The Tempest

[Sara]

Ovinia didn't see his thumb before she felt it on her cheek and she froze, blinking at him. She was too shocked to move for a moment and instead just stood there, lips ajar, watching him. Fear rose in her throat. Alongside something else. She pushed both feelings down as soon as he stepped back and cleared his throat. 

She nodded at his instructions and leant down to pick up a few of the cluttered items, wincing, screwing up her face at the tendril of pain that worked her way down her shoulder. "Do...do you think it's from another wreck survivor? Or..." She gulped and kicked a pile of detritus together so she could carry it out easier. "Pirates?" 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

They both looked away. Ovinia got started on picking up debris, and Lucius walked outside to inspect the roof. There were some old gnarled olive trees behind the shack that the builder had used for additional support; it was easy to climb them to get a better look. He could still hear Ovinia though the walls.

"Do...do you think it's from another wreck survivor? Or... Pirates?" 

"Well... it wouldn't make sense for one solitary pirate to live here, and it does not seem like a depot of supplies. So I'd say either survivor, or a fisherman's shelter from storms. If they come here in certain seasons... we might be in luck."

@Sara

 

[Sara]

She smiled to herself as she started kicking detritus out of the shack into the grass at the front, listening to him. This shack was closer to the big spring where she bathed and the beach on this side was nowhere near as windy. If she had been with somebody else, and had slaves, she might consider it a rustic, adventurous idyll. It was, of course, nothing of the sort. 

She set about rummaging on what once had been the bed and audibly squealed in delight, grinning. "Fabric!" She beamed out, "Somebody sewed a blanket out of tunicas!" it was double-layered and warm, filthy though it was. She chose not to think of where the tunica's had come from. "Which means..." She narrowed her eyes and crouched down, picking trough the shards of pottery, wood and leaves that had fallen through the roof until her fingers caught on something firmer. "Lucius! Come here!" She demanded. It was a wooden box. Crudely made and covered in dust and sand, but definitely purposeful. She waited until she could hear his footsteps before she creaked it open. Inside there was a needle - or a crude imitation of one made of shell, and thread alongside a knife - rusted, and a comb. Things that must have washed up on shore which the owner had taken for his own. She grinned. "Now I can make a dress from the sail." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"Fabric! Somebody sewed a blanket out of tunicas!"

"That's great" Lucius chuckled, poking at the roof. If was made of wide planks, tied into place, slightly slanting towards the beach so that the water would not run down the back of the shack where the ground was higher. Most of the walls were still steady enough for repair. "You can wash it later."

"Which means... Lucius! Come here!"

Instead of returning to the door, Lucius just poked his head through the hole in the roof, watching Ovinia open a box with some sewing instruments inside.

"Now I can make a dress from the sail." 

"What? No. We might need it. You are just fine in the tunica." He protested.

@Sara

[Sara]

"I look ridiculous. If anybody comes to rescue us they'll think I'm some mad woman claiming to be a patrician in this." She pulled at the itchy, atrocious fabric and made a face. It was silly and petulant but the thought of wearing something designed for a woman was a comfort for her. She needed normalcy, which she was not getting right now. 

"But you can use this," She held up the needle, "Instead of the moss? On my back?" She turned her face up to him now as well and placed a hand on the curve between her waist and her hip. "Unless you fall through that roof and break your neck in two." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"I look ridiculous. If anybody comes to rescue us they'll think I'm some mad woman claiming to be a patrician in this."

"Because you'd look so much saner in a dress that you made from sails?" Lucius shot back with a grin. "Don't worry, anyone rescuing us will know you're a patrician the moment you tell them you're better than them."

"But you can use this. Instead of the moss? On my back? Unless you fall through that roof and break your neck in two." 

Lucius blinked, looking at her upside down.

"You want me to stitch your back?" he asked,surprised. "Can you handle it?"

@Sara

[Sara]

She made a snapping noise of protest, but said nothing else, setting down the box on the floor and moving to sweep some more of the foliage and broken bits out with her foot. It hurt to bend down and use her arm. 

