Practice Does Not Make Perfect

Pak was in more than a little bit of pain, but trying desperately to hide it, as she did her best to subtly and discreetly make her way to the clinic. It wasn't just that she'd had her leg broken, twice, and one hadn't set right and the other hadn't finished healing or that she looked like she'd tried to stop a run away eighteen wheeler with her bare hands, there was the broken nose, although that had been set much better, the probably sprained but possibly broken ankle, the black eyes and the dislocated shoulder and heaven only knew what internal injuries might be lurking.

Bao had offered to correct the shoulder but by that point Pak felt she had taken more than enough and had declined. She was also fairly certain she had a nasty concussion too, there had been a bad/awkward telekinetic push trying to break a hold and Pak had hit the floor (not the mats) -hard-, Bao said she'd blacked out for a while but she couldn't remember.

It wasn't the first time she'd come back from a sparring session this badly damaged and she knew it wouldn't be the last. At least Bao was getting better about telling her if they were going to go flat out so she could give Rowan a heads up and so she could feed the night before.

Well, flat out for her, it was pretty clear Bao was still holding back. She still felt bad about the first time she'd drug herself into the clinic without warning after one of these sessions and really tried to avoid a repeat.

At least Bao had been decent enough to drive her and her car back to the towers (the BMW, not the Lil Bird she didn't trust anyone to drive that). He'd even helped her as far as the door where she could have a chat with MARI to make sure someone would be expecting her at the clinic and a little bit beyond before Pak chased him off.

"I am happy to get you the rest of the way there."

Bao offered in a formal if slightly fretful tone. It was almost funny, or would be if she wasn't having to grit her teeth to deal with the shooting pain in her ankle shoulder and a few other places. He really was trying and Pak appreciated it.


"No thanks. I just want to get there without much notice and people will notice you."

They would too, Bao was more than a little striking. While he hadn't come out of their match entirely unscathed, once he'd changed most of his injuries had either healed or been hidden, although his hair was a little untidy and his cuffs were uneven Pak noted with some satisfaction.

"Very well." He said somewhat reluctantly. "Next week?"


"Chess."

Pak said firmly and was rewarded with a faint upward twist to his lips and a nod from Bao before he said a formal goodbye and stepped outside to arrange a ride.

Eiryk 9 months ago
Eiryk was just coming in from a consultation, he hadn't stepped entirely away from design and for this big a client he was certainly available. He couldn't help but notice the Asian gentleman, not nearly as handsome or appealing as Alex but worth a subtle second look, but paid him very little mind. He really wanted a coffee and to go over his notes and sketches while things were fresh in his mind.

On his way to Barny's he managed to half walk into and half trip over someone who rather successfully smothered a sound of pain as he found himself on the floor. He felt bad about hurting anyone and would apologize as soon as he was on his feet. It wasn't a terrible tumble by his standards and fortunately, his laptop bag was very good, very well padded and his tablet was in an excellent case. So hopefully the only thing that would be at all damaged would be him.

Realizing he was fine Eiryk bounced back up was about to apologize to the other person, realized it was Pak and just beamed.


"Hi Pak! Did you want to…"

The invitation to coffee just died off as he noticed the state his friend was in. This had not been caused by his stumbling into her. Eiryk was both instantly very concerned and very angry, someone had badly hurt his friend. It took a second for him to settle on which to address first but he quickly decided it was more important to get Pak to Rowan, or at least to a meal and bed, before finding his ax and the person who'd hurt her.

"Dear gods what happened, who did this? You're heading to the clinic right? Do you need help? I can carry you or get a wheelchair."

She was clearly moving on her own and as she was a vampire Eiryk was fairly certain the injuries weren't fatal he was concerned though, the black eyes, the smears of what could only be blood on her and her beyond rumpled clothing and her shoulder was clearly dislocated he was entitled to be worried.
Pakpao 9 months ago
Whatever hit her managed to clip her dislocated shoulder and her bad ankle and Pak's world went white with pain. Her body though somehow forced itself into a defensive posture and she was ready to keep fighting, that's just what Bao expected and she'd learned their lessons.

