RP:Opinion Alert, Duelists Are Idiots

Synopsis: The Blue Demon is referred to Penelope as his eye is completely massacred. Shishi is casual, Nel has her opinions, but the two jest, so Nel could get the man on his way. Is Nel a Blue Demon fan...? Eh, not her thing.

Part of the Time Heals All Wounds Arc

Kelay Healer

Shishi got the recommendation to visit the Kelay Healer location from Khitt after the latter’s failed attempt at first aid following the most recent Titan’s of Winter bout. Using The Black Tides; something The Blue Demon has a notoriously adversarial relationship with, was ill advised and has left the vampire in worse shape than he was before the healing was applied. So he arrives at this cozy hut on the outskirts of the restored Sage Forest this evening in his iconic white shirt, black tie, and black trousers with the addition of a white, temporary eyepatch covering his right eye covering the gruesome sight of the burnt flesh and organ beneath. For half a second he thinks about knocking on the door before entering, then shakes his head and pushes through the door, the bell heralding his arrival. As always, Blue assumes his celebrity precedes him, so he just flashes a fanged smirk/smile towards the first face he sees and asks, “Is the doctor in?”

Penelope :: One would think the small hut would be poppin’, but for once, the shaq was not at all. Rare, but appreciated at times to get caught up on paperwork, though that was caught up too. Penelope leans back in a chair with a bowl of popcorn–probably not the cleanest environment, but she was hungry nevertheless. The pieces are thrown as she idly tries to catch the puffs in her mouth. The Ardelian, however, was not skilled. Nope. There were pieces all over the ground, but like her attitude was with anything, she would -prove- that she can achieve this skill. When the door opens to the hut, a final piece of popcorn lands on top of Penelope’s head. The freckled, petite girl loses track of where the snack truly landed, so it just remains in her hair for now. As the Blue Demon enters, the girl is not sure where to place his face from–even if she did heal at those silly duel events. Automatically, mossy eyes glaze over the eyepatch he wears as Shi is staring at her with some fanged, charming smile. Chipper. She was positive there were no appointments right now. “You’re staring at her. Partially.” Was that supposed to be funny? She stands. “Can I help you?”

Shishi takes a few meandering steps inside the healer's hut, that one oceanic blue eye awkwardly fixed on the single white puff of corn in Penelope's hair. "Aye." He says, talking to the snack(popcorn, not Pene) while pointing one finger towards his eye, "Bird threw lava in my eye…" A basic, but mostly accurate retelling of his duel, "Do you do eye stuff? He said you could do eye stuff." If he can tell that she doesn't quite recognize him, he doesn't let that change his demeanor in the slightest.

Penelope is very observant, so when his single eye is lingering on her hair, she lifts a hand to stroke the frizz. The single pop falls to the floor. A bird threw lava in…? She does not need to think much of it as stories came and went throughout the hut. Strange ones. Overly, in the human’s opinion. “Lava? Uh,” She takes a beat to think of the thought of corneas. “Not the best, but not the worst? I might need some help…” The girl takes the initiative to brush past the… vampire. Odd, and kind of weird. It did not make her timid, though when she saw the fangs. An echo hollers to the outside, “Celeste!” Was all Penelope needed to shout before another blonde, pale blue-eyed woman appeared. A lycan. One that -was- anxious due to what she sensed. “What’s…. Up?” The blonde looks at the man with the eyepatch before slowly dodging the man. “I’ll explain in a bit,” Penelope says before looking towards the Blue Demon. Did no one know who he was in this place?! “Sit, we can do eye-stuff,” she gestures to one of the cots to sit on. “You can just sit. You don’t have to lay down, but, uh, take off your patch. I need to get a closer look,” Penelope advises. Celeste, the empath-lycan, however, looks twisted with emotion.

Shishi nods twice at the lava question. It was actually molten metal, but hopefully that’s close enough a description for the healers. When Celeste enters and moves around him the Titan gives the lycan a bit of side-eye based on the vibe she’s giving off, but loses sight of her in his periphery thanks to only being able to see out of one eye. Blue does as he’s told with a practiced smile on his lips, striding over to the indicated cot and seating himself upright while brushing the eyepatch up over and off his head, messing up his dark hair just a bit in the process. Upon examination, it can be seen that his eyelids have been burnt shut, fused together over what will eventually be found to be an injured eye. In addition to the burns, it looks like something small was biting at the burnt flesh, this part of the injury is thanks to Khitt’s malpractice, which the vampire has yet to mention during his visit here today. Shishi glances down at the white eye patch in his hand before sliding it to his side and dropping it onto the cot beside his thigh.

