Raine Sage (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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tushanshu_logs2015-05-10 09:15 pm
ruinsprofessor) wrote in tushanshu_logs2015-05-10 09:15 pm
May catchall
Characters: Raine Sage, some specified in starters, open
Date: May, especially the first two weeks
Location: assorted, specifically Water, Healers' Guild, Midnight Hotel
Situation: various, including lunch with Bakura and a mugging. those two are unrelated.
Warnings/Rating: definitely mention of violence if not actual violence.
A; Saturday, May 9; closed to Bakura-- Lunch, Bakura had said. Raine took him at his word, and in the early afternoon on the day he'd specified, she set out for the dojo. She stopped at the markets on the way, just long enough to pick something up. When she arrived at the dojo she had a small basket of fruit tucked into the crook of one arm, the same kind they'd shared at the festival in April. Perhaps notably, she'd left her staff at home, and she looked more relaxed than she had in weeks by the time she slipped through the entrance, glancing around for Bakura.
B; Sunday, May 10; OPEN-- In comparison to April, May had actually been quite lovely so far. Granted, this was not a tremendously high standard to hold it to, but despite the weather and the natural disaster, Raine was decidedly more approachable than she'd been in a little while. Sunday afternoon would see her in the Hotel kitchen, the makings of tea out on the counter and a concerningly speculative look on her face. If she's allowed to go unsupervised or unstopped, the result is going to be a frankly alarming green concoction from which she cannot actually free the mixing spoon.
As potato salad, an utter failure. As an experiment, fascinating.
Interlude; Monday, May 11, early morning; closed-- Raine had known more welcome interruptions than the sharp blow to the back of her head in the middle of her morning walk to the Guild.
When she came to it was with a cross thought on the nature of head injuries, before noting the company and her situation. Two people talking nearby, who looked human, not kedan. Bound, ankles together, hands behind her back. Otherwise unharmed, which was interesting. She forced herself to try to focus, through the headache and disorientation, and could discern only that she didn't recognize the language spoken. Unusual, in Keeliai, and Raine wondered briefly how that had come to pass, why they were excepted.
It needed to wait. She memorized what she could of the syllables, impressing meaningless phonetics into her mind with the hope she'd retain them till she could free herself and transliterate them. It certainly sounded like they were arguing, at least. About her? Perhaps the distraction could cover a bid for freedom.
Raine tested her bonds, careful and slow. The rope was neither high-quality nor well-secured, but of rather more pressing import was the fact she felt only rope, and not the familiar cool weight of her bracelet. She inhaled sharply when she realized it, bit back a curse, but apparently the sound was enough; the woman cut the man off, gesturing at Raine, and he nodded. Before she could do any more than call out "Wait--!" both had run, doubtless taking her bracelet with them.
She had days. Maybe.
Raine's breath hissed through her teeth as she rolled to one side, working steadily at her wrists to loosen the ropes. It took time, time in which her attackers could flee much too easily. When the rope finally loosened Raine pulled her hands free, sat up with some effort, and in a fit of pique cast a tiny photon at the rope between her ankles. It split, the ends singed, and Raine let it fall to the sides as she checked her pockets. Her bracelet was gone, the tiny moonstone charm she habitually wore around the same wrist was gone, please let them have dismissed this as not valuable--
"Damn it," Raine said aloud, as she found nothing but cloth. The unicorn horn was gone, too. She was almost surprised at how the loss of it hit her, a sharp little pang beneath her breastbone. The unicorn and Colette had entrusted that priceless catalyst to her, and she had lost it.
She couldn't wallow in it. Not now. Raine pushed herself to her feet, gritting her teeth as dizziness beat about her temples. She wavered, braced herself on the nearest wall to stay upright while she focused on mana, shaping it to cast. "Cure." The warm light of the arte set her to rights, for now, steadied her balance and banished the headache. That was something. Raine collected the abandoned rope, the only thing resembling evidence she had, and set to figuring out where she'd wound up.
Her captors were long gone by the time she left the building. Raine found her way back to where she had been, found her staff lying off to one side, where it had fallen when it slipped from her fingers. That was a small mercy, at least, but in face of everything else it rather failed to comfort her. Frustrated and ill at ease, but lacking anything else to do, Raine resumed her morning's commute.
