RP:How Long?
Synopsis: Kyori is awake after another long coma of almost eight months, and this time, he is mad. Penelope tries to reason, but the spellblade is in for an awakening as his sword is missing and... Lanara is actually... alive?
Kelay Tavern
Penelope’s freckled face asking Lanara if she should have brought Kel. Her outline in tall grass under a pink sky, telling him about a book she was reading. Her foot shoving him while they dodged the heavier questions he wanted to ask. That was his last memory of Penelope. The trio of Kyori, Penelope and Lanara enchanted an amulet for Lanara’s boyfriend Tiger. Lana wore purple robes and hugged them both. She gave them apple cake and ale and her smile rivaled moonlight when she left even though she was dying. That was his last memory of Lanara. Nat’s eyes were lensed periwinkle by moonlight in the stables. Their hands were clasped together after her palm reading. She confessed and he told her they were only friends. That was his last memory of Natianara. The spellblade still did not know she was dead. He did not know Kel was alive. He did not know what was killing Lana or why people from her home land were visiting Cenril. Other memories with other people were there but hazy. He saw charcoal butterflies and blood. A snow elemental held prison. A towering orc without a home.
What he wakes up to is the tavern ceiling. What Nancy and bar patrons hear is a loud string of foul obscenities when he realizes he’d left. Again. Someone has been taking care of him this time though. His throat doesn't ache (to the benefit of the bar patrons) and the bar food doesn't smell revolting. Maybe those nurses Lana paid during his first coma felt guilty and came back. His blonde hair sticks to the sides of his face but it’s the right length. Someone cut his hair? FFS. Kyori sits up in bed. Rage at leaving -again- was rubbing him raw. It had never been this bad before. He’d only used magic for Lanara’s amulet spell. It felt like nothing. He curses again, flips off the covers and throws his legs to the floor.
Nancy knocks twice, loudly, and lets herself into his room. “Hey!” He barks in surprise. Nancy gives him a warning look that freezes his blood.
“Don’t ‘hey’ me after screaming your filth through my tavern! I’ll do what I damn well please hero boy.” Oof. Hero boy? A new low. “You stay in bed and keep your mouth to yourself.”
Kyori immediately looks crestfallen. He leans forward, face buried in his hands, and asks Nancy the scariest question on his mind. “How long?” And Nancy doesn’t answer him.
---
Wine in hand, Penelope lingered in the tavern just like the first day she met Kyori. Lips were stained with merlot, for the woman had been in there for an hour or two chatting with a few locals. One being a pale blonde, blue-eyed woman. Celeste. A new apprentice that Lanara had asked as a favor to put under Penelope’s wing. The two are somewhat dressed up for an evening out. High-waist denim, heels, blouses with flowy sleeves. Celeste a pale blue while Nel's a deep red with flower print. The two girls are talking, smiling, and wrapped in their evening banter. “So they got married?!” Penelope slaps the counter of the bar dramatically before shaking her head. “I’m gonna -kill- Lana for letting me -miss- her wedding.” The freckled woman is wide-eyed. Celeste whispers back in wide-eyed exaggeration at the Ardelian, in return, “Corrine tried to hex her! But it didn’t work! Now her and Tiber are on their honeymoon–finally!” Too much had happened in the time span of even Penelope and Lanara’s last meeting.
“Well, I’m just glad she’s okay. Healthy. Not dead.” Penelope shakes her head before tipping back the glass before jolting at the loud ruckus above her. Curses which cause the girl to snort at first. Green eyes then cast towards Nancy who is giving Nel a ‘look’. Doe eyes stare back at the barmaid who disappears up the stairs. The girl stares for a while at the steps before slowly slipping from her stool. She feels hazy, but only due to drinking. “I gotta go ask Nancy to use one of the washrooms. I’ll be right back.” There is curiosity that touches her throat which causes Celeste to tilt her head. “No problem. I’ll order another round.”
The buzzed woman finds herself walking up the stairs carefully until she turns the corner. A familiar tone echoes from the same room. The same room he had always ended up in time after time. Again. Again it happened. She was sure of it. The woman sways slightly into the entrance of the door, but there is an ease about it. “Seven-ish months,” is all she can answer for Nancy who is avoiding telling Kyori the truth. “You didn’t tell me he was here?” The girl was not mad, but only in a swirl of confusion. And guilt.
Nancy parts her lips in hesitancy, “I told Mr. Erickson, but… clearly he did not want you to worry over it if he didn’t tell you. You nor Lanara. He made sure to hire nurses from Enchantment to help to take care of the ‘Mr. Hero Boy’ over here.”
---
Kyori looks up and sees Penelope dressed up and tipsy. Any other night and he’d sling a quip about…who knows. The contrarian humor was lost on him. She’s standing in the doorway and he’s sitting on the bed. She’s dressed up and he’s dressed down to the necessities. The rest of his clothes are folded on the dresser. His head aches and the bar is loud. Nancy is loud. The spellblade hitches his anger to the Erickson wagon. The other male is an easy target. Kyori grunts in disbelief. “That asinine apprentice…” He runs his pale hands through his hair to keep his cool. Yeah Kyori, be mad that guy hired nurses to take care of you while Penelope is standing in the doorway. Again. A fate destined to repeat. This time she doesn’t look angry. She looks…like he can’t look at her right now.
