{ BEATING THE HEAT ; }

OOC: I'm assuming this is set before him healing Bass, so I didn't mention it, but I figured Xae should have some background on already knowing about spiderwebs.

When Harmony's mismatched gaze met his own dull grey, his heart sped up, and he could hear his blood pounding in his ears. He gave the Tagavor a smile, trying not to show the weakness in his limbs as his name drifted off of her lips. "I have been busy." With Sable recovering in his den, Xae had had little time to be anything but busy, though he didn't dislike it. It gave his mind something to do, something to concentrate on. As two more slowly filtered in, Xae turned to watch them, listening as one of them spoke to Harmony, complimenting the Tagavor. The russet male gave a sidelong glance at the head healer as she responded, speaking what he assumed was the Kruni's name; Nona. His eyes turned back to the earthen-toned fae, silently appreciating the fact that she viewed Harmony so highly. As they finished speaking, the leggy boy scanned the surrounding area, waiting for others to show, but none did. He found himself feeling a mixture of emotions; irritation, disbelief, confusion. But when he turned to Harmony as she began the meeting, he found that she didn't appear the least bit upset. With a sigh, Xae forced his own feelings and thoughts down. If Harmony was accepting it, he supposed he could, as well. For the time being, anyway. If he happened to pass by one of the healers who hadn't shown - if they hadn't been kicked out - he would surely have words. His thoughts were interrupted as a bundle of herbs was placed in front of him, and in front of the other two females who had shown. Instantly, his eyes scanned each stem, each leaf, already knowing the herbs - after all, Harmony wouldn't put any difficult or advanced healing herbs before apprentices. Aside from Harmony, Xae held the highest rank; he was well aware of the basic herbs. He remained silent, eyes watching the other two apprentices closely, wondering if they knew the herbs. His attention was averted to the Tagavor again as she spoke up, formally introducing Nona. The male nodded to the brown female in a polite greeting and welcoming, before his gaze flashed again to the woman with whom he was in love as again his name slipped from her lips. He couldn't help the small amount of pride - nor could he help the flush that heated his skin, and again found himself grateful that his coat was so dark - that radiated in his chest. She had referred to him as her colleague. Not an apprentice, not an underling. A colleague. An equal. Truly, this was the greatest compliment that he could ever receive from Abaven's head healer. He would have to remember to thank her when the meeting was through. There was little time to consider that at the moment, however, as again Harmony spoke to him. He took a second to consider what he should say. This was an apprentice meeting, after all, so surely he should keep to something simple. Besides, he didn't want to appear as if he was attempting to one-up the other two apprentices. He understand that they required encouragement, and he wasn't sure it would be very encouraging to try and introduce something advanced. However, they could also benefit from learning something exceedingly useful. And after all, Harmony had mentioned that it could be anything. "A spider's web can be used to stop bleeding as well as bind wounds." His pale gaze flickered to the other apprentices. "By rolling spiderwebs into a ball, then stretching it to match the wound, it can hold the skin together while the body begins repairing itself. Spiders' silk is coated in a substance that acts not only as glue, but as an antibiotic, keeping the wound clean and infection-free." His words were spoken in a monotonous voice, as was usual for the male when speaking publicly. He fell into silence, waiting for the other apprentices to give their own knowledge. "Speech" Thought