[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/wVi2mx3.jpeg[/img][/center]
[color=aqua][center][h2]Vasra Dermok[/h2][/center][/color]
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[quote]"You need to get some rest, Doc."[/quote]

"Maybe in my next life," Vasra quipped, forcing her lips into a soft smile. Purchasing a moment to think, she swallowed a steaming spoonful of soup gratefully. The warmth as it traveled through her was a welcome comfort. Closing her eyes, Vasra heavily rubbed her eyelids, trying to will sleep further away from her.

Sonam's words troubled her. She had suspected the price for Spirit Water would only climb, [b]no soar[/b] 
to greater heights. But not so quickly. Not yet. She had known, of course, that the [i]game[/i] she played was a dangerous one. She had known before she had made her first move. To trade in Spirit Water was to play a deadly, fast-paced game of Pai Sho. To steal from the Upper Ring was to gamble with your life as collateral. Death was not certain, but the price for being caught, was a heavy one. It didn't matter. Not really. She couldn't stop. She couldn't ignore those in need. She couldn't close the door of her clinic to someone pleading, begging for help, as they offered her everything they owned, every scrap, every shiny piece of metal, everything of value for her just act...to try to help...to do anything at all.

A shiver traveled over her weary shoulders and Vasra tried to shake her troubles away with another coerced smile. Sonam was right. She needed sleep. She needed time to think. She was being foolish. She was taking too many risks. She was alienating the wrong people. She was annoying the right people at the wrong time. She would be in trouble, [i]real trouble[/i] if she kept it up. She knew. She knew this was the case. But she could feel a sense of fatalism overwhelm her. She had to stay the course. She had to do what she knew was right. The cost was immaterial. She had recalled the words of one of the long forgotten Avatars. An Earth Bender, a philosopher, and a teacher. She had found portions of her book. The burnt pages that remained of her writings and her thoughts.

[i]"To save a life. At great risk or even at the cost of one's own life. Such is the path to true peace. It is a difficult path. It is an ungrateful path. But there is joy. And there is peace. Saving a life, you save the world, one kind deed, one small gesture, and one gentle thought is often enough.[/i]

"There is no time for caution, Sonam," Vasra conceded, clasping her hands together, and summoning the remainder of the energy that remained to her. "Forgive me, I have put you in a delicate position. I know. I know that this is true, but matters once again required hasty action. And you are right, there are only more patients these days. More people struggling. More people barely surviving.Do not despair though, at least we can do something about it. Small actions still matter. Every kindness helps stave off the rot that threatens this city."

"I can get more money, if it will help," Vasra began again after attacking the soup with a military gusto that suggested the doctor was well aware of how little time she had left to chat in private with Sonam. She had patients to see and Sonam no doubt had other far less pleasant tasks to see too. It was a cruelty Vasra thought, that someone as kind as Sonam, as gentle, and as intelligent was forced by circumstance to live a life of crime. Beneath her rough exterior. Hidden behind a carefully guarded mask. Vasra could sense a kind soul and a gentle heart. The world was cruel. The world had been cruel to Sonam. It still was. Vasra couldn't ask her to stop. She couldn't suggest she retire from a life of crime. They both knew it was pointless. Sonam was sworn to the triad. She owed them a respectable dept. They needed her. Vasra needed her. She needed her connections. She needed her help. And she needed all the spirit water that Sonam could get her.

"There are some favors that remain for me to call in, if things get much worse. I have not been idle when it comes to currying good will among the Upper Ring. Although I suspect professional courtesy will only go so far should I encounter unwelcome attention," Vasra continued, gratefully finishing her bowl of soup.

"I thank you for the lovely soup, as always. It is more restorative than one can imagine! It has been so nice to catch up. We really should see each other again soon," Vasra said, her voice rising above the quiet of the private conversation that Sonam had afforded her. They were friends, Vasra felt. They trusted one another. But a charade had to be maintained. Vasra "I have in my possession a most wonderful ginger tea that I acquired during my last visit to the Upper Ring. Perhaps, you would join me at my clinic? Let us say in two nights? And we can share a cup of tea and continue to discuss your brother's most unfortunate illness. However, sleep peacefully in the interim, for I have high hopes that I will have a treatment ready by then."