“Great.” He mutters through a steel locked jaw. Just. Great. Now Lanara is long dead. He’s missed the funeral, missed whatever other bull he could have negated. Sevenish months of training. Sevenish months of trust. Kyori’s indignation is balanced against his need to fix the problem. Going to sleep for months was becoming a problem. Penelope was ironically the only person alive that could wake him up and she didn’t know he was asleep.
“Great.” His voice is a sharp edge. Kyori licks his dry lips. He really wants a cigarette. “Throw me those.” The man points at his clothes, catching Nancy’s attention. Nancy’s irritation with him looks like it’s waning but he can’t allot the brain power to guess why. “Something is wrong.” No duh Kyori. It’s taking too long to wake up. He lost months for one little ritual!
Nancy, refusing to sling clothes across the room, snatches them off the dresser. “Don’t push your luck.” She warns, forking over his clothes with some intense prolonged eye contact. It’s a gargantuan effort to keep his anger in check and not bark back. “Thanks.” He answers through gritted teeth while pulling on his ever fashionable pants.
---
"Clearly, Mr. Erickson needs to get priorities straight." She bounces off Nancy's words. When Kyori makes his own miffed comment about Ruari Erickson, Penelope looks away for a moment. Eyes lift around the bland room to also avoid Kyori. Everyone had been telling the girl to get out more, and lo and behold, here the spellblade was. Great timing. The amount of times the Ardelian has run into the man in this spot, in the same scenario, felt like a cruel joke. Not because she did not want to see him, but the odd twist of discovering him waking from comatose. A bad scenario of the tales of “Groundhog Day”--a day that would replay over and over again. How would she approach this time? Something was wrong, like he said, and the tipsy woman wanted to fix it. Or help, at least. Even in the slightest way.
Nel wants to play doctor, but her head is still spinning seeing him sitting on the bed. He is not looking at her, but she has the strength to finally stare at him again. Kyori is putting on his pants in a fit that she cannot fully process. She takes a moment or two to catch her bearings. One moment to take off her heels in a mild stumble before Nancy latches onto the petite woman. “I think I need to start journaling. Maybe mostly Lana. Her world is at an upbeat pace.” She is talking about journaling. Not for herself. Not for Lanara. No, but for him. Was this a joke? No, the red stained lips were pursed in seriousness. “Sorry,” beat. “Er, it’s my night off.” Penelope taking days off now? "If I would have known, Kyori, I would have been here every day. I'm sorry." Sorry that she is an idiotic mess at an important time like this. The woman then has heels in hand before she fully is able to concentrate and she is able to look at him again. “Why is it getting worse?”
---
Kyori’s sore attitude calls him to chime in with Penelope’s assessment. The first thing he’s said in her direction. “I’ll help him sort it out.” And he sounds deadly serious. Too bad the hero boy still has mild muscular atrophy. He ain’t fighting no one. But Penelope is here and he ought to give her a proper greeting with less murderous intentions.
The plant witch rambles about journaling. “Are you okay?” His sapphire eyes are fixed on her. Kyori the comatose spellblade, minutes after waking up, is asking her if she’s okay. God save him from a lecture about his own health. In place of the lecture, Penelope is apologizing. How is this worse than last time? He doesn’t know but it is, holy s…
“Glad you’re taking time off, finally.” He tries to lighten the mood but she sternly interjects that she would have been here every day and says sorry again. Shit. His face feels hot. Nancy is helping Penelope stay upright. A diversion he’s happy to take advantage of. Been here every day, guy just woke up from a sevenish month long coma, you can’t say stuff like that to him, Goddamnit. How’s he supposed to be mad at anyone now?!
“Pen, no way, apologizing? That’s my bag, not yours. I’m the dumb man that did this.” Juniper eyes flash in his direction. Okay that’s not fair. No time has passed for him. They may as well have kissed last week, read that book on the grass yesterday. Oh, there is is, he’s frustrated again. Not at Penelope but at whatever the situation was. His magic coma time was secret. Penelope asks why it was getting worse so he’s got to answer carefully.
“I don’t know.” Truth. “Something must be wrong.” Truth. The warrior pats his empty pockets with a defeated groan. No cigarettes. Where are they? Also, where is his sword? That question spreads like water into his lungs. His eyes swivel to Nancy. “My sword isn’t here.” Or he missed it. “Where is it? Nancy?”
Nancy, for her part, looks just as confused. The bar maid looks at Penelope, why, then looks back around the room. Men are horrible at finding things but she doesn’t see it either. “I’m sure Mr. Erickson put it somewhere safe. You’ve been out cold. A sword wasn’t going to do you any good.”
