[
@Draconian !]
Just leave it to Siobhan to pull this off.
Just leave it to Siobhan to finish a risky mission, dispatch a villainous mage, get through it all without a single
hitch, without a single
scratch, without a single
misplaced hair, and return home, tired and dirty but
heroic--only to fall and land on a nail while doing routine repairs around the barracks.
That was Siobhan's life, and that was exactly what happened to her that day, after rough weeks spent out on the field doing death-defying missions with high stakes! Oh no, she couldn't take a sword to the arm or something and come back with an impressive scar she
earned. Nope. It couldn't have happened when she was surrounded by bandits and held at sword-point. Nah. It had to be when she was hanging from the roof to repair the gutter, which decided to break under her weight.
Gritting her teeth, her hand held to her side, Siobhan limped her way toward the physician's home a helpful lady had pointed out to her. Luckily it wasn't too far away. Very lucky. Because she had a rusty nail embedded in her hip and it hurt like Ansgar's wrath! Of course, anyone looking at her would just note that she was walking funny. Her hand covered up the protrusion, because she was afraid of it bumping anything and also because...it just looked bad.
Just the quick glimpse she'd gotten of it made her want to vomit, but she heard you shouldn't remove something that had been stabbed into you!
Stepping up to the door, she knocked on it several times. "Um, hellooo? Hi, hello, anyone there? I've got a..." She lifted her hand briefly to look, and paled all the more. "...A problem."
Fred was concerned.
His sister, Medina, had been acting funny all week, quiet and moody. Doing little else other than sewing and eating all the food. A glare off into nothing before he burred his nose back into a book. Was that a knock? No... No it was just the wind. Fred glared down at the book, reading the words but not remembering anything so he kept having to go back to the first sentence and now it was just frustrating.
A... No, was that a voice?
Fred jerked his head up and blinked at the door. Who was knocking?
Why was someone knocking?
Standing up, he fixed his shirt, pushed his hair up and away from his face so it stuck up awkwardly and made his way to the door. Usually people let themselves in. It wasn't until he got into the waiting room - a row of chairs in a hallway across from a series of doors that led to a kitchen and a reading room. A place for tea and non-sick patients to wait.
In the hallway, on his way to the door, Fred stopped suddenly.
The wave of nothing crashed through him like a wall and he pressed his hand to his chest for a moment. It was like having the air ripped from his lungs and it took him a moment to get situated. The intensity of it could mean one thing.
An Adhara.
Fred gave a shiver, his mouth went dry and he took careful steps towards the door. For the most part his demeanor was the same, except now just a little bit more hesitant. Just a little bit more careful.
Finally his hand was on the door and he opened his carefully, blinking at whomever was on the other side just as they said they had a 'problem'. "You know you can let yourself in right?" He said, smiling before he noticed the womans hand. Someone cupping something meant one thing and instantly he reached for it, gentle calloused fingers gently pushing away the hand to see...
"Oh... That looks more like a nail than anything else," Fred gave a comforting smile towards the woman. The Adhara. No special things for her then, it seemed. "Come on, you made it here, you'll have to make it to the room." Gently, Fred guided the woman to the room he'd been reading in, the book tucked off to the side. It was a bare room, a raised table, a few chairs. Supplies off to the side. There was a cabinet full of linens and fabrics which were usually enchanted to promote healing but with the woman here, they were little more than cloth.
"I'll need you to get onto the table and lay down," Fred said softly, apologetically, " We'll fix you up in no time, Honey, don't worry." And while he helped her onto the table, he went and got supplies. Gauze. Tweezers. A numbing agent and various cloths and a bowl warm water. "Why don't you tell me about yourself while I work?"
Oh, he was young! And here Siobhan had been expecting a wrinkly old man. But this guy was friendly and cute, the sort of man she'd totally hit on if she was into men, and Siobhan made her way to the table as he escorted her in, and climbed up onto it with his help--and a fair amount of internal cursing. Never external! That was rude and unladylike and not fit for his ears or her tongue. Still, it hurt when she moved, but she managed to lay down with only a hitched breath when her side stretched, and she laid her hands on her chest just above her breasts to keep them out of the way.
All the while she watched him gather up his supplies, hoping it wouldn't be anything horrible.
Like, please no blood-letting or leeches! She didn't think she could handle leeches!