When she saw it was Eiryk though Pak dropped that, she would have kept limping to the clinic but he was right in front of her, although his normally sunny expression was clouded over his voice very soothing, comforting even. Given her current state though Pak didn't feel like placating him. She also wasn't feeling up to trying to push him out of the way either. Eiryk was rather sturdy.

Pak tried to hide her embarrassment at being caught like this behind her subterfuge but she was fully aware she was off her game and it probably wouldn't work.


"Yes, of course I am. I'm fine, don't worry about it. I'm on my way to the clinic, but you have to move first."

Pak growled as she both tried to dismiss the situation get Eiryk to move on and get to the clinic. This was the exact opposite of what she wanted. What she wanted was pain killers.
Eiryk 9 months ago
Fine? What the hell planet was she living on? And the look Eiryk gave Pak clearly conveyed that.

"Pak, love, this is not fine."

At least she claimed to be heading to the clinic. Eiryk knew Pak had a tendency to try and solve things on her own without asking for help, he'd was a little worried she'd just go to her apartment and try and deal.

Her snappishness response for Eiryk to move, in fact, he went to pick her up.

"Don't." Pak growled through her clenched jaw. "I don't need to be dropped and make things worse."

Unphased by this Eiryk just grinned and offered her his arm instead. At least she could take some weight off one of her legs. Eiryk wasn't even sure which she was favoring, there seemed to be something wrong with both of them. But as her left shoulder was clearly out of its socket he stood on her right side.


"Now, what the hell happened? Did you want me to call someone?"

As they made their way to the clinic letting a limping Pakpao set the pace Eiryk realized he was slipping into flu mode and promised himself he'd try and reign it in. It was better than hot someone with an ax mode thought and that was his other choice.
Pakpao 9 months ago
Rather instinctively and involuntary Pak glommed on to Eiryk's arm, greatful for the support. Honestly everything hurt so much she wasn't even sure if he was helping or not. It wasn't making anything hurt more though so she went with it.

"I'm fine."

She growled again although she was half trying to convince/remind herself. Sometimes these sparing sessions brought up old memories, bad memories. It was just one more thing to hide.

Without meaning too she barked a humorless laugh at Eiryk wanting to call someone.[/]

"Who would I call? Rowan is already expecting me."

[I]Honestly Pak was a little surprised he hadn't met her at the door with a wheelchair. She hoped he didn't have an emergency on his hands, but more for the sake of whoever might have been very hurt worse than herself she hopped that wasn't the case. But if push came to shove she'd mend on her own the bad set could be redone later and if necessary she was sure Eiryk could relocate her shoulder.
Eiryk 9 months ago
Eiryk gently pushed some blood crusted hair out of her face and shook his head. Silly girl, and to him Pak was still a girl, sometimes she seemed to forget she had friends, people she could call. In fact Eiryk wondered why Kem hadn't already come barreling out of an elevator.

"An ambulance, a lawyer, a hitman. All of the above. Who did this to you gumman?"

He was only hanging on to his temper because Pak was right there and hurting and needed him to help not go off on a rampage. That didn't mean he wasn't casually planning said rampage. It had been a while since he'd gone full Viking in someone.

He managed to check himself though when Pak stumbled and gasped in pain. He stopped, helped her right herself and she start walking again but he'd had it with this, she was just hurting herself more.


"Are you sure you don't want me to carry you?"

Predictably Pak snarled at him, "Not in any of my lifetimes.

Oddly enough that made him grin. If Pak was being this fistey she would undoubtedly be fine. He kissed her temple.


