RP:Heck, Be Selfish

Synopsis: Kyori, in the process of recovery after a strange night at the tavern, finds himself at the old, empty building of Halifax Roots. Penelope gets off a long double-shift and finds Kyori. Things are weird. Truth is not being told. Penelope is overly worried that something worse is to come onto Kyori due to past events with Linken, but she feels like she needs to fix it. Kyori tries to push her away as he can see her wheels turning, but she puts the question out there. Does he want her to stay? They agree to put the kiss aside--keep the complications away, and stand together as friends. Friends who sometimes kiss. It was not complicated, right?

Part of the Until It Sleeps Arc

Abandoned Halifax Roots

Kyori’s sore days after the attack. The shadow creature that injured him on the quest for the Cerulean flower reappeared in Rynvale, hunting something. He avoided another direct hit but the scars under his ribs had split open again. This time it leaked a black, rot smelling blood until the creature left. Penelope was acting weird the last time he saw her so he’d avoided telling her. Yerrell wasn’t a gossip hound. Stickers and a binding and he was sent off, told to drink water and take it easy. Standard healer dialogue. He mopes around a couple more days before deciding he should take this pan back then see about getting another sword until they can complete the tasks that witch gave them. Should follow up about that mushroom thing. And clothes. Sh-. He doesn’t want to do any of that. Instead, he skips what he should do and reroutes to Halifax Roots. What’s the shop up to now, after so long?

Penelope was not sure if she should ask about Yerrel’s discoveries or not, either way, the elder took confidentiality to an extreme. Especially with the Ardelian because of the conflict of interest. Penelope was still confused about that evening, but also too nervous to go back to the tavern. The woman slugs her way through the forest, as she was getting off of a double shift. A couple days passed. Should she have visited? Of course, but Ruari haunted her at the rumors of the other night through the hut. Was there more to what the eye saw? She cuts through the thickets until she is on the old stone path through the forest to the old shop she passed by most days. A shortcut to the cottage. Eyes look tired. Her hair tousled on top of her head, a corduroy brown shirt tucked into denim. She had just got done diagnosing a woman with pneumonia–not tiring, but her last bit of thought. Well, until she comes into that clearing of the old shop. Halifax Roots that is overgrown and… Kyori? She is not sure how to approach him, since she vanished so soon. “What are you doing?” Her tone was not malicious, but simply curious. Okay, well that was one way to greet someone.

Kyori hits Halifax Roots before Penelope. He’s looking at the flowers she’d planted, which had bloomed like she’d predicted, when he separates her voice from the forest. Flowers and weeds. The shop looked wild but suited to it. “Looking.” The bladeless spellblade doesn’t turn. He can still smell the death that stained inside. A smell like piles of corpses rotting and fusing together, degrading into inky blood, draining into soil. What a tangent. He shakes his head, freeing himself from that feeling, and turns to see her. His jaw is set, stubble highlights his clenched teeth. His eyes are sunken with exhaustion. His body’s suspended like a marionette on slacked strings. Habit brings his empty hand to his ribs, to hide the binding under his stained shirt and the wound healing below. “Got lost, looking for the house.” Harmless lie. Hell, it sounds better than the truth. I’m dodging my responsibilities at a dead place from a dead time. The pan is lifted, proof and collateral. He can’t summon the energy to make a wise crack or half assed smile. “Long day?”

Penelope would have normally felt uneasy when he was staring at that abandoned building, but the flowers made it better for her. More at peace, although she was not sure she would be able to step through the doors. She knew why the building had not sold, as there needed to be new floorboards reinstalled. No one liked a place with a blood scene, neither did she. Tired eyes observe his posture, his expression. He was exhausted. Like he had been hit with a baseball bat. That was no hangover the other night. What had happened? The harmless lie, makes her face squint. Her lips part as if she wants to say something, but he looks like he already took enough of a blow. The Ardelian keeps that distance. "Double shift. I haven't slept in..." She looks down at a watch that lingers on her wrist, "Almost twenty five hours." She smirked easily enough. It would beat his dead stare by a long run. "So, the tavern the other night..." She is not sure if she should poise the question. She takes a couple steps closer, but she finds herself leaning against a tree and staring at the pan in his hands. "I can take that off of you, the pan. You didn't have to make the trek, anyway." Not in that state, in her mind. Clearly, he was not even in the right mind to make it to her house.

