsome man but she was polite enough to glance away when he put on his shirt. It was as if the act of dressing was more intimate then him actually being shirtless. When he spoke again her eyes drifted back towards his, his voice was definitely familiar. Wasn’t it? She had never seen this man before but he sounded like … and then he called her by a different woman’s name. She opened her mouth and closed it just as quickly biting back the flare of annoyance that wanted to slither along her tongue. Perhaps this is what it felt like to have a man call you by another’s name in bed? No she doubted that it just happened to crack her carefully placed shell of indifference a little more.

The male corrected to her name and then claimed to be Caelum. The voice was right, it was his voice and even the look in his eyes that she thought was familiar seemed to agree with his statement. “Oh.” It was all she had to say when he explained he looked different when Syna was shining, it was incredibly interesting and for a moment she forgot about her state of appearance and just stared at him. “That’s amazing.” She finally breathed and stepped closer, a hand reaching out as if she wanted to stroke his cheek to make sure he was real. She had no idea what being an Ethaefal meant except what she briefly learned from him and questions flooded her mind as if a damn broke. Her hand dropped from the motion when his own brushed against her arm, she couldn’t see anything when he touched her through cloth and it was wonderful. She didn’t want to ruin the contact with visions.

“Caelum…who is Nitya?” She finally spoke his name out loud, giving acknowledgement that she believed it to be him. She followed him when he started to walk and once in the infirmary she stood by a bed and looked at him. Sometimes healers could be the worst patients. “I just got in a fight, I only have two wounds but I can’t heal one of them and the other I just … didn’t heal yet.” She raised her arm to show where the blood congealed with the shirt making the fabric stick to her ribs. she had been to preoccupied making sure Kel was alright to worry about the smaller gash across her collarbone. “I just … need help please. I couldn’t go to the Gilia I work there and they’d be nosey.” Her eyes turned on him then, wide as saucers and a frown creased her features. “I’m sorry you were the only one I could think of quickly. The girls at the Pearl house would ask questions and …” The Konti drifted off as more cracks in her shell began to form, the rambling bringing forth her desperation.

Lowering her arm she looked around at the pristine set up of the clinic, it was nothing like the Gilia. This clinic felt more welcoming then the impersonal sterility of the medical center. She didn’t want to sit on the bed and soil the sheets so she stood and looked at him with a plead in her eyes. She just wanted to forget about the day before and get out of the blood soaked clothes. With the thought of her clothes she looked down and dropped her bag to the floor, she was disgusting. “I’m sorry I’m going to ruin everything. It’s so nice in here. Your clinic is lovely Caelum.” Her words pitched in her throat and her eyes stung as the tears she’d been holding back for the past twelve bells threatened to expose her to her fellow healer.

To hide glassiness of her gaze she looked away from him and reached to the hem of her shirt starting to pull it up and over her head. Modesty was not something to be had in a clinic or in the ocean, modesty was saved for everywhere else and right now she had no thoughts that her attempt to rid herself of the bloody clothes would bother him. She needed to get free of them as soon as she could. The tunic she wore grasped her wound almost as desperately as she was trying to get the top off. The pain that shot through her side at the tug made her drop her hem back down covering her stomach once more and finally that’s when the tears started.

She felt as if she was breaking in half, it was an emotion she had never experienced before. She felt like a failure in Rak’keli’s eyes and she felt like a monster. Alaia felt as if everything she strived to be in her life had been changed as the man’s life faded from his eyes the day before and alls she wanted to do now was crumple on the floor. Could she really be such a horrid person? Could she fail so much that she had allowed the death of another by her hand? It was an accident but that didn’t make it any more right. She hated herself and the chasm that seemed to open within her and suck all the light that she normally possessed. Sickness crawled in her stomach as the abyss widened and every time she blinked she was seeing his eyes just staring at her in horror.

There was no sound that came with her tears, just glittering drops of salty water scalding her cheeks which were reddened under the rush of emotions in her. Turning her face from Caelum the Konti was embarrassed and held her head with a sort of poise. When she was sure her voice wouldn’t shake she spoke slowly in common, tripping over the words that normally weren’t so hard to find. “Please … do you have things?” Inside her world was a tsunami, ready to destroy what composure she could muster to stand before him while her body trembled and her breath stopped. Control, it was all about control.