"'Bout me?" she said, drawn from her thoughts as she jerked her eyes away from the gathered supplies. There were no sharp knives among the things she'd seen. That had to be a good sign! "Oh, well, I'm just one of them Adhara, y'know? Name's Siobhan! Siobhan Abel! Not that ya asked my name, but I figure that's part of like tellin' ya about me, eh? Uh. So I'm a Lily. And um...I was born under the Scales. Like, the star sign, I mean, the one with the scales, y'know? Not like lizard scales, but whatcha weigh coins on. Aaand...I like lilies, but they ain't my favorite flower, even though they're great 'cause I'm like a Lily so I should like 'em. But I like sunflowers best, they're so bright 'n' happy! Also I like dogs and..."
She trailed off and looked back at him. "...And I'm talkin' lots. What's yer name?"
Wow.
She could talk.
Fleetingly while Fred pulled up her shirt to examine the wound and the protruding nail, he wondered if she could talk this much normally. Nervous talkers were a thing, he'd got to hear all about someones pet cat and the life story of several of the kittens during a regular check up once or twice. While she spoke, Fred went about working, applying a numbing agent and letting it sit for a few moments. Gently touching around the wound.
An Adhara.
That made things a little more difficult. There would have to be returns to check up on the wound.
"I am Doctor Savage," He said softly, leaning in and giving another eyeful of the nail. It'd just have to be removed.
Without warning, Fred pulled the nail out. The numbing would have helped a little, but he'd learned early that warning them only made them tense and all the more jumpy and he quickly put a piece of cloth over the hole that the nail left behind. He put it off to the side and pressed the clean cloth to the wound, putting pressure on it.
"My name is Fred," He shot Siobhan a bright smile, "And sunflowers are my favourite too." He commented idly, taking a peek at the wound which was indeed, still bleeding. So, while he pressed against her side with the clean cloth he processed the information she'd told him.
"So..." He gently pushed the shirt up and what he could of her pants to expose more skin, not wanting to ruin her clothing with the blood - If there was one person who knew the staining powers of blood, it was him. "How do you go about getting impaled by a nail?"
WHOA DAMN!
Siobhan yelped when, abruptly, he yanked out the nail! Just like that, no warning! The yelping was more from sheer surprise, though. It hurt, certainly; whatever he'd put on her had numbed some of the pain, but not all of it. Still, it didn't hurt as much as it otherwise would have, and it just felt more...weird. The strange sense of pressure and pulling, and the sudden sense of relief that came with it.
Her body certainly appreciated it!
"Oh, jeez! Is it out? Didja just yank it out? Ow..." Siobhan looked down at her side, which was covered by his hand and the cloth, and then back up at Fred--and the nail he held. Which answered that question. And at the sight of it, she visibly blanched. That thing was...way longer and bigger than she'd realized...
She swallowed hard past the nauseated feeling that started to bubble in her belly.
"Oh, uh...what I did?" she repeated faintly, not caring that her shirt was pulled rather far up, something she would have found dastardly immodest in another circumstance. She swallowed again. "I, um...repairs." She nodded. "Was doin' repairs. I was up the roof, see? Fixin' the gutter. But then the gutter went and fixed me!"
Siobhan barked a weak laugh at her joke. "Geddit? 'Cause I was nailin' it but it decided I needed to be nailed, too!" She snorted, grinning weakly, and then cleared her throat and sobered a little.
"...That's to say, I fell on it."
He didn't move his hand and only lifted the cloth to place a new one down. The bleeding was slowly and he frowned gently at the simple inability to help better. Still, that little piece of him that would naturally channel his magic into healing was sealed off and just a little bit, he felt claustrophobic. It felt like he had a limb stuck somewhere and he was unable to get it free or move it.
The medical sciency-part of Fred found it fascinating. The fact Adhara and Mordecai could cut him off from something that came so naturally to him.
"It nailed you good," Fred quipped, probably an inappropriate comment from a doctor. Still, the Sunflower loving Adhara walked right into and as a young person, Fred couldn't not offer his own comment. Finally, the bleeding slowed and he took a small bowl of water and paused, "This may sting and feel weird," he offered gently before flushing out the wound.
Soon enough the water red and he'd put the last piece of cloth over. Perhaps it was because he was a natural healer he knew just a little bit better than non-mage doctors. He wrapped her middle with cloth to keep the bandage at her side and he pressed it has against it again.
"There you go. You'll have to come back in a few days so I can check up on it and make sure it's not infected. You can rest there while you gather your wits." Fred offered gently and smiled and leaned back against his desk where he'd put the bowl of water and the nail. Gently he picked it up and looked at it, "I haven't seen you before though, Siobhan, are you just... Around?" Part of him hoped she'd leave soon, simply because if she was around none of those enchanted cloths would work and that would make even more work and check ups for him.