Kyori can tell but it’d be rude to tell her how tired she looks. “Workaholic.” He mutters with a strained smile, matching her own smirk with equal energy. They were both in need of a shower (probably, he was) and actual sleep. He blinks slowly when she asks about the tavern. The information he has about that night is limited. She starts towards him but stops short. “Are we good?” They were both tired and had been weird the night at the tavern. It wouldn’t be out of line to be nervous about him. Kyori sighs, setting the pan on the ground by his feet and lifting up the side of his shirt. A binding is pulled tight around his torso. Spots of dried…something show through the bandages by his ribs. “I ran into that creature again. The shadow thing from the caves. The day after the night at the tavern.” He didn’t know about the black drop she saw, so he hasn’t put those pieces together yet. He puts his shirt back down with a wince. “It split open again, like that time in the tavern. But this time it bled this mix of blood and…rot.” Like a corpse flower. “The thing didn’t even touch me.” Explaining it makes the spellblade feel more tired. “I used some magic to run it off but…I need a new sword until we can find mine.” He stops talking, takes a deep breath and drops down on his haunches to rest. “Sorry, meant to come sooner.”

Penelope makes a simple ‘hm’ sound at the mention of working too much. She nods. She understands the drill, and she is thankful for the strained smile–it was something, right? ‘Are we good?’ She could only tilt her head at the question, and for that she was not sure. It was more like… was he good? The man looked worn, and she wanted to ask, but Yerrel told her ‘no’. Everyone told her ‘no’ between those days. No asking. Yerrel made sure of it. Nancy made sure of it. Ruari? Well, she was avoiding that one. When Kyori’s shirt is lifted, she observes the bandages. Was that the wound from… before? What had been seeping through the bandages previously? He somewhat has an explanation. Not really. The creature. From the caves. Her mind flashes like a strike of lightning the image of black ooze that spilled on the floor and sunk into the floorboards the night of the tavern. “I, uh,” I… trails in her mind. The dark cave. She remembered it vividly. The spellblade had her run. The black ooze. It was all too familiar. He looks tired. Defeated. Shake the feeling, Nel. She can feel bile rising in her throat from such a thought of darkness. Linken–the entity. This was not the same, was it? “No!” She says this too quickly about the apologies he was giving her. Is she pale now? “I mean,” she shakes her head. “Sorry. Tired.” She rubs her eyes slowly for effect as she lied. For good reason. For post-traumatic stress reasons. “Do you need magic within the sword? Something spellbound?” The Ardelian focuses on the sword topic before moving towards him as he drops down. She hovers near his frame before squatting down to pick up the pan. “I don’t think Yerrel would’ve let you even go, if he truly had solid eyes on you.”

Kyori watches with fractured attention as Penelope delves into herself. He’s seen this look before. Without interrupting, he lets whatever’s unwinding in her to continue. It’s not like he could stop it truly anyway. Just like the split scars, there’s no rush to healing. Her heartbeat is loud, panic like lightning in his ears. A crack of thunder when she screams. Oceanic eyes lift up to her. Her lie is easy to see, easy as his. It’s bitter sweet, learning to know someone. Seeing when they lie. Why did she scream? Was it that they weren’t good and she panicked trying to reply? She lowers herself to pick up the pan and he watches her with abnormally sage eyes. “I can put magic in the sword, if the sword can handle it. Easier if it’s already infused with a base spell.” Less work, less chance of falling flat asleep. The healer with Juniper eyes comments on Yerrel and Kyori nods. “I think you’re all overworked.” He’d used it to his advantage. If he could read her mind, hear all the people telling her not to ask, he’d wonder why. Was it worse than Yerrel told him? How would Nancy know? It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility that Yerrel sent instructions with Ruari to Nancy, since the spellblade made a bad habit of being laid up sick there. “I’ve been still for days.” And I wanted to see you. You can say it Kyori. But, he doesn’t want to. She didn’t answer his question. He doesn’t want to make it weird. “It’s probably nothing.” If the ooze wanted him dead, he’d be dead. He’d have died in the caves. That’s his logic, anyway. His gaze softens, looking her over. Was he a problem she couldn’t walk away from? She was already working so hard without trying to help him. He was leaning on her too much. “You should get some rest.” His tone is remorseful, his smile brittle when he looks at her. “I don’t want to keep you.” Trap you. Sink you. Hurt you. Damn you. “Or you’ll get sick too, working so hard.”

