2017-10-11: The Littlest Alchemist
- Log: The Littlest Alchemist
- Cast: Riesenlied, Noeline, Jacqueline Barber
- Where: Wayside
- Date: 11th October 2017
- Summary: Jacqueline comes around to bring Riesenlied's medicine, but her trade may have inspired a little alchemist-to-be...!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
It's been a while since the CaraKin has last been at Wayside, hasn't it?
Rumors have floated since then -- dangerous ones, as well; it seems that the "Demon of Elru" may have visited his once-victims... though judging from how the village is still holding up, it would seem that the worst case scenario had been averted, unlike what had happened to Old Petra. The mood around the village is a little more sombre than usual.
Riesenlied is quietly resting on her bed, following the incident at Jolly Roger that'd left her with more wounds than usual, including a gash across her stomach that'd been hounding her for the last couple of days now. Mikaia is flopped onto the side of her bed, looking worried. "M-Miss Jay is coming here with medicine, isn't she?"
Riesenlied pats the cutest little winged girl as she says, "Yes, I believe so... it'll be okay, hmm?"
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline is waiting at the window; she's looking a little tense, her shoulders drawn up as she watches the road up to Wayside with a light frown. At the very least, she's looking in much better shape, her ability to heal significantly more advanced and complete than Riesenlied's own. "They did send a message that they were on their way. If you account for the trip, it shouldn't be terribly long - on the other hand, I have truly no idea as to what kind of speeds or reliability that caravan is capable of. What an odd thing it is--"
"--ah," she adds, perking up slightly as her eyebrows raise, sighting the movement of dust at the horizon's edge. "I believe that would be them now." There isn't exactly a note of relief in her voice - but she looks quietly pleased, regardless, as she turns back to the Tainted commander and softens her tone. "Should I bring Miss Barber up here, or would you like a hand downstairs? I'll-- get some water at the same time, either way."
A pause, and she grins lightly at the little winged girl. "I'm counting on you to help out, of course."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline had heard the rumors of Id's visit to Wayside. She had been a little concerned, but as she hadn't also heard rumors at the place being reduced to a smoking crater, she wasn't /too/ concerned. What she /was/ concerned about was the rumor of a scuffle up at Jolly Roger that the Ebony Wings had supposedly been involved with that had been interrupted by an explosion.
And when she had received a request to deliver some medicine for Riesenlied, well...she hoped the rest of the Caravan Kinship understood the urgency with which she changed course.
She leaves the rest of the Kinship to take care of their own business around town while Jacqueline herself heads to the requested location. She adjusts her bags a bit nervously as she approaches the door and knocks. The sombre mood did make her feel a little worried.
"Hello! It's Jay...I've brought what you requested." She says. She doubted it was locked, but...it would feel rude to just barge in.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied does try to move, but between the anaesthetics and relaxants which had kept her through the night, she finds herself not really able to move particularly well. "If she doesn't mind..." She tilts her head as she hears her voice, going, "Ah, please come in, Miss Jacqueline."
The littlest orphan turns and gawks just a little, her eyes sparkling with a look of 'wooow, one day I'll become the world's strongest alchemist!!'.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline has crossed to the door in the intervening time; she intended to go downstairs, it seems, because she jumps ever so slightly at the knock, her attention tugged several ways. "--of course," she mutters after a moment, perhaps feeling a little too jumpy over everything that's happened recently - but at least makes sure to open the door with a bit of a flourish and a faint grin. "Please, do come in. --here you are doing house visits," she adds with a chuckle. "Are you sure you shouldn't be upgraded to a 'doctor'?"
Crossing back to the bed, she leans down, fluffing the pillows and arranging them to allow Riesenlied to sit up more fully. It takes a moment, giving her time to raise her eyebrows. "You were at-- Dazil, wasn't it? I hope this has not been too much of a detour."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Ahah, maybe...but I feel like there are people who might take offense to that. I don't exactly have the proper...accreditations." Jacqueline says with a chuckle, stepping into the room once Noeline lets her in. She looks it over carefully, easily spotting Riesenlied and the little girl that was currently by her side, staring at her with a look of wonder.
"Oh, hello there. Have you been looking after Miss Riesenlied?" She asks with a smile, then approaches the bed.
