thenearshore | 1st Bead

Entry tags:

1st Bead

Who: Yuuki Konno and Bo Dennis (

faetedneutrality)
What: Time to answer some prayers!
When: February 16, 2016
Where: A local hospital.
Warnings: None in particular.

For normally being such a chipper girl, Yuuki is decidedly subdued once they enter the warmth of the hospital, temperature carefully regulated against the cold of the outdoors.

There's something about this prayer in particular that has her... unsettled. It isn't that she doesn't want to do it, doesn't want to help - far from it. Someone who was suffering so much deserved aid, for those who watched their loved ones as they suffered needed support, too. But in her heart, she feels like it's striking a little too close to home, whatever that 'home' was.

There's no need to go to any desks, at least. Really, with all of the signs available, Yuuki finds it easy enough to navigate the hospital, occasionally giving a quiet word of guidance as she points at the door for the ward they need to visit. However, the deeper inside they go, the more her shoulders seem to tighten, hunched.

Eventually, they're in front of the room. This man's mother was in the orthopedic ward due to severe injuries sustained in a strange accident. A full recovery was almost guaranteed, but the injuries themselves were going to keep her out of commission for quite some time while the doctors kept an eye on her progress.

It's here that Yuuki finally comes to a stop, staring warily at the door. Somehow, it's only too easy to imagine what the scene inside may look like, even though she's never seen the requester herself. And something about it...

It gives her a bad feeling. And while she won't voice as much to her god, it's only too easy for Bo to feel in turn.

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This entire scenario was something that was very strange to Bo. Hearing prayers was certainly something strange that she didn't quite know how to react to. It was one thing when people physically came to her asking for help. It was quite another when it was a prayer that she heard. And something about it pulled her to it. Perhaps it was just the simple fact the man's mother was having problems that she wanted to help with, to ease, to give him the strength he needed to carry on. Perhaps it was because Bo's biological mother was dead, and her adoptive mother had dementia, and she well understood the pain of losing a parent.

So she would do her best to do what she could here. This man deserved the strength needed to get through the ordeal, as well as to make it through the hospital bills. Walking through the hospital was certainly a little difficult. Bo didn't like them, and was glad that she had an innate healing power for herself that kept her form having to go to hospitals or have Lauren continually patch her up.

But then Bo realized she was feeling Yuuki's uneasiness. And she knew the reason for that. She'd seen the death Yuuki had suffered, and it left her feeling really sad for how Yuuki had suffered in her life. Though she at least was able to die while doing something she loved. She shook her head slightly, trying to keep herself focused. Her emotions could get the best of her when she let them, and she needed to remain focused on their goal here. Not to mention, she didn't need Yuuki to ask if she was alright and having to come up with some lie to respond with.

Pausing outside the room, she saw the way Yuuki stared at the door. She looked at her with a gentle smile. "If you don't want to go inside, you don't have to," she said gently. Not that Bo really understood how this was supposed to work, but she was Freyja and this was her duty to accomplish as a god.

She doesn't answer right away, which would say multitudes about her feelings even if Bo weren't already privy to them. She really doesn't want to see the scene inside, the injured mother and the son sitting nearby to provide company even while he worries sick about her health and the looming expenses. It's just too easy for her to imagine.

But eventually, she gives a slight shake of her head. "...I'll go inside." That's her duty, isn't it? As a shinki. She's supposed to guide her god and assist her in answering prayers.

It still doesn't do anything for her hunched shoulders, however. As a matter of fact, she takes a step closer to Bo - huddling, really.

If they go inside at the same time, it'll be easier... Maybe. That's what she wants to tell herself, at least. Because in truth, she knows that she's just being a coward, too scared to step inside a perfectly harmless room alone.

Bo can sympathize with not wanting to go into the room, she's not fully certain if she wants to go inside either. She felt a bit uneasy about this, but most of it could've been contributed to her feeling Yuuki's feelings on the matter, and the rest being her discomfort in being a goddess and answering prayers.

Really, this would be so much easier if she could just punch someone and have that qualify as answering the prayer. Bo did better with violence and sex than she did with giving strength to someone.

When Yuuki said she'd go in, Bo had to admire her. It wasn't easy, and Bo knew what it was like to do something one didn't want to do. When she huddled to her, Bo did reach out and set a hand on her shoulder. She had half a mind to use her calming ability on Yuuki, but she would wait and see how things went once inside the room.

"I'll be right here with you, and if it becomes too much, you can leave, okay?" She assured her. Bo would never hold it against her if Yuuki had to run out of the room. So after taking another moment or so to brace herself and try to keep some sort of plan in mind for how this was going to go, she opened the door and moved to step into the room with Yuuki.

She nods silently at Bo's words, steeling herself for what's to come. She can do this. This man needs help, she just has to walk in there and give it to him...

