Tailtiu waited and waited for the Father — they needed to be on their way after a single, nice day and night in Evans — who never came. All his grousing over the importance of their trip, yet he slept in. She gave him a few more minutes, chalking it up to priestly duties or whatever men of the cloth did, before trekking to his room, knocking on his door.
Claud's running nose, red cheeks, and watery eyes greeted her. "I'm sorry, Tailtiu," he said without his usual sigh. Strangely, without his staff he seemed taller, but without Fortify to compare herself to… "Is it time to leave?"
"Looking at you I'd say no." The rain — he wasn't young and spritely like her (nor was he old).
Sniffling, "I am fine. Time slipped past me, but that is no excuse to -" Claud sneezed. Small and quick, she hardly heard it, but after the first was followed by a second, third, and fourth sneeze, muffled in his handkerchief. A cute sneeze for an unfairly pretty man. The last thing a sneezing man needed were a few days of heavy walking.
"I think you should get back in bed."
"Tailtiu-"
"Nobody knows we're going, Claud, so nobody's gonna know we're behind." She laid her hand on his arm, his sleeve soft. Claud did eye-contact well. "You can't go on without me, either! You might keel over, and then what are we going to do?"
Claud went mum, so she nudged him back into the room. He did not fight her, and being in his room, even a temporary one, felt strange. "I'll get you some warm milk or something," she said, "like my nurse used to. It's a little strong, but it works."
"No dubious concoctions."
"Would I be here if they were dubious?"