"Fine. MARI," he rather cheerfully addressed one of the AI's interfaces, "could you please have Rue or someone else from the clinic please bring us a wheelchair?"
Rowan Murphy 9 months ago
It was a quiet night for Rowan, which he always appreciated. That was the paradox of being involved in health care - having nothing to do didn't keep one employed, but it was generally the goal. He had been puttering around the clinic when he'd gotten a text from Pakpao half-asking and half-informing him that she might just possibly need some help putting parts of her back together, when MARI told him that a wheelchair was required and the location. He raised a brow, heading for the closet where such things were stored.

"What's the trouble MARI?" he asked.

It turned out that the trouble was, in fact, Pak. That she was possibly worse off than she'd mentioned didn't really surprise him. He was aware that she (and many of his friends and acquaintances in general) didn't really like to admit needing help. They were vampires after all, and when it came to vampire 'healthcare' there wasn't really a lot Rowan needed to do. Sometimes healing went faster if things were stuck back together properly, or bones set and straightened or foreign bodies removed. For the worst injuries, he could certainly provide pain relief while their bodies did what they did.

Since Pak wasn't that far from the clinic, he decided to leave the wheelchair where it was. He knew Pak wouldn't want any attention drawn to her, and the wheelchair was a big red flashing sign that everyone would notice if there was anyone around at this time of night. Instead he just headed out of the clinic, down the hall, and found a small, bloodied, frustrated vampire hobbling along next to a visibly worried Eiryk.


"Ach, just come here," Rowan said, deliberately allowing his heavily muddled accent to lean over toward the Irish side to amuse her and help get her mind off the perceived indignity of being carried to the clinic. He deftly, gently elbowed Eiryk away and scooped Pak up into his arms, mindful of the obvious injuries. "When are you going to just kick his arse in return, lass?"

It wasn't Pak's first time visiting him after some kind of odd training-slash-bonding-slash-masochism thing with her Creator. Rowan shook his head as he strode smoothly back to the clinic, getting Pak away from any prying eyes and depositing her carefully on one of the beds.

"Okay, aside from the obvious shoulder, what else did he break?" Rowan's voice returned to its usual mashup of mixed accents as he turned away to one of the cabinets. Instead of medications or supplies, he pulled from the tallest closet a halberd, which he tossed to Eiryk in a stunning display of confidence that nothing would be destroyed since his friend was adept with weaponry, and his spare rapier and dagger. "And can we go beat him up in return now?"

[ooc: permissions from Pak and Eiryk]
Pakpao 9 months ago
“A lawyer, I lawyer did this to me.”

Pak hissed at Eiryk as she painfully realized she probably had a couple of broken ribs as well. That's what that stabbing sensation usually meant anyway.

“[Color=red] Fucking mother hen.[/color]”

She protested Eiryk calling for any help at all, let alone a wheelchair. She was hardly in any condition to run away or refuse though and it certainly had to be better than the blond trying to carry her.

Pak suddenly realized that up until now Eiryk had no idea how aggressive Bao was being about her training, especially of late. Something about if he was soft with her she'd never learn. Honestly Pak wasn't sure if she was trying to shield him or if she was just embarrassed how bad she was at this whole martial arts thing and how little she enjoyed sharing any pain of any kind. Rowan knew out if necessity. Kem and Aishe knew because they were Kem and Aishe and because she and Kem were bonded but anyone else she was trying to keep it from.

Speaking of Rowan… Pak willingly let him pick her up and decided that the relief from getting off her fucked up legs was worth the pain in her ribs. She was also greatly relieved his accent took in some kind of direction, when distracted Pak could sometimes have trouble understanding his muddled accents.


“He was wrinkled… a little… a bit.”

Pak snarked back weakly at Rowan. Actually there was a good chance she'd broken or sprained his knee but Bao was older and healed better and was also used to working through this shit so it was hard to tell, but leaving her habitually immaculate creator disheveled was oddly more satisfying than an actual injury.

Once settled on a bed she debated just flopping down but was afraid that would hurt more and so stayed as still as possible.


“Everything.”

She answered briefly and would have elaborated but suddenly there were weapons involved. Pak was more surprised Eiryk caught the one tossed at him than she was by them just appearing in a hospital room.