Kyori gives Nancy a look that would kill a lesser being. Don’t yell. He turns around and kicks the bed frame. She didn’t know. Don’t yell. “It. Could. Have.” He growls at the empty wall and knows he needs to leave. Right now. “ I tell you what," he’s gonna regret all of this later, “I’ll go ask him myself.” He snaps his shirt off the dresser, pulls it over his shoulders and tries to move past Penelope but Nancy is holding her up in front of the door. She’s tipsy and looks so small up close. She would have been here every day. “Please.” He tries to say evenly, waiting for her to move so he can leave. All of these people took care of him and cared about him and he couldn’t look more ungrateful right now.
---
Penelope squints, for she is pretty sure Ruari’s mind was already sorted. It takes her a minute to understand Kyori’s words there. Thanks, wine. Is she okay? “Uh, I feel quite warm, thanks,” she is okay, Kyori. Just in her own thoughts. Trust. She does not really know how to go into full detail there, for there was too much happening at once.
She swears she can see his pale face flush as he is all mixed up, and he probably does not know how to process everything that was happening either. In his own way. She only assumes. “I remember you very clearly. Seems you still don’t know how to hide your frustrations,” she bluntly says. “You didn’t -do- this. Whatever -is- doing this is doing it? But whatever it is, you shouldn’t be going through it by yourself.” She blinks once or twice before shaking her head. His mood was like a tidal wave. The waves kept rising and falling through his own confusion. But the confusion is getting worse because he does not know why it is happening.
“You don’t know? Truly? Not even a hint?” He talks of the sword–the missing blade. Her knuckle twitches with the stone. Did the stone have something to do with this? “You–” she glances at Nancy and makes a ‘shh’ sound in a quip. Nel knows she needs to keep her questions at minimum. All she really wants to ask him is -about- the sword. What kind of -other- magical properties did it have? Did it affect his sleep?
When he kicked the bed, Penelope snapped into shape. Brows raise. The woman pushed Nancy away instantly to hold her own, as she did not need Nancy’s assistance. “Not that intoxicated. I only had two glasses,” light weight. “I’m at -least- able to walk either home or…” when Kyori approaches and pleads that the Ardelian moves, her chin tilts up at him. A glazed, calm gaze looks at the blonde man’s face. Whether he is looking away or not, a hand reaches to brush at his forearm for reassurance before letting go, if he let her. “Or the hut. If that’s the choice he wants to make right now. We can let him decide, afterall. Besides, clearly he wants to have the pissing match.” A very blunt tipsy little thing. The woman easily takes a step aside in her bare feet as she stumbles slightly and grasps onto Nancy. “But you’re not going alone, either, big man,” she sneaks a little smirk as if she thinks she is the most charming in the room. Oh, Gods, ffs was right. “-Technically-, I’m the only qualified one to let you go, so to let you just go in a shape like this, well, you already know.” He did. Third times a charm, right?
---
Kyori watches Penelope square her shoulders before the spellblade makes it to the door. She can defend herself but her feeling like she has to bothers him. That is his fault. That is where he should place the blame instead of the twisted mess of his magic sword and is-he-or-isnt-he-a-witch business. He’d never hit her. Never a woman. She knew that right? Apprentice, no contest, he’d cold cock him (or try, Kyori, you keep forgetting you’re not at your best right now). No, he knew he wasn’t at his best. The lack of control over his situation, all the situations he was involved in, threw him out in stormy waters. He didn’t have enough time to put the pieces in order. Which was frustrating. And the cycle of fate continued to turn.
Penelope’s on about how she can walk home. Then stumbles. It strips away a layer of hardness in his posture. The blonde didn’t pull away. He’s being a prick but he was always too emotional when he woke up. Come to think of it, Penelope has been there every single time he’s woken up. At this point it would be strange if she wasn’t there. She would have been here. Every. Day.
“No.” The warrior sighs, his heavy shoulders slacken. “I have no idea why. Why now. Why not before. Why is it getting worse. Why isn’t my sword here. What happens if my sword isn’t here. Why would I wake up if it wasn’t here unless someone did the thing.” He gestures vaguely to her ring. He hadn’t looked but he’d only seen her “hours” ago. Obvious to all it was still there. Kyori musses his hair anxiously. “But the only other people who can are…” With the sword. In the gems. Dead. “I have to find it.”
He scoffs at ‘pissing match’. “It will be no match.” Kyori is clearly superior…in…what? He hates himself right now. His brain is short circuiting in panic and made him consider an -actual- contest. Who came up with that term in the first place? Penelope’s confidence is unshakable. Her threat to not let him leave earns her one raised blonde brow. Almost a dare. Unless her dirt throwing witchcraft has improved…sheeeee can’t physically stop him.
“Are you,” the ‘hero’ pauses so their eyes can meet, “babysitting me?” This was ridiculous. It would be funny if he was less irate. “I’m going. Come if you need to.” This had to be the ideal way to spend her night off. Two drinks deep, trailing a shoeless swordless man through the woods. Nancy gives Penelope a warning look when Kyori steps out into the hall. That is a temperamental large man. Are the alarm bells going off yet? Kyori leaves the women to conspire. Outside the entrance, he bums a smoke off a dude who looks accosted by the spellblade’s RBF. Kyori’s smashing the dying cherry into the dirt the next time the tavern door opens.
