Remnants of the Earth
SPACE STATIONS => The Libra => Topic started by: Etrofder on September 24, 2012, 08:01:21 pm
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"Quit yer whining, you big baby." Velura grunted, supporting her captain's weight. Her hair was disheveled, as it so often seemed to get in her service to the man and on his ship.
Orias gave her a thinly veiled glare. "I've been shot. I think I have an excuse." He growled between clenched teeth.
"In the leg. By a laser. You'll heal." She held him up as they stopped at a door, the number matching the one she'd been told. She knocked a few times, before adjusting Orias' weight again. The man couldn't hold any weight at all on his right leg, which bore a simple rag and wrapping.
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A second passed before the door was opened. A small girl was the one to open it, as she lived in this small room by herself. But her sleepiness vanished very quickly, as soon as she looked up to see what appeared to be an injured man and a woman holding him up.
Quickly she looked down where it seemed like the man's leg was hastily wrapped. Questions arose in her mind -- how did they find her room, what happened, and why didn't they go to the Infirmary?
But those were pushed aside in favor of assessing and taking care of the situation, as she'd done many times before. "Put him on the bed and tell me what happened," she told the woman, before pulling the door open fully and moving out of the way, hopefully enough room to fit them both through.
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"Thank you." Velura helped Orias to the bed, laying him out on it. "We were doing a routine drop off at a station not too far off. Basic supplies and all that. Turns out the guy picking up the supplies didn't like the price for delivery, or thought he could pull a fast one on us. Guess he kind of did, in the end. Didn't get the money we were owed."
Orias groaned and interrupted her before she got lost on an tangent unrelated to his injury. "They pulled some weapons on us. We're understaffed now, so we didn't dare try fight 'em. They didn't want us getting away, but they were pretty lousy shots." He winced as a fresh bout of pain stung is wounded leg. "Managed to get me with a laser in the leg before we got to the ship. Had Vel fly us here, so pardon if I seem a little shaken." He cracked a pained smile.
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Luce didn't waste any time closing the door and was already undressing the makeshift wrapping around the man's leg, as the woman started into what happened. It didn't seem to be too bad an injury, just one that was most likely incredibly painful... Still, there were a lot of questions, but they could wait.
"I'm going to use healing magic to close it and relieve the pain, but you will still need some rest to finish the process, and I'll call the infirmary to open up a room."
As she said so, she was already standing beside the bed, placing her hands close to the site of the wound. First, there would be the numbing sensation as the pain started to dull...
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Orias was a little surprised. He'd never had any sort of magic used on him, or even around him. It was a little unnerving the way she didn't seem to be doing anything physical, but the pain was slowly receding into a dull throb. "The woman that pointed us here hadn't mentioned you were a mage." He looked her over properly for the first time, now that his leg wasn't quite so distracting.
She definitely didn't look anything like he expected on the way here, but that wasn't a bad thing. He had questions for her, but he held them for the moment. He wasn't sure how much concentration she needed, but he didn't want to find out while she was mending him.
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"First time for everything," Luce replied simply, focusing her concentration on her magic. Now that the pain relief for the man's leg was beginning to take effect, she'd be able to work at stopping the bleeding and forming the scab over the wound. As the numbness would still be prevalent, it would be faint, but there would be a definite feeling of strain. The magic Luce used now simply sped up the healing process rapidly, however, it was also some work on the body. If this man's body was under more stress she would be using a different method that involved putting more of her own magic to use, but he appeared otherwise healthy.
It took a short while to stop the bleeding, but of course, regrowing what lied under the fresh scab would take more time, assisted or not. Before lifting her hands, Luce applied a little more of the pain relief magic.
"Okay, I'll call the infirmary, and get you a room there where the senior healers can help decide the best way to reconstruct the burnt tissue in your leg. For now, you won't bleed, and it won't hurt unless you walk on it, and you won't be doing that."
Sure, it would be possible to reconstruct tissue on her own, but it would take more time for her to do that than it would with the technology they had in the infirmary -- so, infirmary it was.
"When they arrive, we'll help him into the chair, then I'll go with you both to the infirmary," she said to the woman, gesturing to the only chair in her small room. "It won't be long at all, but you can sit there. Until then... um, who pointed you here?"
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Velura shook her head. "I couldn't give you a name. Some lady by the docks. I asked her where I could get some help. She told us where the infirmary was, but then added that you lived close by, and by the look of the Captain, he could use some fast help."
She suddenly realized her manners. "I'm so sorry, my name is Velura. This is Orias."
