Broken Promises

[Faith Augustin]

26th Ashan, 717

Three trials ago, she had woken up in the early breaks of the morning, as usual, and she'd fallen back to sleep. It was strange, Faith thought as she got their breakfast ready, what a difference three trials made. She had given him medical treatments for what she had thought was a simple inflammation of the cornea. Maybe an infection, maybe something brought on by too much work. He hadn't wanted to accept that and had tried to tell her not to fuss, but he had taken the tea and used the eyebath. She'd seen him do both.

And it wasn't getting any better. In fact, it was getting worse.

Oh, when she asked he said that he thought it was getting a little better. She nodded along and when she examined his eyes she said the same. They were both lying and they both knew it. What he didn't know, because she hadn't told him was that they were treating a group of men for a specific disease called Lightbane. Four of them, all came in at once and it was not normally contagious. Faith had seen, in the examination she did of Padraig, exactly the same thing. Not as bad in him, not yet, but still.

So, Faith had not slept but had lay in his arms and wondered how she was going to fix this. She'd persuaded the four men that she would cure them within the arc, or that they should give her the chance to. There'd even been a story about a doomed man who had promised a king that he would teach his horse to fly. Which was, of course, what she'd have to do; she'd have to cure this Lightbane and thus, teach the horse to fly.

For the first time that she could remember, Faith was angry at the world. This wasn't right and it wasn't fair. He'd just got a new job and things were good for him. After everything they'd been through in Rharne, everything that he'd overcome and he was here, right here and doing what he had always dreamed. Except he was about to lose it all. Well, not on her watch, she had already decided but she was angry and she was tense. So much so that she didn't hear him walking into the kitchen and when he put his arms around her waist, Faith physically jumped. "Padraig! Oh, I didn't hear you." That was perhaps something of an obvious statement.

Faith was one of the most disciplined of people, she could endure all sorts and not show any facial expression, not seem to be anything other than quiet and calm. Except, of course, when it came to him. She smiled and shook her head. "I was a million miles away. I was thinking about when we met." She smiled up at him. He was fine in here, she'd kept the curtains closed and it wasn't bright. But as she kissed him, her eyes searched his and his pupils were, there was no doubting it, dilated. Too large, letting in too much light. Not by a lot, but more than enough.

"Breakfast is ready," she'd promised him that she wouldn't worry and she had broken that vow a hundred times over. Putting down a plate for them each, she sat and wondered how she could even begin to say this to him? How did she tell him that, as far as she could tell and considering that she had more than doubled his dose and added every other thing possible, considering the progression and specific nature of the symptoms and considering the complete lack of any other symptoms, she was concerned that he might have a degenerative disease which meant he was going to live the rest of his life in agony, or total darkness? He didn't have work this morning, she'd already been out to the Order and swapped her shifts, arriving back home before he woke up. So, she could tell him, tell him what was worrying her and how, no matter what it was, she loved him and she would cure it. Now, in fact, was the perfect time.

"How's the bacon?" Faith asked, cursing herself for a coward.

[Padraig]

No. It wasn't getting any better. But Padraig had continued to believe that it would, given enough time. He'd been under pressure at the university to accomplish a great deal in not a great deal of time. The expectation had come without warning, and it had been something of a race, just to find his stride. He hadn't quite yet. So why wouldn't he be feeling the strain?

Still, he'd used the drops, the treatment and anything else that Faith had wanted him to. And so when he told her that he felt as if it was working, he wasn't exactly lying since he still believed that it would. In the meantime though the drawn curtains helped. He was able to do his reading, grade papers and study.

He didn't know about the other men. She hadn't told him and he'd had no reason at all to ask. These trials, if they had time to sit for a few bits and talk over a leisurely meal, they were doing good. He did sense her tension of late though. She wasn't her usual self, or at least it didn't seem so to him. Faith hid it well, except from him. And even though he also sensed that it wasn't him that had done anything to upset her, it was there all the same. Perhaps, Hamilton-Smith was at it again.

She was distracted that morning though. Enough that he could come up from behind without her knowing, and slip his arms around her. Usually, she did hear or sense him there. All the more reason to think that something was bothering her. Still, he grinned and shook his head. "Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." But yes, he told her, he was starving.

He was, actually, and as they sat down and began to eat, her silence struck him as unusual. But when she did speak, finally, he raised a curious brow, though grinned as he lifted the article in question and took a bite. "It's wonderful, as always. What are your plans for the trial?" he asked.

[Faith Augustin]

"Don't apologise. I like it when you startle me." Faith smiled at him and leaned against him, just a brief hug before getting back to their breakfast. He ate that like he'd not eaten for a ten trial period and Faith shook her head at him. "Hollow legs, that is what you have," even in this moment, that caused her to smile. Cosmo, of course, was all around the two of them in the hope of some bacon. He also knew that Faith was a far more likely provider of such and so the majority of his attention was on her. Faith looked at the dog and realised that he was going to have to go. The slight glow which was comforting and soothing in the dark of the night would be excruciating to Padraig soon.

