Do Me A Favour|Yes, another Arctic Monkey's song

[elainsie]

Kneeling down next to his side, she pushed away the shreds of the scorned tunic, "I should have got you something to keep you warm, you're going to freeze exposed like this." She murmured, pouring water over the wounds as instructed ensuring each was clean before continuing on with the next.

She had noitced his look of surprise and gave a small smile. "It may come as a surprise but I was an apprentice Healer. I am not usually so weak of stomach or as teaful as I have been. You have to remeber I am pregnant, these things are to be expected." She continued to talk as she worked, almost babbling but they had always been instruced to talk to their patients as Healers, it gave them something to focus on in spite of the pain and kept them from lapping into consciounsess if they have something to concentrate on.

"I think that's the worse of the grit, I'll do the numbweed now," Accalia said as she washed her hands in the remaing water, and tore off a piece of the sheet to use as an applicator.

"I am sorry Dharth hurt you. And I am sorry for sending you out to only be mauled by him. That was stupid of me." Her lips drew into a stern line of disapproval as she noticed the other scars, her long fingers light against his abdomen. She finished smearing especially potent numbweed on the last of the nasty burns and looked up at him. "There's no need to thank me for this. But how does it feel now?"

She rocked back onto her heels as she looked over her handiwork. It was not a particularly tidy job, but then again burns rarely ever where, and these had been more than just superficial.

[Desert]

He held still while she washed the grit out of the wound, grinding his teeth audibly together against the pain. Then, the blessed relief of numbweed made the searing pain fade, and K'dran barely suppressed a sigh of relief. Burns always felt like the flesh was still being incinerated long after the actual flames had stopped, only numbweed halted that perpetually agonizing pain.

He shrugged slightly, careful not to upset the numbweed too much. "He would've had his fun one way or another, this just got it out of the way earlier." He chuckled darkly. "Maybe it's a good thing he's gotten it out of his system -- it would've been bad if he'd taken it into his head to come after me while I was still hanging out in your weyr."

K'dran flashed a small smile. "Numb, of course; that was the point." He chuckled slightly, the looked at Juno. "Be a dear and get those bandages, would you Squirt?" The spring chirped in response to her pet-name and blinked out. "Once these are wrapped up, that should be good. I think I'll just pester the Healer when it comes time to change them, it gets annoying trying to do it myself." K'dran grimaced slightly.

Soon, Juno popped back into existence a few feet up, and dropped a wad of clean bandages on the ground near to her human. She landed next to his shoulder and nuzzled him, creeling happily when he scratched her head, smiling fondly. Then, K'dran glanced at the tattered remains of his tunic and frowned thoughtfully. "Oh wonderful, one of my good tunics chewed and singed," he grumped. "Better leave one off until this numbweed sets, anyway."

[elainsie]

She rolled her eyes at his response to her question. "Thanks for being so specific, although I suppose from that comment they can't be too much of a problem at the moment." Accalia closed the tub of numbweed, placing it by her booted foot.

"You've just receieved serious wounds, and you're worried about a ruined tunic?" She raised her eyebrows, not able to conceal a smile. "You're unbelievable K'dran." Accalia picked up the bandages, discarding the first layer that had been in contact with the ground. She was not going to risk infecting him now that she had just got his wounds all cleaned up.

"I am going to need you to lean forward away form the tree so I can wrap this around you," she said briskly, unwinding the bandage and wrapping it a number of times around his middle until all the numbeweed covered scars were concealed underneath. Her deft fingers tied a small knot and she tucked this into the bottom of the last layer of bandages so it would not unravel or get dirty.

"Do you think you can make it up to my weyr, or will I need to get Rownith to help you?" the Jade rider asked as she started to collect the various things she had used to treat K'dran."Even if you had not intended to spend the night I think perhaps it's for the best. You can have the bed, you're the invalid."

