damned_institute | Nightshift 33: M35, Clinic

Even injured as she was, the bounty hunter's eyes flickered around the room, taking in everyone present. Her eyes found Raine and she locked onto the half-elf. If even a healer had that reaction to the way the bounty hunter looked, Falis knew she had to look on death's door. An odd sort of half-smile touched her lips then, knowing just how much more she could take, and how much more she could kill, before she finally went down, even in this state.

That smile, though, quickly disappeared into something else as the healer made insinuated that magic was going to be used to heal her. Fear welling up in Falis' gut, the princess tried to raise her newly acquired sword at Raine to keep her back out of reach. Sadly, she only managed to get the blade partially up and it held steady for just a few seconds before her hand started to shake.

"Namine... I think I'm going to go find another ugly nasty beastie to kill," Falis said to her friend, not once taking her eyes off of Raine's. The tip of her sword continued to shake as a tiny bit of fear of the magic the half-elf wanted to use on her slipped into the princess' eyes. "I don't want to be here," she said, starting to back unsteadily towards the door.

Luckily for Naminé, a woman came to help them almost immediately. And she knew Alita too - that was a plus to the girl. Unfortunately, it looked like Alita knew this woman too and it apparently was not a good connection. Naminé knew nothing of Alita's aversion to magic: such a thing was commonplace in her world, she would have been disappointed if the woman who came to them wasn't a healer.

"Alita! You can't be serious!" Naminé ran in front of her friend, trying to coax her friend back inside. What was she thinking?!

"We must get these wounds treated first!" She remembered how strongly Hokuto protested, how she never backed down even when Alita tried to pass her. Well, Naminé had nowhere near the connection Hokuto had with Alita, but she wasn't going to just let her friend die in the hallways either.

"Please, stay. I don't want to see another dead body tonight."

"Alita." Raine followed, but didn't get too close; she didn't want the girl to feel cornered. "You can leave afterwards if you insist, but you really need to be healed." She kept her voice gentle and nonthreatening, but unyielding; as far as she was concerned, Falis had no choice in the matter.

"I can explain what I'm doing as we go, but I need you to cooperate." Technically not true, but it would be helpful. If Falis collapsed, then the negotiations stopped and Raine was healing her if she consented or not.

Falis' eyes flickered between Namine and Raine, looking very much like a cornered animal. She didn't want to be in this much pain anymore. She didn't want to be this close to losing control, but she didn't want to be there. She didn't want magic used on her. Raine looked too much like that witch in Falis' hazy mind for her to just believe what the half-elf had told her about magic being used for healing. Her eyes locked back onto the half-elf.

The bounty hunter tried to continue holding her sword up but her body wouldn't comply. The tip slowly dropped to the floor though it was clear the blonde had been trying to keep it up.

"Treating wounds doesn't involve magic, Namine," Falis said, her eyes still never leaving Raine's. "I can't let... I don't want... magic..." The last word was barely above a whisper as she struggled to find a way to voice her problem without admitting to her fear.

Now that Naminé thought about it, she felt Alita shaking. Combined with what she was telling her now, it made Naminé wonder if Alita had some aversion to magic. To Naminé, this might have been an acceptable fear, except... didn't they use healing magic on Alita's world?

She gave Raine an apologetic look before returning to trying to coax Alita into accepting the treatment. It was the best way, there was no way Naminé could imagine taking care of those wounds otherwise. If only she knew some healing spells...

"Alita, people on my world use healing magic all the time. It's not bad, it doesn't hurt at all." She tried to convince the other that it wasn't that bad. "We need to use magic, or else you might not..." well, maybe Alita would survive, but Naminé didn't know what condition her friend would be.

"I'll be here. Nothing will go wrong."

"I've healed you before, and nothing went wrong then," Raine reminded. "Your friend doesn't have to leave, either. I can tell you what I'm doing as I go--is there anything else that would help with this?" Giving her choices should relax her, even if it wasn't by much.

And if she was still this tense after the healing, giving her a sedative almost looked like a good idea.

"So you say," Falis replied, a small bit of venom entering her words. "I wasn't given a choice then and I still don't know if you did anything else to me then."

It was easier for the princess to try to cover up her fear by lashing out at Raine for the things she'd done before. Yes, the healing (if it had really happened) had helped, but to just willingly let someone cast magic on her... Falis wasn't sure she could bring herself to do it. But Namine...

Her left leg decided it didn't want to support her weight anymore, not with the burns from the blood that splashed up onto her when she cut the thing's claw off. She dropped to one knee and supported herself using her sword. A baleful glare at Raine was the only warning the half-elf received that forcing anything on her was going to get the healer killed.

