2019-09-04 - A Balm for Patience

Summary:

Patience is practiced while Diana does her best to speed up the healing of Thor's eyes before their advance into the swamps. A little honey always helps.

Log Info:

Storyteller: None
Date: Wed Sep 4 04:13:15 2019
Location: RP Room 2

Related Logs

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Theme Song

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diana-princethor

Despite the headstrong interest to push on, Thor's pulled himself back from doing that. The blindness, from having the shadow creature fling awfulness into his eyes, is part of it. Water doesn't seem to get it out, and it became clear that they should camp, and rest a little while dealing with the issue.

It could have made many men crabby and difficult, but Thor has taken it in reasonable stride. It's frustrating, sure, as is that he'd have a hard time hunting for something for them to eat, but he adapts. While Diana forages, Thor instead sets about some easier tasks for the partially blinded god to handle: he collects water, gathers firewood. Fire is no easy task normally, and without it they can't purify water - but Thor flings a little spark of electricity: instant fire. Gods are useful. The water can then be boiled safely, and Thor's very productive at hauling lumber around to make a little lean-to.

All of that activity means Thor's not actively treating his eye problem, just bearing with it, and the redness doesn't get better while he's proving how effective he still is.

So, while Thor doesn't complain, there's some dogged stubbornness there, as well.


Foraging is second nature for the Amazonian warrior. While it might not be a calorie-heavy repast, she does her absolute best in the marshes. The real find comes in the discovery of a wild bee's nest, its combs thick with golden honey. Soft apologies are given to the flying insects as she breaks away some of the wax, managing not to get stung after explaining the necessity for it. With her basket of woven reed leaves, a quick half-hour's worth of effort and so useful in the end, Diana appears once more in camp like a far more muscular Little Red Riding Hood.

"The fire is cheery. I could see its beacon from the trees," she reports quietly, not wanting to startle the Thunder God; she even tries to approach from his front. "The woods were kind to us. I have found many duck eggs, a dozen mushrooms, more tubers, and a comb of wild-bee honey. I have also found ingredients to make a compound for your eyes, Thor." He gets a solemn, worried look from the woman as she sets down the woven basket within reach of him before kneeling down. "Let me see how it has progressed," she asks, reaching up as if to cajole him to present his face for better viewing — still, she never touches, not without permission, her dark-hazel eyes searching.


Thor is found over by his interesting little structure, seated. It's a great attempt for someone that's doing it more by feel. He clearly hears her when she approaches, and orients towards her, making it particularly easy to come towards his front.

"Were you successful? I am cleansing the water to drink," Thor proclaims with a gesture of hand towards the crackling warmth of the fire. His question proves he can't really tell what she's got. It isn't so much a proud statement: more informational. He flashes a smile, though it is not as cheery as his others have been. Thor doesn't mask his emotions from her: there's an honesty to all of his expressions.

Thor answers, "I am not in any pain," Thor says, reluctant, but seems to talk himself into it, and settles to face her. He also lifts a heel of his wrist to rub across his eyes — which helps nothing.


"That there is no pain is good, but it does not mitigate damage being done. It is persistent, this substance." Maybe her frown can be seen, blurry as his vision is. "You have been busy, however, and for this I am grateful. This lean-to will keep the worst of any weather away should it blow in off the ocean." As if she's scent the wind itself to test for incoming storms, Diana turns to face the curling waves, visible only for the fall of moonlight on pale froth on approach to the shoreline.

"I will set the eggs to cooking, but only after I make an unction for your eyes. You see, the honey is not only for eating." Her mysterious smile would probably be very charming…if Thor could see it. "I am going to touch your face now, to better see what I am dealing with. I will be gentle," the warrior-woman promises. Her fingers are softer perhaps than expected, her touch leading and firm without exerting controlling pressure. Thor's face is turned to face the firelight. Squinting, Diana very gently pulls down his bottom lid to see the inflamed tissue. A soft click of her tongue.

"That creature did not mean you well," she murmurs drily. "It will not be a minute for me to make the unction." And indeed, not long at all, if Thor can keep from fidgeting and moving off. In the sterile cupping of a large leaf from a local species of plant, Diana's combined some of the wild honey with various herbs and what appears to be some of the boiling water. She appears before him again and leans in. "I am going to daub this about your eyes now, it may sting a little," she reports gently before very carefully painting it beneath his eyes and then overtop his eyelids. Again, her touch is light, cautious, pausing whenever necessary.