[Desert]

He grinned and winked. "My body heals back, but tunics cost marks! I liked that one, too. Got it for a bargain at a Gather." The blackrider chuckled. If he couldn't try to make light of it, he'd likely slip into a similarly morbid state of mind as he'd been in prior to running this errand, and he really didn't feel like agitating Dharth any more today. He couldn't hear the black, but he could tell by what did trickle into his mind that Dharth was still hunting.

When she asked if he was mobile, K'dran snorted scornfully. He braced one hand on the tree behind him and swiftly levered himself to his feet. "This isn't the first time I've done this, of course I can get along myself," he remarked, smiling to soften the sting of his words.

K'dran walked -- very gingerly -- toward the weyr. "Yeah, I don't think it would be very comfortable, trying to get into my own weyr." He grimaced at the thought. "But I'm not stealing your bed. Sleeping's gonna be out of the question, at least for tonight -- moving would start to hurt too much. I'll be fine in a chair." He chuckled slightly. Juno perched lightly on his shoulder, her tail curling possessively around his throat, and cheeped cutely.

ooc; there went my brief few posts with a trickle of Muse. -sigh-

[elainsie]

"Silly me, of course you don't need any help, what was I thinking of to ask you that" she teased, as she stood up from the ground, dusting off the dirt that had collected on her knees and legs using the remainder of the sheet as a sling for the numbweed and jug.

"And it was worth offering, I am that exhuasted I could probably fall asleep standing up but as long as you don't want it I am more than willing to take the comfort of a bed to that of a chair." She shortened her steps to match his own pace, biting back the offer of a shoulder to lean on, K'dran seemed intent on doing this on his own and she was not about to interfere.

Finally they reached the weyr, and Accalia deposited the sheet full of things on the floor and flun herself on her bed, having grabbed a redfruit in the process. "It's not only a new tunic you need, but a new sheet too. Unless you intend on staying here indefinitely." Too late she realsed how much like a proposition that sounded. "Not that I mean it that way, unless that's what you want," she added on hurriedly. It was unlike her to blurt something out without carefully thinking over how it may be interpreted.

[Desert]

K'dran chuckled wryly in response to her teasing. Stubborn usually wasn't a word that could be used to describe him, but some things he tended to be determined to do himself. Things like this -- it was related to his refusal to voice his pain when Dharth would abuse him. He wasn't above using someone's shoulder to lean on if he was crunched up too badly to hobble along on his own, but these burns weren't bad enough to impede his walking a few dragonlengths.

Once inside, K'dran snatched a roll from the tray he'd retrieved, then plunked down gratefully in a more comfortable chair than the one he'd previously inhabited. Juno stayed coiled around his neck, begging shamelessly for tidbits of his fishroll; she would clean up the few crumbs that fell, licking them up like a small, living vacuum cleaner. She was still young yet, and hadn't quite settled into an adult's more sedate metabolism.

Again, the blackrider chuckled at Accalia's hasty correction. "No, I think we'd both get on each other's nerves, if I spent much more than a night here," he replied wryly. Not to mention, that would really irk Dharth. The big black had drawn a line early in his life that K'dran was never to share a weyr with anyone, especially another rider; he needed his personal space. For the most part, it was an easy promise to keep.

[elainsie]

Reclining back on the pillows, taking a bite from the fruit in her hand, she swallowed it before responding. "What a relief, for I am sure you would be right and that's one theory I don't particularly want to put to the test." She looked down at the fruit and took another mouthful. "Not to mention you're weyr must surely be bigger than mine, you do have the advantage of being a Wingleader."

Using one foot she kicked off the boot on the other before doing the same to shed the pair near the end of her bed, pushing her legs under a fur. It was as she looked across at his all but naked upper body that she remebered her offer of a blanket. Pulling herself up off the bed, she grabbed one of the furs and wrapped it over his shoulders, trying her best not to disturb any of the bandages and cause him to move minimally.

