Tending the Sick (Spencer)

It had been a couple of days since the wolves had dined with them. Hannah had questions but without them present she had decided to take time to consider what she needed to know versus what she wanted to know. There was something to be said for curiosity but sometimes turning a blind eye was important. During the meal Spencer had intimated that he might have more information about both vampires and the wolves than the current members of the Springbond. Hannah patiently kept that at the forefront of her mind as she considered what to ask and when to ask it.

In the past week, Spencer had been invited over daily. His help with the young fox had been invaluable and Hannah made sure that he knew she appreciated it. She was a typically cautious person and a lot like the animals she worked with. Her habits were somewhat feral in nature. She needed to be approached as one would approach a wild animal. The way that she was beginning to relax her territorial nature and her distrust around Spencer was reminiscent of the way one would befriend a wolf or a fox.

Hannah was confident in the things she knew but always had a good sense of when she needed to ask for advice or help. Over confident was not a word that applied well to her. When they spent time around any of the animals she tended to be more at ease than when they were alone, though that was slowly changing. Though she was slow to warm up she could easily be described as kind and fiercely loyal to those that she was close to. She had a tendency to speak her mind in ways that could be considered socially awkward or off putting. If she realized that she made people uncomfortable at times, she never really seemed to understand or change her habits.

"What do they hunt?" Currently she and Spencer were tending to the fox. Hannah had affectionately named him Jack and was growing quite attached to the animal. They had just changed his bedding and he was curled up in her lap while she fed him a formula of medicine and vitamins from a bottle. Over the past week or so, Spencer might have become used to Hannah's habit of dropping into the middle of a conversation in such a way. Judging from her knowledge of the natural animals in the area, it would probably be possible to link her thoughts back to the werewolves.

For his part, Spencer had been a gracious guest each time he visited the Barrowspring. He was polite and good-natured, showing good humor at Hannah's inquisitive nature. Every time he came by, he had an offering for the home, usually something organic and delicious. "Field mice and the like, I'm sure," he replied while looking idly back at Jack the fox's pen. "You mean the lupines? I'm sure you know what wolves eat."

Hannah gently stroked Jack's fur, making sure to keep far away from the stitches that were still healing. She was impressed with how good he was doing. The little creature was quite hungry and greedily drank what Hannah gave him. The most adorable little whines and yips came from his throat whenever she pulled the bottle away for a moment. "Yes, the lupines. So they eat deer and the like?" Hannah looked as if that answer unsettled her. She shifted Jack a bit in her lap and leaned back.

"But they're werewolves. Don't they.. I don't know.. hunt people or something? Or rather, can you assure me that they don't hunt people?" Hannah sighed as she realized she wasn't doing a good job of getting her point across. "Look, you know something about them. Help me. I'm... like a fish out of water here." Despite what she was, Hannah was still trying to adjust to a world where the impossible was possible. In her heart of hearts she was here because she believed in the lifestyle and Josiah. The magic was a thing that came up from time to time and when it did, it typically confused her. Talking to animals was the only thing she'd fully accepted.

"If there's anything I've learned for sure about all the various 'Things That Go Bump,' everybody's got bad apples. But their pond isn't your pond -- I mean, they even set boundaries so that you're not swimming together. So why worry so much?" Spencer smiled and shrugged. "Y'all seem pretty comfortable with the simple life here. Once you start complicating it by learning things outside your ken, you're a part of something much bigger."

Hannah worriedly chewed on her lip. Jack had finished much of what she'd given him and was slowly starting to move around the area that she and Spencer were in. "See that's the thing. It was simple. It was fine. I mean, I went through my changes, the world expanded a little bit but nothing changed. Now there are metal men and wolves and lichs and stuffy business people that say that the simple life I've helped carved out with people I love actually falls into their territory. That they could claim it, as if they or I or anyone had right to the land."

