Crispy Ben is crispy. (dontcallmeleo) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2009-04-14 05:32:00 |
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Leoben was quite positively laid out in bed. As much as he despised asking for help, he was not particularly keen on accidentally making his eyes worse by trying to heal them himself. Further, he wasn't quite sure he wanted to be on the other end of his mentor's wand. Even in this circumstance. That more or less left Lucinda. So after he finished with the dictaquill, he sat on the edge of the bed, head held in his hands to hide his still stinging eyes from the sun shining through his window. "Gobbo," he called. With a crack, the house-elf appeared. "Close the curtains." The order cut off the elf's usual greeting of subservience and there was scuttling sound before the curtains were jerked closed, throwing the room into a a peaceful darkness. Or at least, a less painful one. "And make tea for two," he added, again before the house elf could get a word out. "See Lucinda to this room when she gets here." "Y-y-yes Master Leoben," it stuttered before scuddling off, leaving the door open only a crack. Ben was not nearly as dressed as was normal for him. But he was only just out of bed and his abdomen and eyes were absolutely throbbing. But, hopefully, nothing was actually broken this time. It had not taken Lucinda more than five minutes from the moment she replied in her journal to floo to Leoben’s manor. There was not a moment of hesitation in what she had to do. After reading the words from a dictaquill, she handed Daphne over to the nanny, quickly put together a bag of useful potions, muttered a few words to Stewart about where she was going, and jumped into the fireplace. She hadn’t even heard Stewart protest, if there was one at all, this was Ben. Ben was hurt. There was nothing more important than being at his side and healing him herself. Traveling by floo seemed to take ages, but she finally arrived at Ben’s new manor, still a bit of a mess from the urgency of the ordeal. It had been an octopus in her tea this morning, and this was what was meant by it. Ben had been in danger and she had not warned him! Of course, she’d assumed the octopus was concerning her, which was why she brushed it off. What sort of danger could she come into at the Foundation for Promotion of Wizarding Society and Culture? But no, she had been selfish; hadn’t even considered this might be about Ben and not her, and now he was injured! As she stepped out of the fireplace, Ben’s elf, Gobby was it?, greeted her. “Mrs Greengrass, Master Yaxley is expecting you. “Well take me to him, then.” Lucinda replied, none too kindly. She did not have time for niceties with elves, her darling Leoben was in trouble! “Mrs. Lucinda, Master.” The elf announced and then quickly (and smartly) popped away, leaving Ben and Lucy alone. Stepping into the dark room, Lucinda felt an exasperated sigh escape her; already the situation seemed ominous. “Oh Ben!” Her worry was evident over her face, but Lucinda did not try to hide it; this was Ben, not some other society snob. “What ever happened?” By this time, she had quickly rushed to his bedside, brought a table closer to them, and rested her potions bag atop it. As he spoke, her fingers softly surveyed his body for damages, desperate to make an estimate before blindly healing. Leoben gave a vague wave to the elf in dismissal, more out of habit than any actual need for it to be told. He raised his head to look at his cousin and then quickly shut his eyes again, the throbbing proving to be too much for him to take just now. "I was summoned late last night," he explained as carefully as he could. "There were... complications, obviously. In any case, I'm sure it was a conjunctivitis curse. I can hardly see." Later, he would have the good sense to be thankful for his cousin. Now though, he was just acutely aware of how much he hurt and what the fastest way to making it stop might be. “Oh how wretched! You poor dear.” Immediately, Lucinda reprimanded herself for babying Ben, as he was a grown man and had no need for her coddling. But she was here to heal, and heal she would. In the desperate hope that Stewart might one day return injured from serving the Dark Lord, Lucinda had dedicated herself to studying healing, both potions and charms. Of course, this never came of much use concerning her husband, but she had been able to help Ben every so often, so she kept her studies up. The conjunctivitis curse, however, caught her a bit off-guard and it took her a moment to remember what to do. “Don’t move. I will return shortly.” She said as calmly as possible, taking the small bowl she’d brought with her to the bathroom. Lucinda filled it with warm water and mixed a few healing potions (those for eyes and sight) along with it and returned to Ben’s side to make a warm compress. “Lie down, Ben.” Her hand gently pressed her cousin down on the bed (in case he’d been hit anywhere else) and then