No Rest for the Wicked

[Nasira]

Anxiety prickled at the sorceress as the capacious room fell quiet once more. Nasira could only guess what was going through Crow's head. He had never been an easy man to read; one could only get so much out of ardent stares and awkward silences. Even the tone of the vizier's voice was, for the most part, neutral, betraying almost nothing. Nasira wrung her hands. This form of his seemed just as expressionless as the one she met him in.

"Check the hall - please."

Nasira's head briefly bowed in relief. She did not know what she would have done if Crow had refused to leave. "I'm on it." She guessed Crow did not want anybody else to see him right now. As he lifted himself up off the bed, Nasira opened the doors and stood on the threshold. She looked. There was no one around. Unless they had family coming back from Australia, the other overseers and ghazis would have been where they were garrisoned for the day. It had not taken her long to get from the infirmary to Crow's room, and she did not think they were in any danger of running into anybody on the way back. There was still the question of what they were going to do once they got there, but Nasira decided to cross that bridge when they got there. Maybe she could bring him in through the back or something.

"There's no one here," Nasira affirmed. Using both arms, she pushed one of the doors wide enough for Crow to walk through and stepped aside. 

[Crow]

  Crow couldn't say he was particularly used to taking anyone's word at face value. In his experience, he often felt more at ease to see things for himself. But here, he didn't have a choice, and suffice to say that left him with a sense of... unease.


  However, there was something in Nasira's earnestness that brought him something almost resembling comfort, and with it he picked himself up from his bed and limped out into the hall. His eyes narrowed, gaze falling on the haphazard trail of feathers he had left behind. He didn't like being so obvious, and a sigh slipped from his beak.  This had turned into a much bigger mess than he had anticipated.


  "I see I had made it easy for you." In spite of how he currently felt, the humor in Crow's tone was genuine. Whether it was for her reassurance or his own, however, remained uncertain.

[Nasira]

Nasira looked down at the tousled black feathers that had led her to Crow's room. She went quiet for a moment then, "You should have seen the 'harpy.'" The corners of her mouth turned up. "At least you still have most of your feathers," Nasira said wryly. "I doubt she has any left on her now." 

That was putting it mildly.

Nasira suddenly saw Clopin's incandescent eyes again, and the smile receded to a concerned frown, unnerved. The furious gypsy king had vowed revenge for what she did to the harpy. Clopin and Nasira were already enemies by default, but now it was personal. She could not let her guard down. Jafar had believed himself to be safe on his own land.

She pushed the thought away. One problem at a time. She looked at Crow appraisingly. "How are you holding up?" she asked as they walked. 

[Crow]

"At least you still have most of your feathers ... I doubt she has any left on her now."

  A deep rumble cut through Crow's body. A growl born not of anger, but pure vindication.

  "Good." He replied, falling into step beside the Overseer. Crow would not be completely satisfied until he could repay Jenn himself, but Nasira had his sincerest gratitude for giving him this kindness. From the corner of his eye, he watched her expression darken, her thoughts clearly elsewhere. Crow was surprised to find he was genuinely curious about her concerns, and not simply for the fact that he preferred it when he knew things. However, before he could begin to ask, her attention turned back in his direction.

"How are you holding up?"

  "I'm alive. That's all that matters." Being so straightforward was not in usual way, but Crow was tired, and already mentally preparing himself for his trip to the infirmary. Besides, he liked to think Nasira would prefer a straight answer for a change. A blue eye swiveled to focus on the overseer. Now that he had a moment to think about it, he noticed that Nasira had avoided significant injury. Good. It had been his job to see that she made it back in one piece. As long as he fulfilled Maleficent's orders, Crow didn't care much for how much pain he had to endure.

[Nasira]

Nasira nodded vaguely. "Right," she conceded. Her voice was calm and even, but there was a note of guilt as it returned with a vengeance. Crow's response did not make her feel any less anxious, but she let the subject drop. 

They walked in silence the rest of the way. It gave Nasira a chance to process what happened in Australia. In her mind's eye, she saw her enemies' faces, and she felt a wave of revulsion almost like nausea. Oh, she did get some satisfaction seeing them run in terror, but it was not enough for her to just defeat them. A sudden prickling sensation on the back of her neck made Nasira feel that Crow was looking at her again. Keeping her face deceptively composed, she pretended not to notice. Her thoughts of revenge danced beyond her reach before they dispelled.

They eventually made it to the infirmary. For some reason, Nasira's unit was loitering outside the main entrance, so the overseer and vizier had to take an alternate route to avoid being seen by any of them - much to Nasira's annoyance.

"I'll go get Edgar," she offered as soon as they were inside and out of sight.

