Aye, the world's a mean place, lass. And who knows? Maybe she wasn't abandoned. Maybe something happened to her parents. [He shrugged. In the end, the whys and hows of it didn't matter. In the end, he and Midadol had found each other, and he wouldn't change it for the world.]
So am I. I don't think I'd be half the man I am if it weren't for her, you know?
[And he meant that. When he'd left home, it had been to find his own fortune, not a family or a concern for the world at large. Now look at him, a rebel with a cause.]
All the rest? I'm afraid I don't have much storage pace, love.
[He nodded, though, and once he's finished up, he pulls off his leather jacket, revealing a soft purple linen tunic beneath, which he rolls the sleeve up on, revealing a forearm and elbow that has begun to calcify, much like stone.]
[Shu carries on as if she didn't hear him politely decline, and when she looks up from her task, there are already four containers.]
There is no need to be polite. We are all provided a refrigerator to use.
[She's just going to make the assumption that an adult man living alone has not meal prepped for the week yet, because in her experience, it was usually true, even if stereotyped. But she will stop when he begins to roll up his sleeves, setting aside the ladle and drawing closer.]
天啊... (Tian ah...)
On Terra, this degree of mineralization is only visible minutes from death from Oripathy. Are you in pain?
[Shu clasps her hands together in a position that faintly resembles prayer as she shakes her head.]
I am truly sorry.
[There is the sense that this is not pity, perhaps, but that Shu is apologizing on behalf of the karmic universe. Despite the absurdity of the sentiment, it somehow feels as if she might have the authority for that.]
Please sit as comfortably as you can.
[She gestures to a small sofa in the sitting space.]
This could take a little bit. I am going to be as thorough as possible.
[He chuckles slightly as he follows her suggestion, moving to the small sofa.]
No apology necessary, lass. I did this to myself. One thunder bolt at a time.
[He nods, though.]
Take as long as you like.
[What she'll find is that there is stiffness in nearly all his joints, not only in the arm that is calcifying, and also that his lung capacity isn't what it should be for a man his age, mid 40s, suggesting that the curse has spread farther than he lets on.
A fish that leaps out of the stream is more easily caught by the net. Is it the fault of the fish for following its instincts that it is caught?
[...This is the kind of philosophical oddity that comes out of Shu's mouth sometime.]
Please relax.
[Her examination is perhaps not what Cid might expect. As she kneels beside him, she opens a hand filled with tiny seeds and allows them to filter through her fingers. There is soon a spreading carpet of greenery around the two of them, tiny buds peeking out from the carpet. Hopefully Cid doesn't mind becoming a terrarium.
Whatever injuries or battle wounds that Cid might currently be harboring on his body - or anything as minor as a shaving scar - will slowly begin to knit together. There is no change, of course, in the calcification. Shu's hands run slowly up and down his body without actually making physical contact, though the sprouting seeds glow gently and stretch up to meet her.]
...
This process accelerates every time you use your Arts?
[This might be rhetorical, but a confirmation is always helpful.]
If you're calling me a fish, lass, it's not a good metaphor. When you're a Dominant, it's easy to think you're invincible. That's not instinct, that's...pride.
[Okay, he wasn't expecting the nature magic, but he's not put off by it, instead taking careful note of how the buds and sprouts grow.
When she asks her question, he nods slightly.]
Aye, if I use enough of them. A little burst of lightning here and there doesn't cause too much harm. Anything more, though... [He nods.]
"Did you not just tell me you utilized your powers to fight for the freedom of an oppressed people? Would you have stood idly by instead?"
Shu speaks without judgment, with an air of absent-mindedness as she focuses on the examination. When he responds to her query, she shakes her head slightly.
"Then you must stop. ...Or learn to use the Arts of this world, instead. I, too, am learning. But your internal organs are stiffening. This is more similar to the progression of Oripathy, where the disease tends to spread from the inside out. Ignoring the state of your arm, you would be considered a moderate to advanced case."
She sits back on her heels as the brilliant greenery around them begin to dim and wilt.
"There is one significant note. Oripathy is resistant to treatment because the inhaled dust acts as a nucleation point, calcifying the blood and organs. It is resistant to treatment because it is impossible to fully remove the dust - much like a cancer. I do not sense anything like that now. It suggests it may be possible to resist. Or perhaps, now that you are removed from the magic of your world, it may stall."
It could stall? That was more than he could hope for. He also hadn't thought about studying the magic of this world. For some reason, he'd just assumed it would work the same as any other Aether, and exacerbate his situation without any recourse. It was why he'd sought out a cure in the first place.