The sight of a perfectly pressed custom suit wearing Eiryk holding a halberd with competence and enthusiasm and Rowan in his purple kitten scrubs welding rapier and dagger with casual confidence did, however, startled a pained laugh out of her.


“I -really- want to say yes.”

She honestly didn't want anyone hurt least if all Rowan or Eiryk but she was also morbidly curious who would win.
Eiryk 9 months ago
“A lawyer?”

Eiryk was confused for a moment. Certainly he'd irritated a lawyer or two in his long life but he'd never had one physically attack him, or even try to. By the time it finally clicked with him that Pak’s own creator had done this to her Rue had shown up.

He would have gotten quite angry, after all Angus had never been this abusive with him (it conveniently slipped his mind how brutal his human upbringing and training had been), but Rue slid him out of the way to pick Pak up and he was too busy trying to keep his balance to let his temper kick in.


“She wouldn't let me pick her up.”

He sulked for a second before trailing along in Rowan's wake because he certainly wasn't leaving Pak alone with her being that badly damaged. Granted she wouldn't be alone she'd have Rue and Eiryk loved Rue to undeath but the point was he wasn't leaving her.

As he followed them he debated this level of “instruction” for someone like Pak. Certainly she needed to know more than the absolute nothing she'd started with but she was hardly going to be raiding anything any time soon and she was more than a little resilient, it was just the nature of their kind.

Before he could offer any opinion on the matter a weapon was tossed at him. Instinct kicked in he easily snatched it out of the air and held it ready for battle without a conscious thought. He then nodded enthusiastically at Rye's idea.


“I haven't met him yet. It seems like a good reason.”

As far as Eiryk knew only Kem had actually met this vampire. Pak didn't go about introducing Bao.

“Oh… could cause trouble with inter clan relations though. Do we need some kind of permission first?”

Not that Eiryk was a big fan of getting permission before a raid but he didn't care to make his father-in-law's job harder than it had to be.
Rowan Murphy 9 months ago
Rowan paused in buckling on his rapier when Eiryk brought up that pesky little detail about permissions. He tilted his head back and forth, making a show of clearly weighing his options.

Holding out one hand he said,
"Revenge and satisfaction. Punching someone who deserves very much to be punched."

Holding out the other hand he said, "Destroying Clan relations, vastly overstepping our bounds, making life VERY difficult for my husband."

He moved his hands back and forth and then finally gave a sigh and held his hand out to Eiryk for the halberd.
"Okay, okay. I might have been convinced until that last one. I'm sure Cris would understand and probably want to join, but I can't justify making him have to choose."

Rowan took the halberd Eiryk reluctantly gave back, having to pull at it more than a couple times to get his friend to release it to him. Then he quirked a brow at Pak and continued by saying,
"Especially when you do this more or less voluntarily. What's wrong with you?"

He narrowed his eyes and took stock of Pak where she perched gingerly on the bed.
"Aside from the obvious dislocation, lacerations, contusions, and if I'm not mistaken a few broken or at least bruised ribs which should be healing by now unless you need to eat. Do you?"

Given that he couldn't do much about any of the rest, he assumed Pak was here to have her shoulder popped back into place. Vampires could heal many many things, but often those things went much more smoothly when their various bits and pieces were where they ought to be. He stowed the weapons back in the closet, closed and locked it, and then turned to Pak. Gently placing his hands on her shoulder he felt around a bit to confirm.


"This is definitely dislocated. Give me a hand, Eiryk. Can you go get that pillow over on the chair? I'm going to need it to YEET!"

As he talked to Eiryk, Rowan had been slowly manipulating Pak's arm. From experience he knew the best way to do this was just get it over with quickly so the patient didn't tense up. By sending Eiryk off he distracted both him and Pak, so by the time he reached the count of 'yeet' he quickly and deftly popped Pak's shoulder back into the socket, grabbed the pillow from Eiryk, and slid it under her arm.