Ooh, that did feel weird! Weird since she could still kind of feel the water flushing out the wound, and weird because her skin was mostly numb there which created a...really weird effect. Slightly stinging, mostly cold and wet. Siobhan squirmed a little, but it was over fast, and then he was bandaging her up and...
That was it?
Thank God! She had half been convinced she'd need surgery!
She touched a hand to her side where she was still all numb and poked at the bandage and the wound beneath it. Poke, poke, poke. That felt so weird! And she was still poking lightly at it when she realized he was speaking to her.
"Me? Nawww. I'm from here! Well, not here here, but Uthlyn in general! Kinda. The outsides of Uthlyn. Small village a coupla miles away. But ain't been here in a while! Y'know, Lily work and all. Takes ya places. Makes ya go all over! So I go where they tell me to go so I'm sorta, yeah! Around. Around all over." She gave a little nod and a smile, turning her head to watch him--and staring a bit more than she probably should have.
Jeez. He was seriously really cute.
Nice lips and eyes...
"Ain't see ya before, either, Fred!" she said, and poked at her bandage again. "Then again, I ain't been sick often, or beat up. Ya been here a while?"
[I totally forgot Fred and Medina lived in Reajh |3 ... So they are here on business. And stuff. lololol]
Fred reached out and caught Siobhan's hand, giving her a leery look when she kept poking it. This girl would most definitely be back because of an infection, he knew it. On some level, this was the kind of girl that would probably poke at her own wound so much she'd get it dirty.
"I'm just here on business, we live in Reajh." Fred smiled and then paused, "My sister and I. She had a fitting and I had books to find." Fred stayed quiet for a moment and looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was behind him.
The girl had to be staring at something.
"Only here for a few weeks, then it's back to our home." Fred smiled and turned away for a moment, "Did you want a cup of tea? Some water?"
[LOL WHOOPS! xD]
Fred caught her hand, and Siobhan blushed lightly--both from the shame of being caught poking at her injuries like a child, and because her mind had still been tumbling around that weird sort of attraction she felt. For a guy! It wasn't like she didn't notice attractive men or anything; she could tell when a man was smokin'! She could look at a man and think, yeah, I can see why ladies would want to ride him like a wild stallion, but he didn't get her own blood pumping or loins tingling.
Yet here she was, heart picking up its pace. What the...? Maybe it was because he was pretty. Slightly androgynous looks, and she had to admit, she was a sucker in that in the ladies, too. She gently withdrew her hand and smiled sheepishly.
"Tea would be lovely!" she said. "With a lil' sugar if ya got it. So yer gonna be here a week, huh? Good! 'Cause I'll have to come back fer a check up, won't I? Make sure this ain't gonna get all nasty?"
"A few weeks," Fred corrected kindly with a smile, stepping back and holding out his hands to help Siobhan off the examination table. "I imagine it will be difficult to drink while on your side, yes?" A slightly entertained smile and a wink before he helped her down, careful of her side. Giving a fleeting wish that he could do more.
This was an active woman.
Which meant it was a potentially very dangerous injury.
"You can take a seat here," He directed her to the chair at the desk where he usually sat, "Or follow me to the kitchen. I'll go set up the tea while you decide, hmm? It's the first door on the right, the left," Give Siobhan a moment to get her bearings. A few of his patients had been the type to not lose their shit or have a moment to calm down unless they were alone. "Just hollar at me if you can't make it to the kitchen and I'll bring the tea to you alright, Siobhan?"
Fred went to the kitchen, the day had been quiet - thank goodness - and went about preparing that tea.
Hrm. Wait here or go to the kitchen?
It didn't take long for Siobhan to decide. One good look at all the doctor-type equipment in the room, and the bloody nail he'd pulled out of her, and Siobhan was on her feet. Her side twinged at the movement, aching, but it was a duller ache thanks to whatever Fred had put on her.
She followed after him at a slower, more cautious pace, her hand pressed to her side to try to soothe the pain away. "Do ya got cinnamon tea?" she asked as she stepped into the kitchen. "I looove cinnamon tea. What kinda tea d'ya like? As long as it's not peppermint, I say! Blech. Peppermint's gross."
