mag/cressida/open | evening
Today was supposed to be a day for all-out celebration. The Valendian Rangers put their lives on the line for the city every day, and they deserved a good debauch as thanks, but Mag's festive mood had been dampened by the news of Audrey's accident. As soon as Ari had informed of her friend's injury on the network, Mag and Aspel had dashed to the clinic, hoping to be able to help in some way, or at least lift Ari's spirits, but what was there to do? Audrey sounded to be in bad shape, and the white mage wasn't letting anyone in to see her, so they'd found Ari in the waiting room at the clinic, being mobbed by her well-meaning friends who had come to the clinic with the same intentions as Mag and Aspel had.
The two had stayed for some time, but Mag had her doubts that platitudes were the way to help Ari, and there was nothing they could do to help Audrey. Every word of support was a constant reminder of what had happened to Audrey, and if Ari was going to cheer up, she needed to take her mind off the accident. So after some time, Mag had decided to leave and drop by Bahamut instead, and attempt to make this a happy day, as it was meant to be. Aspel had stayed to keep Ari company, and Mag had promised to drop by later with food; Aspel and Ari would be too worried to even think about dinner.
It frustrated Mag, knowing there was no way she could help the situation, no matter how much she wanted to. The only thing to do was take her mind off that, and pray everything would be all right. For the first half of that plan, she needed a distraction, and when she saw the group of fighters gathered around a smoking hole in the ground, she knew she'd found that distraction.
Now, almost an hour later, the Dragoon who'd been tending to the roasting pit had grown tired of waiting for the pig they'd strung up to finish cooking. He'd gone off to get drunk with the Rangers, and passed the baton to Mag—not the most advisable idea, to be sure, but this did not need to be a repeat of the incident in Aspel's kitchen, years ago. And yet, she couldn't help being relieved to have company. It wasn't like she was about to burn down Bahamut Hall. Worst case scenario, someone in this crowd had to know Watera.
There really wasn't much to do but wait, and so Mag passed the time drinking mead and talking to the Dragoons that had gathered around the pit. She knew a few of them by sight, and had even trained with one or two. Leonel and Garrett, among the youngest in the group, were telling some sort of improbable story about their younger sister, to the amusement of everyone else, and when they reached the part about the exploding rice-cooker, Mag couldn't help laughing with the rest.