C; Monday, May 11, slightly later morning; closed to Aqua-- Upon finally making it to the Guild, nearly an hour late, Raine laid claim to the first blank writing material she found, and began writing rapidly, recording everything she could of the morning. She'd missed some things, likely attributable to the disorientation and fear. Dissatisfying.
Her expression was severe enough that no one wanted to approach her till she'd stopped writing. At that point Raine sighed heavily, tucked the papers into her jacket, and went looking for Aqua. She'd probably worried the other healer, and in any case if she was going to be out of commission for any amount of time, Aqua needed to know so she could take charge.
D; Monday, May 11, afternoon; OPEN-- Raine left early that day in any case, bowing to her own growing fatigue. She didn't speed her way back through the Water sector, though, rather kept her pace slow and intentionally revisited both the place she'd been attacked and the nearby storehouse she'd been taken to. Neither yielded anything, but it was worth looking.
Anyone running into her will find she looks noticeably worried, which is relatively unusual for her.
E; Monday, May 11, early evening; closed to Solomon-- The fatigue wasn't horrible yet-- it felt simply like it had been a longer day than usual by the time Raine made her way back to the Hotel. She had a brief dizzy spell on the stairs, which she weathered by grabbing hold of the banister until the world was steady again. Then she proceeded, as if nothing had happened.
It wasn't terrible, she told herself. She could still function, more or less. Could still cast if necessary, though healing artes were rather less than helpful for her current condition. Raine made it back to their room without further incident, leaned her staff in the corner where she usually did, and made it two steps away before her legs gave out.
There was a startled silence, wherein she processed that she was now on the floor without her express intent having precipitated it. Then, with feeling: "Damn."
F; Friday, May 15; closed to Anton-- Once everything with her gem had been sorted out and a time to leave “Mister Hamada the elder” in charge of the Hotel for a bit had been arranged, Raine accompanied Anton to the Guild. She trusted him to show up even without an escort, as he’d acquiesced willingly and was not Skulduggery, but she’d wanted to watch his movements in a context other than the relatively constrained space of the Hotel.
G; variable; OPEN-- The gem theft could only keep Raine out of commission so long; soon enough she was back at the Guild as per usual, though with a new tendency to very occasionally stop in the middle of a conversation or a task, frowning distantly like she was trying to perceive something no one else could. She might be found with her hands full, temporarily stopped mid-motion, or in the main hall with a peculiar distant look on her face.
This tendency will grow less frequent as she grows adjusted to the new oddity her soul gem has, but won’t fully vanish for some time.
H; ???; OPEN-- wildcard!
I; Saturday, May 16 (?); closed to Tony-- Shortly after her followup with Anton, at a complete loss for what other avenues to try or who else to approach, Raine went in search of Tony. He had a good hand with technology, at least, was from an Earth analogue, and she had reason to believe he had at least some grasp of how the human nervous system functioned. Tenuous, she was aware, but she wasn't sure where else to start. And it did double as an excuse to investigate the Sky Sector, which she hadn't much been involved with; she knew Gene and Tony had moved there, but not much else.
She didn't look too much the worse for wear; if not for the fact she still wore no bracelet, it would be difficult to tell she'd been near death earlier that week.
J; after Erskine's arrival, before moving out; closed to Erskine Ravel-- Anton had asked Raine to look over someone. Not in itself an unusual question, really, except that the person in question was apparently best described as 'my idiot brother,' and having him at the Guild was not currently an option. Raine had thought about asking, but in the end left well enough alone for now and simply acquiesced.
That brought her to now, tapping on the door to Anton's room -- that in itself another oddness -- staff in one hand and usual politely curious expression on her face. "Hello?"
K; later May; closed to Yuri Lowell-- Though Yuri hadn't asked her to, Raine deemed it a wise idea to check in on him anyway, given the symptoms he'd cited were associated with his returned gem. There was no telling what sort of incidental injury might have occurred, and he, too, seemed to the sort to hide it if there were any. She knew he was in the Hotel, so it wasn't exactly out of her way to track him down and see how he was doing, and that motivation saw her knocking on his door one evening.