Penelope holds still in that kneeling position when he mentions putting magic in the sword. “But if you fall into the pits, how would we wake you?” The small chance he would fall into comatose makes her uneasy. She stands when he says he has been still for several days. A flood of relief that he abided. “I should’ve visited. I’m sorry,” she paused. “Yerrel did not want me to–a conflict of interest, he put it. I shouldn’t have left you. I… I was confused. I didn’t know what was happening that night–did not help with the wine, really. You were pushing me out–not physically. Verbally. And now you’re talking about this… thing. The creature we came across on -our- journey. I just worry that it’s–” Whatever was attached to Linken. There, however, would be no way, but she did not know this. To her, anything was possible. She squinted. ‘It’s probably nothing’, but why does she feel that prickle in her gut? The sound of remorse lingers between them. That guilt he had. “I’m in charge of my own well-being. Kyori, I care a hell of a lot about you which is why I’m so…” Worried, is what she wanted to say, but that word would only make him guiltier, she was sure. She looks to the side and shakes her head. He was not a problem, if anything she was wrapped up in the madness of wanting to have him gain back control. For himself. “I just want you to be able to live and not watch your life flash before your eyes. That’s what I’m -supposed- to do. To help heal this curse looming over you. I took an oath years ago when I started helping people.” Beat. “If you don’t want it, I’ll leave it alone--despite my wants. But I need you to finally be honest with me. Do you want me… here? Helping you? Being there for you? We can take the kiss out of the situation. I know that made things complicated, but just know I’m not that kind of girl to expect anything out of something as simple as a kiss. I’m not some girl living in a fairytale. I’m realistic.” Independent. Fickle. Nurturing. The Ardelian’s eyes linger on him gently. “So please, I want you to be selfish and put your own worries about me aside… Do you want me to stay?” To help. To fight with him. Perhaps this was what Ruari was saying all along with the tie to people she had cared about. Linken. Leon. Lionel. Lanara.

Kyori pauses. “Admittedly, I hadn’t thought of that.” His plan was to use as little as possible, avoid big spells and exhaust long time spans between uses. “Lana said something about learning to ground myself.” A bad bandage for the unpredictable narcolepsy. He closes his eyes when she apologizes. “You don’t have to say you’re sorry.” He opens his eyes, holding her in them, so tightly he could burst. “I’m stuck with my demons.” Bad choice of wording. “But you aren’t. I think about what you said all the time. How if you’d have known I was in the tavern, you’d have been there every day. All the time. Any time you stand up for me or try to protect me or heal me. I think about it Penelope. If nothing else, I know you want to be there and that’s enough.” Or she had wanted to in the past. “I don’t know what happened that night…I don’t remember most of it but I wasn’t myself. I’m sorry.” The healer digs in her heels and tells him she’s the one in charge of herself. And she cares. All the more reason to get her away from this! He sighs at her confession of oath and healing. “I want you to be here not as a healer, not out of obligation to fix the situation or me. I want you to be here because you want to be, as a person separate from your oaths and your duties and guilt. I want you to be here, not because I’m a problem in need of solving.” He couldn’t deny the kiss caused him a fair share of guilt but he’d wanted to kiss her. Wanted more. But a relationship? He’d given her the power long ago to determine what they were or weren’t. Not that he was a lap dog begging for table scraps. Realistically, there’d come a point when they’d have to name what they wanted. And if, at the core of it, they were friends first then that’s what he wanted her to show up as. Friends with the question of a future, but friends for certain. Friends that kiss sometimes, who the hell cares. “Stay as my friend. Fight with me, as a confidant. Worry for me by my side. If you want to be here for your own selfish reasons, be here. That’s the most selfish thing I can ask of you.”

