Wolf RPG

With @Germanicus watching over the situation, Glaukos was brought to tablinum where @Aquene waited with her herbal stores. He did not look at her. He dragged his heels and slouched for part of the hike there, then when he came in to view of the hovel where she worked, he stood tall - as if he were proud for what he'd done.

In truth he cared little about her feelings. His face hurt and he was being treated like a fool for doing as he was asked; it had not been Glaukos that started the fight, and somehow being intent to defend himself and even end it, made him a target for Germanicus' rule of law.

He came to a halt a few meters away from the opening and sat down heavily, letting his weight drop against the dirt. One eye remained swollen shut and beneath it, from the lower segment of his orbital bone and down across his cheek, there was the thick slice from Kallik's tooth. Blood matted the fur there.

Aquene had made her way back to the tablinum to fetch Ruenna’s pain medication and take it to her… she was on her way back when she caught the sight of the towering man as well as the Imperator. She admittedly let out a hint of a sigh of relief, glad that the man was there even though she knew that he’d rather be with his wife in that moment. She could hardly blame him, and so she was going to treat as fast as possible. She had no knowledge of what their punishment was. She stood before Glaukos for a second with an analytical gaze. Swelling, bleeding, a cut… it was unfortunate that it was all on his face, but regardless.
 
It was hard for her to believe that Kallik did all of that, but she pushed that side for the moment. She could wrestle with those thoughts later. “It will not take too long. Please step inside.” It would simply be faster and she did not want to be around the man for longer than she had to. She moved over to her herbs, carefully drawing out the small hide tacos that hid herbs. She started with scrub pine, offering it to him though he could certainly choose to not take it. It was his loss if he did not. “Chew this for the pain.” She stated because while he was an auxiliary and clearly one with an attitude or a superiority complex or who knew what kind of problem… this was her domain, and her livelihood.
 
She moved over, taking one of the leaves she kept nearby to draw water from the pool in the back. She needed to clean some of the blood away in order to properly prevent infection and treat the wound, as well as to assess whether or not it was still bleeding. She worked fast to wash the blood away.

When Aquene arrived Glaukos did not look up. She issued some quick orders - that he follow her within the tablinum for treatment. He'd barely moved, but her voice was clear and precise.

When he did try to approach the overhang that was tablinum's entrance, he froze and sat just outside the lip of it. His eyes traced the angles of the earth where it rose up, as if it might swallow him.

Chew this for the pain. She indicated with a motion towards a pile of what Glaukos thought was some forest litter, and he only looked at it. The pain was a bother and kept him locked in a perpetually negative attitude, but Glaukos was used to it.

Aquene moved to clean his face next. The water as well as the herbs she'd grabbed immediately irritated the torn skin and made him tense, then wince. Glaukos moved his head slightly even though it strained his sore neck, so that she could have a better view of the wound upon his face - silent throughout.

He seemed resistant, and it irritated her though she schooled the irritation out of her face. It would do her no good to let anything other than the facts of his injuries get involved in the process to treat him. He ignored the offer of pain relief and she had to fight to not roll her eyes. What did she know? She was just the only fully trained healer around.
 
Either way, if he wanted to be in pain then that was his right. She quickly cleaned the wound, desiring to not be around the man longer than she had to be, especially knowing after he was treated she would get to see Kallik to treat his own wounds. Once cleaned, she stepped back and ground the poultice: lavender, yarrow and aloe mixed in water atop willowbark. She placed the cobwebs carefully over his wound before preparing to place the poultice. “This is going to sting but it will yield off infection.” She warned so he was not unprepared. The pain management would have been helpful in that moment, but again, to each their own choices.
 
She placed it, holding it there against his neck. It was not possible to place the poultice on the eye, but the chances of infection were lower there compared to someplace that would come in contact with the ground while laying or something of the sort. He remained quiet and she did not attempt to engage in conversation either. The awkward tension in the air hardly touched her as she simply focused on her job. Once it had time to soak into the cobwebs. “The cobwebs will need to stay on until they start to naturally peel.” She instructed. “The poultice is soaked into them so it will continue to protect against infection but it’s important for you to keep the area as clean as possible.”

She worked and he waited. Any exasperation she expressed was ignored; Glaukos was focused on keeping a handle of his pain without her help and was a little hazy otherwise. He needed only to be here long enough for treatment before being dismissed, and with Germanicus watching them both, the boy felt those eyes needling at him.

Next the healer was droning on about proper wound care or something. Glaukos caught bits and pieces of it as she worked upon the wounds on his neck and shoulder, his head swimming with each touch. He gave a few grunts as reply - either to the pain she was creating with her touch or to the warning she shared, it would be unclear.

He wondered why she worked so diligently to mend what had been done to him. Did she feel guilty? No; this was the act of someone doing a job, not someone with remorse.

It had been her fault that Kallik had been so riled up, Glaukos reasoned. It was her word that had sent the other auxillary after him at the training ring. First she had demanded training of Glaukos and then she had gone to Kallik to manipulate the other boy; that was the situation as he saw it.

She manipulated, like everyone else. Like any good survivor must. Glaukos could respect some level of that - he was a survivor too - but he had grown resentful after the spar had turned so violent.

She wasn’t sure if he was listening, but if he weren’t it was simply his own fault. She would not clarify again unless asked. He offered grunts in response, not a single word. A part of her had felt guilty for the role she had played in all of this, but something about his demeanor made any guilt or remorse fade from her. Later she might reflect and scold herself for taking such an approach, but in the moment she was nothing if not petty.
 
Still, she didn’t let the thoughts in her head affect her job. After a few minutes she was pulling the poultice back and offering a nod to the Imperator. “That is all I can do for now. Are you sure you don’t want anything for the pain?” It would be the last time she offered. “Make sure to keep it clean, watch for signs of infection in yellowing or whitening crust around the edges of the wound.” With that, her job was done and he was free to leave, made evident by her movement to start cleaning up the space and disposing of the waste from her materials to avoid it recirculating back into her collection.

Glaukos listened because he was there, and his ears worked despite one being a proper point and the other being clipped. He understood what she was saying to him.

He nodded a few times despite how unnatural it felt with the medicine applied, and got up to leave while Aquene outlined what to look out for. Given that the wound was on his face he'd have a hard time keeping track of its quality - if he even cared to.

Drawing a breath, Glaukos then went on to say, eh, hnm... thank you, with his eyes still averted from the woman. He turned to look at Germanicus properly as if to await dismissal now that the work was done.

Once given the chance to leave, he would do that.

Aquene trusted him to figure out how to keep track of the wound, be it through his own reflection in water or something else. Either way, she could not monitor it if he was not within her reach, which he would not be. She hummed softly, a simple nod of her head at his thank you. It was not necessary, nor truly wanted… she was just doing her job. “Yarrow, the plant I used for infection, has a very distinctive stem. If you start to notice symptoms of infection, you might be able to find it. You just want to grind it and apply to the wound. It could save your life.” She recalled, knowing that spotting infection would do him no good if he did not know how to treat it.
 
Despite how she currently despised the man and his behavioral problems, she would not wish to see him dead. She plucked a stem from her stores, setting it down in front of him for him to look at before he was dismissed. She watched him leave.