RP:The Art of the Stitch

This is a Healer's Guild RP.

Synopsis: Emilia addresses Penelope through letter that they need to have a meeting in Frostmaw. Penelope and her tutor Mr. Finn Fennigan make their way to the snowy city and greet Emilia in the local tavern. Little does Penelope know is that she is getting her first practice stitching session and is thrown off guard by Emilia's impulsive behavior. The Genasi slices her arm and Penelope is determined to stitch her back up, at least after screaming in pure panic.

Emilia sat alone at a table in the back of the tavern with a series of four large books stacked beneath her rear allowing the ever tiny woman to be able to reach the table. Laying across the tabletop before the snow maiden was a series of scrolls. Unlike those that visited the winter land of Frostmaw this one did not adorn herself in furs or anything providing warmth for that matter. Barefooted and in a white flowing spring gown. The cold just didn’t bother the woman made of ice and snow herself. In another life time that was another story entirely. Penelope may recognize the silver freckled face and wild mess of tangled curls if only painted with sun tanned flesh, blonde curls, and natural freckles. A human once trapped with the other in the darkness. Em let out a sigh as she reached for another scroll on the other side of the table. It was with a bit of effort that the short arm of the Genasi was able to grasp the parchment with a hand glossy black in color and pull it to herself.

Penelope walks in wobbly stiff steps while entering the tavern with a half elf behind her. As a human, she was not keen to cold weather. Her cheeks and freckle-dusted nose was flushed a bright pink. A black scarf was wrapped tightly around her neck, the girl wearing a thick coat with several layers underneath, gloves, black pants and winter mountain boots. The bottom did not look flattering to her neatly placed winter outfit (she tried, Sabrina). Either way, she had sent word of her arrival to Emilia, and she was sure the genasi was expecting her. The girl wore black spectacles to search over the people through the room until eyes landed on the familiar girl in the… dress? What? Soon enough, she would wander over and come into view with a small awkward wave. “Hello, Emilia,” she would smile warmly towards the woman, trying to get a clear view if it was really her or not. This was time for her proper tone to come out of her mouth. No time for games today, Penelope. Finn stays behind her and nods to the tiny woman at the table.

Maledict trudges into the tavern with a large three headed snake coiled around his neck sleeping. The annoyed black dragon is rather small with a visible magical aura, betraying some kind of size augmentation. With many dimly glowing red runes carved all over his scales he finds it hard not to stand out, among a crowd. Then noticing a race of creature he had not seen he infers what he can of her appearance, and sighs he tries to ignore it but he's had enough of the cold and sits down close to the fire."

Emilia lifted her gaze up from the most recent scroll before her at the mention of her name. Those bright blue eyes landing on the pink faced human and then shifting back to Finn standing behind her. Both were given a smile and a wave of that black-ice hand before the Genasi waved to the open seats at her table, “Please, have a seat Miss Penelope and Mr. Finn. I am glad that the two of you could make it up here. I know it can be terribly cold for the warm blooded folk. I remember it being terrible trip before when I was human too.” That face, even coated in the pink of the winter seemed familiar from somewhere. Bare feet swung below the chair as she leaned forward with elbows on the table. Her dress was mostly clean, splotched with red stains of blood and spots of smeared ink. The healer was not well kept like Penelope tried to be. Something about the way those curls were in needing of a brushing and her dress in need of a replacement Em just didn’t care to correct them. Glancing as the door opened with a stranger the Genasi ran fingers through tangled curls then waved over to the server, “Order what you want. My treat.,” she smiled with offer to Penelope and Finn.

