div class="chapter preface group" style="border-width: 1px 0px 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.5em 3em; padding: 0.643em 0.643em 0px; float: none; color: #2a2a2a; border-style: solid initial initial initial;" role="complementary"
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blockquote class="userstuff" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 1em; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0.643em; padding: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"
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div class="userstuff module" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 1088.63px; float: none; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: #2a2a2a;" role="article"
h3 id="work" class="landmark heading" style="border-width: 0px 0px 0.25em; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font-weight: 500; font-style: inherit; font-size: 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0.125em; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 0; opacity: 0; height: 0px; clear: both; color: transparent; border-color: initial initial #333333 initial; border-style: initial initial double initial;"Chapter Text/h3
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"span style="color: #555555; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;"Whumptober 2022 Prompt No. 11: Self-Done First Aid/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Manannan's mountaintop had been barren of trees, so walking over a ground covered in leaves was yet another new experience. They were surprisingly crunchy./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"And when wet, surprisingly slick. This finding immediately led to one more discovery - they could also hide rocks rather well. Sharp ones./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Alexander examined his newly acquired holes, one in his pants leg and the other in his skin. The wound was shallow but still bleeding and probably needed a few stitches./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He grimaced. Until he'd slipped, he'd been enjoying the changes autumn had brought, but now he'd have to cut his walk short./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He fished out his handkerchief from his pocket to use as a bandage. After tying it around his leg, he pulled down his pants leg over it. Standing, he found he could put weight on it without much pain; even while walking, it was only a minor annoyance. By tomorrow he should be able to pick up on his hike where he'd left off./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He took more care with his footing on the walk back up to the castle. He found Rosella right where she'd been when he had left, in an alcove by their bedrooms. While reading her book, she had shifted into a more relaxed position, her slippered feet thrown over the back of the couch. Comfortable, but one which their mother definitely would not have considered ladylike./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"She startled when he appeared and started to sit upright, then flopped back again when she realized it wasn't anyone who would scold her./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Oh, hey. This is a lot more interesting than I thought it would be. I'm almost halfway through it already." She glanced back up at him. "That was quick. Is it that cold out this early? Though I am looking forward to the snow, maybe we'll get an early one this year."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""No colder than yesterday." He gestured down at his leg. "Do you have a needle in your room? And some thread?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"She glanced down at the hole in his pants before snapping her book shut and standing. "Sure, though you know Lenore could also fix that up for you. What happened?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"They moved into Rosella's room. She moved immediately to one corner of the room and started shifting around some half-done knitting projects. As usual, her room looked as if a windstorm had been through it and thrown around every possession she owned. Alexander could never understand how she managed to remember exactly where everything was./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Slipped and made the acquaintance of a rock that didn't take kindly to being landed on," he answered dryly./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Rosella triumphantly held up the needle she'd finally found and started to hand it to him but stopped when she saw a dark splotch on Alexander's pant leg she hadn't noticed before. "You know you're bleeding? Should I take a look at it?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""I know," he said, holding his hand out for the needle./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Her eyes narrowed. "Alex, this is just for your pants, right?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"When he didn't answer, she tossed the needle back into the abyss that was her crafting corner. "Right, then. Do you want to walk down to Ren's office, or would you rather I send for him to come up here?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Neither! If you tell Ren, he'll tell Mother, and she'll get worried over nothing. And you know how she and Father get when one of us is ill or hurt." The hovering had almost driven him up the wall the first time he'd gotten sick since he'd been home./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Mm. Let me see it, then, if it really is 'nothing'."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He reluctantly pulled up his pant leg and untied his makeshift bandage. It had stopped bleeding, at least./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Rosella hissed slightly at seeing the wound. "Ow. And you were going to stitch that up yourself?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He shrugged and said, "Wouldn't be the first time."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Only the second, actually, but he thought he'd managed the first well enough./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"She gave him a sharp look but didn't respond other than to say, "Sorry, but I think Ren should take a look at this."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Alexander blew out his breath. She was probably right, but he didn't have to be happy about it. He nodded./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Fifteen minutes later, his cut had been professionally cleaned, stitched, and bandaged. They even managed to convince Ren not to mention it to their parents, so in the end, Alexander decided it had all worked out well enough./p
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