---
Penelope knew very well Kyori would never hurt her, which was why she had been standing so confidently in front of him–well, until she opened the pathway to let him make a choice. The man is all questions and lacks control. Even in a buzzed stupor, she can sort out expressions well enough. This, even, was not the first time they were in the same situation. When he makes the gesture to the ring, there is a form of guilt which causes her to cringe a little.
When Kyori scoffs, Nel quirks a brow. “Really?” She looks him up and down for a moment. “Hm,” her cheeks suck in. Was she babysitting him? Was that how she was going to spend her evening? The man’s aura was completely disgruntled. Irritable. It causes her to grin. “Yes, I am, actually. I’d like to see your ‘lack of match’.” And as he goes, she steps to follow. Does she -really- want to see the match? Nancy latches on to Nel for a moment before she goes. “Penelope, put your shoes on! There could be glass or Gods knows what on the floor.” Nel snorts herself, “Eh, I’ve done this plenty of time.” Nancy looks confused because Nel is all bluff, herself.
The Ardelian scurries down the stairs to the main tavern where Celeste is watching Kyori stomp around like the big man he is. And when Penelope follows, Celeste is mouthing, “Who is that?” Nel takes a pause as Kyori takes a cigarette from some random person across the way. The girl reaches for the ordered wine glass because… liquid courage never hurts in situations like this. Unpredictable ones, that was. The freckled woman takes a large swig before shivering the merlot down and snags her coat to shrug it over her shoulders. “Don’t worry about it. I’m, uh, calling it a short night. Might crash at the hut.” Celeste looked utterly confused and bewildered, but there was no more time for questions as Nel was losing Kyori. She looks at the fresh bud stomped in the ground when she steps outside before looking to him in the distance. “Really?” Off the two go.
The ground is frozen. The air is cold. This is not ideal. Especially barefoot. In an instant, a soft red glow comes from underneath her feet to keep them warm as she walks. Fire. She keeps a distance behind only due to the growth underneath her. Not to mention that she is almost positive he’s not in any mood to talk–only an assumption. Also, she cannot really keep up with his strides, but no matter–the hut was not too far away. It is only until Nel can hear the chopping of wood over the clearing that panic settles in because she knows Ruari is that distance away. Should she try to stop Kyori? Make him have a decent conscience? Avoid the dude-off? There was no time to think because the woman, in her antics, is charging straight towards Kyori’s backside in an attempt to jump on his back to ‘stop him’. Mostly to stop and think. “Are you -really- positive that this is the best thing?! I could easily get the sword!”
Kelay Healer
Kyori said she could come, not that he would wait for her. The better part of him wanted to but he wasn’t at his best at the present moment. Her remark on the finished cig earns an eye roll she can’t see. It’s been months, sevenish to be exact, since he’s smoked one. Calm down. In his better moments, he found the concern endearing. Not endearing enough to stop the habit but endearing enough to not buck every time she stole his packs. Which is always more often than he’d truthfully like. Distance between them, the spellblade can still feel the warmer air following him. He’d look back but he knows it’s Penelope. Creepily, everyone has a smell. And she smelled like, well herself, and a kind of wine. He didn’t know about wine and wasn’t about to turn all sommelier. When the tavern noise dulls against the still frozen Sage, he thinks to speak and ask Penelope where Lana’s been buried. He should go there soon.
Before he gets the chance, Penelope Halifax jumps at his back and he catches her in the most awkward piggyback to ever exist. If she could see his face. He was the only boy with a thousand sisters who’d launch themselves at him at any given moment. Not to mention, he’s a trained fighter with quick reflexes, what the actual…His progress stops. The thump of a heavy axe splitting wood isn’t far off but he’s distracted by the thump of her heartbeat behind him. He’s strong but not strong enough to move both of them at once because of that whole being asleep thing.
“Did you think that through?” Her alacrity to keep the men apart was admirable and earns her the slightest boyish grin from over his shoulder. “We could have died.” Dramatic but so is jumping on someone’s back like that. The cold had cooled his head a fraction. “If you’re too drunk to walk home on your own, you could have asked. I was going this way anyway.” Funny but his heart wasn’t in it. Kyori bends his knees to lower Penelope back to the ground and lets her go slowly so she doesn’t fall. Once everyone’s back on ground level, he turns around to look at her. “I wasn’t gonna fight him.” Her apprentice was just the most convenient target.
---
She can feel her forearm against his neck in an awkward embrace as she tries to cling on tightly while not trying to drop her heels. He is warm, which is a nice change of pace from the dreadful, chilly walk, but despite that he is unstable, which she would figure due to his state. The perfect plan! Because he actually stops. “Yes and no.” Was she struggling to stay on? A little grunt comes out of her as she tries to steady her arms. It was true. Yes, she wanted to stop him, but how she did was unexpected. “I could’ve busted out the roots, but the ground is kinda frozen,” pause. “Heh, I was willing to make the sacrifice,” it was all sarcasm, but she knows he is not in the mood. She then slips off when he lowers her which causes her to stumble back a little. Steam swarms her feet as the red glow is still visible.