She didn't look at him as he posed his question and felt nerves reverberate across her skin. "Probably not." She swallowed and shrugged limply, "But it was still bleeding this morning, in the spring and...I..." She huffed, almost annoyed at herself - better than than worry, "It hurts to use my arm. It...feels like I'm pulling it open." Only then did she look up at him with awkward, sheepish eyes. "Have you ever had a wound stitched?" 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Lucius doubted Ovinia wanted to get stitched, or even knew what it entailed. 

"Probably not. But it was still bleeding this morning, in the spring and...I... It hurts to use my arm. It...feels like I'm pulling it open."

She probably was. He could see a spot on her tunica where the bandages no doubt shifted under it (because she did not let him fix them), and she was holding her shoulder stiffly instead of picking things up.

"Have you ever had a wound stitched?" 

"Yes. It hurts like hell." Lucius sighed, pulling his head back from the roof and climbing down to walk around. "It would be better to do it with one of the hooks. They are sharper."

@Sara

[Sara]

She swallowed and eyed the hooks on the walls with fear wide in her features as he came round to join them. She didn't want to bleed out but her proposition that it would all be fine and dandy come morning wasn't ringing true. If anything, it hurt more and the  bleeding was beyond an irritation. She could feel rivulets of blood, even now, working their way down her spine. 

"And you know what you're doing?" She gave him an apprenshive look and then let out a sigh, trying to sound jovial. "I don't want to be scarred. I have a look to maintain." She tossed her hair over her good shoulder imperiously and tried to give him a smile. "We don't have to do it now. I can clear things fine before you do it. The roof," She glanced skywards to the open blue sky, "Will it be long to fix?" 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"And you know what you're doing?" 

"Well, unlike you, I know how to stitch fabric at least." As a sailor, Lucius had mended sails before. And tunicas, whenever it was needed. He had also seen wounds stitched up. He had a basic idea.

"I don't want to be scarred. I have a look to maintain."

"No promises. But hey, at least it's not in an obvious place." It wasn't her head or her neck or her arms. Her shoulder, she could cover up. Lucius did not point it out that she would definitely have to half undress for this procedure.

"We don't have to do it now. I can clear things fine before you do it. The roof. Will it be long to fix?" 

"We should do it now, while the light is good enough." he pointed out. "We can pull some threads from the tunica. Let's go back to the camp for the rest of our things. I'll do it there."

@Sara

[Sara]

"I know how to stitch fabric!" She protested with a scoff, "Us Patrician girls sit around and stitch all day long, I'll have you know." Of course Ovinia could get annoyed by something like that. But the humour didn't last long as and her smile dropped to a half-smile, mangled and weak at his comment. It would be obvious to her. And any future  husbands. It would be something she had to dredge over, explain. Girls like her weren't supposed to be marked. Certainly not stitched. 

She swallowed another gulping breath and and nodded hurriedly, darting out of the shack as fast as her aching legs could carry her and into the trees. She didn't speak to him much on the way back either beyond questions shot over her shoulder such as; "You don't think it'll fall down in the wind?" She bit her lip and ploughed ahead, clutching her little box of thread, needle and comb to her chest, as well as a small wineskin she'd found. By the time she made it back to their makeshift camp, she was wracked with nerves and didn't even care that the fire was out.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

They made their way back to the camp. Lucius was happy with the prospect of better shelter (and not spending another night shivering), but the idea of stitching up Ovinia was weighing on him. She was not going to take it easily.

"You don't think it'll fall down in the wind?"

"I don't think so. It has been standing up well without maintenance. I can strengthen it and fix it... it should be good. Shit." he frowned, looking at the campfire's place. He crouched down, digging carefully in the ashes until he found some weak embers, and got to the tedious work of slowly blowing on them and feeding them with dry grass. "Why don't you find something for yourself to bite on?"

@Sara

[Sara]

She looked at him wide-eyed and afraid but nodded silently, stepping away from him to find something she could use. Her fingers trembled a little as she crouched to pick up a stick, fallen from a branch. She made her way slowly, hesitantly, back to him, twisting it between her fingers. 