"Oh, not to worry...it's been too long since the last time we stopped by, anyway." She replies with another glance at Noeline before returning her attention to Riesenlied.
"Anyway...as I said, I've brought what you requested." Jacqueline reaches into her bags, rummaging around a bit before producing a set of potions which at then set on the nearest solid surface.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"You've helped me so much I would have no problems calling you that, but... I understand," Riesenlied speaks in a somewhat weak tone, beckoning for the little girl to climb onto the bed. She does, keeping her eyes wide with wonder at Jacqueline the entire time.
"Y-yes, I've been looking after-- Riesemama," Mikaia stammers. "M-my name is Mikaia!" She might've seen her at soccer practice, but she was busy being out of breath to try one of Jacqueline's viney treats.
"Thank you for coming, as always..." Riesenlied sighs softly. "I'd hoped to be able to get Miss Lily here, but her prescriptions had to make do." She looks towards the potions for a moment, then looks contritely to Noeline.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"... since when has Filgaia cared about accreditations, on the whole?" Noeline grumbles as she plants her hands on her hips. "At the very least, there are probably thousands of little village doctors who are the best around, and I imagine many of them aren't terribly academic in nature. If you're healing people, isn't that enough?" she sighs with her hand going to her forehead.
She visibly relaxes her shoulders at the sight of the potions, so much so that it takes her a moment to realize what Riesenlied's expression means - then she's chuckled quietly, taking a wide-brimmed bowl from a nearby counter and bringing it over to the head of the bed. Carefully, she clinks a couple of the bottles together as she checks them over, then selects the most likely one to pour out a dosage.
It isn't entirely clear what she's doing until she seats herself on the corner of the bed, offering the bowl over towards Riesenlied - no, over towards Mikaia, as protectiveness takes a momentary back seat to wanting to include the little girl in the proceedings. "Carefully hold this up to her mouth, then tip. Go slowly - just a bit at a time, hm?" she encourages Mikaia with a huff of air.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Well, it's a matter of title, and respect... I, well..." Jacqueline fumbles slightly. It didn't help that one of her friends was officially a doctor, and a part of her felt like she'd be taking something away from her and everyone else who'd earned the title properly.
Jacqueline is distracted from these thoughts by Mikaia's response.
Riesemama...
It takes a lot of effort for Jacqueline to maintain her composure. That was simply too /adorable/.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Mikaia! I'm Jacqueline Barber...but you can just call me Jay." She says with a smile, then glances toward Riesenlied with a nod and a smile for her, too.
"Of course. I'd never turn down a request." She moves out of the way as Noeline approaches the bed with a bowl and coaches Mikaia on how to help Riesenlied take the potions.
"I see...I was hoping to get a chance to see her. I was concerned after I heard, well..." Her eyes move toward Mikaia for a moment and she decides to adjust her wording before going back to Riesenlied.
"...You know. I just hope she's not pushing herself too far..."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Even Riesenlied can't keep her composure; being called Riesemama is... is... well, it makes her feel very happy, that's for sure.
The littlest girl nods as she holds up the bowl and tries to not tip it -- Riesenlied moving forward very carefully as she takes a sip of the potion, swallowing somewhat difficultly and coughing a little in the process, then sighing as she tries to relax a little.
"Thank you..." a pause, as she chuckles very faintly. "... I know, I imagine you've heard what happened..." Mikaia looks between them, then--
--she plugs her ears and crawls in underneath Riese's blanket, much to the winged woman's confusion. "Mikaia, aww..."
She looks to Jacqueline. "... Miss Lily did tell me to avoid fighting, but this was something that wound up being very time-sensitive, unfortunately."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
--Noeline snorts, and at least remembers to recover the bowl from Mikaia before she zips under the sheets, taking up the duty of giving Riese occasional sips of the medicine. "'Pushing oneself too far' seems to be the defining nature of Filgaia," she sighs rather richly, especially with a glance towards Riesenlied. "At the very least, as far as I'm aware, Miss Keil is doing well enough that she's off helping Leon with something. ... in her case, I do realize that's not a guarantee of anything, however," she adds with asome light humour.