Penelope tries to keep an even gaze when he finally turns around. “Smart,” she nods her head. Considering his state, that was mostly for the best. The wood keeps chopping over the distance and her eyes trace in that direction. “You really were seeming like you were full of piss and vinegar back there. Still, even, but less than kicking the bed. What was I to expect?” She sharply inhales. She takes a moment to think, or try to. “Okay, I’ll let you go.” It was all about trust, right? “But if you do anything stupid, I’m gonna have to do something you won’t really appreciate. Again.” She grins. “That’s what a babysitter does, right?”
This time, she is brushing past him in her crooked way before she stops to feel the ground for navigation because she was a -poor- drunken navigator. The girl probably would have been in Xalious by now if Kyori had not led the way. The echoes of the wood was one thing, but Nel was still intoxicated. She can feel the vibrations of the ax strike through the wood which pulsates through the ground. The hut. The woman starts forward to make it through the clearing. The chopping is getting louder and louder until she is in view of the hut and the person outside the hut. Ruari Erickson. The half-elf stops as he senses a presence in the clearing. The dark haired man places the ax down and breathes out to catch his breath from throwing the ax.
“Is that… you Penny?” His eyes adjust to the distance and the evening. “Are those your heels? What are you doing? Please don’t tell me you tried walking home alone like that,” he knows Penelope very well. Years. Back when the woman worked in Cenril 7 years ago. He can tell just by the look on her face how disoriented she is.
--
Kyori’s incredulous expression takes that as a challenge. “I -can-.” He clarifies proudly. “But I -wasn’t-.” That’s not entirely true because the spellblade had imagined a satisfying fight between the two men that resulted in Erickson finding his place. On the ground. Kyori’s absolutely hit a stranger in a crowded fair (in front of Lana) when the guy tried to say some smack about witches. His beef with Erickson was different. That guy seemed harmless. Kyori resented how the apprentice failed to protect Penelope during the adventure of saving her ex from that demon. He’s also a weird brand of man jealous about it for no reason but that’s the piss and vinegar talking. Not that he could sort out and label all those feelings neatly. The spellblade could only say he didn’t like him. The complex alpha male reasons are scrambled up there.
Penelope’s plan was risky and he’d fallen into her trap. Big scary man indeed. She didn’t have to use her powers at all. He sighs. She knew parts of him too well. Devious plant witch. “I don’t know what’s going on and I can’t start figuring it out without my sword.” Can’t she understand? He hated feeling out of control. And it was one thing to wake up and lose time but his sword being gone? No, she had to know. The warrior would have crawled out the tavern door if he had to. Also that little detail about his sisters being IN THE SWORD. His family was basically kidnapped.
Her warning about being stupid pulls another eye roll out of him. “I’m a guy, all I know how to be is stupid.” FFS a babysitter. Who was babysitting who drunk woman? Kyori falls in line behind her, slacking his pace so she can lead. He wants to put his hands in his pockets but he’s too afraid she’s gonna fall or launch herself again. He left the tavern without shoes or a jacket and the dropping adrenaline of ‘war’ is reminding his body of the cold. Drunk Penelope was attractively confident though. Add that to the pile of intense instability he’s battling by the moment.
Erickson’s voice is immediately grating. “No.” The spellblade’s rough voice answers. No she did not walk home alone thanks give me my sword. Now Kyori does shove his hands roughly in his pockets before coming into view beside Penelope. It’s warmer here. She’s trusting the spellblade to behave and trust is the only thing muzzling him. He diverts his sapphire eyes to a dead part of the woods before gruffly demanding the apprentice to “Gimme back my sword” if he does actually have it.
---
A tiny hint of amusement crosses Nel’s mind at the thought of Kyori being so proud. Men. But then again, did Kyori really know who Ruari was? Did Kyori really have a reason to feel ‘proud’? Even when Nel is in the clearing and Ruari is addressing her, she is now looking back at Kyori who looks furrowed. Her eyebrows slightly pull together, “You know, if you keep that up, you’ll be all wrinkly.” No, Kyori, she was too drunk to get a clue, but if Kyori wanted the sword, she would try her best. “We’ll find it. Trust me, Kyori.” She is not worried about it and then eyes find Ruari who is now staring at Kyori with a muddled gaze.
Ruari has to blink once or twice at Kyori to really recognize the man. Kyori looks thinner, but the nurses did a decent job with the haircut and the fact that the man is walking, well, that was wonders. “You… you’re awake,” he begins as if his breath is a little taken away. He did not understand Kyori’s condition, so in Ruari’s eyes, it was almost like a miracle. “You let Kyori walk you home? Like -that-?” He gestures to the man who is barefoot and without a jacket.
“It wasn’t -my- choice. He can think for himself, and he’s pretty adamant about it. You didn’t even -tell me- this happened! Why didn’t you tell me?” Penelope’s amusement finally breaks at that moment because right now, she too, is a little disgruntled by the half-elf in front of them.
