RP:Smile Like Society Taught You To

From HollowWiki

Part of the Time Heals All Wounds Arc


This is a Healer's Guild RP.


Synopsis: Penelope checks on Kyori after finding him in Kelay Tavern. The two strangers tease with ease, but there is something threatening at their door. Truth. Kyori is nosy and keeps asking Penelope questions about her brother due to the curse Leon Lovik is under. Kyori senses something off, and he discovers that Penelope's brother is dead. The one person she needs to break Leon's curse.

Kelay Healer

Dawn was always quiet except for the sounds of early chirping through Sage. The woman was one who had a lack of rest lately, but she still trekked on with each duty she beheld. The hut appears through the thickets and the stove wafts smoke through the outside air. Ruari Erickson is outside axing wood for the fire that rests inside. Inside, there are several cots, but the hut is tiny, so the maximum is four cots that rest inside. There is trays of supplies variously placed about the hut, a stove, and plants. The healer slips in, the hut is quiet for the most part except for the coughing boy that is behind the curtain. The boy from Ardelia. The boy that had the magical curse Penelope had to fix. The girl is dressed in a long, silken, deep green button up that was not tucked in and black, faded, skinny pants with black, chunky boots. Her hair was left unkempt as most days. Eyes of green search for the man who needs to be looked after. There were only two bedridden. Leon Lovik from Ardelia and Kyori. Another woman rests within the cot in a rocking chair—Sofia Ulberg who is another Ardelian. “Rise and shine,” the freckled healer would chime before opening curtains to let in fresh light. The girl would then sit on a stool near the blonde man’s cot and place hands on her legs. “Time to check that wound, eh?”


Kyori knew next to nothing about his surroundings. All he knew was everything smelled earthy and Penelope was nearby. The boy, close to him but separated by a curtain, had coughed longer than the warrior thought a child could cough without losing a lung. Kyori’s blonde hair looked darker matted with sweat. A fever broke overnight. On instinct, he flinched away from the sunlight and groaned. His eyes were squeezed tight. He tries rolling on his side before the refreshed pain knocks him flat on his back, taking the wind out of him. “You look chipper.” His voice is gruff from lack of use. “If I’m good, do I get my sword back?” The man was single minded, needing his weapon by his side. The gauze or stitching on his shoulder was swollen and bruised. Rancid pus ceased it’s oozing the day before but the skin was tender. He turns his face to the right, letting the herbalist get a better view of the damage to determine her next steps. “When I check out, who do I see about a bill?” His joke, comparing the clinic to a hotel, did not go over well with this crowd. The sick kid sucked humor out of the room. Not that a clinic is the most light hearted destination. “What’s with the kid?” He asks, without lowering his voice. Kyori was not known for his subtlety. Was that kid the reason Penelope needed the flowers?


Penelope leaned in to observe his damp hair. He was feverish. His body still trying to mend and heal. Her smile sort of fades at the observation, but returns all-the-same when he notices her brightness. “I think it’s just a patient common courtesy to be the brighter one.” At least she was honest with him. She then shifts in her stool as she wheels a nearby cart next to her with medical supplies. She rummages through with her eyes in search; pulling certain supplies to the side. “What is with you and your sword? It’s safe and not going anywhere. Now, I need to check that wound,” she would warn before she would reach to cautiously lift his clean shirt up. Yerrel and Ruari must have gave him a fresh one. The coughing from the boy is tremendous and at that moment, Sofia Ulberg is rising to go behind the curtain to sit with the boy. The boy truly did take the humor out of Kyori’s joke, and the healer could pay no mind to the comedic moment. The copper haired woman whispers behind the curtain in foreign tongue. Penelope, on the other hand, tries to brush the boy’s coughing aside for now, for there was nothing she could really do. Hands move pull Kyori’s gauze off of his surgical wound. The woman then reaches for a cleansing solution in order to sterilize the wound again. As Kyori loudly mentions the kid, the dark, chestnut haired woman narrows her gaze. “And he’s nosy too.” She, however, was hypocritical, for she was nosier than he would ever be. Her voice is lowered, so the child could not hear her. “That is a child who does not deserve death knocking at his door… It’s complicated…” Her silken, accented Ardelian voice trails. Kyori may notice Penelope’s accent is a similar accent to the foreign tone Leon carries with Sofia.


