The Abbey

[Vanitypirate]

"Juices, yes... unfermented only. Pomegranates are especially salutiferous. But she shall not consume cider. Liquors will be especially toxic to her. Fruits, generally, are beneficial-- common ones, such as... apples, pears, cherries." Florence spoke slowly, in thought, as though she had to physically unpack the ancient knowledge; she had never imagined she would employ it here.
"...I lead a study, in my youth, on the effects of fermented fruits on unborn children. The results consistently showed it to be adverse, but my patients do...--did not typically obey."

Her hands found the quill, uncapping it at last. The ink dripped off the tip of the feather, and she tapped it against the rim a time or two to neaten it.
She duly accepted the note, turned it over to its backside, and in large, disconnected letters, she wrote 'No wine' and underlined it.

"Indulge in cooked, red meats, if you can afford it, and beans, cooked or uncooked if you cannot. Soups are excellent and typically palatable..."

Florence rubbed her brow, wracking her brain. She closed her eyes a moment,

"The body only requires intervention in rare cases. But Tilly will be subjecting herself to significant danger. We must not allow her to encounter any more danger." The quill was still and dead in her hands, until she returned it to its loyal post in the inkwell.

"I do not have the time to spare for poetry. There is much to be done, now more than before."
She did not seem to be overly mournful of the fact.

[Bloodtrailkiller]

/Lekalis/

As she defined the things he should and should not feed Tilly; her hand drew his interest. It was only... after they moved that he noticed they'd lingered after he'd rescinded his own. For a moment, his mind wandered, haphazardly stowing the conversation and list for later as he watched her hand like it were made of crystal.

The slight tenses and pulls of her tendons, the pulse in her veins, it was cool and calculated; ever with intent. A doll, perhaps, though blood all the same flowed in her veins. It was unkind and vile to think otherwise, as he found himself doing so with evermore frequency.

Lekalis smiled, then, again as he brought his palms together and coaxed some unseen, lingering sensation into them; remembering the bredth of her knuckles and soft estudious fingers.
He shook his head, and chuckled; running a hand through his hair as he spoke,
"I see, I see..." He mused, pursing his lips as he peered over at what she was writing. Then laughed, again. Quietly, tamely as he tapped the side of his nose.

"... Trust me, I'll remember! I promise, I promise." He implored her, even as the deed was futile considering the swiftly dring ink.

He missed this... sitting at a table, warmed by the gilded glow of the rising sun; musing with a dear friend. Musing with the Crowgazer... All he needed was perhaps some spiced oatmeal or steak and it would have been perfect.

It was plain, as he reclined in his chair a little more, that he was happy. Like a cat, he stretched out on his chair with a groan and hummed.
"We've time now, don't we..?" He pointed out, cocking his head to the side as he tapped the side of his chair eagerly...

//

[Vanitypirate]

Florence blinked a few times, stared at her gloves a while-- breathed, of course.

"...Yes, we do." She spoke slowly, trying out the words, almost baffled by them. As if waking from a dream.
"But not for much longer. I await Ibrahim, and now we await Tilly. And then I shall resume my duties."

The mask at the top of her head was beginning to strain her neck, at its odd angle, so she pushed the hood aside and let it fall to allow access to the clasp at the base of her neck, unfastening it. Her other hand grasped the beak by its nose and made to set it gently, squarely, exactly in front of her.

"I would begin to measure Tilly, and to create charts if she were here. But she is not." Unleashed from the hood, her grease-slicked hair hung down about her face, from which she pushed it away.
She felt troubled by this sudden, albeit momentary, loss of purpose. Florence sat there, dumbly, for a few quiet moments, stewing in her own bewilderment, mentally stowing away notes for later-- though she had already known most of them.
She made to awaken some archaic part of her brain, one that had grown vestigial in the studies of her last decade-- but now she had time. It was uncomfortable, like testing a muscle gone soft from disuse.

"Have you..." She almost strained over the words, "For your offspring, chosen a name?"

[Bloodtrailkiller]

/Lekalis/

Again, he rather visibly recoiled from the question; such a simple and utterly important one, yet it had slipped his mind entirely... His face slowly shifted from surprise, to sincere consideration, then devout contemplation.

"No..." He began, shaking is head with a small laugh as he watched her set the mask down with some surprise; he glanced to the door and hummed before nodding.
"... Perhaps... We, Tilly and I, should wait until it's wholly born..?" He offered with some sombriety. His eyes drooped from the grim implication, and he cleared his throat awkwardly; rubbing the old scar.

//

[Vanitypirate]

Florence thought on this a moment.

"...Hm, maybe... but I advise against it." She told him, slowly, still mulling it over herself until she came to some conclusion. "Yes, it is better to begin early, I have found, given that its quickening has proven to be earlier than I had thought. Its soul is tethered to your amulet. I have never seen this before, but it is fascinating..."