Penelope eases as Emilia offers the two seats. The human moves to remove her jacket and scarf, placing the two behind the chair. She then settles down and Finn helps her scoot in close to the table, Finn settling himself down as well. The human then catches a glimpse of the aura around the black dragon. Here comes the distractions. Penelope then finds her gaze back to Emilia. “Pfft, no kidding,” and Finn elbows the girl. “Etiquette, Miss Halifax,” he murmurs. Penelope then nods and laces her fingers. “Very thoughtful, Miss Emilia,” Penelope resumes politely. The server comes into view. “Apple cider, please, I hear you make a good spiced one,” she grins. Finn then orders some sort of coffee drink. Penelope then focuses back into business. “Now, I’m enthused I finally get to meet and talk to you. What brings the letter of attention?” She smiles very sweetly. She was good at practicing manners. Of course she would rather be in Emilia’s position, where she was not under watch, but since she was new, she had to go through the whole practicum with the half elf and Sabrina until she was off on her own as a healer.

Emilia turned her gaze over at Finn and gave the man a rather disapproving look as he nudged the other woman, even as gentle as it was meant to be. “Mister Finn, I know that Sabrina requests manners and proper-ness, but I am not Sabrina and I cannot stomach to be around little puppets of perfection. Let her relax a little be human. You know far too well that there is times when one has to preform in life with no time to mind their manners and be proper or life would be lost..” the words are soft and gentle, but held with a bit of an order to them. The little frozen one was after all not a lower ranked healer and happened to be one of Sabrina’s closest and dearest friends. Odd how different the two women were, yet they were family. Then her attention was at the server as she replied, “Ice water, please and thank you.” All politeness toward the sever. After the other woman had left the frozen one turned her attention back to Penelope, “Well, my job as your teacher is to interact with you. I cannot allow that to go ignored. It would be only a matter of time before we met anyways, yet I would love to see just how well you can work. A small test to see where to start you in training. Can you stitch wounds?”

Maledict turned his eyes toward the bar, the dragon had one crippling weakness, booze. He loves it, now that he thinks about it he must have six different kinds on him right now, but no apple. Without hesitation he calls across the room to Drargon in a voice much to deep for a dragon as of now standing at near 4 feet tall "Bring me one too" moving to the counter blatantly avoiding the elemental esque woman. He's never really been fond of elementals or near elementals and he hates being cold so this to him is madness. When he reaches the bar his Python finally wakes up and starts inspecting the patrons at the tavern from the safety of his owners neck.

Penelope is tucking back her smirk as Finn is being scolded gently. Penelope is pleased with Emilia’s lack of etiquette and automatically Penelope lets the distractions come forth. Her eyes dart to the dragon again, he was so small, she almost wanted to laugh with delight – like a child. Finn then holds up his hands. “I’m sorry, Emilia, but Sabrina told me to. You know how she can be, it’s not like I want to be a stick in the mud, but not everyone is like you unfortunately,” he says, he had a point. Penelope would not always be so lucky. Penelope flicks her gaze back on the woman. “Right,” she nods. As Emilia asks her the simple question, she turns to Finn for an answer, almost like a lost child, however she shakes her head. She had become too dependent on him, and she was realizing this. “Not professionally. I’ve done it in the past. I’ve watched in some clinics and took notes. I haven’t actually had an actual lesson, though,” she admits. “To do basic patching, I need some work. I just need to perfect my technique, y’know?” She shrugs.

Emilia turned to look at Finn with a bright smile on those frosted blue lips, “Quite right, Mister Finn. One whom is the leader of the Adventuers’ Guild is not well kept at all. The two jobs do not go hand in hand.” It was partly an excuse, but it was something about how she was that kept her slightly less polite. As her gaze turned away from Finn there was a stern look given to the man. The silent look was more than enough to tell him to keep his seat and to not jump into whatever it was that Emilia was about to do. “Perfect!” Em almost squealed with delight before grabbing one of the knives off the table from beneath her scrolls and in the seconds that followed the Genasi had sliced her other arm open from wrist up roughly six inches. The wound was deep enough that it would require stitching, but not serious enough that she would suffer from it. The blood that oozed free from the wound didn’t move like normal blood. Slowly it would turn red at being exposed to the air, but it didn’t flow freely here in the cold. Instead it moved like slush almost. Something was very different about Emilia. “Stitch me up. I don’t care if it scars, but one doesn’t need a perfect stitch when it comes to saving a life. Don’t worry, I won’t bleed out on you,” Em would instruct Pene and turn to Finn, “No advice from you, Mister Finn. Let her do it herself for now. Please and thank you,” she added to be polite.

