lostcarnival | (no subject)

Who: Zecora and everyone else
Where: The medical tent and in the carnival
When: Soon after the Agent battle
What: Zecora does her job. And is tired.
Warnings: None?

A.

[The medical tent is a dark and shadowy place in the aftermath of the Agent attacks, but those shadows are not unwelcoming. The very essence of the air seems permeated with Zecora's personality, warm and exotic and welcoming if you can get past how mysterious and occasionally creepy it is. In the depths of the tent, Zecora herself stalks from tables to seats to cauldrons bubbling in the back, seeming everywhere and nowhere at once, as if she's less a being and more a force of nature.]

[Given how the carnival is, this is probably a little alarming.]

[Those who are already here, she has instructed already -- whether they're awaiting minor treatments or major. But for those just arriving? Even in the middle of her exams, she lifts her voice to greet them, a faint rasp at the very depths of her rhymes.]

Please enter. Have a seat.
I'll be with you soon to treat
Whatever ailment is your trouble.
Call if I'm needed on the double.

B.

[Late at night, when the businesses of medicine in specific and the carnival in general are done, those keen of eye or sharp of ear -- or who just happen to be walking past the food stands -- will find a zebra half-sitting, half-lying on a bench, a partly-eaten funnelcake lying next to her muzzle. She'd tried to get some food, the first she'd had all day, once she'd single-hoofedly seen to every patient and ailment in the carnival's numbers... but exhaustion had won the day.]

[On the upside, she's looking properly solid now -- but beneath her fur, her fae marks glow a faint grey, apparently unable to stop even out of the presence of active magic.]

[Wait a moment and the observer gets to spot one hoof twitching violently, proof that her sleep isn't quite as restful as she needs it to be.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Give your fingers a whirl.
Do they flex and curl?
Then it'd be best
If your other arm got a test.

[He flexes his fingers on his extended arm, then raises the other and does similar movements. Everything seems to be alright there.

He nods his satisfaction to Zecora.]

[What radiates from Zecora isn't quiet relief and satisfaction. It really looks more like shadowy smoke. But the sentiments are there nonetheless as she keeps half an eye on him and his limb tests while she scrambles around tending to her brews and her patients.]

[By the time she makes a full circuit and gets back to him, she feels pretty good about his status. Still...]

Woe or weal --
How do you feel?

...Okay.

[At least physically. Most importantly, he's back in control of his own body.]

Oh, excellent. Zecora looked him over once more, then nodded.

"Everything seems to have gone as planned.
If you are careful, you may slowly stand."

Not that she'd look away for a second while he did... just in case. She was confident in her ability, but not arrogant -- and whatever had happened to Tamaki had been well outside her usual experiences.

Carefully, Tamaki did as she said. First he sat up, swiveling around so his feet could be on the ground. Then he stood, slowly, keeping one hand gripped on the table to steady himself.

He stands without any real problem; he's a bit shaky, but that's more from general exhaustion than anything physical. He looks down at his own legs like he's inspecting them, before looking back at Zercora.

"That thing is gone, right? I won't turn into someone else again?"

"The Ringmaster was not shoddy.
It is banished from your body."

Zecora did not think of herself as unskilled in magic, especially not after she had been learning here in the carnival for a couple of years. But the Ringmaster's occasional displays of power awed and chilled her.

"The Ringmaster did?"

He's honestly a bit surprised, but then again, she probably did it because she didn't want those agents in her carnival anymore. That's the only way he can see it.

"With little fuss.
She does value us.
Even if her insight
Is so bad it's a fright."

Seriously -- Zecora didn't blame the Ringmaster for this, because she was well aware the fae simply didn't think or behave like humans or zebras. Though it was very frustrating to have to work through the consequences.

Tamaki isn't sure he believes that; she could have had them leave sooner, but she didn't. The workings of the fae mind may be a mystery to him, but that just seems like common sense. The next time there's danger, will she ignore the warning signs?

But Tamaki doesn't say that, mostly because Zecora didn't ask for his opinion.

"Okay... then, I guess I can go back? Can I perform still?"

Zecora's point. What was common sense to the mortal brain simply did not register to the whimsical mindset of a fae.

"Return to your task!" the zebra said cheerfully.
"All that I ask
Is that you pay
Attention as you play.
Eat and rest when you need
And you'll reach top shape with speed."

"Okay. Thanks, Zeco-san."

At least this is one patient who won't be taking up space in the medical tent too long. He gives Zecora a wave before he leaves.