Fatigue washed over her, and she wavered slightly on her feet, stumbling as she made her way across the room, into the adjacent one. "Excuse me for a moment," she closed the door behind her and used the wardrobe in the room to steady herself, before pulling open the second top draw.

She pulled the tunic she wore over her head, shedding her pants in the process, looking down at her abdomen in doing so. There was only the slightest hint of a bump, certainly not noticeable to anyone but herself. The same could not be said for her breasts, for the first time ever they were noticeably prounounced.

With a weary sigh she unfolded an overly large shirt that surprsingly reached down to her knees and served as night apparel and pulled on woolen stockings. Accalia hated being cold, and it did not get much colder at Eden than in the middle of a Winter night. Lettig out her dark shoulder length hair from the runner tail she had tied it in, she brushed out her hair and run a mint stick over her teeth.

Accalia then returned to the bedroom, and sat across from K'dran. "Do you need anything before I go to sleep? I doubt I am going to remain lucid for long so it's best if you tell me now." She stifled back a yawn.

[Desert]

K'dran grinned around the last of his fishroll. "You'd think that, but not really. The weyrs like mine that were built up in the trees are smaller -- they have to be, for the tree to sustain the weight." Not that he needed that much space. Like most men, K'dran was fairly low-maintainence; he didn't require a very extensive wardrobe, nor did he have a plethora of other miscellaneous possessions that would take up space. That was probably a good thing -- or else his weyr would look like a tornado had gone through it, such would be the mess K'dran would leave behind and not have the will to organize.

Accalia's unexpected gesture of draping the fur carefully over his shoulders touched K'dran. He watched her with slightly widened eyes as the jaderider staggered wearily into the next room, then shook his head slightly and settled deeper into the chair. He soon found a comfortable position, slouched almost sideways between the padded arms of the chair, his head resting on the back. Juno nestled into the hollow at the base of his neck and let her eyelids close, setting up a quiet purr-like hum as she began falling asleep.

K'dran looked up fron stroking the spring's silky back as Accalia reentered the room. "Nah, I'm good. Thanks for the blanket," he said, touching the fur in which he was wrapped. "You go ahead and go to sleep." He doubted he'd get much, if any sleep, given the burns on his abdomen.

ooc; ick. short.

[elainsie]

Accalia nodded her head shortly, "It's ok, I did not tend to your wounds only to have you die of a chill. Night K'dran," she crawled under the blankets of her bed her body curled up on her right side under the vast number of furs she had heaped to ward off the chill. Her eyes were already drooping before her head hit the pillow and it was only a matter of minutes before she fell asleep, despite the events of the day. It had seemed her deep fatigue had banished the grim thoughts that may have made it hard to fall asleep.

However her sleep was not dreamless. The images and actions of the day haunted her slumber and yet it made no coherant sense, the images jumbled and deviated from the actual events. One moment she was amidst the dining hall when the confrontation between K'rtin and K'dran played out, except that K'rtin had hit K'dran, and the blackrider lay dazed on the ground with K'rtin inching closer.

Just when she was about to intervene the dream changed and she was outside, the head of the dragon Dharth had severed staring up at her. But it was not Rynilith's head. It was much worse than that. Her beloved Jade was the victim this time, her sightless eyes boring into Accalia's and she made to scream but no sound came out, the people standing around her twittering and jeering and K'dran was nowhere to be found to save her from their scrutiny this time.

And then it blended into the last sickening sequence. From her weyr she could see K'dran lay slumped against the tree after his encounter with Dharth, however there was no response from him, no favour to plead of her dragon and no sign of movement. As she approached cautiously not even the sound of footsteps elicited a response. Then she dropped to her knees searching frantically for a pulse at his carotid, only to discover there was none.

Her eyes snapped open, her breathing ragged as she was brought back from the terrible nightmare to the peace and quiet of her own weyr. Her body was coated in a thin sheen of sweat, her hair darkened due to its dampness, despite the blankets that had been twisted and kicked off the bed. Her body trembled, both with fear and the chill, and she bit down hard on her lip to stifle the cry that threatened to wrench itself from her throat. It was only then her eyes fell on K'dran, and she managed to take a deep breath to still herself. It had only been a dream, the man was injured, but most certainly alive.

