Closed [Squire Dormitories] Medicinal Magic (Nira'lia)

[Orion Michaels]

30th of Fall, 513 AV
Squire Dormitories, The Cafeteria
12th Bell

Another day in the dorms, another day of eating the mush they claimed as lunch. ‘Delicious and nutritious,’ one of the chaperones had often said. Perhaps it was something that worked on teenage boys. They would eat just about anything. Rarely did the tastes of an adult agree with a child’s. This was only more noticeable with the food they were ‘enjoying.’

”Delicious my ass,” Orion said as he forced down another bite of the mystery food, the tasteless substance sticking to the sides of his mouth, forcing him to chase it down with a mug of water just to finish consuming it. It was amazing that they were allowed to serve the squires this disgusting meal, but it seemed he could only complain so much. He’d managed to stay alive on the stuff, so it couldn’t have been all bad. It would give him the energy he’d needed to keep on training, and training was all he could do to keep himself focused. This season had hardly gone his way.

When Dinah found out about how he had treated Hadyn, she was less than kind to Orion, beating sense into him as she’d done so many times before. He’d been left with more than a couple of bruises, a wounded pride, and a lesson he’d not soon forget. Yet at this point, he wasn’t feeling quite in control enough to actually go and apologize to the woman. Despite all the things he’d done wrong, he couldn’t figure out how to move past the fact that she’d been so very wrong as well. He was still frustrated with the entire situation and it was sitting in the back of his mind at all times. For now, he’d chose to leave it there.

”Stupid piece of…” Orion moved his spoon around in the bowl of food slowly, staring off absentmindedly as the chimes passed. He had a bit of time, a couple of bells at least, before he had to return to the training grounds to continue his beatings, and Orion was in no time to return. Dinah could give him his lickings when he finally chose to show. For now it was just ridiculously bad food and a quiet lunch alone.

Yawning, Orion leaned back on the bench and stretched out, trying to shake out the fatigue that was in his weary muscles. He couldn't wait for this day to get over. Once Dinah was done with him this day, he was going to disappear into his suite and sleep until someone forced him to move, if ever.

[Nira'lia]

The Konti lay flat on her stomach, a book sprawled before her. Numerous scribbles and drawings met her eye. Some were in her writing, but most of it were her sister’s. She had gone through these pages so many times, but it had become a ritual for her. Absently, she wondered when it would be time to fill up a new page. There were two other girls in the room, and they were getting ready to head out. They seemed enthusiastic for a day of training, and they looked no older than Nira’lia. She knew this wasn’t the case though, since a Konti’s age was always a tricky thing. If anything, they were probably teenagers. “We will see you at the grounds! You had better grab some food too, right now is our meal time,” one of them chirped at Nira’lia as they made their way out. The Konti gave a wave and a forced smile. They always liked to remind her of training and when it was time to eat. It made her thankful, because they didn’t really have a reason to. Nira’lia’s stomach gave a slight rumble. She frowned and pushed herself up to a sitting position, and shut her book. The Konti had the rations that they had at the cafeteria. She was not necessarily a picky eater with an appetite, but she missed the simpler, tasty things… such as dried seaweed over bread. That’s all the simplicity she needed. Shrugging, she stood up and made her way to the cafeteria. There were a number of people, and only few were familiar to her. She made her way to the serving table where a squire put some… strange looking food… in a bowl for her. Giving him an uncomfortable smile, she took it in her hands and turned away. That’s when she noticed Orion, a man she had met days earlier. He looked tired and was slumped backwards on his bench, and there was nobody seated with him to speak to him. The Konti blinked. Would it be rude to disturb him? The question only lingered in her mind for a split-second, because she immediately walked towards him, bowl still in hand. “Hello!” she chimed in, staring down at him. “Remember me?”

[Orion Michaels]

Orion looked up when he heard the familiar voice, and when he made eye contact with her the troubles plaguing his mind seemed to disappear entirely, at least for the moment. He didn't expect to run into her again, but there she was. It shouldn't have been so strange; she was a squire after all. It was just the fact that she was the only squire he'd met that seemed to fit the part less than he had.

"Jessica! No...Elizabeth?" Orion's eyes locked on hers as he brought his hand up to run fingers through his scruffy beard. "Or was it Kathryn?" He gave pause a moment, thinking back to his last encounter with the Konti woman. He wasn't sure how many times one woman could blush, but he was sure she'd gone for some sort of record. It had been quite an experience they shared.

"...Great to see you Nira'lia," he finally said, motioning to the open seat beside him. "Care to join me? I was completely blown away by this meal that I neglected to seek any company to help me get through it.” Orion took a spoonful of the mush and swallowed it, shivers coursing down his spine as he forced the meal down his gullet. It was simultaneously tasteless and atrocious at the same time. ”Whoaa. That hit’s the spot.” Orion pushed the bowl across the table, having failed despite his best efforts to defeat the horrible mush.

Orion greedily drank down water from his mug, looking up at the blonde woman with a sheepish grin once he finished. ”Sorry about that. How have you been? Mop up anymore drunkards at the Soothing Water? Or maybe you’ve mastered the art of healing herbs without me?” They’d talked about working together on their craft. Maybe he would have to bother her about following up on that. It would be nice to work on something that didn’t involve someone being near death.

[Nira'lia]

The Konti’s lips pursed to a pout as she patiently waited for him to remember her name. She couldn’t tell if he was teasing her, but it certainly did the trick. And the names he came up with… they were so far from hers! Orion brimmed with sarcasm as he spoke about their ‘extravagant’ meal. She took him up on his offer and sat down next to him, placing her own bowl of unappealing mush in front of her. Nira’lia stared at it for a while, evidently not impressed and very much wanting to find something else. She missed her healer’s wage, it allowed her more indulgence when it came to food. Shaking her head, she pushed the food around in her bowl. “No, no more interesting happenings at the Soothing Water… haven’t been learning much about herbs, either. It appears that there’s not much to learn when there’s nobody to teach you, and when your patron knight and roommates are breathing down your neck to train for combat… and it gets dull when all you have to learn with is yourself.” She said the last word with so much indifference that it practically stung her. Finally, she picked up a spoon of the offending mush and held her breath. She swallowed it in one quick stride and was amused at how much it tasted like… nothing. It was like chewing hard paper. The Konti gulped it down and stuck her tongue out. Ugh. Nira’lia turned to look at Orion. “What about you? How have you been passing time?”