Penelope sucks in her cheeks at the thought of Lanara teaching him to ground himself. “It centers your magic and shields you from your magic bouncing back at you. If anyone teaches you, it should be Lanara. She’s… –very- experienced. I mean, I’m still learning to reign my own magic.” Tight eyes then capture her own juniper gaze. “I still do,” she wanted to be there. For him. Kyori is apologizing to her, and there is relief that strikes her, making her shoulders relax. Kind of. There was the whole… black liquid thing. Shake the eeriness. It was all in her head. ‘I want you to be here, not because I’m a problem in need of solving’ the guilt makes her heart ache for a moment. There was more than just the problem. His charisma. Their banter. She was treading dangerous waters, however. The kiss between them definitely lifted something she had not felt for some time, and she had been selfish to even do such a thing. Even if he wanted to. She wanted to too, obviously. Though, what was happening with the man before her was hard to understand. ‘Stay as my friend’. A time ago, he had told her he wanted to be by her side and her by his. Friends, he says easily. Friends that kiss. That was not complicated, right? People did that all the time, right?! Finally, she decides to close in the distance between them. He does not want her to suffer, but only assist him without putting weight on her own shoulders. Her hand reaches out for his upper arm–a gentle approach. “Then, hell, I’m selfish,” she slightly smiles. It was very tiring. Lazy. “So, I imagine that before you go willy nilly attempt those three tasks, you should figure out the whole ‘grounding’ thing with Lanara. I think you’ll need it. Or, like you said, a new sword. Maybe Lanara can enchant it? Just thoughts, but I'm sure she's stewing about you since that trip to Enchantment.”

Kyori still meant what he’d said back then. Warped time didn’t change his feelings but he felt it, Penelope pulling away like he was a bear trap set to snap. He didn’t blame her. His presence was always tentative. And he’d swallow all the black liquid before he let her carry everything on her own. So he asks her what he’d vowed to her ages ago, on this very spot. To be by his side without expectations or limits or being caged. To stand against the idiotic tasks that her idiotic apprentice caused. “It’s about time you start being selfish.” He’s relieved. She had every chance to take her pan and go. The warrior’s tired, the relief enhancing the appeal of collapse. The healer with the juniper eyes is suggesting asking Lanara to use her magic to help enchant the sword. Kyori the idiot over here, trying to do it alone. “Hopefully not too much, she’s got a husband to feed.” Bad joke but he looks pleased with himself. He slowly clasps his hand over hers on his arms. A brief squeeze if she doesn’t pull away. “Give me a couple more days to heal and get some rest yourself and we’ll go see her.” Sapphire eyes look away for a beat. “Thanks, for being selfish.”

Penelope felt uneasy about the thought of being selfish, but somehow, it made her smile. Genuinely, despite the tired look on her face. There was a softened gaze now. The fact that the spellblade spoke such words made her sheepish, and he seems relieved as well. The bad joke leaves her with a crooked, dopey gaze. “You’re such a dork,” back to her old self even if strange things were happening. The humor was needed, as she used it to glaze over most things. She lets him clasp her hand, a reassurance that she was, in fact, still here. It brought a sense of comfort, even if he came and went. It was a foreign feeling, and she was not sure what it meant either. The Ardelian preferred the simple route, as he did–even if confusing feelings stirred. Considering the circumstances. The risks. She was protecting herself, even if she said she was not. Lets focus on just keeping the man from comatose. “You best get out of here before you drop dead. You look terrible.” Rude, but true. He needed more rest. When he looks away, she squeezes his arm in order for him to look at her, if he would. “I’m as selfish as they come,” she wiggles her brows teasingly before pulling back. She lifts the pan in her other hand and waves it slightly. “I’ll be seeing you.” She offers him a sly smirk before pivoting off. She looks over her shoulder at the old building–an eeriness in her gaze for a moment before she looks at him. Her gaze melts into something smoother before she turns and disappears through the forest.