Penelope idly pulls up a stool, and Celeste stands in the background and just avoids that Shishi was in the room until she was really beckoned. The Ardelian reaches for a magnifying glass to stare at his eye which is clearly the elephant in the room. Anyone could see Shishi’s injury for what it was, but Nel loved humor at the worst times sometimes. “Just kidding,” she snorts. The magnifying glass is lowered. “Here, let me see,” she would lean in a little closer to observe the man’s face. “Yikes, my guy, you really took the blunt from the bird,” the man’s eye is sealed shut which makes her frown. “Celeste, I need a wet cloth, preferably cold since it’s a burn.” She frowns. “I know I shouldn’t put pressure, but really because your eye is so sealed, I need better access to it to get your eyelid open.” She notices some strangeness with… possible little bites at the eye? She was unsure. “I thought you just said it was just ‘lava’. Who is -he-? What did he do? Don’t tell me Ruari sent you here or Yerrel. I’d be a little miffed. I apologize as I’m not necessarily a restorative healer–my downfall, really. I’m your old fashioned gal.” Once the blonde gives the Ardelian the cloth, the woman would warn the man, “I’m going to have you hold this over your eye for a little. It will sting, but it’s not heated at all. Hopefully it’ll loosen the flesh since it seems like it’s still raw and not healed over yet.” If the man were to hold it, eventually the water would, hopefully, seep through so Nel could find a way in to pry. A minute or two would pass, if he does what she says, “Lemme see if I see anything loose to dig my way in.”

Shishi slouches just a little bit to level himself with Penelope while she’s doing her magnifying glass bit. Fangs flash in another smile as he nods, “Aye. I ate her afterwards though. So… ‘you should see the other guy.’ As they say.” He winks, but only because he is perpetually winking at the point. The name Ruari rings a bell as that might have been the other name Khitt gave when the redhead told Blue to come here, but the Titan shakes his head, “Nah. It was Khitti’s brother, er… Khitt. The guy that looks like Khitti. You know them?” He obviously hasn’t understood the explanation he was given as to what Khitti’s and Khitt’s relation was to each other. Shishi shrugs, accepting the cloth and pressing it to his injured eye, “It was just lava, but then after the fight, that guy tried to heal it with -Black Tides-.” He hisses those two words out. “Those things don’t like me. You know?” If he’s experiencing any pain from the compress, he doesn't show it. He’s clearly felt worse after all. When prompted he lowers the cloth from his eye, watching Penelope with the other, a bit anxious to see her reaction once she can get past the burnt eyelids.

Penelope frowns. “Crude, but I guess the bird deserved it, eh?” Penelope smiles with the wink as she thinks it’s funny. Goofy was her thing. It took most edges off. The mention of Khitti’s brother however makes the woman’s head tilt. “Lionel?” She finds herself questioning, but ‘Khitt’ echoes. She finds it hard to click. Khitti did mention a man may pop in at points of their tutelage. “I know Khitti. But it was fairly recent since I’ve taken her under my wing. Not much time to learn, so far, but hey, healers need to practice at some point. I have no idea what Black Tides are. That surely didn’t come from me–I have a green thumb, and a pyro’s touch.” Eventually, Penelope finds a way in to see the eye, that was for sure. “Celeste, roll the cart over. Tweezers please.” The blonde does as told. Nel reaches for the flesh. “I’m Penelope, by the way, in case you’re ever looking to… find me again. Who’re you?” She is making small talk, as the process would be not fun for the strange man before her. “I know I shouldn’t really touch the burn outside the eye, and it is going to hurt like a mother, but… we need to save that eye before we can fix the outside. Especially if you want to see.” Besides, that was the main focus, right? “Fair warning, this is going to suck.” On his go, the girl would reach out with the tweezers to start poking and prodding at the thin layer of damaged, fused skin. “Clippers,” The girl would clip to pry open the eyelid in order to see the burnt area. An ‘o’ shape strikes on Penelope’s face as… there is fascination, but also… ouch. “We need a thorough wash out. Celeste…? That’s you,” The Ardelian would look up towards her apprentice. “Celeste needs to wash out your eye–clearly. Bacteria. Burnt nasties. It won’t fully make you see, but I think I have the solution after we drown that eye out to get a better look? I’ve been saving what I have for a while now. I haven’t really needed to use it yet. Do you mind if she takes over--it's a simple cleansing. I'll do the rest?” Celeste would cautiously come closer to start the ‘wash out’ as water from the washtub flows out across the room to linger in front of Shi’s eye.

