Marian giggles. :Nowhere! I'll just get a bowl of hot soapy water and we'll clean you up right here. ...Uh, I guess you could have just Belrun do it if you prefer, but I think it'll be easier with both of us so we can help you move around: 

:Oh. I do not mind you helping: Leareth is unclear on why that would bother him. 

:He's not prone to embarrassment particularly: But she'll help shift him and wash him up.

Marian thinks that not being prone to embarrassment is an EXCELLENT trait and she wishes more of her patients had it!

With Belrun's help, she gets Leareth as clean as possible given the limitations of a sponge bath and avoiding tubes, and swaps his sheets for clean ones. 

Moving around a bit feels sort of good, actually, but also it's very tiring and by the time they're done Leareth wants a nap again. This seems very unreasonable; he wasn't even doing most of the work! 

:You probably do not need to stay right here all the time: he reassures Belrun. :I am feeling much better, and also I am sure that I am not very interesting right now!: 

:Are you sure? I'm probably sending you some energy passively without even really thinking about it, so you shouldn't assume you won't feel more run-down with me gone:

Leareth considers this. :- Perhaps I would appreciate you here for the next candlemark, then, since I just did several tiring things - and I think that I want to try drinking some of that liquid food on my own and see if I can manage: 

:Good idea: She pets him and when he feels ready gets him liquid food.

The new oxygen mask is a bit less obtrusive, and Leareth discovers that the little carton comes with a straw, which he can tuck in under the mask while still getting his oxygen. 

:- Huh: He takes another sip, swishes it around his mouth, makes a face. :I - am trying to decide if I like it or not. It is not especially foodlike: 

:What is it like instead?:

:It is - sort of like milk, but thicker? And slightly...powdery, or chalky... And it is sweet but in a very strange way? Here, you can just taste it if you want: 

Leareth tries to offer it to her, but his hand is still shaky and also gets tangled in his O2 sat probe, and he nearly drops the carton. 

Belrun catches it and untangles him. Pokes her finger into the container and licks it. :Ew:

:I am not sure I dislike it! I just need to, well, avoid comparing it to actual food: 

:I'm glad you don't dislike it, since you're not going to be ready to chew for a bit!:

Leareth sighs. :At least it does not take much effort to consume. I think my body is still very confused about digestion and I am not hungry, so eating is hardly motivating: 

:Makes sense. Okay, so you seem to have gotten it swallowed without incident, would this be a good time for me to ask about going to get artifact supplies?:

:Yes! I think I should be fine - Marian will take excellent care of me, I am sure - and I am hoping we will have this sorted out and can send word home as soon as possible: 

Belrun nods and kisses his forehead. Tells Marian she might go attempt some shopping-of-sorts.

:Oh, good, have fun - here, I went by the ATM and got some cash out for you: Marian offers her an envelope. :It's only two hundred dollars, that's my daily cash limit, sorry: 

:I was sort of hoping Alice's sister would have what we need lying around already but this will come in handy if she doesn't - thank you so much:

:You're welcome! Good luck!: Helping with the exciting project of getting her MAGIC patient and his wife/girlfriend/whatever back home to their MAGIC WORLD is slightly making up for the deeply depressing numbers on 114's monitor and the even sadder quiet prayers being said inside the room. 

Alice is happy to call her sister, and even show Belrun downstairs and introduce them briefly. :I want Starbucks anyway, and my patient's doing great, I can grab another break. And then I can make sure she understands about the maybe-accidental-mindreading thing if you talk to her: 

:Thank you, I appreciate that. Though I'm getting a lot of practice so I'm much better at it now!:

:Oh, I'm glad!: 

Alice ushers her down the elevator and out the glass doors at the front of the hospital, to meet her sister! Alice's sister Loreen looks a few years younger; her hair is an odd unnatural-looking shade of almost purplish red, with beads braided into it, and she's wearing sandals and a long dress dyed in multicolored swirly patterns. She and her sister hug, and talk briefly, and then Alice confirms that Loreen understands and consents to possible mindreading in order to talk to her. 

:Hi! Does hair just sometimes be that color on this planet -: