Two of a kind (Esther)

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It wasn't very often that Lucas entered the into the castle. The last time that he had spent an extended amount of time in it was at the opening feast at the start of the year. It was now reaching towards finals. Luckily there was one place he made sure that he knew exactly where it was. The inferiority. Lucas walked through the dark halls, missing the fresh air and sunshine already, but it he had a purpose. Greeting many of his students as he passed them, he couldn't help but laugh a little at the difference. They were in nice, clean uniforms and robes, and he was wearing work pants that had been stained with all sorts of things, most presently, mud. His boots that reached past his ankles were defiantly caked with the stuff, but it had dried, so that he wouldn't track any muddy footprints around. He had a button up shirt, but it was rolled up to his elbows, with his right arm wrapped. He had encountered some talons earlier in the day, and had treated it well enough. He was no healer, but he knew that it would heal in time.

Lucas made his way to the large infirmary doors and entered, they being open already. There didn't seem to be anyone else there, guess that meant that it was a good day. He knew how crazy some of these kids got, and didn't envy whoever had the job to take care of all of them. He made his way to the other end, where the head nurses office seemed to be "Excuse me, I hope I'm not interrupting..." He said as he approached.

@esther

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When the Hospital Wing wasn’t occupied with patients, it was still a pretty busy department for Esther especially. As Head Nurse, she was responsible for submitting reports, ordering supplies and medicines, writing notes that excused ill students from attending classes - she was strict with that last one however and certainly didn’t just give them out willy nilly. You had to have a satisfactory reason for acquiring a note on her behalf! The point was that today was one of those real admin heavy kinda days, so she was cooped up in her office hunched over a large piece of parchment scribbling away with her quill so intently that she didn’t notice anybody enter until they excused themselves out loud.

She peered up at the man and paused for a moment, registering that this wasn’t a run of the mill case of a student falling from a broom or something like that. She noted rather quickly how handsome he was. She was a professional so she would keep it to herself best she could but she wasn’t blind. She had bones and blood and a beating heart after all and it was no secret that he was an exceptionally attractive man. The accent was an added element that gave a clue as to who this person standing in front of her was. She was sure she had heard on the grapevine that the CoMC professor was Australian - and he sounded it, she assumed. Esther hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting him in person yet.

Cocking her head to the side just a little, she lowered her quill and set it down in front of her. She hadn’t even clocked that he had his arm wrapped yet. “That’s quite alright,” she replied, an air of curiosity in her tone. “Can I help you with something?”

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Lucas has glad that the hospital wing wasn't busy. The head nurse was quite attractive, and Lucas smiled at her. He could appreciate a pretty face, but really, he was married to his work. He knew the affect that he could have on people sometimes, it was something that he had lived with since he was young. Even though he had always preferred the disheveled and relaxed look, he had learned that it didn't really matter.

He hadn't had the chance to meet the head nurse yet. But he was used to that. For his job, he was not required to enter the castle often, and luckily, no student had been so injured that he had to bringing one up here.

It took her a while to fully react, he did hope that he wasn't interrupting her work. But she did say that interrupting was alright. “Can I help you with something?” He smiled at her and moved closer to her. "Yea, well, we hadn't had the chance to be introduced. And I wanted to just come and let you know that there will be some dangerous creatures that I'm bringing in, and there is a high chance of injury. It's for the seventh years." He ran his fingers through his hair, leaving his bandaged harm to his side, it did still hurt. "I was also wondering if I could have some basic first aid items, for minor and immediate things." He wasn't sure what her response would be, but it was worth a shot. If anything, hopefully she could make sure that she had enough supplies, especially if things went wrong.

@esther

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Esther held her gaze on the man as he began to explain that he’d come to introduce himself. She was rather interested in what he had to say and a curious smirk played on her lips very subtly until he mentioned that he was giving her a heads up about the dangerous creatures that he was bringing in as part of the curriculum. Her expression dropped immediately turning to something a little more deadpan, though anyone observant enough would note her exasperation. “Oh. Well, that’s fabulous.” The lack of enthusiasm in her tone gave away the fact that it was sarcasm she was employing. “Dangerous creatures... High chance of injury…” She nodded as she said it and pretended to look off into the distance as if she were making a mental note of this information, “that’s bloody brilliant.”

She didn’t understand the fascination behind high risk activities that some people seemed to get a kick out of. Creatures were great - sure, but who wanted to put themselves in the path of something dangerous for fun? It was the equivalent of playing Quidditch with the chances of being beaten with a Bludger and falling off a broom. That kinda thrill seeking stuff just wasn’t for her. 