Kyori barks a laugh. “It’s the love of my life,” he leaned into a hiss when his new shirt was lifted. The boy coughs and the spell blade is acutely aware of it. He looks over at the curtain while Penelope works. He stares while the strange woman whispers gibberish out of view. The herbalist speaks afterwards, the gold sparkle of her accent comparable to Sofia’s. “Oh.” He answers, fixated on the glow behind the curtain. Close to death indeed. It was serious. That’s why he wanted to joke around. He didn’t do well with ‘serious’. That wasn’t him anymore. Kyori sighs (seriously) and closes his eyes. Lids between the boy and darkness, he could still see the light. There was magic or worse. She peels the oozing gauze away. The needle prick of air makes him hiss again. The pain was draining his humor reserves. “You’re complicated.” He says back, mockingly. Like siblings do, who repeat a simple phrase back as an insult. Especially hilarious when the insult is not applicable. Could be the wrong thing to say to a woman but he is grasping at straws here. Kyori, you know, being quiet can be beneficial for everyone! The pale blue of the stranger shirt called out his eyes. It made his skin look paler. His hair looked more blonde than orange. He was zapped of high contrast. “What’s wrong with being nosy? It’s good to ask questions.” She knew how he loved asking questions and playing games, as she so called it. “How long am I stuck here?” He’s grinning down his nose at her, grateful through his teasing. "Is that boy...a relative?"


Penelope nods her head slightly. “Glad to know someone loves you, but really, you’ll just grow more passion over this long distant love,” the girl stares at him with the dry humorous joke. Gentle fingers would dip into a thick, yellow salve before brushing the concoction over the stitches with careful strokes. “Sorry,” she would mutter in response to his painful hissing. As he mocks her, she pauses and gives him a glare, yet she remains playful all the same. The woman holds her tongue, for although he mocks her, most people knew it true. She, however, would rather remain a mystery to the man instead of letting him dig deeper. The healer would then place gauze over the wound and let the man’s shirt fall back down. “I suppose your right. Knowledge is knowledge. You’re good to go. Mr. Erickson should be in shortly to give you your medication.” The woman would stand and wander to a nearby bucket to rinse her hands off. “Wow, you act like this is the worst place possible. Free food, people taking care of you—how horrible,” she teasingly rolls her eyes. “You should be moving within a week or maybe even less. We can up some pain medication to get you moving sooner. Stitches will need to come out in about two to three weeks.” The woman then nears the prying warrior. The question is ignored. Penelope, instead, moves to the curtain and opens it to reveal the boy with the engraved runes within his body. The boy appears to be around eight years old. The boy reflects the pale, olive skin Penelope betrays and dark brown hair. Within his palm is a blood spurt handkerchief. The runes look burned into his skin and they represent a foreign tongue. Penelope slowly begins to translate in Ardelian a phrase. She looks at Sofia lost for a moment. “Err… How about you two take a walk? Get some fresh air?” The healer suggests. Sofia would turn to Leon and translate. The boy gives a weakened grin, but there is still light in his eyes. He nods and the two foreigners are up and out of the hut. The coughing is now distant. They are gone. Penelope would then turn to Kyori. “Not a relative. He’s from Ardelia. A druidic village. Where I’m from. He’s the chief’s son. Someone put this curse on him, left certain ingredients and a capsule that I’ve been trying to figure out how to open. It’s really a long story. Really, I’ve got it handled.” Her tone seems distant, and it is mostly for the warrior’s sake. No need to get wrapped up in her business. She did not have it handled, for the boy was most likely doomed.


Now this is where Kyori’s nosy ways get out of hand. All of Penelope’s quick wit and sass is absorbed. It’s second nature. But the boy is another thing entirely. The runes burned into his olive skin glow was obvious ill-intent. A chief’s son, cursed by druids. So she’s a druid? Druid, witch, actual plant woman. The warrior didn’t care. He struggles to sit up, the skin of his shoulder stretches around the sticking and he huffs a labored groan until he’s upright on the cot. “Couldn’t have come at a better time.” He isn’t going to stumble to his feet and declare that he, a suave and injured man, will save her from certain disaster! He wanted to, obviously, but the stitches hurt man. “I’m an expert herb gatherer and also have a knack for…..” Curses? Death? Ghosts? Chaos? “...helping people that don’t want my help.” He sounds like he’s joking but his eyes are dead set and serious. “But since you’ve got it all figured out.” He shrugs, accidentally tugging at the stitches again and cursing at the floor. The spell blade breaks into a sweat and laughs. Strong reaction for minimal exertion, buddy. Kyori takes a second to search the room for the aforementioned ‘love of his life’ and finds it almost hidden in the snug space of a supply area. Before the Ardelian’s get back and before Erikmcmanson Woodchopper extraordinaire comes back. He could snap and run. But why did he want to run? Penelope was nice, easy going, yelled at him. They had a good acquaintanceship that threatened to be actual friendship if he wasn’t careful. She even offered to be his ‘wing woman’. While in the clinic, he’d thought of the perfect come back. Telling her she wasn’t an avian. It was too late now. “I don’t mind being here,” but he hated the thought of being a burden to her. This near perfect stranger had introduced him back to reality with bad news and all he could think about was how good it was to see a familiar face. Classic Kyori. Can’t see the forest for the herbalist. “Just to satisfy my curiosity,” He starts up again. He’d been in his own head for far too long. “How does one open the capsule? Just, for the purpose of knowledge.”


