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Post by Rainstorm Aria on Mar 21, 2007 15:56:14 GMT -5
"well...I'm honored to meet you, m'am...milady...I'm sorry, I don't really know how to address a Head Healer. Does Markus work for you? How long have you been a healer?" She stopped, realizing that she was rambling. "I'm sorry. I've just not met many people as high ranking, many who are close but..." she trailed off.
Annikka winced at the look on Adina's face, staying bright red. "Annikka's good. Please, please don't call me milady- or ma'am- or whatever- that's for older people- and I've only been Head Healer for maybe three or four months- and no Markus doesn't work for me, we both work for the Crown, and really, I'm only the middle girl in a big family and-"
She smiled sheepishly at her own torrent. "Well, I don't like being milady'd and curtseyed and bowed at. I'm not that important. Anyway," she added in attempt to turn the conversation around. "you never said what you do."
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Post by Kmiri Kalasin on Mar 21, 2007 16:02:17 GMT -5
"Annikka's good. Please, please don't call me milady- or ma'am- or whatever- that's for older people- and I've only been Head Healer for maybe three or four months- and no Markus doesn't work for me, we both work for the Crown, and really, I'm only the middle girl in a big family and-"
Listening intently, Adina nodded. "Yes, m'a-Annikka, sorry, Annikka."
Anyway...you never said what you do."
She faltered at this question. "I-well, are you sure it's really that important? I'm not anyone you'll have to worry about honestly. And besides, the conversation was going so well..." She grimaced inwardly, as soon as she told Annikka, she knew that the conversation would come to a halt, and frankly, Adina wasn't in the mood to deal with that.
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Post by Rainstorm Aria on Mar 21, 2007 16:05:44 GMT -5
Listening intently, Adina nodded. "Yes, m'a-Annikka, sorry, Annikka."
Annikka sighed in relief. "Thank-you so much." She smiled at Adina.
"I-well, are you sure it's really that important? I'm not anyone you'll have to worry about honestly. And besides, the conversation was going so well..."
"I'm not easy to shock," Annikka informed her. "Not everyone at Court is well-behaved and lady-like... or gentleman-like. Howsoever. Besides, having Markus for a friend, and then the inevitable university nightlife..."
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Post by Kmiri Kalasin on Mar 21, 2007 16:08:23 GMT -5
"I'm not easy to shock," Annikka informed her. "Not everyone at Court is well-behaved and lady-like... or gentleman-like. Howsoever. Besides, having Markus for a friend, and then the inevitable university nightlife..."
Adina sighed, not wanting to lie to Annikka. She thought over a subtle way to bring her lifestyle up. Probably working off Annikka's comment about Markus would be the best...
"Tell me. You mentioned that Markus was engaged...did he ever engage in..." she searched for a word "marital activities that you knew of with women...outside of the university?"
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Post by Rainstorm Aria on Mar 21, 2007 16:12:20 GMT -5
"Tell me. You mentioned that Markus was engaged...did he ever engage in..." she searched for a word "marital activities that you knew of with women...outside of the university?"
Annikka met her eyes. "I'm fairly sure that yes, once or twice, although usually he stuck to Court ladies." She smiled faintly. "You see, the... outside women... often had other favourites or were other people's favourites, and Markus decided he preferred to sprinting around the Palace away from angry husbands/lovers/betrotheds to running around the Lower City late at night pursued by same. Apart from anything else, he knew the Palace better."
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Post by Kmiri Kalasin on Mar 21, 2007 16:15:07 GMT -5
"I'm fairly sure that yes, once or twice, although usually he stuck to Court ladies." She smiled faintly. "You see, the... outside women... often had other favourites or were other people's favourites, and Markus decided he preferred to sprinting around the Palace away from angry husbands/lovers/betrotheds to running around the Lower City late at night pursued by same. Apart from anything else, he knew the Palace better."
Adina nodded, feeling headway being made.
"Ah you see, Markus should have met some of my co-workers. A good few of them are unattatched, unselective, and make home calls." She winced slightly at the blunt way in which she placed her proffession before Annikka and bit her tongue waiting for the Healer's response.
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Post by Rainstorm Aria on Mar 21, 2007 16:17:51 GMT -5
"Ah you see, Markus should have met some of my co-workers. A good few of them are unattatched, unselective, and make home calls." She winced slightly at the blunt way in which she placed her proffession before Annikka and bit her tongue waiting for the Healer's response. "Oh, right." Annikka shrugged, and smiled at the crazy-person look she got. "You know, people like that aren't restricted to the Lower City."
