Saun 8th, 717
The woman sighed heavily, her eyes glazed over slightly. The "Biqaj" was anything but happy right now, a slight bubble of anger rising up in her chest. All she wanted was a little work, but no, if people were going to go to a healer they were going to go an expensive "High Quality" healer. Aqihlih had little experience, little proof of her might as a woman of the medical arts. Most of her work had been done when she lived under The Doctor, and he usually kept her in the back room and took all the credit for himself. "This is bull crap," she growled under her breath. The Rakahi words naturally slipped off her tongue without having to think too much about it. They sounded fluent, completely authentic, as if the crystal creature was really born a Biqaj. She supposed she had her mother to thank for that. Her mother had been adopted by actual Biqaj after her real parents had died. Aqihlih didn't really know how her maternal grandparents had managed to kick the bucket, but she did know that the Zyq'Ufnaj were willing to take her in, thinking that she was an actual Biqaj. The woman smirked to herself, fleshlings were so stupid. So easy to manipulate. They could never see what was right in front of their faces. Unfortunately, they weren't stupid enough that she could trick them into buying her services. She supposed that was okay. She was starting to run out of healing supplies anyway. When she first started out she would use the supplies left over from The Doctor. She'd taken over his house, might as well steal his stuff too. Slowly she'd been running out of supplies. Though she could buy new herbs without much issue, the problem started to come up when she needed things like new knives or stitching materials. "I wonder if any of the doctors in the area need and assistant," she muttered to herself. Most towns had some kind of healer or doctor or, hell, even a damn alchemist was better than nothing! She'd talked to a few healers in the town, and were there ever "a few", but none of them seemed very interested in helping her out. "All the more reasons to hate them," she huffed.
She supposed a lack of supplies didn't get in the way too much. She was a healer just starting out as far as the people in the area knew. She was supposed to be cheap. Her highest expenses always came from Fox Glove anyway. She couldn't go more than a week without carving someone up, and trying to hack through bone tended to dull one's knives. She smirked to herself quietly, there was no denying the satisfaction it brought about though. She'd have to tone it down though unless she started to get a costumer influx really quick. Maybe if worst came to worst she could finally start selling organs like she'd already planned to. The problem came with her own worrying. She was scared of getting caught as it would be hard to escape. She had yet to start developing extra forms, she hadn't even thought about trying to get an animal form yet. It was just so, so much work. The thought alone made her want to cringe. Practicing the new forms day and night was what brought her to the idea that maybe she should wait. Not to mention it would be hard to find an appropriate target. If she had the ability she could always start capturing people, saying she'd let them live if they helped her get a new form and then killing them before they could spill. It might even be fun to kill a person using their own face. But again, that would just lead to her getting caught if she wasn't careful, wouldn't it?
"Excuse me?" A voice said, kicking her out of her thoughts. The interesting part came with that accent. It was fluent, true blue, Rakahi! She felt a smirk start to grow on her features.
"Coming!" She called out in a rather sing song tone. She put in the common place smile that was supposed to be Laurel's trade mark. "What can I help you with today sir?" She asked as she opened the door. She'd turned The Doctor's house into not only her sleeping area but a makeshift kind of doctors office. In the center was a table with two chairs, fashioned into a makeshift desk. There were shelves strewn about showing off the various medicinal objects she had, despite half actually being poisonous. "So sir, why did you come here today?" She asked in a chipper tone, her smile warm and full of sunshine. Her eyes glinted happily as she slipped into the well practice facade. Her second skin.
"Well, I've had a bit of a cough for a couple days now. My wife's been getting on me about seeing a healer, but I don't trust any of the healers in the area. I only speak Rakahi, never found the point of learning common. But it's been a pain ever since my family and I moved out here to Scal," the man said.
"I get it, you used to live in an area with a lot of us. I completely get it, it must have been hard to adjust. I know my mother went through something similar when she moved here," the woman said, trying to make pleasant conversation. Her face was soft with a certain kind of empathy only another outcast could show. Though her situation was a little different.
"Exactly! I don't trust any of the other healers in the area to know what's wrong with me. Certainly don't trust them enough to not swindle me in exchange for some pricey tonic," the man grumbled, his expression bitter. Suddenly his face lit up, "but that's when I heard about you! A Baqaj healer that's completely fluent in Rakahi! I knew you'd be the perfect person to go to."
"Of course, I'll get you fixed up real quick. You'l be right as rain under my care. Just tell me everything about what's wrong and I'll be able to know what to do," she told the man.
He nodded, his face scrunching up as he began to think. "Well, my throat's been sore for a good number of trials, seven or eight at least. I didn't think much of it but it's been a while and it's still here. My throat only gets more and more sore by the day, it's miserable. Plus, my nose has started to get clogged up too," he complained. It took a great deal of self restraint for Aqihlih not to roll her eyes and sigh. But Laurel had far better control than that, keeping up her happy smile.
"I see, it sounds like you just have a simple cold. Sometimes these kinds of things happen," she said. It didn't sound serious, though it did sound a little longer run than most cold are. "Have you been getting proper sleep? If you've been working your body too hard then it likely hasn't had the time to heal properly, which might be an indicator as to why it's been around for so long," she said.
"You can get a cold during Saun? I thought it was too hot for that," the man said. His face was completely shocked like the woman had told told him the secret of the universe.
"Of course you can get a cold during Saun! You can get a cold any time of the arc. People just tend to get more sick during the cold seasons because they're inside more often. It's easier for disease to spread. If you've been around anyone else sick then you've likely found your culprit. Rare doesn't mean impossible so make sure you take that into account next time you work yourself ragged. Even in Saun, colds can gradate into something far more dangerous if you aren't careful! You need to get proper rest," she lectured, her smile disappearing for a moment while she took on a stern expression. Despite how much his stupidity was annoying her, Laurel had to be grateful for the chance to take on her natural persona without breaking character.
Putting the smile back on she sighed in a "what am I going to do with you?" kind of manner. "I can give you a tea that's going to help with the sore throat. It's a mix of things like mint, chamomile, honey, and a couple other things to help you get over the cold faster like ginger and some dried lemons. The combination isn't the most pleasant to taste, but it will sooth the throat while also helping you to fight the cold. I would recommend two cups every trial before bed as the chamomile can help you sleep, which might be hard if your throat hurts as much as it sounds like it does. You can make this kind of thing at home, but I can give it to you for a little bit cheaper, not to mention better quality," she said as she wandered over to one of her shelves. "If you don't take it for a full seven trials then it's not going to do its job properly. Even if your throat starts to feel better, don't stop taking it!"
The woman reached for one of her shelves, her hand hovering for a moment. The tea was right next to another tea that she mostly gave out as Fox Glove. It was a mix of various poisonous herbs. If she gave him this he would likely be dead by morning and she could track him down for experimentation. At the same time it could easily be traced back to her and Laurel needed to have good reputation. Her hand moved to the tea that would help him. It needed to be kept in a dry, dark place so she usually kept the tea bags in a small ceramic pot. She pulled out 14, as the man was going to need them for 7 trials.
"Alright, here you are sir!" She said with a giant grin. Together the two worked out a price, talking over what he could pay and when he would pay it all by. After the man left the woman flopped down on one of the chairs with a long sigh. Her head fell backwards and she groaned. "It's not much, but it's something. Was it even worth it considering he can't tell anyone about me?" She wondered to herself before shaking her head. "Even if it's not enough to buy supplies, at least it can buy me enough booze to stay alive for another season," she laughed bitterly.
