C'est la vie

[aceso]

WHO: Christine + OPEN
WHAT: A catch up post.
WHEN: Kingsway 8th to the start of Harvestmere
WHERE: Skyhold + off somewhere with Korrin
NOTES: Mention of the death of a loved one possible?

Part of her wishes she could have stayed with her mother, but now that Maman was living with Uncle Pierre, Christine knew she was safe (and that her uncle wouldn't want a mage in his house). Besides, she has her duties to the Inquisition as a healer and a researcher of red lyrium. When she returns, she plans to throw herself back into her work, but the new addition to her life has other plans.

{ adventures in dog-sitting }
The dog is her mother's. She repeats this to anyone who asks after the lively little fellow, lest they think she actually chose to adopt him of her own volition. Oh, no. This duty was put on her by a woman blubbering into her handkerchief, asking what was to become of her precious Poncelet because her brother wouldn't allow her to bring him. Uncle Pierre is a real ass. But Christine takes this very seriously despite her dislike of ill-behaved canines. She watches little Ponce like a hawk, and it takes awhile for her to warm to the idea of anyone else looking after him. But she does give in because she needs to work without a yapping dog at her heels. One day finds her marching after the prancing dog holding a broken leash in one hand.

"Ponce, sit. Sit." But every time she approaches to try and catch him, the dog scrambles further back, thinking it's a game. The poor thing has spent its life with a sickly woman who never played more than tug-of-war with him. It's time to have some fun.


{ at the healing tents }
It's business as usual for this healer. Christine spents her day attending to patients, both bedridden and walk ins. When not doing that, she can be found in a tent with an opened flap, mixing up potions or poultices. It's quiet, repetitive work that leaves far too much time for thinking. Thinking about her father and the opportunity she missed to ever know him. She has gotten most of her tears out, but at times she stares off into space, tears collecting in the corners of her eyes. Sometimes Ponce can be seen sleeping on a pillow in the corner, his leash looped under a chair leg so he doesn't run away. Whenever someone enters, however, he wakes up and starts barking at the stranger.


{ creating a spirit blade }
Once she returns from visiting her mother, Christine throws herself into as much as possible, and one of those things is becoming a Knight-Enchanter. She's watched Korrin wield her blade and has seen how long her barrier can sustain itself. It's something she wants to pursue, so she makes contact with Commander Helaine and is impressed with her forward manner. She's instructed on the book to read and given two kinds of items she must collect to form her spirit blade. The reading comes first, naturally. And once she's understood everything written, she and Korrin head out to gather the supplies. First is the Exalted Plains for lazurite. No one can blame her for putting off a return to the Fallow Mire for wisp essence.


{ learning to ride a horse }
Another skill Christine wants to have is learning to ride on her own. She knows it's terribly inconvenient to always be asking others on missions to let her ride with them. Her first lesson is with one of Master Dennet's apprentices and she's grateful he starts her out on a very tame mare. She does her best to follow instructions, but can't help being stiff on the horse's back for fear of falling off. If others approach, her voice is high and breathy as if she may be in danger of passing out or at the very least shrieking at any unexpected movement.

Once the lesson is over and her feet are on solid ground again, she's more amenable to chatting and explaining why she wishes to learn.

Comments

[youwonscience]

"Well then, I guess while I'm here, you might as well. You need me to walk you through what you're looking at, or do you have a chart to consult? Or is that not how spirit healing works?"

She assumes all the healers know more or less what the victims had been through, but it varied a little and Cosima has the complications of a chronic illness on top of it. Then again, at least she's very well-versed in her own medical history, to the extent it's available.

[aceso]

"Why not tell what you think I should be looking for before we start," she says gently. Spirit healing can do a lot, but even it isn't a magical cure all. If it was, Asher would still be alive.

[youwonscience]

"Okay, well. I'm not a mage, I have an underlying condition that is responding to but not cured by spirit healing, which luckily did not seem to interact with the experiments except in that I arguably wore out faster than the other subjects. The hallucinations seem to have stopped, as far as I can tell. Still having nightmares, but that could be as easily the trauma as the lyrium." It's matter-of-fact, generally. Easier to think about it like a set of signs and symptoms to be reported.

[aceso]

Christine nods solemnly before saying, "Then you have been treated by the spirit healers here and I do not need to prepare you for what it looks like." Not everyone has a positive reaction to seeing glowing blue eyes.

"Let me see how your body is doing." With that said, she calls on the spirit of Faith to assist her in looking Cosima over.

[youwonscience]

Cosima exales, slow and steady. Spirit healing takes some getting used to, but she's more curious than unnerved. (In fairness, the very first time, she wasn't totally conscious for it.) This time, her body is recovering from the lyrium slowly but steadily. Her underlying chronic condition, while still present, still seems under control too. None of them came out unscathed, but Cosima was far from the worst off of those who returned.