Fred slyly returned the peppermint tea back into the cupboard, staying quiet before extracting a plain herbal tea for himself and - lucky for Siobhan - cinnamon tea. The cupboards were well stocked, which was good, considering the price they were renting this house a few weeks for. It was a bit of a scam, but it had been 'an emergency' and the dress needed to be 'fitted right now!'.
A sly glare at nothing while Fred set the water to boil.
"I like peppermint tea," Fred said over his shoulder, shooting her a sly grin, "I won't force you to have it though and you're lucky, the cupboards have that tea you want." The screech of the kettle and he went about pouring the hot water into their cups before he set it to the table, setting them down quickly and rubbing his hot palms on his pants.
"So... An Adhara," He started, going for idle conversation, "I've never met one, is that like..." He tilted his head, looking her over, "Do you ... just... " Fred couldn't even think of a technical term for nullifying mages. Being close to her just made him... Not work. "Do you have to think about it or does it just happen?"
"Blech," Siobhan said, sticking out her tongue and wrinkling her nose like a cat that had tasted something offensive. "Ya can have all yer nasty peppermint tea. It's all yers!"
Rising to her feet, she took that as an invitation to rummage through his cupboards for the tea. She found some tea bags, and placed some of the loose leaf cinnamon concoction into one, tied it off, and then returned to the table and plunked it into her cup.
Sitting back down, she laughed at his question. "Oh, it just sorta happens. I don't even gotta think 'bout it! In fact, that sounds like it's be pretty hard...havin' to think 'bout it to do it." She furrowed her brow in thought. "Be like...be like havin' to think to breathe or beat yer heart."
Another pause, and she let out a soft groan. "Ughhh, now I gotta think to breathe!"
Fred stared for a long moment, blinking a few times before he threw back his head and laughed.
It was a surprised laugh and he looked back at Siobhan before he began to laugh again, grinning brightly because now he was thinking about having to breathe, too.
"Don't start thinking about blinking or that you can feel your tongue in your mouth," He teased, taking a sip of his tea and looking at the adhara over his cup. A brief moment of him sticking his tongue out at her before he grinned again, putting his cup down and shaking his head at her.
Now also aware of his tongue and that he had to blink his own eyes.
[This was a mistake. B| All of this was a mistake. BECAUSE NOW I'M MANUALLY BREATHING AND AWARE OF MY TONGUE ALSIHGAKLJJSH.]
Siobhan let out a sputtering laugh at his words and then mock glared at him, her eyes narrowing to slits.
"I weren't thinkin' 'bout that," she said, and spooned some sugar into her tea. "Not until ya said somethin'!"
[ THAT'S OKAY BECAUSE ME TOO.]
Fred grinned wide and took another sip of his tea.
"Well, you started it." He teased, "But don't worry, no one is immune to those words. No one." Slowly he played with his cup, warming the palms of his hands on the mug.
"Do you enjoy what you do?"
"Yeah, but I wasn't gonna take it that far!" Siobhan said with a snort, and stirred her tea to melt the sugar.
At his words, she paused and peered up at him, then cocked her head like a confused puppy and lifted an eyebrow. Did she...did she like what she did?
Did...huh.
No one had asked that before--and, honestly, she'd never stopped to think about it. She pursed her lips, and tapped her spoon on the edge of her cup to shake off the droplets.
"Ummmmm...yeah?" she said, and cocked her head to the other side. She scratched at her head. "I mean, like, it's s'pposed to be real important and stuff. Real rare, us Adharas. And we're doin' God's work and all, so that's real important I guess." She licked a little stray sugar off the spoon. "There's some not-fun parts, but there's fun parts, too, and lotsa pretty ladies."
Another pause, spoon pressed against her lips. "Uhh. By that I mean, uh, we get to dress up. In pretty stuff. Pretty armor." Nod nod!
Doing God's work was real important, she guessed.
Fred just stared at Siobhan for a moment. Entertained mostly. Never in his life had he ever met someone quite like this. In such a position of power but... So flippant about it. The woman had just fallen on a nail and now she was sitting drinking tea with him like it was nothing.
Then again, he'd used a large dose of the numbing agent so perhaps that was helping Siobhan be her usual self.
Which was apparently a very bubbly woman.
"Yes, I've noticed the Adhara are generally quite beautiful," A sly smile, a raised eyebrow, "Well, the one I've seen is quite beautiful. Is that part of having your power? You're just... Lovely to look at?"
The numbing agent definitely didn't hurt! Pun intended.