"I don't trust you, witch, but I trust Namine," Falis stated. Using her numbed mangled hand, the bounty hunter pulled her battle trophy from her waistband and set it on the ground before her. A couple drops of blood dribbled out of the severed end onto the ground where it began to sizzle.

"If you do anything other than the healing that Namine expects, I will take your hand just like I took that ugly ass monster's. You nor anyone else in here will be able to stop me then," she said in a hard voice, though her eyes plainly reflected the extent of her fear. "Do not misplace my friend's trust." She swallowed hard and leaned her head just a bit into Namine's stomach for the comfort of simple contact with her friend.

"Do not..." the words trailed off into a barely audible whimper of fear. Namine damn well better appreciate this; Falis was terrified.

As Raine and Alita talked, Naminé only grew increasingly worried. Her friend's condition was getting worse now that Alita was agitated, and all Raine wanted to do was help. She had the feeling that the last time Raine has tried to heal Alita, perhaps something went wrong. But Alita said she was unconscious during that time... Well, there was no time to worry about such things. All the witch cared about was getting Alita treated, one way or another.

"Alita..." She frowned, listening to Alita finally give in. Barely, it seemed, by how angry Alita sounded at having to allow Raine to heal her, placing a comforting hand on Alita's head when the warrior leaned towards her for support. Whatever happened between them could be sorted out later, she guessed. Yes, right now, there were more pressing issues.

"You can trust me," She assured Alita, just to let her friend know that she was there. Naminé looked to Raine again, giving her another apologetic, but assuring nod. Naminé knew that the differences in magic between worlds probably wouldn't help her, but this woman seemed kind enough. And she had helped Alita before, obviously. So, then...

Hate and fear directed at her for something besides her race was something new. Raine still didn't like it, but at least it was based on something rational. She nodded, not going any closer, and said simply, "Understood." The usual white array started glowing around her feet; luckily, the verbal component of the spell didn't have to be anywhere near exact, it was results that mattered, so when she started the chant she lengthened it to keep as much mystery as possible out of what she was doing.

Not by much, though; she really didn't like how close Falis was to passing out. Somewhat consequently, she put too much power into the spell and staggered for a second after it was complete. Catching herself, she said, "There, that's done. Now, you still need to be bandaged..." She came over to help Falis up, on the chance that she would allow it. In Raine's eyes it was clear that she was out of magic, and that here she wasn't powerful. Either way, being taken to a bed and patched up should be something the girl was used to.

At the touch of Namine's hand on top of her head, Falis half-closed her eyes even though she still watched Raine like a hawk. The small gesture from her friend was the only reason the bounty hunter didn't attack, or worse yet - flee from, Raine at the sight of the glowing glyph that appeared underneath the healer. She trembled again, whimpering quietly, as the incantation was spoke; the Big Bad Bounty Hunter that had just moments ago killed that thing in the kitchen was gone and momentarily replaced by the scared child of five... six years ago when Cecelia torched her village. If Raine had the presence of mind to notice, she may have marvelled at the change.

At the first feel of the magic upon her, Falis reflexively tightened her grip on the sword, but the unwelcome sensation of magic became welcomed relief as several of her wounds knitted. Her eyes widened in fear as well as something close to a child's wonderment as she watched the two viscious bites on her left forearm close up right before her very own eyes. She'd never experienced magic to do such things, at least not consciously. Much like when the bounty hunter had faced her first mark of significant challenge years ago, she stared on in not only fear, but amazement as well.

She noted Raine's stagger, but did not care one bit at the moment at the healer's status; she was simply relieved that Namine's trust hadn't been broken, that she hadn't had something nasty cast upon her. The sword clattered to the ground as Falis wrapped her arms around Namine's waist in a hug. It was a little awkward given the tourniquet with foot long stake holding it together, but she didn't care.

Closing her eyes, the bounty hunter didn't respond to Raine yet. Oddly enough, she just... wanted to be held for a moment. Her fear hadn't left her yet, but at the moment she didn't consider Raine a threat. The half-elf still scared her, almost as much as the vulture-like daytime staff did, but... maybe she wasn't a witch. Or maybe Raine was just as scared of the bounty hunter and her volativity.

Just a moment longer and she'd let the healer clean and bandage her wounds. She kinda wished Hokuto was there with her, even though she wasn't thrilled with the idea of showing any weakness to the girl she liked. Still, it'd have been nice...

Naminé watched with interest as Raine performed her spell. It did look a little different from the magic on Naminé's world, the magic forming in some sort of glyph instead of the bell-shaped flower that she associated with a Cure spell. It had the same effect though, and it looked like Alita noticed as her wounds started to knit themselves up.

