Letha Regis (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
burntbridges) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
riverviewlogs2017-08-04 09:13 am
burntbridges) wrote in riverviewlogs2017-08-04 09:13 am
[Open] The terrible fire of old regret is honey on my tongue...
who: Letha Regis and YOU!
what: Visiting Letha in the hospital, maybe meeting her new baby.
when: During the month of August
where: The hospital
warnings: Lots of pregnancy, birth and death talk, usually in the same context. Letha being a horrible mother.
--
Letha had really waited until the last possible second to allow herself to be brought to the hospital... and unfortunately, that means a very long hospital stay while she recovers from the ill effects of her baby's development. She's bedridden for the first week of August, refusing to even talk to anyone, or acknowledge her daughter's existence. It falls on the doctors and nurses to keep Istrid alive, while Letha remains hooked to an IV and totally, forcefully silent. Hell, she won't even speak to Ivar... which says a lot by itself.
I
During the week of the River Festival, she's still bedridden... but she becomes talkative, at least. She isn't happy - the bubbly, cheeky girl she'd been when she got here seems to have been replaced by a moody ghost of herself. But she will talk, and sometimes she will rant, and even scream and throw things at nurses when they accidentally push her too far. She's almost always looking out the window, at the festivities that she can't take part in... if only she hadn't gotten cursed with this stupid child, she could be having fun right now. Not trapped in bed with people fussing over her health... and forcefully reviving her every time she tries to hide in the afterlife.
II
During the third week of August she recovers a bit more; there's some color in her cheeks, and from time to time she'll be seen holding Istrid. No, Winter - her name is Winter. Winter Istrid Regis-Ivarsdottir, because she said so. Ivar had suggested "Winter", and it seemed to fit better than the name she'd chosen when she thought this child was... not an abomination. It's not safe to touch Winter with bare hands, nor even hold her for too long, so Letha is forced to bottle-feed her, and occasionally she can be heard muttering pessimistically to her daughter. Things like "If you weren't the most precious thing I have, I would drop you." and "I should hope you never send me back here again, you are just as much trouble as your father." Though, which father she's referring to is up to interpretation.
III
By the fourth week of August, she's finally out of the hospital, but will still accept visitors if people want to check on her at home. She's retreated indoors to avoid people seeing her daughter, while she tries to cope with being the absolute failure she had to be, to birth a healer... but logically she knows having the support of friends is good for her, and she can't deny their company without risking having to offer an explanation. So if one wants to drop in on her at home, she'll be a good hostess at least.
What does Winter actually look like?
Winter is three weeks premature, so she's a bit smaller and a lot thinner than the average baby. She is also albino, with tufts of pure white hair and pale purple-blue eyes with red pupils. Her skin is pale, but very pink and healthy, and she will usually be seen in cute little dresses with skulls on them... if one can see that under the protective baby blankets she's usually held in. She also has a pacifier with a small stuffed lamb attached to it, for hugging, and that is almost always in her mouth.
what: Visiting Letha in the hospital, maybe meeting her new baby.
when: During the month of August
where: The hospital
warnings: Lots of pregnancy, birth and death talk, usually in the same context. Letha being a horrible mother.
--
Letha had really waited until the last possible second to allow herself to be brought to the hospital... and unfortunately, that means a very long hospital stay while she recovers from the ill effects of her baby's development. She's bedridden for the first week of August, refusing to even talk to anyone, or acknowledge her daughter's existence. It falls on the doctors and nurses to keep Istrid alive, while Letha remains hooked to an IV and totally, forcefully silent. Hell, she won't even speak to Ivar... which says a lot by itself.
I
During the week of the River Festival, she's still bedridden... but she becomes talkative, at least. She isn't happy - the bubbly, cheeky girl she'd been when she got here seems to have been replaced by a moody ghost of herself. But she will talk, and sometimes she will rant, and even scream and throw things at nurses when they accidentally push her too far. She's almost always looking out the window, at the festivities that she can't take part in... if only she hadn't gotten cursed with this stupid child, she could be having fun right now. Not trapped in bed with people fussing over her health... and forcefully reviving her every time she tries to hide in the afterlife.
II
During the third week of August she recovers a bit more; there's some color in her cheeks, and from time to time she'll be seen holding Istrid. No, Winter - her name is Winter. Winter Istrid Regis-Ivarsdottir, because she said so. Ivar had suggested "Winter", and it seemed to fit better than the name she'd chosen when she thought this child was... not an abomination. It's not safe to touch Winter with bare hands, nor even hold her for too long, so Letha is forced to bottle-feed her, and occasionally she can be heard muttering pessimistically to her daughter. Things like "If you weren't the most precious thing I have, I would drop you." and "I should hope you never send me back here again, you are just as much trouble as your father." Though, which father she's referring to is up to interpretation.
III
By the fourth week of August, she's finally out of the hospital, but will still accept visitors if people want to check on her at home. She's retreated indoors to avoid people seeing her daughter, while she tries to cope with being the absolute failure she had to be, to birth a healer... but logically she knows having the support of friends is good for her, and she can't deny their company without risking having to offer an explanation. So if one wants to drop in on her at home, she'll be a good hostess at least.
What does Winter actually look like?
Winter is three weeks premature, so she's a bit smaller and a lot thinner than the average baby. She is also albino, with tufts of pure white hair and pale purple-blue eyes with red pupils. Her skin is pale, but very pink and healthy, and she will usually be seen in cute little dresses with skulls on them... if one can see that under the protective baby blankets she's usually held in. She also has a pacifier with a small stuffed lamb attached to it, for hugging, and that is almost always in her mouth.
III
He turns up in the kitchen, announcing his presence with a gentle:]
Hey, bubbale, it's cha boy Taako.
[From their very brief interactions since she gave birth, Taako can tell that something isn't quite right, and his response to that is to just act like everything's totally okay. Treating her any differently will probably just make it worse.]
I'm gonna put a bunch of stuff in the freezer for ya, save you from dealing with a kitchen for the next couple weeks.
no subject
Thank you... my mother never mentioned how much trouble having a newborn could be.
[Or- she had, several times, but Letha had chalked it up to being a particularly horrible child. Which isn't wrong.]
no subject
[Not from experience, or even like... adjacent experience, but it's hardly any kind of secret.
More importantly, though, Letha is really struggling, beyond what's expected of this kind of thing, so as soon as Taako has everything put away, he moves out to her and opens his arms, a silent offer for a hug.]
C'mere.
no subject
I'm afraid of her. [She admits after a moment, muffled against Taako's shirt.] I'm so, so afraid and Ivar doesn't... doesn't seem to notice or- or care...
no subject
I get it.
[Ivar isn't used to magic, the way he and Letha are, and even if the healers he's familiar with are nothing like what Taako is used to, he understands why they're something terrifying for Letha.]
But she's got you, yeah? No matter what she can do, you can teach her how to use her powers without hurting anyone, how to be good. You can help her.
[He doesn't know if this is the right approach, but he doesn't want to... dismiss Letha's feelings. He wants to refocus them.]