she slowly draped the cloth over his eyes. “Just lie there and let the potions work.” Her voice was soothing, as though she was trying to mollify Daphne and not her beloved cousin. “There’s a charm, but I will use it after the potion.” Situating herself on the corner of the bed, Lucinda sighed and looked around Ben’s room. She smiled, remembering, how, as a child, she’d always thought this would be the kind of room she would share with her husband. “Have you told anyone else about this? Do you need me to ward anyone and let them know you are alright?” Leoben did as he was told, lying back on his bed as Lucy draped the cloth over his eyes. This really was just an absolute bother. He couldn't quite help but favour his abdomen a bit, the slightest grunts of pain forcing itself from his throat when he moved just the wrong way. The robe he was wearing was covering it, but there was a nasty bruise blossoming over his stomach and the lower part of his chest from where he's been hit with the blasting curse. Unfortunately, there was little to be done about that and frankly, Ben was far more concerned with his eyes. He worrired he'd waited too long to call for assistance. At her question, Ben sighed. "No. I shall have to report to Walden, but that is for me to do." It wasn't that he thought her incompetent, not at all. But it was his responsibility, and he fully planned on informing his mentor of how the night had gone... just as soon as he was somewhat presentable. Lucinda noticed the grunts; with Ben, she noticed everything. She knew he had been injured in more places, but his eyes were of the utmost importance, and then everything else could follow. So long as he was not gushing blood, as she imagined he was not since his robe was far from a soggy red, his injuries could wait...at least a bit. But the thought of Leoben in desperate pain was almost too much for her to bear, and so as soon as she was satisfied that he would not move and simply let the potion do its job, Lucinda untied Ben's robe as delicately as possible. "You're injured here too, aren't you?" She asked softly, her fingertips tracing over the large bruises that were forming on his abdomen. The lady in her scolded that she should be embarrassed; Leoben was not her husband, she should not see him this...naked. But this was Ben, and Ben was family, her only family really, he was like her brother, and he wasn't fully naked, simply bare but for his underthings, this was not improper. His words about Walden did not offend her, Ben had his own relationship with his mentor and Lucinda would not dream to question it, but it struck her as odd that he did not inform his parents. Certainly, they were not close, but wouldn't they care about his well-being? "And your parents? Do you not wish me to inform them? I know you mentioned they had gone away, but surely they are back by now...at the very least, I imagine they would like to know you had been injured." While she waited for his answer, Lucinda removed another coloured bowl to mix potions in. Bruising potions would be much different from eye potions, and she would not want to even risk putting the wrong potion on the wrong injury. Leoben was quite content to let the potion get to work on his eyes until he felt his robe being undone. Instinctively, he pulled away from the touch, unable to quite bite back a low hiss of pain (which was from his movement rather than her touch). This was not proper. Absolutely not. Even if she was like a sister. Ben firmly pushed her hand away and covered himself with his robe again. "It will heal," was his simple response. More pressing though, was the sudden question about his parents. His father that he'd killed only just down the hall. However, her question was more than flexible and Ben shook his head. "No. My parents are unaware of my service," he said softly. Which was true, even when they had both been alive. And was even more true now. "Do you see them here?" he asked, making a vague, blind motion around the manor as a whole. "No. They will stay in France." Which was also a half-truth. Mother certainly, would stay in France if she wished to continue breathing. "Leoben." Her voice was cold and harsh in response to his reply concerning his parents and his pushing away. Proper or not, he was injured and she did not want him to scar, and he had no right to be angry with her for questioning him about his parents. Of course, she felt immediately guilty for yelling, and subsequently growing angry with him, but still...she simply wanted what was best for Ben. "Let me look at your injury, please. I can fix it." Propriety was the least of her concerns at the moment. Ben's future looks and health trumped all rules. Besides, who would tell? "What if you are bleeding internally and your stubborn pride causes you to die? My tea leaves said there would be danger today, what if it is not over?" Ben sighed, almost irritably. There was never very much that he had hidden from his cousin. The had grown up together and there