She arched a brow at his request for basic first aid items. “What kind of items are you looking for specifically, Professor?” she inquired. Surely he knew that any medical attention endured as a result of his learnings should be directed immediately to the infirmary to be dealt with by a medical professional - like her!

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Lucas did notice the woman's smile drip as he started to talk about work, but he was just so good at it. He understood that many people weren't as interested about magical creatures as he was. Most of his friends and classmates at school couldn't see why he was so fascinated with them. He grew up around them. “What kind of items are you looking for specifically, Professor?” Lucas' smile flattened as she asked that. "Just some basic bandages, just to tide them over. Until they come up here to you of cores." He smiled a little nervously now. "Just bandages mostly" He took a quick glance at his bandaged forearm but then quickly back up to her. He should probably have her take a look at it, but he was sure that Odin would be back later. The Pheonix that he had bonded with helped him feel at ease, even if he did get hurt, the bird would always help heal him up. That was not the case for students though. He didn't think any of the students would get hurt, not at all. But when he first took on the teaching potion, he heard of the stories about other professors and injuries. He just wanted to be prepared. Lucas looked around. and used his bandaged arm, not thinking about it, to run his fingers through his hair again. Maybe it was a nervous twitch, but he really didn't like being inside for too long, he barely noticed the pain it caused.

@esther

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It wasn’t that Esther wasn’t interested in work, or even in magical creatures, it was really more about the fact that the professor was coming to her with the expectation of having an increase in injured students that had made Esther’s expression drop. There were always a couple of people who liked to be a little radical in their teaching. Esther would be lying if she said that she didn’t appreciate those methods. She remembered fully well how certain professors had been engaging during her time at school. It was the ones who went above and beyond to make their classes entertaining as well as engaging that left the most lasting impression on her.

But now that she was an adult, and more importantly the Head Nurse, the idea of an influx of student injuries caused by so called dangerous creatures kinda made Esther’s head spin. It wasn’t ideal, not at all. But it wasn’t like there was anything she could say or do about that because she wasn’t the headmaster, was she? She didn’t get to approve the curriculum. She stayed out of that stuff and minded her own business and did her job, only really making recommendations when she was asked, based on her qualifications and knowledge.

She thought for a minute when he assured her that the basic items he needed were just for the interim, and that of course it wasn't a replacement for visiting the hospital ward. After pausing for a moment she nodded. “Alright, I suppose can put together a supply of bandages for you,” she took a note with her quill and as she glanced back up again, his arm caught her attention. “Do you want me to check that out for you? Since you’re already here, I might as well.”

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Lucas believed that in order to truly understand a creature, you must experience and interact with it. Did this mean that some idiot student would get hurt? Yes. But as long as everyone listened to him, and did the right thing, no one would get hurt. But some of these creatures were dangerous. There was a higher risk of students getting hurt. But how else were they supposed to learn. You couldn't put a kid in a bubble, then once they are out of school let them out into the real world. That's just not how things were done. If he didn't give them a chance to get out of their comfort zone, and experience dangers, then he would feel as if he had failed as a teacher. As a young boy, Lucas was put to work in the rescue with his family. Yes, there were precautions. But he did still do stupid things, and he did get hurt. But by getting hurt, he learned.

Lucas knew that it was important to seek professional help when you were hurt. He was a bad example. But he had Odin, who was currently out. "Thanks, I appreciate it." He really did. Having basic first aid things close by was really essential when working with dangerous creatures. He let her make a few notes as he relaxed a little bit. Lucas was surprised that she offered to look at his arm. Guess he shouldn't have been. She as a nurse after all. He looked down at it. Might as well. "Sure, that would be great" He said, moving closer to the girl.

@esther

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“It’s not a problem,” she told him as she finished off her notes then placed her quill down readily. She gestured her hand to an ornate chair that sat opposite and pushed herself up to stand, “Would you care to take a seat, Professor King is it?” Although they hadn’t met properly, she knew his name by association. She rounded her desk and stood beside him, then leaning against her desk facing him, she motioned for him to give her his injured arm.

“And what happened here, then?” she asked him as she began to unravel the bandaging he had obviously dressed himself. She could only imagine the number of possibilities for ways for a Care of Magical Creatures professor to get beat up. Eventually, she revealed the wound underneath that looked like the work of large talons. She sucked in a little through her teeth to acknowledge that it looked painful, then looked up to him to gauge his response.

