Completed The Other Half

[Elspeth Sirl]

Well, she hadn't overstepped. That was a start. And he was talking, at least, even if it felt more like he was snarling. Elsi decided not to remark on the pain comment, but he was wrong and she knew this first hand. Pain was many things and something different to everyone, but not even Dreadlords were free of every kind of pain. Plenty of them experienced it on a deep, unignorable level.

"I wouldn't advise drinking in your condition..." she said absently, mostly to herself, as she glanced off to nowhere in particular and smoothed the length of her uniform skirts over her knees.

"Your pride?" she echoed curiously, "What are you most proud of?"

 

[Elias]

"Being special. Being better than others. Though, well..." Elias scoffed and lightly slapped his hands on the blanket over his legs. He wasn't so special anymore. Wasn't better than the rest.

"I don't need to live or fight for anything or anyone other than myself."

 

[Elspeth Sirl]

This seemed like deflection of the strongest variety - either that or a terribly infantile sense of place. Either way, it saddened Elsi to hear the answers. Had he truly no friends to speak of? No one he cared for? Did his family mean nothing to him?

Did they even exist in his world?

"I see..." she wasn't even sure what to ask from here. The wall this young man had built up around him felt quite formidable. "That sounds like a very lonely life."

 

[Elias]

The corners of Eli's narrow eyes wrinkled as he stared up at the ceiling. He certainly wasn't a lonely person, at least not when he wanted to be.

"Do I seem lonely?"

 

[Elspeth Sirl]

"No ... you seem," Elsi searched for the right word, "angry."

But the anger she thought she sensed ran far deeper than simply that he felt for his current state of being.

"I'm sorry," the words came rather quickly, "that was presumptuous of me. I think I've bothered you long enough for the evening."

She stood then, gently clearing her throat, and glanced to the waterglass still in his grasp, "Would you like more water? I'm afraid the next meal won't be for a few hours until sunrise."

 

[Elias]

The Initiate turned his gaze to her, staring at her hard. Elias extended the glass out to her and shook his head.

"If you find the time for it, I'd like it if you came by to talk again. You can bring me water then."

 

[Elspeth Sirl]

The surrounding fog of pride and anger made him difficult to read, and Elspeth wondered just how she was supposed to move forward with connecting with this young man. Was her brother still in there, somewhere? Or had the Academy erased that part of him and replaced it with these emotions? She hoped there was a modicum of humanity left to him - otherwise she wasn't sure what to do.

Holding his stare with a faint frown, she once more felt that morsel of hope at his following words.

Elsi offered him a trying smile and took the glass, "Yes, of course. I can make time for that. Sleep well."


The next day Elias' first visitor was another Nurse who arrived to change his wound dressing and bandages while he ate breakfast. The food was as any who had fought on the battlefront came to expect, but it was hot and it was filling so rarely did anyone complain too much. Things seemed to have quieted down as well. Less and less soldiers and warriors were arriving from the front for medical attention. The quaking sounds of battle in the distance had quieted and grown longer between bouts.

For a while the tent beyond the curtains of Elias' bed was filled with the general lull of patients and medics. From time to time a louder call for supplies or an extra set of hands. A wail of pain, a stifled cry of loss. But after the sun was well on its rise into the morning, a different sort of energy entered the medical tents.

Excited, quick talking, laughter, cheers.

When Elspeth finally reappeared, she was once more adorned by a blood-spattered and soaked nurse's smock, her bright red hair pulled up into a messy bun, and her cheeks flushed.

"Good morning," she greeted him with a broad smile and a fresh glass of water, "I'm glad you're awake. The General sends good news - the battle is over and won!"

 

[Elias]

From the doctor's absence until she returned, Elias had been rather lethargic and unresponsive. The opportunity for mischief when the Nurse had changed out his bandages had certainly presented itself. He had hardly spared a thought for her. No, Eli's mind was elsewhere, on the red-haired medic and her sunny charm. There was an itch, though. Something mildly discomforting.

Elias wasn't lauded for having a bookish nature. Likewise, he'd have flunked out of school if he'd been enrolled in the College of Elbion rather than taken into the Academy's lifeless walls. But his hunches were reliable, and following his gut and instinct had saved his skin more times than he could count. That vague intuitive sense made him curious about his (he was loathe to admit this) savior, and he anticipated her next visit.

Even though it came with news that soured his mood.

"Weeeellll, that's just dandy," Elias lightly drummed on his lap with pitter-patter slaps with his hands, "Good. Great! Go, team."

