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 Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2015 3:56 pm
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Aaja was taking a break from her work. In a matter of speaking. Ever since Stigtyr had come to her for a quick first aid treatment the lioness had been feeling guilty.
Sure, she wasn't the one to cause his eye to end up the way it was, but as a healer she had felt a failure in that moment. She had froze. She hadn't known what to do in order to save his sight, and although the eye hadn't need to be removed or anything of that brutal sort it was no laughing matter that Stig still was unable to see.
So Aaja had applied herself. She was determined to improve as a healer so if someone bumbled there way to her den missing a foot and an arm wanted her to make it grow back, she could do exactly that! Of course, feet and arms didn't just grow back and most of the time if a limb was lost it was lost for good. Those were minor details though, the point was she wanted to get better at healing and fixing wounds and injuries. Blood was kind of gross, and yeah, seeing a paw out of place made her shiver. Maybe she'd just become a massaging therapist or something that didn't involve gore.
Even then she was admittedly getting better. She knew what herbs were best for relieving pain, what could be ingested to numb the body in case of a particularly painful procedure and she was knowledgeable of how to treat a bad case of being a reaver and all the common injuries that came with it. The reavers that dared to visit the clumsy lioness often didn't like what she had to say about their fighting exploits, even when they had come knowing that Aaja would give them an earful for having gotten hurt in the first place.
All being said and done everything was going well for her. She wasn't a terrible healer and if confident one might even say she was good. Ironically Aaja had Stig's injuries to thank for that, as they motivated her to learn how to treat any illness.
She kind of wanted to do something for him. Thank him in a way? The splotchy lioness was no crafter, but she had made a small gift, just a few spices and seasoning that made injures hurt less wrapped in a hare's pelt with a flower on top. It wasn't all that great really... She didn't even expect him to like it. But she still wanted to thank him. Even if he hated her gift, it was the thought that really counted anyways right? |
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Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2015 12:04 pm
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  Stigtyr moved his claw through the dirt ever so slightly, muttering under his breath. The rock and tree he was sitting under had become his sort of home the past few months, seeing as he had moved out of his family's home to avoid Tollak. The rock and tree were by no means a real, proper den. It was really just an area that Stigtyr had claimed as his own. It offered no real protection either. But if the large male wedged himself between the trunk and the rock, he could avoid getting soaked when it rained. He was reciting the prides laws, in the order by which they'd be instated, of course, as if there were any other way to do it. The male's mentors, especially Torbjorn, loved to surprise him with pop quizzes. Which was, perhaps one of the best ways to learn. At any moment, a lawspeaker could be confronted by disgruntled pride members desiring a ruling on some matter or another. If Stigtyr wasn't able to recall the pride's rules off the top of his head, he would fail in his duties. And Stigtyr couldn't handle another failure.
It had been quite some time since the fight with his brother. And in all that time, Stigtyr hadn't seen Tollak at all. He'd heard mentions of him every now and then, but that was it. The advantages of being in such a large pride, Stigtyr supposed. He knew that the statistical probability was quite low, but the male would be quite satisfied if he never saw Tollak again. Of course, he'd only be seeing Tollak out of one eye.
But the male wasn't as angry about his blindness as he had been when it first occurred. He was less bent on revenge, more focused on proving Tollak wrong. Tollak had done a number on Stigtyr's mental health as well as his physical. The male had wallowed in depression about his injury before finally realizing what his true purpose was in the pride. And now he was studying under the pride's lawspeakers, and would soon be an authority figure within the pride, one that others looked to for guidance. If he was good enough, perhaps even the Warlord himself would call on Stigtyr for advice. And Tollak would still be off in the dirt, digging about for silly trinkets.
But, between his grief and his studies, Stigtyr hadn't seen much of his friends either. Which wasn't entirely surprising, seeing as Stigtyr didn't really have too many friends. But there were those that the male enjoyed chatting with every now and then.
And there were those like Aaja and his sister, those that he felt able to confide in and speak freely with. Stigtyr couldn't even remember the last time he'd seen either of them. Dagny was always easier to find, what with her unmistakable smell of mint, but Aaja...when had he seen Aaja? The male wasn't sure he had visited the healer since his mane had grown in. He'd been back to have his eye checked on, but other than that...did Aaja know Stigtyr was studying to be a lawspeaker? The male couldn't recall. Stigtyr didn't think they'd talked since confirming that Stigtyr was blinded and that he was safe from infection. The male didn't blame Aaja for not saving his sight. He was glad that she'd been able to keep the eyeball itself from rotting out and killing him. The pride needed more healers like Aaja.
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Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2015 5:31 pm
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The lioness had her gift clenched in her maw, moving about as if she was on her way to deliver a parcel. Which essentially, the whole reason for her trip to begin with was to deliver her gift. She was also using it as a tool to talk to Stigtyr again, for when she sat down and thought about Aaja couldn't remember the last time that was. Maybe a month ago? Or perhaps it had been two or three? It had been a while, and that was the point that stuck with her. Having been such a long time since they last encountered one another the splotchy lioness began to think just how limited her social life had become. She hadn't seen or heard from many of her friends for what felt like forever. After all she had been too busy cleaning wounds and picking herbs to care about chatting up the latest gossip and news floating around the pride. Enough became enough at the point where she couldn't recall the last time she seen or heard from Dagny or Stigtyr. So today had proved to be the breaking point, and she was taking it off. She deserved a break to chat with an old friend at the very least, didn't she?
