Getting It Over With - Video - OTA (CW: Death mentions)

[najaran]

[Najaran sighed and with Gremlin's help figured out how to send a video message. Machines were still a little confusing to her.]

[A deep breath then she began speaking to where Gremlin's small scaly finger came into frame to point her to.]

"Leia and I already talked about it. But I figure a lot of you are gonna wanna let me know how upset you are that I didn't let the train evacuate me at the end of the last mission. That I tried to stand and fight those things. That I refused to run away again. Anyway, I'm probably going to be hungry a lot this month, so if you're going to yell at me, I'd rather just let everyone yell at me today and just get it over with, okay?"

[She hesitated, unsure, then shrugged.] "So yeah. I'll be in the Garden car if you want to come yell at me in person. Just please be careful not to hurt Woodfolk, they had nothing to do with it."

[Again that scaled hand came onto the screen to point out what she was supposed to do next.]

Comments

[nell_of_soulwood]

About an hour later Nell showed up at the garden car with a basket of cookies, some savory biscuits, and a container of hot chocolate. "Thought you might kind of could use some of this," she said gently. "And your friends too."

[najaran]

She gave her a smile, looking up from the two Eidolon in her lap. "Thanks!" she said, relieved. Then hesitated. "They're not made with mushrooms, are they?"

[nell_of_soulwood]

"Mushrooms?" Nell looked a bit startled. "In the - ? No, no mushrooms. If I'd brought you the soup I made there'd be musrooms in that, but, no."

[najaran]

She shuddered. "I can't stand mushrooms." And there were so few things Najaran wouldn't eat. Though Nell seemed to be finding out about them all.

[nell_of_soulwood]

"Noted," Nell said. "But you can eat all of this safely. She smiled at her. "Sounded like you were bein' a little down on yourself, so I though you could use a pick me up."

[najaran]

"Thanks," she said, offering her a smile. "I appreciate it. How are you doing?" she asked, settling in to sit with her.

[nell_of_soulwood]

Nell sighed and gave a little shrug. "Been better, but cooking and trying to help people feel better is making me feel better too. Funny how that works."

[najaran]

She nodded. "I know. I never understood it at home. But here I get it!"

[nell_of_soulwood]

"Funny how it come so much to the front of your mind when you spend so much time doin' it," Nell said. "I always knew I liked helping, but never realized both how good it could make you feel and how hard it could be."

[najaran]

Najaran nodded. "But still more fun than studying and practicing all the time."

[nell_of_soulwood]

"Much more satisfying to put things into practice," Nell agreed.

[najaran]

She eyed her for a moment, wondering if she was being tricked or not. She really was a kid, sometimes.

[nell_of_soulwood]

Nell eyed her back. "Did I miss something or say something wrong?"

[crowneddragon]

It's not a surprise to find Esteban already in the Stone Garden carriage, as he loves spending his free time in there. The poi in his hands stop whirling about when he sees Najaran approaching though, grinning at her wide and bright as he welcomes his friend.

"Oh, hello!" There's a brief glance as he makes sure that Najaran hasn't gotten hurt overall, but Esteban knows that by now, there's probably a healer or two that would have checked on her. "Glad t' see you out an' about! Wanna join me?" he offers cheerfully, stretching a hand out after unwrapping the poi strap from his fingers.

He's heard her message of course-- there's an ICP in here too, and he'd been lured in when he noticed it was her. He hadn't known that she'd refused to get evacuated, but then the last hours had been pretty hectic for them all. And Esteban's not here to scold her in any case-- but he would be glad to offer her an ear if she needs it.

[najaran]

She smiled, relieved that he wasn't yelling at her. She nodded. "I don't know how, though."

[crowneddragon]

"That's okay! We all start from nothin' an' learn from there, don't we?" Her companion encourages, quickly showing her how to wrap the straps around her fingers to let the poi dangle from her knuckles. From there, he shows her a few simple tricks to get the poi moving, the motion and dance of bright red cloth in the air mesmerizing even without much effort.

It's like looking at a bird in flight, or a flower in the wind. There's not much-- just a steady movement, a constant circle, sometimes sweeping into nonesense patterns. But it is light, and mindless, and bright. A flutter of movement that catches the eye while it still remains soothing.

Esteban, by her side, is a bit more active in his patterns, drawing beautiful imprints that linger in the back of one's eyes. He hasn't scolded her. He hasn't spoken yet. But whenever he catches her eye, he smiles, and lets her go at her own pace.

