InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "IT'S ALMOST OVER!"

Nikolaos Ramsay (themanticore) wrote in cirque_rp,
@ 2017-08-18 20:38:00

WHO: Nik & Rose
WHAT: [prompt: let your hair down] Nik tries to steal his old acquaintance for a late snack and a belated catch up.
WHERE: Starting in the Bandaid Station
WHEN: June 6th, early evening
RATING: TBD. Probably mild.

“Me? No, I’m fine. I’m looking for the Doc. Is Rose free?” The gruff voice from the front of the bandaid station sounded sincerely apologetic for having drawn an attendant nurse away from her work. That he’d lied to the young woman didn’t even register, courtesy of a lifelong force of habit. Nikolaos wasn’t fine, by the standards of most. The magics that bound him left him in a constant state of mild aches and pains, but that was life. It could have been worse.

Motioned towards the back of the tent, the vaguely feral-looking Roma was markedly careful to give the few occupied beds a wide berth. His intention was two-sided; he didn’t want to disturb the resting, but superstition suggested that those outside the immediate family visiting the invalid often brought with them bad humors of the body. Old wives’ tales, perhaps, but Nik didn’t like to taunt the fates.

“Did I catch you at a bad time?” he asked when he found her encircled by bottles and myriad medical equipment, tucked away corner at the rear of the station. The sight of her, after these many decades, inspired a warm smile. In the short time since he’d come to the cirque he’d found Freya and Arnaud, but hadn’t sought out Rose before he'd taken a leave in Ostia. It felt like a regretful oversight now, even if they hadn’t been tremendously close in Paris. There was shared history. That was enough.

“It’s good to see you, Rose. I swiped some brie and grapes from The Ladies Table, wondered if I could tempt you to take a break?"

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finefeathers
2017-08-19 04:14 am UTC (link)

The Bandaid Station had a small staff, and Rose often found herself doing things she otherwise wouldn't have thought about - prepping and organizing equipment, laundry, filling prescriptions. Things under the purview of scrub nurses or orderlies in the hospitals she was accustomed to. She didn't mind the administrative work; she needed the mostly-unmolested time to quiet her thoughts, maintain her composure. Whatever she'd thought this job might be when she took it, 'easy' certainly had not been a recent descriptor.

She'd been working hard with the other healers to get all those wounded back on their feet; there were some still convalescing in clinic beds, but Rose felt sometimes that she would never again be free of the myriad aches and pains she was slowly leeching from the remaining wounded to speed their recovery. It was a trade she made willingly, but it was taking a toll, and after setting a tray of autoclaved instruments aside, she took a moment to dig her fingers into the aching muscles of her lower back, arching slightly.

She dropped her hands when Nik entered, glancing up at the tall, slightly wild-looking man that she never imagined she would see again after Paris, and her normally cool, strictly professional smile had perhaps a touch or two more warmth in it than usual. "Not at all a bad time," she assured him, tone going dry. "Nothing's on fire at the moment; it's downright boring."

She glanced at the clock; while not late, it was later than she'd planned to work. And, she realized, she'd skipped lunch again. "I think I could be persuaded." A brief pause, where it seemed as though she wanted to smile again but couldn't quite get it past that new, stronger guard she held over herself. "It's good to see you, too, Nik. Have you been well?"

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