[ooc; if you want something you don’t see here, or have questions, or concerns, or longer-term plot, or… anything, really, drop me a PM or a plurk at![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
makaricrow or heck, even an email at makari.crow@gmail.com.]
Date: May, especially the first two weeks
Location: assorted, specifically Water, Healers' Guild, Midnight Hotel
Situation: various, including lunch with Bakura and a mugging. those two are unrelated.
Warnings/Rating: definitely mention of violence if not actual violence.
A; Saturday, May 9; closed to Bakura-- Lunch, Bakura had said. Raine took him at his word, and in the early afternoon on the day he'd specified, she set out for the dojo. She stopped at the markets on the way, just long enough to pick something up. When she arrived at the dojo she had a small basket of fruit tucked into the crook of one arm, the same kind they'd shared at the festival in April. Perhaps notably, she'd left her staff at home, and she looked more relaxed than she had in weeks by the time she slipped through the entrance, glancing around for Bakura.
B; Sunday, May 10; OPEN-- In comparison to April, May had actually been quite lovely so far. Granted, this was not a tremendously high standard to hold it to, but despite the weather and the natural disaster, Raine was decidedly more approachable than she'd been in a little while. Sunday afternoon would see her in the Hotel kitchen, the makings of tea out on the counter and a concerningly speculative look on her face. If she's allowed to go unsupervised or unstopped, the result is going to be a frankly alarming green concoction from which she cannot actually free the mixing spoon.
As potato salad, an utter failure. As an experiment, fascinating.
Interlude; Monday, May 11, early morning; closed-- Raine had known more welcome interruptions than the sharp blow to the back of her head in the middle of her morning walk to the Guild.
When she came to it was with a cross thought on the nature of head injuries, before noting the company and her situation. Two people talking nearby, who looked human, not kedan. Bound, ankles together, hands behind her back. Otherwise unharmed, which was interesting. She forced herself to try to focus, through the headache and disorientation, and could discern only that she didn't recognize the language spoken. Unusual, in Keeliai, and Raine wondered briefly how that had come to pass, why they were excepted.
It needed to wait. She memorized what she could of the syllables, impressing meaningless phonetics into her mind with the hope she'd retain them till she could free herself and transliterate them. It certainly sounded like they were arguing, at least. About her? Perhaps the distraction could cover a bid for freedom.
Raine tested her bonds, careful and slow. The rope was neither high-quality nor well-secured, but of rather more pressing import was the fact she felt only rope, and not the familiar cool weight of her bracelet. She inhaled sharply when she realized it, bit back a curse, but apparently the sound was enough; the woman cut the man off, gesturing at Raine, and he nodded. Before she could do any more than call out "Wait--!" both had run, doubtless taking her bracelet with them.
She had days. Maybe.
Raine's breath hissed through her teeth as she rolled to one side, working steadily at her wrists to loosen the ropes. It took time, time in which her attackers could flee much too easily. When the rope finally loosened Raine pulled her hands free, sat up with some effort, and in a fit of pique cast a tiny photon at the rope between her ankles. It split, the ends singed, and Raine let it fall to the sides as she checked her pockets. Her bracelet was gone, the tiny moonstone charm she habitually wore around the same wrist was gone, please let them have dismissed this as not valuable--
"Damn it," Raine said aloud, as she found nothing but cloth. The unicorn horn was gone, too. She was almost surprised at how the loss of it hit her, a sharp little pang beneath her breastbone. The unicorn and Colette had entrusted that priceless catalyst to her, and she had lost it.
She couldn't wallow in it. Not now. Raine pushed herself to her feet, gritting her teeth as dizziness beat about her temples. She wavered, braced herself on the nearest wall to stay upright while she focused on mana, shaping it to cast. "Cure." The warm light of the arte set her to rights, for now, steadied her balance and banished the headache. That was something. Raine collected the abandoned rope, the only thing resembling evidence she had, and set to figuring out where she'd wound up.
