A Goddess On Her Knees

[Threnody Mohr]

December 20th

• Her boots were high enough to keep her hem clear of the slush. That was the only thing Threnody thought she had going for her.
  
  Though the snow fell lightly, it was a damp snow, turned into the enemy by a recent warm snap. Snow was not the veela’s precipitation of choice at the best of times, but this wet mess was making it vex her all the more. Threnody sighed as the snow shifted to a light rain, ducking into the first shop she spotted to escape it in the hopes that the turn would not last long. While she could no doubt get a carriage home, it would be a hassle about which she was not thrilled.
  
  In the meantime, however, the veela elected to look about—though not closely enough. Transfixed by what appeared to be eyeballs (though too small to be human) in a jar, the veela stumbled over a wayward bench, falling to her knees beside another shop patron.

  

[Baxter Keene]

Baxter had been in a progressively worse mood over the last couple of days. He had nobody to blame but himself; he'd over stepped his boundaries and now one of his best healers had resigned on him. Basically he'd been an idiot and now he couldn't fix it. Needless to say it was making him extremely grumpy.

Even sulking in the house wasn't doing the trick, so he'd dragged himself to the Apothecary just for something to do. He'd been hoping it would get his mind off things, the familiarity of the dark, dusty shelves. It was almost working as he wandered through the aisles, distracted by the strange things contained on the shelves.

He wasn't paying attention to much else until he heard a mishap a short ways down the aisle he was currently standing in. Bax didn't see what happened, but he noticed the woman had fallen and he quickly hurried to help. "Are you alright?" He asked hesitantly, extending a hand to help her off the floor.

  

[Threnody Mohr]

• Veela were graceful by nature; the tumble was quite jarring to this one. It took her several moments to recompose herself, and she was still breathing deeply when she reached to accept the offered hand without scrutinizing it or its bearer first—a rarity, for Threnody would ordinarily be loath to touch someone unappealing.
  
  The pair got her to her feet with ease, though it was only after roughly brushing the dust from her skirts (they would need to be cleaned the moment she got home, Threnody decided) that the veela looked properly at the man who had come to her aid. “No,” she pouted by way of response. Falling hurt—both her person and her pride. “But it was very kind of you to help.”
  
  She wasn’t even flirting—for once—but was genuine in her thanks. The veela suspected she would look back upon this later and wonder what had happened to her.

  

[Baxter Keene]

Once the woman was to her feet and Baxter got a good look at her, he couldn't help but notice how attractive she was. While Baxter, contrary to popular belief, did see women in that way, he rarely thought of such things upon an initial meeting. He'd always been the kind to get to know somebody before deciding if they were truly beautiful or not, but in this instance it was instant; he wasn't sure what to think of that.

Glancing at the shelves of the aisle they were in, Baxter looked quickly, scanning for a certain ingredient. He stepped back a few paces until he found what he was looking for. Bilberry, perfect. He grabbed the container of the small dried berries. "Put these in your tea for a few days, it'll help any bruising." For some unknown reason he felt the need to be more than helpful in this instance and while clearly it was in his nature as a healer, a bruise was far from within his normal realm of artifacts induced injuries.

  

[Threnody Mohr]

• Threnody stared at him for a moment. She was accustomed to men wanting to aid her, but this one seemed to actually be useful in doing so—something with which she had little experience. For a second, she was rather incredulous—what if he was trying to poison her?
  
  But no, that was a worry for normal women.
  
  “And what makes you the expert?” Threnody joked lightly even as she took the offered jar.

  

[Baxter Keene]

"Healer's intuition." Baxter countered, feeling far more brazen in the moment than he ever had in the presence of a woman in his entire life. He couldn't put his finger on it, the need to be helpful, impressive, it was very unnerving. Or it would be if he were focusing on that and not the beauty before him.

"And far too great a knowledge of potions I'm afraid." He continued, as if it were a matter of the utmost importance that he prove his worth in this very moment. "I'm an assistant department head at the hospital, if that adds to my credibility." Bax added on, thinking he could find any number of things in the apothecary to help with the bruising, but the bilberry would do. "Any other aches I could help with?" He asked, oblivious to the double meaning his words could potentially hold.

  

[Threnody Mohr]

• A healer? That implied an impressive level of intelligence. And a position of authority, to boot! Threnody had always found authority to be seductive—Edward, after all, was captain of his team, and Abraham had owned a company (for all that she did not understand the company itself). That assistant was not quite head was lost on her entirely as the veela felt herself leaning slightly towards him: proximity had always been her most powerful weapon.
  
  At his invitation, Threnody took on her best woe-is-me tone as delicate fingers moved to clasp her shoulder. “My back has been making quite a nuisance of itself of late,” she responded airily, thinking it best to start small.

  

[Baxter Keene]

Back pain? Easy enough. "Ginger in your tea will help with that. You can mix the bilberry in too." Making ginger tea was easy enough, though Baxter suspected that the woman before him would not be doing so herself and therefore her household staff should know how to do it. "I suggest adding a little cinnamon to help the taste." Straight ginger tea was an acquired taste. A salve could also take the sting out of sore muscles, but that required a bit more medical knowledge than most household staff would know how to prepare correctly.

"A warm bath with lavender oil will help relax your muscles as well." Neither were long term fixes however. "Did you injure your back? If so you might need something more intensive." That was getting out of his departmental knowledge, though he did know quite a bit about herbal remedies. "A pain potion would also do the trick, but more so if it's a continuous problem." If it was an injury, the things he suggested would help abate the pain until the muscles healed.

Gee Thren your back wouldn't hurt so much if you got off it every now and then... ;]

  

[Threnody Mohr]

• Internally, the veela pouted. She had given him an open invitation to touch her, and he had responded by blathering on about herbs! While surely he was trying to be helpful, Threnody was not the sort to fuss about with tea—she had servants for that—and so it was hardly what she desired to hear. “It has come on only very recently,” she elaborated encouragingly. “Would you mind making sure nothing is terribly awry? Since you are a healer, that is.”

  

[Baxter Keene]

Baxter wasn't sure what else he could do for her in the middle of the store but he supposed, since the place was practically deserted and it was just near her shoulder after all, he could take a look...

"Let's have a look." He looked around the shop apprehensively one more time before stepping around her to see if he could spot anything right off the bat. There was no visible damage or bruising, well that he could see with the limited skin showing thanks to her dress. "There's nothing I can see..." He trailed off, switching into healer-mode, carefully prodding at her shoulder with his fingers.

Limited as he was, Bax wondered if she hadn't slept on it wrong or something similar. "It's hard to say, I might suggest if it persists, you see your physician, or stop by the hospital." It wasn't his department, nor could he see her there, but he could put in a good word.

  

[Threnody Mohr]

• “But the hospital is so dreadfully tedious,” the veela complained, though she kept a smile on her face as she did so. “Of course I don’t expect you to examine me in a shop, but I hardly live far away…”