But it wasn't without it's ill-effects, on Raine at least, and Naminé shot the healer a concerned look when she started to stagger.

"Thank you," She bowed her head respectfully when Raine was done, to show her gratitude to the healer for saving her friend's life. Naminé was actually quite glad that this went smoothly for everyone. Normally, she would have coaxed Alita to get up so that they could bandage her wounds, but...

There was something wrong with how the girl was acting. It could have been exhaustion, but Naminé was sure it wasn't just that. So that was why the witch said nothing, instead hugging her friend back and patiently waiting for Alita to compose herself. Now that Alita had been healed, Naminé thought it was best to just have her get adjusted before they moved her again.

"It is what we're here for," Raine said. After a moment to recover her own energy, she went and got one of the medical kits, sorting through until she'd found the right bandages, the special antiseptic that Washu had made (she'd tested it on a small cut of her own and she hadn't had an adverse reaction yet), and the sutures.

"I'm also going to have to stitch up your leg," she said. Well, she had a decent idea of how to use painkiller now... "I can give you something to reduce the pain, but you'll need something heavy-duty, which has a lot in common with sedation. Is that all right?" She hadn't liked being sedated at all, but it hadn't been so bad once she just collapsed onto a couch and slept it off. And in this case, not being conscious would no doubt be a good thing.

Falis was so grateful Namine hugged her back she almost cried. Almost. Finally deciding she needed to get the rest taken care of, in a normal non-magical way, the bounty hunter locked her fear back away. "Thanks... I needed that," the princess muttered, barely audible, to Namine as she disengaged.

Taking her sword back up, as well as the monster's claw, the bounty hunter painfully got herself to her feet. She took two steps toward the nearest bed and ungracefully dropped down onto it. Looking over at Namine, she patted the bed next to her as an invitation to the girl, then laid her sword on the bed in easy reach.

Falis turned her now hooded eyes to Raine and raised her chin up in a small gesture of acceptance to the stitching. She hooked her fingers in the torn part of her pants and ripped the pant leg open, exposing the decent-sized gash in her upper leg. She was dangerously close to exposing her underwear to everyone in the room but, given her shirtless state, not to mention the barely holding together bra, she didn't care at all; she felt no shame.

"Is that what they call the poison the daytime vultures in white use?" She wasn't too keen on the ideas of poisoning herself.

"Of course." Naminé wasn't the kind of person (or Nobody, she guessed) who would abandon her friends in need, and she did her best to help Alita limp over to the bed. And took the seat offered to her, of course. This night was a rough one, but Naminé was glad that they got Alita to the clinic in time. She actually had to marvel at the fact such a thing existed - kindhearted patients who chose to stay behind and tend to the wounded instead of going out on their own. If Naminé was actually useful to them, she would have asked to join them, but... well, she did have those things in her room. Perhaps they wouldn't mind donations.

"It just makes you sleepy," Naminé quipped. She knew it was not poison; she never experienced getting sedated, but if the fact Luxord was still standing after getting constantly sedated was any indiciation, then she was pretty sure it wasn't what one would consider a poison.

"... Right?"

Granted, she didn't even know if Raine had the sedatives they used during the day, or something along the lines of the pain medication that Naminé had taken from the Pharmacy nights ago.

"That's right," Raine nodded. "It's not quite the same; the sedation is a side-effect instead of the intended one. I can find something that doesn't cause as much sleepiness, but it's unlikely to be effective."

Dragging a chair over, she sat down at Falis' side (where an accidental kick was unlikely) and threaded the needle--while she couldn't repair clothing to save her life, she could still stitch people up without a problem. She still considered it more invasive than she liked, but ironically enough it might just relax the girl.

Falis mulled the idea of the painkiller. Something to cut the pain would be nice, but with the witch there, she'd prefer to not be too sleepy to react if necessary. "I'm okay with most pain. I don't want to fall asleep, so something that doesn't do that will do," she finally stated.

Raine was right - stitching a gash was normal and something she'd had done to her many times before. Usually there was a little numbweed to rub on the wound before, but she'd endured Pete stitching her up without any. She would endure again. It was kinda nice to be familiar with what the healer was doing now.

Idly running the thumb of her good ran over the sleek surface of the black claw, Falis decided that she wasn't going to bleed to death anymore. The bounty hunter raised her left hand and held it out to Namine. "How's about you work on getting this undone," she said in reference to the tourniquet, "while I get sewn back up? Go slowly now. It's really bad to just let a tourniquet loose. Gotta ease the blood back into the limb."

The thought of stitching up a person like one did to clothing was a little gruesome, but Naminé wasn't unfamiliar with the concept. Still, she decided to look anyway. Again, another technique that could have been useful to know. Granted, it was one that Naminé hoped that she didn't have to use...