Ruari looks a little wide-eyed at Nel when the disappointment rains down on him. His voice is low and steady at this moment. “Penny, I… can truly explain this all. Really. I just… you can't really guess?” The man is stern, clear-headed. “You always get stuck on situations like this and you just can’t let it go. I couldn’t watch you do that again. You -know-. I'm your friend, I did what was best for -you-.” Ruari points at the Ardelian. Linken. Little Leon. Lionel. Lanara. “But right now, that’s besides the point, Penelope. Gods, I’m gonna tell you this now, Penelope LeAnne, that you cannot be doing this type of crap off the clock. You can chew me out all you want, but -I- made the call. You taught me that too.” The half-elf rubs a hand over his face. Hands grip his dark curls on his head before he lets go. “Kyori, has anyone checked your vitals…?” The half-elf does not dare to look at Penelope either as he can already feel the regret and guilt. He keeps his emotions out of it, for now. He is not trying to be a mega d-bag, but he had to at least keep the situation at bay.
"I am my own being who can handle it, Ruari. I make my own decisions--sometimes not with a clear mind," okay, the wine was not helping tonight. "I told you to make the call regarding medicine. Not relations, you idiot." The little spitfire then crosses her arms before looking up to Kyori. It was all him now. Whatever he wanted, needed, Ruari was all ears at this point.
--
Kyori did trust her.
Kyori didn’t like that Erickson knew his name. It made sense, he arranged the treatment, but could he…not? He didn’t like that he’s blaming Penelope for the spellblade’s decisions either. Penelope stopped me from fighting you on sight, be grateful. Maybe that’s where part of his dislike of Penelope’s apprentice is coming from tonight. The fact he knew and didn’t tell Penelope about it. She said she’d have been there every day, you jackass. That annoyance grew to indignation as Ruari lectures Penelope. No way these feelings are compunction for the warrior’s own actions. Penelope defends Kyori’s decision to leave without shoes or a jacket. The argument between the healers surrounds him but isn't really about him. The hairs on the back of his neck stand up when Ruari refers to the spellblade as a ‘situation’. Jaw locked, the blonde shakes his head in silent warning for the other guy to watch it.
“Pen,” he says, taking a step between the apprentice and the plant witch, facing the former with a less-than-cool demeanor. “I lied.” At that, Kyori pulled his shoulders back and threw the punch he said he wouldn’t. The dull thud of contact echoes out all around them. His fist hit it’s mark; the tree next to Ruari at face height. His cold hands eat up the bruises and cuts he’d feel later. He keeps his fist in place against the tree while he adds his thoughts into this group session. “All I need,” the spellblade says in a low growl, “is my sword.” An exhaled cloud breaks the beat of silence. “Don’t touch me, don’t touch her, don’t talk to her, don’t look at her. Look at me.” He leans in, sapphire eyes narrow and glowing. “Get my sword or tell me you don’t have it so we can leave.”
Kyori is sure Ruari Erickson can be pleasant. He vaguely remembers the man being at the ball he’d gone to with Nat in Larket. He remembers because Ruari had been there with Penelope, who he also remembers being there. And he was Penelope’s apprentice, but based on that guy’s evaluation of Penelope, she had a bad taste in men. That’s the offense the blonde took from it either way. All the healers and barmaids in this town were going to boycott his treatment after tonight.
---
Ruari automatically shook his head. Penelope would have to understand eventually, for the woman always came around. She was stubborn, but not a bridge burner. Except when it came to men. He was a man, though. Did he technically count? When Kyori steps between him and Penelope, the man remains stoic. Truly Ruari was a man of peace and would take no action unless actually needing to. Nothing could scare him anymore. Not since Linken. The fist moves and Ruari closes his eyes, but he hears a thud that was not against himself, but only against the trunk. Piercing blue eyes open and they shift to the side where Kyori’s fist was.
The sword. What sword? Ruari narrows his brows at the comment Kyori makes. Eyes attempt to look at Penelope, but they automatically lock into Kyori’s gaze on command. A man of compliance. A man willing to do what he needed to repair the damage done. “I don’t have it.” Beat. Ruari raises his hand to speak carefully even if it was not wanted. “There were a few nurses on your case. Two sisters: Genevieve Limberton and Eliyen Limberton, and then a young man named Killian Graham. All healers from Enchantment. I couldn’t always check in with you. They must’ve taken it.” He then lowers his hand as he gives a hard stare to Kyori. “You know, she almost lost Lanara. I didn’t want her to lose you too.” It was clarified. Lanara was alive. With that, Ruari side-eyed Nel before he completely pivoted to walk back towards the hut.