[Caelum]

“You’re Nitya,” Caelum explained. “That was your name in your past life in Falyndar that we talked about, as one of the Myrian. I did a little more research since I saw you last and...” He trailed off, largely because he was astute enough to realize that now was not the best time to geek out with his new friend over the details of past lives. His new friend was tied up with having a melt down. “I’m glad you came to me, Alaia,” he interrupted her explanation regarding the Gilia Medical Center while tugging a jar of ointment out of one of the cabinets. They lined the back wall of the sunlit infirmary, filled to the brim with all manner of neatly arranged medical supplies. Everything from rolls of bandages and extra sheets and blankets to stacks of various tool kits and jars of medicines was organized within an inch of its life. The stone walls were paler here than in the tavern, cut with wide, steel colored streaks that veined vertically through the cliff the entire complex was carved out of. No less than six beds lined the two side walls complete with shelving cut into the stone above them for personal storage as well as at-hand supplies. A stone table stretched beneath the last wall, in the full light of the window, along with a wood desk caddy corner. It was wide and open, all of the blankets dove grey and ivory, hints of blues and greens from plants and jars adding to the the color scheme. It was at once opposite the deep, warm tones of Alements tavern and complimentary of it. Most people failed to realize the infirmary was back here, let alone so well kept; but the astute were sure to have determined long since that the horned tavernkeep had to have somewhere closer than the fully stocked Sanctuary to treat his more serious patients. Sometimes patients couldn’t be moved. When Alaia began to splinter and melt, Caelum quietly put down the ointment and watched her. Compassion came over him like a hot wind, hollowing him out and clearing the debris of anyone but Alaia temporarily away. She began to shiver and calloused fingers lifted a glass from the pale wooden tray on the corner of the counter to fill it with cool water that was scented with cucumbers and blueberries. He did not take that to her, however, not yet. Tears welled in her eyes and he closed his, exhaling to the tune of the outbound tide of his spirit so as to seek the stillness it left within. Meditation had aided him through the caprices of dark investigations and the humiliations of ranuri. Practices such as these had helped buoy him out of the black depths so that he could snap his mind into pieces like bones in the brutal hands of man. He inhaled and let the tide back in, watching inside of himself where the waves broke against only a piece of his shore. It left the remaining two dry. He smiled, faint as the beat of a moth’s wing, and opened his eyes. All of the this took about three heartbeats, but infinities were in it, allowing Caelum to be at his best when he stepped forward and took his new friend into his arms. “I have things,” he murmured to her, words pitched low and strong arms snaking around her. Gently but firmly, he drew her in, tucking the small konti against his chest as she broke. “I have lots of things, sweetheart. Things that will make you feel better and that can help you take care of this, all of this. We have time.” The winged snakes emblazoned upon the back of his hand glimmered as if stretching their wings, an opal gold against the sun burnished rest of him. Rak’keli’s grace filled him up and then spread outward, enveloping Alaia like a cozy blanket on a rainy night. Healing power comforted and would eventually revitalize, humming more than it sang as it passed from Caelum’s bones and into hers. “We have plenty of time,” he promised, words low and arms strong. “Take all of it that you need.”

[Alaia]

Surely it was the Valterrian all over again, there was no way someone could feel this way and hold it all together without it being the end of the world as they know it. The war within her felt like it was destroy every corner of peace and solace until she was no more a shell of her former self. The splits in her armor were showing, she could see it on Caelum’s face when she dared to glance back at him through teary vision. Alaia could see him seeing her but what she wasn’t prepared for was him stepping towards her and pulling her into his arms. She didn’t expect the sudden feeling of need to swallow her whole, briefly over riding the darkness within her. The konti who spent her entire life avoiding touching others as much as she could in her personal life found herself needing the warmth of his embrace more then she needed anything else in that moment.

Alaia didn’t fight him when he pulled her to his chest; instead she splintered even more and wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her face to his chest. Her fingers wove into the fabric of the shirt he had put on and she clutched him as tight as she could. Caelum’s words wrapped around her as affectionate and welcoming as his arms and he held her together like glue. The tears started then, they had started before but now they really started and her small frame shook with the force of them. Even though he was all that was holding her from collapsing then it was as if she was completely exposed to him as well. She could feel his intentions to help her and so she just clung tighter allowing him whatever he wanted as long as he didn’t let her go in that moment.