Thor had warning, so he doesn't flinch when his cheek is touched. Still, he doesn't like his eyelid being pulled at, so there's a little bit of twist of head when she looks at his eyes. He grunts and breathes a snort through his nose, but seems to resolve to hold still.

"You would find it difficult to harm me," Thor says, a little huffy, and perhaps in a way that is half said to himself.

"It doesn't sting," Thor decides, but wrinkles his nose and makes some rather hilarious squinty-faces as she paints the stuff onto his face, eyes scrunched shut.

"…How long will it need to remain?" Thor says overly loudly, as if blindness due to having his eyes fully shut created a need to shout. He brances his hands on the branch he's sitting on, nose still crinkled. Despite the health problem, the expression is outright silly on Thor's strong, heavy features.


"I believe it will need to remain overnight," Diana replies as she sets the remnants of the balm off to one side, out of the way of bumbling, mostly-blind Thunder Gods. "I will see how things appear in the morning. It should tingle, but not overmuch." That's the herbal relation to camphor involved, cleansing on a spiritual level as well as physical. Otherwise, the decoction doesn't smell terrible close to the nose; merely medicinal and sweet.

"You are possessed with great fortitude, Thor," the princess also adds, gifting him with another smile likely missed, as she walks over to begin fussing with the food ingredients. "I doubt much in this world would damage you, or your spirit." The duck eggs go into the boiling water to cook and she takes out her small dagger in order to begin slicing up the tubers. "Would you like some honey to eat, now that you wear it as well?"

It's a completely innocent question, even if the undertones are teasing — for the first time in their escapade.


"/Overnight/?" Thor echoes in surprise, as if she just suggested that he might enjoy just heading on home instead of going to fetch his hammer on this mighty quest. How ridiculous and odd!

"Surely it will act faster than that," Thor says, as if is encouragement might cause her to heal him faster in some manner. They can just will it into happening.

Thor turns more sulky, sitting on his branch with the sticky medicine on his face, his mouth downturned into a scowl. He fiddles with a bit of the branch, and then answers, for the honey question, "…Yes."


"Yes, overnight," the woman confirms as she walks over to him. Reaching down, Diana takes his hand and directs it to the held portion of honeycomb. Each pocket is filled with golden sweetness, easy to access upon puncturing the thin layer of wax overtop it and to scoop out with one's tongue. It's a big enough portion to suit a Thunder God, at least the size of a standard dinner plate if not moreso.

Leaving him with the treat, Diana returns to the fire and turns each duck egg with her knife carefully as not to break shells. "If you rest tonight, and sleep, I believe the unction will do its good work," she continues from over by the fire.


Thor isn't entirely sure what she's handed him, and fumbles it some in his large hands, and accidentally breaks part of it with his fingers. He makes a 'oh no!' quick little face, brows dropping as he more gently manipulates what he's been given, getting it on his other hand. It's a fumbling mess but he's doggedly trying.

So when Diana comes back? He's sucking on two fingers from the hand that ended up in the honey mess. He's shameless about it: eating with his hand doesn't bother him anyway. "I can still listen, as 'watch'," Thor clarifies around the honey. "You must require rest as well!" Gallant.


Given her attention on the duck eggs and the necessity of adding branches to the fire to keep up the rolling movement of the water, Diana doesn't see him initially fumble the honeycomb. It does take her a few more minutes yet, given after she most carefully removes the eggs, the mushrooms and tubers go into the water. The eggs must cool, after all.

She does return with a dozen duck eggs and a heaping serving of the lightly-flavored mushroom-root admixture cupped in another small woven basket and she pauses, partially blocking the firelight as she looks down at him. That is…yet another smile, amused to hell and back. "I require a few hours of rest, yes, but not the standard eight to ten sought after by most human beings. If it is easiest, we may take shifts, as soldiers do. Your food is to your right, in the sand, by your boot. It is finger food." She momentarily goes back to serve herself up as well before returning to sit nearby him, company even if mostly unseen.


