THE APPLE OF SNAKES

xv. remedy

Nerluce made it through the rest of the day, despite his body's best attempts.

After Taayir dismissed the class, Nerluce intentionally stayed seated. He hadn't been asked to but Taayir had said - on multiple occasions - that it was alright for him to stay and talk to her about anything, especially if it was magick related. But, of course, Nerluce had never actually taken her up on the offer before and a part of him didn't want to even now. What if she had something important she needed to do? What if he was bothering her? What if she thought Nerluce was lying about how much this hurt?

It was safe to say that Nerluce felt as if his head was spinning so fast it might come flying off as he watched his classmates gather their things, get up, and then sift through the doors. Nerluce shifted in his seat as Taayir looked up from the papers she was sorting through, cocking an eyebrow at him.

"Do we have a lesson I just forgot about?" Taayir asked.

"No- uh, no," Nerluce said. Unless... well unless he'd forgotten about it too. Or maybe Taayir was testing him? No- no- most likely not. "Um..."

Taayir sighed, knowing full and well she was going to need to pry Nerluce's confession from his clenched jaw. She set down her papers and strode across the room, sitting down on top of the desk in front of Nerluce's. Aristide's desk. He probably wouldn't appreciate knowing that his desk was frequently being used as a chair in these after-class meetings Nerluce had.

"What's the matter?" Taayir asked.

"It's- well it's not-" Nerluce swallowed, choking on his own words. He raised his eyes, scanning the ceiling as if some secret script might be written there for him to follow.

Taayir looked up as well. "There ain't nothin' up there," she said. "Unless yuh can see somethin' I can't."

"No!" Nerluce said, bringing his eyes back down. Focus. He needed to focus. "My back - well, actually my entire body but mainly my back - hurts." Not a good description but Nerluce could work with it. "Hurts like... really bad. I think... something happened. Yesterday. Um, because of how much- how much magick I was using."

"Yuh-" Taayir said, standing up much too suddenly for Nerluce to feel comfortable. She was nice enough to pretend she didn't notice the way Nerluce flinched back. "-are trouble, little Hebikoti." She turned and walked towards her desk, rifling through the drawers. "I was wondering why yuh looked so out of it - I would be too."

"I'm... sorry," Nerluce said, though he didn't know what he was apologizing for.

"No, no," Taayir said, apparently finding whatever it was she was looking for in her desk. "There's not much yuh can do but wait it out but..." Taayir returned, plopping down on Aristide's desk once more as she extended a small, green bag towards him, "these should help somewhat."

Nerluce took the bag, opening it cautiously. Inside, he found small, brown, sweet-smelling spheres. He frowned at Taayir. "Chocolates?" he asked.

"Yes..." Taayir said, though her expression said that chocolate was not the only ingredient in these small spheres. "Just... dissolve one on your tongue whenever you feel like your magickal pool is low - that's what this is, for the record, your body is just straining to refill your pool - never more than two, though."

"What are these, exactly?" Nerluce asked. "And why do I feel like carrying them might be against the law in several - if not all seven - kingdoms?" It was his turn to raise a brow at Taayir.

But she just smiled and laughed it off, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Just don't chew them and don't take more than two a day. Got it?"

"Can I... take one now?"