 

[Elspeth Sirl]

It would have been difficult to miss the dry sarcasm of his tone, but Elspeth was far too elated to give it credence under such good tidings. Though it meant that the young Initiate could head back to the Academy without shame, she and the other medics would remain behind while those uninjured took the time to clear the battle front of bodies.

There were always injured amidst the dead.

"We should be able to get you prepped for the journey home by this afternoon," Elsi set his fresh glass of water down on the table by his bed, "though I don't suspect your leg will be strong enough to ride back - we'll arrange to have you journey by wagon. Did you eat?"

 

[Elias]

Eli looked straight ahead with his features twisted up in distaste, though not from the food from earlier that morning. His head bobbed in a single, slow nod.

"Some brek," his fidgeting had stopped by then, and now he tightly gripped his sheets, "I won't be carted back to the Academy. This body will hold for the journey."

 

[Elspeth Sirl]

Elsi gently rose her brows, glad that he'd had something to eat and wasn't giving the other staff members a hard time. But he seemed to still be having difficulty grasping the severity of his injuries.

"You dislocated your right knee," she replied, "it's going to be some time before that leg should bear any weight or strain..." then it occured to her that perhaps this front he was putting up was not simply for his pride, but perhaps for his own safety? Were the Proctors of the Academy that harsh that an injured Initiate wasn't tended and allowed to heal?

"If ... that will make things difficult for your return, I could put in for a transfer to the hospital in Vel Anir before sending you home. You would be able to heal there. Properly."

 

[Elias]

And explain to the Proctors why he couldn't have just been returned? Hah! It'd be just as much of a problem if he returned all cozy-like on a wagon. Proctors be damned, anyways. They were just old, broken and discarded things. What Elias couldn't stand above all else was looking weak in front of his classmates.

"I can lick my own wounds just fine. Can't you just get me a fucking horse and send me on my merry way?" Now he'd have liked to rip the sheets in half, and he gripped the fabric with enough pressure to break bone if it was a person's wrist.

"This isn't the worst state I've been in you know, and I managed just fine then. Without all of this..." Shit would've been a good word for all the special treatment, "... stuff."

 

[Elspeth Sirl]

Lightly clasping her hands at her front, Elspeth listened with a growing frown. How troubled he must be, to need to put up such an act. Truly, it worried her and not just for his sake. Were they all like this? Edric had refused any medical attention, but she'd quickly discovered why: he didn't need it. However that Initiate's magic worked, it was one of the few things that made her knowledge, skills, and experience utterly moot.

She'd never felt so out of sorts.

"I will of course refuse. But once you've been discharged from my care this afternoon, I am certain you will do as you please." At that point, there was nothing she could do about it anyway.

"We should perhaps find another subject to discuss." She was not want to yield on her medical prognosis or advice for him and he seemed incapable of backing down from his necessary front. Surely he did not wish to spend the remainder of his time here arguing about such things?

 

[Elias]

Of course she would. Why wouldn't she?

"The doctor is observant," insincerity and sarcasm dripped like acid off from his tongue. At last the boy eased up and leaned back into his pillows. He sighed, deeply and loudly.

"Like what, exactly?"

 

[Elspeth Sirl]

That was rude. Elsi schooled her face like a goddamn Lady and let the offense loose on a terse sigh of her own.

"Well," she began, gently, "you were the one who asked me back to talk again. Was there something on your mind?"

 

[Elias]

"Sure. I thought you were easy on the eyes and would've kept me from thinking about my sorry state, but now I wish I just would've paid the nurses more mind."

Eli shook his head, "I've only room in my life for one strong-willed woman. Two is just... mind-numbing."

He defeatedly sighed then lifted a hand to wave her off.

"You can go."

 

[Elspeth Sirl]

Elspeth blinked at him, stunned beyond compare at the words he'd just spoken. So this is what had become of her brother? A pig-headed womanizer who didn't know when enough was enough?

It was terribly disappointing - except for...

"No," she replied shortly, "I think I won't."

Moving with purpose over to the chair in the little curtained room, Elspeth promptly seated herself, crossed one leg over the other, and smoothed her skirts over her knees, "Now that I know you've someone in your life I am intrigued. Tell me about this strong-willed woman of yours."

Because now she knew her brother had a lady and that was a juicy tidbit to say the least.

 

[Elias]

Elias faced the woman, stunned. Like he'd just been slapped across the face. He blinked once. Twice.

"No. I think I won't," he echoed with notably less conviction than she had.

Her posture was impressive and oppressive. She would not budge from that spot. Nothing he could say would cause her to flinch or back down. Elias narrowed his eyes at her, then felt his gut twist up in a knot. He was certainly one to boast about his conquests. But the woman in question would knock his teeth out, and worse yet, refuse to share a bed with him for Gods know how long if he ever dared refer to her as such.