Thor pats around by his right boot for it, head tilted. He clears his throat some as he finds it, and draws it up near his nose to smell it first. Keeping his eyes closed something of a willpower thing, and he keeps scrunching his nose as if to remind himself to not mess up her salve. "I have been in worse situations, but perhaps not quite as sticky," Thor decides, heaving a deep breath. It's very deep, Thor has some massive lungs in that barrel chest of his.

Thor seems a little lost about where to put the honeycomb, so it ends up on one thigh while he works on the other items. And yes, it does fall onto the big branch, of course.

"I feel this quest aims to test my patience—-" Thor rumbles, but there's a smile in his voice and amid the beard on his face — now sticky with honey also. He's a mess, but it suits the rough Asgardian prince.

"—-As it does a number on my pride."


Diana sets aside the delicate eggshell as she cleans each duck egg individually, resting them atop her own serving's worth of starchy tubers and richly-earthy mushrooms. She glances up at the Thunder God and still, the small and mysterious smile lingers about the corners of her lips.

"It is possible. I find my own patience tested. It is still…" Her dark-hazel eyes go distant somewhere beyond the Asgardian god's shoulders, off into the shadowy rows of trees and beyond. "To have your hammer be perhaps so nearby and to sit… I can imagine it must be a trial in itself. I have observed that you let little stand in your way."


Once Thor has figured out where the food is, he's making very short work of it. He eats, swallows, talks, as if he didn't have goop all over his eyes. Evidently, feeding Thor is an excellent spirit booster, even if he's frustrated: little keeps him down for long.

"It has been months of patience, it is but another night. I will have Mjolnir restored," Thor agrees. He chews, stopping, and sort of shifts, to draw his right hand up and out, as if he were able to reach into the very forest.

Nothing happens.

Thor draws the hand back in and continues to eat. It was worth a try.


With one of the shelled eggs lifted to her lips, Diana pauses to watch. Why…with the arm outstretched? She marks the tension of focus in the lines of his forearm and the preemptive curl of fingers, as if to…ah-hah: to summon someone — or something, most likely the hammer in question. A subtle nod accentuates her understanding and she then looks back to her own small woven basket of foodstuff.

"What is one more day in the long scheme of things, yes, especially in the light of months," she agrees quietly. "With your sight regained, little will stand between us and your lost relic. It will be gratifying to see it returned."


"Most gratifying," Thor says quietly, but quietly. Well, for Thor, it's quietly: more like normal volume. He just ate some considerable crow when the hammer didn't respond. He didn't expect it to, but he also hoped that it might. He internally admonishes himself for being hasty, and letting himself down.

"Most gratifying," Thor repeats, more firmly, lifting his left hand to attempt to give her a hearty pat. However, he's blind, so this could really go any number of ways from the well-meaning Asgardian.


The first drop of Thor's hand misses her entirely. Diana flinches away as honey-sticky fingers rush past the fall of her dark hair, nearly snagging it and in turn, snarling it upon itself for the residue of the sweet treat. Blinking, she can't help the silent laugh. The second descent lands on her forearm, submitted to being cleaned in the waves and the scouring of beach sand with any honey left behind.

"Yes. Is there anything you can think of that may behoove us to prepare before we leave in the morning?" She asks to see if she can't bleed off more of his frustration by turning it towards useful tasks, even if he struggles a little in his near-blindness.


Thor didn't put any force behind the pats — not really. He doesn't seek to harm her. Still, it isn't love taps: he'd seen her fight, so there was confidence in it that she's not made of something breakable, either.

"Tell me more of what would happen should we step foot on the hallowed grounds. Will there be an area past it that we can once again stand on the soil?" Thor inquires. "We can use this time to plan strategy," Thor decides. A useful task to him, that is.


"Ah, yes, the grounds." Finished with her last bite of food, the basket and its contents are set to one side. Both will be tossed into the marsh before the two warriors decide upon sleeping shifts, the creations sure to degrade as nature intended rather than lingering as plastic or metal might.

"We shall ride the horses into the area rather than arriving on foot because the earth itself is cursed." Thor might remember her informing him of this days past. "It does not recognize that of nature, of four feet rather than two — but take heed: walking in upon hands and knees would not fool it." Diana's lips purse against a grin. It's a funny mental image. "To set foot upon it would be to summon the cursed creatures to engagement, with their intent to leave us dead. They feast upon the energy of the soul, I believe, before they feast upon the bodies themselves. I could not tell, at a distance, if they were elemental or of spirit or of physical form, these creatures, but they appear of smoke and fire, sand and sludge." She is silent and her voice continues more quietly. "I was unable to save the humans who trespassed each time. Kachi would not approach in fear."


