like rain that you slept through

Isla

If they had known each other a little better, or if Everest didn't give such handle with care vibes despite the brilliance of his eyes or the crookedness of his smile, Isla might have playfully jostled him for that look. As it stands, though, she can only give a self-deprecating sort of smile in response and glance back to his notebook. A book that, surprise surprise, contains more than just notes about Stormbreak's initiatives.

He flicks away from the pages before Isla can get a better look, though it's with a gentle raise of her eyebrows that she listens to his comment. "For a man so busy, I am sure you don't need to be a doctor to know that you are getting an inadequate amount of rest," she says. "I'm sure your mother would say the same." Isla, however, is not his mother, and it isn't her job to police his schedule, so she turns her focus to other matters.

"Oh, that's a very clever idea," she says, of involving others without formal medical training. "I used to train others in basic first aid, back in the early days in the Grounds." It's a fond memory, and Isla nods her approval as Everest jots the points down. "Those in Torchline would definitely turn up for a free drink. I'm not sure if Stormbreak is quite as thirsty, though." She grins.

sooner or later, we all have to wake
and try forgetting everything

I will not be brave, but I'm grateful to get through

Had Isla jostled the aviator, he'd likely have collapsed to the floor with a nosebleed and the sort of tremors that holding him firmly in place lest he bite his tongue, would only worsen. Luckily for them both she offers the sort of smile that Everest has always found impossibly hard to read.

"Conveniently," and now as Ever glances down at the doctor it's with the sort of smile one might cautiously call smug, that he tilts his head. "Both she and I have canine shifts and I've learned that if I sleep as a dog I find myself significantly more rested than as a man." Indeed this had as much to do with a dog's ability to take shorter naps than humans as it did with Everest's mind being able to chill when not in his own body.

"Oh, they certainly are." Everest only knows this because of what Mateo has told him. 'Though I'm not sure Molly or the others would be as willing to offer their services for free, but perhaps if Sohalia asked?" Speaking more to himself, he writes himself a quick note in exquisitely neat writing, to check in with both Sohalia and Mateo about how they might motivate those in the Silk Houses to help.

"I often wonder why the regions don't work together more." He mumbles, again more to himself, but the quick glance he he offers through Isla through his curls invites her opinion if she has one.

Isla

"Is that so?" Isla grins, not having realised the man before her was an Attuned (and later, if she chooses to reflect on it, it might seem obvious). "Well, your mother likely has much more experience when it comes to canine sleep patterns, so I will take her and your word for it. To be fair I am probably still more used to treating Ascended than people." Also not one to discredit another medical professional, Isla leaves it at that.

"Molly as in Mother Molly?" she asks, and it says something that the establishment is one of the only places she's actually visited in Stormbreak. Quite what that something is, though, doesn't bear examining too closely. "You might find them to already have trained individuals in place," she adds. "It's a profession that requires at least a little experience of healthcare." She ought to know, having once been one of those individuals.

As for the regions, Isla purses her lips. "Pride, jealousy over resources, suspicion about different races or customs..." She shakes her head. "There are far more reasons for people to work separately than to risk coming together, as unfortunate as it might be. I hope it changes, though." And again she glances towards the window and its double moon outside.

sooner or later, we all have to wake
and try forgetting everything

I will not be brave, but I'm grateful to get through

"Mhmm. I've often wondered if I might benefit from different shifts if only to better manage my time. Animals that eat less, or that can store food or water, or who require less sleep." Or, ones that aren't so stimulated by sounds and touch and whose brains perhaps move a bit slower. "You say that as if the ascended were not also people." Carefully said, Everest smiles gently knowing that such a view was not widely held, but wanting the former ascended to know where he stood on the whole divide.

"Oh, yes, my apologies." Ever nods hastily. "I agree. Which is why they might not be too fond of offering up services at large." Not that he thought those in the Silk Houses were doing anything wrong by protecting their services.

Frowning in agreement, Ever still gives his head a little shake. "I see them at weddings, at things like the Tavern opening...it's like they split their lives into these different funnels." Following Isla's glance outside, he's suddenly very aware of step 2.

"I'm going to go down to the beach and take notes of what everything looks like tonight. I worry that later all people will remember is that two moons appeared and possibly ignore other corresponding events." He says, by way of trying to politely excuse himself from Isla's orbit, no matter how relatively pleasant.

Step 2 was calling.

Isla

"An interesting thought - I wonder whether the human part of you will demand its own share of attention, though." Attuned aren't merely the sum of the animals that share their soul, after all, and humanity, Isla knows well, has its own very particular set of needs. Needs which became all the more apparent when she'd graduated from being Ascended to an Ancient. Speaking of which,

"No, no of course. I didn't mean to imply anything else, only that their physiology was much different." Infinitely interesting in Isla opinion, too, but her tools from back then are all but useless now. As for the collision of their regions, Isla can't help but laugh in agreement about that. "You're right," she says. "It's strange that we'll meet for a wedding one day and ignore an opportunity to share information the next."

It's part of the region she avoids politics these days - not to mention the whole Hey guys remember when you all wanted to go to war with my region thing.

Resisting the urge to be drawn into that sort of spiralling thought, Isla blinks back at Ever and realises, suddenly, that she's taken up more of his time than intended. "Ah - I didn't mean to keep you. Please, go right ahead. And thank you again for bringing the honey - and for all of the suggestions."

sooner or later, we all have to wake
and try forgetting everything

I will not be brave, but I'm grateful to get through

"Yes, well..." Hardly comfortable about speaking about such things with his best friend, Everest wasn't about to open up about his human-needs with someone he barely knew and who was barely dressed (in his opinion).

"Bees specialize quite well.." The attuned says thoughtfully, thinking about how wonderfully efficient the chorus hive had been when he and Mateo had harvested honey from them. "..If only we could be more like the bees." They were also remarkably good at sharing information; that he'd learned in a book, though.

'You didn't at all. Thank you for making time in your evening.' He says with a shake of his head, knowing that he'd been the one to keep her rather than it being the other way around. "If I learned anything more I'll be sure to let you know. " So saying he packed up his things, thought about leaving Isla with instructions about how best to apply the honey before realizign it wasn't necessary.

As he slipped into his jacket, feeling mixed emotions about having completely 2/3 of his chores for that night but doing so out of order, he smiled to Isla and found he didn't need to entirely fake it.

"Take care."

~FIN