Penelope stood there with one hand up at that moment. He lied. He admits it, and it makes her stomach twist. Roots from the tree that Kyori punches, lifted in the span that Kyori was lunging forward. The roots rise vertically behind Kyori and are frozen in place as Nel realizes the spellblade aims for the tree instead. Her heart thuds unevenly as the spellblade is up in Ruari’s face, and Ruari’s words throw the Ardelian for a little whirlwind. One, he did not have the sword which was bound to boil the temper in Kyori. Two, the actions that Ruari took, made complete sense in the ridiculous choice her friend made. “But she lived,” is all she can really say to make the apprentice rethink the choice he had made. When Ruari leaves, all she can do is watch him walk away in that frozen, dumbfounded stupor.
A moment passes, and the roots coil back into the solid soil. She sways a moment with the magic being sucked back in her which makes her feel like she might need to hurl, but really, she keeps it together because she is not that messy of a drinker. Penelope would slowly inch up to the man before slowly reaching a lazy hand out as if to calm him down. Afraid that he might be set off. “I’ll find it," she automatically says. "Let me find it. I can make it right,” she squints in her own hazy thought. “I’ll make it right. We’ll go back to the tavern, get you in for the evening, and I can set out tomorrow. It’ll be an easy journey if one of the nurses have it.” She was sure of it. Always an optimist.
---
What the hell was it about Penelope’s apprentice that riled Kyori up so much? The spellblade has a temper but something about the apprentice pushes buttons for him. Penelope and the cold winter air calmed him down on the walk here but the minute Ruari started in on her, Kyori realized he couldn’t keep his promise.
It was a last minute adjustment that technically kept it. And Penelope might argue he’d still betrayed her trust. Before he heard the roots creeping up from the hard earth. That guy didn’t even flinch. Kyori would have won a fight because the other guy wouldn’t fight back. Her apprentice was trying to save him for Penelope and save her from the spellblade. Penelope risked her life to save Lanara and Kyori had been nowhere in sight. At least she was alive. Everything about today made Kyori feel small and powerless. They both watch Ruari leave as if under a spell.
The spell breaks when the tree roots burrow back in the ground. Kyori’s tense shoulder muscles relax. His hand falls away from the tree trunk to hang at his side. He turns to face Penelope with a different energy. Was Ruari right? Was Kyori only a ‘situation’ that trapped her like quicksand and slowly drug her down?
Like the last time he woke up, he reaches up to fold his hand over Penelope’s and he can’t look at her. “None of this is your fault.” His voice is low and gentle for the first time today. “I pulled you away from a night you planned to enjoy. I wasn’t here to help with Lanara. I drug you into the freezing woods and almost punched your friend.” A better friend. Half lidded sapphire eyes stare at the ground but see nothing. “-I- am sorry. This is -my- fault and -I- will find a way to make it right.”
He lets her warm hand go and takes a step back like he’s afraid she’ll contact a deadly virus of rage by proximity. “Let me walk you home and try to make up for it. Maybe you can tell me about Lanara on the way.” A beat. “If you will.”
---
Penelope looked uncomfortable for a moment as Kyori holds his gaze low. “No,” she shakes her head. “Don’t you dare put the blame on yourself either. Kyori, you don’t even know what’s wrong. And you are losing all this time. One day I’m scared you are going to wake up one day and…” She does not know what to say in that moment. The what ifs. “You’ve been holding this all for a while.” She holds on tightly to the man’s chilled grasp. A faint glow appears to cast warmth over the freezing man. Her hold is strong. “I just want you to be okay. And… you have every right to be angry. You’re human, Kyori. It’s what we do.” A frown etches her face as he pulls away from her. “You know me, I could care less about the crowd and the night out. Besides, I already know how I’m going to feel tomorrow.” A million curses cross her mind. “I… I’m going to help you. And I’ll do it every time I can. If you sleep again, I’ll do everything I can to be there again. I’ll try to find you.” After all, he had somehow made himself an important person in her life. When times were hard, he was there when he could be, and that was enough. He always ended back in her life somehow. She trusted him. Coincidental or not, she was determined to hopefully get his life in order or… try. She squints at her own thoughts before shaking her head. “Let’s get out of here. -I’m- fine. You need the rest. I’m not letting you walk me home. I’m dropping you at the tavern and Celeste will take me home.” She has a plan. She is adamant about it.
She lets out a sigh, “Let’s go.”
Penelope turns and waits for the man to keep at her pace as they walk through the forest. She looks hesitant for a moment to speak of what happened to the Kelvarian. “I could only tell you so much. One thing, I didn’t help Lanara at all,” the guilt wrenches through her—the Ardelian quiet. “I tried finding any medicine to help her. I ventured far to get what I thought would help, but it didn’t. Death was knocking at her door anyway.” Nel shook her head. It was a hard subject to talk about even if Lanara was alive. “She was so sick. So afraid to tell anyone. She had such a heavy burden to carry, as you know because she confided in you. I was trying to find any possible way to carry it for her, so it wouldn't get worse.” The Ardelian pauses. “I failed. Before she was about to die, she said her goodbyes and after that, I couldn’t find her. I was so…” the woman shakes her head. Broken. “I felt like I lost the most important person of all. I couldn’t… breathe.” Eyes trail up to the night and she feels the cold encompass her lungs. Fresh. Clean. “But, fate was on her side, thankfully. I am so thankful. The Goddess. And Tiber. Tiber was the one that saved her, for a price. He… he had to. Lanara is the same, but not the same. Same in personality, but internally? I’d like to say more. She’s my best friend. I hold her to my heart. So you need to ask her yourself. It’s not a secret, but she needs to be the one to tell you what Tiber did to save her. After all, you two have your own relationship. She’ll be happy to see you again.” Moss eyes cast up at his direction with a small smile.