Siobhan took a dainty sip of her tea, and was swallowing it down when Fred made his comment. Or was that a pass at her? Siobhan flirted enough that she knew when someone was flirting with her, and her cheeks lit up with a rosy blush at being called beautiful, lovely.
She tucked some hair back from her face, preening just a tad!
"Maaaaaybe," she said with a wide, innocent smile. "We are a buncha super virginal pure maiden warriors of God, after all! So that's probably gotta count fer somethin'. 'Cause, ya know, like virgins in stories are always used fer sacrifices an' what all. 'Cause they're all pretty and pure and got super special blood and all. So that's like us, only like...we got super powers to do God's work and look pretty doin' it." She puffed out her chest proudly.
She liked to think she had the best of both worlds. She'd done things and had orgasms with ladies, and wasn't interested in doing things with men, so that meant she was technically a virgin according to folks, but she liked to think it was also a hidden loophole that made her juuust shy of super virgin-hood, which meant, hopefully, no one would be trying to use her in any sacrifices. Because that would be shitty. Because being an Adhara, she always thought, was basically like having a sign on your back that said, "Get your virgin sacrifices right here!" And she was so not about going out like that.
At least the girl was easy to talk to.
Fred was had opened his mouth to speak, to mention that she was a blessed individual indeed. Then she opened her mouth again and it floored him.
"I'm sure we're far past virgin sacrifices, Siobhan," Fred supplied helpfully, taking another sip of tea and smiling into his mug. Obviously she hadn't meant to say that, the glazed look in her eye for the few second after her speech and then bursting out with the phrase.
What a strange woman.
Fred found himself quite enchanted. In a weird way.
"I'm sure the last thing they'd do would be sacrifice an Adhara. Maybe just try to make a martyr out of you."
Bwa...whaaaat?!
Whatever glazed look had entered Siobhan's eyes quickly dissipated when Fred spoke, her eyes going wide first with confusion and then dawning horror.
Oh my God did I say that out loud?
Yes. Yes, she did.
Her pale cheeks went up in flames, making her freckles stand out all the more, and she clapped a hand over her mouth as though that would take the words back. "Ohmigaaawd. I didn't--oh God I thought I was usin' my head voice! I didn't mean...uh...ya must think I'm a weirdo now, huh? I wasn't thinkin'--sayin'--nothin' 'bout ya, I just...I got...uh...distracted."
Fred grinned brightly, watching Siobhan slowly go red.
"Miss. Siobhan, you're simply adorable." A bright grin and Fred could momentarily forget how cut off from himself he felt around her. Could appreciate this strange woman was the source of his inability to do magic. For the time being he was just... Fred the Doctor. Not Fred the mage doctor who totally didn't cheat a little when it came to healing people.
Go out on a limb.
Do it.
Do it, Fred, she's an Adhara and you're going to be going back to Reajh in a few weeks.
"Could you come back for more tea?" Fred found himself asking, looking off to the side a little awkwardly, "I mean... Aside from the check up. It's a little lonely here and... You seem nice."
Whoa, whoa, what?!
He was asking her over again? For more tea?
Surprising herself, Siobhan blushed, and was confused at her own blush. It was just tea! Why was she blushing?! And over him? Unless maybe she did like men? But...she didn't normally! And she was probably getting way ahead of herself, because he could just be being friendly, no alternative motives at all, except she'd grown up all her life with people claiming men and women couldn't just be friends and that men always had an alternative motive.
She'd even had her heart broken once, when her best friend growing up, William, tried to kiss her when they were sixteen. He'd stopped being her friend when she wasn't interested, but she still didn't believe it was impossible to have male friends. Right?
Was this courtship tea? Or just friend tea?? Or just tea tea?
"Heh. That sounds almost like titty."
Her eyes snapped back up to Fred with another hot blush, worried she might have said that out loud. Which she totally had. And she quickly cleared her throat. "Tea sounds great! I'm always one fer tea! Um, ya mean just like tea just 'cause, right? Like, I don't gotta get hurt 'fore I come visit ya, do I? I can come not-bleedin'?"
Titty?
Fred's eyebrows went up and he just stared at her for a moment before he cast a quick glance down at himself and then at the tea and then to Siobhan. Titty. Subtly he brushed a hand down his top, checking to make sure all the pieces were in place before he brought his drink to his lips to take a sip. Mostly to hide his smile and refrain from the chuckle.
Titty.
"Please do come, not-bleeding!" Uh, "Come over, I mean." Frowning deeply, Fred's eyebrows went up and he coughed into his hand, now blushing himself. What a pair they were. Titty's and come. Oh boy.