Florence folded her hands again, almost wincing at the sensation of skin-on-skin.
"Some patients of mine have postponed naming until the very end. It complicates recording the birth and submitting it to the church and is a source of undue stress and conflict..."

She cracked a rare smile, a white crescent of teeth,
"But... naming, is all rather exciting."

[Bloodtrailkiller]

/Lekalis/

Again, if not for his previous recoil, he would have done it again; instead, as he pensively felt the scar tissue, he rose a brow while his hand slowed then stopped. He watched with some incredulity, as though he were seeing a leprechaun; for a moment, he wondered if it was a figment of his imagination, some sort of rising delirium.

Then he remembered her question, and he pushed back an equally growing spat of odd impulse, and instead nodded slowly as he pushed back his own less greasy-locks of hair behind his ear. He squinted, and hummed,
"Aye, then; I'll... most like wait for Tilly to come to any real decision but... Do you have any ideas?"
The Ex-Lord inquired, as his features relaxed, his smile widening; contentment, a step forward, at last... It was all it took, after what felt like so many stepping back.

Albeit, as much as it was a step forward, it felt as though the foot fell in an old dusty footprint. Indeed, a smile borne from a passion in sciences... Sort of. A brief bout of confusion washed over his brows as he realized that naming a child wasn't wholly a scientific pass time.

Then again, naming was probably due from some desire to label..? Or perhaps, children especially so for her own rather funnelled fate.

That alone brought a sympathy and sadness to the corners of his lips as he bowed his head and did his best to wipe it away by running his hand over his lips. Curling that hand underneath his chin as he thought more presently.
"... I want it to be something great." He mused...

//

[Vanitypirate]

"Hm..."

It was a rare occasion to be called on for advice in this realm of names. Though, granted, most patients had a habit of informing Florence of their condition later, rather than sooner, and most had decided upon a series of names by that point. Others preferred to keep Florence at an arm's length.
This was new, earlier than she had ever seen. She considered that she may need to keep this in mind, as well.

"Perhaps... for a male, 'Lekalis'. It is common to name one's offspring after the father." She figured, simply, although she was dissatisfied with what answers she could pull from her head.
This was simply not her subject of expertise.

"For a female... Mary? Though, it is common..."

[Bloodtrailkiller]

/Lekalis/

He guffawed, and then laughed warmly at her propositions; he wasn't sure what to expect, but the frightfully mundane was both surprising and predictable, though he showed no signs of distaste. If anything, as his laugh subsided and echoed through the grim valleys of tomes and scriptures, a look of consideration went over him.

Indeed, it was typical for a boy to inherit his father's name. However vain that was, though... Lekalis rose, and shifted his seat to the side of the table, a bit closer to Florence; the sun's light was getting a bit precarious to constantly look into.
"... I don't think I'll have my child living in my shadow; it's a vile thing to constrict a youth's fate." He acknowledged with an almost jesterly theatricism to his tone, though his gaze and slow lean over the table implied a stark seriousness.

"Mary... Though, that is a pretty name." He complimented, his manner alleviating to a soft smile, and a ruminous curiosity.
"Whaddyou think Tilly would say if I wanted to name it Florence?"
He pondered, hiding another bemused smile behined strained, serious, straight-lined lips...

//

[Vanitypirate]

Florence sat there, befuddled a moment, with her hands folded in front of her. She felt rather surreal, though she couldn't place it as wholly negative.
Her brows furrowed in hard concentration as she struggled to imagine what, exactly, might Tilly say when prompted.

"I believe she might say, for example," She began to predict, nodding, "'I do not agree with that name, for Florence exsanguinated my friend. We must choose something else.'"

Her bobbing head slowed, and she settled in, perched contentedly at the other end of the desk in her modicum of free-time.

"This conflict is the reason I recommend to begin naming the child early."

[Bloodtrailkiller]

/Lekalis/

With as much dignity as he could muster, the Ex-Lord kept a straight face for as long as he could; even as the corners of his lips warbled and he exhaled loudly through his nostrils.
"Y-y'know that's... ah... That's pretty... On point." He tried, though he gave a slight 'Ha' in submission to the humor. Eventually tempering it with the realization he was laughing at the death of a man, and his Lover's ex-Lover at that...

... Then again, he couldnt' say he felt bad with that revelation. So he kept a steady, happy smile as he watched Florence's hands. With an impulse, he clasped his hand over hers and idly stroked her knuckles with his thumb.
"T'was a jest, anyways. I'm sure we'll come up with a name." He assured her, settling his features with a sigh, looking up to the window then Florence again.

"... How... Long have you been awake?.." He slowly realized, with a growing sense of responsibility, He leaned forward and spoke much like one would to a particularly in-trouble child.
"... Have you eaten yet?"

//

[Vanitypirate]

"Oh... a jest. Good."

