Rowan walked alongside the patrol that picked up the bandits. She remained silent keeping an eye on her now unconscious Nich as they walked. Once she spotted how he passed out, despite how tired she was, she offered to switch the bandit she had been carrying for Nich to the guard carrying him. It took a moment but soon, she was carrying Nich and the guard could sling the bandit wherever he wanted. When they arrived in town Rowan, the liuetenent met her there with what looked like almost an angry mob. He gave their payment which she accepted with a slight nod and smile before returning back to the inn with Nich in tow.
Thankfully, due to his prosthetics and general physique, Nich wasn't too cumbersome. He was out for a little while after Rowan brought him to the inn, but he eventually stirred in his bed with a soft groan of pain. He sat up, winced, and looked around to try and determine where exactly he was and how he'd gotten here. He spotted Rowan as well and figured that he must have passed out and been brought here by someone, although he didn't know who. "Mmnh… how long have I been out…?" He asked tiredly.
About an hour, Rowan wrote to him having been sitting on the floor for some time. She had been counting through the coins and splitting them into two piles before mentally going through her ingredient stock to see if there was anything she needed to purchase while in Aurelius. She debated going out and using her newly acquired coins to buy a few herb plants that she knew weren't back in the guild town. Rowan pushed over Nich's half of the reward towards his bed, The bandits were delivered safely, Rowan pointed to the coins, This is your half of the reward.
"Ugh… I'm sorry." Nich sighed and slipped out of bed to join Rowan on the floor. He definitely needed to properly tend to his wounds, but he ignored them for now. He blinked a couple times upon seeing the coins and then gathered them to put them into a little bag he had. "Ah, thank you… I suppose we should head back soon, then." He gently touched his side, which was still stained with blood, and winced. "Mm… after resting a little longer, maybe."
Do you need me to help you with your injuries? Rowan wrote out to Nich after seeing how his hand was stained with blood. She hadn't thought to bandage his wounds since she had her own issues to take care of. Rowan was starting to regret that decision at the moment, but she began to reach into her bag to grab some medical supplies she kept on hand. With a roll of bandages and her poultice jar in one hand she wrote out, And I don't think we should leave until tomorrow at the soonest.
"Yeah, I guess we should deal with it." Nich sighed. He winced as he shuffled closer and then took off his shirt so that his wounds would be accessible. He seemed to have multiple gashes that looked as though they might be from swords. He had some on his legs as well, but he figured they should deal with his upper body first. A couple wounds were deep enough to still be actively bleeding a bit, but overall he seemed to be mostly stable.
Rowan moved over to his bed and placed the jar of poultice down next to him. She scanned over his body trying to determine which injury needed to be taken care of first. She screwed open the jar and scooped out a fingerful and looked at Nich before writing out with her other less dominant hand, Is it okay if I put this on your wounds? It's a simple poultice to help stop infections.
"Yeah, that's fine… if you think it'll help, I don't really care." Nich sighed softly and ran his fingers through his hair. "They got me pretty good. Ambushed me n' all… not exactly a fair fight, but I guess you can't expect bandits to fight fair anyway." He winced at the stinging sensation that the poultice brought, but managed to keep still anyway. "Ah, well… I'm sure I'll heal up alright anyway."
(Sorry, I have not been the best at responding atm (as you could probably tell) but do not fear, I keep the tab open in order to guilt me into responding sooner than later lol)
Rowan paid no mind to his wince as it was completely natural reaction. She finished up putting the poultice on his open wounds before reaching for the bandages to wrap up his wounds. She had to switch her writing hand in order to be effective, None of the wounds look deep, there's just a lot of them. So you'll definitely heal up just fine. You managed to take down most of them anyway, which I'm grateful for.
(Np! Dw about it ^^)
"Yeah, hopefully you're right…" Nich sighed and rubbed at the bandages, wincing a bit again. It definitely still hurt, but not nearly as badly as before. "I hope I heal quickly, anyway. I don't want to be stuck here for longer than we have to be." He looked around the room, humming softly. "I don't really know. How long do you think it'll take for me to be travel worthy?"
If everything goes smoothly, probably be able to leave with a day or two, if something happens like an infection sets in or a wound re-opens then we'll leave with by the end of the week at the soonest, Rowan explained to him. She knew that it was unlikely that his wounds would re-open or for an infection to happen, but she could never be too cautious. She moved back over to her bed to continue her stock taking, So I recommend you rest so we leave sooner than later.
Nich huffed a bit and put his shirt back on when Rowan was done addressing his wounds. "I don't want to keep us cooped up here… and I definitely don't want to slow you down when you could be making more money without me." He sighed, reluctantly pulling himself up onto the bed to rest. "Why don't you just go back without me? I'll make my way back eventually. Don't want to hinder your success, Rowan."
(Sorry was on a vacation)
Rowan shook her head vehemently when Nich suggested that. If she returned to the guild without Nich, when a good portion of the people there most likely knew he went on a job with her, who knew what conclusions they might come to. She was just starting to get settled down in the guild, there was no way she was starting all over again. She wrote out quickly, It's fine. I can stick around with you. Besides you might need more medical help.
