January Catchall - Winter Sol Cleanup, Assorted Shenanigans

[beigeacademia]

Who: Elias and you!
What: Patching up the thralls after the Winter Sol. Also, destressing with animal form shenanigans.
Where: Various locations around the castle
Warnings: Mentions of injuries / gore in the first prompt. Watch out for further cws in any threads below.


Winter Sol Cleanup - Basement Kitchens
(cw: injuries/gore mention)

[The week after the Winter Sol, the basement “kitchens” are not silent as they usually are. Most of the thralls are too battered to walk after that glass snow stunt, and since thralls do not have personal quarters, the injured are laid out on temporary cots in the basement. There are still some thralls around for feeding, but the vibes down there are even worse than usual, that’s all.

Elias can often be found here, giving medical treatment to the thralls. He sits at a low table filled with implements in front of him and has thralls brought over, and pulls shards of glass out of their feet; covers their wounds in salve and bandages. The thralls have been given permission to scream or cry if needed, and another thrall is stationed nearby to hold the wounded for comfort as Elias works on them. It’s not out of kindness; cruelty is unconducive for healing.]

a. (general) [Catch him just finishing up with one patient, sagging back against his chair with a sigh as the thrall is carried away. Ask him how things are going? Or maybe you want to complain that the thrall’s moans of pain have been killing your dinnertime vibes?]

b. (student-only) [Word gets around to those taking healing classes that you could get some extra credit for helping to heal the thralls. Be warned, though, that once you get down to the basement it’s clear that Elias is in a no-nonsense mood- he’ll only entertain those with actual medical skills, and if you’re hoping to get a free lesson you’re going to get yelled at.]

Are you here to help? Alright, what can you do?

A spot of relaxation - Around the castle

a. [His job has been a downer these days. To destress, Elias takes some time off to spend on fancy distractions - he goes over to the art studios to admire some paintings and watch some performances. He shows up at the pumpkin-carving competition, but realises it involves more knifework, and ends up just spectating. ]

b. [Big White Dog Spotted Around Castle. Mostly napping, either in front of a fireplace or out in a courtyard where the snow settles on his fur like a blanket. Once or twice, he goes out into the woods and satisfies his hunter’s instincts by catching some pheasants, trotting back to the kitchens with the birds in his mouth and his tail wagging proudly.]

Office Hours / Wildcard

[Let me know if you want a class-related thread, otherwise I plan to handwave most of Elias’ classes. This season his classes are Basic & Advanced Preservation Sciences (2nd/3rd season), as well as a Research Capstone (4th season).

Hit me up to plan anything else!]

Comments

Cleanup on aisle B

[serpendipity]

[ It wasn't really about extra credit that had Eden come down to the basement. It's obvious, because the second season novice wasn't taking medical courses this season. At least this time she's coming down with an idea of what's going to be done, though she had no clue just how many of the thralls had been injured. For a moment she's scanning through and getting an idea of the numbers. Oh, that was more than she realized... ]

Well, to start, I was raised by a physician, so I'm pretty quick to get started.

[ Getting to a rolling cart, the oddly stylish pink and silver satchel bag turned to a regular black leather one as she set it down and opened the flap to retrieve a few things to start. A bowl long enough to fit a foot, which also had a few wide syringes, both empty and filled jars with a yellow liquid in it, and with a few small ceramic jars. This was a bit more than what should normally fit in a bag... But is that really the strangest thing? She's getting what she can together while explaining. ]

I need to dilute it, but I've brought solutions to flush and numb the areas with glass so it's a little more comfortable for them. The small mouthed jars have powders to help stop bleeding and they have some disinfecting properties. The wider mouth jars are creams for closed or light injuries, like rope burns, the remains of bite marks, scratches, or other minor things. I could put together some concoctions for pain relief and a more restful sleep, but I would have to get those herbs, or if there's anything bad that you need it for, my stitching isn't terrible. I'm a little out of practice since coming here.