Orias' head was slumped on the pillow, trying to accustom himself to the strange numbness her magic had left him. "Believe me when I say it's a pleasure to meet you. Where did you learn to do that?" He didn't know much about magic. He knew some people were born with the innate talent, but that it could be learned, to an extent. Truth be told, he was just feeling talkative.
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"I've been using it since I was little, but I'm still learning more every day," she replied to that, with a nod. After a short call, people were on their way to her room with the necessary things, though she'd taken care of all the most immediate needs. Now that that was taken care of... she blinked before remembering where in the conversation they were. Yes. Introductions, since this was pretty informal, and there was a little time to burn.
"I'm Luce Estelle, and I work at the infirmary, as an apprentice. It's nice to meet you two, but too bad it had to be under these circumstances."
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"Tell me about it." Orias joked. "Still, really impressed. Can't say most would help out a stranger just like that. I'm sorry we showed up so late. Space travel can kind of mess with your internal clock a bit."
He looked her over again. "You know... nah... Well... Have you ever thought of space travel?" He asked, watching her closely to gauge her reaction. It might be a forward question, but he DID need a few more crew members. And someone whose idea of healing transcended slapping a rag and some bandages over it and calling it good would be incredibly useful. And truth be told, it was amazing how many people, at least on the stations, loved the idea of getting on a space ship and leaving.
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"Space travel... ? What do you mean?"
If anything, Luce was just confused -- the question seemed to come out of nowhere. Surely it had a reason behind it?
-- Unless... this is a spaceship captain, right? Was she getting an invitation to travel on a ship with people? That was... certainly not something she'd given much thought about.
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"He's offering you a job, in his round about sort of way." Velura explained. "We're in need of a few more people to crew his ship, and he has a habit of offering a job to just about anyone he likes."
"It's not quite like that." Orias grumbled. "Ok, maybe it's a bit like that. But if you're interested, the pay is good, and we could really use someone with even basic medical knowledge, let alone someone with... skills like yours. You don't need to make up your mind now. I'm not going anywhere for a little while."
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"O-Oh. Um... "
That was certainly not something she had expected to have happen tonight. Not at all.
She would indeed need time to decide whether or not to take the job, because at that moment the shock was preventing a proper decision. Luce was a little relieved as he said he wouldn't need an answer right away.
"Yes... let me think about that, but let's worry about your leg right now."
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Velura grinned. She was frankly adorable in her opinion. She took a certain enjoyment in seeing people's reactions when Orias offered to take them away on a space ship. It didn't always work out, but she enjoyed it none the less.
"Are there many mages on Libra? Honestly, I don't come here very often. A bit of a shame, truthfully, seems like a pretty ship shape place, at least compared to Cancer." Orias gave her a weak smile, though he did feel a lot better after her help.
"At least they didn't ask too many questions at security. It's tight around here. Was worried you'd pass out if they held us up with the usual questions, let alone trying to explain how you got yourself shot." Velura sat down at the bedside.
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"That's lucky, I would think they'd take you to the infirmary right away. But they shouldn't be long anyway."
As for how to explain the mages on Libra... Luce wasn't sure she wanted to get into that discussion right now, so she let that one go.
It didn't take the infirmary long to arrive at her room with what they needed to transport the injured man up to the main center, and Luce tagged along, even though a more senior nurse was able to administer some less magical pain relief.
She did manage to spend some time thinking about the offer, though -- what else could she do when she couldn't sleep? -- and even though just hours passed, she'd already had a feeling that she wanted to join the crew. It was offered, so why not... ? Maybe the other senior nurses could give her some books and the like to study on her own, too, so she could still improve at healing, whether it was magically or not.
Of course, she still had to tell the captain that. His name was... Orias... ? Yes, she was going to jump on a ship of people she didn't know, couldn't really remember the name of, and she knew that wasn't the greatest idea, but the prospect of space travel was more interesting. So after she woke up from vibrant, adventurous dreams, she returned to the room in the infirmary.
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Orias was awake, thumbing through a book one of the nurses had left for him. It had been a long night. The pain meds had worn off in the middle of the night. It wasn't terrible, but it had been enough to stir him from his sleep. After that, there just hadn't been much point in trying to get back to sleep.
He looked up as the door opened. Velura had seen that he was taken care of before heading back to the ship. At first he thought it was her. Instead it was Luce. "Morning." He said amiably. "Didn't expect to see you again."
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"Are you feeling all right?" she asked the man, instead of saying her decision. Nervousness, maybe, she'd just never had too many challenges that weren't related to the health of other people. But, she figured she would take care of business first, and then see how it went...
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"Yeah. They've told me to take it easy until I finish healing. But I don't need my leg to fly." He smiled, setting his book aside. "I wanted to thank you again. Doc said it was good I got help as quick as did, or else I'd be taking a lot longer to heal up."