[najaran]

She worked with him and tried. It wouldn't take long at all before she smacked herself in the face with them, though. Which startled her enough that she broke the attempted pattern. "Oh!"

[crowneddragon]

Oof, ouch. At least the poi is only filled with sand, which is still enough for a nasty bruise, but she shouldn't have been swinging it that hard. Spinning is all about a delicate control and balance after all; excessive strength doesn't serve any purpose. Still, Esteban gets worried enough that he gets close to her, reaching out to support her arm since she probably needs to blink the pain away.

"You okay? Where'd it land?" He asks quickly enough, checking her over for any wound; particularly her eyes. It might have burst a blood vessel if it landed close enough, after all.

[najaran]

"Ow... by nobe...." she said trying to wrinkle her nose to see if it was broken. It wasn't.

[crowneddragon]

Both her eyes seem clear enough. Maybe a little red where it hit her the closest, but clear. Her nose definitely got the worst of the attack. Esteban takes a half-step back when he's made sure she's relatively okay.

"D'you want me to go an' get you ice?" He'd suggest they go together, but... Well, she did come here for a reason. "Or 't least a cool cloth?" It's the least he can do, and it's the most he can do, seeing as he's not much of a healer.

Yikes, she'd already been pretty low to begin with; he'd hoped to cheer her up a bit, but it didn't seem to be doing much good yet. As soon as he gets back-- he'd figure something out. He'd manage something. Oh!

"Well, it's a great first try!" Esteban is smiling, trying to bring her mood up as he speaks.

[najaran]

"I'll be okay. I get hurt worse fallin' outta bed," she said, using her fingers to wiggle her nose experimentally.

[crowneddragon]

"Top bunk, hun?" he kind of assumes, considering her comment. Esteban could not be anything but on the top bunk, seeing his sheer height puts him at an advantage over his companions. He strongly dislikes it, to be honest.

"Any lingerin' pressure? Burst of colour?" He's not-- sure what else to ask. He's fairly certain she hasn't suffered a concussion, but he checks as best he can regardless, just in case. But no; she seems fine.

He hopes.

[najaran]

"Nah, I meant back home. I looked in this Dragon Eye once and whooo boy. I fell out of bed after and found out I'd slept through a whole meal! I was starving!"

Yes, she did say she looked through a Dragon's eye.

[crowneddragon]

The casual mention has him pause for a bit, but he backs away when she ignores his questions-- he's not the best healer, and if she's not willing to talk, he won't prod much further. The mention of a dragon's eye makes him raise an eyebrow though.

"Like, y' stared one down?" He's not particularly impressed by that personally, but he's aware most people would actually be shaking in their boots at the mention. His case is just peculiar after all. Wait-- she'd been knocked out after? Now he's really curious.

"Didja fight it or somethin'?" With her cards, she might be a bit more than an annoyance, at least. If it was a young one, she might even have an actual chance-- Ancient ones would have batted her away with one paw though.

[najaran]

"What? Oh no... He..." she looked sadder again. While she was usually a very cheerful person, her moods could shift on a dime. The less happy ones rarely lasted long. But they could come out of nowhere. Now she was looking sad for sure.

She shook her head. "He was dead," she said softly. "He died fighting Baltheus. He and the other Dragons. They gave their lives to protect the worlds. To protect frailer creatures like us humans. To save a world they could no longer live in. To protect people they never met, would never get to meet. Gilman, the leader of the Dragons, he gave his eyes to the sages before he died. Well, to two of them to,"

Goligan cut her off. "NAJARAN!" he said, sharply.

She winced and rubbed at the tears that had filmed her eyes. "Anyway, if you look through the one on..." she paused, tried to correct herself. "I looked through one of the eyes and got to see the end of the war through Gliman's eye, the way he saw it. He gave everything, without hesitating." She sniffed a bit. "He protected everyone, you know?" She swallowed and sat down, resting Goligan on the ground beside herself. She gathered up the baby Treefolk in her arms, too lost in her thoughts to even realize that it had let her, that things had changed that much.

"Do you think..." she whispered softly, face half buried behind the rolly polly little creature, "that I'll ever be that strong? That I'll... ever be able to save people like that?" she whsipered.

It wasn't that she died that hurt. Well okay, that hurt too. But what hurt far more wasn't having died.

It was having failed.