Rownith? She reached out with her mind, terrified there would be no response. But the Jade replied somewhat sleepily, and Accalia allowed another breath of the cool air to enter her lungs, her heart rate still racing.

[Desert]

Juno, roused by Accalia's mocement, lifted her head from where she was tangled around K'dran neck, and peered at the jaderider in concerned confusion. The little spring creeled inquisitively, then extracated herself from her human and flitted over to Accalia. She landed on the pillow next to Accalia and rubbed her little spade-shaped head soothingly over the jaderider's cheek, burbling a soothing murmur.

K'dran had, despite his words, dozed off. He was still half-awake, slumped across the chair; Juno's movement roused him completely. He blinked a few times to clear his vision and reorient himself, then he looked over at Accalia. Seeing the jaderider shaking and wide-eyed, he could guess what had happened.

He tossed the fur away and got up from the chair, padding over to the bed, where he kneeled next to Accalia. "Nightmare?" he guessed, reaching out to put his hand over her forehead. She felt a bit cool -- no wonder, with the chill in the air -- so he pulled all the bunched-up furs off the floor from where she'd kicked them and put them back on the bed, blocking out the cold. "You're all right now, I hope, that you're awake."

ooc; i has no Muse still. TT^TT

[elainsie]

The Jade rider turned to where the firelizard settled near her head, her fingers trailing down its back, the touch of another being helping to break the grasp the nightmare held her in, reassuring her that although things were not good, they were better than what she had dreamt.

As K'dran settled beside her Accalia nodded her head, inhaling in deeply, holding it for a moment, and then exhaling. She did this three more times before feeling sufficiently settled enough to give words to the terrible images that had crowded her head.

"Yes, I did. But it was all so wrong, worse even then what had happened today. Dharth killed Rownith. And then he killed you. It was sickening." Accalia felt a chill run down her back at the thought. She pushed back the damp hair around her face, and pulled her knees to her chest as she sat up, the dream still lingering in her mind. As she tucked her hair behind her ear her fingers brushed against where his were held against her forehead. She ran her fingers against his hand, to reassure her that this was not the dream, and what she had just emerged from the reality.

[Desert]

As Accalia sat up, Juno crawled into the jaderider's lap, setting up her comforting hum again from her new spot tucked against Accalia's ribcage. K'dran had to glance down at the little spring with a fond smile tugging at his lips. Such a sweet thing; Juno hadn't met anyone yet -- besides Dharth -- whom she did not like. Everyone was her friend. She was afraid of the big black, sure, but she was probably incapable of disliking anything.

K'dran let Accalia's cool, trembling fingers clutch his hand. I wouldn't put that past the big bastard, he reflected privately, though wisely he didn't voice that particular thought. "He didn't, though," he muttered instead, curling his own fingers around Accalia's. The first few times he'd seen Dharth take someone down in retribution for some slight or punished his rider severely, K'dran had had his own rather frightening dreams. Of course, the only thing he'd gotten when he'd awakened from those was Dharth's irritable admonition to get those stupid dreams out of his head and go back to sleep. And people wondered why K'dran was so callous!

ooc; superfail. >_<

[elainsie]

"Thank Faranth he didn't. I would have no will to live if he had." Her response was ambigous. Had she meant the death of Rownith, the death of K'dran or both would send her over the edge of sanity?

Privately she knew either would, but she was not about to admit it to anyone and most certainly not K'dran. She had noticed the subtle changes in him over the previous weeks, but could not decide whether he was fond or her, or just the idea of the child that grew within. And what of her own fledglingly feelings, for despite her better judgement she had started to think of K'dran as a friend. Perhaps they had manifested for a smiliar reason. Who knew?

