The Fuck..?

I note Mairon's shift in posture, Aodh's answer leaving my eyebrows to pinch slightly. 

"Is there anything else we might need to know? Ailments, maybe?"

"Um... Depression?" he offers lamely. "Other than that, just the head trauma that causes the seizures. And she gets headaches from that as well."

"She's very disfigured," I add towards Mairon once Aodh is finished.

"She is not," Aodh blurts out hotly. "She's just fine the way she is."

The heat of anger on Aodh's face leaves me to shrink a bit as I look at him, shaking my head apologetically. 

"It's not what I meant!" I say earnestly, "But he can't see it, so I-"

"There's nothing to see!" Aodh insists as he throws a scathing glare my way. "You don't get to judge her on her scars as well; you already think the worst of her - I won't allow you to insult her appearance as well."

I'm at a loss as I look to Mairon uncertainly, silently pleading him to step in and diffuse the guild and anxiety creeping into my chest. Before he can, though, the woman on the bed tenses before her chest heaves and her lips part into what I assume is a rough cough, her head lolling weakly as she pulls at the vines holding her in place.

"What is she doing? Is she okay??" Aodh asks quickly, his scolding forgotten as he hurries to Ljuba's side.

"She's fine," I sigh as I release the spell holding her wrists. "The tea I gave her has made her throat sore. The cough will subside in time."

Reaching to squeeze Winifred's knee, both to her get attention and to offer some comfort after Aodh's outburst, I gesture for the bag of hetbs for the next tea I need to prepare. As I set to work on that, I make a point to turn so Winifred can't see my lips moving.

"Aodhagen, is it?" I ask before the boy nods and then confirms with a yes. "If you ever talk to Winifred like that again, I'll break your legs." I smile slightly as I tilt my head toward him. "Do we understand one another?"

"Yes," he responds again after a moment, his tone surprisingly lacking in any emotional response. I falter at that, immediately blaming my blindness on his lack of concern.

"Or, if you don't value your legs, perhaps I'll simply forget which herbs it is your 'sister' needs to get better," I shrug as I return to my work. "Or maybe I'll accidentally grab the wrong ones. I am blind, after all."

"I'm sorry," he forces out before his tone levels out as he frowns up at Winifred, his voice turning a little more sincere. "For snapping at you. I can get a little defensive when it comes to Lju."

The apology confuses me a bit until I see Mairon's head cock slightly to gauge the exchange, and I can't help but smile slightly as I look at Aodhagan, nodding. 

"I didn't mean anything, I promise." I offer, rising from the edge of the bed as I look down at Mairon working. "Could you show me around the kitchen?" I ask, "His teas are rough, we can find something to help while he gets things ready."

*Aodh*

"Yeah, sure," I respond as I cast one last glance at Mairon and Ljuba before getting to my feet.

"So how long have you two been working as healers?" I ask as I escort Winifred to the kitchen.

"That's just Mairon," I shake my head as we dip behind the wall to the kitchen, Aodh moving to light the candles in the window sill. As he does, I notice the unkempt nature of the room. The stove still a mess where his 'sister' had made her ill-fated tea, and as I continue to look around I see spatters of blood on the floor near the edge of the room. 

"Did something happen to her..?" I ask softly, wary of revisiting the topic. "To make her this way?"

"I don't really know, honestly," I respond with a heavy frown as I begin digging through the cupboards, my movements all but mechanical as I begin cooking dinner. "She lost someone she loved. And she lost a baby... and someone hurt her. If that wasn't obvious... but I don't really know which, if any, of those things started it.

"Maybe she's just always been this way," I shrug. "She has a taste for trouble and danger - can't seem to help herself, even when things are going well and we've beem given a clean slate to start over. She always seems to gravitate to the wrong people. The wrong activities. It's like she can't help herself. Life would be too boring if she just stayed out of trouble."

My gaze lingers on his lips for a moment after he's finished speaking before I look up at him sadly. 

"I'm sorry she does this to you." I offer, walking around him to the sink as I spot the kettle nearby. Filling it, I come to stand beside him at the stove, adjusting the kettle on the burner before trying to figure out how to light it.

"I can't complain," I smile slightly as I offer her a shrug. "For all the crap I put up with, my life would be worse without her. We take care of each other. And I know I'm not perfect; it wouldn't be right for me to expect her to be."

"You're a good brother," I smile, finally working out the stove before stepping back to rest against the cabinet as we talk. 

"And I'm sure she's a good sister. I know we're seeing her at her worst, but we know that's not all she is." I say, frowning slightly, "I really didn't mean anything by what I said earlier."

"You don't have to apologize," I say with a slight smile as I work on mixing the batter to make dumplings, my hand wandering absently to make sure my hair is still hiding my own 'disfigurement'. "I can be a little sensitive sometimes. It's nothing to do with you."

"No one is perfect," I say with a broad smile before laughing slightly, "You don't have to tell me."

"I'm glad you understand," I laugh. "I'll be honest, I was really dreading coming to find you two. Your friend sort of has a reputation around town... I sort of expected to be fattened up and shoved into an oven or something."

"A few years ago, maybe," I grin, "I softened him up, though."

"That's an impressive feat if the rumors are true," I laugh as I put the bowl of dumpling batter aside to prepare the soup base. "Is it true he kept a giant bird that could carry off small children if they wandered too close to your house??"

"Yes! And teenagers; mostly teenagers!" I hear Mairon call from the other room, his response causing my eyebrows to shoot up as I look at Winifred with wide eyes.

"What?" I ask at the startled look on Aodh's face, following his gaze towards the other room before I step to the edge of the kitchen to peer around at Mairon. 

"Stop that!"

"What?! I didn't say anything!" I hear the man shoot back loudly, his volume lost on the scolding woman.

I narrow my eyes as I hit my fist against my palm a few times at him in annoyance, a gesture we've both gotten quite accustomed to in the past few years, before I turn back to Aodh in the kitchen. 

"He eavesdrops." I say abruptly. "I'll teach you how to sign, then he won't be able to." I add with a firm nod, my tone definitely loud enough for him to hear in the other room.

"Cow!" Mairon practically shouts before it becomes obvious she didn't catch what he said. At which point I feel the floor rattle as he makes all kinds of ruckus with his boots and the furniture nearest to him.

The trembles in the floor give me pause as I look up at Aodh in confusion, the look on his face giving me enough explanation though. My cheeks flush slightly as I shake my head to him, stepping from the kitchen and into the living room to Mairon sitting tensely at the edge of the woman's bed. 

"Please, stop." I say quietly, taking a moment to look down at the woman shifting uncomfortably in the bed.