“She is still the same friend in every way, but it’s her story to tell. Not mine.” The two end up on the main road in Kelay. “So, here is my proposal… Lanara’s new home is south of Sage going towards Enchantment. You can kill two birds with one stone. You can go as I have the destination because she hosted a house warming party a couple months ago. I’ll give you the directions—your time with her. Will she be there? I’m not entirely sure. Because I don’t know if she is back from her vacation or not or if she even left yet. Either way, eventually, I can meet you in Enchantment later in the day? We can find your sword. If you want.” Penelope stops as the tavern is just up ahead.
Magic heats the spellblade’s hand. He’s glad he uses his nondominant hand to grab hers so the chill can preserve his bruising knuckles longer. She doesn’t look scared or mad at him for lying. She still looks sorry. Her sincere kindness is a blade buried in his chest that twists with the excuses she makes for him. He follows her, knowing better than to argue. He stuffs his hands in his pockets and thinks about buying cigarettes after she leaves him, he’d love one about now. It’s easy to keep pace with her. It’s hard to hear about Lanara. Kyori and the witch have a complicated but bright history. Their only argument came from a misunderstanding. Lanara, like Penelope, found infinite patience for his wanton behavior.
Kyori stays silent until they stop just outside of the tavern’s noise and light. Moonlight stains his blonde hair white when he looks down at her. He forgets until they are this close how much shorter she is. His sapphire eyes aim to find the juniper he’d come to know. “What about what you’ve been holding on to?” She said he’d been holding on to the consequence of his powers for a while but what about her? What Ruari said and what Kyori already knew was the healer had a bad habit of trying to carry the burdens of her friends to her own detriment. “While you’re taking care of everyone else, who is taking care of you?” Who is helping her carry her burdens? He lifts his good hand to brush a stray chestnut hair off her freckled cheek. “Whatever role you think you did or didn’t play in Lanara’s survival, I know you helped her. You’re her best friend so you being there made her want to stay as much as her boyfriend Tiger.” Better be husband by now. He would save the investigation for tomorrow by asking the witch herself. His gaze strays back to the tavern and the consequences that lurk within. Nancy is gonna to kill him.
“I’ll head to see Lanara later. If she’s there, we’ll both be waiting for you. If not, I’ll be here.” He waits a beat, chewing over something. “I’m happy to see you again.” He looks back at her. “You’ve become my favorite part of waking up.” His boyish grin moves to a tired sigh as he looks back at the loaming tavern. “Let’s get us both home.”
---
When they stand near the tavern, the moon creates a glow around the man before her. She stares low before catching his own sapphire stare. Bright. Too intense at times she would like, but as green meets blue they find familiarity. The familiarity makes Penelope uneasy. The way he stared at her that way... She was at a loss for words. Kyori was back. Like a time traveler, though more like a strange case of narcolepsy. His questions pin her just like they used to when they would talk in the past. Too heavy for her liking, and even heavier when she was full of alcohol and spins. Eyes watch his hand carefully fall and brush the hair from her face which causes crimson to creep up her neck. “Heh,” she breathes out. “Despite his crappy efforts, and your liking, I think you can at least fill in the blank who is -trying- to be that person. Guy has done it ever since we met. Crap decisions.” Ruari. She shakes her head.
Penelope nods at his words about Lanara, but she snorts due to the mispronunciation of Tiber’s name, which she does not correct. Purposefully. Kyori was just like Lana in that sense–forgetting names which amused the Ardelian.
The girl nods and holds up a thumb, for the tiredness is hitting her too, and really, she just wants to go home. “I’ll find you. I’m pretty good at it,” she smirked in her little haze. His next words and that boyish grin of his make her sheepish. She grins, lazily, in return. “I think it’s safe to say that most of us are glad and are gonna be glad you’re awake.” The next thing she does, is impulsive, and probably not the best decision, but the girl leans up anyway to press her lips to his cheek very light and briefly in her little stupor. What it meant? Well, mostly it was there for comfort--reassuring him that many would be glad he was awake and well. It was good to see his face. Penelope was a little touchy when she drank, sorry Kyori. “Home sounds good to me,” she then scoots past him through the tavern door before waving down Celeste. “Please for the love of Gods, take me home.” Dramatically spoken. But before Penelope exits the tavern, she holds up a finger in an ‘oh’ before she digs in her satchel that Celeste holds. A small piece of parchment is pulled out as she hands it to the spellblade. “Before I forget, directions to Lana’s place.” The girl would then wave at the spellblade with a crooked leaning body. Was she going to fall off balance...? The Ardelian then stumbles out the door and disappears leaving Nancy to deal with Kyori's antics.