"I've only got free time here, maybe patch up a few little wounds but other than that it's just... Reading medical texts." A brief glance to Siobhan's waist, "How do you feel, by the way? Not too much pain?"
Was...did he just make an innuendo?
Ohhhh maaaaan.
And why wasn't she bothered by it? Why was she still blushing? Ahhhh!
Siobhan rubbed a hand over her face, which felt unusually warm. At least she wasn't the only one making an ass of herself! That made her feel better, at least, and less the fool.
She was still trying to gather up her words when she followed his look to her waist--and then snapped her eyes back up. "Oh, that? It's fiiiine," she said with a little wave of her hand. "Hurts, yeah, but it ain't as bad as before. Feels much better without a thing stickin' in it!" Unable to help herself, she gave her side an experimental poke, and winced.
"I prolly shouldn't do that, huh."
It took a lot of effort not to laugh at her.
Fred chewed on his lower lip and stared down at the ground before he carefully sipped some tea. "N-no... You shouldn't poke it." He reached out a hand to grab Siobhan's hand and give it a pat before he placed it on the table. The sound of the door could be heard, followed by a woman saying Fred's name.
"Ah, that must be Medina," He smiled at Siobhan, "In the kitchen!" He called to the newest guest.
Said woman wandered into the kitchen, a bag slung over her shoulder, full to the brim with fabrics and various sewing tools. A tall woman, the resemblance between the two was striking with one of the few differences being that her hair was much longer and she was wearing a dress. The swell of a pregnant belly was also a tell-tale difference.
"Oh, you have a guest?"
Fred smiled, "Yes, Siobhan! The poor girl landed on a nail, so I'm tempting her thoughts away from her wound with tea before I send her on her way," He looked away after a moment and Medina looked a little worried before it melted into a smile.
"I'm Medina. Fred's sister." Another look to Fred and Medina rubbed her hand over her tummy before she went about making herself a cup of tea, smiling to Siobhan before she exited the kitchen - off to her room to nap and read a book and then sew the dress she'd spent all morning measuring for.
"Sorry, Medina is a seamstress and we're here on special business for her." Another little smile, "Do you do anything besides... Adhara..." Fred frowned slightly, "stuff?"
"Hi, Medina!" Siobhan greeted for politeness's sake, but she didn't try to keep the conversation going past that. The woman looked tired, and considering her pregnant belly, she could see why! She heard women got pretty sick and tired when they were carrying, and thanked Ansgar that that was an issue she would never have to deal with as a Knight!
After all, she was supposed to remain "pure".
Haaah.
As soon as Medina was gone, she looked back to Fred and squinted at him. Maybe that was why she found him so attractive. That induced in her an odd sense of relief. No wonder! It was because he had a beautiful sister and he looked like his beautiful sister! Kind of! Made perfect sense! Sort of.
"Oh, I do lotsa stuff! Like, I like to ride horses and play cards though I ain't good at 'em and some people say it's a sin. Bettin', I mean, though I never bet! Used to like cookin', though I ain't good at it. It was fun, though! Ya do anythin' aside from doctorly things?"
Fred paused.
Did he do anything besides doctor-y things?
"I garden." For herbs, for doctor-y things. Fred licked his lips and pursed his lips, staring down at the table. "I really don't. My life is.. Doctor-y things." He paused, smiled slightly and leaned in, "you could teach me how to play cards?"
"Really?" Siobhan brightened at that, perking up in interest, before she narrowed her eyes playfully at him.
"Even though it's sinful?"
Fred took a sip of tea before sitting back, "it's only sinful if we gamble." A smile and he shrugged, "besides, I do enough good for Ansgar that I shouldn't get into too much trouble."
Siobhan's eyes went even wider. "Is that how it works?" she asked, voice hushed. She leaned in a little closer, glanced around conspiratorially, and then looked back to Fred.
"Yer tellin' me if I do a lotta good it'll cancel out the not-so-great?"
Fred burst out laughing, surprised.
"No, that isn't." A wide grin and he crossed his arms over his chest, "but it's cute that you'd buy that. Being a... Nun or..." Fred squinted slightly, "whatever you are."
"Lily!" Siobhan said with a puff of her chest. "Knight of the White Lily! Not a nun . juns wear funny clothes and never get outside and don't fight and stuff. Lilies are waaaay more awesome."
She stuck her tongue out playfully at Fred. "But I'd be happy to teach ya cards. Even though ya called me a nun."