"You're frightening me." She offered and shifted from foot to foot in a quiet voice. "People get stitched all the time, women go through childbirth, it will be fine. Right? It will be fine." She gave him an imploring look. She needed to do it - she felt another stream of blood snake its way down her back, but that didn't make her any less petrified.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

She shuffled off and then returned with a stick. Lucius managed to get the fire going again and laid out the threads, the clean moss, and some bandages. He cleaned the sharpest hook with no barb, and held it into the fire for a moment, as he remembered some medicus doing so. He mouthed a silent prayer to the gods. Asclepius, let me help her.

"You're frightening me. People get stitched all the time, women go through childbirth, it will be fine. Right? It will be fine." 

He looked up, and he saw that she was scared. Truly scared, and it made her look younger. She really was a girl lost in the wilderness. Lucius signed, and nodded. "You will be fine. It is not that big a deal. I don't think it hurts as much as childbirth, and women are strong enough to deal with that. It'll be alright." He shifted, patting the ground for her to sit, with her back to him. "You need to drop the shoulder of the tunica. I promise I won't look."

@Sara

[Sara]

How an evening had changed things. Yesterday she had been horrified at the prospect of dropping the arm of her chiton, now she merely nodded and moved to sit on the hard ground. 

"Close your eyes." She ordered him and then with breathless panic, tugged the tunica down around her waist and her attempt at re-bandaging she'd tried after the spring, and then pulled her tunica back up at the front, clutching it to her chest to shield her breasts. He needed to see her whole back and she cleared her throat to signal he could open his eyes. She felt so...exposed and clutched the fabric tighter to her chest even more. 

"Tell me before you start." She mumbled. Her fingers were shaking as she clasped the stick.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"Close your eyes." 

Lucius did so, even though he thought it was ridiculous. He was about to stitch her, which was way more intimate than looking, and he had seen many breasts in his life before, he doubted hers were anything special. Still, she was scared enough that he kept the snark to himself.

"Tell me before you start." 

Lucius opened his eyes, and set about removing her bandages and the moss covering her wound. Blood was dripping down her back, so clearly the bandages had not been working. Her wound, at least, looked clean, and not inflamed or infected. The rest of her back was smooth and pale. She really had the skin of a patrician. Lucius dipped some cloth into a bowl of water he'd brought from the spring, and gently dabbed at her wound.

"Alright. I think... I think I will make four stitches. I'll do them quickly so it's over sooner, but you will have to keep from moving, or it'll hurt more. Just... brace yourself. Feel free to yell at me."

@Sara

[Sara]

She flinched even at the water and drew her knees up so she could rest her head in them, fiddling with the fabric over her chest and her hair, draped to one side. She felt sick. "I'll try." She mumbled, barely audible and nodded, steeling herself. 

"Just do it." She said as she pulled her face back and moved to bite down on the stick. As it turned out, as soon as he started, it wasn't enough and she screamed through her teeth, jerking away from the pain almost immediately, tears already spilling down her cheeks. "Fuck!" She mumbled, choked rather, and spat out the stick on the ground. 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Lucius took a deep breath, threaded the hook, and his hands hovered for a few moments over her wound before he dove into the work. It was exactly nothing like sewing fabric, and Ovinia screamed and jerked away at the first stab. "Shit. Try to stay still!" he frowned. "Look, I know it hurts, but it'll be over as soon as I can... Just... Hold still. You're doing great." He pulled the thread through. Three more stitches.

@Sara

[Sara]

"Don't say shit!" She choked, furious and in agony. "You're messing it up!" She said panicked and glanced over her shoulder although she could see precisely nothing. She wanted him to stop and wanted him off of her but from the vintage point she did catch the glint of the hook his bloodied fingers and felt nausea well up again. She slammed her mouth shout and screamed in frustration and pain through her lips. 