Her captors were long gone by the time she left the building. Raine found her way back to where she had been, found her staff lying off to one side, where it had fallen when it slipped from her fingers. That was a small mercy, at least, but in face of everything else it rather failed to comfort her. Frustrated and ill at ease, but lacking anything else to do, Raine resumed her morning's commute.
C; Monday, May 11, slightly later morning; closed to Aqua-- Upon finally making it to the Guild, nearly an hour late, Raine laid claim to the first blank writing material she found, and began writing rapidly, recording everything she could of the morning. She'd missed some things, likely attributable to the disorientation and fear. Dissatisfying.
Her expression was severe enough that no one wanted to approach her till she'd stopped writing. At that point Raine sighed heavily, tucked the papers into her jacket, and went looking for Aqua. She'd probably worried the other healer, and in any case if she was going to be out of commission for any amount of time, Aqua needed to know so she could take charge.
D; Monday, May 11, afternoon; OPEN-- Raine left early that day in any case, bowing to her own growing fatigue. She didn't speed her way back through the Water sector, though, rather kept her pace slow and intentionally revisited both the place she'd been attacked and the nearby storehouse she'd been taken to. Neither yielded anything, but it was worth looking.
Anyone running into her will find she looks noticeably worried, which is relatively unusual for her.
E; Monday, May 11, early evening; closed to Solomon-- The fatigue wasn't horrible yet-- it felt simply like it had been a longer day than usual by the time Raine made her way back to the Hotel. She had a brief dizzy spell on the stairs, which she weathered by grabbing hold of the banister until the world was steady again. Then she proceeded, as if nothing had happened.
It wasn't terrible, she told herself. She could still function, more or less. Could still cast if necessary, though healing artes were rather less than helpful for her current condition. Raine made it back to their room without further incident, leaned her staff in the corner where she usually did, and made it two steps away before her legs gave out.
There was a startled silence, wherein she processed that she was now on the floor without her express intent having precipitated it. Then, with feeling: "Damn."
F; Friday, May 15; closed to Anton-- Once everything with her gem had been sorted out and a time to leave “Mister Hamada the elder” in charge of the Hotel for a bit had been arranged, Raine accompanied Anton to the Guild. She trusted him to show up even without an escort, as he’d acquiesced willingly and was not Skulduggery, but she’d wanted to watch his movements in a context other than the relatively constrained space of the Hotel.
G; variable; OPEN-- The gem theft could only keep Raine out of commission so long; soon enough she was back at the Guild as per usual, though with a new tendency to very occasionally stop in the middle of a conversation or a task, frowning distantly like she was trying to perceive something no one else could. She might be found with her hands full, temporarily stopped mid-motion, or in the main hall with a peculiar distant look on her face.
This tendency will grow less frequent as she grows adjusted to the new oddity her soul gem has, but won’t fully vanish for some time.
H; ???; OPEN-- wildcard!
I; Saturday, May 16 (?); closed to Tony-- Shortly after her followup with Anton, at a complete loss for what other avenues to try or who else to approach, Raine went in search of Tony. He had a good hand with technology, at least, was from an Earth analogue, and she had reason to believe he had at least some grasp of how the human nervous system functioned. Tenuous, she was aware, but she wasn't sure where else to start. And it did double as an excuse to investigate the Sky Sector, which she hadn't much been involved with; she knew Gene and Tony had moved there, but not much else.
She didn't look too much the worse for wear; if not for the fact she still wore no bracelet, it would be difficult to tell she'd been near death earlier that week.
J; after Erskine's arrival, before moving out; closed to Erskine Ravel-- Anton had asked Raine to look over someone. Not in itself an unusual question, really, except that the person in question was apparently best described as 'my idiot brother,' and having him at the Guild was not currently an option. Raine had thought about asking, but in the end left well enough alone for now and simply acquiesced.
That brought her to now, tapping on the door to Anton's room -- that in itself another oddness -- staff in one hand and usual politely curious expression on her face. "Hello?"
