OOCSorry for the big wait! RL got way busier than I was expecting these last couple weeks.
Wanda frowned inwardly as her fingers finally found a good rhythm about their work. The rosy color returning to the flesh let her know that she was succeeding in returning blood flow to the area, but what about the internal bleeding. It was practically a given that, with such an ugly blow, at least some of the veins had been damaged somehow. Unfortunately, it was a too difficult for her to tell much more than that. The muscle was relaxing, but the surrounding flesh was still too callous for her to feel through.
The frown only deepened at the man's nonresponse, though she couldn't blame him for shrugging it off. No matter how much Wanda said she liked change and variety and new experiences, she sure stubbornly clung to her opinions. It was odd, though, for her to become so argumentative. Hadn't she always been a happy-go-lucky kind of girl? She'd been having trouble just going with the flow, and it'd taken a toll on her relationships. Normally, she'd never had any problems becoming fast friends with strangers. Now she realized it was almost as if she was pushing everyone away one way or another.
Gods, Wanda, she cursed herself, lifting a hand from the man's skin momentarily to brush the hair out of her face. Get yourself together, girl. Go with the flow.
There was a bit of a pause as the conversation fell dead between the two and Wanda wracked her brain, floundering for another, safer, topic to salvage the conversation. Luckily, he jumped in with an introduction before she could come up with any awful ideas.
With that, her face immediately brightened. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Mr. Ironhorse! You can call me Wanda. And don't worry about it much -- I didn't mean to spew words at you just then. Figure I've had those thoughts bouncing around inside my head for a while now, and I'm just now letting them out."
She glanced up at his face, offering a lopsided grin. And, really, it was nice to just vent a little bit and get her thoughts off her chest, no matter how jumbled they had sounded. Now that she'd already worn herself out talking so much about one thing, it was easier for her to focus on the topic of magic -- which usually got her a bit wound up too.
But a simple conversation was preferable right now, compared to the one they'd just had. "Magic, hm?" Wanda cast her eyes about the room and returning after catching sight of a nearby healer. "I don't really know much about those gnosis mark things, to be honest. I mean, that healing stuff isn't any kind of dangerous as far as I know, but it never quite sat well with me, how they can just touch a person and bam! they're cured." She shrugged.
"I'm perfectly fine with the whole magical bit." Of course she was -- she wasn't that big of a hypocrite. "But that's an awful lot of power to just have. Sure, they gained a god's favor and all that. But I don't think I really respect them as much as I do someone who actually spent years of their life working and studying and actually improving themselves."
She increased the pressure on his arm gently, switching from the pads of her fingers to the heel of her palm. "Personally, I'd prefer to use my own talents and my own two hands!" she chuckled. "'Course, gnosi aren't the only kinds of magic, right?" At this she leaned forward and mockingly lowered her voice to a conspiratorial tone. "Between you and me, I find the other magics -- the ones you actually have to work at -- more fascinating."
With that, she leaned back and waved an attendant over to where Ethan's armor laid. "Besides that, I haven't heard of anything our laundry workers can't clean!"
Wanda frowned inwardly as her fingers finally found a good rhythm about their work. The rosy color returning to the flesh let her know that she was succeeding in returning blood flow to the area, but what about the internal bleeding. It was practically a given that, with such an ugly blow, at least some of the veins had been damaged somehow. Unfortunately, it was a too difficult for her to tell much more than that. The muscle was relaxing, but the surrounding flesh was still too callous for her to feel through.
The frown only deepened at the man's nonresponse, though she couldn't blame him for shrugging it off. No matter how much Wanda said she liked change and variety and new experiences, she sure stubbornly clung to her opinions. It was odd, though, for her to become so argumentative. Hadn't she always been a happy-go-lucky kind of girl? She'd been having trouble just going with the flow, and it'd taken a toll on her relationships. Normally, she'd never had any problems becoming fast friends with strangers. Now she realized it was almost as if she was pushing everyone away one way or another.
Gods, Wanda, she cursed herself, lifting a hand from the man's skin momentarily to brush the hair out of her face. Get yourself together, girl. Go with the flow.
There was a bit of a pause as the conversation fell dead between the two and Wanda wracked her brain, floundering for another, safer, topic to salvage the conversation. Luckily, he jumped in with an introduction before she could come up with any awful ideas.
With that, her face immediately brightened. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Mr. Ironhorse! You can call me Wanda. And don't worry about it much -- I didn't mean to spew words at you just then. Figure I've had those thoughts bouncing around inside my head for a while now, and I'm just now letting them out."
She glanced up at his face, offering a lopsided grin. And, really, it was nice to just vent a little bit and get her thoughts off her chest, no matter how jumbled they had sounded. Now that she'd already worn herself out talking so much about one thing, it was easier for her to focus on the topic of magic -- which usually got her a bit wound up too.
But a simple conversation was preferable right now, compared to the one they'd just had. "Magic, hm?" Wanda cast her eyes about the room and returning after catching sight of a nearby healer. "I don't really know much about those gnosis mark things, to be honest. I mean, that healing stuff isn't any kind of dangerous as far as I know, but it never quite sat well with me, how they can just touch a person and bam! they're cured." She shrugged.
"I'm perfectly fine with the whole magical bit." Of course she was -- she wasn't that big of a hypocrite. "But that's an awful lot of power to just have. Sure, they gained a god's favor and all that. But I don't think I really respect them as much as I do someone who actually spent years of their life working and studying and actually improving themselves."
She increased the pressure on his arm gently, switching from the pads of her fingers to the heel of her palm. "Personally, I'd prefer to use my own talents and my own two hands!" she chuckled. "'Course, gnosi aren't the only kinds of magic, right?" At this she leaned forward and mockingly lowered her voice to a conspiratorial tone. "Between you and me, I find the other magics -- the ones you actually have to work at -- more fascinating."
With that, she leaned back and waved an attendant over to where Ethan's armor laid. "Besides that, I haven't heard of anything our laundry workers can't clean!"