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Post by Kmiri Kalasin on Mar 21, 2007 16:23:08 GMT -5
"Oh, right." Annikka shrugged "You know, people like that aren't restricted to the Lower City."
Adina looked at Annikka, surprised by her calm response. It was as if she had just told her that she worked as a milkmaid or seamstress. A part of her was relieved by Annikka's reaction, which another part was skeptically thinking Yes, but what will she be saying in a few moments?
"So, you're not..." She trailed off, not sure of what word she was looking for. "You're okay with...knowing what I am? I know that most people recognize the existance in and outside the Lower City, but, you seem so...relaxed."
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Post by Rainstorm Aria on Mar 22, 2007 8:13:21 GMT -5
Annikka shrugged again. "As I said, everyone gets sick and that includes... er... ladies of the night. Healers have to swear an oath to heal whoever needs it, regardless of class, race, religion, and so on and so forth. And there's a particular breed of lady of the night who has the Court for a habitat, so I have to heal them if they get ill. I've been at Court since I was sixteen, so I'm used to it now." She grinned. "It's surprising what people will tell their healers."
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Post by Kmiri Kalasin on Mar 22, 2007 15:08:38 GMT -5
"I've been at Court since I was sixteen, so I'm used to it now."
ah, there it is, the skeptical voice inside Adina's head whipsered, used to does not mean that she doesn't look down on such lives.... She pushed those thoughts aside for later, not wanting to put any more of a damper on this conversation than she had to.
"It's surprising what people will tell their healers."
Adina gave a light scoff, being not all that fond of the healers she'd encountered during her lifetime. This one seemed fine, but she was sure it was due to the fact that Annikka wasn't making any money off her no matter what she did.
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Post by Rainstorm Aria on Mar 22, 2007 15:17:04 GMT -5
"We're not all money-grubbing gits," Annikka said mildly, restraining a strong impulse to dip into the choicer areas of her vocabulary, acquired from her male relatives and fellow healers -it's said that only a healer knows the true quantative value of a really good swearword- in order to persuade this particular unbeliever of her argument. "If you could see the rooms I'm in now, you wouldn't think so. Nor are all courtesans nasty people. Most of them are quite nice, if you ignore the gossip, although some of them have less strength of mind than a wilted daisy."
She absentmindedly fiddled with the string tying one of her parcels and cursed as it came untied. She busied herself retying it without crumpling the paper.
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Post by Kmiri Kalasin on Mar 22, 2007 15:29:51 GMT -5
"We're not all money-grubbing gits,"
Adina started, surprised by this comment. "I never said anything." She said quickly, feeling her face colouring. Annikka's observational skills were becoming unnerving very swiftly.
At Annikka's daisy comment, she couldn't help laughing lightly. "I think you find people like that everywhere." She said, finishing her tea in a swift movement.
"I have to say, this place has outrageous prices, but I can see why people keep coming back."
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Post by Rainstorm Aria on Mar 22, 2007 15:38:53 GMT -5
"I never said anything."
Annikka raised an eyebrow in the movement that had won her Healer Most Likely To Stop The Squires Making Inappropriate Advances Award four years in a row (to be fair, it was awarded at the healers' Midwinter bash when everyone bar a select few was drunk, hence the silliness of the award.) "You were about to."
"I think you find people like that everywhere."
"Court ladies fresh from the convent are worst," Annikka said with a slight smile. "There's always one or two who fetch up in the healer's about four months after arrival."
"I have to say, this place has outrageous prices, but I can see why people keep coming back."
Annikka nodded. "The almond cake, perhaps."
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Post by Kmiri Kalasin on Mar 22, 2007 15:46:41 GMT -5
"You were about to."
Adina fell silent, reminded too much of her own mother to dare say anything. Just from this one conversation, she felt bad for any of Annikka's children who wanted to cause trouble, then again, the household would end up being much less chaotic than the homes of many people she had known growing up.
"Court ladies fresh from the convent are worst," Annikka said with a slight smile. "There's always one or two who fetch up in the healer's about four months after arrival."
She shook her head, imagining what that must be like. "I take it you must have quite a few people who overreact and waste your time all too frequently." She observed. "That must be frustrating."
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Post by Rainstorm Aria on Mar 22, 2007 15:50:40 GMT -5
"I take it you must have quite a few people who overreact and waste your time all too frequently." She observed. "That must be frustrating."
Annikka rolled her eyes. "Oh, yes. The noble mothers with their precious first-borns -who are generally a lot tougher than the stupid women give them credit for. We had the Marti's Hill boy in for four days recently with a slight fever. The Lady was in and out every half-hour. Horrible trial for the duty healer."
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