[ Some of these things... May have been batch-prepped for personal purposes, but Eden wasn't afraid of using what she had for other people. Just ask Edward Teach, after she gave him blood only a couple days ago. Pulling out some extra supplies as a 'just in case', like cotton swabs and bandages, she looked back in the bowl before back in the bag to get out a pair of non-porous gloves. ]

So, your choice on where you'd prefer me to start. I didn't know what, or if, you'd be low on anything.

[beigeacademia]

[Well, it had been a really big party. The kind you'd want to get a catering service for, except with the Courtsheart thrall policy (all ex-novices, and only ex-novices) they're basically Not Allowed to bring in more humans. So here Elias is.

But anyway. Eden says the right words to get his attention, and Elias listens to her little presentation of her healing materials, setting down the bloody tweezers in his hand to watch. He's frowning, but not in an angry way, only in a “harried healer in the middle of his shift” way- he needs to figure out what to do with her, and what to do with all the supplies she's offering.]

We're not low on anything at the moment. We've stocked up for the Winter Sol- [He starts removing his own gloves, standing up from his workstation to walk over to her cart-] -but having more isn't unhelpful. There won't be another restock for a while.

[Elias opens a few jars, looks into them. Then closes the jars, grabs some clean spatulas from a drawer, opens the closest jar again and scoops out a small sample to sniff. He can't just take Eden's word that these drugs are what she claims, he needs to confirm it for himself. The smell does carry notes of reagents he recognises, but just to be sure…

Elias pops the end of the spatula in his mouth. His face immediately scrunches up like a cat tasting a lemon.]

Hm.

[1) EUGH. 2) Doesn't seem to contain anything poisonous! He's going to switch to a clean spatula for each new jar and keep doing this. It's important for science.]

Okay. [EUGHHH] These are all good… [they're all very bad actually. bad in his mouth.]

[serpendipity]

[ Oh, those definitely wouldn't taste good, but they certainly weren't done with poisonous doses. After all, some things (like the solution that numbed nerves) contained ingredients that would do far worse in greater quantities, but were otherwise... Mostly useful. Not the most recommended for tasting.

She'd be more worried if it was a human doing so. The numbing effect for the wash wasn't going to be fun if one had tried it. ]

They should be good. It's what I originally made for myself. Well, the creams were a larger batch that I also gave out to people as moisturizer as well...

[ Ah, she shouldn't get distracted. The woman that raised her would be cross if she was caught up talking about things instead of treating the people that needed help. ]

If you'd rather I use the rinse that's already here, I can do that as well. I don't know if it has the numbing effect, but you're the one directing everything. I'm the extra set of hands.

[ Just a trained set of hands. ]

[beigeacademia]

Did you make all these on your own? [Said in-between making endless UGH faces. But Elias is dutiful, so he perseveres.] That's impressive. These are all quite fresh.

[After checking about half of the jars, Elias decides that he's reasonably convinced of the medicine’s quality. And, by extension, their maker’s quality. He sets everything down, licking his lips to try and get rid of the aftertaste.]

It would be good if we use yours first, to stretch what we have.

[He's thinking long-term. It would be quicker to use what the castle has, but he knows the administration will forget about budgeting for the thralls quickly now that they no longer need party staff and catering.]

Okay. There are thralls I worked on last night that should need a dressing change. [Those had the most serious lacerations and were attended to first- however, he hasn't had time to get back around to them, he's still working his way through the rest.] Can you handle that? For those that are showing signs of fever or serious infection, let me know.

[serpendipity]

That's right... Though you should really rinse and swish everything out of your mouth.

[ Especially if that's going to be kept up! She couldn't imagine doing that with the powders. Mostly because, back when she was learning, she had to. ]

I can do that. I'll dilute the rinse first so you can have that available as well.