Hannah sighed and reached out to run her fingers through Jack's fur. He playfully started to nip at her fingers, rolling over in front of her and showing her his belly. "I get what you're saying and I'd love to hole myself away here and learn nothing more about the outside world, but I'm afraid that it's slowly coming to me and mine. What do I do about that? I can't build fences high enough to keep out the truth."

Spencer gave the young woman a small smile. He seemed to empathize. "That's the problem with the Awakening, right? Once you wake up from your sleep, you realize there are all kinds of things around you and more of them mean you ill then don't. It ain't pretty trying to figure all those things out. Best to pick and choose."

He leaned back against the nearest fence post. "The lupines are a complicated set. They have politics, magic spells, and an endless holy crusade. And, yeah, they have bad apples, too. Very bad apples. The... not so bad ones, they might think they can claim the land. But that's because they think they're the only ones that can purge evil and corruption from it. If they were better at it, I'd see what I could do about building more bridges between them and good souls like yours. They make horrible mistakes, though, and sometimes innocent lives pay the price." Spencer frowned and shrugged.

"I guess so. I used to lie awake at night worrying about my next biology test. Now I.. I find myself so often in my dreams gazing down the point of an arrow at an in human face with fangs. Sometimes that face morphs to look like a wolf but..." Hannah frowned. "It all got more complicated when Harlan invited us to his mansion."

Hannah was attentive as he spoke more about the wolves. It was somewhat of a relief to know that they were just like anyone else, bad sometimes, good others. The only downside to that was knowing that a creature of incomprehensible strength could mean ill to the world. How would one even begin to stop such a creature? Hannah shuddered. "They're respecting our territory which is good. I can see how working with them is advantageous to us and I don't mind the truce that we've set up. I think I'm still reeling from the fact that they exist." She laughed and shook her head. "Who am I kidding? I'm still weeks back and staring at the metal man like I'd just fallen down a rabbit hole."

Hannah fixed her steely blue gaze upon Spencer. "How do you do it? I mean, you don't seem.. put off at all by any of this. You're just taking it in this stride that I can't comprehend and certainly can't emulate. I'm jealous. How long did it take you to get to this point? And how do I speed up that process?"

"It wasn't easy. I didn't take it in stride for years, scared of my own shadow for the longest time." He closed his eyes a moment as old, bad memories came to the surface. "Accept that anything is possible, and that you have no choice but to leave room in it for things that defy your current understanding." He smiled with sympathy. "I'll help if and when I can. The trick is to keep your heart good while you're learning more than most folks ever have the chance to learn."

"I suppose losing oneself could be a danger. It's good advice to be sure." Hannah leaned back and crossed her legs as Jack jumped back onto her lap and curled up. "Josiah teaches me about the old ways and the old world. It's all very primal but very human, ya know? I could see where it could go wrong." Hannah frowned and tickled the young fox who nuzzled into the crook of her arm. "So what's the litmus test? I mean, what's yours? I get that we all have an internal morality but are we really introspective enough to see when that morality is being compromised?"

"Are you taking the wild out of that animal?" Spencer asked with a quirked eyebrow. "Or are you just rocking the Snow White thing all the time?" He smirked playfully, though the tone suggested that he was genuinely curious about Hanna's effect on the local fauna.

"The test is different every time. The problem I've run in to is that no one, not a sentient thing in this world, is irrevocably rooted in the right side of things. Anyone can be brought to darkness. And the more powerful someone has become, the more evil they can commit. The greatest heroes of the 'Awakened' world rarely seem to be that far from becoming its worst villains. It's hard to be a Custodian for that very reason, especially when I balk at the idea of belonging to a Tradition. I don't want to carry a party line about who or what is best. Just stay good and I'll be loyal to ya." The man was probably speaking both generally and specifically as he gave Hannah a warm but rugged smile.

Hannah looked down at Jack who yawned and nestled closer into her hip. The man's questions made her blush for perhaps the first time since they'd met. "No. He'll stick around probably but there's nothing domesticated about our way of life here. When he's healed he'll be the fierce hunter he once was. I've told him he can live on our land if he wants and he seems to think that's a good idea." It was the one concession she made to magic. The ability to communicate with the fox came from a spell and not from any innate ability, but still to her it was a matter of course. She added shyly, "I'm good with animals..."