Shishi dips her head slightly in a nod, “Well, it was her or me. You know?” He raises a brow at the name of, “The Fire Sword Guy? No, not him. They’re related?” He wrinkles his nose, wordlessly saying ‘no shot.’ Penelope can’t possibly know how refreshing it is for him to hear that she doesn’t know anything about The Black Tides. It feels like everyone and their grandpa used the stuff lately and he just hates that. That fanged, practiced smile he uses for his fans softens into a warmer, gentler expression at this revelation while the healer does her work. He raises the brow over the good eye when she asks who he is. Maybe she’s just playing cool; plenty of waitresses over the past four plus years have tried this same tactic on the so-called Blue Demon to varying degrees of success. “The Titan of Winter, Shishi. Lovely to meet you, Pene. I think you might’ve done some work with my daughter at The Druid’s Tree somewhat recently…” He pauses, wondering what name his little girl is giving out these days and just tries, “Leralynn?” He participates in that small talk in this way as she digs through the fused eyelids to get a look at his injured eye. There come a few winces now as the pain grows a bit more intense. “Aye, sure.” He replies, giving Celeste permission to wash out his eye and that process begins…

Penelope raises her brows at his response. “Well, I love how selfless you are,” she teases, but it was an obvious joke to lighten the mood. As the stranger mentions the ‘Fire Sword Guy’, she squints. Clearly Lionel was a recognized name. “They -are- related–somehow,” and the ‘Fire Sword Guy’ was her ex, but she would keep that part for herself. When Shishi introduces himself, that smile fades. “Oh, you’re… he?” She knew the title, but duelers? “You are all idiots. Sorry, for the manner, since I know you’re like… famous or something.” Blunt, this one. Not angry. Straight forward, if anything. “My best friend is a huge fan–Lanara is her name.” Moss eyes search the impaired eye before her stool rolls backwards to the side where Celeste can take over. Leralynn? Leralynn… Who was that? There were only so many people there. Every face Penelope knew but… “The girl who likes pancakes? I remember.” An impression on Nel’s part. Celeste goes in for the dive as a small spiral of water begins to gently flow to touch the Shi’s cornea. Penelope would roll over to hold the eye open for Celeste to continue cleansing the eye. The water would circle around the eye as burnt minerals would fall and flush. It might burn as the water swirls around Shi’s eye and feel cool and numb. Although the process would be… terrible… Penelope keeps talking in her doctor-patient etiquette. “Talented little thing. Ambitious, seemingly. Or I may have it wrong. That day was fuzzy to me, as I feel like I was weaker on that end,” she smirks in her confident way. Celeste pulls back, the water falling back where it came from in the washtub. “Let me take another look,” Nel says slowly. She rolls back, fingers brush his chin as she stares closely at that eye of his. “Hm.” Beat. “I think I’m right.” She would stand before striding to a shelf with multiple vials until she comes across a simple one. That looked like more water. She pivots. “I snagged this from a healing spring. It’s just water. Blessed by nature. Nothing really… holy. Just by what we surround ourselves with. Divine, eh?” She grins. “A few drops, bada bing, bada boom.” Beat. “Actually, it won’t heal that fast. I also need to prescribe you eyedrops. And salve for that… skin around your eye… So you’re not really ugly for the ladies.” She is holding back a large smirk on that front.

Shishi would have liked to flinch when Penelope called him and the other Titan contestants idiots, but when people are working on your eyeball, you should probably hold still, so he only flinches on the inside. “Not a sports fan then… Guess you don’t want any tickets to the finals, eh?” Blue will just have to take her word on Khitti and Lionel’s familial relation, but he will probably never truly believe it in his heart. “Aye. I know Lana. I signed her… poster. Also she’s always with one of my super-fans. You know?” He does move involuntarily with a chuckle when his daughter is described so perfectly as ‘the girl who likes pancakes.’ “Aye. That’s definitely her.” He flushes slightly with pride when Orange is described as talented. Reflexively, to her touch to his chin, he tilts his head up slightly, this examination by nature all but necessitating eye contact, so he’s left staring straight back at the healer. He’s not put off by the prospect of the divine water being used to heal him. This brand of healing is what he is used to, having gone through it after several Titan fights and in the hangovers of shadier jobs during his muscle-for-hire days. “Aye. Sounds good.” He puts back on that fake fanged smile. “Mmm, have to look good for the title fight, of course.”

