Vervain had never been given reason to visit the Infirmary before LongNight. Strange, then, that now she couldn't seem to get herself out of it. When the sun had returned and the Rathskeller had cleared out, she had walked its cold and empty halls, frowning as she gazed over notes written in a dead woman's hand (well, not quite but still) and the nurses seemingly without direction. Worse, though, was the state of the place.
Dry blood, used bandages, rumpled and dirty sheets and utensils everywhere - the place had seen a lot during LongNight, and none of it good. It would need a fair bit of elbow grease to put it back the way it was, and that wouldn't even start to put back in place what the infirmary had lost. Letting out a low whistle, Vai decided to plunge right in and started to gather the sheets off the beds.
He had spent a few hard days of Long Night in the dimly lit Infirmary, sitting with Rory or setting his hand to cleaning and mending what he could. He had not, he realized now with a wince as he looked around, tried very hard to clean the place, however. Isla's... transformation... had thrown the place into disarray, and his own guilt and worries and ennui had hung heavily over him during the time he'd spent there. Once Rory had awoken, once Ludo had answered a quiet prayer, once the Spark Bird had arrived... he had found his hope renewed, his heart beginning to heal from the nightmare that had brought him low. The return of the sun and the gentle winds of spring had done much to aid his recovery, but while others had left the Temple gladly to return to homes and farms and businesses, Jigano had found himself staying back.
Isla might not have been truly dead, but it seemed as though she'd been changed almost beyond recognition. It wasn't right to mourn her, he knew, but... still, he needed to do something to give him a sense of closure to that chapter in their friendship.
He was surprised to see Vervain there ahead of him but then... perhaps not so surprised. With Isla gone, the Rathskeller's mistress, with her strong healing talent, had saved several lives during Long Night. He cleared his throat as he entered the space, knocking his knuckles lightly on a wooden bedframe as he moved to help her with the sheets. "A hunter, a tavern owner, a doctor... is there anything you can't do, mistress Vervain?" he asked his employer with a small smile. He was more haggard than the last time she'd seen him, his cheeks a little more hollow, his blue eyes a little more shadowed, and a sense of weariness over his shoulders that he didn't try to hide from her. But there was warmth in his smile still, and his appearance was neat and tidy once more. And there was a small, kittenish gryphon in pale feathers and fur who dodged his quiet feet and attacked his bootlaces with fierce enthusiasm.
Vervain had gathered up the blankets and folded them into a pile that would need to be washed (she'd ask one of the nurses later, when she knew they weren't busy or panicking or fleeing the place), and was just about to turn her attention to the floors when Jigano's voice reached her. She turned and smiled crookedly at him, resting a gentle hand on her bump. Pregnancy suited Vai, but she was not the type to relax, evidently. "I can't take a break," she said, laughing softly and glancing around the place.
"Perhaps I am just nesting. I already cleaned up the Rathskeller, but... I don't know, Jigano. This place seems a bit lost, since the doctor left." Not left left, of course, but the lack of thumbs probably made it difficult to keep the place in good shape. "I thought I would help out, before I am the size of a house. You aren't unwell, are you?" Obviously she thought that was why he was there.
His smile softened at the sign of new life burgeoning in his employer's belly, and he drifted closer to continue their conversation as he joined her in looking around. The patients had abandoned the place for the sunshine, along with the nurses. It had been left in a state of disarray that Isla never would have tolerated back when she'd stood on two legs rather than four, but not being able to speak or easily manipulate things probably made it difficult for her to keep things under control.
Sighing, he gave a little shake of his head in agreement at how 'lost' the place felt without its resident medic. "Not just this place," he said softly, offering the pregnant huntress a wan smile. "And I am... well enough. Given what we went through last week." He bent to begin gathering bandages that had been dropped by a careless nurse - or perhaps a patient overeager to be on their way. "I was studying under Isla, before... before Long Night. I was supposed to have been helping her here, but I didn't make it back to the Settlement in time..." he trailed off, giving a little shake of his head as if to shake away the shadows of guilt that clung to him still. "So I feel a little... responsible, I suppose. For helping to clean this place up." He stood, adding the bandages to the pile of things to be washed and looking around with a slightly lost look dimming his blue eyes.
"I suppose... she would have left an inventory in her desk drawer. Though just cleaning up the linens and giving the place a good sweeping will help. Do you have any suggestions on where to start?"
Vai paused in her attempt to tidy up one of the bedside tables as Jigano spoke, his words suggesting that Isla's disappearance went further than just the infirmary. Of course, as he expanded she had no need to ask questions, instead turning to hear him out and frown softly. "I see," she said. "I feel similarly, but that is because I helped to patch those people up. That, and... it doesn't look as though anyone else is going to do it."
Moving to stand beside him, Vervain seemed momentarily just as lost as he did. The inventory, then, was a marvellous idea, and she smiled and nodded to him. "I say we get these beds stripped, and the floors swept and cleaned. And the windows all opened too. Then we can check her study, maybe, and make a list of things that need replacing?"
Pausing for just a second, she smiled across at Jigano. "I am handing the Rathskeller over to Edrei," she said. "I think I might be of better use here."