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She finished thanking her notes, then motioned to a seat opposite of her. "Yea, but you can just call me Lucas" He was not a formal sort. He knew that the school and the area was quite formal, and he would follow that rule when it comes to student teacher relations and how they were addressed, but the girl was a collage, and an equal. "You are Ms. Garnet, correct?" He had heard some of the older students talking about he beauty. Her beauty was something that he couldn't deny.

He sat on the chair and gave his bandaged arm towards her. Working day and night with magical creatures was a dangerous business. When she inquired what had happened he laughed and threaded his free hand through his hair again. It was a bit of a nervous tic. He didn't like being inside for long periods of time. It just felt confining.

The woman took his arm and started to take off the bandages that he, himself put on. He grimaced from the pain a little, but he smiled at her when she made that noise. "Hippogriff, totally my fault" He informed her. The three large marks embedded in his arms were quite painful.

@esther

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She nodded, then added “You can call me Esther,” a small smile forming at the corners of her mouth as she examined his arm. The gash was quite bad in her opinion but he was holding the pain back pretty well. She found that a lot of grown men that she had ended up nursing in the past through whatever ailments they had tended to act tough or whatever in front of her. It was a trait really typical of men to want to pretend to be all strong and gutsy. They could literally be dying and still put on a brave face half the time.

It didn’t shock her that this was the work of a Hippogriff, but luckily it wasn’t anything she couldn’t easily heal. Esther took her wand and pointed it at the wound and muttered an incarnation, “Vulnera sanentur,” and immediately the residue began to clear up, slowly but surely and the wound slowly started knitting together. “Please hold your arm out like this for a moment, and don’t touch anything,” she told him before turning slightly to grab an ointment by her desk. It shouldn’t take too long, a couple of minutes max and then she could dress it for him and he’d be good to go!

@lucas

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In all honesty, Lucas was glad that the woman said that he could just call her by her first name. He wasn't the type of person who preferred being formal. As she started to examine the wound, Lucas took a breath. Working with magical creatures, you were going to get hurt. He usually just let it be and Odin would heal him right up.

She used a healing spell and his arm began to heal up nicely. He did as directed as the healing magic did it's thing. "Guess you see things like this all the time." He commented. She didn't even bat an eye at his injury. He watched the magic work. "It's similar to phoenix tears." He observed, knowing full well how that looked.

@esther

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"Guess you see things like this all the time."

The blonde nodded and the corners of her mouth turned upwards just slightly hinting at a grin, “Yes - and worse too,” she confirmed. There wasn’t a whole lot she hadn’t seen by means of injuries between her time here and at St Mungo’s. There wasn’t a lot that phased her anymore. When he mentioned that her charm worked similar to phoenix tears, she let out a small chuckle. “I suppose it is...” She agreed, not really registering that he would have access to a phoenix to be able to do the healing himself. It was incredibly rare to have some kind of domesticated relationship with a Phoenix, so it didn’t even cross her mind.

Once the wound on Lucus’ arm had knitted itself back together sufficiently, Esther grabbed for a topical Wound Cleaning Potion with one hand, and took his arm again in the other. “This is going to sting quite a bit…” she advised him, then immediately dabbed it over the remnants of the wound before really giving him the chance to pull away. She immediately took her wand again and used a bandaging charm, “Ferula”, covering it up nice and neat and snug.

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Lucas couldn't help but smile wide as the girl agreed and seemed to grin a bit her self. Something about her smile, even if it wasn't big, but he liked it. Worse would be something to see, though, he had seen worse too. He had lived around magical creatures all his life. And many family members had been injured, badly, by working with the deadly ones. She chuckled at the mention of phoenix tears. Guess not many have talked about the professor with the phoenix. And if they had, she probably wouldn't connect him to be that professor. Guess the comment was better in context.

He watched the wound heal up, not seeing her grab for the potion. “This is going to sting quite a bit…”

"Oh, you don't..." he flinched a grunted as the "sting" she mentioned started to happened. He spoke too late. True, it was proably a normal progression of wound care, but it really wasn't necessary. At least, not in his mind. She then bandaged it back up again. He looked at it and smiled back at her. "Thanks. It's been a while since I've had a healer mend something" When he got hurt at past jobs, it was a natural thing, but since he started working at Hogwarts, if something came up, and it was bad enough, Odin would just take care of it.

@esther