"So... did you give any thought to my offer?" He asked, sitting up in the bed.
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"Um. Yes. I uh... didn't get much sleep anyway."
The nervousness was taking hold... Luce knew from past experience with boys and nervousness that she better get it out quick. Otherwise, she would probably get too nervous and slink back to her room until it was time to go on duty.
"I'll do it!" she finally said, looking back up, but she forgot to breathe after she said it.
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"Really? That's great!" Orias grinned. "Vel will be glad for someone other than me to talk to. How long do you think you'll need to get your affairs here in order?" He asked, reaching over and grabbing his datapad, making a few quick notes and reminders for later.
He could feel how shy and timid she seemed. He was glad she'd found the courage to speak up. It wouldn't have been the first time he'd seen someone pass up an opportunity they wanted, all because a timid nature got a hold of them first.
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"Uhh. I need to talk to my parents and the senior doctors here and get a bunch of stuff to study, but other than that I was kind of in the process of 'moving' anyway, so my things are all in order and stuff, more or less... "
Calm thoughts. She took a deep breath she'd been waiting to take for a bit too long, before continuing. "I think the doctors and nurses I work with will be glad I'll get to go places and do things. 'Cause now that I think about it, I don't do much else here... "
Though she told herself to think calm thoughts, her words were still coming out a little faster than she wanted.
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"Relax." Orias smiled at her warmly. Poor girl. She was taking a big step, he knew. "You'll be in good hands. If you want, I can make sure your parents know that."
He tossed her the strange fruit that had come with his breakfast that morning. He hadn't been particularly hungry anyway. But he knew a gift, any show of kindness really, did wonders to help calm the nerves. "Why don't you go tell them? Doctor said I'd be able to leave the infirmary today. So if I'm not here, Deck 18, hangar 12. That's where I'll be. We'll be here a few days, so don't feel rushed."
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"Um. Yeah, that would be cool, they would probably worry... it's not their choice to make, but I don't want them worrying, either."
Breathing again -- after catching the fruit though, though just barely. Luce stared at it for a second, but not for long, finally forcing the anxiety out of herself. "You didn't want the fruit? Antioxidants in fruits like this are great for improving the immune system, which is useful when you get injured... "
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"You'll fit in pretty well, I think." He smiled. "I wasn't too hungry, and wasn't sure if you'd had breakfast yet. It is pretty early." He looked up at the clock, set to the station's day/night cycle.
"In fact, I should probably try and get a little more sleep, before that big amazon of a nurse gives me another lecture. You'd think I was in a gang, the way she went on." He joked, laying back.
It wasn't long before the doctor returned to release him, leaving with a small dose of meds to ward off infection and pain. Orias wired money from his accounts to pay the bill with a little difficulty. He quickly determined to set up a small account on Libra in the future, in case he ever found need to make purchases there again.
After that, he returned to his ship, resting in the familiar comfort of his pilot's seat, and generally making life difficult for Velura with his many requests, his excuse being the doctor had requested he stay off his leg as much as possible.
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Her parents had initially been a little standoffish to the idea -- what good parents wouldn't? -- but they eventually did seem to concede that their daughter would learn just as much from actual experience, and Mr. Forte was very nice as well. They even got a tour of the ship, which, while it wouldn't completely ease their fears, was nice.
Luce had to get all kinds of medical equipment to go on the ship, not to mention all the books and other things she took to study from while away. Then there was the decorations she put in her room, the girly things she brought to do in her free time and everything else involved with moving into a little room on a starship.
Good thing Luce liked her room cozy, because with all the stuff she put in there, no way existed that it could not be cramped.
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Orias had proven helpful when Luce's parents had come to call, doing his best to assure them their daughter was in good hands. Fortunately, they had not asked for too much detail on his injury, as he was certain they wouldn't have felt comfortable knowing he'd recently been shot.
In no time at all, the ship was seeming more lively. "Are you getting settled in all right?" He asked her as she was unpacking her boxes. "Let me know when you're ready, and we'll get underway."
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"Yeah... I don't need much personal stuff. I just don't want to be completely unprepared if something I can't handle happens."
A deep breath. And then Luce proceeded to flop onto her new bed. And she'd just have to hope sleeping would come easy when she got tired... Sometimes it really didn't.
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The captain smiled at her warmly. "Glad to have you aboard. Vel will call you when dinner is ready. And don't worry too much if you forget something. There's another big station we pick up a lot of work on. You can find just about anything dirt cheap there." He said, giving her door frame a few pats before disappearing, heading back to the cockpit to run a few pre-flight checks.