K; later May; closed to Yuri Lowell-- Though Yuri hadn't asked her to, Raine deemed it a wise idea to check in on him anyway, given the symptoms he'd cited were associated with his returned gem. There was no telling what sort of incidental injury might have occurred, and he, too, seemed to the sort to hide it if there were any. She knew he was in the Hotel, so it wasn't exactly out of her way to track him down and see how he was doing, and that motivation saw her knocking on his door one evening.
[ooc; if you want something you don’t see here, or have questions, or concerns, or longer-term plot, or… anything, really, drop me a PM or a plurk at
J - Mid May
Blackmail.
Ravel flung out accusations and pointed looks--albeit weak ones--for most of the morning, hoping that Shudder would change his mind. He didn't need a checkup. He knew exactly what was wrong with him: he couldn't eat, he couldn't sleep, and he hurt. Case closed, no toilet scrubbing required. Only Anton wasn't buying it, and Shudder's pointed looks were, quite frankly, a whole lot scarier than his own.
Erskine didn't bother to mention how badly the idea of a checkup actually scared him. Didn't mention the way it made his hands shake, the anxiety he'd been fighting back while pouting. It was just a stupid checkup. Nothing to panic about. He'd fought vampires. He'd survived Mevolent, for God's sake. He could do this.
He jumped at the tapping on the door, forced himself to take a deep breath before opening it, forced a smile for the young woman at the door. Smiles for young women didn't often need to be forced. Shudder's fault.
"Hi. Ah. Please... come in."
no subject
Then again, there was an odd brittleness about his smile, and the symptoms Anton had mentioned were-- odd, without knowing the underlying cause. Hm.
Raine inclined her head briefly, and stepped inside at his invitation, leaned her staff in the corner. In a moment she offered him her hand. "I'm Raine Sage," she said. "I run the Healers' Guild here. I don't know how much Anton told you-- he didn't go into much detail when we spoke."
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It wasn't right. It wasn't right at all.
He closed the door behind her and turned, staying close to the door for the moment. "He told me that I was going to get a check up whether I liked it or not, and that I'd be scrubbing toilets if I wasn't in here when it was time." He pressed his lips together into a thin line. "Can't say I'm much looking forward to this, but I'll take a pretty lady over scrubbing a toilet any day."
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Anton had said 'brother,' but he'd also gone through his family with her. Would or should have said something, if a blood sibling exhibited any of the same symptoms he did. Couple shaking with Erskine's worn appearance and it said exhaustion, rather than anything more esoteric. Exhaustion, extreme sensitivity to pain, persistent headaches. Hmm.
Doubtless Anton had been attempting to protect Erskine's privacy. That, however, was going to turn into a very awkward conversation very soon, if Raine was any judge; those things together didn't say incidental to her.
"If it helps," Raine said in a moment, dropping her arms to her sides again, "I'm a healer, not a doctor." Not everyone here made that distinction, which she still found odd, but it was a useful one. "I'll be as non-invasive as possible, but I will have questions. Have you been sleeping?"
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He crossed over to the bed and sat on the edge of it, moving slowly.
Sleep. "Sleep and I haven't seen eye to eye in a long time." He frowned. "It's gotten worse lately, of course. I think I managed to pass out for a couple of hours around dawn this morning." That was likely why Anton had pushed for this, now that Ravel thought about it. He'd been keeping Shudder awake, despite any efforts to the contrary.
Ravel raised a hand to rub at his temple. "I'm sorry, you said Anton didn't go into much detail. Did he tell you anything?"
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She would not have cared to bet on which was more likely.
"A brief summary," Raine answered. "He said your sensitivity to pain has increased, and that you've had recurring headaches." Her mouth quirked wryly. "He also referred to you as his 'idiot brother.' I take it you're adopted. That's all he told me, however; I don't know if it was in concern for your privacy, or assuming I would prefer the primary source in any case."
It was evident he'd left things out. Her expression shifted to something that looked faintly apologetic. "If it was the latter, he was correct. Tell me about what you've been experiencing, please. Don't leave anything out, no matter how embarrassing or trivial; I would prefer not to have to lecture about hiding things from one's healer, again." It's downright endemic in this city, and it's very frustrating.
