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Darragh felt Finny’s fear of him weigh on his heart, and the stoat looked none the happier as he listened to Madam Lorelei in silence. He had expected a little more fight from the kit. What he’d said had been more or less the standard Dad Is Annoyed speech he and his brothers and sisters had heard a hundred times on family outings. Behave, or I’ll beat you black and blue! The Harper kits never were truly well-behaved until threats were made about going to bed with no supper. Finny on the other paw… it occurred to Darragh that the little fox didn’t have a gaggle of siblings to diffuse and spread the Adult’s ire around with. And really, hadn’t he been so harsh because it had been him that Finny was copying in the first place?
Mentally noting to make it up to Finny later, Darragh took off his rag-mask and wrapped it up. Once Silvie was on the mend, perhaps he could give the kit a coin to go buy a treat, a reward for a job well done. Better wait until they were out of this shop for that, though. Darragh suspected Kaii at least would be none-too-thrilled if the youngest Foskateer decided to spend it on a cursed amulet or an eyeball in a jar. Thank goodness Madam Lorelei herself seemed unfazed by the unflattering names Finny had called her. Darragh sniffed the candied chestnut he’d been given. Satisfied it was coated in something sweet, not poisonous, he popped it in his mouth. Everybeast knew it was apples that old witches poisoned, anyway.
Considering amulets though… Darragh’s paw went to his mouth in shock as Swifttail tore the black stone pendant from his neck, and rushed to Silvie’s side in distress. Tears stung at the poet’s eyes as his heart, so sensitive to romantic gestures (particularly if they were twisted into tragedy) felt even heavier. The amulet that Silvie had given him, in protecting Swifttail, watched over its original owner no longer.
Darragh put his paw on Finny’s shoulder to move them both forward to comfort Swifttail… then Kaii’s firm tone froze him in place. The stoat’s grey-blue eyes looked up at the taller, commanding presence of the marble fox, and grew moist. They seemed to yearn at Kaii, surely, there is time for a hug?
Seconds count, when your loved one is in pain, came the imagined reply, an unforgiving truth as sure as two and two made four.
Darragh patted Finny and gave him a nod, indicating they should get closer to Swift, and the distraught Madam Lorelei. He wasn’t sure what to make of the idea that a malevolent spirit had invaded Silvie’s body. In the world of the infirmary aboard the Golden Hide, the body was filled with fluids and flesh, and Darragh had seen enough of both while helping Dr. Barrett. He had a feeling neither the surgeon nor Kaii, the scientist among them, would accept such an explanation, especially since Silvie’s body displayed such physical symptoms. Yet Darragh had never seen the scalpel dissect ailments like melancholia or mania, and those were as real as cuts and bruises.
“We’ve brave hearts and stubborn minds all of us, ma’am,” Darragh said, straightening his back. “I know I’d not be alone in thinkin’ there’s no risk I wouldn’t take for every beast in this room.”
Brave words that the poet was more than ready to turn into courageous action.
Mentally noting to make it up to Finny later, Darragh took off his rag-mask and wrapped it up. Once Silvie was on the mend, perhaps he could give the kit a coin to go buy a treat, a reward for a job well done. Better wait until they were out of this shop for that, though. Darragh suspected Kaii at least would be none-too-thrilled if the youngest Foskateer decided to spend it on a cursed amulet or an eyeball in a jar. Thank goodness Madam Lorelei herself seemed unfazed by the unflattering names Finny had called her. Darragh sniffed the candied chestnut he’d been given. Satisfied it was coated in something sweet, not poisonous, he popped it in his mouth. Everybeast knew it was apples that old witches poisoned, anyway.
Considering amulets though… Darragh’s paw went to his mouth in shock as Swifttail tore the black stone pendant from his neck, and rushed to Silvie’s side in distress. Tears stung at the poet’s eyes as his heart, so sensitive to romantic gestures (particularly if they were twisted into tragedy) felt even heavier. The amulet that Silvie had given him, in protecting Swifttail, watched over its original owner no longer.
Darragh put his paw on Finny’s shoulder to move them both forward to comfort Swifttail… then Kaii’s firm tone froze him in place. The stoat’s grey-blue eyes looked up at the taller, commanding presence of the marble fox, and grew moist. They seemed to yearn at Kaii, surely, there is time for a hug?
Seconds count, when your loved one is in pain, came the imagined reply, an unforgiving truth as sure as two and two made four.
Darragh patted Finny and gave him a nod, indicating they should get closer to Swift, and the distraught Madam Lorelei. He wasn’t sure what to make of the idea that a malevolent spirit had invaded Silvie’s body. In the world of the infirmary aboard the Golden Hide, the body was filled with fluids and flesh, and Darragh had seen enough of both while helping Dr. Barrett. He had a feeling neither the surgeon nor Kaii, the scientist among them, would accept such an explanation, especially since Silvie’s body displayed such physical symptoms. Yet Darragh had never seen the scalpel dissect ailments like melancholia or mania, and those were as real as cuts and bruises.
“We’ve brave hearts and stubborn minds all of us, ma’am,” Darragh said, straightening his back. “I know I’d not be alone in thinkin’ there’s no risk I wouldn’t take for every beast in this room.”
Brave words that the poet was more than ready to turn into courageous action.