"What else is messed up?"
Pakpao 9 months ago
Pak was a little touched they'd both at least consider vengeance, but was also trying not to laugh as they both tried to sort out the politics of it. She wanted to laugh, but laughing currently hurt a lot so she just gave a cautious nod and a weak smile.

“Can't make Cris’ job too hard.”

She agreed. Although It would be immensely satisfying to see Bao have to work for a change. And she thought surely any of the three, Eiryk, Rowan or Cris could accomplish that. As she considered that it occurred to Pak she'd never sat in on a sparring session between Bao and Amir or anyone else. She might be asking to watch in the near future instead of participate, she might learn something and it would probably be good for her moral.

“I don't keep my guard up on my right side, I telegraph my attacks -and- I can't anticipate.”

Pak answered Rowan with Bao’s latest laundry list of her faults. Before fully processing what Rowan had said pausing and looking at them both quite seriously.

“Pirate… Viking… and you both think this is quite right don't you?”

Pak muttered a bit in Siames about knowing there were other options but didn’t dwell on it As Rowan slid a little further into doctor mode. She shook her head.

“I knew it was going to be a rough session. I went out last night. Unless you say so I'll be fine going out again tomorrow.”

Oddly enough once convinced she needed Rowan's help Pak tended to be a pretty good patient and follow doctor’s orders.

Wincing as Rowan felt around her dislocated shoulder without thinking about it looked to see what pillow Eiryk was supposed to be getting. Before she could ask why they'd need a pillow there was a push, a pop, a grimace and a small sigh of relief.


“That is so much better. Can I move it yet or do I need to wait a bit?”

For now though she was content to leave it where it was. She could experiment in a little bit.

Closing her eyes and making a face she rattled off what she knew about. Anything else would be guess work.

“Right leg got broken twice, not sure about the first set either, he made me do it myself and it has felt odd. [I]It wasn't the first time Pak had set her own bone, it was however the first time Bao had made her do it during a session. Usually he set them for her. He was surprisingly good at it.
“Think my left ankle got broken. That was getting better…”

Pak tossed Eiryk a dirty look, he'd clipped it pretty good.

“Pretty sure my right wrist broke too. Everything is mostly getting better. Oh. He says I missed the mats on the last throw and blacked out for a while. Do we get concussions? Brain damage?”

Pak genuinely did not know the answer to that. To the best of her knowledge she'd never had to think about that before meeting Bao. But her experimental finger wiggles did seem to indicate her wrist was getting better.
Eiryk 9 months ago
“Oh dear.” Eiryk said thoughtfully “You're right Cris would probably have a duty to stop us and all that even. Mind you might enjoy that. I think it would just annoy Alex… … or make him laugh.”

He was still reluctant to part with the halberd though. It was a nice one, good weight and balance.

“What about a duel? If we promised not to kill him and properly challenged him. Honor and all that. I'll even flip you for who gets to fight him.”

Eiryk said all this in a rather cheery and airy manner as I'd he was discussing the drapery fabrics he was planning on for a client's living room.

When Pak ask if he thought this was normal he made a face that clearly indicated he was leaning towards no.


“I can't say love, hard to get perspective given how I grew up but it does seem a little intense.”

It really did seem like overkill to Eiryk given who Pak was and that she was unlikely to need amazing martial skills. But as he enjoyed occasionally going flat out against someone who was at least as good as he was he didn't want to discourage her.

“You're miles better than when you started though.”

He practiced with Pak now and again and the improvement was clear. She had more to rely on than her sending, running away, and the natural benefits of being a vampire.

At least she seemed to be coordinating this madness with the apparently sadistisk Anantya who'd turned her and she was eating. And Eiryk did have the good grace to look chagrined apologize again for the ankle thing.


“Of course.”

He agreed and went to grab the pillow and was oddly satisfied with how quickly and easily Rue had done that.

“Yeet is new. I don't remember anyone ever yeeting any of my joints back into place.”

It was a cheerful observation before he frowned at that list of injuries. Ok maybe he did think this was over the top.