But then she sees the scene inside and it's almost exactly as she had imagined, the son seated with his head in his hands while his mother sleeps, wrapped up in so, so many bandages, a leg in the air to facilitate healing. She falters just then, her steps coming to an abrupt stop.

Everyone in this room is hurting, all in different ways. She can't do this. What help could she even be? She can be cheerful and chipper, yes, but what is that, truly, in the face of so much pain?

The spike of panic and anxiety should be easy enough to feel, though Bo may also note the way those feelings are quickly grappled with, wrestled into submission. Her heart hurts, and she wants to run away, but she can't, not when they've just got here.

Not when there are people hurting far more than a dead girl who has no memories to hurt over.

In the end, she takes a deep breath, forcing on a grin that feels horrifically fake, even if it comes more naturally to her face than it ought to. Acting as though she has all the confidence in the world, she marches straight up to the young man, leaning over to catch his attention.

"Hey! I heard you made a prayer recently?"

Somehow, she keeps her voice from wavering, keeps her expression from falling even as the young man looks up to her, clearly startled by her "sudden" appearance. He mumbles a quiet yes, looking between her and Bo with an intensely confused expression, clearly wondering who they are and what they're doing here.

Bo felt the panic and anxiety, and it wasn't something she liked the feel of. But soon enough she'd be able to quickly file it away. Perhaps it would've been to her benefit if she'd been an empath before now, then she'd already know how to innately keep herself from wanting to respond to Yuuki's emotions.

But when she managed to draw them in and wrestle them into submission, Bo thought that was very brave of her. She'd try to make certain she didn't internalize the feelings too much, Bo well knew how that never led anywhere good. So instead, once she was ready, Bo headed into the hospital room with Yuuki. As the man gave them a confused expression, Bo gave him a gentle smile.

"Life is hard, and I know what it feels like when it keeps kicking you when you're down. It's okay to ask for help. It's okay to tell people you aren't okay. Lean on your friends, they will be more than happy to help you." She took a step closer to him, glancing over to the woman in the bed. It was a painful sight to see, someone hurting so much, and Bo just wanted to take it all away and let them be happier. "Things are made easier when you have help to carry your burdens. No matter how lost and alone you may feel, you aren't alone."

Bo moved a little closer, within touching distance, once it was clear the guy wasn't going to call security. She reached out and gently set her hand against his cheek. Her hand began to glow a slight reddish color, and her thumb stroked his cheek. His cheek began to glow the same color, the color pulsing a bit as it seemed she was transferring energy from herself into him. And she was, in a way, she was giving him a sense of calm. "You have asked for help, and I am here to help, and also to remind you that you are strong enough to get through this."

The man continues to look at them like a deer caught in the headlights, too startled to make a move. But then Bo is instilling him with a sense of calm, and you can practically see the anxiety melt from his body, his shoulders relaxing and his body growing less tense.

"I can't just keep asking my friends for help." The words are a shameful mumble as his eyes look away. "This is my family. I can't ask them to get involved..."

"Hey, you can't think like that!" Yuuki's hands are on her hips now as she pouts. "There's nothing like being able to talk to people freely. And that includes family trouble, too! If you keep it all to yourself, you're just going to go crazy!"

Ironic, considering the way her own feelings are still boiling underneath her skin, but this isn't about her right now. This is about helping him.

Bo glanced at Yuuki, still feeling those feelings boiling under the surface. She wasn't liking that, but for the moment Yuuki was able to focus more on the mission at hand. If the emotions began to spill over, or if Bo reacted quickly enough they wouldn't, then Yuuki would be getting a dose of the calming treatment herself. Directing her attention back to the man, she smiled at him.

"She's right. Friends are there to help you when you need them. It's okay to lean on them, to let them help. You would help them if they were in a similar situation, right?" Bo asked, still maintaining that skin-to-skin contact and giving him that calming effect. She was careful to not give him too much that he fell asleep before they were done talking to him.

He nodded in response to her question.

"Then you will have a chance to repay them later, if that is what you're worried about. Believe me, pride can get in the way, but it is never a weakness to ask your friends for help. That's what friends are for, to help you when times get tough." Bo well knew she wouldn't be alive right now if it wasn't for her friends. Well, she'd either be dead or under Hades' eternal control, but that was just as bad.

Yuuki's smile softens as the man listens to Bo's advice.

"'Sides, I'm sure your mom is worried about you, too." Even her voice becomes less exuberant. Calmer. "I'm sure she doesn't want you to spend all your time freaking out over all of these bills. If you're happier, she'll be happier, too." She won't be left feeling like a burden...

"Plus, the less she worries about you, the more she can focus on getting better!" Ah, there's her grin back again, bright and cheery as ever. "It might be tough for a bit, but you still have each other. She'll make a full recovery, and then you guys can get through it together!"