She put her fork down, her food untouched. "I thought I'd spend the morning with you. I've swapped my shifts around." When he'd finished, she slid her plate into the middle of the table if he wanted anything but, when he was done, she picked the plates up, stacked them and started to move to the kitchen. Except, in a mirroring of quite a different time she turned around, put the plates back down and moved to sit next to him.

"I need to talk to you." Faith looked at him and prayed to Vri that her love was enough to do what she needed to do. The anger at the world had not gone and it was very much not fair. "I need you to.. Padraig, I don't..." Faith had never, not in her life, been at such a loss for words. Then, though, she realised that what she was doing was worrying him and that was, without a doubt the last thing that he needed. He was a scientist, he needed her to be clear, to be factual. "I'm concerned about your eyes. I believe you have something more serious. Not life threatening, but potentially threatening to your sight."

She took his hand and, if she needed to, she put her other hand under his chin to pull his attention to her. "I am going to cure it. I am going to cure you." That what she was telling him was hard to hear, she did not doubt, but if she knew him, she thought he needed to be given details. "The condition is called lightbane. It's degenerative and progressive, so the sensitivity to light will increase." It was specific to Scalvoris, she explained and she had come across it just a few trials before.

"There's a break out, or more precisely four men have come in with it. It isn't considered contagious, usually. So, it's mutated from it's usual course and prognosis." Faith looked at him, her gaze concerned but determined. "We have time." Not much, but it would have to be enough. "Your symptoms are progressing very slowly, which is a very good thing. Each individual seems to progress differently. I need you to hear me, Padraig. I am going to cure it." She was just damned if she knew how right now. That would change though. She was determined.

"In the meantime, there are things that you can do to help yourself, and me." They would make no difference, none at all. That wasn't the point. "A different eyebath, a supplement to take. Also, avoiding sudden changes in ambient light levels. It is my aim to have cured it before it impacts your work, I just need you to have faith in me to do that." Miracles, after all, happened after breakfast. She looked at him and breathed in, stopping for a moment, letting it sink in.She'd given bad news to more patients than she could count, and yet here it was so much more difficult. "We're going to fix this together, you and I." She looked at him and of one thing she was absolutely sure. "There's nothing we can't do together." She didn't have strong arms to hold him, she'd told him, but she had eyedrops. Well, by Vri and the love she bore for this man, since the eyedrops had not worked, she would have a cure.

[Padraig]

"It's hard work, all that reading and grading...and thinking. Works up an appetite," he told her, grinning round another bite of eggs. More than she might realize actually. All those things that felt to come naturally had suddenly become a little more difficult because of the strain they seemed to be putting on his eyes. At least when there was actually enough light to see by.

She wasn't hungry, he thought when she pushed her plate aside. But then, she tended to eat like a small bird anyway. That coupled with his sense though that something was bothering her, convinced him all the more, that something was. "I assumed you'd have a busy trial ahead of you. Mine will be, busier at least, next cycle. I sat for my tests," Padraig told her. "I'll begin study for my chemistry diploma in Ymiden."

But then she turned serious on him. More than she seemed to be already. "Alright," he said, without having the foggiest what could be bothering her. They were talking already, after all. But then she told him, and silently but with a deep frown, he put his fork down, his breakfast forgotten. "What do you mean, my sight?"

He'd never heard of lightbane. But what she described, and what it did, didn't sound good. Not at all. Degenerative, progressive, the way she described it, and the way she maintained that she'd cure it, implied that now, it was considered incurable. The implications raced unbidden through his mind. Left to progress, apparently, in time he'd lose his sight completely. All he'd worked for, all he was planning for at least professionally, wasted and gone.

Padraig believed in being realistic. She was convinced she could cure it, but he couldn't guess how much of that was genuine belief and confidence, and how much was wishful thinking. "I believe you can do anything you set your mind to, Faith," he said, and he meant it. But again, there was reality to consider, and the possibility that this was a dragon she simply couldn't slay. And he wouldn't become a burden or hardship for her either.

He didn't say that however, it wouldn't be helpful for either of them. "You're right, I'm sure," he said instead, and he smiled. "You and me together. We'll fix it."

► Show Spoiler

300 gn deducted for chemistry entrance exams

[Faith Augustin]

Oh of all the times, Faith thought and as she sat next to him she realized what he'd said. "You passed your letter and certificate at the entry exam?" She took hold of his hand and smiled her delight at him, tinged as it was it was completely true. "I am so proud of you, Padraig. I didn't doubt it, not for a trill." She looked at him with serious eyes when she spoke the words, almost as a promise, "I look forward to you getting that Diploma."

He would, she did not doubt because she would make sure that he would. He looked at her and he spoke, after a moment. He believed she could do anything she set her mind to? Faith's heart jumped into her throat, she was quite sure that he could hear it beating, so loud was it in her ears. She knew him, knew what he was thinking and feeling as she observed the interplay of emotions across his face and Faith reacted entirely on instinct in that moment. Moving, she took both of his hands and sat on the floor, pulling him with her. Not because the floor was particularly comfortable, but because there she could be closer to him and she was.

