“Thanks, Shaula, I knew you were good for it, but I’m glad you got it to me so quickly.” Dzan says, a pensive look on his face.
“No worries, no worries. So, were you able to convince that woman to take the money for her facial reconstruct– I mean, healing?” Shaula asks, her affect flat. Sigvor sighs.
“It took a lot of convincing after you left, but… she’s taking the money. She’s definitely taking it. She actually told us to come over to her home to see her new face in a couple days. She wants to thank you as well as Ajax. Ha ha, she actually wants Bels to see Ajax too…” Sigvor chuckles softly. “She’s really grateful.”
“Ajax? She hasn’t ever met him though, has she?”
“Well… After you took off, she asked us about how we knew about the terrorists, you know, how we figured out they were there in the first place. I couldn’t really explain how Ajax knew exactly what he knew but I did tell her that it was him who figured it all out and sent us in there.” Sigvor says while rubbing her chin in thought.
“Yeah, I mean it was clear even to the two of us that if it wasn’t for Ajax, she and her kid would not have been saved. Without him, we wouldn’t have felt like it was our job to stop those freaks… I didn’t even know those pricks were terrorists until Ajax pointed it out to us.” Dzan shakes his head in disgust.
“Oh yeah, by the way, I just want to say, uh, on Ajax’s behalf… I’m sorry that he basically threatened you into going in there. I mean, it ended well for everyone this time but the two of you put your lives on the line. You could have died. Or been severely hurt like… No, nevermind, I just want you guys to know that Ajax is sorry for his actions. We’ll both be making it up for you.”
“Oh? How would you try paying us back?” Dzan rubs his hands together in anticipation, expecting some sweet sweet coin from their overflowing supply. Sigvor smacks him lightly on the back of his head making him inhale a bit of the beer he was just drinking. As Dzan sputters and coughs, Sigvor looks at Shaula calmly.
“We can let things be. I can’t imagine how tightly wound Ajax was when he saw what needed to be stopped. I’d let things go with a simple… Oh, how about this? A favor. Ajax owes the both of us one favor.” Sigvor says, a gracious smile on his face. Dzan snorts but begrudgingly acquiesces.
“A favor would be good enough. But, don’t think it won’t be on the same scale as the favor Ajax got us to do.” Dzan asserts with conviction.
Shaula looks at the both of them with wide eyes, before laughing slightly. A favor is the least of her concern, at least one owed to the two of them. She’s just glad that Ajax hasn’t lost a couple of good and interesting people from his list of friends. Regardless, whatever they decide to ask of him, she’ll be there alongside him this time.
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With that out of the way, Sigvor gives Shaula Mrs Litun’s apartment unit number while reminding her of the building address. Shaula would like to make it there for their meeting, she isn’t just going to dodge it because of her difficulty in social situations with strangers. After all, it’s not about her receiving gratitude, it’s about Ajax receiving it.
After the lengths he went to for the people in that apartment complex, Ajax deserves to see some of the fruits of his labor.
“When’s the earliest she can go see a healer about her face?” Shaula asks.
“She said she was going to try for tomorrow. She told me that with the money she has now, her husband can take her to a church clinic to get it fixed. Or at least look after the kid while she’s there. Shouldn’t take more than a half hour of waiting.” Sigvor details.
“Will they see her even if she’s a beastkin? I thought the church was really… prejudiced against demihumans.” Shaula asks with an annoyed look on her face.
“To them, money is money. It’s not like she’s asking to regrow an organ. The healer doesn’t need to be a clergyman specifically.”
Shaula had heard about this. Clergymen of the church of Osva are all middle to high rank healers, able to regenerate middle to high complexity internal organs. You could only be a clergyman if you met this standard, and conversely those healers who met these standards were duty-bound to join the Osvan seminary.
As a result, powerful healers (always clergymen) are self-righteous and prideful concerning their healing, having been more heavily indoctrinated into the ways of the church than the layperson. If a healer is a clergyman, they are less likely to give their divine healing to demihumans, claiming it was too good for members of the inferior races to receive.
As a result, even if demihumans have the money, they would be hard pressed to find healing if their injuries or ailments were severe enough. Luckily for Mrs Litun, her injury doesn’t require a clergyman to cure it. Any lower-tier church healer should have the efficacy to repair her disfigurement.
“Well, that’s good… I’m glad she’s going to get the help needed.” Shaula breathes in relief. The woman was quite brave in her eyes, a model caregiver who put her child’s life above her own. How would she have turned out if she had someone like that in her childhood…
“How did… things end up for Ajax? Is he alright?” Dzan asks, changing the subject slightly.
Dzan honestly looks unsure if he wants to hear the answer. He can recognize that Shaula was being somewhat silent about things on that front. Sigvor herself also recognizes how close Shaula is to Ajax; if things went reasonably well for Ajax, she would have boasted about it to the two of them.
So, what happened? Sigvor wonders. Is he badly injured? Is his pride hurt? Or did he and Shaula have a fight? That would also explain why she’s being tight-lipped about his mental state. He didn’t seem like the kind of person who could just go about his life after killing people, even if they were trying to kill him first…