The feelings behind her words are completely sincere, even if she spins it as positively as possible. Somehow, she just knows how hard it must be on the mother to keep troubling her son like this.

No. The sooner he could cheer up a little, the easier time they'd both have.

Bo heard the dip in the exuberance of Yuuki's voice. It wasn't unexpected, considering the feelings Yuuki had upon arriving at the hospital. But once the grin and cheeriness returned, Bo was relieved internally. Yuuki was obviously focusing more on the task at hand than she was her own emotions. Bo was still going to keep tabs on that, however.

"Yes, exactly, you need to remember to take care of yourself as well during all of this. If you're worried all the time, you'll make yourself sick, and that won't be good for you or your mother." Bo smiled gently.

Finally, she pulled her hand away from him, and it stopped glowing, and his skin where she'd been touching him also stopped glowing. He was definitely relaxed now, less rigid than he'd been when they'd first come into the room.

Bo looked over at the mother in her hospital bed. She felt an intense sense empathy for her. She wanted to help the mother, too. She walked over to the side of the bed, looking down at her. She wasn't conscious currently. All she could think about was wanting to take some of her pain away. She gently set her hand on the woman's shoulder, incidentally just over one of her injuries.

"I promise you, everything will be okay. For both you and your son." She just wished she could do more for this woman, more than simply calm her son and give him advice. Advice that was sometimes harder to put into practice than it was to think about it. And yet as she thought that, Bo's hand on the woman's shoulder started to glow. This time the light was gold.

"What the fae?" Bo muttered as the golden light passed into the woman's shoulder. Bo could feel an energy transfer from herself to this woman. It felt similar to how she felt when her wounds were healing when she was sucking chi from someone. She blinked and pulled her hand away, looking at it in shock. "Okay, that's new..."

Clearly being a god came with more perks than she'd initially thought.

She nods and smiles along with Bo's words, playing the part of the chipper little helper to perfection. It's what both the man and his mother need right now, and she plans to give him exactly that.

But then Bo goes and does her thing, and she turns to look at her, her expression confused. With all of the wrappings to avoid infection, it's not surprising that she wouldn't notice just what Bo had done right away.

"B-- I mean, Freya-sama?" She probably ought to use the proper name at least, especially around a... does it count as 'customer' if they're answering his prayer?

This situation was completely new. She'd healed the woman's shoulder. But she'd never healed someone before. Brought them back to life, yes, but that required chi that she passed into them. But this? This was so completely new to her.

Looking over at Yuuki, then to the man and his mother, she smiled a bit awkwardly. "Anyway, I think we've overstayed our welcome. Things will get better for both of you, though." It was her way of trying to get out of the room so she could talk about that little healing thing that just happened.

She gave a nod of her head towards the door to Yuuki, indicating she'd tell her once they were outside. And she moved towards the door, trying to not seem as surprised as she actually was.

She catches the look, still quite confused, although she at least has the sense to hide it once she turns back to the young man.

"Chin up, okay? You'll make it through!"

A quick spin on her heel and she's bouncing her way out the door, footsteps light and cheery - up until they're outside at least. Once the door is securely shut, she drops the facade, looking up at Bo expectantly.

"What happened back there?"

This situation was new to her, and she didn't know what all she could do. This being a god thing was definitely something that took some getting used to. And apparently a learning curve for her new powers. So long as none of these powers were as deadly as her chi-sucking ability was, she could deal with the learning curve.

Once in the hall, Bo glanced around briefly, then looked at Yuuki. "I healed that man's mother. Well, one of her injuries, to be precise. I've...never had the ability to heal others before." Clearly that was one of her new god powers. It was one that she liked because it was helpful. She'd been able to bring people back to life, but never heal their wounds. She could only heal her own wounds, and even that required her to take someone's chi, mostly through sex, though a kiss could sometimes be enough to trigger it as well.

But this, this was something else, and Bo had to marvel at it. Something helpful came from these powers, who knew?

Her eyes go wide.

"You healed her?"

Although she keeps her voice hushed, it's obviously awed. Perhaps she should have expected such things, given Bo is indeed a goddess, but she's still learning her way around these things. "How did you do it? And-- does that mean you could just heal her all the way, too?"

This is, naturally, the first thing to come to mind.

"I don't know. I just set my hand on her shoulder and wanted to help and then it just...happened." Bo stared at her hand for some moments. Clearly this being a god thing had come with some new nifty powers. She felt she could actually grow to like this faster than she'd grown to like being a succubus.

"Maybe? I have absolutely no idea. I've never healed anyone before. Brought them back to life, yes, but heal wounds? No." She blinked a few times in confusion. This was just getting weirder. Far weirder than she'd anticipated.

The surprises are never ending.

"You can-?!"

Oops, she claps a hand over her mouth when she realizes how loud that came out. This time, she gets her volume back down to a whisper.

"You can bring people back to life, too?"

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1st Bead

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