Celestine watched Jack pick the concrete boulders with ease. His muscles seemed to be rippling underneath the thin piece of cloth covering his massive arms, and her thoughts began to wander away. She could sense another one of her kind close by. Of our kind, she thought, as she looked at Jack, with his back turned to her, sweating away. This other presence is a distraction - and she cannot deal with a distraction today.
The moment passed and she blinked her eyes to bring herself back to the present. She needs to concentrate - Jack can easily turn 'wild' when she isn't paying attention. His eyes look normal.. for now. At times like these, she wished that she had been ignorant of the side effects of her powers. Her powers of concentration lessened when she is around people she has healed. And she has healed Jack of his injuries a few times too many. Her fingers ached, and she could see that her nails are getting thinner.. like sheets of paper.
She heard the sound of cloth being ripped. She looked up and saw Jack tearing off a part of his sleeve - he is about to lose his temper. Bon sang!
"Maître Jacques!" she called out. She had to bring him back. His head swerved and his piercing green eyes looked menacingly at her. The milky swirls of his left eye indicated that he was on his way to 'wild'.
Celestine smiled at him. "Maître Jacques. You seem to be tired, non? I told you we should have gone to that bakery at Covent Garden for some good French pastries. They make you strong."
Jack snorted "Ma'am, you ain't right in the 'ead, you are. I ain't having no Frog pastries for tea."
She watched his eyes turned bright again. She winked at him. "But froggies are a wonderful source of protein, oui?"
She could see that his body has started to relax and that the 'wild' has retreated. Until when, she doesn't have a clue.
"Ah, Maître Jacques, with a bit of butter and garlic, with some red wine and baguette... masterpiece!" she continued.
"If you could find butter in this wasteland, Ma'am. I would rather have the butter on simple bread without the smelly frogs in 'em." Jack replied. "And why do you keep calling me Mayter Jack?"
"Maître... you forgot the R. Always the R, with you English people."
She got up off her makeshift stool and walked towards him. He stood silently still as she slowly approached him.
"Because, Maître Jacques, I believe that there is more to you than meets the eye."
He towered above her and yet at the same seemed so small to her. Celestine felt an urge to give him a hug but stopped herself. That weapon will be used when times are really dire.
She stood on her tiptoes and used her powers to levitate herself up to Jack's eye level. She touched his eyelid with her right finger. "Paupière," she whispered.
She kissed it. She willed his eyes to not turn 'wild'. And she felt the mutation slowly consume her. She has healed Jack too many times.
"À quoi bon? Je meurs si je vous perds, mais je meurs si j'attends."
"We need to look for Aldus?" Jack replied.
"We need to look for Aldus."
(*What's the point? I’ll die if I lose you, but I’ll die if I wait.)