Chương 175: Day One Hundred And Seventy-Three

Dear Diary, I really gotta remind myself not to overdo it. I mean, I'm gonna ignore the shit out of myself saying that when the shit hits the fan, but I still need to keep it in mind. Woke up in my room, my head lying on somebody's thighs as they gently stroked my hair. Cracked my eyes open to slits and confirmed the lack of fuzziness on the thighs, then turned my head a little to confirm that my head was, indeed, on Saffron's lap.

"Good... afternoon, Goof."

"Why the hesitation?" She chuckled, "because it's impossible to tell what time it is in this room of ours, and I had to stick my head out the tent flap to check the time." I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding, then grimaced.

"At some point we've got to have a discussion about clocks." She gave me a look, almost a really mild version of 'wtf, Diaz?', then shrugged.

"I guess if you want one we could get one. They're expensive and we'd have to squeeze it in, probably beside the armoire. There's only a couple clockmakers in Phileo, but there are more in New Amsterdam, and after what we did in both Cities, I'm sure we could wrangle a steep discount."

"What about watches?" That got the full 'WTF, Diaz?' look.

"If we're standing watch, I'm sure someone will be along to give us a break. If it's outside, we can just look at the sun. And by the look you're giving me, you weren't talking about that kind of watch." I nodded, then nodded a few more times, because her thighs felt lovely against my cheek.

"A watch is a portable clock. I've seen little ones the size of a thumbnail, but most of them are, like, coin sized. Big ones get to be the size of an apple, maybe? I mean, not too many people wear them anymore, except as jewelry." I paused, my mind wandering off on it's own.

"Y'know, I never thought about this before, but they're really the only generally acceptable casual Men's jewelry. Other than wedding rings, I guess." Saffron shook her head, a wondrous look slowly turning into a gleam in her eye.

"Clocks the size of an apple. If you were anyone else, I'd think you were hallucinating. How did they do it?" I shrugged.

"Most of the cheap ones, the things people wore to tell the time, rather than as wrist bling? Used electronics, which is... shit," I started laughing, bringing myself under control when Saffron half-glared down at me.

"There's a quote from a writer back there. One of my science teachers was kinda fond of it.

'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic'. There's another one that goes, 'any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced'. I just realized that other than being, like, silicon with wire run through it, with electricity powering the whole thing? I have no idea how electronics worked. They just did. As for the fancy watches, while some of them used electronics too, the really fancy ones used steel and gemstones. Like, really high grade steel.

Probably artificial gemstones, now that I think about it."

"Artificial gemstones. Really?" I nodded again. Okay, I rubbed my face against her thighs again. She's got really nice thighs, okay? Firm, with just a hint of squishy.

"Yeah. They take carbon... from coal? I think? And then just put it under immense heat and pressure. That's how gemstones are made naturally, from massive heat and pressure." She grinned down at me, and I petered off.

"What?"

"I was just thinking how our son would love to pick your brain about how things worked in your world." I shuddered a little.

"Yeah, but I worry that he'd get a bit too literal for comfort, if you know what I mean." She nodded.

"On second thought, let me do the brain picking, and if I can't figure it out I'll ask him about it."

"Anyway, gemstones are really hard, kinda like steel. Everything inside of a watch needs to be super-strong to keep working for years on end. Even then they still break now and then. I guess that's why we still had watch repairmen. For when somebody's sentimental bling stopped ticking." The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Ticking?"

"Yeah. I know that much, old school watches tick once a second; it's something about the clockwork inside." She'd gone back to smiling down at me and stroking my hair. I did not have the energy to give a shit about anything but that for a while. Eventually she leaned down and kissed my forehead.

"I love you, Tabitha Diaz."

"I love you too, Saffron Aetos." I stretched a little.

"So... if it's afternoon, does that mean it's my shift again?" She frowned and shook her head.

