I briefly stopped in the yurt before following Tulip so that Carmil could hop inside me unnoticed. I had already told the professor that I was still w with my blood elemental, so it might be odd to not have her respond in an expected way. Then it was clothing time for us plus Gina who o actually report to work herself.

  I couldn’t help but notice the tensioweeiked since I brought up how the captain had likely been flirting. It seemed to mostly be on Tulip’s end but there was some disfort from the orc as well. Oops, I sidered that I might have messed with her too much. Well I was about to spend a while with the adorable fuzzy faun so maybe my presence could untangle her heart.

  The walk through town was mostly unfortable because we were all headed in the same dire and until Gina split off from us literally within sight of our destination, there was quiet. I never uood the phrase ‘deafening silence’ before that moment. I damned well get it after.

  But o was just the three of us (or two from the professor’s perspective), she rexed and motioowards the building ahead. Stone and wood made up the outside of the massive building, though a sed floor external hallway/bridge ected it to a far more modern looking building beside it. The other building actually looked like what you might think when you picture a hospital. Steel and gss the most obvious materials in it’s stru, with nice rounded ers making it look more weling. The red butterflies painted here and there made it really stand out and scream ‘seek help here’. But our stop was the attached uy building.

  Tulip said this building was mostly bs, only a couple of lecture halls. Most non-b csses are in a different building around the er. But she exclusively taught here since her css is the final stage for students going into medical inscription and thus was almost entirely hands-on learning.

  And speaking of her b, wow. It was bright, warm green walls, soft furniture, and some very, very expensive looking aricraft equipment. Some of which were so big I don’t think Red and Brigg together could have moved them.

  Non-mobile indeed.

  Tulip closed and locked the door to the room and motioowards what looked like an exam table. “Make yourself fortable and hop on up.” Given permission, I stripped and id down. Wheurned back to see me she froze, but recovered well. “I suppose I did ask for this,” she huffed and shook her head.

  [You did indeed, Professor Merryberry.]

  That however made her startle, “Oh! Oh dear. Is that, are you the blood elemental from the triage bands?”

  [Please, call me Carmil.]

  “You tracted with miss Dreamsinger?” Tulip asked as she stepped over and started pulling some metallic aricraft arms over me, runes lighting up as she powered the systems. She recovered well, at least when she had work apparently.

  [I did, yes. We have bonded quite nicely at this point.]

  All teically true. I smiled. “So, initial thoughts?” I asked her.

  She let the devices run, magical energies gently sweeping over me. “I think that I o apologize for my aor. His work was brilliant, but the ethics of severing a being in body and mind like that are appalling. It’s a great shame for me and Oscar that the Empire still makes them.”

  [I appreciate that, truly. It was more than two turies of torment for me and to be blunt, I wish your aor was still alive so I could kill him myself. But you are not him, and I think I’m getting an idea what you’re looking to learn. If I am right, then I would be most happy to assist you.]

  Tulip blinked. “Wow, I figured the altered runes would make you smart, but you are far more intelligent than I was expeg. If you’ve realized my goals, that helps.”

  I cleared my throat, “Hi, ignorant uneducated savage here, what’s the goal exactly?”

  “I want to make triage bands obsolete by repg them with something that either doesn’t require aal at all, or works with a whole o the very least.”

  I raised my eyes in uanding. “Elementals ’t tract to an object, which is why the bands use a fragmented ohe pieces are trapped somehow.”

  Tulip sighed and nodded. “A medical inscriber will tract to a blood elemental, have it temporarily inhabit a whole, pre-cut set of bands, and then perform a ritual that severs the bands and elemental and binds them together. This breaks the trad the elemental’s strength and fuses it with the newly severed bands. It works only because most elementals are not what we might call fully sapient and ’t uand the things being doo them.”

  [I certainly didn’t have the capacity to foresee my betrayal, no.]

  “Wait.” I drew my brows together in fusion. “You know I have questions now. First, if the elemental reform if the bands are all together, why keep a set all i?”

  Tulip smiled a bit, “That is a good question, I wish more of my students asked mood questions. Firstly, the risk i is insequential. They would need a living thing to draw mana from directly in order ter the process of ref.” She shifted one of the arms down over my runes, close enough that I could feel the heat ing from the metal.

  “Sed!” She tinued. “They have to be kept together. They are still teically one being in a way no one ever figured out. Get them more than about fifty yards apart and they start degrading. As in, the elemental dies. The risks are manageable because there is no be to more than one band and a simple warning is was enough to stop even the dumbest soldier from spping them all on.”

  [But not magically brain damaged o seems.]

