deernet | video; un: dabi

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video; un: dabi

[it's a video, but it's dark. either someone on the other end still hasn't gotten the complete grasp of how a magical chunk of crystal is supposed to work compared to a smartphone (the unlikely cause) or they're simply not wanting to be seen right now (the likely cause). not that he cares which of the two people want to assume.

there's a faint "fwooph" and a blue glow momentarily illuminates the surrounding area. dusty wall, dark-colored cushions, an old curtain drifting lazily against the side of a dark boot, and the reflection of that blinding blue flared up in the glass of a three-sided bay window. gone, and it plunges back into the shadows. takes a few more moments for the image to adjust, ultimately revealing the hovering orange end of a cigarette caught in the glass's image.

he'll be keeping the rest of himself in the shadows for the time being.]

I'm lookin for some things.

[this place is a dichotomy, looks old but somehow isn't? since plenty of people here apparently come from different places and worlds, best take a quick shot in the dark for familiarity sake. an exhale sends a jet of smoke into the glass, wisps curling in licks over the surface.]

What do ya know about the Lumenarium? I need some medical shit, but ain't interested in havin some random doctor pokin around.

[he'll get into the details if needed.]

This place got cigarettes? Gonna run out of mine soon enough.

[cause obviously this is an important request and "fuck you" to anyone who tells him to light up an incense stick in lieu. another drag on the cigarette and the rest comes out with the smoke.]

Since money's not a thing here, we can trade.

[leave that vague offer for reasons. seems he's taking pains to not give away features or location on purpose. deal with it.]

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They pursue dark arts, and make use of blood in most unwholesome ways.

[Solemnly intoned, her disapproval obvious.]

And there is their so-called sanitarium, which many enter, and few return from.

[Or so Junia has heard. A little embellishment to protect the innocent from corruption is surely no sin.]

Sounds like this whole place does that.

[blood spilled corrupts the land, creates monsters, corrodes... kind of a shit place to live in.]

And ya better than that, huh?

[not trusting her any more than he trusts the doctors.]

It does.

[Her hands start to rise as if she intends to throw them up in exasperation, but she catches herself, turning them into balled fists she holds awkwardly at chest level before dropping them out of view once more.]

And of course. My healing is a bloodless blessing of the Light.

[and suspicions once again confirmed. great. the raised hands in view makes him think he's dealing with some kind of cultist from the looks of it... not like he hasn't dealt with weirdos and the insane before.]

That sounds just as sketchy.

[Junia huffs through her nose, folding her arms and restraining herself from a scowl. She reminds herself to be polite. The people of this place know nothing of vestals, in her experience.]

If I am 'sketchy', I am certainly no more so than yourself, skulking-

[Polite.]

...I seek only to offer my succor, if you wish it. No 'catch'.

[hey, she's got a spine. that's at least somewhat admirable.]

Ain't pretendin to be otherwise.

[there's always a 'catch' and if she believes otherwise, she's naive.]

I'm lookin for pain killers.

[a flare of blue fire springs up, blinding the stone momentarily before it focuses. illuminating dabi's face. burn scars covering it, crude surgical staples holding his scorched flesh onto the remaining healthy skin.

one of them's come loose under his eye, leaving the skin visibly free of the raw meat beneath.]

And staples. Whatcha got?

[The flare of fire would hold Junia's attention, if not for what it reveals. She leans forward, sour look giving way to mildly furrowed brow and thoughtful examination. She knows burns best of all injuries, but these are peculiar even to her.]

I have a numbing preparation, to apply to skin, or imbibe...

[She frowns, biting at the inside of one cheek as she does.]

Why do you not stitch such a wound?

[glad to be a fucking marvel of weirdness for you. not. he isn't going to let her gawk at him for too long, merely giving her a minute or so to look at what he's dealing with.]

A numbing preparation? My nerves are already scorched.

[it's not the exterior, minus the places the staples pierce through his healthy skin. the burn perimeters are the worst.]

String burns.

[She raises her eyebrows, a retort on the tip of her tongue - but Junia is not entirely without sympathy. The showing of wounds is a vulnerability she understands, at least.]

So you should imb- you should drink it. It is a nerve tonic through that method as well, though it tastes foul.

And I suppose string does, at that. I could see to fashioning such things.

[Junia pauses for a moment, hesitation plain.]

Do you tend these burns yourself?

[not really a vulnerability for him since he fucking wears them all day. not exactly going to wrap himself like a damn mummy just to walk around. let the world see what happened to him.]

I've drank worse.

[he notes the offer to "fashion" such things, but seems less inclined towards that option than chucking back some 'nerve tonic' crap.]

Uh-huh.

[To having drank worse, Junia only nods her understanding. So has she, and it's something of a relief to not have to cajole or wheedle over it, for once.]

Would you accept an offer to see if I might treat them, if I made such? And - [she flushes faintly, in preemptive agitation as opposed to shyness] - if the answer is no, there is no need to - be horrid, nor to take affront at it, nor to say that I do not know what I am doing, because I do. I am a sister of the Flame, and I know well its scourge.