Penelope tilts her head. “That’s not sports. That’s possible death. I heard of that dragon dude through the grapevine. Sports are… basketball? Kickball? Really, for the finals, you’ll find me in the crowd, but I get tickets for free since I’m a part of that healing crew–for people like you–not in a bad way–kinda. I can’t tell you to not be stupid, right?” There is a smile, but really, she is snarky. He was talking to the girl on the famous Healer’s Council, but she does not boast easily when it comes to that front. When he talks of Lana, she grins. Like no one would ever know. The girl was like a sister to the healer. “Hey, she’s your superfan too. Just not as ridiculous. I know her husband is sort of… head over heels. Hey, can I swipe an autograph? Consider it a ‘payment’. I wouldn’t -actually- charge the Titan of Winter. Kelay’d have my head for sure. I already ticked them off by like.. Trying to save a tree. Not the Divine one,” she makes short note of that. Penelope is used to eye contact, so it is easy to finally uncork the vial to dribble the magical water into the man’s eyes. The water would soak thoroughly through the burnt eyeball. A small glimmer would glaze over his eyeball. “Perfect.” Easy as that. “Let that do it’s thing. And then…” The girl also frowns and empties some driblets of water for the burnt tissue of skin. A thumb slides on the flesh. “That should help with the flesh around your eyelid too.” The Ardelian pops up again to retrieve another vial and a jar of some yellow salve. “And this. The vial three times a day, the salve twice, and keep it protected from sun before the big tourney. I’ll be cheering for–” she pauses. Kanna was there too. At the healing tree. She would slide the salve over his burnt tissue as well. “Hm, it’ll be an interesting battle. You can put your patch back on.”

Shishi isn’t nearly culturally adept enough to make note that the Frostmawians, at the very least, consider their gladiatorial fights sporting events, so he lets the discrepancy in opinion slide by, instead addressing her requests. “You can tell me whatever you like. Whether I can follow through on it is another thing entirely. Besides, if I do anything too stupid, I can just show up here again.” Orange always makes sure that her father has something on him to write with in anticipation for the very common autograph requests so he answers, “Aye. Of course,” to Penelope’s and will sign whatever she’d like him to before he leaves the hut today. He raises a brow at the bit about saving another tree that brought about some kind of animosity, but he won’t go digging any farther there. He’s tilting his head even further back now so that the magical water isn’t immediately lost to gravity when it reaches his eye. He blinks a few times as it soaks in and then unleashes a real wink this time when she’s done applying the liquid. She stops short of saying she’ll be rooting for him so he does that thing where he puffs out his cheeks in a slight pout, an expression Pene might have seen Leralynn mimicking that evening at the Druid’s Tree. He puts the patch back on and accepts the two prescribed ointments. “Great. Thanks. Things might have been difficult fighting that weird girl with just one eye. If I win, it’ll be all thanks to you.” He says this in a kind of taunting manner through another more genuine grin…

Penelope is judgemental on the healing front. The girl did not even like cigarettes–they made her queasy–true story. A nod comes along with his little response of following through. She holds her tongue on that one. That was up to him, but she cannot help but giving him a dopey grin at the thought of him showing up for a healing. An addiction, on her front. “I wish I’d say I would always be here, but… you might get a variety of people. Hopefully not Black Tides. Not everyone here is as old fashioned as me. You’ll have to make an appointment,” banter, really. Then again, Ruari was forcing Penelope to take time off. What even was that? She watches him carefully–always watching–observing. Penelope was a true person when it came to the side of medicine. Most stares from her were observant ones. The wink he gives makes her shoulders slack. Her job was done. The pout makes her grin from ear to ear because she enjoyed a good pout. A stubborn one. An adamant one. A truthful one. “Eh, I won’t take all credit. I’ll take ten percent. Honestly, Cenril could’ve done better since they’re a little more advanced. I get the whole fighty side. It’s not easy,” Penelope just learned to punch, really. But she was not too shabby with a bow and arrow. “But, just don’t let her throw lava in your eye, yeah?” She teases. Before he leaves, Penelope searches for something… anything for Lanara and Lanara’s husband. “Uh…” she grabs a random scalpel–perfect, obliviously, for Lanara and Tiber. “Here, this, I guess, will do.” After that, she waves to the Champion before she moves off to her popcorn catching contest again. With herself. And Celeste.