[ console | video/action ] we get to carry each other

[edgeoftheknife]

[Hello folks, it's your friendly neighborhood gorgeous janitor. Except he's not looking so friendly, today. In fact, he's looking more serious than most people have probably ever seen him, here in Keeliai. When he speaks it's with a gravity that his words normally lack.]

Anton Shudder is no longer in charge of the Midnight Hotel.

I'm taking over.

[There's a pause, while he lets that sink in.]

Since Shudder has proven himself incapable of the running of the Hotel--or indeed, simple things like standing and walking, I find myself forced to keep him confined to a comfortable chair in front of the fire. With tea. And yarn.

He knits, did you know he knits?

[It should be noted that while the tone of the video has become decidedly less serious, Ravel's face has not.]

At any rate, I'll be taking over the day-to-day operations of the Hotel for the time being. Matters such as employment and pay will still go through Anton, obviously. Day-to-day functions should come to me, instead. Any present staff are encouraged to pitch in as you're able--God only knows you don't want me doing the cooking. Not unless the lot of you fancy grilled cheese or cold cereal.

[He pauses]

Was that it? Yes, I think that was it. Er. Carry on.

Comments

video;

[ruinsprofessor]

[As soon as she spots this announcement, Raine has a terrible feeling about it. Her face says she's worried, but her tone is remarkably flat.]

Erskine, what happened?

[A beat, then.]

Never mind. I'll be there soon.

[And she will be, too, within half an hour or so, coming in via the Water sector entrance and looking about the same, exasperatedly worried.]

action;

[edgeoftheknife]

[Several minutes ago, Ravel found himself levitating Shudder--yes, levitating--across the lobby of the Hotel and to his bedroom. Far be it from him to label any of the Dead Men as stubborn, but... well, Anton is a stubborn prat. A stubborn prat who can hardly stand on his own.

Every now and again, in between making sure Shudder is comfortable and staying in the damned bed, Ravel pops back out into the office and peeks out into the lobby, keeping an eye out for Raine. He hadn't even got a chance to reply to her on the console. Sounded like she was on her way.]

action;

[ruinsprofessor]

[She takes the walk to the Hotel at a brisk pace but not a run, assuming that if Anton was immediately dying, Erskine would have sounded much more panicked.]

[She beelines for Erskine when she sees him -- she's hardly been in the door but a moment, it's good timing. Her staff's in hand and her mouth is set in a disapproving line.]

What happened?

[She'll follow him into the room, if and when he moves.]

[edgeoftheknife]

[He does move, shifting so that he's walking as soon as she catches up to him in the doorway. He ducks around the furniture in the office, heading for the door to the bedroom beyond. Though his voice is light, the look on his face shows that it's an effort to keep it that way.]

One minute he was fine, the next he can barely stand.

...from the sound of it, you know more about this than I do.

[ruinsprofessor]

I have my suspicions, yes. [Though the odds that this isn't a flare-up of Anton's mysterious condition are quite small.] More pronounced tremors, a loss of balance?

[She's guessing, but it would fit. Raine trails Erskine into Anton's room, frowning a little.]

If it's what I think, then yes, I do know something about it. Less than I'd like, however, and by Anton's reckoning it's been centuries since it was this bad. The assumption was that his exceptional resilience took the brunt of the damage.

[As Raine is not, in fact, blind, she can tell Erskine is not best pleased about any of this. She's not, either, but at least she has some idea what's happening. A bit pointedly, as she's now in earshot of Anton, she adds,] I had hoped he'd push himself a little less, especially in the wake of the attack...

[gistful]

[Anton is, rather grumpily, resting. He isn't asleep so he isn't curled up, but is instead on his back on his bed, straight and with his eyes closed and hands folded over his chest. That's less for somewhere to put them and more to try and control the fact they're still trembling slightly.]

I did.

[Pause.]

Push myself less than I would have otherwise, that is. For a given definition of 'push'.

[He doesn't 'push'. Simply extends his efforts to their maximum.]

[edgeoftheknife]

[Ravel snorts and crosses the room, taking a seat out of the way so he won't bother Raine, but he'll still be close enough to be of help if he's needed.]

Which only proves my point. You shouldn't have even started those repairs, and I'll be damned if you're going to finish them. Bloody stubborn idiot.

[ruinsprofessor]

Were you fully recovered when you made the effort?

[She kind of doubts it.]

At any rate, I'll take a look at what I can. What do you remember happening? Tell me what it felt like.

