Gideon was only a little bothered to find himself sharing a room with an infirm child, unable to heal even the meekest of his burns. The nurse was explaining that clearly pyromancy was not for him, much less the children Chandra had been teaching. When he came to seek said mage out at the school he was accosted by a rather rambunctious rabble of young teenagers.

Any distance between him and the town's inhabitants and he would've healed himself, unfortunately he was far too polite to offend the healer attending to his wounds. He was likewise, far too polite to do anything more than moderate damage to the youths. Two sat to his right, as far from Gideon as they could get within the cottage.

Chandra hadn't stuck around to see what happened to him, upon sighting the burnt Gideon holding the boys up by an ankle each she'd called the school nurse and abandoned her three 'charges'.

He would have to apologise for embarrassing her. Had he not spoken to her then none of her students would have known there was a man staying with their teacher, and the two next to him would not be mumbling about their 'spinster' teacher's lewd affair.

Surely she wasn't old enough to be a spinster?

He really needed to find work. Never had he been so lacking in anything to do that he had sat and contemplated a woman's age before. It was particularly bothersome as he simply did not care. Chandra could be a decrepit widow as it was no business of his.

Twenty… three?

Much younger than him if that were the case. He remembered Jace's expression upon the request for assistance with a cringe. He thanked the heavens above that the young man (Now Jace must've been at least twenty five, right?) had the decency to stay out of his mind. That hadn't stopped him from asking aloud what concern it was of his where Chandra Nalaar was. Gideon had responded with his usual approach to unwanted questions, he'd changed the subject. When that didn't work he'd downright ignored Beleren.

It wasn't reassuring to note that Jace seemed convinced he had his answer. Gideon was too private to tell him that he wanted to help Chandra, so instead Beleren was now convinced he was pursuing an old lover.

It seemed most of the people he met these days thought he was once Chandra's lover. It seemed daft, he doubted Chandra had ever been anyone's lover.

Another unwelcome thought. Chandra was a fellow planeswalker, no man's lover. Right?

He doubted she had the patience to tolerate anyone long enough to become a lover.

"If you trek to Harbingan tonight then you may be able to catch a mage more experienced in the healing arts, than myself." Gideon snapped out of his reverie, politely as always.

"Pardon?"

"Harbingan is at the foot of Klarret Peak, a few ridges over. There are many mages there, thanks to the hot springs. Folk come from all over the plateau to be healed."

Gideon thought about this for a time. As he trod the path back to Chandra's residence he wondered if a short trip wasn't in order. He'd been here just one day and already she seemed sick of him.

But then again, perhaps that was just her inability to tolerate anyone in her space.

Perhaps Harbingan was a better environment for him to make himself useful.