He nodded, the wan smile remaining as he remembered her patching up one precious patient in particular. Another, Amalia, he had not seen her work on, but he had seen the results of her efforts and he was more grateful than he knew how to say. His smile faltered at the reminder that it was just the two of them in there for now, and he sighed softly in reluctant agreement. "We depended on her so easily and so much... I never thought that she would be..." not lost, perhaps, but changed so much that she might as well have been. Without finishing the sentence he bent to a brief task before trying to sort some order from the chaos.
Neither of them did well with idleness, it seemed. Jigano smiled more naturally as she helped define the tasks ahead, and he took a moment to roll his sleeves up and tie them back as Isuma chased a dust bunny across the floor. "Shall I start with the sweeping, then? You've made a good start on the beds already, and I'd hate to ruin a good rhythm," he offered, already heading to the back of the room to seek out the broom. He could open a few windows back there while he was at it, too!
His smooth stride hitched at her unexpected announcement, the bard wincing as he came to a stop, leaning against a window frame. "Ah." Not, perhaps, the most eloquent of responses he could have given. He opened the window to let in the light before turning to face Vervain with a wince. "How is Edy? I've been trying to track her down since the Spark Bird came but..." he shrugged a little helplessly, indicating his lack of success. "She... I'm worried about her, after what happened that night," he admitted, taking the broom and slowly beginning to push dirt and minor debris into a pile.
"Me neither," Vai agreed softly with Jigano. He didn't need to finish his sentence about Isla, not really. In truth the huntress had barely met the doctor, but hard work recognised hard work, and the reason the infirmary was in such a good state was down to Isla. Hopefully, between them they could at least get it back up to scratch, and work from there. She smirked and arched an eyebrow at Isuma as she skittered across the floor, nodding to Jigano and moving to continue stripping off the beds.
"I don't believe I've met that curious creature of yours," she remarked. "It seems happy enough, though. Perhaps it can chase those dust bunnies all the way out of the infirmary?" Vai gathered all of the sheets and added them to the washing pile (which now took up one of the beds) and moved to open some of the windows. She glanced over her shoulder as the bard spoke of Edy, smiling faintly.
"I think this will be the responsibility she needs to start finding her feet in the world. And I'll hardly be far - of course I'll be checking in," she murmured. "...As for how she is, I couldn't tell you. Hurt, scared, confused maybe... and hiding it behind filthy language."
"Ah, my apologies! Mistress Vervain, please be known to Isuma - Isuma!" he called coaxingly, and the cheerful little gryphlet paused in her hunt to look back at them with tail twitching in open curiosity. "Say hello to Vervain, please?" She might not have understood the words, but she sensed the gist of what he wanted, and Reep!ed a happy greeting to the human woman. Jigano smiled fondly as he took to his sweeping.
"She's a sweet child," he explained, not bothering to hide the softness in his expression as he looked after her. "She... Isla was one of my closest friends." He took a slow breath, expression growing a little sadder. "She helped me take care of Isuma when she first hatched."
Tamping down the threatening melancholy for the lost friend he hadn't been able to save, he turned his thoughts toward an absent one that he might still find again, instead, reaching the broom under the beds to make sure the place had a thorough sweeping. "She wasn't dealt an easy hand," he murmured, brow creased in concern. "I've heard some of what her life was like in Northaven. I wish I knew what brought her outside that night... I don't think she even knew Rory, and possibly not Amalia either. I hope she can forgive me for not finding her sooner." She had a quick temper and seemed to treasure grudges like others might save a fine wine. How quick she might be to forgive, he didn't know, but he was due to find out sooner rather than later.
He raised his head, offering Vervain a wan smile. "And how are you doing, my lovely employer? It seems half of Caido comes to you with our problems. It seems only right to return the favor now and then. Is there anything you need help with, to prepare for the new addition? Or anything else?"
Vervain turned to watch the playful little gryphlet as she turned and chirruped her greeting to them, drawing a bright smile from the huntress. "She's positively adorable," she said, a note of congratulation in her voice as if Jigano had acquired much more than a pet. While he continued sweeping she stripped down the rest of the beds and opened the rest of the windows in reach. With that done, she considered the pile of washing.
"Would that we had a water mage, eh?" she said with a soft laugh. "I think there are spare sheets in one of the cupboards. I'll grab them." And there would be a busy day ahead at one of the streams offshooting the Oasis, so they could get the dirty ones washed. Grabbing said sheets and beginning to redress the beds, Vai listened quietly as Jigano spoke about Edrei.
"It's difficult to say. Whatever circumstances threw you all together, though, I am just glad that you all made it out alive." She turned as he asked about her, leaning against one of the bedframes and giving a tired but content smile. "Me? I am glad to have LongNight behind us. I feel very stifled, indoors all the time. Mostly, I believe I just need help knowing what use I can be here in the infirmary. I don't have even a tenth of Isla's knowledge."
Jigano didn't quite beam with pride at Vervain's compliment of Isuma, but it was close. The little gryphlet protected a part of his heart with her sweet joy and cheerful curiosity, and as she was the closest thing he ever intended to have to a child he happily spoiled her. He was lucky she had such a naturally bright personality, or that spoiling might not have gone over quite as well, but fortune had smiled on him when the ice fairy had gifted him the wintry egg, and Isuma was a healthy and happy little creature.