The physician watches him at a distance as he sits up. All she could really think was him not being careful enough with the stitches. Her face is twisted as she holds her breath. “Excellent herb gatherer? Really? Your position proves otherwise.” Penelope had a point. He was injured from the last expedition, and well, he was bedridden. His pain is reflected in her face. “Literally watch where you are moving. Please,” is said in a stern voice. The girl then moves to a nearby window to fiddle with the leaves of a plant. “I’m glad you don’t mind because this is where you are going to be.” An order, really. “I -am- your doctor, and doctor’s orders,” she gives him a snarky little smile as she crinkles her nose. The leaves of the plant are released as the warrior digs a little deeper. Penelope knew that many who helped her would need to know some detail, so she is processing to be cautious of her wording. Moss eyes stare at his sapphire ones. Her expression appears stoic as she searches his face. “Druidic magic from the Ardelian twin line. It’s a reoccurring line. Druidic magic I struggle to grasp onto, and my brother is absent, as of late.” A spin off of the truth, but Kyori did not need to know the whole truth. This was good enough information. So, she was one of the twins. The weaker of the two. Also, not to mention it took siblings—plural, and well, her brother was a different story. One that she would hold tightly to. There were only two people who knew of Pakellin Halifax and his whereabouts, but only one knew how he got there. Either way, this would be enough for Kyori to grasp. A capsule. Magic. The whole cliche shebang.


“We got them, didn't we?” He gives her a pained smile. “I literally can't, all my eyes are up here, being polite in conversation.” Kyori lifts both brows like the answer should be obvious. “Are you my doctor or prison, I can't tell.” Her unbroken eye contact zapped what remained of his humor. His gaze breaks only once, looking at her lips when she explained her brother was absent. A puff of smoke, like warm breath in winter chill, drifted past her teeth. He wasn't absent, the warrior saw. Was her twin too far to reach? Mortally wounded? Or even... dead? Now you're just being crazy Kyori, why would she lie? Oh, how about the fact she doesn't know you. Sound familiar? Questions beat on the back of his eyes while Kyori nods respectfully. “Sounds easy enough. I'm sure you've got it handled.” The spell blade was not sure. It could be that the herbalist needed to believe this though. “I owe you a favor though. Be it this magically twin adventure or the next cursed boy gig.”


Penelope places hands on her hips. “Pfft, you’re so dramatic. You’re probably the most dramatic guy I’ve ever met.” Really, no. Linken was the most dramatic dude she had ever met, and he still haunts her until this very day. Him and the entity that rested inside of him. She was waiting for the day the elf would end up at her door again. The girl then breaks her gaze away from Kyori. “You don’t owe me any favors, trust me. What’s done is done, but if you feel like you need to help, you can research a plant for me while you are stuck in bed there. Nigella sativa. A plant that grows in season once a year. Rare. Very rare.”


Kyori lifts one eyebrow in disbelief. Most dramatic? Hardly. He’d have to play his cards right when asking about her brother later. Now, he plays at aloof but can’t disguise the concern in his voice. My Lord, you are doing it again. Shoving your nose where it does not belong for the sake of light. The warrior doesn’t give in to her foreboding tone. “Might as well. Not like you’ll let me up to fight any time soon.” He has questions but can’t bring himself to ask. Penelope didn’t strike him as a girl in need of saving. She was a woman trapped under responsibility that no one could steal away. Best he can offer is help along the way. “You know I love readin’ and doin’ near nothing.” Lie. But believably a joke. The spellblade wants to tell her it will be fine, even if she gives him a polite lie of a smile in return. The hope and ease of being since their trip had been replaced with this withdrawn sense of duty. He saw, clear as he could smell the herbs on her. “Gimme.” He gestures wide with his good arm. “Woman, don’t look at me like that, I haven’t got all day.” Except you do Kyori. You’re trapped in this bed until your sentence is served.