  “Oh yes, let’s all gang up and bully the crippled war vet with amnesia. That’s totally not mean and horrible at all.” I grumbled. “And for the record, I did think it might go very badly but I was…” I paused and took a breath. “I think some part of me didn’t mind dying for some reason. At least not if it meant the elemental was healed and free. I think I said something like ‘at least one of us should make it out of this’ before everythi dark.”

  [And I am eternally grateful that things went the way they did. I am far more now than I was and experieng so much I couldn’t have before.]

  One of the devices rinting out something on a sheet and Tulip rushed over to read it. “Oh, oh that is iing. The runes aren’t on your skin. Or, they are, sort of. But it’s irely your skin anymore?”

  “Oh yeah, the bands sort of fused with my arm. It was less than fortable at the time.”

  The prof looked at me with a raised brow. “That had to be extremely painful.”

  “To be fair, I was in far, far more pain from the hunk of shrapnel and spreadiic rot in my leg at that particur moment. I also have Pain Tolerahough it was rather overwhelmed during that week or so.”

  She gnced down at my prosthetic. “Ah, yes I imagi was easy to deal with something that would have been much lesser paratively.” She paused and chewed on her lip, clearly in thought.

  “What’s up Tulip? You seem troubled.”

  She looked at me, taking in my naked body in a way that I quickly realized was not at all sexual. “How do you do it?”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “Deal with people staring.”

  I took a breath, “Well, it’s not always easy even with my fort with it. Holy I think it’s less being naked is fortable and more being one of the Path is. Path folk don’t care beyond ‘is this person friendly’, at least ohey get the ‘she got champion whammied’ expnation. So people don’t actually stare as much as you’d think. I think most Path folk know what it feels like to be stared at and don’t want to cause that disfort in others so they choose to just not be assholes about it.”

  “So… you don’t feel like a freak there to be leered at like a sideshow curiosity?” I reached out with my free arm and beed her closer. She paused but moved to the side of the exam table and I took her hand in my own.

  “Do you want to tell me where this is ing from? I get the feeling it’s not just casual gnces from being rare here.”Her shoulders lowered and her fingers iwined with my own. It was not as intimate as I would have expected, I think she was just looking for some fort while she brought up a painful memory.

  “When I was fourteen, our parents were executed for ‘inpetence’ by the regional governor of our home because they couldn’t fix some medical problem he had. They were brilliant doctors, if they couldn’t help him he couldn’t be helped.” A small shrug held years of pain behind it and I squeezed her hand. “Me and my siblings fled the Empire. It was a scary, horrible, heartbreaking time. Our you sister didn’t make it, it was winter and she froze one night. No, don’t say anything, I’ve had nearly three decades to heal. It hurts but I’m okay.”

  She took a deep breath. “But the real hurt, as far as this? We made it to Blue Bounty and a family took us in immediately. I think they felt like they had to, sidering they found us and my oldest brother was still carrying our sister’s body, days after… anyway. We had a home finally.

  “We fit iy well after a year, found work, made friends, and then, I met someone.” she smiled but it was sad, this did not go well I imagine. “She was this orc farmer’s daughter and I was so giddy over her. I have such a thing for the strong fident tomboy type. So when she asked me out I was over the moons. For about a month. Then it started to bee obvious she didn’t actually like me. I was just…”

  “An iing freak?”

  She let out a bitter ugh and nodded, “I fronted her and she admitted it, I was devastated. So pletely heartbroken that I packed up to leave that very night. Oscar refused to let me go alone. We traveled for a few months before we got here and made our lives in Beaver Valley.”

  “That was decades ago though, right?”

  She sighed, “I ’t stop thinking any time someone shows i i’s because I’m…”

  “Well Giainly has clear i.” I said as I kept my grip on her hand to keep her from retreating.

  “That, that is just her being friendly and even if it isn’t… wh-what if she’s like them too?”

  “Military job aside, she’s Path. Or at least Path enough that I seriously doubt that she’d be like that. Besides, if she really said those things that’s more of a ‘trying to find out the kinds of dates she’d enjoy’ talk than just trying to be near you. That’s a really good sign.”

  She looked at me and her fur fluffed up in her racial blush equivalent. “That… that’s ridiculous.” she turo look at the far wall. “Besides, she’s got that Jaina girl now. Even if I wanted anything I was too te.”

  I ughed, “Tulip! She’s PATH. Monogamy isn’t really a thing for most of us.”

  “What? But, but that’s… How do retionships st like that?”

  [unication. Something this idiot is still learning, but learning well. You set ground rules for your retionship. You discuss what is okay and isn’t. When things happen you talk about them. When new people e into your lives you discuss them.]