“Are you sure there weren't two of him gumman?”
Rowan Murphy 9 months ago
Rowan waved his hand at Pak's question. "You can move it around; it should be fine in a few minutes." Really, although her laundry list of injuries was extensive and impressive, nothing sounded like it needed any real attention aside from the shoulder. As she listed off sprains and breaks he gently probed with deft fingers, but he didn't find anything that was out of place or that wouldn't situate itself on its own.

He grinned when Eiryk noted his choice of expression.
"I am positive you've had joints yeeted back into place, we just didn't have a word for it yet."

Rowan knew that many of their kind tended to get stuck in the past, or at least had some trouble staying current. He regularly interacted with children and young adults though, just by way of his profession, and he was usually treated to current vernacular on a daily basis. Today's kids were all about 'fits and everything was 'fire', a term Rowan refused to get on board with no matter how popular it became. Fire was never going to be a good thing.

He turned back to Pak and shook his head. "You do know that we have plenty of capable fighters here who are more than willing to pound you into the mats without actually trying to kill you, right?" Before she could argue, he continued.
"Look I know you've got some weird sort of bonding ritual happening here but maybe consider throwing him for a loop by learning something totally off the wall that he won't expect."

He thought for a second and then said,
"Like the next time he comes at you with fists you just pull out a gun and shoot him in the knees few times. Bet he won't see that coming."

Rowan carefully helped Pak lie back, cushioning her arm on the pillow.
"Just chill out here for a few minutes while everything sorts itself out." While she did, he got a package of gauze and some warm water from the tap, and gently cleaned the blood from her face and arms. That way when she did head back upstairs she wouldn't draw attention to herself any more than she had to. If Rowan understood anything at all about most of his friends, it was that they all had their pride.
Eiryk 9 months ago
A semi absent minded grin and a bit of a nod seemed to indicate that Rue was down with the dual idea, but he was obviously more intent on his patient than anything. That was, of course, as it should be. Eiryk, however, was still a bit upset about how is friend was being treated and decided he'd ask either Cris or Alfarin about a dual with another clan. He really didn't think it should be an issue as long as everyone agreed and no one died, but better safe than sorry. He also resolved to ask Angus if he knew this Bao fellow in his next letter. His own maker had been part of Anantya for ages. Why had he not thought of this before?

The yeet thing distracted Eiryk and made him grin. He knew the word. He'd heard it before and even understood it. He had not tried using it just yet. Maybe he would later. As much as he adored anything new and fascinating he could get a little stuck in the past on somethings and he knew it. It also scared him a bit.

Eiryk nodded enthusiastically at Rue's suggestion of other fighters in the clan who wouldn't try and kill her. But the gun thing made him laugh out loud.


“Wait she gets a gun but I don't get one tiny halberd? And wouldn't that just make Cris' have to get stern with Pak?”

Pak was looking better, at least to his eye. Less pinched and stressed and she was also apparently thinking about laughing at Rowan’s suggestion.

Still Eiryk sobered a bit as he watched Rowan gently clean the blood off Pak’s face.


“Seriously Pak, some of us on occasion actually like to go flat out injury and regeneration be damned. Some of us think it is fun but it is rather extreme and should be something you -want- to do.”
Pakpao 9 months ago
Pak wincied and flinched as Rowan probed her injuries but only once did she suck in her breath sharply. Things were healing. She was going to be very hungry tomorrow but at least she could breath without her ribs trying to stab her.

She chose to let the slang conversation distract her. Things seemed to heal better when she didn't pay attention.


“We yeet programing specs all the time. Old files, outdated manuals. It is a useful verb.”

Pak was a little worried that Eiryk was now going to try yeeting everything. Poor Alex. She might also let Alex know Eiryk had given up on his dual idea awfully quickly. That could spell trouble.

Both Eiryk and Rowan seemed to think maybe this was all a bit much. Pak probably should have gotten a second opinion before this.