"You're a monster," She managed to choke out, her fingers blanching as they clutched the fabric of her tunica and her knees so tightly she thought they might snap, "You've wanted to do this since we g-got here, you wanted to hurt me..." She was talking utter nonsense, but this was agonising. As he pushed the hook through again she screamed again. "STOP!" she demanded, "J-just stop, I'm done, we're done." She moved to pull away.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"Don't say shit! You're messing it up!" 

He hoped to the gods that he wasn't.

"You're a monster. You've wanted to do this since we g-got here, you wanted to hurt me..."

She really was getting into the yelling part now. Lucius used her moment of anger and made the second stitch, pulling the thread through. It was bad, but her wound was beginning to close up.

"STOP! J-just stop, I'm done, we're done." 

"We're not done!" he snapped, grabbing her shoulder with his free hand. "Two down, two to go, and I am not letting you bleed out on this goddamn island so SIT. STILL."

[Sara]

She tried to slip out of his grip but the hold on her shoulder was strong enough that she couldn't do it whilst preserving her modesty and trying not to snap the threads he'd already done. She felt like a child. She was a grown woman, she was supposed to be marrying soon, having children, running a household of her own but right now she just felt like a girl, lost and afraid and...angry. Pain generally did that to Ovinia - whether mental or physical, pain made her tetchy. 

"I never want to see you again after this." She choked and buried her face back in her thighs, trying to breathe and waved one hand for him to just get on with it. "It's not that big of a deal, you're a fu...you're a LIAR!" she screamed again through gritted teeth as she felt the thick curve of the hook drive through her skin and another stitch was pulled taut. Last one. "I hate you." She choked.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"You can just swear, you know" Lucius noted, pulling the third stitch through. He wanted to think she just hated him because of the pain, but in all likelihood, she hated him in general. Oh well. Better hateful than dead. "You're doing good. One more. Last one. Here we go."

He pulled the thread and tied a knot. The wound was closed. Blood was still oozing from it, but he dabbed it away. The stitches held. So far, so good. He picked up the clean moss, and set about applying it before he could bandage her in a decent way, for once.

@Sara

[Sara]

"Just get it over with!" She snapped with a choke and then felt the metal pierce her skin and she groaned a low, primal sound from the back of her throat and deep in her lungs, into her knees. She felt him tugging on the thread to knot it and dampness from her tears seeped through the fabric of her tunica, wetting her legs. She sniffed as he started to clean it and apply the moss and raised her head up. She was grateful he couldn't see her face.

"You can j-just say I'm pathetic, you know." She gripped the skin of her legs with her free hand, the other was still in a death grip with the fabric against her chest. "I'm sure that's what you're thinking?" She felt pathetic. Pathetic and utterly useless. And to think, the day had started so well...

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Well, at least blood was not tricking down her back anymore. Lucius was half surprised she was still conscious; the pain and the blood loss would have been enough to make her faint. Maybe it would have been better. But instead, she was still holding herself up as she bandaged her.

"You can j-just say I'm pathetic, you know. I'm sure that's what you're thinking?" 

"What I'm thinking is that now you will heal better." Lucius signed, tying the bandage into place. "And that it's impressive you didn't just faint. There we go. You are... actually pretty tough."

@Sara

[Sara]

"If I fainted you would have looked." She muttered and snapped at him; "Turn around or close your eyes!" 

As he finished and she hurriedly moved to try and slip the tunica back over her chest and arms. It was harder this time with the bandages and the pain radiating across her back and down her bicep, and it took a few more moments before she could slip her body back through the neck of the thing. When she was done, she just silently leant for the box of supplies she'd carried back and fished out the comb.

She said nothing to him, and instead set about actually combing her hair. It was a good distraction - something the slaves did for her when she was stressed and needed something else to focus on. She swallowed. "Thank you." Her voice was quiet and small and she risked a glance up at him. She might have been an ungodly bitch most of the time, but she was still grateful. Just about. "I'm...sorry, for my choice of language." She cleared her throat. "It was most unlike me." 

 

TAG: @Chevi