  “I have two women I love deeply, powerfully, I would give up anything for them and they know it. We talk about things together. Even though I really o talk more, hold things in less.” I spoke calmly, smiling at the professor.

  [You are learning, beloved.]

  “Wait. You and the elemental?” Tulip’s eyes widened.

  [We have some difficulties, but we are happy together.]

  “Extremely. I love Carmil deeply. She and Luvetra are my heart, beating outside my chest.” I smile down at my ruhen I looked at Tulip, “Do you like Gina? Please be ho with me.”

  She sighed and nodded, “I’ve been falling for her for nearly four years now. But I’ve been so scared to say anything. Worried about her having someone else. Worried about her being like my ex.”

  [You seemed very happy to watch her with someone else at my beloved’s punishment.]

  Tulip’s fur fluffed, “That.. that was-!” she swallowed and squeezed my hand agairemely arousing okay? I think I like watg.” I ughed softly and she gred at me without malice. “Why am I telling you all this? I don’t tell ahings like this!”

  I blushed at this with the ti little lump of guilt in my chest. “So, I miiiight have a passive or two that make people open up to me. I’m a Mender after all.”

  Her eyes went wide, then she narrowed them at me. “Oh. That… so you figure what, you help me while I s you and you get an eveer deal on my services?”

  I snickered, “Not at all Tulip. I’m a Mender, do you think that kind of Css goes to people who manipute and abuse? A css category dedicated to helping people?”

  She cleared her throat and looked embarrassed. “Oh, no, no I actually have Mender co-workers, I know better personally. Not that they’ve mahis much. You must be really good at this.”

  “Actually I only got the css a couple days ago. But one of my passives is an unlisted one from my… ge. It’s rather powerful and works more when I’m toug a person skin to skin.” And I wiggled her hand a bit. “Apparently it works eveer when I’m fug someone.”

  She fluffed again, “Yeah well save that for your partners.” she muttered, gng at my did then quickly looking away.

  “I would be happy to t you among them. But only if you were fortable with that. And Gina for that matter, I think once you two start dating then-”

  “Whoa! Hang on, that is a lot to throw at someo once!” she bit her lip and looked over my body again. “But why do you assume Gina and I are going to be dating anyway!?”

  “Because after you’re done here for the day yoing to find her, and ask her out.”

  She sputtered and fluffed harder, her normally smooth fur looking like wool nohat!? What makes you think that will happen?!”

  [Because dear professor. If you do…] and Carmil flowed from the runes and formed o the gaping faun. “I’ll let you examine me.”

  I smiled “I love when you know where I’m going with something, beloved.”

  Tulip looked her over. “You? You were ient! You’re Carmil!? You’re a blood elemental!?”

  Carmil’s hands rested on the professor’s shoulders, “Breathe dear. Yoing to hyperventite.” As she slowly took several long, slow breaths Carmil smiled “I have ged quite a lot and I think my new form could help your work a great deal. And sidering the implications of said work for my people I would happily submit to testing, even invasive testing. But I want you to go on a date with the captain first.”

  “Oh!” I grinned, “A double date! I did promise you time together at a cafe, didn’t I?” I gave my love a smile.

  Carmil slowly turo look at me, eyes widening and lip trembling. “You remember that? You were feverish, over one hundred and five at the time, you were rambling about halluations and missing your mother, and you remember me asking for a date at a cafe?”

  I looked into her eyes, “I remember the important things more often than not.”

  “I love you so much.” She leaned over and kissed me softly.

  Tulip cleared her throat, “Um… in-ierests of sce, I suppose I could-”

  “No.” Carmil cut her off. “No excuses, ask her on a date because you want her.”

  The faun took a breath. “Okay, okay I do. I want her, romantically and ally. There, are you satisfied?”

  Carmil and I both nodded. I smiled, “I promise you professor, the feeling I got from her was that she felt bad that you rejected her. She likes you for you, species be damned.”

  She looked at me and opened her mouth and I fell through the world before she could speak.

  fusion filled me for several moments as I watched the exam room above me rapidly growing father away and an infinite dark envelopihis felt familiar. It ended suddenly and I was on a rocky shore, a wide river o me with gentle waves. There was a small boat ier, rog calmly, it looked a, but sturdy. Aended bow reached up and curved into a hook holding an old oil ntern with a soft blue fme i.

  I heard someone clearing their throat. The sou somehow… eternal. Like all of time itself was making it, if that makes any sense? I sat up and turowards the sound and saw an older man in gray robes with a long oar resting on his shoulder. He smiled at me for a few moments before he spoke, “You know, I’m starting to think you fot about me, friend.”