However what Accalia did know was that she did not want to send K'dran retreating behind the apathetic wall he built between himself and the rest of the world.If this meant holding her tounge then it was hardly taxing for her to do so.

Her eyes met his gratefully, Accalia relieved he had not pulled her hand away from hers, glad for his reassuring presence. Sure now that the gesture was acceptable her hand gripped his with a bit more strength. "I am sorry I am so hopeless K'dran. I keep trying to tell you I am not as dependent as I seem and yet I can't even be left alone in bed without some sort of drama. I suppose a sleepless night is good practise for when we are parents."

[Desert]

K'dran stifled a snort. I wouldn't blame you in the least, he thought sarcastically to himself. But now wasn't the time to be snarky, so he kept that comment to himself. Since he was getting tired of just crouching on the balls of his feet next to the bed, K'dran sat on the edge to give his legs a rest.

Really, K'dran wasn't sure what was the reason for his coming out of his shell around Accalia. It was likely that the notion was finally sinking through his selfish apathy that his child was growing in this woman's body. Through that, it was hard to remain at a distance emotionally from the woman herself. While it was very unlikely he would fall in love and want to spend the rest of his life at her side, he would probably come out of this as a good friend.

It would be more than he'd really ever had before, at least. His brother K'tal and he were by now mere acquaintances; they didn't keep in touch, and they had never been particularly close as boys growing up. K'dran wasn't a social person in the least, most of the time, and his Impression to Dharth had only exacerbated that tendency to avoid making emotional ties. For his own and the other person's safety and sanity.

But that strategy seemed to be moot now. However unintentional it had been at first, K'dran couldn't deny what was going on. He considered that concept with mixed feelings: it was nice to be able to relate to another human, but it gave Dharth more leverage to use against his rider, a whole new way to inflict pain. He suppressed a sigh.

Accalia's apology elicited a soft chuckle from the blackrider's lips. "It's nothing," he assured her. "From what I hear about pregnancy, it's not a particularly restful state to be in." A slight smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. Then he grimaced comically. "Oh yes. That's going to be an interesting situation." Dharth was sure to be irked to no end by the constant demands. K'dran bit his lip as the whole host of problems to deal with there assailed him, of how to keep his dragon from harming the child out of irritation. He didn't voice these concerns to Accalia; that was a subject for another time.

ooc; it rambled, but oh well.

[elainsie]

Accalia slid across the bed, allowing K'dran room to perch on the edge. It brought a wry smile to her mouth when she thought of the one other time they had both been upon the same bed, the hand that had been stroking Juno flicking down to her belly where the result of that particular encounter now rested.

If at the time someone had told her what would occur as a result she would have scoffed. And yet she had grown fond of her child, knew she loved him or her without a single doubt, and felt as if the remaining seven months could not pass fast enough until she could hold her baby.

Whatever happened with her and K'dran, whether this current accord between them remained or dissipated once the child was actually born and all the previous animosity and coldness returned, she could no longer regret Dharth's manipulations and Rownith's interference.Yes, between the two they had quite effectively killed her romantic little notions, K'dran's own behaviour at the time reinforcing this. But knowing K'dran as she did now there had really been no chance of it happening anyway and it was something she no longer wanted in any case.

She loved her child, and that was enough for her. Her concern and fear over K'dran was a lot to do with being alone, despite her protests that she could do this by herself, and losing a friend; Accalia knew already how much that hurt.

"I'll agree with that, and I'm not even a third of the way through. It's only downhill from here, or so my sisters told me when they were carrying my nieces and nephews. So I suppose I should apologize in advance for what ever else I'll put you through." If of course he had not given up on this whole idea of being a father well before then. She sighed, and untwined her hand from K'dran's.

Accalia nodded in agreement. “Very interesting. And tiring no doubt, although I suppose it won’t really be as much a concern of yours.” After all she was the one who would have to feed the baby, and it would be her weyr the child lived in.

OOC: K'dran in love, what an improbable yet amusing thought