daybreakacademy

Who: Hieke & You
What: Infirmary catch-all & a call for help
Where: The infirmary & elsewhere on campus
When: February
Warnings: Potential discussions of injury, probably.

a; the necessities

[The infirmary has seen a lot in the first month of the quarter alone - friends were born here and eventually taken away, people have been sick and injured and that's not even including the injuries people didn't go to the infirmary for. But come February, Hieke is a little bit more prepared for things. The infirmary is kept as tidy as ever, and he's even decorated for the holiday!

There are vases filled with flowers on his desk, and he's awkwardly taped some heart shaped decor to the wall. There was an attempt and that accounts for everything, even if he doesn't know anything about Valentine's Day.

However, the infirmary isn't only for the sick or injured. Students taking Hieke's class are more than welcome to stop by to ask for help or ask general questions - there's an office set aside for him, but he spends all of his hours in the infirmary anyways. It's the best place to catch him.]

b; the network (un: hieke)

Good afternoon.

I'm sorry to bother everyone, but I'm looking for something. A mushroom - native to the Outlands - that's not dangerous or anything, just a little mischievous. It managed to find out how to open the windows in my room, and now it's loose and locate and summoning magic were something I never spent much time studying.

It's about a foot tall, with a pale orange cap, so it should be pretty distinct. If you see it, please let me know! And mind the spores.

c; the wildcard

[If you want anything else or need Hieke for anything, let me know!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ There's countless ways that curses can manifest once properly inside a victim's body, and Ekkehardt has seen most of them. He tactfully says nothing about how just vomiting is, all things considered, one of the lighter symptoms. ]

They're becoming quite a nuisance. And it can't be a coincidence that they share a theme.

Perhaps you can hunt down the source for stress relief. [ It's barely a joke. For all his jabbing and the fact they barely tolerate each other on a good day, for whatever reason February is a month where Avery is consistently in a worse mood than usual.

Anything that distracts him from it is probably good for him. ]

Maybe...

[For what it's worth, he appears to be giving the matter serious thought. As much as his concentration will allow for, anyway.]

Suppose I do owe whatever's done this a visit now, don't I?

It certainly wouldn't hurt to teach them a lesson. [ His voice is mild. He is entirely unbothered by the idea. ] I'm sure you'd enjoy yourself.

[ ...

The scars are still bothering him, but he's really not going to ask. Still, in a rare moment of absentmindedness, his fingers touch his throat for a moment (or where it would be, if there was anything there any more) before he just shakes his head like he's clearing it. ]

[The act doesn't go unnoticed. And given that Avery has seen Ekkehardt with and without his glamour -- and, as far as he knows, without a similar set of scars to his own, it's easy to guess what's bothering him]

They're old. Centuries. Don't worry about them.

[His voice is flat]

[ That startles him. There's a flash of red light in the eyeslits of his mask, a catlike, slit-eyed glance, before he returns to normal. ]

As long as they don't need medical treatment, it's not exactly my concern.

[ Though he is still concerned. But there's no point in saying it, really.

He bites down on his immediate impulse to just fire back at him with something rude (which is almost a routine by now); instead, that just gets a short, strange laugh. It's a kind of odd embarrassment at being caught, more than anything else. ]

Even without a physical base, my mind still remembers old wounds, if I see something similar.

[ He picks up something from a desk nearby, more to have something to occupy his hands than anything else. He's inspecting it like it's the most fascinating thing in the world. ]

It's troublesome.

[His eyebrows raise.]

["Something similar." "Old wounds." He knew the bonehead was dead and all, but somehow he hadn't expected the circumstances to be anything close to similar.]

[There's a part of him that wants to ask. Some deep, hungry side of him that searches for something wholly unnecessary. A part he ignores most of the time. That he calls idle curiosity. Now is no different, and he kicks that part of himself to the side in favor of the cold, comforting embrace that cynicism has provided him for all these years.]

[Mostly.]

[That infuriating smile on his face is more plastic than usual.]

That so? Funny, you never seemed the type to be tied down by the old ball and chain.

[ Part of Ekkehardt is telling him this is possibly the worst person to say this to and that this is something he'll regret. But maybe he's overdue on bad, stupid decisions anyway, so he just.

He ignores it. Logically, even Avery isn't callous enough to go dropping details all over the place, especially when he has more than enough ammunition as it is, so it's probably fine.

He just smiles, faint and thin, though there's no amusement in it. ]

I don't truly know if there is a type for such a thing.

Besides unlucky, perhaps.

[ He idly traces fingers across a wrist, down one arm, the trinket he has in hand not enough to stop those subconsciously guided motions. Too many scars to count, but his mind remembers well enough for many of them.

There had been little else to focus on, which was probably the point. ]

[Wrist bindings.]

[Avery doesn't even notice when his own hand starts to stray.]

Just unlucky? Maybe you're the outlier. In my experience, they tend to be cowardly, foolish weaklings. And it's always a matter of time before they get what's coming to them.

[ He notices, but

well, he's not saying anything about it. He's sure it's odd enough as it is, just talking. He's not going to make it any stranger. ]

Perhaps, perhaps not. [ His tone is placid. ] Foolish as well as unlucky, I'll grant you.

But I wasn't in any state to judge. [ He mostly remembers his own cries, his own noise. Other people's voices, other people's laughter.

Such a messy thing, to be kept from death. He remembers that, most of all.

It was so messy. ]

[His smile fades.]

[He had had plenty of time to think about it then, and plenty more time since. He can't imagine not being unable to think about the situation at all. Not unless... well.]

[There are a few scenarios, he supposes, where one's mind may be elsewhere. Or even not present at all.]

Maybe you really an outlier. Unlucky, but not foolish.

[it's a minor concession]

I'd say "congratulations," but somehow I get the feeling that might be out of line.

[ That startles another laugh out of him, short and soft. That was almost an apology, which was surprising in itself. ]

Perhaps a little.

Though I'm sure that, all things considered, my stay was shorter than yours. More outliers, I suppose.

[ He doesn't know for certain, but he feels confident enough in his guess. One month was no time at all, compared to what Avery had probably gotten by the way he talks. ]

[Hard to say, really. The only thing he had to go by were mealtimes until those stopped. Then it was up to the melting candles. Maybe it was a few weeks. Maybe it was longer.]

Sounds almost like you're about to make a toast.

[he raises an imaginary glass]

Cheers to the outliers! ...Or some corny garbage like that.

I'm terrible at speeches, so I'll spare you the attempt. [ He waves a hand dismissively. ]

I don't know if there's much to cheer. [ There's a small pause as he considers whether it's worth saying something and then clearly seems to decide Sure, Why Not ] But being alive is worth celebrating.

[ It doesn't seem to be a point of envy or melancholy for him; it's just sincere, in a serious sort of way.

All things considered, it's hard to tell which of them is unluckier, and in the end it's not something to be compared.

But out of the two of them, only one is still alive. ]

It is. It most certainly is.

[There's a fire in Avery's eyes. God help anyone who tries to take his life. If they live, they won't come out unscathed.]

[ That gets another little laugh, and the sound of it is a little more honest. Approving, in its own way.

He doesn't seem to feel the need to say anything in response.

It's an odd moment to have with someone who generally inspires varying levels of irritation in him and little else. He doesn't know how he feels about it; it's a tangle of complex emotions he didn't...really expect. ]

Well.

I'll leave you to your recovery, shall I? [ He sets down what he was toying with. ] It's my hope that the rest of it won't be too strenuous for you.

[ And, well, he does mean that, at least. ]

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