Maledict moves slightly away from the elemental after she had cut her elf. That's why he doesn't like them because their more chaotic and spontaneous than he is also his snake is kind of ferocious, and he likes his snake in one piece.

Penelope blinked once or twice. “Adventures Guild?” She lets the question hang in the air. The freckled one was curious, but they had other matters to focus on. As Emilia squealed with delight, Penelope almost bounced in her seat. The girl had a thing with enthusiasm, the light in the human’s eyes said it all – she was a happy girl. That was until Emilia had sliced her arm. “Ahh!” She yells at Emilia in shock as the genasi slices her own arm. “What are you doing? Why did you do that?” The Cenrilian is wide eyed as she looks at the blood from the pale girl’s arm. Penelope looks to Finn and she looks panicked. The only thing that the half elf does is pat Penelope’s shoulder. “You’re okay, you’re ready,” he nods. The frail girl looks shaken before she coughs to clear her throat. “Right,” she then blinks. “Finn, the least you can do is dig in the satchel. Grasp the kit for me please,” she demands. Her tone grows serious and Finn does as ordered. Soon enough, the baker is opening the kit pulling out a needle and thread. “I need clean water,” she is muttering before reaching out for Emilia’s iced water without asking – there was no other supplies around for a clean wound. First thing was first she needed to clean the wound. “Cleaning the wound so it won’t get infected, right?” There is no response from Finn, he is just smiling like the nerd that he was. Carefully, she grasps something to wipe the blood and clean the slash. She takes the suture and observes the wound. With a firm nod and a ‘mhmm’, she starts at the middle of the wound, poking the woman’s skin gently. “Sorry,” she says hesitantly. The baker then begins to work outwards, a little shakily due to nerves, but she was not doing bad.

Emilia could be called slightly crazy or spontaneous depending on who was making the opinion of the woman. The woman never flinched before or after cutting her own arm. In fact, Emi sat perfectly still in the most proper of ways as she watched her own arm bleed. This would most likely be one of the few times Penelope or Finn got to see the Genasi being perfectly proper. There was a flicker of amusement as the woman watched the other woman panic. While the snow maiden watched the actions of the human she only smiled. There was a nod, “Yes, clean the wound when you can. Not always can you get a chance to clean the wound. A bit of vodka can be used in a pinch to help with keeping the infection down. Sometimes, pending what you have you might have to catorize the wound first then stitch it up. My goal isn’t to teach you perfect and proper technique. It is to teach you how to fix wounds while thinking on your feet when you don’t expect to have to be a healer. It is learning in the moment that will perfect your skills when time allows you to work at your own pace.” Then she was silent again, letting the other work. The needle pierced the flesh, yet Em didn’t flinch or even seem to notice it as she worked. However, for test at one shaky stitch the Genasi would let out a well faked cry of pain, even jerking her arm back away from the other healer.

Penelope was listening carefully. The more Emilia talked, the more Penelope eased. The girl was smart, she knew she was. She had been into too many wounded situations for her own good. “To catorize? What does that mean?” She asks questions before Emilia winces in fake pain and Penelope sucks in a sharp breath. “Stop, don’t move!” She shouts in panic. Calm, Penny. She would have to work on her outbursts. She had to learn to be calm while healing. Penelope grasps the girl’s wrist. The baker has a twisted expression of apology, confusion, worry – all of the above. “I’m so so sorry,” she blurts. The flustered girl was funny. This was funny. However, the thread was in, and there was no going back right now. “You have to stay still,” she commands in a now softer demeanor. She then moves the needle through her skin and pulls the thread up until the skin encloses, not fully, but enough to let the blood stop, but she leaves enough room for the wound to breathe beneath the stitches. She was almost done.