"Then it is required to fight from horseback?" Thor questions. He's very respectful, listening, head turned towards her. He enjoys a good story, and this challenge seems to interest him: he's started to get some steam back, as opposed to being more concerned.

"I am glad that I did not leap directly into the swamp, then," Thor continues, "Spirits and magic are most frustrating to attempt to slay."


"We are blessed in my sword. It has the ability to touch many things in this world, including spirits — but this is if the creatures end up summoned. If we remain on horseback, they will likely not choose to show. They do not recognize horses as a threat to their territory." Diana looks into the fire, her eyes half-lidded as she thinks.

"Kachi may still be fearful, but I expect your own mount to be biddable. She has not seen the creatures and been tainted by this. I will need to convince Kachi to trust me. I hope she is not injured in this… I admit, I would have trouble keeping my temper." A short sigh. "But yes, as long as we remain on horseback, I expect us to be able to walk in and walk out, as the people of this world might say. Your hammer may be as easy to regain as leaning down and plucking it like a ripe berry." She gives him a small smile, face half-profiled by firelight.


"I will do my best to heal quickly, perhaps we will be able to leave before the dawn," Thor decides, as if he had some control over this. "I could attempt to burn it from my eyes," Thor suggests, as if that were actually a feasible alternative to suggest doing, in order to get on with the quest more quickly. Her story and suggestion that his hammer is just an easy grab away has caused Thor to become more enthusiastic again.

Still, Thor finishes the meal, and moves to slide forward off of the tree, resting now with his back to it, and stretches his legs out. "There is something more to this quest, though, than to pick it up; my father would not make it so simple. It is upon us to be challenged to determine what the key is."


Diana's eyebrows lift. "Please do not attempt to burn the substance from your eyes with my balm upon them. I do not know what would happen if so. If it is that the balm has done its work before dawn, then yes, by all means: we will enter the swamps on horseback and see what we can make of them. I do not expect the approach to be easy, even if our boots do not touch the earth beyond the cursed territory."

She takes her time scanning the perimeter of the camp, still leery after the incident with the salamander of shadowy intent. "Remember that the creature who did its work upon you was perhaps a scout. There may be antagonists yet even before we find the grounds."


"We should protect our faces from future attacks like this in some way," suggests Thor. "I did not think to bring a helmet with a faceguard with me," he laments, scooching down a little bit more, and attempting to recline without going anywhere really. "Perhaps simply being wary of the diretion of their attacks would be enough. I did not expect it to be able to do anything to me," Thor shakes his head a little, and settles, appearing to be trying to rest where he is. The lesson in respecting the creatures in the area was learned.


"It was a rude lesson to learn, but we are wiser for it," Diana agrees softly. Rising to her feet, she gathers the bowls from dinner. Thor will hear the departing steps and then the return steps after she tosses the woven baskets into the marsh.

"I will add more wood to the fire before we rest. Perhaps I can weave us another form of protection from further attacks of this nature," she muses, frowning thoughtfully down at Thor. Regardless, she does as aforementioned, and the fire will burn for several hours yet. "Rest while you can, Thor. I will keep watch for what hours you find necessary to sleep. Nothing will further infringe upon us here." With the easy delivery of belief does this sentiment come. Diana sits down upon her own log and pulls out her knife to give it a thorough cleaning as a silence settles over the campsite. It's not uncomfortable, but it is tenuous in its way, as if the land around there still subtly held it breath.

Dawn will come sooner than later.


"Indeed a rude lesson; I should have been quite willing to have learned without extremely sticky sweetness pasted onto my eyes," Thor informs the forest in a loud way. "Truly, unnecessary," he calls out to it.

While Diana is away gathering some more wood, Thor has rotated more onto his side, using part of overly muscular arm to cushion his head. Still, the man appears to be quite trusting in her ability to defend them both: he's breathing deeply in a soft little snore when she's cleaning her knife, his large body relaxed and able to sleep even in the strange (and sticky) situation, without difficulty.

Whether Diana lets him sleep or rouses him for his watch shift? Well, that's on her, really. Thor's zonked out.


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