Florence's wrapped arms circled about the mask, like a river dividing in the face of some intercepting, immovable boulder. They met at the other side, with Lekalis' careful, gilded hands clasped over hers.
There was some thought spared to the unsanitary nature of the connection.

"It has been..." She craned her neck to twist behind her to scry from the sun's light a moment, sensibly minding not to gaze directly at that great ball of fire, "Approximately ten hours since I have eaten, and... five hours since I have been awake, I believe. It is not so dire."

[Bloodtrailkiller]

/Lekalis/

It took him a moment to consider how long that'd be, nodding slowly in consideration as he pulled a hand up to coax his chin between his forefinger and thumb. Then he huffed, rolling his eyes away incredulously before setting them back on Florence with a small shake of his head.
"You 'ought to have gotten something to eat..." He advised, looking to the door, then Florence again.

"... Maybe after the Mystic gets here and... all the... The stuff that needs to get done, gets done; we can go break your fast? Be our parting meal and all that."
He gave a half-smile to the idea, though was wholly pleased with the concept as he nodded punctually, his hair bouncing in vigor as he patted her hand again and let his rest on the table, eyeing her mask and lens.

His half-smile turned to a half-frown as he pulled the mask to face him, and he tilted his head to idly examin the crack...

//

[Vanitypirate]

"Perhaps, if I have time... but now I have so much more to do. I must now begin to construct charts and record measurements, along with my... initial studies." Florence fingered her brow; the prospect of more work was not entirely troubling to her.
In fact, it was rather welcome.

"If you do not have to depart on your expedition shortly, perhaps a very quick breakfast. Though, I believe I should like to accompany you to the dungeon and await outside to ensure swift care, as you have not mentioned another medice or... healer." Florence proposed simply, looking to Lekalis expectantly.

Though, the crack of the opening door drew her ears and her eyes, which widened at the sight of the newest entrant.

---
There she is.
Tilly could only presume that the woman at the desk was the Crowgazer, though she appeared as odd as a snail in the sun, bereft of a shell. The doctor was ashen, colorless, skin blanched for want of light and eyes bagged and bruised from... what, Tilly did not know-- she could only presume from exhaustion, though it never seemed to hinder that Crowgazer.

Tilly rose a hand in byway of a greeting, pressing her mouth into a hard line. She averted her eyes from the desk and the glaring sun that intruded on through the window. Her hands slid into her pockets as she felt her throat tighten.

"Good morning, you lot..." She almost sighed, taking a step forward, noting as she watched, curiosly, Florence almost scramble for her notes and gloves, "How's it farin--"

"--I must examine you." Came Florence's abrupt answer.

"What." Tilly stared, dumbly, and quirked her head, finally grimacing. "Bit... presumptive, don't you think?"

[Bloodtrailkiller]

/Lekalis/

A small flinch, and Lekalis turned around; subtly nudging the mask towards Florence at the sound of the Archive doors being eased open, going so far as to push himself away from the table a touch as Tilly approached.

He shot Tilly a kindly smile, that sobered to one of sympathy swiftly as he remembered the reason why she hadn't simply arrived with him.
So, he bowed his head now, as he stood up and out of his chair; dismissing Florence's remark with a quick wave of his hand.

"A-ah... Yeah, she's... presumptive." He mimed, furrowing his brow as he plainly realized the weakness of the statement then straightened; fostering some semblence of dignity and respect, as he pinched at the collar of his cloak, glancing away to Tilly's boots.

He could almost see the graveyard muck on her heels. And he most certainly spied the sword at her hip, a flicker of petty distaste had him stiffle a sneer as he rolled his shoulders and nodded, looking to Florence,
"How did Roderick's respects fare..?" He hoped his words would carry over to the Crowgazer, though he prepared for the worst of interpretations by her, as Lekalis' eyes swivelled back to Tilly's mossy own.

//

[Vanitypirate]

Tilly gave a shrug, plaintively avoiding Florence's gaze.
It wasn't a grand effort, given that the doctor was busying herself with strapping that mask to her head, pushing her grease-sopping bangs back. She spent the same amount of effort hiding the disgusted grimace that painted her expression-- that is to say, no effort at all was spent.

Florence gave a start at the mention of Roderick. Fully garbed, she reached for something on her desk.

"It was fine..." Tilly devoted all of her effort to tapping the toe of her boot against the other in an effort to dislodge some of the mud that clung to it. "Turns out he's already been buried, and all. They were burning a pyre for him. S'first time I've ever seen them do that for somebod--"

Again, she was interrupted by the Crowgazer, who had sidled up and near-shoved some parchment into Tilly's hands.

"'No wine'...?" Tilly read quizzically aloud, while Florence urged her to turn the parchment over and to read the other side.
Tilly did so, and seemed not pleased by what she'd read. Furrowing her brow, she squeezed her jaw shut, as if to bite back some retort, as she stared hard at the center of the page.