[Raine heads for Anton, as Erskine is considerate enough to get out of her way near-instantly, and perches on the bed beside him, counting on the shift of weight to inform him of what she's doing. She sets her staff down behind her for the moment, sets one hand on Anton's forehead, the other over his hands where they rest on his chest. In a moment, her hands begin to glow as her eyes close, her focus shifting almost entirely to Anton's mana rather than his physical presence, looking for the circulation hitches she detected last time.]

[gistful]

I believed so.

[He'd been judiciously cautious. Judiciously cautious in as far as he's ever needed to be, at least. It hadn't occurred to him that the drugging might trigger something else. The shift in weight makes him open his eyes, but he doesn't move as Raine lays her hands on him, watching her instead.

[The scan, she'll find, does show the circulation hitches she'd seen before--but this time they're advanced and, after a fashion, active, as if whatever caused the damage before is right now causing more--however slight, in comparison to other forms of damage.]

[edgeoftheknife]

Just like you believed you still needed to finish them half an hour ago, when you could barely stand without my help?

[Erskine is sitting with his arms crossed over his chest, slouched down, one eyebrow raised judgmentally. For all that, the tone of his voice has softened somewhat. Raine is here now. That knot in his chest can do ahead and loosen itself whenever is best convenient. He's not going to lose his only friend in Keeliai--not today, anyway.]

[ruinsprofessor]

[Raine's breath hisses through her teeth, a displeased sort of a sound. She follows Anton's mana circulation as far as she can, noting the discrepancies, the active sense as opposed to the simple scarring of before, and finally draws back.]

[She does not like this at all.]

Whatever it is, it's active now, rather than dormant. It's disrupting and perhaps damaging your nervous system, as far as I can tell.

[Raine does recall Erskine is in the room, but she's going on anyway. Healer-patient privacy is now being set aside, and whatever else his faults may be, Erskine is the one currently in the best position to look after Anton on the day-to-day. She doesn't doubt that he wants Anton well as much as she does.]

Are you in any pain, or is it simply inhibiting your ability to move?

[gistful]

[Anton sighs.]

It ... was a hope.

[A pipedream now, apparently. He's going to have to rely on Erskine and Skulduggery to finish the work, more's the pity.]

Primarily the latter.

[He pauses and then admits, reluctantly:]

My fingers feel numb. That isn't something I've experienced before, in this way. The gist makes my limbs feel heavy, but not senseless.

[edgeoftheknife]

[For now Erskine is simply going to sit back and be present, in case he's needed for something. And try not to look worried. Which, in turn, will probably make him look even more worried than if he hadn't bothered at all.]

[ruinsprofessor]

[Raine refrains from giving Anton a disapproving stare mostly because the vast majority of this isn't actually his fault. She does sigh, though.]

I'm forced to agree with Erskine. He's going to have to take over for now, and I want you resting as much as is possible.

[At the last, she frowns a little, reaches to take his hands properly.]

I wonder. This is a chronic condition, and the older remnants I can't do anything about, but if it's actively damaging you now...

[A brief period of concentration; then, light.] First aid.

[gistful]

[Anton sighs. It's practically a heaved sigh. This is going to drive him up the wall.

[At first, Raine's spell registers as a tingle. Then Anton grunts with a sudden ache in his head, and his hands tremble hard even clasped, and the world turns around him even while lying down--so fast that he has to fight to stay conscious. And he isn't even standing up.

[He can't feel his hands. They're still shaking, but he can't feel them.]

[edgeoftheknife]

[He's watching the spell anyway, because he's witnessed enough of Raine's magic to know how flashy and utterly unlike anything from his and Shudder's world it is. The reassurance that she can fix Anton, or at least mitigate some of the damage, would be a welcome sight as well.

Only that's not how it goes. Erskine knows Anton well enough to know that a grunt from the gist-user is akin to a cry from anyone else--Shudder never does much more than grunt, no matter how injured he is. It sets Erskine's nerves on edge and he's up instantly, moving to a portion of the bedside out of Raine's way.]

What was that? What's happening? Anton?

[ruinsprofessor]

I don't--

[Even if she didn't have some inkling of Anton's pain tolerance, the fact Erskine is worrying would have put Raine on edge. She jerks back, eyes wide, breath sticking. No. No, tell her she didn't.]

Anton? Are you--

[Very carefully magic-less, she reaches to check his pulse, his pupils. Part of her is already racing along the logical trails. Coincidence is possible but extraordinarily improbable: Anton reacted to her magic. It looks like he reacted badly. Her artes speed and fuel the body's natural regeneration. Therefore... therefore.]

[The other part of Raine's mind is locked in a tiny loop of panic, an ever quickening stream of no no no no I hurt him I can't fix this. Raine ignores this part, despite the unsteady fluttering it causes. It is not constructive. Panic will wait.]