"You, my love, are in no condition to jump back into that fight right now." I sighed, trying to pull myself together to get up, and my everything kinda whomped me with a mega-ache. No sharp pains anywhere, but that kind of achey leftover pain everywhere. I even got the impression that if I tried too hard to push, sharp pains were definitely on the table as 'cut it the fuck out' messages from my body to me.

"Ow." She smiled down at me.

"That's what I thought." I shook my head. Not nearly as fun as nodding.

"They need me out there. I gotta get my shit together and get back to work." She lay the hand that had been stroking my hand on my forehead, her other hand pressing gently on my chest.

"You absolutely do not, Goof. There are now roughly a dozen High Priests at the top of the steps curing for all they're worth. Their deities aren't being stingy with Mana, either." I shook my head again, or tried to. Her hand on my forehead limited my motion to an abortive jerk.

"They'll tire out, just like I did." She smiled down at me, "I should have said, 'twelve per shift, taking eight hour shifts'. Unlike a certain Goof I know, none of them are courting Mana burnout."

"Mana burnout is a thing?" She nodded.

"For most people, a very permanent, crippling thing. Oh, I suppose if it happens to someone young enough, and they retain enough Mana to still cast Spells, they could build it back up, but they'll never be as good as they could have if they hadn't burned out."

"Most people?" She smiled down at me, then leaned over and kissed me. I certainly wasn't going to interrupt that to play twenty questions. When she came up for air, she booped my nose and said, "most people, because injuries to the Soul don't heal for most people. Then there's you." I smirked.

"Then there's me."

"Who is here being worshipped by her High Priest until she recovers." I frowned up at her.

"Except when you need to sleep."

"Oh, I'll sleep here, beside you, beneath you, on top of you, however we wind up. I've had to take breaks from the beginning." She paused and sighed.

"Although probably not as many as I ought to have." My eyes shot wide open at that.

"You didn't hurt yourself, did you?" She shook her head, "I think not. But I strained myself over the first two days. If I did, it's minor, nothing I won't grow past by the end of this Plague."

"Okay. Don't push yourself too hard, Kitten. That's my job." She chuckled, "and it's mine to tell you when to stop and take a break." I sighed again.

"I could still Cure them faster if I were there."

"Not really. They're more or less Curing people as fast as they show up. Even Herbert, who is new to everything, can Cure someone once a minute or so, and he just started yesterday. The other High Priests are substantially quicker... Oh! There's some news for you."

"What's that?"

"Our own Sister Siobhan is now a High Priestess of Canta; she's personally Curing victims almost as fast as you were."

"Wow, really?" She nodded, smiling, "really." I frowned a little, "I wonder why he waited so long?" She returned the frown, "I'm not certain, but I have a guess?" At my nod, she said, "the Dan gods aren't very powerful, especially here in Phileo, oddly enough. The wealthy Dan worship the Norse Gods, most Bag worship the Greeks, and the Humans in town are split, although they tend to favor the Greeks. Canta isn't exactly a powerhouse in his own Pantheon, either.

So he had to consider whether a newly made High Priestess would wind up a target of the other deities. When D showed up with most of the High Priests in the City in tow, that meant Sister Siobhan would be part of a crowd, and nobody would try to make an example of her or him." I frowned. I got it, but I didn't have to like it.

"Yeah, I guess if I thought about it I wouldn't like making a target of you, either." I thought about it for a little bit more, then something occurred to me.

"I'm not interrupting your Curing, am I?"

"As you demonstrated, someone can do things they don't really have to think about when they're Co-Located. I've got Cure as a Skill now, so I only have to think there when someone asks me a question or something else that I have to think about." The Grin crept across her face.

"You, on the other hand, as I've noted, need rest. So, are you hungry?" Weird question out of nowhere, but after a moment's reflection, I said, "No?" The Grin got wider.

"Are you sleepy?" I shook my head, "maybe a tiny bit? Probably not enough to go to sleep, though."

"I guess I'll just have to use one of those Skills I've got to correct that." The Grin descended, and I met her lips with mine. Never thought someone having Canoodling as a Skill would have practical uses.