[ If they were using her supplies, then she should make sure they were all prepared properly, gloves on before everything. The bowl was a mix of carrying everything in the satchel and also as a 'just in case' they needed more vessels to rinse everything in. But she'll make quick work, using the empty jar she'd brought for the first batch before using what was available; a 10oz part water to 1tsp solution type of ratio, so it's easy to get three containers before she gathered a portion of her supplies to start working on the thralls. ]

Have you had any rest since working on them? I know Miss D'Auvergn also keeps a vested interest in their care as well.

[ It was important to know about the status of the one leading! Plus, being in the basement, it was easy to lose track of time for them.

Eden is thorough when changing the dressing and checking the status of the thralls. Cleaning any wounds that seemed to be needing it, feeling the temperature around the wounds and noting any potential redness, checking the pulse and general temperature. If there were charts, she'd update while going through the steps, but it was more about keeping care of the person thrall themselves.

Sometimes there's a tsk-ing sound from Eden's teeth- usually with the ones with injuries in those places that were harder to keep clean and dry. Then again, that was the reason why some powder-based medicine was so useful. ]

Some of these have a little seeping, but nothing serious or hot to the touch so far. I've marked them just in case for a later check.

Relaxation - Doggo

[naturesgifts]

[Halsin knows this fluffy animal well. He's one of the other Silver Court like him. One that heals and looks after the thralls. He knows that after such a ball, even the medics could use time to themselves, to decompress. He doesn't judge. No. He's actually a little jealous he can't join the man in animal form. No matter how he tries, Halsin can't seem to get hang of other shapes.

He finds himself smiling at the dog that pads into the kitchens with a rather large grouse. He knows it's Elias, but he still can't help himself but to crouch down. It takes a while for such a large man to get to dog level. It's so he can gives all that fluff a vigorous pet and a very warm]

What do we have here? You're a good boy, aren't you, bringing back such a mighty find.

[It he ashamed of treating a vampire in animal form like the animal itself? Not at all!]

using my other animal icon because I don't have a dog one, oops

[beigeacademia]

[The dog leans into the pets, tail continuing to wag. It feels nice, okay? And from a fellow Silver, he's not too embarrassed about it.

Eventually he breaks it off, stepping away and giving himself a little shake. It feels nice but it also gets awkward if you keep it up for too long. Definitely awkward to talk professionally to a coworker that's actively petting you.]

Thff hrff hrrf. [Pauses. Drops the grouse to speak.] The thralls can have an extra treat today.

[It’s unfortunate he can’t enjoy roast grouse anymore, but he can still feed it to the thralls!]

{ winter sol cleanup: a }

[enchantibiotic]

[ Christine is well aware that the thralls were metaphorically chewed up and spit out during the ball and figuring her healing skills could be of some use, she goes to check on them. ]

I should have known you'd be the first one here. How many have you gotten through so far?

[ Already she's tying back her hair with a ribbon as she approaches. ]

[beigeacademia]

Only a few… help, there’s too many of them.

[He sags against the back of his chair and flaps a hand sadly at Christine. Judging from the number of thralls that have their wounds bandaged, Elias seems to have only treated a handful so far- but he’s had to go slow, because the glass fragments are numerous and hard to spot and it’s the worst.]

If you have time to? When’s your next class?

[enchantibiotic]

[ There's a brief smile at his request for help and next she's rolling up her sleeves. ]

Oh, next season.

[ It's said with an air of good humor. ]

This is my off season. The next three I will teach courses.

[ Pulling up a chair beside the next patient, she gets to work on removing the glass. She has a confident, quick touch that minimized the amount of pain the thrall is in, though obviously doesn't eradicate it completely. But much like ripping off a bandage that's stuck to a wound, she doesn't hesitate and that means the pain is a sharp thing, not a long, lingering one. ]

[beigeacademia]

Really? Lucky you.

[Elias caps off his break with a quick drink from a cup, draining it dry, before straightening up again.]

Could I trouble you to come down and check on the thralls once in a while, then? I've still got classes, so I can't be down here every day.