"OK!" It seemed simply enough, as Naminé tugged at the ties and started to do as Alita instructed, moving slowly and trying to lessen the pressure on her arm bit by bit. She failed in tying the tourniquet tight enough, the least she could do now was get it off properly.

At the very least, if Alita had to be awake during the stitching, then she would have something else to watch to help distract her.

Raine looked at Naminé to make sure she was doing all right, then left her to it. The more other people could do, the better.

"What caused all this?" she asked after a little while, frowning, as she glanced up at the acid burns. She was continuing the bestiary even if being prepared wasn't always, or often, possible. "I've seen some unfortunate mishaps with acid, but they were all minor in comparison to this." Especially since she'd never seen someone with this much acid damage; she was wondering just how many clothes Falis would have to take off to get everything treated.

The bounty hunter didn't acknowledged the pain from the sutures until the half-elf had paused to look up at her other injuries. The bounty hunter's eye twitched and she grit her teeth against the pain. Since Raine asked about her adversary, Falis was more than happy to oblige her with the knowledge of just how awesome the bounty hunter was.

She held up the wicked looking claw. "The ugly ass beastie this used to be attached to," she said with a grin, some of the wildness coming back into her eyes. "It was about three to four meters big with a kinda glistening black exoskeleton, claws and spiny tail with something like a blade on the end of it. I think that's what got me in the leg." She tilted her head in thought for a moment. "Oh, it had this weird double-mouth thing going on and it's blood burns like flaming oil."

The bounty hunter smirked. "It's dead now."

Naminé listened in on their conversation, not that she couldn't do much otherwise, as she slowly undid the tourniquet. Actually, Naminé was curious about what the creature looked like - she had seen glimpses, but the safety of her friend was more important. Still, she had a pretty good picture in her mind, helped by Alita's description.

What struck her most about the creature was how alien it was. Perhaps it was just a monster that Naminé had never seen, but ... it still seemed horrifically different from what Naminé had seen. Most of the monsters she had seen were mutated versions of animals that one would expect to see in the day. But she couldn't even begin to describe what the creature Alita killed was supposed to be.

"Does it sound familiar to you? I've never seen a monster like it," Naminé asked Raine, hoping that the other woman might have recognized it. That creature managed to kill a patient, at any rate, and though Alita defeated it, her victory almost came at the cost of her life. Naminé truly hoped it was a one of a kind beast.

Raine wondered if Falis had ever met Signum... it sounded like they might get along. "Nothing that I can recall," she said, after a long pause for thought. She knew about a lot of monsters, but that was a new one entirely.

Which was of course still very interesting... she had enough common sense to not want to run into anything that could do this, but she could always ask around for further information!

Later, anyway. "All right, I just need to take care of the acid burns..." She glanced at the rest of the room. The fact that they were all teenage boys might make this awkward. "Since I suggest you rest for the remainder of the night anyway, are you up to moving next door?"

"It kinda seemed like a cross between a lizard, an insect and the Jitterbug," Falis added on. "...not that any of you know what the Jitterbug was. Anyways, my experience with creatures that act that way and hunt like that did generally are part of a bigger group, like bees and ants. I wouldn't be surprised if another one pops up. I suggest a spear - it works really well."

Once Raine was done with the sutures, the princess poked at them a little, checking to see how well they'd been done. Not bad...

She looked up when Raine suggested moving to another room. "Uh... what for?"

Jitterbug? Well, she agreed with the lizard and insect qualities - especially the insect, with that smooth, hard shell the creature seemed to have. But she frowned when Alita predicted that it was most likely part of a group, she couldn't help but shudder. There really didn't need to be more of that creature.

As for Raine's suggestion, well... she was going where Alita was going, so she waited for Alita to make her choice.

Raine raised her eyebrows and tilted her head slightly towards the other occupants of the room; she figured it was best for all involved to go elsewhere, since she didn't think she could avoid taking Falis' top off. Tamaki alone would probably react badly enough... "Besides... that, it might get noisy in here, and that makes it hard to get much rest."

Personally, she'd found it bad enough when she had to take off her shirt in front of just Tamaki and Kratos; a bigger, young crowd was even worse.

Falis simply stared back at Raine. "... and they're a problem why? I don't care if they look. They're just breasts; it's not like it's a big deal."

She knew full well what Jodou would be saying in a situation like this, spouting off stuff about princesses and propriety (whatever the hell that meant) and blah, blah, blah, blah. It's like people thought there was something wrong with looking at a person's body.

Seriously, like she cared.

Nightshift 33: M35, Clinic

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)