[ota] a walk in the park

[heartafterheart]

Dr. Cataldo was a good man, if slightly on the perplexing side. He'd been trying hard to keep up his practice in Town while serving as interim head of the Castle Medical Facility. Ceiro had, some time ago, offered him the position itself, but he'd declined due to an apparent love of his offices in town- and his patience there. In the need, Ceiro

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[cipherspeak]

Elisha had called the King of Hearts' name, and then tipped his head to one side as it was ignored - no, Ceiro was unlikely to ignore anyone, he hadn't noticed. And that, in itself, was concerning. He'd heard he was ill, of course, but not how ill he was.

"Your Majesty," he said again as he caught up to the King. "A nice evening for a walk, isn't it?"

[heartafterheart]

Ceiro looked up when Elisha came up next to him, offering that same gentle smile as he nodded his head.

"Indeed, It is a rather pleasant evening for a walk." Or pleasant enough, at least. "Out for a bit of shopping?"

[cipherspeak]

"Art supplies," Elisha said, lifting the bag. "Eileen's about ready to move beyond watercolors, so we're trying tempera." He inclined his head, though. "You seemed lost in thought."

[heartafterheart]

"I suppose I was." He said with some small agreement. "A side affect of being King, I find. One is often prone to mulling over difficult problems."

But he waved it off as he turned his attention to the art supplies. "She'll make a fine artist someday with you to instruct her. It is good to see such influences in her life."

[cipherspeak]

"She might," Elisha acknowledged, his lips flickering into a smile. "But if she just learns to relax and have fun, I'd be more than satisfied with that. Art lessons...are really more an excuse to get her away from biology and philosophy an hour or so a day."

[heartafterheart]

"A tall order, but I have faith. Eileen has been quite lucky to find those in her life that care so much." He said, reaching out to pat Elisha on the shoulder lightly with his bandaged hand.

"Now, tell me...does it help more to be abstract in your art, or to focus on still lifes? I might well need to take it up for stress relief myself."

[cipherspeak]

Elisha laughed a little, dipping his head. "Well, it depends on what kind of stress. If you're getting rid of extra emotion, I like abstract for that. But if you just need to clear your mind." He shrugged. "There are worse things than getting lost in the details."

[heartafterheart]

"Ah, details. They are a bit of a plague for me. I tend to get far too lost in them." He said with a gentle smile. "Perhaps I will take up knitting and leaving the painting to the more light of heart."

[cipherspeak]

"It's easy to," Elisha acknowledged, though it was usually intelligence or administrative details that bogged him down. "Maybe Maggie will teach you the zen-like appeal to gardening."

[heartafterheart]

"Oh but then she might well try to get me out there everyday. And I am not sure I am cut out to be a gardener. It has the slight downfall of being quite hot." Not that he'd ever been opposed to hard work. At least, not all his life. There was an appeal to not digging around in the dirt, however.

[cipherspeak]

"Knitting might be a better choice, then, and more useful with Tristan." Though how many booties one baby needed was frankly completely out of Elisha's area of expertise. "I hear Blythe is challenging a Ten this month." Though not Jordan, which was interesting.

[heartafterheart]

"Yes. She is....Which is not so unexpected. She's always had a drive to excel." He said with a smirk. "She will do well. And Hadyn, too. He's turned to into quite the young man." Though he paused. "But...I am sure you were aware of that."

Because...of things.

[cipherspeak]

"I was aware of that." Elisha's smile was quieter, gentle, but not quite bittersweet, lending credence to the rumor that maybe he and Hadyn weren't as done as they seemed. "I'll be sure to attend both of them. Hadyn will be an excellent Nine, I think." On his march to Ace.

[heartafterheart]

If Ceiro's mind hadn't been in places outside the present conversation- he might have wondered about that. As it were, though, any hint of what was or was not truth between Hadyn and Elisha faded away with the walking.

"He will. Though- I hope he does not rush things too much. He is young, and so is Blythe. They have much to look forward to- more than all the responsibility they seek to take on for themselves." He paused then, turning. "Itchy left him booklets on Medical Schools, but I have not heard him make mention of them. I was wondering...if you might have heard him speak of them. Before...." as it were.

[cipherspeak]

"I think it's better to take it slowly," Elisha said. "The responsibility is a lot, even for men our age." And his jump from Six to Ten in three months had been a more difficult adjustment than he'd ever admit to anyone. But it had been necessary.

"He...hadn't mentioned it," after a moment of thinking back, remembering their conversations. "But he was serious about studying it for a while before he suddenly just...gave it up." It was probably that he disliked Laureline so thoroughly, Elisha thought, that he suspected her of being the root of everything.

[heartafterheart]

"It....sadness me." He said with a slow nod. "I thought it was...odd that he stopped so suddenly." Granted, it wasn't as if Hadyn didn't have a sharp learning curve he would have to devote himself to over coming- but it wasn't impossible.