SPOILERS if i haven't said that already >>;
He paused just long enough to let his breath even out. "You know me too well already, doc--Miss Sage," he said, giving her a slight, rueful smile. "I can't tell you how close I am to calling this a draw and going for the toothbrush."
"It's not embarrassing," he continued. "It's painful. It's something I'd prefer not to have to talk about, or think about, ever again. Not that I'm going to get my wish, but you know what they say about beggars and wishes." He stopped, gave her a faintly puzzled look. "Is it beggars and wishes? I can't remember. But Anton will probably hit me if I send you away. I'd prefer not to get hit, either."
"You want to know my symptoms, right? Except you should know the reason for them in the first place." By this point his hands were visibly shaking. He folded them together to try to stop them. "When I arrived here I'd spent the previous ten... ten, I think, days in a cell, under a magical curse. Probably what most would consider torture. Twenty three hours a day of pain. Agony. No painkiller or sedative worked. For ten days."
no subject
"Why?" was the first, appalled word she managed, followed rapidly by, "What could possibly-- where were your friends, in this?" Tell her they were trying to save him, or hunt down the being responsible. Please.
That-- wasn't her business, though, as morally outraged as she was. Raine took a steadying breath, and shook her head. "I-- never mind. Thank you for elaborating; I likely would have had to ask in any case. And yes, anyone in their right minds would consider that torture. ...I can guess at most of your symptoms from that alone, but it would still be better for you to tell me what you're experiencing."
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Never mind. Erskine said a silent prayer of thanks for that little escape clause. Moving on.
"I can't eat," he said. "I can't keep anything down that isn't liquid. I wasn't eating in the cell--it was magically engineered to keep me alive without food. I can't sleep either, which you knew, and the heightened pain. Phantom pains. I forget things." He ticked off a mental checklist. Was that all of it? Probably not.
"I don't know that there's anything you can do about any of this, Miss Sage. It'll pass, eventually. It did last time."
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"Raine is fine," she said, on autopilot while she assimilated those things. Hopefully she wouldn't have to argue him out of it, too.
And she'd thought human ranches were barbarous. "That's particularly cruel," Raine murmured, mostly to herself. Who could possibly hate someone that much? The question she hadn't fully voiced earlier intruded in her thoughts, moments after: what could Erskine possibly have done to make someone believe he merited that?
Raine considered that thought, then consciously rejected it. Even Kvar had deserved a clean death. "There may not be," she said, frankly. "My expertise is battlefield healing. The wounds themselves, not the aftermath. However." She raised one finger, a 'wait' sort of a gesture. "I won't be sure until I've looked. You say this was magical in nature; it's possible this 'curse' may have done something to your mana that yet lingers. And, even if that isn't the case, I may be able to at least ease some things. Solid food will probably have to come with time, yes; for sleep, there are herb combinations that may help-- nightmares?" This half an aside, asked only for confirmation. It was probably also linked to the pain. "For the rest, I'd like to scan you. Touch will allow me to focus more narrowly: is that all right?" Given his recent experiences, she was not about to touch him without warning or permission.
no subject
He laughed quietly at her last question. "I'm not dead, Miss--er, Raine, and I rarely pass up being touched by young ladies. By all means, touch away." However suggestive the words coming out of his mouth were, the tone was hardly equal to the task. It was the tone of a man so used to flirting he could do so on auto-pilot, and clearly was. "I did manage to cut myself in an interesting place the other day, if you'd like to check? It wasn't quite as much fun with Anton performing first aid."
It was roughly the same tone he might've used to remark upon a lightbulb needing to be changed.
(Sorry Raine.)
no subject
The reason Raine didn't object to the flirting was that tone, in fact. It sounded like it was habit to him, like he was making a tired bid for normalcy. "If it's a simple cut, I don't need to necessarily see it," she said, sitting on the bed beside him, half-turned so that she could face him. "Unless there's something out of the ordinary..." A little frown. "When was this?"
A little thing would heal itself well enough, but anything deep enough to linger very long did merit her attention. Which would in turn make it odd that Anton hadn't asked her earlier.