"As for us here-- well, the situation was-- rather unexpected, yes," she states carefully, making it something of an understatement. "Things never cease to be busy around here, it seems. At least hug the poor girl," she prods the blonde next to her, though with a laugh, poking Riese in the arm as if to coax her into movement.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Yes, maybe so..." Jacqueline replies with a sigh and a glance toward Noeline. There were so many things people felt they needed to do...
She then chuckles slightly, and glances toward Riesenlied as she speaks.
"I did." Jacqueline agrees with a nod. While she did have some questions on the matter, she wasn't about to ask them while Mikaia was in the room. It's clear that's a subject the girl doesn't like hearing about...and honestly, Jacqueline doesn't blame her.
"It's much the same with us, though fortunately for us it's just business." Jacqueline comments with a slight smile.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied does gently drape the girl to her arms after finding her in the blanket, letting out a gentle 'shh...' as she pats her on the head. She's doing a good job of trying to put her hands to her ears, if only so she doesn't hear the adult conversation!
"If I must guess, it might have to do with the rumour of Princess Cecilia," remarks Riesenlied. "... it might be best if we laid low from that, given what happened last time." That, and she didn't want to tip her hand against Aveh too quickly.
"We've managed to start growing a few vegetables," she changes the topic to something a bit sweeter, coaxing Mikaia to lower her hands. "You're welcome to take some into your pantry if you'd like."
Mikaia lights up and looks to Jay, stammering, "B-big radishes! You'll like them...!"
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
With a chuckle in return, Noeline picks at her hair. "Well... at the very least, we are all unharmed. Nothing untoward happened - bar the loss of one football, I suppose, which was relatively easily replaced," she comments rather cryptically as she offers Riesenlied another sip of her medicine. "All in all, as I've said to some other people, I'm reasonably staggered at our success. No doubt there are some rough times ahead, but I dare say the worst is over for a while."
She's deliberately speaking lightly enough to not worry Mikaia - and her only answer to Riesenlied's comment about the princess is a quiet nod - especially given recent events down at Warehouse 23, which have given them enough in the way of enemies to watch out for for the time being."
"Yes, quite," she comments, her eyebrows raised. "If it weren't for the qanat I'm not at all sure we'd have had quite as much luck, but as it stands they're coming along reasonably nicely. ... which reminds me, we need to make sure we keep some of the seeds, I suppose. That seems like it would be one of the more pleasant ways to pay that girl back for her help, hm?"
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"I'm glad to hear that. But yes...Wayside seems to be coming along wonderfully. It feels...a lot more home-y than other other towns on Western Ignas." Jacqueline replies with a smile, then glances toward Riesenlied.
"Oh, I heard about that...I was a bit concerned when I heard the news, but if Lily's looking into it, then...maybe I can relax." Jacqueline replied. She didn't know the Princess herself, but as a citizen of Adelhyde she couldn't help but worry.
And with that, Riesenlied changes to a brighter topic.
"Oh, vegetables? That's exciting! Things must really be coming along, if you can grow produce properly..." Jacqueline replies. Growing things these days wasn't easy, it was like a miracle when anyone could get a stay farm going. Noeline had a point, though - the Qanat was most likely a big help in that regard.
"Are you sure? Well, I appreciate it! There's nothing better than fresh produce."
Jacqueline sends Mikaia a smile, then.
"I'm certain I will! Did you help take care of them? Some of my friends are excellent cooks...I'm sure they'll be able to put them to good use!"
She's then distracted slightly.
"Ah...which girl is that?" She asks, curious.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"I'm glad you feel that way... I admit, November City-- um, goes by a little too fast for my eyes sometimes, and let's not even get started on Little Twister..." Riesenlied muses. "I don't have a particularly fast social pace, I suppose, even back in Adlehyde."
She leans and continues to drink from the bowl and-- starts coughing a little, before reaching for a napkin to wipe her lips gently.
"I--I helped out, yes!" Mikaia sounds so proud. "Val said I should pat the vegetables on the head and ask them to grow real big...!" What kind of Jerk would tell her that doesn't help the vegetables grow bigger...?