Her tears burned her eyes and she squeezed them shut trying to stop them, even with Caelum’s urge that she could take as much time as she needed the healer still fought for control over her emotions. It wasn’t working. Part of her was aware that tears of such caliber meant her nose would be running and she tried to tilt her head away from him so she didn’t ruin his shirt more than her tears or tightened fingers would. The arms holding her were to forgiving of her sudden break down, he didn’t even ask about the blood covering her though she could see his questions hiding under his desire to help her.

Since she met him he had done nothing but help her. Really this was too much emotion for a second meeting. It was unclear to her when the crying stopped; it was even unclear to her for some time exactly how much he was healing her. At some point she felt her body responding to his healing touch and she felt the soreness of her limbs and wounds lessening. The small healer was awed by him in that moment and it wasn’t because of his unique horns or the glow of his skin that reminded her of sunshine – she was awed because of him.

It was amazing how much a body felt exhausted from crying, the soreness from the fight the day before didn’t help but her entire head pounded with emotion though that eventually faded as well. Against his chest Alaia finally shifted though she didn’t move away, instead she turned her head against his chest and pressed her ear to listen to his heart. The steady beat of the blood pumping calmed her further while her red rimmed eyes stared blankly at what parts of the clinic she could see from his arms. She laid in his arms for just over a half bell before she spoke, her voice hoarse with emotions that he had somehow managed to bundle up like a warm blanket. She had trusted him with her blood the first time they met, and again she now trusted him to piece her back together. Where he had earned such a standing within her she was unsure but she wasn’t going to question it right now

“Caelum…” Lifting her head from his chest she looked up at him and slowly unfurled stiff fingers from his shirt which was sure to be wrinkled where she had clasped it. “…thank you.” If able the konti would snake her hand between their bodies and she’d cup his cheek with light fingers and brush her lips lightly against his forehead. Pure gratitude filled her, trust and what she could only conclude was a desire to repay him. Slowly Alaia would try to extract herself from his arms though she didn’t want to leave his strength behind she didn’t think it would be proper to stay there now that she was composed and physically healed.

Once extracted from the Ethaefal she reached up to feel where the wound at her collar had been, it was healed over from what she could tell by feel and then she lifted up the side of her shirt to expose her rib cage. Her scales glinted in the morning light and she tilted her head to try to look at the sideas best she could. The wound was still there but it wasn’t as red and enflamed as before. “I’m so sorry, so sorry that this is our second meeting.” Her eyes tilted to his then, the blue of her irises standing out even more against the red rims of her evaporated tears. “I just … how can I thank you? Please? Tell me whatever I can do to thank you…”

Dropping her shirt Alaia bit her lip, her pale cheeks which were blotched with crimson emotion now filled out in color as she blushed and looked away from him still having the sense to flutter about what she perceived as proper social conduct. Proper social conduct was an odd thing to worry about in the situation they were in but still it plagued her actions and guided them rather than her desires. “I didn’t tell you what my gift is did I?” It wasn’t something she shared often since leaving Mura, on Mura so many people knew – now she hid it as often as she could. “I can feel what you intend to do over the next three days. Sometimes things are muddled, it’s not an exact science … and it’s really rude to just touch people to find out their intentions so I try really hard not to. I’m sorry I used it on you the other day. It’s an invasion of privacy.” She was apologizing a lot today. The konti paused and took a deep breath “It has to be skin to skin though.” The last thing she wanted was for him to fear touching her but she would understand if he did, in truth she feared touching people so she thought it only natural if someone knew about her ‘gift’ to be distant from her.

[Mayhem1]

You're an excited PC roaming around a thread.

You're not paying attention that the story's over.

Then...BAM! You're hit with a Grade.

I'm Mayhem, the ever-present Junior ST of Cyphrus. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this grade, please don't hesitate to shoot me a PM! And please, please remove or edit your grading request once you see this. Thank you!

 

Caelum

XP

• Meditation - 1

LORES

• Alaia's Konti Gift: Sensing Intentions
• Alaia: Grateful

 

Alaia

XP

• Observation - 1

LORES

• Caelum: An Ethaefal

Notes: Both of you are awesome writers. I would've loved to see this thread go further.

With Regards,
- Mayhem