[gistful]

[It takes a moment for Anton to answer, and when he does he sounds honestly dazed and weak.]

I'm alright.

[He very much is not. But he's cognisant and responding, at least, just a bit slow. Getting up? Not a chance. It takes a moment for him to focus on Raine, and even then the dizziness makes it difficult to keep that focus.]

What was that?

[edgeoftheknife]

Like hell you are.

[The problem is, Erskine can't do anything. He's not a healer, not a doctor. If someone were shooting at Anton, that he could probably fix. (Then again, Anton had gone and gotten himself poisoned easily enough, hadn't he?) Short of holding Shudder's hand--which he certainly isn't going to do unless it's indicated that a gesture like that would be appreciated--Ravel is all but useless.

So he looks to Raine, worry etched on his face. It's not an accusatory look at all. More... muted pleading. Please tell me you know what just happened. Please tell me you can fix this.]

[ruinsprofessor]

[Raine is inclined to agree with Erskine. Anton is not all right. But he's alive and conscious, which is... something.]

I'm not sure. I...

[Deep breath. They're both still looking to her for this. Raine is struck, briefly, by the utter ludicrousness of it; there's enough centuries in the room to make up her entire projected lifespan, battle-worn soldiers both of them, and here she is, twenty-five and in many respects just beginning, but yes, the best healer her world has to offer.]

[And she's letting them down.]

I can't--

[Nope. Breath. Try again. Raine folds her hands in her lap, watches Anton. Speaks coolly and remotely, like she's talking about someone not even in the room, because that's the only way it's getting out.]

I don't know for sure. My artes use my own energy to speed and fuel my patient's own natural regenerative processes. In this case, a base healing arte resulted in what certainly appears to be somewhat of a worsening. My best guess at the moment is that this condition is caused by the body attacking itself, for whatever reason. Perhaps a defect in the genetic code. Certainly nothing I can fix at this point.

I can only assume that I...

[Raine stops there. Changes tacks, leaving the other obvious conclusion hanging in the air unsaid.]

...I can't do anything.

[gistful]

For now.

[Anton's voice is still a little weak, but his vision has cleared and his eyes are focussing better than they were.]

That doesn't mean you won't discover something to do in the future. I can't imagine you'll let it go. Am I wrong?

[If she can pinpoint how it works, then the momentary weakness is worth it. It narrows the field. ... He'd still rather not go through that again.]

[edgeoftheknife]

[Anton's getting a few more words out, and his eyes are less glassy. That's a start at least.]

There are other healers, aren't there? Aqua or Milyn? Maybe a different kind of magic...?

[Ravel lets the thought trail off, suddenly aware of how bad that sounds. He hadn't intended it that way. Maybe he should just...

...yes. With one last look at Anton, to make sure he's not going to pass out or anything in the immediate future, Erskine ducks his head and moves back out from the side of the bed, heading for the bathroom.]

I'll be right back. I'll get you some water, Anton.

[ruinsprofessor]

[She doesn't take it as an insult, at least. She really is better with the battlefield. Injuries, not sickness. There's only cool, level acknowledgment.] Perhaps another healer may be able to do something more, yes.

[Raine is, however, a little bit glad that Erskine's gone, if only to give her a moment. She might trust him with Anton for now, but where she stands with him... that's a little less clear.]

[She closes her eyes briefly, forces her shoulders to drop, rather than curl in. This is not the place for personal weakness.]

For now. You're correct. I don't plan to let this go, and I do intend to find whatever I can to help.

[It'll be a priority juggle, and Anton likely will have to take the backseat to the grievously injured much of the time, but this is going to be active research, not passive waiting. That much she's determined on.]

[gistful]

[The fact that Erskine feels the need to leave when he's an Elemental tells Anton it's at least partly an excuse, and makes him wonder just what Erskine and Raine's relationship has been this far, after what Anton unloaded on her.

[He isn't sure he has the energy to ask. So he doesn't. His eyes are practically closed as it is.]

It seems to me that a good portion of the progression of healing involves research, and research is usually prompted by necessity, is it not?

[Read: he doesn't blame her for not knowing.]

[ruinsprofessor]

[Probably for the best Anton doesn't ask about that right now. Raine will trust Erskine a certain length, but she isn't as sure of him as everyone else in the Hotel seems to be. And she'd really rather not go into that with Anton at the moment, either.]

[So Raine breathes, and takes the offered reassurance, and by the time she speaks again is back to at least sounding normal.]

Yes, that's true. Then, here is the necessity. The rest will follow.

[Very hesitantly, Raine sets her hands over his again, drawing the faintest touch of her mana into them. No artes. Just the careful warmth of life, hoping at least to soothe what she inadvertently caused.]