A medical emergency

[fadingworld]

A deep navy cloak hides his features and the more ornate tunic the courtesan usually wears to greet his clients. Mal hunches his shoulders and slides through the crowds hoping to avoid notice. He keeps his head down until he reaches the home of the doctor and wraps smartly on the door. "Open up," he calls in a voice that expects to be listened to.

How much time did he have? He could not have a client bleeding out. Not this one. Not one who had come to him for help, to be treated privately.

Comments

[mandragoraspiritus]

"I will worry, for some time," comes the mumbled and honest reply. Still, it will get better with time. Regis has pulled himself through times similar to this in the past, once even not many years ago at all, and he knows he can do it again.

He stays like that for a while, savoring the comforting petting of his hair before he pulls back slowly, rubbing a hand tiredly over his face. "You need to eat," he says, pushing himself up to get the broth and pour it into the mug previously used for tea. "You will need it to heal."

[fadingworld]

Mal will be there to help with the worry. It does not matter how many times he needs to reassure Regis, it will be worth it every time.

"And you need to rest," he says gently. Before he accepts the mug he has to wipe the unexpected tears away from his face. "Do the transformations tire you?"

[mandragoraspiritus]

Regis shakes his head. "No. Not as such. But going as far as I did today is intense and not entirely pleasant." As the snapping of bones and creaking of warping muscle ha perhaps suggested.

"I will admit to being tired, but it stems from other things. But I cannot sleep just yet." Not when he wondered with some concern what else might lurk out in the woods and might come out at night.

[fadingworld]

Mal takes a sip of the broth. "What will you do until you can sleep?" he queries softly, "Besides keeping me entertained." There is a lightness to his tone, inviting Regis to move away from the serious conversation if he wishes.

[mandragoraspiritus]

"Keep watch," he confesses, glancing over at the still open door. "With the unexpected presence of the chort, keeping a watchful eye seems wise."

[fadingworld]

Mal shivers. He looks down at the mug to hide the fearful look in his eyes. Of course he cannot hide the increase in his heart rate. "What else could be out there?" he asks quietly.

[mandragoraspiritus]

"Hopefully nothing. Chorts are very territorial from what I understand." But then again, now that the chort is dead... He worries a bit about various kinds of necrophages, lured by the smell of blood and the stench of the cadaver there in the woods. It isn't that far away after all.

[fadingworld]

"But," Mal presses gently. Again, he can feel that worry coming from Regis. It is enough to make him pause and wonder, is he developing a fever and starting to imagine things that he can't really see or feel.

[mandragoraspiritus]

"There will always be things out in the wilds," Regis says, calmly enough. "Perhaps no more than a pack of wolves. A cadaver like the chort might attract something. Though anything there to simply scavenge should pose no real danger to us."

[fadingworld]

"To you," Mal corrects fondly. "I remain grateful and lucky that you are here to protect me." Though perhaps he could learn a bow and arrow someday, enough to shoot from a distance if they were ever in trouble in a forest again.

If he ever entered a forest again.

[mandragoraspiritus]

"To us," Regis corrects in return. "As I will not be leaving you unattended." In that, Mal would be kept perfectly safe.

[fadingworld]

Mal wishes that comforted him completely. But he continues to feel that faint apprehension. "Would anything dare to try and enter a cabin?

[mandragoraspiritus]

"Not much so long as I am here, and nothing I expect would at all be in the area." Not with that chort having been so close.

"No, Mal, you can rest easy. I will keep you safe from anything that might be out there."

[fadingworld]

Mal sets the mug down having eaten most of the broth. "Thank you," he says softly. He half shuts his eyes again. "Can you tell me a happy tale about travelling with one of your friends?"

[mandragoraspiritus]

"May of my tales ends in sadness, I fear. Very few of those friends remain alive today. But that is not to say that there weren't good times along the way."

He takes that mug and goes to wash it out, then closes the door against the night, putting another log in the fire on his was back to Mal's bedside, again taking a seat on the floor. "What would you like to hear about?"

[fadingworld]

"I would like to hear about someone or something you remember fondly." Regis continues to fascinate Mal. Regis is good talker and Mal a good listener so it fits very well.

[mandragoraspiritus]

"Oh, that would be all of them, each in their own way." Regis smiles a fond smile for the past, then goes on to tell Mal of the hansa. Of Milva the archer, of the Nilfgaardian black knight Cahir. Of the ever so dramatic and famous poet Dandelion and of the sassy street urchin Angoulême. And of course of Geralt the witcher, with whom he had stood side by side with against his own blood brother.

[fadingworld]

Mal listens to the tale. With the richness of Regis' voice and his way of speaking, Mal can conjure images of each of them. He pauses the tale occasionally for more details on each of them.

When it comes to an end, he is smiling. "They are quite a collection. Tomorrow, tell me more of Geralt? He interests me a lot for what he does and how he inspire loyalty."

[mandragoraspiritus]

"He is an interesting man," Regis says easily. "As well as a very dear friend. I hope you will get to meet him one day, if he ever decides to leave his estate in Toussaint and venture east rather than head north."

A quick, amused smile then and a shake of the head. "Though I suspect he will be somewhat surprised that I have fallen in love with another man, perhaps even that I have fallen for a human."

[fadingworld]

The comment about another male doesn't surprise Mal, he's used to people keeping that preference hidden. It's the human comment that catches him.

"Why how long is it since you've been with a human?"

[mandragoraspiritus]

"Ah, well..." Regis looks up, his expression almost a little sheepish. "As it would happen, you are my first."

He had mentioned outer relationships and affairs, this is true. But he had never said they were human.

[fadingworld]

Mal starts to sit up in surprise. "Ow," he says with a rueful laugh. "Sorry, I never thought I would be anyone's first human. How come there has never been one, have none caught your attention before?"

[mandragoraspiritus]

Right away Regis is up on his knees beside the bed, gently but firmly pushing Mal back dow to lay still.

"Never in such a way that I have wished to truly get involved with them. There has certainly been those where I have appreciated their appearance or personality, or both. But it has never before ventured from idle thoughts into action."

[fadingworld]

Mal lays back with good grace and a smiled apology. But this was interesting and not in a ego boosting way! He supposes after a long life Regis will not have narrow tastes. That would get boring after a hundred years or so.

"I will give you a wjole new set of tastes and interests," he teases.

[mandragoraspiritus]

It is in all truths a fair compliment to Mal, this this time Regis has been interested enough, has developed such fondness for Mal to have moved past his reservations.

He laughs, settling back down on the floor again with his legs folded up under him. "Oh yes, I am certain you will. You have gotten quite the start on that already."