First things first. Lightly, Raine rested one hand over his heart, the other at the base of his skull. Neither was strictly necessary, but with the odds of some kind of disruption in his nervous system or mana circulation, she wanted as much precision was was possible with a naturally imprecise scan. She half-closed her eyes; dim white light circled beneath her, a disc of angular runes that vanished a few seconds after. "Inspect Magic," she murmured, very quietly, for her own benefit only.
no subject
It was only partially a lie. He would have loved to see Larrikin again, that much was true, but he couldn't even begin to imagine how Rover would have taken the sort of news he'd given Anton. The three extant Dead Men, Skulduggery, Saracen and Dexter, certainly hadn't taken it very well.
Hopeless. What would Hopeless think?
On the subject of the cut, Erskine shook his head. "The day I arrived. It's not that bad, really. I lost my footing and sliced my leg up a bit. Anton did a fine job stitching it up." He'd only mentioned it because... well, it really was in a rather interesting location.
When Raine laid her hands on him he took a deep breath, a little proud of himself for how well he managed to retain his calm, only to tense up at the sudden visible display of foreign magic. I rarely pass up being touched by young ladies, he'd said, but Darquesse had been a pretty young lady too, hadn't she?
no subject
As she doubted he wanted them healed into his flesh.
Raine could hardly not notice the tensing, but she didn't show any reaction, and all Erskine would feel was gentle warmth, like a little time spent in the sun. The arte's feedback rolled in, one little nudge in her mana after another. He wasn't at fighting fit: obvious, the little dip was probably the cut he'd mentioned. Elements. Was he an Elemental? The feedback made that seem more likely than Adept. But there was what she was looking for, an odd little twist in the mana. "Ah," she said, sitting back. "There is an irregularity, which I ought to be able to correct." From her pocket she drew a horn, a twisted, iridescent thing that tapered to a point, and she rose to retrieve her staff. "It shouldn't hurt," she said over her shoulder, "and will only take a moment."
no subject
The warmth of Raine's magic was pleasant, and Erskine felt himself relax a little as she poked and prodded him (at least magically). At the mention of an irregularity, though, of correcting, he felt his heart do a little flip-flop in his chest.
"It's still there?" he asked faintly. The pain hadn't come back, obviously, but if any of Darquesse's curse was still lingering... "If there's anything left of her magic, please don't touch it. For both our sakes'."
no subject
"If it's not life-threatening, that's... of course your prerogative," she said with a nod, though surely if his tolerance for pain was so lessened, even a small cut would be worse? Still. Grown men could make their own choices. Up to the point where those choices brought themselves and others into genuine danger, at which time she would intercede.
Staff in hand, Raine returned to Erskine, though she didn't reach for magic. That sounded like fear, for which she really couldn't blame him. In a moment she sat beside him again, giving him a little more space than before, staff carefully across her knees. "I don't think it's foreign mana, though I don't know your mana signature well enough to be sure," she said, her tone measured but not unkind. "It felt more like something of your own had become-- obstructed, perhaps, or twisted. The arte I have in mind functions as a reset: no matter what has gone wrong, it restores one's mana to its initial state, the way it should be. If there is some remnant of 'her' magic, it will be purged; if it's merely a reaction of your own to so long under that curse, then that, too, will be set right. Erskine." A pause, to make sure she had his attention. Then, gently, "You're not putting yourself or others in danger, so I will do nothing without your consent. However, I ask you to trust that I know what I'm doing. Let me help, please."
no subject
He shook his head. "Anton trusts you. I believe you know what you're doing. But I also know you've never met Darquesse." He paused, letting the name linger on the air for a moment before continuing. "She's what we call a 'world breaker.' More powerful than any of the rest of us. Capable of magic you wouldn't believe. Darquesse is our doomsday scenario."
That little ball of light. If he'd known...
What then? Run? From her?
"I want you to know what you might be looking at. It's only fair to you. If there's anything left of her magic there's no telling what it might do. You could be killing yourself. You could..." You could trigger it again. Ravel took a deep breath, forced his voice to stay even, impassive despite the fear coiling around his heart. "Go ahead and do what you intend, Raine. But please, do me a favor. If I start screaming, and it doesn't look as if I'm going to stop, please kill me. I can't do it again."
