May catchall

[ruinsprofessor]

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 makaricrow or heck, even an email at makari.crow@gmail.com.]

Comments

[edgeoftheknife]

"Remove the stitches?" he asked doubtfully. "See, now I'm feeling a little less enthusiastic about this. I suppose I'll have to find some other way to lose my pants. Thank you, though." By the slight upturn of his mouth he was obviously joking, although the fatigue in his voice leached any real mirth out of it.

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'."

[ruinsprofessor]

Her magic. This had been one person's doing, then. Raine tucked that away for possible future reference -- and possible future yelling, should she ever meet that person -- then moved on.

"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."

[edgeoftheknife]

Erskine was approaching this whole check-up ordeal with the mindset of "It's already broken, don't break it any further." Yes, the cut on his leg still hurt, and probably more than it should, but Anton hadn't done a poor job of fixing it up. He'd certainly had worse. All in all he considered himself lucky for having not gashed himself any worse when he'd fallen with a straight razor in his hand.

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."

[ruinsprofessor]

"A 'world breaker'... I see." Raine gave that the thought it deserved. Someone capable of that cruelty, with all the power of Origin-- no. No, she would not tangle with that lightly, especially not on her own. But it was the right thing to do, and she was confident enough in her own skills and what she sensed, here and now.

"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.

[edgeoftheknife]

At the promise he relaxed a little, even gave her a small smile again. "Thank you." It was more of a reassurance than he'd gotten from anyone in his own dimension. When push came to shove, not a one of them had even offered mercy.

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.

[ruinsprofessor]

Raine was assuming, at this point, that he had been held prisoner-- surely his friends would have been kind enough to offer some sort of mercy if no cure could be found. No matter how they loved him, there was a point where death was kinder.

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."

[edgeoftheknife]

Instead of replying right away, Erskine levered himself off the edge of the bed and stood, pushed his shoulders back and stretched up to his full height instead of folding in on himself as he'd been wont to do since arriving in the Hotel. Let his head fall back and then fall forward, stretching, testing the muscles and tendons.

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.

[ruinsprofessor]

She watched him intently, though it was more with an eye to making sure there was no undue catch in his movements, rather than appreciation of the male form. "I'll double check it with Milyn, but I should be able to come up with something that will help."

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.

[edgeoftheknife]

"Thank you." It was an acknowledgement of the possible sleep aid and thanks for the magic she'd performed all in one--and not enough to compensate for what she'd already done. He had nothing, of course. He'd arrived with literally the clothes on his back and was currently living on Anton's good graces (where Shudder had managed to dredge those up from, Ravel couldn't say). The only thing he had of any real value anymore was his magic. That or manual labor. He'd have to ask her about it; maybe he could paint a fence or move boxes for her or something.

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."

[ruinsprofessor]

Raine waved her free hand, not dismissing him but rather the need for thanks. "It's no trouble. I could hardly not do something." Even if she had been disinclined to help a complete stranger in trouble, he was a friend of Anton's. She had trusted Anton's judgment on far more questionable people.

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?"

[edgeoftheknife]

One eyebrow quirked up. He considered for half a second asking how she knew that he was an Elemental--he couldn't remember having told her--but then remembered that she'd quite literally been sifting through his magic only minutes previous. Good thing she wasn't a mind-reader as well or they'd all be in trouble.

"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.

[ruinsprofessor]

"You feel like Maxwell's elements," Raine explained anyway, absently, force of habit driving the clarification as she set down the mugs and turned around. She watched him with some curiosity; the magic she saw most often besides her own was necromancy. "My world recognizes eight elements, but the Spirit of Birth is associated with only those four. Thank you."

When he'd heated the tea she poured it, offered him one of the mugs before leaning back against the counter. She didn't know how he took his tea, but the kitchen was well-stocked and Erskine wouldn't need to be told that, either. "I'm sure you have other purposes," she said, amused, declining to comment on his attractiveness or lack thereof.

[edgeoftheknife]

"Eight elements?" Erskine's eyebrows shot upward. "From what little I've seen, magic in your world seems... really complicated. Unnecessarily complicated, one might say." Not that magic back home was simple, of course, but he'd been doing it for close to four hundred years. A matter of perspective, he supposed.

At the comment about having other purposes he smiled, and this time it was very nearly his old, charming, sly smile and less the forced one he'd been wearing. As he'd told Shudder not that long ago, he was unhinged, not dead.

(Actually he'd used the word pregnant, but shh.)

"I can think of a few."

[ruinsprofessor]

"Eight," Raine confirmed. "Matched pairs, which balance the world. Fire and ice; wind and earth; water and lightning; light and darkness." She was used to Keeliai's elemental configuration by now, but it had given her no end of confusion for months. "I suppose it seems complex, to humans, but it's simply the way our world is. Mana is the life of the world, and often that mana is elemental in nature; I could no more mistake water mana for ice than you could fire for air."

She paused, and gave him a little bit of a rueful smile. "With that said, though I can perceive the elements, I never studied to do much with them; I'm better equated to an Adept." Ignoring, for now, the association of healing with light, and the sheer destructive power thereof.

That last, with the attitude of his smile... he was actually flirting now, wasn't he. Raine chose to take it literally instead. "Such as?" she prompted, and, by way of explanation, "Magic in our world is far more commonly used for combat than utility."

[edgeoftheknife]

Humans. So she wasn't human. Apparently the white hair wasn't just an affectation after all. Ravel couldn't honestly say that he'd even really noticed at first, between being so anxious about the idea of submitting to a check up and then the idea of someone possibly tampering with Darquesse's magic. Besides, he'd seen some pretty strange sorcerers in his time.

Hell, Mevolent had been eight feet tall.

"Nothing wrong with that," he replied, shaking his head slightly in answer to her equating herself to an Adept. "Despite a tendency to ignore the advice of healers and doctors, I have nothing but respect for what you do. Someone's got to patch the rest of us idiots up."

"And if you don't mind me asking, you say 'humans' as if you're...?"

Ouch, Raine. Ouch. He gave a resigned sigh. "Beating people senseless is pretty high on the list, I'll admit, although the demand for that's lessened a bit since the war ended." He paused. "Well... the other war, I mean. But Elemental magic does have a way of making life a little easier."

He still hadn't done anything with his tea, short of accept it from Raine. He lifted his right hand and splayed the fingers, and with a little nudge of air the sugar bowl on the counter nearby began to levitate toward them.

[ruinsprofessor]

The first part of this earned Erskine a longsuffering look. Of course he was of the sort to ignore healers' advice. "It's not given for our own benefit," Raine said, tart. "And you would have to be patched up less often if you listened." It was the general you, but the point still stood.

Solomon had listened, the first time they met. As much as was reasonable to expect, anyway, and she had been pleasantly surprised.

...Ah. Yes, she had said 'humans,' hadn't she. She'd become much less cautious about that. "Half," Raine said in a moment, and there was a noticeable pause. "I'm a half-elf. Even among the elves, we're called that; sometimes, I wonder if that isn't the only part of our heritage that matters." Never once had she been called half-human. There would be a turnabout.

That was more introspection than she wanted in a conversation with a near-stranger, however, as open as he had been with her. Raine shook herself, and watched the sugar bowl levitate with undisguised curiosity. Half her attention went to tracing the flow of mana, the other half to answering. "I can see that," she said, amused. "--the other war? I'm aware of the first one..."