“You’re right, I won’t.” Not until doctor’s orders said so with a small smile on her face. Her arms are now crossed as she gazes over him again. Kyori was certainly a new light. Perhaps friendship was near and trying to knock on both of their doors. Strange. Everyone else was always a distance away. On the outside of Penelope’s life. Just faces in her world and her own in theirs. The only one who could truly make her laugh was Lanara, and the witch was absent. Her best friend gone. Now, the only challenge was whether or not the two would let each other in, for the two appeared as stubborn as they come. “You think reading is doing -nothing-?” She emphasizes. “I’m appalled. Knowledge is something. Besides, you’re helping –me- by saving a life. A hero in bed.” She gives him enthusiastically dramatic high praise. Truly, the commentary was a half-hearted joke, but there was some honesty behind her words. The woman then wipes the grin off her face before she narrows her eyes in bantered irritation. “You’re so annoying. I should transfer you to Cenril, honestly.” The woman turns to a nearby shelf before plucking a few textbooks off the shelf. Her mood returns to grace as she places the books in his lap instead of his hand. “I have more at home, but this will do. Should have some information in some of these at least. I’ll check in with you soon. Ruari is my apprentice, he should be checking in on you later. Giving you medication, and probably changing out your bandages. He will probably tend to you most of the time.” Beat. A small hand reaches for a clipboard with a few pieces of parchment on it. Kyori’s documentation. “You’ll most likely see me pop around for Leon. If you have any news, let me know. You should be out of here in a few more days—sutures will still have to be placed, however. It’s just a matter of me trusting you to take care of yourself once you are out of here.” She sort of flips through his sheets. “If you have any troubles breathing, let Ruari know. Be careful with your stitching. You’ll probably have to see me for physical therapy after we get your stitches out, but that won’t be for a couple weeks—if you take care of yourself.” The workaholic lets the papers settle on the clipboard before placing it on a nearby cart. “For now, I have plenty of things listed on my plate. Don’t get too excited with research. I know how wrapped up you can get,” she gives him a snarky little wink. She, honestly, would not know.


Kyori’s immaturity wins out when she calls him ‘a hero in bed’. “Haven't heard that one before.” He snickers like a school boy, hint of a dimple lingering when she grabs the books. “I do love praise and saving lives, it's kind of my thing.” Right up there with being a liar and using jokes to keep people at a safe distance but otherwise yeah, right on. “Cenril doesn't deserve me.” The banter breaks with medical updates and he'd like to listen but he's still thinking about the puff of smoke that passed her lips. She was lying about her brother. It wasn't his business. His eyes grow distant and his face tightens too seriously. She's making an exit, busy with a million things, kindly warning him to take it easy. She knew how wrapped up he could get? This herbalist didn't know the half of it. Even now, he's too impatient to wait days for an answer. “Pen.” Sapphire eyes stare at the cot between them. His voice was gravel in his throat. “Just how absent is this brother of yours?” The spell blade searches for her gaze, trying to catch her in case she tries to lie again. He'd watch for the puff of smoke. He wasn't a man known to pull punches so why didn't he just bluntly ask if this twin of hers was dead? She didn't say before. Stubborn and scared. Sound familiar idiot warrior? He decided it was better not to push her too hard. Penelope had a pride about her that he didn't aim to break. Tactfully, he adds, “I could get you two in touch?”. Then he coughs. The posture is irritating his chest. “Hey, look, I'm no stranger to secrets. You don't have to tell me a damn thing. Tell me to mind my gods be damned business and I'll mind it.” Lie. He never minded it. That's how he got here.


Penelope crinkles her nose. “Your mind is disgusting,” she says blatantly with childish disbelief. Either way, she continues on. “I’ll see you soon,” she turns to go, but then he calls out an alias… ‘Pen’. A child nickname. The woman halts before she twists the knob into the breeze outside. Her head shifts to the side as if to listen to his call. The twin gives him a side eyed gaze before looking down at her hand that still lingers on the door. A wave of emptiness washes over her back at the thought, but she keeps her lips a still line. Stone. As if the conversation did not matter. “Far. He left a long time ago,” she chooses her words carefully. Again, not a lie, but not the truth either. ‘I could get you two in touch’. “That won’t be necessary,” she then turns her head fully to look at him. “For, I know where to find him.” She would still visit the grave. Still talk to him. Again, she cautiously chooses those words. “So, I wouldn’t worry about it, Sir Kyori.” She uses his name formally to keep the distance. “I’ll see you soon.” And with that, she does not wait a beat. She twists the handle and moves outside—avoiding any more empty conversation.


Kyori saw the nerve he pressed when the herbalist grew stiff. Again, when she speaks of her brother, a puff of smoke leaves her lips. It’s unseen by the rest of the world but Kyori sees it. He knows for sure now. Penelope’s twin is dead. He wants to say more but she tacts on a title to distance them. A hard stop, as she told him they were not friends. They were aware of each other but that didn’t give him the right to ask her personal things. The warrior wants to call after her but she’s gone before he finds clarity enough to speak. “But does he talk to you?” He asks the room before turning to the pile of books she’d left for him. Idiot. Liar. Failure. You should have just kept smiling.