"I met a young girl who had a very extensive knowledge of herbalism and plants, called Mariel..." Riesenlied speaks, pausing. "I managed to-- ah, trade for several saplings, which worked remarkably well even in this soil. She is a real genius."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"Also, rather angry at us in general," Noeline admits with a lopsided sort of smile, just a little rueful. "She is quite devout, and recognized what we were extremely quickly - as such, she seemed quite surprised to see us wanting to make peace with her. We managed to soothe her a little, but she was still quite wary - and demanded we grow the plants so that she could talk to them, and learn the truth first-hand."
... if the tale is a little off, Noeline doesn't seem to pay it any mind, making the statement quite lightly. "So, of course, we took her up on that challenge - not least because we were asking her for some provisions and things to grow, so it wasn't as if we weren't getting anything out of the deal. ... I suppose we should contact her, at some point, but I have to admit I'm not totally sure how."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"November City...it's, well...there are a lot of wonderful sights, but I wouldn't want to live there. It's, well...it's a little difficult to explain." Jacqueline agrees with a nod. There was a subtle sort of...oppressive atmosphere to it, whenever you strayed too far away from the parts of the city that the common-folk worked in.
Jacqueline help but give a good-natured chuckle at Mikaia's obvious pride.
"I'm sure you did a good job! It is true that plants respond well to showing them the proper love and care..." She replies. She...didn't think patting them on the head /really/ helped, but she didn't think it'd hurt anything, either. It was a harmless little lie.
"Ah, I see...this Mariel sounds quite interesting. I think I'd like to meet her sometime. If I do happen to run into her, I'll be sure to ask her come by." She replies.
Little did Jacqueline know that she'd seen Mariel before, at the Grand Opening, though she hadn't actually spoken to her personally.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied finishes with the bowl, and lets out a relieved sigh, looking a bit surprised as Mikaia says, "Good job!" She blushes a little as she remarks, "I shouldn't be making effort out of this... it's intended to heal me."
It is true that Mariel was rather angry at them, but she couldn't quite pick out what she was, or what her stake in things were... she assumed she must have been a Shaman of some kind, but her relation with the Guardians seems less odious than she would've expected.
"H-how long have you studied how to make medicines, Jay?" Mikaia asks, so full of wonder and awe at Jacqueline's concoctions. Maybe someone wants to learn...?
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"Personally, I'm a fan of November City. It's a little wild and chaotic, but then, I suppose I've always been a city kid at heart," Noeline chuckles to herself, flicking out some of her newly-red hair as she lets out a sigh. "Certainly it has its problems, but so does everywhere - and it's certainly a lot better off than Little Twister, I certainly must admit. Of course, there's certainly an upper class around November City that likes to think themselves above the problems of the world, but I dare say that can't last /terribly/ long, hm?"
She brings the bowl back, setting it carefully aside - and then thinks better of it, moving both the medicine and the bowl somewhere a little safer than a crowded end-table. Over her shoulder, she continues: "I dare say we can mention you to her - though she is also travelling around the place, as far as I understand it. There's every chance you'll run into her before we do, especially with the way in which she seemed content to leave things to us and see what shook out of it all."
After a pause, her hand rests lightly on Riesenlied's shoulder, resting there. "... just rest, most of all. Honestly, it's not as if you can help how you feel. If it's an effort, it's an effort," she mutters, a glimmer of worry at the back of her voice.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"I don't dislike it, but, well...it's quite a marked change from Adlehyde." Jacqueline replies with a slight shrugged. Sure, Adlehyde wasn't exactly small...but it had nothing on November City.
"But yes, if you do meet with her first, let her know I'm interested in meeting her." She says. Riesenlied seems to be straining herself just a bit to take the medicine, so Jacqueline sends her a frown.
"Ah, yes...please, take it easy." Jacqueline says...but it quickly turns into a smile as Mikaia asks that question.
"Oh, well...I decided from a young age that it was something I wanted to do, so I started early. Preparing the medicines themselves is actually fairly simple once you know the basics, though it takes some studying before you can develop some of your own."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"... I think Adlehyde is about my speed as well, yes..." Riesenlied has to express, though-- well, speaking of it still fills her with a sense of self-shame and regret, so she doesn't dwell on it for too long. "But it didn't surprise me one bit that Noeline enjoys it, hehe..."