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"I understand," she said finally. "...I promise, I won't let you suffer." Though she would have some explaining to do to Anton, if that turned out to be the case-- but she was sure enough that it would not.
She didn't bother to change her posture before she started to cast. Her eyes slid half-closed again, and light spun up beneath them in the same way-- though faster, brighter, as if Raine was surer with this one. It was mirrored in the faint glow at the brass head of her staff, in the heart of the unicorn's horn she held. "Resurrection," she said, like it was an order, and that light vanished from beneath her, fell over Erskine in the faint shape of folded wings before ultimately fading into him.
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Not that he could say that aloud without inviting more uncomfortable questions, of course. Maybe if he was very lucky, no one else in this city would have to find out--depending upon whether Skulduggery could be trusted not to tell anyone within earshot what an evil bastard Anton's new lodger at the Hotel was. Skulduggery had told Anton that he was trying not to ruin it for him. Regardless, Erskine didn't really like those odds.
He watched with mute fascination as Raine's magic flared up again, so different from what he was used to. Healing of any kind, to him, generally meant soaking in a mud bath or lying on an examination table. Grouse. Nye. This was almost beautiful in contrast, and as the magic settled into him he could feel some of the ambient pain, the lingering trauma of Darquesse's agony, melting away. Ravel exhaled sharply, something not quite a gasp.
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But all that was a moot point right now. Resurrection acted as it should, it seemed, judging by his reaction, and Raine let out a little sigh of her own, relieved. For all that she'd been sure, Erskine's fear was difficult to outright ignore. "'Resurrection,' is, of course, a misnomer," she said, letting old familiar habits of lecturing take over to cover that concern. "Though it can be used to wake those who've been rendered unconscious, as well, which is likely where Master Boltzman took the name for it."
She tucked the unicorn's horn back into her pocket. "The rest," she added, a little more quietly, "will take time. That I can't do anything about. I'm sorry."
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It felt... better. He had no illusions that the phantom pains would stop--they'd continued long after Mevolent's torture, why should this time be any different?--but any lessening of pain was more than welcome.
When he'd finished stretching, Ravel sat back down and proceeded once again to fold in on himself as he'd been doing, hunching his shoulders forward, making himself small. It wasn't a conscious decision. Dogs beaten by their masters don't just decide to be skittish. He shook his head at Raine's apology. "Don't be sorry. You've already done more than I could have hoped for. And if you have anything to help with sleep I'm sure Anton would be grateful." The corners of his mouth slid upward at that last bit.
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That was all she could reasonably do. She'd fulfilled what Anton had asked. Raine stood, swinging her staff up behind her and out of the way absently, like it was a gesture she'd made a thousand times over. She paused there, on the verge of dismissing herself, noting Erskine's curled-in posture. Remembering what it had been like when she was new to the turtle, and even though Erskine obviously had Anton, the familiar touchstone of the Hotel...
It couldn't hurt. "Tea?" Raine inquired, head tipped a little, her previous brisk demeanor easing a bit.
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When was the last time he'd considered doing manual labor for someone as payment for something? During the war? Before?
Unless of course she needed something punched. He might be able to manage hitting someone and still retain a modicum of self-respect.
Self-respect. That's rich.
The question caught him off guard; he'd lost his focus, found himself staring at the wall as Raine packed her things up to leave. "Hm?" He blinked, turned his gaze back toward her.
Tea. She'd asked about tea.
"I... yes, tea. Okay." He nodded. "Yes, thank you."
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With that she headed for the door, with only a quick check over her shoulder to make sure Erskine was following, and made for the kitchen. She usually could muddle through tea without too much trouble or urge to experiment, but in this case apparently it would be unnecessary; some was already made. Perhaps Iroh was responsible. Though the teapot was a little cool to the touch. Hm. Raine reached for mugs regardless, carefully pulling down two. "You're an Elemental, aren't you? Is it possible for you to heat that up a little?"
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"That's what I'm here for," he said, managing to muster up a small amount of genuine humor. "Extraordinarily attractive camp stove, at your service."
A snap of fingers, a spark. A small, controlled flame in his palm.
Voila, hot tea.
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