(Np ^^)
Nich sighed and stretched a bit, grimacing when he disturbed his wounds. "I guess you don't want anyone asking questions or starting rumors… I'm sorry for causing issues." He ran his fingers through his hair, looking pale from blood loss and generally exhausted. Even with the healing potions, he wasn't in great shape. "I've been hurt a fair bit, but it's been a while since it's been to this degree. Normally I just bruise or break a rib, get a couple of cuts… you know, mild stuff. Almost bleeding out is kinda weird. I guess it'll make for a cool story, though."
Rowan looked at him with concern as she began to write out, I wouldn't consider breaking a rib a 'mild thing.' After a moment of hesitation she continued to write out, And you're not causing issues, I just like being cautious around people I'm still getting used to. Which would include the rest of the guild. She let out a soundless sigh as she felt a small smile grow on her face, And I suppose this is another good story for your collection.
Nich shrugged. "I bust myself up enough that ribs are pretty low-grade. I don't bother going to heal them or anything unless they puncture my lung or something." He hummed thoughtfully and looked up at Rowan with a slight smirk at her last comment. "Oh, yeah. I can't wait to tell the guys at the guild about this one. They love hearing stories; the gorier the better. Feel free to add embellishments to your tales. They eat it up."
I'll remember that, Rowan wrote out even though she didn't exactly have any intention of telling stories to the guild at the moment. She doubted she could keep an audience given that she had to write everything out in order to communicate. She shook out those thoughts as she closed up her bags and looked to Nich, I think I'm going to sleep for a bit. Think you can entertain yourself for a bit?
"Mm?" Nich took a moment to process what Rowan had written, blinking a couple times. "Oh! Yeah, yeah, that's fine. Um… I should probably sleep too. They say resting is good for healing bones or something. Dunno if I believe them, but sleep is good anyway." He hummed thoughtfully and got up, grimacing for a moment before he headed over to his own bed. "I guess we can continue the get-to-know-you stuff in the morning."
Rest is always a good thing for healing, but don't feel like you need to sleep because I am. We can continue talking in the morning. Rowan wrote back noting his grimace for later. She sat over on her bed and cleared off the top from all the supplies she had piled on it. Once it was cleared she laid down properly before writing out one last message, Good night Nich.
"Mm… goodnight, Rowan." Nich mumbled in reply, sighing and groaning as he sat down on his bed. He took a minute or so to get himself situated in a somewhat comfortable position and then he was quiet, which was certainly unusual for him. He definitely was the chatty type under normal circumstances, but right now he was tired and still in considerable pain despite the potions. Even so, he managed to fall asleep, and he still seemed to be asleep in the morning.
Rowan managed to sleep through the night in a deep dreamless slumber, a rarity for her, and even woke up an hour or two later than she normally did. It surprised her for but a moment before she remembered all the magic she used yesterday, and she knew how exhausting magic can make a person. She went through the motions of reaching her throat soothing potion as she glanced over at Nich seeing him still fast asleep. He needed the rest after yesterday, and decided not to wake him as she drank the potion.
It took Nich another hour to finally start stirring, and a few minutes after that to actually wake up, opening his eyes with a groan of pain. Now awake and conscious of his injuries, he curled in on himself, feeling nauseous and like his skin was splitting apart on every part of his body. His ears flattened back against his head and he was definitely wishing that he was still asleep. He was too distracted to notice whether or not Rowan was awake.
Rowan was brainstorming possible spells and potions when she heard movement from Nich's bed. She looked over figuring that it was just him moving in his sleep again to see him curl up in himself. She moved to get off of her bed and walked over to his bed. She quickly analysed the situation seeing nothing wrong right away. She gently tapped his shoulder as she wrote out, Everything okay Nich?
Nich flinched when Rowan tapped him and looked over his shoulder at her. He looked pale and clammy, and generally just terrible. Nothing like the boisterous, vibrant personality he usually was. He managed to make out what Rowan was saying through blurry vision and groaned again. "Ugh… I-I feel sick…" He muttered. "Everything hurts… feels like my skin's splitting everywhere. Like I'm about to explode or something, I… I dunno…" He held his breath for a moment and then exhaled shakily. He felt clammy and both hot and cold, so he figured he must have a fever or something. It was possible that some of his wounds were infected, or he could just be feeling awful. He didn't really know.
Rowan frowned heavily as she gently put the back of her hand on his forehead. He was burning up and she quickly removed it before going to her bag to start looking for the right concoction to reduce fevers. She continued looking as she wrote out to him, You're burning up too. Do you think you can sit up and take your clothes off so I can check on your wounds? I'm worried you might have an infection, but if not you're definitely sick.
"Mmnh… yeah, I guess so…" Nich mumbled in reply. He wasn't too keen on stripping in front of Rowan, but the overwhelming, stifling heat from the fever was enough to convince him to pull his shirt and pants off. He kept his underwear on, of course.
It looked as though he'd bled through most of his bandages, and upon inspection, some of the wounds definitely felt hot to the touch, and he flinched whenever he was touched anywhere. He may have caught something as well, but he definitely had some infection.
Rowan grabbed her fever concoction and then after a moment grabbed a slow healing potion and her wound poultice before turning back to Nich. She wasted no time looking over Nich taking note of where he had bled through the bandages. She dropped a bit of the concoction into the potion, shook the bottle up, and handed it to Nich with the message, Drink. She then grabbed new bandages before going to change the bandages and treat any infection she would find. He may have come down with something given how sickly he looked, but she was going to focus on his wounds first since that's was what supplies she had on her at the moment.