Mikaia lets out a little 'hmmm'... and then pumps her hands to say, "I'll study hard so I can make mama some medicine!" deciding it just like that.
"I'm really glad," Riesenlied can't help but smile, "You're a very good girl, Mikaia..."
She tilts her head to say, "I'd be happy to keep you up to date on what's been happening at the CaraKin later, when I feel better..." And out of Mikaia's earshot, probably. Right now, though, rest definitely is just what the doctor prescribed.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"Ah, that's true," grins Noeline with a bright sort of smile, and a hint of fang. Even if she looks a lot different out here in the desert, she doesn't-- really act any different. "Ah, that's true - I suppose you haven't been out this way before, hm?" she says to the both of them, grinning a little at the thought. "Really, though, you should get used to things around here - otherwise, Guild Galad is going to be quite the rude awakening, I dare say. Ah, but I'm looking forward to seeing the Thames again, sometime soon."
"We'll keep an eye out," she nods to Jacqueline as far as Mariel is concerned - and then tilts her head a little with a thoughtful hum as the alchemist goes recounts her past a little.
"--hah, well-- I suppose I'll have to keep an eye out for any books, hm?" she adds towards Mikaia with an amused hum.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline chuckles a bit, too. Yes, it was not at all a surprise that Noeline preferred the big city.
"I haven't even given Guild Galad much thought...that's certainly going to be something." Jacqueline comments. They still had plenty of business in this area of the world, though, so she had plenty of time to brace herself!
And then, Mikaia decides she wants to learn how to make medicine, too. Jacqueline couldn't help but smile. She nods toward Riesenlied in understand, then glances toward Noeline. She folds her arms in front of her, with a thoughtful look on her face.
"Books...you know, I might just have some of my old books back on the Carakin. It would be nice for them go on and help another aspiring student..." Jacqueline comments, then glances toward Mikaia with a smile.
"Just as long as you promise to try not to mix anything without an adult around to keep an eye on things."
...A /responsible/ adult. Not like, Zed, or anything...though she didn't know how often he hung around Wayside. ...She doesn't say that out loud, though, because that would be mean.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"Well... no, of course I didn't," Riesenlied says with just the slightest of pouts, though she wasn't going to bring up Noeline deciding to run off west alone in front of Jacqueline. There's something to how she clings a bit closer, though. "... I can't imagine it... a city of Dragon Fossils... just-- what kind of sensations would I hear from it?"
She shivers for a moment, but tries to keep her smile up for Mikaia, who looks really excited. "A-are they hard to read, Jay?"
"If you keep your studies up, I believe you can read any book, no matter how hard it is..." Riese reminds her.
"I--I promise! Only with mama around!" Mikaia's wings wiggle in consternation. ... how often does Zed hang around here? It's a mystery.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline does at least give Riesenlied a brush of her hair, as if to mollify the moment of grumpiness from the winged woman; she's sat back near the head of the bed, not crowding Riesenlied but certainly close enough to support her - though Mikaia's kind of getting the lion's share of the attention at the moment. "... it's a good point, I suppose," she has to pause, her smile failing as she considers for the first time what the place might do to Riesenlied. "Hmm... I suppose we'll have to see, and perhaps be a little careful. I suppose we have Wayside to occupy us for the time being, at least."
"We can at least provide something of a workspace, I expect," she adds with a faint grin. "Wayside is all about improvization, I suppose. ... at the very least, make sure you look after the books, hm? I might be a little fussy about it, but it's better to keep such things intact, I dare say."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
That was definitely an usual thought. In the past she never would have thought about it, but now that she actually had a point of reference for who they fossils might've been once upon a time...
Well, it was a strange thought for Jacqueline, a strange thought that she distracts herself from by considering Mikaia's question.
To be honest, she hadn't found them very difficult, but she didn't want her to create expectations for herself she might not be able to live up to.
"Yes, that's right." Jacqueline says, with a nod of agreement. Mikaia makes her promise, and Jacqueline nods.
"Good. I trust you." She says, then glances toward the door. Noeline thinks they'll be able to provide a workspace, so it seemed like everything was in order.
"In that case, I'll go collect them, shall I?" She offers, starting toward the door.