Cheers II

[Reaver]

(Continued from \'Cheers\')

As they walked down the dusty pathways, Magnus stepped carefully over potholes and avoiding any other possible ankle-twisters. However, his mind was more on what Galen had said. It was true, and he was glad Galen was a man of dedication rather than greed. Normally, men of medicine were either basic surgeons, or dedicated to the highest payer. It was good to know that someone was actually interested in helping those who needed it most.

Grimacing at the dust stirring around his legs, he pulled his cloak tight to keep the clinging stuff from his clothes and weapons. He hoped Galen didn\'t have another patient to go to today, or he\'d have a hard time cleaning up first. It reminded him of a battle. Everytime, no matter what they did, they would all end up caked in mud, blood, and a number of other things that they prefered not put a name to. Even when they cut the enemy down with arrows, they\'d have to retrieve them from their kills, or misses, and that always meant treading through the muck of trampled ground or viscera.

Eyes roaming over to Galen, he spent a few moments in silence, pondering. A warrior walking alongside a man of medicine. A man who fights to take life, and a man who fights to preserve it. The combination was strange, awkward, yet he felt drawn into conversing with him. It was giving some great soul-wretching confession, or something just as important. He found himself trying to count the bodies of all his enemies, wondering if he even had the right to talk to Galen. The nightmares that visited him at night always had him washing his hands in the morning, rubbing away at some imagined, crimson stain.

[DoTheLimbo]

Galen watched his feet as they walked down the pathways. He didn’t want to trip on anything so he kept his gaze firmly down. The doctor was noticing as he got older his nighttime vision was beginning to fail him. He held tightly onto his doctor’s bag, not wanting it to fall and spill his sanitation supplies everywhere. Galen tried to think of something to say while they walked, but couldn’t so instead he enjoyed the clean outside air. Breathing in deeply, he glanced over to Magnus before placing his gaze back on the path.

Galen had no more patients that day, in fact today was suppose to be a day off for researching. The call for surgery was rather immediate, but originally the surgery was suppose to happen that weekend. Galen was use to changes in his schedule such as this however and took no extra notice to it.

Once Galen was sure he had a steady balance of walking without falling over, he moved the strap on his doctor’s bag over his shoulder. His hands now free, he reached up and took out his ponytail. The man’s auburn curls cascaded around his shoulders and framed his face. For a couple of steps they freely bounced, escaped from the constraints of the ribbon. Galen ran his fingers through his hair a couple of times before pulling the curls back together and tying them up. The curls clumped back together to form the ponytail.

With his hair back in place, Galen glanced over at Magnus. “Is something troubling you?” He asked noticing a rather tortured look on the other’s face. Galen could not possibly imagine what the other man was thinking about. Instead he thought perhaps the alcohol was affecting Magnus to be sick.

[Reaver]

Magnus smiled. "I just find it ironic that a man of battle is talking to a man of medicine. It\'s an odd combination. Perhaps, the alchohol has freed my tongue more than I thought it had." Smile turning into a wolfish grin, "Perhaps, I needed to balance my crazed mind a but by talking to someone who understands the other side of the spectrum." That last word was one he had found in a book once, and beamed with pride at having used it right. His studies with Sigvald were coming along slowly, but they were both learning. That was what mattered.

He kept the rest of his thoughts to himself, and instead delved into a different topic, one that he had been curious about for awhile now. "Have you been living here long?" He watched Galen from the corner of his eye, still watching the path underfoot. A treacherous place indeed.

Galen didn\'t seem to be impatient or worried, so Magnus assumed he either had a free afternoon or had prearranged plans. A very carefree attitude, it reminded him of Valdis. Thoughts of Valdis threw his mind into a dark corner again, wondering what the girl was up to. A sister to him, he constantly worried over her. Now, they were in unfamiliar lands. A new playground for her mischief.

[DoTheLimbo]

Galen thought for a moment about what Magnus was saying. He kept his gaze down at the pathway as he listened. Galen supposed that Magnus had a point. Many of those he spent time with were not battle-oriented and his teachings were never of battle. He worked with soldiers now and then but he despised how they handled problems most of the time. However, Galen constantly reminded himself that people were people because once you cut open a body of a solider it is no different than a body of a field worker. He nodded to show that he was understanding what Magnus was saying. His features frowned in thought, his age showing.

Galen was too busy considering what Magnus was saying before he could answer. Instead Magnus continued on with a question. Galen glanced up at the question, placing his gaze on Magnus instead.

“Oh, I was born here. Lived here ever since and have never traveled.” He responded. Galen continued to watch Magnus as the other’s features changed. The man’s mind must change very quickly, Galen thought to himself. As he thought this, his lack of concentration on the pathway was punished.

Galen tripped over a pothole. Losing balance for a split-second, Galen’s body fell forward. His other foot stuck out quickly and he placed weight onto it. He hopped forward for a couple steps. Perhaps if he had been younger he would have made it out of the fall without a scratch. However, Galen’s knees buckled at the hopping and gravity pulled him to the ground. Sticking out his elbow, he tilted his body to the side as quickly as possible. Landing with a loud thump, a sharp pain went up his left arm and hip. Galen breathed outwards, the breath sounding like a hiss.

