Spring, Day 3, AV 512
Elem shuffled down the street, dragging in every sense of the word. He had thought that when he was doubled up in classes and his work at the cottage that he had known exhaustion. Anything prior was a drop in the bucket compared to what he felt as he made his way to the World's End. Two days of nonstop healing and mending, short of necessary breaks for sanity and his own health. He hadn't shown Claira or the others, but he had found a strange and notable phenomenon occurring within his own body. As he had pushed and pushed, healing and bringing others to a point of stability, he found that his own healtjh began to decline in kind. Small lacerations had opened on his chest and arms, the healing becoming more of a transferal of injury.
It made sense after all. Rak'keli was Divine, but her followers were not. The mortal form was fragile, he knew this from his own experience. He felt the itch of natural healing in his wounds, each bandaged by his own hand once he had relieved himself of his watch at the Infirmary. Now he found himself entering the ages old Grotto, hoping to escape in a glass of kelp beer and some company. Entering, he found the place unsurprisingly busy, considering the many people who also needed a drink after the last two days of terror and toil. Serra, a girl around his age, met him in the bustling common area.
"You look like you need some rest and relaxation, Elem." She smiled at him and he smiled in kind.
"You look like you could as well, Serra. I'm sure you have been as busy with revelers as I have with the sick and injured."
The two smiled again, a small feigned chuckle masking their mutual fatigue. He stepped over to the ledger with her, paying out four silver mizas from one of his few remaining gold ones, receiving change. The four silver bought him a room for the evening, dinner and gave Serra a silver tip for her kindness. With the transaction completed, he set about to look for a table. There were many open, but if he had wanted to go be by himself, he would have gone to his room.
Looking about, one choice seemed clearer than any. A scantily clad woman, wearing a large and extravagant headdress. Others avoided her while whispering of her exotic nature. It seemed like the perfect diversion to Elem's exhaustion. Approaching her, he stood at the table, pulling a chair back for himself.
"Hello, I am Elem Bree. Would you mind if I joined you?"