[He motions for the next thrall after to be brought to him as well. The additional sounds of pain from Christine's side are off-putting, but the thralls would be in pain regardless given the circumstances, so Elias tries his best to block out the sounds as he also gets back to work.]

relaxation b

[partybabysitter]

[ Xenk did not actually guide Elias long enough to ever see his inner animal. That would have happened in his third season, which meant it was after his time. But that doesn't mean Xenk can't still sense him -- it might only be an echo, but it's enough.

I'm sorry to say, Elias, but in talking to Xenk, you've brought him back into your life now. He's seeking Elias out, and isn't deterred to find him in his animal form, asleep by the fire.

It's very sweet. It's too bad Xenk is here for a reason. ]

Elias. I have a question, if you don't mind.

[ His tone makes it clear that he would mind very much if Elias told him to get lost. But hey, this is better than taking up his office hours, right? ]

[beigeacademia]

[Sensing the presence of another, the dog opens his eyes AND GETS JUMPSCARED BY EX-MASTER-YENDAR GRRRRRUFF GROWL GROWL WHY.

Elias shoots to his paws and scampers to put some didn't between them, growling reflexively, his little claws going tap tap tap on the lacquered wood floor. Once he's a distance away, he stares back at Xenk with the dog's dark brown eyes- the same color as when he was still human.]

…It's not my office hours.

[You're not above the general public when it comes to visitation anymore, Ex-Master-Yendar. Elias shakes himself off, then does a stretch with his front paws to wake up.]

[partybabysitter]

[ Xenk is not entirely surprised by Elias' reaction, though he certainly doesn't react to it. The simple fact is that Elias opened this door, and now it's open. And also that Xenk will always think of him as younger, more human, and therefore not a threat.

Still, he does respect the man, even if he does not fear him. ]

Shall I wait? I imagined you might take offense if I took time away from your students.

[ Then again, he assumes Elias likes his students. He could be completely wrong, since time has proven that he doesn't know Elias very well. ]

[beigeacademia]

Well, is this a professional or personal question?

[Does Xenk have personal questions? Eh, give him the benefit of them doubt.]

Office Hours

[prizedstallion]

[Kirk wasn't good at healing or he would have helped with the thralls, but he knows himself well enough to know he would have just been in the way. Instead, he waits a couple weeks after the Sol to knock on Elias' office door. Xenk said he could go and talk to him and really being in his Advanced Preservation Sciences class, Kirk has a "reason" to be here.

He swears he's not just here to talk about Xenk...

No he is. ]

Argent, sir? Do you have a moment for me to speak to you about a personal matter?

[beigeacademia]

[Elias, at his desk, puts aside a stack of half-graded papers to greet Kirk. There's no recognition in his eyes- he hasn't been keeping tabs on Xenk, so while he knows Xenk is embroiled in a custody dispute over a Blue Court Novice he doesn't know it's Kirk. This is just another one of his students- one that sleeps in class but is doing well enough in his graded assignments that Elias has decided to let the sleeping slide.]

Sure. What is it?

[prizedstallion]

[Sleeping was mostly an act anyway, he just liked to pretend to sleep while his mind is a trap for the information, absorbing it like a sponge. But there were times when maybe he did fall asleep, but he would always make up for it with a lot of reading and research to make sure he made up for what he lacked. He just did that where no one could see.

Still, that's all besides the point. He was here to ask about a common.. enemy? thorn? problem? Xenk.

Stepping into the office he pauses for a second before cutting to the chase.]

Xenk Yendar suggested I talk to you about him as a former maker since he's nipping at my nose so relentlessly that Jack Frost is getting jealous.

[beigeacademia]

Xenk Yendar is biting your nose?!

[The metaphor is so out of character for Xenk that Elias completely fails to imagine anything else he could be doing that is not literal. It's only the rest of what Kirk is saying that clues Elias in, but he's not starting on a great foot here. (What the hell kind of “nipping” is Xenk “Subtlety of A Speeding Double-Horse Carriage” Yendar doing?) ]

What did he want me to say? I wasn't fit for Gold Court in the end, so I'm hardly the best representative to speak on his mentoring.