Hannah scratched gently behind Jack's ears while she listened. "I've seen some people who do bad things in the name of their magic already. People others accept as okay. I'm scared of becoming those people, Spencer. Scared enough that I spend my time focusing on things less magical and more mundane. I don't want power. I don't want darkness. I just want to live as we're meant to live." Hannah smiled back. "So I guess that means that I have your loyalty? All I want is to stay good and help people lead a leaver type lifestyle. If you see me changing, will you help me get back on track? Will you be around long enough to promise that?" The request was made tentatively. Hannah rarely asked for things that could affect her life from people that were not her immediate family.

"I'll be watching. It comes naturally to me, though my training is to look outward first." He looked about as he considered the subject. When he looked back to Hannah, he was smiling softly. "Tell me what you've seen. Have you encountered magic-users whom you think have done unforgivable things? And I need to better understand what the blatant thresholds are. I know about the Technocrats, but... how do we know when a Mage is becoming lost within the magic?"

Hannah seemed satisfied with that answer. She gave a brusque nod and relaxed even more. "I can't really answer your last question. I'm not sure. I know that my threshold for what is too far is probably more conservative than others. I mean, there's Beovyn, who seems like a cool guy but the entirety of what he is focuses on magic. He's several thousand years old. He lives in a mead hall and that's normal for him. I like him, I truly do, but I'm intimidated by him. To me he's a creature of pure magic."

Hannah shrugged a bit and held out her hands helpless. "I can talk to animals if I try. I can sometimes see how they're sick. If I keep learning I might even be able to help them someday. I'm not powerful though. I guess the greatest show of force I can muster is.." She hesitated for a moment and then continued on with a blush. "If I really want to bring my magic to bear, I can make a person, male or female, feel the pains of child birth. I'd only do it if I were in danger but... well I learned that particular spell. Does that make me too powerful?"

Spencer had a mild interest in the one called Beovyn, but didn't remark on the man at this time. "Too powerful? All I know for sure is that I'm going to be doing everything to ensure I stay on your good side." He laughed deeply, rather heedless of her blush. "Have you been a mother yet, to know those pains?" The path between Hannah's questions and their asking was a very short walk, so the man might have considered it fair game to reciprocate in a like fashion.

Hannah laughed as well and shook her head. "You don't strike me as the sort that would endanger my life or the life of those I love. I think you're fine." The laugh turned into a good natured smile. "I have not. I've helped with quite a few deliveries in my time though." Hannah shrugged slightly. "I'm young yet and I don't know if Josiah and I are ready. Or if we're even interested. It's a conversation to have for certain, but not immediately." The Verbena didn't seem to mind the easy back and forth of questions. In turn she asked him a similar question. "And you? Any little ones running around at home?"

"You ever been the subject of the spell? Sometimes it's good to know precisely what you're dishing out." Spencer fell silent for a moment as he considered the subject of the conversation. This was clearly rough terrain for him, but he made an effort to continue being friendly and candid. "No. I've never settled in with anyone that seriously, and moreover I have some bad genetics I would rather not risk passing on. Lost my mother to it when I was a tiny child, and had my own complications before the surgery." The man pointed to his skull, to indicate that there had been some kind of problem with his brain. The eleven-year-old scar was well-concealed by the placement of his hair, but Hannah could see it if she actively looked.

"When I was learning it the spell backfired once. It hurt." She emphasized that last word and placed her hand over her abdomen. "The world decided to punish me with that pain for the next month. It was like I was perpetually on one of the worst periods I'd ever had." The fact that she was speaking so openly about intimate bodily functions didn't seem to phase her at all.

His silence and the look on his face told her that the question was a bit too close to something touchy. She listened to the answer and nodded. "I understand. Not all of us are meant to give birth, though sometimes people try to believe otherwise." Hannah smiled kindly.

"So tell me about yourself. What do you do? What do you like?"