Sitting as close to him as it was possible to, Faith spoke to him, possibly not quite what he'd thought she'd say. "I was going to ask you to marry me just now." She smiled at him with a rather rueful expression. "I decided to ask you how the bacon was instead. It seemed more relevant. Because if I had, it would have changed nothing here, with us." Thinking about it for a moment, Faith frowned and then added, quite seriously. "Unless you'd said no. I don't know how I handle rejection. But, that isn't the point." With a dismissive wave of her hand and a slight shake of the head she pushed that to one side.

"I know you believe in me, you always have." He'd shown her a hundred ways, after all, and a hundred more. "We will fix this, you and I." She would have to involve him, she knew in that moment. She couldn't hide this, he needed to be part of it. "I absolutely believe that. But if it moves more quickly than us, if your sight goes before we cure it, then I want to remind you of a promise you made me." He wouldn't want to be a burden, he would have ludicrous notions of holding her back, all sorts of rubbish like that. "Unless I tell you, Padraig, unless I swear to you it's what I want, then you promised you would go nowhere, remember?" Her silver eyes echoed her determined expression.

"Whatever comes, we'll fix it together." There were all sorts of things that they could do, and Faith had a moment of absolute, simple clarity. "In our own ways. So, whilst I'm working on finding a medical cure, I want you to work on an alchemical one. Or, at least, a means of counteracting it. You see, it occurred to me." In fact, it was occurring to her, rather than it had, but that wasn't the point. "If I fail, then light is going to be the issue for you. Any light, the smallest amount. So, create a pair of glasses which mean that it's completely black for you and then make a potion that allows you to see in the dark. The house, we can have as total darkness, I can see in it."

She smiled and reached up to stroke his cheek. "And that means, you have access to blood which gives the power you need. So, I'll cure you and you make preparations for if I can't. Deal?"

[Padraig]

It was the worst possible time for all this to happen. There was never a good time, especially if what she'd told him was true. In the heat of the moment, the diploma, all the running back and forth to classes, to teach, to study and mark papers, almost seemed...Well it felt like a kick to the stomach and he wasn't sure all the hurry would seem worthwhile in the end.

But that was a gut reaction, therefore a very unscientific one. "The diploma is required, as part of the job," he told her. "I'd intended to carry on and pursue my certificate in physics." He knew that she realized what she was thinking though, too late. And it didn't surprise Padraig. He'd never been very good at hiding his inner thoughts from her. They sat on the floor, something he'd always found to be a curious quirk in her, but he indulged it all the same. And then was struck dumb as she confessed what she'd intended to ask him.

Marry? How could she have thought he'd say no? She was right, marriage wouldn't change what they had or who they were. On the other hand, there was a sense that the question would have come as a result of this thing that was plaguing him, and if she was going to ask, or he was, he'd rather it wasn't under circumstances like this. "You'll hold that thought though, for later?" he asked, and managed a smile.

But she was right. Though he would speak aloud, his determination that he'd never be a burden or hardship for her, he'd also made her a promise. Under different circumstances yes, but still a promise. "I remember." But she was also right that he couldn't just sit by as a passive observer, doing nothing but waiting and hoping she'd find a way soon enough while the world around him grew darker and darker.

What she was suggesting, he could probably do and it oughtn't be difficult. "At the least, I can create a pair of spectacles, dark enough to cut most of the light but not all," he said, so that while she was working, he'd be able to venture outdoors more easily. "So that I can get out and about," Padraig told her with a smile he didn't quite feel, "while you're working on that cure."

[Basilisk]

Faith

Story: 4/5
Collab: 5/5
Structure: 5/5

Discipline: Focusing on curing Lightbane
Medicine: How to lessen the strain caused by Lightbane

Devotion: Vri +2 - Being willing to give blood to help someone you love.

Padraig

Story: 4/5
Collab: 5/5
Structure: 5/5

Alchemy: The blood of a Ghost-Watcher may help stave off Lightbane
Jewelry Crafting: Making glasses designed to block out the majority of light.
Discipline: Refusing to yield to despair

Notes

So this thread was both really sad and rather uplifting. The potential loss of Padraig's eyesight is given the weight and gravity it deserves, but their determination to cure it one way or another is not only really sweet, but it shows through the entire thread, even when their openly discussing the possibility of Pad going blind.

On another positive note, the backstory was very well explained in the opening posts of the thread, but the links were also appreciated. While threads are part of the characters ongoing stories, every thread is someone's first in the storyline, and it's nice to see that acknowledged, which is something that doesn't happen nearly as often as it should.

However, that does lead into the negative, that thing that knocked a story point off. While each thread does have some connection to the other stories in a characters lifespan, each thread is also a story of it's own, even if it's part of a bigger story. And this one didn't really have an ending, it just stopped, and did so rather abruptly, leaving the thread feeling like it was left hanging, a loose thread wanting to be tied up.

One final note. The two of you had best hope that Kura and Cally never find out that Faith almost proposed. Or that Padraig is open to the idea. They'll never let up on you if that happens. Seriously though, the thread was really enjoyable to read and the relationship between Padraig and Faith is adorable. The lack of an ending is a problem, but not enough of one that I wouldn't recommend the thread to someone wanting to start reading about these characters.