So.

[She twists her hands unseen in her lap, but maintains an expression (she hopes) of dignity.]

Would you?

[if she needs to cajole someone into drinking her concoction, that kind of says something. might want to risk the blood magic if it's gonna make him vomit from scent alone...

but one person's easier to deal with than a host of them, and it's no issue to give this one a test run. could be useful. he likes to keep his options open.

completely ignores her preemptive attempts to waive off insults. must've had some experience with rude brush offs. dabi doesn't care.]

Ya got an open place to meet? I ain't gonna walk into anyone's lair.

[he's mostly curious about her solution to the staples.]

[She wasn't expecting agreement, if her wide eyed blinking is anything to go by. Junia bobs her head in a nod, too flustered to even manage offense at the idea she has a lair.]

There is a clearing near my church, if that would suit you? One moment -

[She picks up her Omen and fumbles with it, eventually managing to send a roughly sketched map to her conversational partner.]

[never said when he was agreeing. going to be doing some more research and asking around first. get some comparable solutions and see what seems best.

wearing that kinda getup with those shadowed eyes is very much a "lair" presence. candles don't help either.]

I'll think about it. Don't like meetin people on their home turf immediately. [but clarifies with an addition.] Won't drag ya too far away though.

[Junia fights very hard to suppress the twitch of a self-satisfied little smile, and mostly succeeds. Think about is still not a no.]

Your caution is not unreasonable, although you have naught to fear from I, unless you be a servant of darkness.

[the corner of his mouth twitches upward at her speech. wow, she reminds him of one of those deluded villains who predicted the end and preached salvation for followers. sicced one of those very same people on his father at one point...]

What's a 'servant of darkness' to ya?

Those who practice profane arts. Those who seek to corrupt, or commit wicked acts, or lead others into such. Blasphemers against the body and soul, traitors to their fellow man -

[Junia shrugs, spreading her hand and gesturing with it open palmed as if to say and so on.]

[can he laugh at her? he doesn't, merely regards her with the same impassive, sharp eyes and that laid-back attitude of his. he's met plenty of weird people. this is amusing, but could work to his advantage.]

Think I fall into the "neutral" category. I got my own goals; that's good enough for me.

[Junia thinks that over, her lips pursed once more. It's clear that she spends a lot of time looking like this, with furrowed brow and a glint of suspicion that she is going to be laughed at.

But he hasn't laughed at her, and he wasn't rude. (Or at least ruder than she can tolerate.)]

That is...sufficient.

[She chews her lip a little, debating, but - conversations rarely go so well for her.]

What ought I to call you?

[he pays attention to her through the stone, noting the way she looks as well as anything around her that might be of interest. looking for tells, though the shadows covering her eyes and the focus of her face makes that difficult. someone's not trusting and that's actually a plus in his book. two cautious people mean there will be less openings and intents to double cross.]

Dabi.

[now for the next part.]

Whatcha gonna want for this in return?

[Junia picks at one of her nails just out of sight, but the nervous energy of her twisting hands shows in the subtle movements of her arms that are visible. She's not as good at concealing her feelings as she thinks she is. She radiates the anxiety of someone who expects that she is going to ruin this somehow, her earnest effort to be helpful misunderstood due to her own clumsiness.]

Well-met, then, Dabi.

If you insist on a tithe, then - perhaps...pretty colored stones? The people of this place trade in such trinkets.

[it's that nervousness that has dabi wary about her. someone who's offering to be a healer and so viciously shuns the "official" place of healing, yet fails to hide those hints of doubt and unsureness showing through in small ways, is pretty suspect. not for being a danger, but for being someone who'd fuck this up royally.

still, he likes to keep his options open and if she's so against the normal lumenarium, dabi can at least ask her why while seeing what she offers.]

I ain't insistin on shit. Ya wanna do it for free, I'm not complainin.

[he's simply not used to people offering stuff like this without wanting something in return. the trade earns a quirked brow.]

Can't say I got much to trade with; I'm new here.

[If it came down to her skill alone Junia would be able to muster confidence. It's the rest of her that exists as more a collection of awkwardnesses than a human soul, or so she thinks in her more bitter moments.

This isn't one of them. She smiles, very slightly, making an effort to make it welcoming for all that it's not an expression she usually wears.]

Then I ask you do consider it a boon. One stranger to another in a strange place?

[some people wouldn't be one to turn down a free gift, but he's been in far too many instances where blindly trusting someone would get him killed or worse. while he's willing to at least go check this offer out, that's all he's agreed to at the moment.

that said, having multiple options is always a good thing.]

Deal. I'll contact ya when I'm settled.

Very well. A deal.

[Junia nods, firmly, and imagines she hides the sparks of happiness in her eyes well. (She does not).]

Farewell 'til then. May you go veiled in holy Light, warded against all harms.

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