[Reaver]

Magnus nodded, his suspicions confirmed. The man would be well known then, at least in this area for his work. That explained a lot. He was about to mention that he had only been here a short time, having moved from the cold North, when Galen tripped.

The moment Galen went down, Magnus had his knife out and sheathed it only seconds later, realizing the source of discontent. He started glumly at the pothole before kneeling at Galen\'s side. "Afraid I can\'t fight those. You alright?" He glanced at Galen\'s left arm, hoping it wasn\'t broken. He knew how much that would trouble the man\'s profession, and knew it was a painful process to heal from.

"Anything I can do?" He figured he could carry Galen, or find a cart, or even help him back to the inn. First though, it would be better to find out if he was alright or not. If he had hurt a leg or hip, then the problem would be worse. Hopefully, it was just the arm. The way he had landed, Magnus couldn\'t figure it out. At least, not enough to make a safe guess.

[DoTheLimbo]

Galen winced in pain before shifting his body weight up. Sitting, he placed his hand on his injured arm. His fingers felt around, his eyes looking up at the sky in thought as he did. When he hit a tender spot, it showed in his expression and he moved his gaze down to his arm. After rubbing it a couple more, he glanced up at Magnus.

"Not broken, but it\'ll be tender for a few days." He offered a faint smile. Galen next moved down to his hips. It was very rare where he would have to check his own injuries. He gave a small chuckle as he moved to check his knee with his hands. The doctor didn\'t realize that his laugh came right after Magnus had asked to help until a second later.

He instantly looked up apologetically, "I\'m sorry. I was laughing at the thought of how lucky we are that there was a doctor on hand." He check his knee before continuing, "Well, I think I am fine. I\'ll be sore for a while and I need to get a cane." Galen moved to stand up, "Uhm..." His cheeks flushed before he asked, "However, it would be really helpful if you could let me lean on you to perhaps get back?"

[Reaver]

"Just don\'t get frisky." Magnus laughed, a rumbling that came right from his belly. He hoped Galen would appreciate the joke, but he offered a hand to help him up anyways. "Of course you can lean on me. Wind won\'t blow me over, and I\'m not quite that drunk yet." Raising an eyebrow, he glanced back down the street. "Where do you want to go? Can head back to the inn, if you\'d like."

Grinning through his teeth, "I wouldn\'t mind another drink. Plus, I have a room there, not like I have plans elsewhere." He wondered how the man would get back home. He certainly had some sort of work to do, right? Perhaps he hadn\'t been exagerating about his customers. If they were all around here than it wouldn\'t be as bad.

If that was the case, maybe he even lived nearby. That would make things remarkably easier.

[DoTheLimbo]

Galen paused before offering a polite chuckle. It wasn’t often that the company Galen was in made jokes such as those. Whether it was because of his line of work people usually hushed up or it was because Galen made it obvious he was uncomfortable towards over-the-top colorful humor. It usually took a couple of wine mugs before Galen would join in on jokes. Just because Galen didn’t partake in loud humor when sober didn’t mean he thought less of those who made the jokes. The uptightness of Galen’s humor was caused by a mixture of his profession and bitterness towards his late father.

Taking Magnus’s hand, he lifted himself up. As soon as he was standing, Galen’s knee gave and he fell against Magnus. Trying to keep his body weight light, he reached his arm around Magnus’s shoulders and supported himself there. In order to try and balance this position, Galen kept his injured leg’s foot off the ground.

Once settled against Magnus, Galen squinted through the dark. He was attempting to calculate how far away his house was. From the Inn, it was a whiles away already but Galen hadn’t expected to be caught up in conversation after his surgery. The doctor looked at Magnus as the other offered his room up.

“Well… we can go back to the inn. I’m sure I can find a cane there, the innkeeper probably keeps one about. My home is quite a walk for a drunk and an injured to go through in the dark.” Galen offered a small smile.

[Reaver]

Magnus grunted with the added strain. "Drunk isn\'t quite a problem. But you have a point. To the inn then." That meant more drinking, perhaps some more conversation with the interesting fellow, and then who knew what. Magnus had been planning on visiting Valdis to see if she had gone about trying to join the guards yet, but perhaps he would just relax tonight.

He hadn\'t \'just relaxed\' in quite sometime. He worried though, about how the doctor would get home from there. He could fetch a small cart, or perhaps walk him there once he had a cane. It would be much simpler to rent him a room for the night. Magnus carried enough coins for it, and the men should probably keep some weight off of his injuries for awhile.

[DoTheLimbo]

Galen nodded, hopping a little bit. He glanced at Magnus before speaking up again, “I’m sorry. I didn’t even ask if you had anywhere to be.” The doctor shook his head and made a mental note that he would have to remember to owe Magnus a favor.  

Galen waited for Magnus to start off, ready to hop along with him in time. He decided once they got to the inn he would buy Magnus a round of drinks if that the man took the offer.