[He says it matter of factly. Doesn't put air quotes around “mentoring”. At least.]

I hear he has no other living novices, but that should tell you something in itself.

Cleanup - A

[convalesces]

[Conrad isn't about to complain, he's happy to see another vampire who's trying to aid the thralls. His pale skin is tinged with blood from his fingertips up to his forearms and, well, he also has a bit of red smeared around his lips. He did come to the basement to eat, after all, but he wanted to help so he tried his hand at doctoring a few thralls. At least washing their feet and flushing the cuts out seems to help.]

You're doing a much better job than I am. [He says as he takes a seat beside him while the last unfortunate soul he bandaged up is being taken away to rest.] Anyway... It's good to see others trying to help them.

[beigeacademia]

[Elias might have been a bit more cautious and micromanaging at the start, but assuming Conrad remembers his Silver Court classes, Elias has slowly eased up into letting Conrad help unsupervised. He waves a tired hello as the other vampire approaches.]

Well, this is my job. Someone's got to do it.

[Staring at the other man’s bloodied arms, he adds casually-] You might want to wash that off before continuing.

[Blood may be food, but one shouldn't handle things with food-covered hands, still!]

[convalesces]

[Conrad glances down at his hands and feels a tad embarrassed]

Oh-oh, right, of course. Excuse me.

[He gets up to wash, scrubbing his hands and also splashing some water on his face to clean up. If he hadn't had a bit of a bite before being around all this blood it would've been a little maddening while feeling hungry. Of course, he'd feed from an uninjured thrall, the ones with glass in their feet had it bad enough.]

You wouldn't be helping if it wasn't your job, though? [He says as he sits again. He's just curious, it's not like he's judging or anything.]

[beigeacademia]

[It's the same with him- he's had to drink a little more aggressively than he likes, just to be able to keep his focus.

The question makes Elias frown in thought:]

Hm… it's hard to say. [Explaining why he's doing this job is harder when he's in the middle of one of its tiresome parts.] I sort of, made it part of my job because I wanted to? I don't know. I'd rather work on this than having a lot of sex to pass my days.

[He's not sure what he'd do with himself if he were ever forced to stop minding the thralls. You can only brood on a balcony for so long.]

JAN EVENT DREAMLOG {semi-closed, see below}

[beigeacademia]

( A placeholder for me to write out dreams despite not having the bandwidth to toplevel on the dreamshare event.

Existing CR are free to handwave that they’ve seen any of the dream(s) below, and can talk to Elias about it starting Feb (eg. IC inbox letter, or mention it in conversation in a future thread). Or if you want an actual dream interaction, hit me up. )

[beigeacademia]

Dream I (cw: thrall stuff- mind control, memory erasure. Also mild descriptions of injuries.)

[The dream opens in a basement outside of Courtsheart; differently purposed, meant for the storage of thralls rather than a feeding spot. The chamber is filled with beds and warm lanterns. Thralls weave in-between the beds with medicine and porridge for those who had spent a long night serving.

A Gold Court vampire addresses the room:]

The party was a success, so good work. As your reward, forget everything that happened last night- just know that you have done well, and be proud. [He waits for a response, a chorus of yes, thank you sir, before continuing:] You may have your will back.

[The glazed look in all the standing thralls falls away. The silence in the room begins to fill with noises of confusion and pain as the thralls in bed come to as well, and realise that they are hurt. The vampire nods and repeats himself- the party was a success, the servants are now to focus on recovery- and leaves.

The servants, after getting their bearings, get back to tending to their own all the same. A familiar voice leads you to Elias, several years younger and several shades paler from bloodloss, lying in his bed. His neck and wrists are covered in bitemarks and rope burns. He asks his caretaker if she can read to him if he eats on his own. She agrees, and he takes the bowl from her with shaky hands as she fishes out a tattered book from his bedside.]