40th Ymiden, 718
He was better, Faith knew. She was even prepared to admit that he was a lot better, but still. She worried about Padraig, he worried about her, there was a whole mutual spiral of worrying, exacerbated by the fact that - courtesy the marks they both had, that they worried about each other wasn't something they thought about or surmised. It was something they both knew without a doubt because they felt their own, and each others, worry. Still, he had slept for more or less ten trials straight, other than the times when he ate or for brief periods of wakefulness. Thankfully, those times when he was awake had grown more and more; inevitably, he'd grown frustrated but she had stood firm in a way she found rather surprising. It was possibly the closest in their over two-arc long relationship that they had ever come to having an argument. Even then, close for them was a long way away from it for others, but she had told him quite clearly that, if he tried to get out of bed before she told him he could, she would hide his slippers.
He'd looked at her like she'd grown a second head. More than that, he'd had the good grace to not point out that he was perfectly capable of walking around barefoot.
His mind was a scientists mind and for all that his body needed rest and his emotions needed stability and nurturing, so too did he need to not go mad from boredom. So, when he'd eaten, rested and she'd used the Moseke-granted 'calming whispers' ability which was slowly and surely healing him psychologically, Faith had brought books and writing equipment and reminded him that they needed to make something which would allow her to see blood in a much higher magnification than currently. She couldn't do that, she said, and for all that he was resting, he could still be being useful.
They both knew what she did, and why she did it. It didn't need to be said.
So, for the last ten trials, Faith had spent longer in bed than she ever had in the soon to be twenty arcs of her life. She hadn't gone to work and had worked her shifts at the Order around him and his sleeping pattern. When she was home, she was with him; for some of the time that he was awake she brought the children in and they played together on the bed. Both of the twins were sitting now, Madison was chattering away, but she was making no sense at all. Noah, on the other hand, was up and crawling, trying to stand. Madison chattered to him and it was like she was giving him directions as he crawled somewhere, she told him off or giggled or some such and he did the same then came back. It was while sitting there together, a baby each on their laps and playing with a range of coloured shaped that Madison lifted her hand solemnly to Padraig's cheek and said, as clearly as could be. "Dada" There was no doubting it and Faith's eyes showed her amazement and delight. Noah, who was sitting on her lap, lifted his hand to her cheek, mirroring Madison's movements as they both did and Madison spoke again. "Mama".
Solemnly, Noah had clapped.
But for all that they were a constant source of delight to the young parents, they were tiring, and so - once she could see that he was starting to feel it - Faith made sure that the children had things planned with Katie and Cyrus, too. Once they'd gone off to the park, she curled up in the bed with him, propped up on pillows together and with books and notes and things and they'd talked through the creation of the Magnifier she wanted.
It had led to her writing to a man in Egilrun and putting in an order for some very specific things and so, that was why Faith was currently holding out her hand as Padraig insisted on helping her out of the carriage that she'd insisted they took. If it was down to her, she'd said, they'd have stayed in bed for another ten trial but he was going a little crazy there, so she'd agreed that they could take a trip to Egilrun. There was a nice Inn there, they could stay a couple of nights and see the lens maker. There were a number of lovely craft shops, she said and maybe they could get some equipment for both their labs when they moved. There were some Isonomia things she wanted to do and, Egilrun having been one of the more slave-filled places, she also wanted to check that it had done all the things in the remit given and that they had actioned all required points of law. There were Isonomia members there, helping with the transition and she wanted to stop by everywhere that was the case, before they left for Rharne.
So, Faith put her hand into her husband's and looked at him with silver and ruby eyes. "Would you like to go to the Inn first, or the lenses?"
He'd looked at her like she'd grown a second head. More than that, he'd had the good grace to not point out that he was perfectly capable of walking around barefoot.
His mind was a scientists mind and for all that his body needed rest and his emotions needed stability and nurturing, so too did he need to not go mad from boredom. So, when he'd eaten, rested and she'd used the Moseke-granted 'calming whispers' ability which was slowly and surely healing him psychologically, Faith had brought books and writing equipment and reminded him that they needed to make something which would allow her to see blood in a much higher magnification than currently. She couldn't do that, she said, and for all that he was resting, he could still be being useful.
They both knew what she did, and why she did it. It didn't need to be said.
So, for the last ten trials, Faith had spent longer in bed than she ever had in the soon to be twenty arcs of her life. She hadn't gone to work and had worked her shifts at the Order around him and his sleeping pattern. When she was home, she was with him; for some of the time that he was awake she brought the children in and they played together on the bed. Both of the twins were sitting now, Madison was chattering away, but she was making no sense at all. Noah, on the other hand, was up and crawling, trying to stand. Madison chattered to him and it was like she was giving him directions as he crawled somewhere, she told him off or giggled or some such and he did the same then came back. It was while sitting there together, a baby each on their laps and playing with a range of coloured shaped that Madison lifted her hand solemnly to Padraig's cheek and said, as clearly as could be. "Dada" There was no doubting it and Faith's eyes showed her amazement and delight. Noah, who was sitting on her lap, lifted his hand to her cheek, mirroring Madison's movements as they both did and Madison spoke again. "Mama".
Solemnly, Noah had clapped.
But for all that they were a constant source of delight to the young parents, they were tiring, and so - once she could see that he was starting to feel it - Faith made sure that the children had things planned with Katie and Cyrus, too. Once they'd gone off to the park, she curled up in the bed with him, propped up on pillows together and with books and notes and things and they'd talked through the creation of the Magnifier she wanted.
It had led to her writing to a man in Egilrun and putting in an order for some very specific things and so, that was why Faith was currently holding out her hand as Padraig insisted on helping her out of the carriage that she'd insisted they took. If it was down to her, she'd said, they'd have stayed in bed for another ten trial but he was going a little crazy there, so she'd agreed that they could take a trip to Egilrun. There was a nice Inn there, they could stay a couple of nights and see the lens maker. There were a number of lovely craft shops, she said and maybe they could get some equipment for both their labs when they moved. There were some Isonomia things she wanted to do and, Egilrun having been one of the more slave-filled places, she also wanted to check that it had done all the things in the remit given and that they had actioned all required points of law. There were Isonomia members there, helping with the transition and she wanted to stop by everywhere that was the case, before they left for Rharne.
So, Faith put her hand into her husband's and looked at him with silver and ruby eyes. "Would you like to go to the Inn first, or the lenses?"