Dead Empress Backwater I'll save you the trouble

For @Clover please <3 our prideful boy...

Archer had been debating this for ages, ever since the elk rut in the fall really. It had solidified in his mind when he and Eros had come across Clover and Sharlee after the other mother had gotten hurt herself, and he'd spent the last couple weeks talking himself into it. It really shouldn't be this hard, except... well, he wasn't sure what he wanted, except to be able to take care of Eros and hsi family, and this seemed like the best way to do it.

But nobody had to know, right?

He didn't even know why he cared if anyone knew what he was doing, casually sneaking his way towards the medicine den. Healing was an important skill; there was no reason for him to be embarrassed about learning how to do it. It was only that he had this image of himself in his mind, this image he wanted everyone else to see, and healing did not fit that image.

But that was okay. He wasn't going to ask for himself. It was to serve his family, and take care of his brother.

"M-" he internally grimaced at the term of endearment his brother used for the other mother. Her children may share a father with him, but she was not his Ma. But... she cared for them the same way his Ma did. "Clo?" he called softly, compromising on the nickname.

Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

She'd been busy reorganising her den now that winter was here. Piles of herbs were moved more to the back of the den so the cold air flowing from the outside wouldn't freeze them and render them useless, and more hardy items were swapped closer to the front. Mainly the different types of bark and hides, as they could withstand a bit of ice now and then. Her attention was so focused on her task that she almost didn't hear Archer's soft voice, and she took a moment to glance outside her den with a clump of stalks in her maw. She wagged her tail at the sight of the boy, quickly dropping the stalks in their new spot so she could speak freely.

"Archer! How nice to see you today," she said warmly, only just a bit curious to see him at her den. She knew he wasn't the biggest fan of herbs and healing, and for a moment she wondered if he was hurt, but a quick sniff check ruled that out. "Was there something you needed?" Clover would always make time for any of the kids, even when she had countless things to do, and especially if they sought her out specifically.

Archer Valle

Clover didn't take long in answering him, stopping whatever it was she was doing and warmly greeting him. He tolerated her sniff check without letting her know he was fine; it was to be expected that she would worry. It's not like he'd ever sought her out without needing her for something, like Uncle Vayko's nose. Luckily, this time was different.

He glanced past her into the den, as if he could parse out what she'd been doing, and then back up to her before shuffling his feet. "Would... um, would you teach me? More about healing. How to heal. I gotta- I got to look after Eros. He's awfully good at getting hurt." This last bit seemed a little unnecessary, since Clover would know just how accident prone the older Valle boy was, as she was the one to take care of all that. Still, he felt the need to explain himself.

Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

She resisted the urge to look over her shoulder as Archer peered past her into her medicinal den, already knowing exactly what she would find during her common reorganisation phases. They happened every few weeks as she determined which dried out herbs were becoming old and unusable, and with the change of the seasons where she'd swap out where the different medicinal plant variants were located inside.

Her ears perked forward at his request, her mouth opening just slightly in a somewhat surprised expression, before quickly morphing into a large grin. She would be more than happy to teach him more about healing. "Oh of course! I would love to teach you more." Eros certainly had a knack for getting into troublesome situations which was most definitely a trait he had inherited from Viorel. "I'm almost always available to teach you more, unless you would like to have more structured lessons?" Both were fine for her, but the latter would be easier to plan for and make it easier to get through all the different plants in a way that was easy to remember.

Archer Valle

He expected the mild surprise on Clover's face before she wiped it away with a grin; why should she have expected him of all the pack to come to her asking to learn? But she quickly and easily agreed, which relieved the boy. He wasn't sure how he would have handled it if she turned him down. But she'd been the one to start all of this anyway, so why would she tell him no?

He thought for a moment. "More structured is good," he said. It would be easier than trying to randomly find her whenever he felt like learning something, and this way he couldn't back out. Not that he would. He was determined to be able to take care of Eros the best he could for always.

Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

She was glad that Archer decided on more structured lessons. Given the vast amount of knowledge there would be for him to learn, all depending on how far he wanted to take the lessons, she felt it would be best to decide beforehand on what he should learn. And that way she would have time set aside to really sit down and help him learn, rather than squeezing in a lesson between her other daily duties.

"Wonderful! Would you prefer morning, afternoon, or evening lessons?" Clover would leave that up to him, as she would find a way to rework her schedule to best accommodate him. She knew Viorel was a bit of a night owl, and wondered if Archer also disliked getting up early in the day. She was usually up shortly after the sun rose, so a morning lesson would be much easier to fit in during her days, but she wanted to make it as easy for Archer as she could. If that meant late-night lessons, then so be it.

"And I think a lesson every other day or every third day would work best, or further apart if you feel that's too much at once," she said as she sat back on her haunches. Time between lessons was needed to allow him time to really absorb everything he learned, but she didn't want to leave them too far apart as otherwise he may forget what he learned before the next lesson.

(This post was last modified: Mar 08, 2022, 06:56 AM by Clover.)

Archer Valle

It seemed his choice of lesson structure was a good one, as Clover herself seemed pleased with it. Only, she followed it up with another question which made Archer stop and think again. What was his usual schedule like? It's not like he did much more than wander around the territory, follow Eros, and try to keep him out of trouble as much as he could while still encouraging his ridiculous ideas. He shook his head a little at the thought. Eros didn't usually stay up as late as he did. "Could we do evenings?" he asked. That way he could be a little more confident Eros wasn't going to run off while he was in lessons, and he could spend a little more time during the evening rehearsing the day's teaching before bed.

"Can we have a practice day?" he asked. "Like, every couple of lessons you can quiz me or something? Just to make sure I'm learning it right." It wouldn't do him any good to learn medicine if he remembered it all wrong.

Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.