On the Care and Feeding of Unexpected Visitors

[glints_on_snow]

Diamond wrote in her journal. I cannot express to the others how distressed I was to hear that the stranger we encountered on the edges of Mirkwood forest had a Nazgul's ring. The other stranger, the Maia that appeared to help us, said that Isildur's Bane had returned, but that simply cannot be. Perhaps some other evil Maia has created his own ring

Comments

[iolaus_lj]

Iolaus did exactly as Lord Elrond instructed, filling a bowl with water and carefully crushing the leaves he'd been given into the liquid. He gently propped Joxer up a bit by putting pillows behind his back and head, then slipped an arm under his shoulders to raise him a bit more for the first dose. Then very very carefully, he fed a few drops of the mixture to the still soundly sleeping Joxer.

Then he waited, anxiously watching Joxer and hoping for some response. And waited some more, until the next hour, when again he patiently repeated the procedure. Raising Joxer a bit off the pillows, his left arm as support under his shoulders, Iolaus fed him a few more drops of the medicine.

[joxer_tm]

Joxer started to wake up a bit as the liquid went down his throat and sputtered a bit. He wasn't quite awake, and he didn't know where he was, or what was happening to him. His mind not yet waking for the nightmare it has been locked in for some time.

Struggling to open his eyes, he really recognizes Iolaus for the first time sense he ran into him the night before, "Iolaus?" His voice cracked.

[iolaus_lj]

"Hey, buddy. Welcome back," replied Iolaus, relief evident in his voice. "You had us pretty worried there for a while."

[joxer_tm]

"Iolaus?" He swallowed heavilly and looked around, "What... where am I? The last thing I remember..." Joxer closed his eyes tightly and shook his head, he didn't want to remember.

[iolaus_lj]

"Easy, easy," soothed Iolaus. His arm was still under Joxer's shoulder, supporting him, and he used it to try and help him get a bit more comfortable against the pillows, sitting him up a bit more so he had a better view of his surroundings. "You're safe now, and among friends. This place -- well, it's called Rivendell and you could say it belongs to some friends of a friend of mine. Nothing is going to happen to you here. That's a promise."

[joxer_tm]

Joxer sat up a bit on the bed, though only moving where Iolaus guided him, waiting for the pain to start shooting though his body. He could remember that he had been in pain for sometime before the night before, but for some reason it hadn't stopped him from doing anything. Now his chest wasn't flairing any more. Reaching up, some what in surprise, he touched his chest.

"Friends?" Joxer found that hard to believe after what he'd done.

[iolaus_lj]

"Sure. Friends," said Iolaus sincerely. "You know? Friends? The folks who care about you and stick by you and want to help you just because you're you? Even if, well, sometimes they're not too good at showing it?" He offered an apologetic smile. "That would be me, by the way."

He set the bowl of medicine on the bedside table. "You met glints_on_snow last night but you probably don't remember her. You were pretty banged up at the time. I don't know where she's gotten off to. Probably went to find shaman_x. He's the guy that pretty much patched you up and helped you get some rest. Lord Elrond did the rest. This place," he gave a cursory wave of his hand to encompass the room and beyond, "is his holding. We're his guests."

[joxer_tm]

Joxer blinked owlishly at Iolaus, not quite getting what he was saying, at least not about the friends bit. Very few people wanted to be around him before the ring, and he was certain even less would once they found out what he had done.

"I'm sorry..." he looked down at the sheet covering him, "I don't remember meeting anyone last night... don't remember much after..." he changed what he was about to say after a moment, "after getting lost in the woods."

"Where is this place? How did I get here... it feels too... good to be..." to be be any where near where he had been heading yesterday.

"I had a burn... I know I had a burn... but it doens't hurt any more..."

[iolaus_lj]

"It's okay, Joxer. You really are safe here," said Iolaus gently. "This place is, well, I'm not exactly sure. About 2 weeks journey from Bree, if that's any help. As for how we got here . . . you'll have to ask shaman_x about that. He's the one that brought us. You needed immediate attention and glints_on_snow thought Rivendell was the best place to find it."

He was damned curious about what had hurt Joxer, how he'd ended up in the woods in such a frantic state in the first place, but he wasn't going to press. There would be time for that. "Like I said, you were pretty banged up. The burn's gone, Joxer. Mike healed that, along with some nasty cuts and scrapes. You were pretty out of your head, so he also helped you sleep. That's why you don't remember coming here."

[joxer_tm]

"Bree? Where's Bree? I don't remember a place by that name in Greece..." Not that he'd been in Greece much lately. He'd been in many places that he really had no idea how he got there, like the dark tower where he got his ring or the castle where the wizard was...

"Why would he heal me? I haven't done anything to deserve that." He would have expected them to leave him to the wolves after what he'd done... after what he'd become.

[iolaus_lj]

"Bree isn't in Greece. I've heard this country called a lot of things, but mostly Middle Earth. It's about 3 months by ship from Greece. At least, that's how long it took me to get here." He cocked his head and gave Joxer a quizical look. "And why in hades wouldn't he heal you? You were hurt and needed help. That's good enough for me, and for him."

[joxer_tm]

"But I was in Greece just a week ago... and was at this strange castle, just a few days ago... my..." he clamed up again.

"I don't deserve it." Joxer refused to meet Iolaus's eyes.

[iolaus_lj]

"Yeah, well, these days even I don't know whether I'm coming or going sometimes. It took shaman_x about a minute to bring us across a distance that took us more than a week to travel by cart. As for your not deserving help." Iolaus shook his head, clearly bewildered. "Joxer, I don't know what you've been through or what's happened, but you're a good guy. Your heart's in the right place. Truth of the matter is, you deserve better than you've gotten from a lot of folks for a long time. Me included."

[joxer_tm]

Joxer pulled his legs up to his chest, still under the sheet, "Did something stupid..." Which in his mind wasn't something that was all that new. Gabby was always saying he was doing something stupid.

He glaced up at Iolaus for a moment, disbelieving, "What do you mean?"

[iolaus_lj]

"I mean I'm sorry. I mean I can be a real ass sometimes. Strong of heart and thick of head, that's what Herc says." He looked at Joxer earnestly. "Ya know, it was you that made me realize what a mistake I was making by not letting Herc make his own choices and standing by him, even if I didn't particularly like the choice. That's what friends do. And it also made me realize -- you deserve better from me. And I really, really am sorry for not treating you with more respect. The way a friend should be treated."

[glints_on_snow]

Hello! *strolls in carrying a tray that appears to be far too big for her to be lugging about by herself. She has brought them a large tureen filled with chicken soup, two bowls, and a small plate of what appeared to be some sort of flat bread.*

I thought you might like some soup! And you must really try this bread! The elves call it lembas. I've been eating it all morning!

*grins* Silly elves tried to tease me by saying that one bite could last a grown man all day! Imagine eating only one bite of bread all day long! Elves! So droll!