Even if he was most certain whatever he said here wouldn't make it back to her ears.

Fear and respect for his comrade and friend kept him honest.

"First, I must make it abundantly clear that she is not my woman," he leaned towards Elsi and hissed, then nodded as to emphasize the point, "She's not."

Then his posture straightened.

"An Iniate. We just fuck, that's it. Ain't shit else to it than that. Is that what you wanted to hear? We fuck hard, and often."

 

[Elspeth Sirl]

Expectant and interested, Elspeth Sirl listened unwaveringly to something that would have, should have made a Lady of her position in society blush and gasp. Instead she raised her brows in consideration, thinking not to emphasize the lewdness of what he'd just described and instead seeking to read between the lines.

It seemed to her that, given how he emphasized the point that this unknown woman was not, in fact, his - there had to be some kind of mutual respect between them to say so. Or was it more that he disliked the notion of being tied down? No, she didn't think it was that. Why else would he say he had one strong-willed woman in his life if he didn't want to be defined in that way?

"So she is your classmate," she remarked, a hopeful sort of smile growing out of the contemplation, "and friend?"

She was perhaps a bit naive to the nuances of intimacy for reasons, but it seemed to her that if what Elias said was true, that they were together often, there had to be some form of routine. Trust? Familiarity.

"What's she like? Other than strong willed..."

 

[Elias]

Eli's brow furrowed again. Now it was with deep consideration, thoughtfulness, rather than annoyance or anger.

"You go through years of hell with somebody, save their ass more times than you can count, get YOUR ass saved... then petty labels lose their meaning and can't define the bond you've forged."

He didn't like that little smile of hers. So while he'd went into great detail avoiding using the word "friend", he didn't outright deny it. Friendship wasn't included in the Academy's curriculum. It wasn't a word Initiates threw around. Even if he did consider Ralene a friend, nobody would ever hear it from him.

"She's got a great ass on her. Sometimes I like to tongue it, like it's a ripe summertime peach. What's the fucking point of these questions? Why're you so interested in my affairs?"

 

[Elspeth Sirl]

As if to prove to him that she was fully invested in what he had to say, Elsi leaned forward on her knees and propped her chin on the heel of her hand. It was no play on her end, she truly was invested in learning more about him and if this was the only way then so be it. Lewdness and all.

To hear about forging a bond though spoke volumes. Those were strong words, even if he didn't know it. And to hear his life described as hell was, while saddening, another step to understanding why he was the way he was. Where this wall of his had come from. He couldn't even call a friend, a friend. What kind of life was it the Academy made these Initiates lead?

And despite his second attempt to turn her off with crude details, it was difficult to gross out a Doctor who spent her days often elbow-deep in viscera or attending to all manner of strange, disturbing, and downright repulsive maladies.

What you do is unbecoming of a Lady, she could hear their father say, your mother would not approve.

Her droll smile perked slightly at his last words, "I'm just trying to distract you like you wanted," and despite the faint humor of her expression, there was also warmth there, too.

"Is she pretty? What's her power?"

 

[Elias]

Oh, so, "careful what you wish for", eh? Eli's upper lip curled up in a small grimace. Fair play, he thought to himself.

Elias sighed, and relented with a nod, "Yeah. She's real pretty. Good with runes, well, the best with runes. Smart. Always got her nose in a book, even though she doesn't look the sort."

 

[Elspeth Sirl]

Runes.

Now there was a subject she knew nothing about. Fascinating - for some reason Elsi thought rune magic was ... old? Outdated? Lost? Wasn't that what childhood fables said?

"Well she sounds like quite the strong-willed woman indeed," she dropped her gaze and sat up again, "do you like to read?"

 

[Elias]

"Not particularly. Some of the Initiates read to improve their magic. Some of them read because that's all they can do."

Eli stared up, thoughtfully, "And, well, I'm a bit of an idiot. Can't ever make it halfway through a book without wanting to throw the damn thing away and find a sword to swing."

Just as quickly as his temper could flare, it could dwell. With the topic shifting towards less... prying things, he could converse rather easily. Almost pleasantly.

 

[Elspeth Sirl]

He thought himself an idiot ... but was skilled with a sword it seemed? Athletic. A physical sort - that would explain the excessive sex.

"Pity," she said, "there are so many good books. No just scholarly or documentations or historical pieces, but works of fiction and tales from across the world. One of my favorite's is Viego's Curse. It's full of things like action and battle, death and carnage, romance-" she smirked again, almost sure he'd find that stupid, "sex."

"Perhaps one day someone will write stories about you, hm? I wonder what the title would be..."