Carefully, Kay set the small hawk aside on the table (still nestled in her cloak). Turning back towards the concerned faces of her other companions, she sighed, then more calmly requested "Now if I could get some help with pulling some of this stuff off, we can look at the damage together ...". Awkwardly, she started tugging at her oversized wool tunic, flinching every time fabric brushed against a scrape or that one sore area on her ribs.
Louis was quickly beside her. As gently as he could he helped her out of the extra clothes, taking care not to touch her or any layer of fabric that lay directly against her skin. Finally, everything except her uniform lay in a messy pile under the table.
Kay gave him a small frown. "I'm NOT so fragile that I would break into a zillion tiny pieces", she insisted somewhat irritably. "And how do you expect to see anything unless you help me get my uniform shirt off too ? Being temporarily shirt-less won't bother ME; so the sight of my bra shouldn't bother anyone else either", she continued to protest. And anyways, right now, there was no more than a dull ache (and occassional sharp pains) where she could normally feel the tingling sparks of her Gift. But she was almost grateful for the fact that she could still feel SOMETHING there -- it proved to her that her Gift was still at least partially-functional. Every OTHER time it had recovered; hopefully this time wouldn't be any different.
Louis sighed. Did she have to be always so hostile? He was trying to HELP, after all.
A sudden wave of hurt feelings brushed against Kay's already-raw nerves, abruptly making it clear to her that she'd just stuck her foot in her mouth -- again.
Then she sighed and added "Louis, my friend, I think I understand WHY you're being so cautious. But I'd suggest that you either trust that my silk gloves WILL block enough of that weird stuff that happenned before ... or you might as well just stick them back in my pockets. Your hands aren't so large that there's any chance of you bursting the seams by accident. But please make up your mind QUICKLY; I'm starting to get cold without my extra layers".
"I was waiting for you to finish your lecture, milady", Louis said ironically.
"Do you torture _ALL_ your friends like this ?", Kay replied teasingly. Then she sighed again, frowned and complained "Right now there are _three_ things I'd like to do. The first one is _SLEEP_, which I don't dare to do --- not until I know whether we'll be founds by friends or foes. And the other two things are because _YOU_ happen to be here ...".
Then her expression softened. "I can't decide whether to hug you 'cause I'm so intensely grateful that you're here ... or whether to shove you out the back door before anyone dangerous shows up. Yet I don't bloody damn well dare to do either of THOSE. Hell, I almost fried _both_ of us the last time, when we started to blend together. And right now, my head aches like the world's worst hang-over, and any touch of fey power feels like a low-voltage live wire".
Louis looked down. "I...I'm sorry. Shouldn't have said that..."
Ceroill's mind caught hold of the phrase "wierd stuff that happened before", and realised that the doctor had probably experienced some of Kay's talents already. "I think I shall go watch with your friend", he muttered, and headed up the stairs. If he were younger, perhaps he would have found the developing scene interesting, but as it was it was more unsettling and embarrassing. Besides, a gentleman is not present when a lady is disrobed. And anyways, if Kay and Louis were going to quarrel, he had no desire to witness it.
Kay blushed beet red. "It's ONLY underwear !", she giggled, "It's not as if ...". Then her voice suddenly trailed off, as she realized what a mostly-naked woman would mean to most men. A vision of the Red Sun House floated up in her mind, and she frowned. Why did men think about sex so often ? "OH! ... nothing like THAT ... I wasn't ... I mean, we aren't .... it's only ... ", came a bunch of jumbled half-sentences.
Then a sigh, as Kay shrugged, finishing "Oh, never mind ... just try not to startle Anwyn when you go up there. She's a good kid. So, if you'd like, you might want to tell her about ... ummm ... last night; even the weird stuff. She doesn't know that much about the fey, but she's seen weird stuff before (but _differently_ weird, if you know what I mean) and she didn't freak out on me".
Oberon tried hanging on to Ceroill's shoulder at first, then rather irritatedly flew on up the stairwell, and settled on the top newel post. Why did humans always have to be so slow in everthing they did ?
Kay giggled again. Shoulders were certainly not the most stable roosts. That was part of why she'd cradled the little hawk in her arms rather than try to convince Amadaine to ride her shoulder.