"The place probably needs a thorough scrubbing," he agreed, though not with any enthusiasm for the task. Just sweeping up the large area was a job that kept him busy as they talked, and he emptied more than one dustpan out an open window to be washed away with the Flowerbirth rains. And then there was the daunting pile of linens... at least the weather was warm enough to make a trip to the stream pleasant? He certainly wasn't going to abandon Vervain to them on her own!
When he had finished his sweeping he went to help the Rathskeller's ex-mistress with making the beds, talk of Edy sobering him swiftly. He nodded agreement in being thankful they had all survived - "Only thanks to you," he murmured with a gracious nod of respect for the healer.
"I don't think anyone here has even a tenth of her knowledge or skill with these tools," he admitted sadly. "She was a prodigy, driven to make up for in manual skill and mental knowledge what she lacked in magic. But... she was one of my loreseekers, as well. She had gathered a number of books from the Atheneum in our Hall, medical texts and the like. Perhaps those may help you find a place to start. Isla had... once offered... to let me practice stitching on her, since she said Ascended don't feel pain." He winced at the memory, remembering how he had turned her down. "I can teach you what she taught me, if you don't already know it," he offered. "Suturing, treating head injuries, resuscitation... I already knew something of setting broken bones and bandaging wounds."
"Not just thanks to me," Vai protested warmly, smiling as he came over to help with the beds. Together they managed to get new sheets on all of the beds they had stripped, and with the open windows airing out the infirmary and the floors swept, it was already looking much, much better. "If it wasn't for all of you getting them back here, there would have been nothing I could do. We are all to thank for coming out of the other side of LongNight."
But of course, not all of them had done. Straightening up and promptly finding a seat to sink down into for a short break (carrying another steadily growing human was tiresome work, coupled with the manual labour of cleaning), Vai sighed as she listened to Jigano speak about Isla. It was a loss she felt that they would be feeling for a very long time. Loreseekers, though...
"If you could teach me, that would be a huge help," she murmured. "And... perhaps I could take her place, if you would let me? I know a large number of myths and legends that need to be written down. And I'm sure there will be books about herbs and other remedies that I could dig up. They would be a good complement to Isla's medical texts."
"Ever the gracious hostess," he teased gently. "Edy and I may have helped, but you did the lion's share of the life-saving!" And grateful he was for it, for Amalia... and Rory. And the rest who would not still be with them if not for Vervain's gift and generosity with it.
Making the beds wasn't heavy work, but it took more energy than Jigano had expected, and he was silently glad that Vervain decided to sit down afterwards since it gave him an excuse to do so as well, now that the infirmary was looking brighter and cleaner for their work.
He smiled at his former employer's words, though it still held a shadow of sadness in it. "No one could take her place," he spoke gently, for he knew that Vervain hadn't meant it that way. "But I would be honored to pass along what she taught me. I know she would want the knowledge shared, to save more lives. And for yourself and your own strengths I would be more than honored to have your knowledge and skills shared with the Loreseekers. Both what you bring, and what you can help us find in the Atheneum." He bowed his head gratefully, relieved to have Vervain's calm and commanding presence counted among his fellow scholars.
Unable to protest the equality of their contributions any further, Vai merely nodded in appreciation for Jigano's thanks. With any luck, her transition to take more of a central role in the Infirmary would make things easier for everyone, and take a lot of stress off the nurses. She blinked, seeming bemused as the bard spoke, before realising her potential faux pas.
"Oh, I'm sorry. It was never my intention to step in her shoes - I just thought it might be good, if I were to learn the things she was interested in sharing. I know she's irreplaceable... it's why we're in this situation, right?" Vai shrugged her shoulders and smiled weakly, seeming relieved that Jigano seemed to warm to the idea of her joining.
"I'll do my best to add as much as I can to the Loreseekers. It's in the Atheneum, you said? I'll be sure to drop by soon."
Jigano only shook his head at Vervain's apology, his smile a touch sad. "It's alright," he reassured. "And I agree completely. The more who know these things the better, so it's not so... ah, catastrophic when someone is lost." That was part of what the Loreseekers did, after all: preserve knowledge from one generation to the next, and for all who could make good use of it. "Once we've had a chance to get things cleaned up and settled into Flowerbirth, hopefully we can find a time for me to come by and we can pool our knowledge."
He couldn't help but be warmed at the thought of Vervain in Loreseeker Hall, even though his mind shied away at the thought of her taking over Isla's collection of medical texts so soon. Still, he was pragmatic enough to know it had to be done - lives could rest on the knowledge they pulled together, especially as the huntress's pregnancy progressed. What affect the use of her magic would have on the baby was anyone's guess, but now that Jigano knew about it, he had no wish to endanger her or her child by pushing the use of her magecraft when physical medicine could do the job just as well, albeit slower.
"I will look forward to your company, lady," he answered with a smile. "And to adding your name to our Chronicle book. For now, though, shall I bring you that inventory list from Isla's... from... from your desk?"
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