“It isn't bonding. I think it’s penance.”

Although Pak wasn't sure who was paying that penance.

She closed her eyes and listened to Rowan move about the room. It wasn't until he'd started washing her face an arms that Pak remembered the blood. Most of it was hers, she knew that with certainty. With that in mind she took a deep breath.


“Maybe we do need to have a talk about boundaries.”

There was a good chance that Bao was teaching her this way because it was how Amir had taught him. Pak was strongly of the opinion that Bao deferred to Amir a little too often. Maybe her standing up about this issue would be good for both of them
Rowan Murphy 9 months ago
Rowan raised an eyebrow at Eiryk when he protested his lack of weaponry. "These are my extra backup weapons for emergencies, if you really want one go upstairs and get one of your own many, many axes."

During their conversation, Pak at least seemed to be getting a little more comfortable as each minute passed. Rowan had been watching her breathing, her posture, listening for any gasps or wheezes that might tell him something else needed to be popped back into place, but it seemed all was well and her body was doing what it needed to do. She'd be fine. Physically, anyway. He couldn't vouch for what this sort of 'training' was doing to her mentally.

He understood full well that not every vampire had a good relationship with their Creator. He and Aishe, for example, seemed to be luckier than most. Rowan knew Pak, and Kem, for example, hadn't had the best starts in their un-lives. He had a hard time giving advice when he couldn't say he'd lived through whatever they were or had, but in this case he just didn't understand the benefit to Pak, or why she kept doing this to herself.

"You know you have worth, right?" He murmured softly to her while he dried her face with a cloth. "If he can't treat you like you have value, then you should stop allowing him to have your time. There are many people here at Liefde who would be happy to train you as much as you want. They won't be soft on you, but they will respect you and value you and they will want the best for you because you're one of us. He's not your only option, and he doesn't deserve you."

He leaned back, tilting his head and shrugging his shoulders. Rowan didn't often push on matters like this that weren't ultimately his business; he hated confrontation and would almost always aim for humor in uncomfortable situations. He felt like it had to be said, although he was sure Pak's closer friends had already voiced their concerns.


"There isn't much more I can do for you here," he finally said. "You're welcome to hang out as long as you want, but I think between me and Eiryk we can get you upstairs without much fuss if that will be more comfortable."

It wouldn't hurt anything for him to leave the clinic for the five minutes that would take, and while Pak could probably make it under her own steam now, he didn't mind going along to act as auxiliary support. At this point, a hot shower and her own bed would probably do her the most good.
Pakpao 9 months ago
Listening to Eiryk and Rowan banter with each other made Pak smile. She found it relaxing and comfortable. It felt the same as snarking back and forth with Kem just with a longer history and fewer flying objects.

Speaking of Kem now that she had the ability to think about more than how much she hurt Pak sent to him quickly assuring him she was home and Rowan was fixing things. She hoped not too much had leaked through their bond but Pak was pretty sure something had, at least he knew it was a sparring night.

Rowan's comment made her frown thoughtfully. She and Bao had an odd relationship and she knew it. Pak was fairly certain he valued her but did he value the relationship? And maybe she could also do better about doing right by herself as well. Usually she was ok at that but Bao and this training had slid into an odd blind spot.

Typically for Pak she brushed off the softer emotional tone Rowan had taken with sarcasm.


“No one deserves me. That's why I'm still single.”

She snarked but without any actual resentment. And although her words were a little harsh she did quietly squeeze Rowan's hand in thanks.

At Rowan's suggestion that he and Eiryk could get her upstairs Eiryk chimed in in his typically cheerful way.

“Yes. I think home might be good. I'll make you a nice tea with a good splash of mead. I've got a lemon one that should be delicious in that Darjeeling you've been drinking.”

It was a tempting offer but running her hands through her disheveled hair and finding a fair bit of dried blood decided her.


“As much as I love hanging out with you, maybe not here. So long as no one carries me,” that was clearly directed at Eiryk “home might be best.”

((Occ… all out))