[Crow]

  Once they had slipped into one of the infirmary's more private rooms, Crow allowed himself to sink into the cot with a heavy sigh. He tried to recall a time he had suffered worse than this. It had all happened so quickly, it felt as if he should have endured more than he did. In a way, it felt insulting to be injured so much so soon. But he had miscalculated. Crow hadn't prepared for such a massive blast of the one kind of magic that could cause real detriment to him. He was alive, he repeated to himself. That's all that mattered. He would be ready next time.

"I'll go get Edgar."

  Crow was pulled from his thoughts, lifting his head to see Nasira heading for the door. "Nasira," he began, but for the first time that evening, Crow faltered, and not for a twinge of pain. He hesitated for a moment, then decided that she had already seen him so vulnerable. She helped him. Yes, he had saved her, but it was acting on orders. There was no order to go this far for him. So a little sincerity... couldn't hurt.

  "...Thank you."

[Nasira]

Nasira was taken aback. She did not expect to be shown gratitude. Escorting Crow to the infirmary was the least she could do for him, she thought. He could have been killed today, yet he was thanking her. 

Maleficent's use of the word "infallible" was beginning to make sense. Crow's loyalty must be impeccable for him to risk his life - only to dismiss it all as just another order that had been followed. Could Nasira say the same about her own loyalty? 

One thing was certain. On instinct, Nasira bowed her head to Crow before meeting his intense eyes one last time. 

"I won't forget this," she vowed. 

She turned and left.

[Edgar]

"Tum-tee tum tum," Edgar hummed while snapping the head off an arrow, and then shoving the shaft out of a man's thigh. The doctor seemed unphased by the scream and the sudden arterial splurt of blood. The arrow had been blocking it. Luckily Edgar was right there to immediately staunch the blood and get to work sealing the wound. He'd have to come back later to do a mor thorough job. But right now his main business after a battle was to stabilize as many people as possible.

"Right, then!" Edgar clapped his bloody hands together and beamed a crooked toothed grin. "Let's get this fellow over in ward 3, shall we?"

A few nurses and some conscripted help carried the man off to some out of the way place. This gave Edgar a moment to grab a throughly bloodied handkerchief off his belt and wipe a majority of the blood from his hands and face.

The eerie surgeon looked even more nightmarish than usual. He was splattered in blood and that made his cheery smiles exponentially worse. The cuffs of his shirt were rolled past his spindly little elbows so as not to impede his movement.

With the majority of the blood wiped off from his hands he went off to a more secluded corner to wash up. At least as much as he could. Cleanliness is not just next to godliness. It was also pivital in most healings. While the triage after a battle left him with less than sterile conditions, Edgar did try to keep as clean as possible.

[Nasira]

As soon as she was out of Crow's sight, Nasira briskly made her way through the infirmary, fighting for calm. She felt almost light-headed, but at that moment, she only had one thing on her mind. She did not look at the people around her. She did not see the questioning glances they shared as she strode past.

The splinter of wood broke the static in Nasira's head, which was soon followed by a shrill, bloodcurdling scream loud enough to wake the dead. Nasira's eyes widened in alarm. There! The door was open. Dodging a team of nurses and volunteers transferring a mewling ghazi, Nasira swept in. 

She saw Edgar looming over a rather grim-looking metal table. There was blood all over him as if he had been rolling in it, yet the "surgeon" wore a toothy grin that was all sunshine - a stark contrast to, well, everything. The broken shaft of an arrow lay in two on a metal utility cart with miscellaneous utensils. None of them looked particularly friendly. 

As soon as Edgar had wiped his hands, he moved to a corner of the room where there was a basin of clean water. Nasira sighed. She did not have a choice. Edgar was the only one who could help Crow now. She quickly approached the feared jerrah-bashi, doing her best to ignore the sensation of a spider crawling up her back. If she had envied the vizier before, she did not now.

"Edgar, it's Crow," Nasira said urgently. Her voice had a tremor despite her usual pride. The overseer's defenses seemed to have crumbled. "He's hurt. You have to help him!"

[Edgar]

"Hmm?" Edgar glanced over as he noticed some one's approach. Most people don't like to come near him willingly, he couldn't imagine why, so he was pleasantly surprised to see Nasira, "Congr- oh dear."

Edgar's congratulations for the battle won dropped from his lips in surprise. Edgar didn't have friends. If he did, Crow was one of the closest things he had to one. He sincerely didn't want to see the man die.

"Well, then you better take me to him," the surgeon said lightly as he tossed down the bloodied handkerchief and gathered a few utensils he would need for a base inspection of Crow's vitals. Tending to the vizier's health was going to be an... educational experience.