Hestra patched up her stinging wound with soothing salve and packed dried herbs into the dressing to keep the swelling down and to draw out infection. She sighed at herself for having forgotten to care for herself and for allowing her wound to get to such a state. She was very glad that her healing caravan companions were not here to see it. It was common practice in the caravan of healers to maintain their own physical health and keep their bodies in peak operating conditions. If only to advertise their knowledge of the human body. Their prowess at keeping it up and running and in top working condition. She hurriedly dressed, dried her hair, and returned to the encampment. The sun had fully made its presence known, and the members of the party were either fully roused or roused. Halsin and Gale were cooking something on the camp's fire; Hestra peered close to see what it might be. It was a fragrant dish that had the appearance of scrambled eggs, with some sort of herb blend crushed and mixed in. "Have a bite, little healer! You need to put some meat onto them bones!" The mountainous Halsin laughed boisterously as he handed her a heaping helping. Gale offered her his canteen of water. "It might be a little too spicy for you, Hestra; here, take as much as you need." Hestra took a bite of the eggs and withstood the urge to roll her eyes at Gale. He had also sampled the eggs, and although he tried to turn his face away, Hestra could see the tears well up in his eyes as he coughed in the face of Halsin's heavily spiced eggs. Hestra wordlessly handed him back his canteen, trying to keep smugness from her expression; he needed it more than she did. He coughed his thanks and drained the entirety of the canteen contents. Hestra took a second bite of the eggs; she felt equal parts annoyed at their sudden care and consideration after having all but ignored her yesterday and being touched by their kind gestures. Their demeanors seemed to have changed slightly from the day prior. Where before they regarded her with a sort of detached politeness, today they regarded her with a sheepish, almost embarrassed type of attitude. She wondered what might have changed. Shadowheart stumbled towards them, blinking in the harsh bright light of day and seemingly having only very recently woken from her sleep. She was fastening the buckles of her armored pieces as she walked and greeted each by name. When she turned to Hestra, she smiled apologetically. "Good Morrow, Gale, Halsin, Hestra... We are very grateful to you for accompanying us, and we will do everything we can to keep you; we swear it." The men solemnly nodded in agreement. Hestra looked from the contrite faces of each in turn, completely confused. "You call that an apology?" Came the call of the dandy vampire striding to where they sat. "Really now, how hard is it to say the words, 'I'm Sorry?". Ohhh, Hestra thought. So this was what this was about. Astarion must have felt particularly put out by her, having caused him to become separated from the group not once but twice yesterday. That must have been why he followed her to the river this morning, to collect an apology that had yet to come. "I'm sorry, Astarion. I apologize for having caused you to become separated yesterday. I will try my best to keep up with the pace today." Hestra was genuinely apologetic and more so surprised and confused by the vampire's sputtered, stammering response. "No! Not you!" He threw up his hands in frustration. "You only became separated because they would not wait for you! I stayed behind only to ensure that these bumbling idiots didn't lose the only healer we have! Now you three, apologize, properly this time." Astarion's lanky form loomed over the three of them as they sat, and for a moment, Hestra could imagine him as a mother scolding her three naughty children for misbehaving. "We are very sorry." "It will not happen again." "We swear it." Came the chorus of naughty children. "It is quite alright, No harm was done." Hestra replied. She was embarrassed to have the full attention, care, and consideration of the party. She wondered what could have possessed Astarion to take up her cause in such a way. She did not feel as though she had been wronged and wondered what made the offense seem so severe that he felt he had to intercede on her behalf. Whatever the rationale the vampire had, Hestra could feel her face reddening from all of the focused attention and was very glad when Halsin accidentally knocked over a log from the fire onto his bedroll and had to stamp out the flames. The focus then shifted from her, and she felt like she could breathe comfortably again. Gale and Shadowheart joined the efforts to put out the fire, and Astarion, ever the detached dandy, watched them from beside her, muttering under his breath something that sounded a lot like "these idiots."