Now that the two of them were alone together, Louis blushed and looked aside. He took several deep breaths. What was wrong with him? He was a doctor! Nudity wasn't something that strange to him...Not something that made him blush all the time, at least!
Turning back to Louis, Kay gave him a small grin, "So, are you going to help me get my uniform shirt off, or not ? I bloody damn well can't do it myself".
"If you shut up long enough for me to take it off...", he said. This was really getting into him. He was usually very patient.
A single tear welled up and ran down one of Kay's pale cheeks, "I'm ... sorry", she apologized, feeling rather guilty, "None of this is _your_ fault in any way. _I_ was the one who got myself into this mess ... and now it looks like the rest of you are likley to end up paying some of the consequences of _MY_ foolishness. It's selfish of me to want you to stay here; you'd be safer back at the Base, at least for now. And I don't _want_ to quarrel with you ...".
He gently touched her face, still a bit afraid of the consequences. It felt good to be able to touch her, even if it had to be with gloves.
She smiled warmly at him, but it was still no more than the warmth of friendship. Kay made no further complaints as Louis helped her ease off her shirt; not even at his obvious surprise when he realized that she was wearing a sports bra instead of being bare-breasted underneath. However, she made no other comments either. Unsure of saying the _wrong_ thing AGAIN, she didn't know how to answer what she had seen in his eyes when he'd stroked her cheek.
Kay had never let herself feel like _that_; not for anyone. The closest that she'd ever come, was when she'd read that feeling from someone else. Some small part of her wondered if she even _could_. The energy of sexuality was carried in the same channels as the energy of her Gift; wouldn't the twodifferent varieties of energy interfere with each other ? What if it was dangerous for both to flow in her channels at the same time ?
Eventually, she noticed that he'd turned his attention to the battered consition of her ribs. Part of her felt ... relieved. But another part felt ... dissapointed.
Half a bold rainbow of colors were splayed in a wide stripe across one side of Kay's bare skin. They stretched from the top of her shoulder to the waistband of her uniform pants, and spanned the entire range of the sullen shades of extensive bruising.
The doctor examined her carefully, at first just with his eyes. Then he started touching the bruises very softly, asking her to tell where it hurt more.
In several places, Kay frowned, bit her lip, or spat out a cuss word. But in other spots, the background amount of ache drowned out any further sensation. And it seemed rather odd that sometimes her reaction was out of proportion to the apparent amount of damage.
"Apparently everything's in order", he concluded, "It's strange that you describe it in a way I could think something's broken, but you're ok...".
Kay stared at him in surprise. "NONE of them are broken ?", she exclaimed doubtfully. She bit her lip nervously, then ventured a quick glance down. Despite her worst fears, it was JUST bruised skin.
He shook his head. "No, they aren't."
"There must be _something_", she insisted, "or are bruises suppossed to hurt this much ?". Every breath made her ribcage ache. And every so often there'd be a sharp jabbing sensation, as if something sharp was poking her from the inside.
Louis sighed. "These are just bruises. BAD bruises, but nothing's broken. Though we could have X-rays to be 100% sure about that.
With her good arm, Kay pointed to a spot that was a couple of inches below her other armpit (and beside her breast). "Either there's something _there_ that's poking me ... or it's a really vicious hallucination. It comes and goes with no apparent pattern. But I can feel it, and it's strong enough to drown out even the ache in my head".
The doctor gently touched the area she'd indicated, pressing it lightly, and shaking his head for himself. Then he pressed his fingers against the bones in her back, shaking his head again and sitting back. "No...nothing, everything's fine there..."
If Anwyn hadn't chosen that moment to come racing through the kitchen, Kay likely would have continued the argument. But as it was, this was a more than adequate distraction.
Louis looked at the girl quizzically. "Expecting anyone?", he asked Kay.
Kay grinned at him. "If we're lucky, it's Melissa, and a fellow initiate of my religion, and a trustworthy person with veterinary training. You remember Melissa, don't you ?", she answered. Then she paused, and frowned. "and if it isn't them ... then we're in VERY BIG TROUBLE ...".