Emilia only smiled more so with each stitch the other placed into her frozen flesh. She would wait until she was nearly done before she added, “A tight stick, please. I do so prefer my arm to be in one piece. If you leave the skin apart it will not heal properly because it cannot attach itself back to the other side. Make sure to give it a good yank and pull it securely together when you are done.” It was a bit of advice on the finishing touches to her work. There would be a mild scar where Penelope had preformed her first series of stitches, but the Genasi would only cherish the wound. Only after she was done fully would Em clap her hands cheerfully, “Good job.” Then she would take her water, or what was left of it and down it. Shortly after finishing the glass she spoke once more, “I am very proud of you Penelope. That was a very good job for your first time fixing me up. Plenty more practice sessions for you in the incoming future. I will also be kind and let you know that I make a perfect practice dummy for you. You will get to practice on real flesh which is good, and I happen to be immune to feeling pain since I turned to ice. However, if you need to cauterize, or burn my flesh to keep it from bleeding, that might hurt a little, but I’ll live. How does it feel to have stitches your first set of stitches? Exhilarating, isn’t it?”

Penelope twitched in intimidation at Emilia’s words. “Tight, right,” at the last threading, the girl would pull up with more force than the last one. A tiny yank or two to have the skin completely enclosed before knotting the suture and cutting the thread. As the frosted woman would clap her hands, Penelope breathes for the first time in she did not know how long. Mr. Fennigan is praising her too, grasping her shoulder and shoving on the woman playfully. “You did it, Pen!” By this point, the human is sheepish. “Thanks,” she looks towards the both of them in an awkward smirk. She felt… good. Complete. The stitch was rough, but not bad for a first timer. “I’m excited,” she nods. “It’s definitely something else,” she lets out a small laugh. “But, I feel… really content about the outcome. I think I did pretty okay.” She then pauses. “You think next time we can work on burns?” She grins like a goofy child. She was eager, this was not a surprise. She was thrilled, yet she had a lot to learn. Mr. Fennigan then chuckles softly. “I think you ought to let Emilia take things step by step with you. You almost had a heart attack, Pen,” his eyes were teasing with delight and then Penelope slaps his arm pretending to be all pouty. They were both children when no one was around. However, since Emilia let down the proper walls, the two would not hide their childish bond.

Emilia could not help but give a light giggle watching the two of them let down their walls and be normal for a moment. It was good to see. Running black fingers through her hair the Genasi gave a warm smile, “Penelope you did very well for your first time. I am proud of you and glad to see just how excited you are to learn. As long as your bring Mister Finn with you for our next meeting I will have something much more exciting for you to work on over some basic stitching. I only suggest bringing him along just in case you cannot handle it and need a bit of help along the way. All I can say is be prepaid for something that could give you a heart attack.” A smile as the Genasi started to pack up her scrolls. “Order yourself anything that you like, but I must be going now. I look forward to our next meeting. I will send in a report to Sabrina on your progress.”

Penelope would cant her head to the side at the woman before nodding. “Thank you, Emilia for the opportunity and taking time to assist me and help me learn,” she responds in a cool and calm manner. All the adrenaline was gone, the human was relax now. Finn would nod towards the woman. “Of course, I’m always with her, she’s mostly sick of me by now,” he grins a toothy grin. Penelope snickered and nodded, she would not deny that one. Her breath faltered a little as the genasi talked about harder situations, but knowing what Penelope had gone through, there was no doubt she was ready for whatever Emilia was going to bring to the table. “Thank you, Emilia, again.” She smiles before looking towards Finn. “We should probably eat something before we hit the hay, right?” He nods in agreement. The two would linger back for the meantime. “Safe travels, Miss Emilia,” the half elf says in a chipper tone. The two were going to celebrate the small accomplishment.