Her feet were her friends today for once. Aaja had somehow found herself near a less active, more lonely spot of the pride and was was about to sigh in frustration when she spotted a familiar grey head. Aha! So this was where he had been! She had to stop herself from excitedly running over and forced herself to walk slower than her usual pace. It would be bad if her eyes were deceiving her or if she darted off, dropped the gift and defeated the whole purpose of her visit. Oh gods, no, she wouldn't allow such a thing to happen! Aajamaak, when felt she was near enough, placed her gift at her paws, and then made certain that it was indeed Stigtyr she saw pacing before calling out to him. After all, his mane had finished growing and he was much bigger then before. All grown up, as was she, the lioness reminded herself.
"Stigtyr!" She neared, forgetting formalities, but then Aaja had never been one for formal greetings. Calling for someone's attention was good enough. Besides she could rarely recall all of the name's she heard day-to-day with the recent influx of reavers she saw as of late. Her eyes were drawn to his 'den' and she examined it, not once considering that this was now his den and home. She thought maybe this was a nice spot he liked to think about... Whatever Stigtyr spent time thinking about. It couldn't have been his home though, no, not at all.
"I brought you something." She reached for her gift. "I hope you like spices."
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Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2015 6:49 pm
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Kaliforneum Stigtyr's head snapped up at the sound of his name. Who could possibly be looking for him?
Well, taunt the lightning and it shall strike, as they said.
Not that seeing Aaja was akin to being struck by lightning. No, it was much nicer. Very nice actually. Stigtyr stood up in surprise, all at once surprised by how much taller he was in comparison. He'd stopped growing once his mane had finished filling out but...by the gods, had it really been that long since he had seen Aaja?
Who had brought him a gift. And here Stigtyr was, dusty and dirty, with no means to reciprocate with any form of hospitality. He'd chosen this spot as his own for its isolated position, not its ability to be turned into a den.
"Aaja! I was just thinking about you." Stigtyr wanted to slap himself. Why had he said that? Aaja didn't need to know that. "I mean, uh, spices! Yes, thank you, spices." Stigtyr took a whiff of the parcel, but inhaled much too deeply. The scents and aromas of the spices hit him hard, making his eyes water and his throat rebel. The male broke out into a coughing fit, rubbing at his watering eyes with his paws. "They smell lovely." He managed to say between coughs. He did mean it. He'd just taken much too large of a sniff.
Breathing starting to go back to normal, the grey male stared inquisitively at Aaja. "What's the occasion?" It wasn't Stigtyr's nameday, or at least he didn't think it was. If it was, then Dagny surely would have been by to remind him. The male was rather good at losing track of time amidst his studies. Furthermore, he didn't know why anyone would bring him a gift in the first place. There had to be some sort of holiday going on that Stigtyr had forgotten about. But try as he might, there weren't any that came to mind. Goodness, he needed to get out more.
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Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2015 8:03 pm
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Coughing finally under control, Stigtyr glanced back and forth between Aaja and the parcel, slightly taken aback. So...there was no occasion after all. Aaja had just dropped by to visit him and give him a gift? For no reason at all? Why in the Gods names would she do that? She wasn't wrong, of course. Stigtyr loved good-smelling herbs. Anything to mask the horrendous scents that some of the vikings had on them. (As long as it wasn't mint. Oh gods, anything but mint. He had Dagny to thank for that permanent olfactory scar).
But despite how much he liked the gift, he was left feeling grossly under prepared for this impromptu visit. He had no gift to give in return (and the male was strangely finding that he very much wanted to give one back, perhaps a little too enthusiastically for mere social obligation. But he would store that observation away for later analysis) and it wasn't as if he could invite Aaja into his den. Because he had no den. Just a rock and a tree.
"I would like to offer you some hospitality in return, but...ah," Stigtyr waved his paw about to his surroundings, now suddenly acutely aware and embarrassed about his state of living.
The male reached up to idly scratch at the scars on his face, a thought striking him all at once. "Oh, this, this isn't about my eye, is it?" He asked, somewhat shyly. Surely Aaja knew that Stigtyr didn't blame her for his loss of sight. Aaja had likely saved him from a nasty infection that could have rotted his brain out. Gods, he even been left with an eyeball instead of a nasty gaping hole. It made him sick to think that Aaja might feel guilty about all that and felt the need to give him gifts because of it.
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Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2016 10:37 am
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Stigtyr blinked a few times, staring at Aaja dumbstruck. He was the reason she wanted to become a healer? That...what was he supposed to think of that?
Given the damage to his eye, Stigtyr didn't think it was possible anyone could have saved it. He had always hoped that Aaja didn't feel guilty about it, and hoped that she knew he didn't blame her for not being able to fix it. And it would seem as if those worries were unfounded.
The male had suffered from many unfounded worries in the past few months, worried that he wouldn't be able to amount to anything, worried that he might have to live in his brother's shadow his entire life. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he and Aaja were very much alike. Though it had taken considerably more time for him, the injury to his eye had set Stigtyr on the right path in his life as well, studying under Torbjorn and Skada. It was funny, in a strange sort of way.
Stigtyr smiled. "I would say 'you're welcome,' but it feels strange to do so." He chuckled.
It was nice, chatting with Aaja. With the time he'd spent studying, he'd forgotten how at ease and calm he felt around her. Stigtyr wanted to spend more time with her. See her more often, hear her voice, see her smile...
The male's ears burned a little. Those kinds of thoughts were getting quite off track. Still, surely there was no harm in asking if Aaja was willing to stop by more often, or if he could swing by her den. The male cleared his throat a few times, stomach twisting in apprehension. "I, ahem, actually, I was wondering if perhaps you would like to spend more time together." He ventured carefully. "Oh! Uh, with me, I mean. More time...with me." Thunder and lightning, the words sounded so very juvenile coming out of his mouth. Stigtyr wanted to take them back and make Aaja forget she'd ever heard him.
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