(no subject)

[thewidewideworld]

After a careless fall and a curt rescue in the bathhouse, Sinric is curled up in the couch by the fire, his ankle strapped and resting on a footstool.

He has a book open on his lap, a large pair of headphones over his ears. Rather distracted, he forgets himself and sings along - a classical piece, at least by the standards of most of the bar.

Company is always welcome.

Comments

[cook_the_rude]

"It's always your ankles," Hannibal says. "Your weakest point. You probably should go for physiotherapy early on, as you still have a lot of walking to do in the next few decades."

He just appears quietly, with tea.


[[OOC: As we apparently don't have enough thread yet... ;-))) ]]

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric lowers his headphones and smiles. "I thought my weakest point was my affection for powerful men?" He wiggles his toes. "But any advice to strengthen them would be welcome."

{ooc: enough threads? What's that?}

[cook_the_rude]

Hannibal sits, and offers him the tea.

"I'm not a physiotherapist," he says, "but that said, I certainly can find a routine for you to strengthen them, and give the occasional massage. What happened this time?"

[thewidewideworld]

He takes the tea gladly, his fingers brushing Hannibal's, a little chilled. "Thank you."

He offers Hannibal a warm smile. "Who else would I turn to?" He sighs and shrugs. "A careless slip in the bathing hall, that's all. Other bathers were splashing about in play and I was careless of the puddles."

[cook_the_rude]

"Wet tiles," Hannibal says, touching his lip in thought. "Hmmm. I'm thinking kinesiology tape, actually, screw historical accuracy. That might help."

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric gives a laconic shrug. "I've no rush to go back. My journey is in a meandering phase. The wind isn't pulling at me. I have no steep path at my feet. I have time again."

[cook_the_rude]

"I could teach you to tape your ankles, too," Hannibal says. "It's not hard. And I doubt anybody will mind a colourful bandage on your foot as you wander. If they see your feet at all."

[thewidewideworld]

"A pair of thick stockings hides many things." Sinric smiles, stretching out languidly. "And only those deemed the very most worth see more than my hands and face."

[cook_the_rude]

"Then that is something we will do," Hannibal says. "I think I've seen you with a twisted ankle once too often to not become worried."

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric grins. "Over how many years. I seem to recall turning my ankle here... three times? For me that has been over more than ten years."

[cook_the_rude]

"Do you think I'm fussing?" Hannibal says, looking genuinely taken aback. "Remember, it is much less than ten years for me."

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric laughs warmly. "Would you think less of me for enjoying being fussed over?" He dips his eyes with a smile. "But it is a weakness. I turn my ankle all too easily. And you are right, I have far to go. I should be at my strongest."

[cook_the_rude]

"I prefer you enjoying it to you being exasperated," Hannibal says. "I like to provide support for those I care about, feed them, arm them against the world. Some might think I'm fussing."

[soldier_blade]

There's the face of a person he hadn't seen in a long while-or at least not this version. Teenage Sonya hadn't been to Milliways in a while, but she still recognized the rougher looking Sinric when she saw him.

"Hey, Sinric." She gently tapped on his shoulder to get his attention. "What happened to your ankle?"

She's in jeans and a plaid shirt, splotches of grease on her face and hands. Strictly speaking, she was home on break, but she was also helping out at her uncle's garage.

[thewidewideworld]

"Hello, Sonya." He pushes his headphones back and smiles up at her. "A careless slip in the bathing house. Nothing to worry about."

"You look as if you've been enjoying yourself?"

[soldier_blade]

"Nothing too embarrassing I hope?" Sometimes how a person feel or tripped was worse than the actual injury-something she knew all too well from experience.

"I wouldn't go so far as to say that," Working in a garage could hardly be considered fun and enjoyable-unless it involved refurbishing classes cars. "Putting in some hours at my uncle's garage, the enjoyable part is I'm getting paid for it."

Sonya laughed before finding and pulling up a chair to sit beside him.

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric gives a playful self-deprecating smile. "Oh it was mortifying. An utter failure of grace and the indignity of bring carried to the infirmary."

"Such a skill is never a bad thing to have. Nor is the coin in your pocket."

[soldier_blade]

"How bad was it?" Between the various sports and a growth spurt back some years ago, she's had all kinds of spills. "Pretty sure you remember the injury I took during PE, then I've taken face plants in gymnastics. Believe it or not I've faced less injuries when boxing or in jujitsu."

She had no real idea how that worked out

His other remark had her nod. "He's always saying women should understand cars more, that way if something goes wrong they're not at the mercy of the repair men." Which may've seemed counter-intuitive, but then a quarter of his work was fixing other peoples' mistakes. "The money's why I agreed."

[thewidewideworld]

"I did recall. But my ankle is not so bad. A friend of mine has offered to show me ways to strengthen it so I'm less likely to sprain it again."

He listens and smiles. "He sounds wise, your uncle. Knowledge is a power of its own. And one no man can take from you."

[soldier_blade]

"What are they?" Her ankles were pretty strong, but who knew-she doubted she'd go her the rest of her life without some sort of ankle injury. They just seemed to happen.

She returned the smile and shrugged, slumping against the back of the chair. "Suppose so. He has his moments sometimes-a lot of times..when he's more crazy than not." Not as bad off as some of other war vets, but there were moments. "For our thirteenth birthday, he gave Danny and me some shrapnel from Vietnam-least that's the story and he refuses to give it up."

Her uncle was prone to exaggerating if he thought it'd make the story more interesting.

[thewidewideworld]

"Some stretches and exercises. Ways of strapping them to straighten the muscles."

Sinric nods sagely, "All soldiers carry burdens. Perhaps his stories are his way of shedding them."

[soldier_blade]

She nodded. "They have us do the same sometimes when boxing, for the same reasons." Probably why she didn't get injured all that bad, or she was just better focusing in sparing than other sports.

"Maybe," She'd met some of the older vets over some of the weekend; he wasn't so worse off, but she and her brother were told never to ask on details. "He and Aunt Jean have been nice to let me stay over break, and winter exams are coming up soon, so outside of the occasional funny story I don't really ask."

[thewidewideworld]

"I'm glad to know it works. As Hannibal pointed out, as a wanderer, I need my feet in good condition."

"It's lovely that you're able to spend time with them. Time to enjoy and learn new things."

[soldier_blade]

The smirk faltered. In truth, the reason she asked her aunt and uncle if she could stay, because the thought of being with her mother while her father was deployed made her insides twist in on themselves. "Um, yeah. They live a few hours away from the academy, so the trip's not nearly as bad or expensive as a plane back to Texas."

That was the answer she gave to everyone-the other was a sore subject and not one she was comfortable with telling.

"Pity you can't sneak in a pair of hiking boots." She attempted a smile.

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric notices the hesitation and raises an eyebrow. He won't press if Sonya doesn't want to talk but he knows something is wrong.

He smiles at that. "The bar is clever, far clever than me. I'm sure if I asked her for a good pair of boots she could make a pair as good as any of a latter time."