was an undeniable bond. She was the closest thing he would ever have to a sister. And didn't she deserve to know? They had not shared parents. And while part of him said that it was none of her concern, he also knew that she of all people in life, would be the most likely to see through the web of deceit he had created to explain away his parent's lack of presence. There were not, in fact, many people that knew what had happened and that had only been to minimize talking. Salazar, did people talk. And so, Leoben was quiet for a long moment, no longer protesting her touch (because she was right - he did not want to die over this) but deeply silent just the same. Until finally: "What I am about to tell you, you must never repeat." It wasn't that he didn't trust her. Lucinda was one of the few people that had the right to his trust, after all. But a private confession of murder did rather warrant a proper warning. It was nice to win an argument with Ben, as it rarely happened, but this was something she was greatly concerned about. Thankfully, after some very careful prodding, Lucinda could discern that his damage was nothing more than a potentially large bruise and some pain, but she was quite glad Ben had given in and allowed her to check regardless. She said nothing during the silence, choosing to respect her cousin's wishes, and instead busied herself with cloths soaked in potions for Ben's abdomen and a new one for his eyes. These weren't the worst of injuries, but they were awful enough to cause her worry, but she always worried about Ben. Ben was the closest thing she had to family, certainly much more so than her husband, and seeing him even the tiniest bit injured hurt her as well. His words caught her off guard, and Lucinda looked up, worry etched into her face although Leoben could not see it. "Of course, Ben. I would never betray your trust." Leoben sighed and pulled the cloth from his eyes, insisting on looking at her when he spoke. The potions had been doing an effective enough job, and he already hurt exponentially less. He sat up, slouching a bit more than was usual for him. Which was really, about... none. "Father is dead," he stated rather bluntly. "Mother is in France, that part is true. She will spend the rest of her life there, with as little interaction as is possible in the situation I've put her in." Well, there it was, then. It was much less than he'd told Lucius or Walden. But cousin or not, family or not, Lucinda was still a woman and she would extract no further details from him than that. About to protest Ben's removal of the cloth, Lucinda held herself back. What her cousin was about to tell her was obviously very important and she wouldn't stop him from the need to look at her. She was not prepared for what he told her though, and the shock clearly showed upon her face, whether or not she wanted it to. "I see." Were the only two words to come out of her mouth after at least three minutes of silence. She couldn't move. She could hardly think. Ben's parents were...gone? Or mostly gone in the case of his mother? "Are--are--are you alright?" She hadn't stammered like that since she was a child, but something about this entire situation worried her. "What I mean is...are you satisfied with..." The words just did not sound right, she couldn't formulate a sentence. "Do you think you made the right decision?" Part of her envied her cousin. There were constantly days that she wished she could be rid of her father; the man who lost everything and forced her to marry below her standing to a man who hardly cared for her. If only she had been able to make him disappear before he made his onslaught of mistakes. A delicate hand grabbed hold of Ben's, but she would say nothing more on the subject; she couldn't. It was not her place. Ben was rather highly skilled at working with these long sorts of silences. Or rather, he didn't normally allow them. But this was the exception. This once, he would let it sit and see just what she was reacting to. It would do no good to make an assumption in this case. So he sat still, no longer looking at her. He was already well aware of the shock on her face. And when she did finally speak, Leoben found himself almost amused at her. Was he all right? Of course he was all right. It had been two and a half months. He was engaged, he owned the manor, all the family money... he was better than he'd ever been while his meddling parents had been alive. But, as was typical of him, none of that showed on his face. Barely even a flicker of the humour behind his eyes. Instead, he simply gave a single nod. "Yes. I am quite sure that it was the correct decision." He did not expect the sudden contact though, and if it were anyone but his cousin, he would have pulled away. As it was, Ben glanced down at their hands and simply adjusted his fingers to be more comfortable. Just the slightest squeeze of reassurance, that things were right. Finally, things were right. Or as close as they could be right now. |