The idea that being removed from the Crystal's influence is a new one as well, and one he'll have to think on a bit more when he's alone and doesn't have to play nice for an exceptionally generous hostess.
She didn't tell him anything about his condition he didn't already know, though. The Hideaway in his own world has one of the best healers in the world, and certainly the best anywhere nearby, and Tarja had told him the same, urged him to stop using his abilities if he could avoid it and scolded him anytime he came home claiming it'd been unavoidable.
There there hadn't been an option, but here? Learning new magic might be a way to go and still be useful.
That was the crux of it, after all. He'd started to feel obsolete.
He nodded, shrugging back into his leather jacket as the greenery around them faded. "Nothing that surprises me, lass, but a few things to think about, aye. Thanks for havin' a look."
She dips her head slightly in an apology as she gets back to her feet, clasping her hands together once more. When the seeds fade, they seem to simply disintegrate into green motes of light that drift away on the air currents.
"Although this is a physical malady, its source is something I cannot fully comprehend. Because its origin is a curse from the spirits of your world, it is akin to dousing an oil fire with water. ...Not that it would make it worse, but simply that it is ineffective. The issue is not cellular damage or an absence of cellular growth. Those are the types of maladies I can heal."
She briefly hesitates before offering her next suggestion.
"...The pain, however, should respond to treatment. That is caused by the nerves still connected to your intact cells sensing the compression and unnatural weight and pull of the petrified flesh."
"I'll trust you on all that, lass." Cid's expertise was in mechanics and design, logistics and the big picture when it comes to people and organization. He doesn't know and rot about nerves or cellular growth, nor did anyone else in Valisthea.
"And if you've got a suggestion for the pain, I'd be a fool not to listen."
"I will bring you some herbs that will impede the sensation of pain, though it will do nothing for the root cause. I would not suggest becoming overly reliant on them, for it could have psychological drawbacks. Strengthening the musculature and bone structure that are fused to the stone is something you should also consider, though... I am not sure what kind of exercises would be most effective. I can recommend some general strength-building movements."
She doesn't really have much experience with half-stone limbs.
"That is about all I can say."
If Cid is threatening to leave, he will have barely finished putting on his jacket before a large tote bag filled with eight pieces of Tupperware is thrust at him.
He'd been dealing with the pain for more than a year. He'd use the herbs she sent if he really needed them, but only if he needed them. She'd given him hope even if she didn't realize it in the form of the idea that the curse may have stalled, which would mean while it didn't stop causing him pain, it at least wouldn't get any worse, no matter what it was he needed to do with it.
He could work with that.
And he was working on heading out, smiling amusingingly as the tote bag was thrust at him.
"You'd think I was feeding an army, lass." But he wasn't offended. "Not that I can protest."
"As I recall, you did have a small army to feed once upon a time." Or at least, that's what she imagined his small band of freedom fighters rising up against an unjust system. "But I wonder how much time and effort you spent on feeding yourself?"
Whatever the answer, it doesn't matter because Cid is walking away with the entire contents of a large pantry.
"Be well. Do not hesitate to drop by for anything - medication, food, or advice."
"Aye, but not all by myself." At least not eventually. It's amazing the amount of people who are willing to sign up and chip in when it's freedom you're peddling. Cid may swagger and strut, but he's humble when it comes to the things he's built.
He smiles at her jovial accusation and brushes it off. "Alright, alright. I'm off, then. And what if it's only the company I'm seeking?"
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no worries!
Date: 2025-05-05 05:10 pm (UTC)So am I. I don't think I'd be half the man I am if it weren't for her, you know?
[And he meant that. When he'd left home, it had been to find his own fortune, not a family or a concern for the world at large. Now look at him, a rebel with a cause.]
All the rest? I'm afraid I don't have much storage pace, love.
[He nodded, though, and once he's finished up, he pulls off his leather jacket, revealing a soft purple linen tunic beneath, which he rolls the sleeve up on, revealing a forearm and elbow that has begun to calcify, much like stone.]
no subject
Date: 2025-05-07 01:31 am (UTC)There is no need to be polite. We are all provided a refrigerator to use.
[She's just going to make the assumption that an adult man living alone has not meal prepped for the week yet, because in her experience, it was usually true, even if stereotyped. But she will stop when he begins to roll up his sleeves, setting aside the ladle and drawing closer.]
天啊... (Tian ah...)
On Terra, this degree of mineralization is only visible minutes from death from Oripathy. Are you in pain?
no subject
Date: 2025-05-07 06:12 am (UTC)[He had not, and he secretly appreciates the gesture.]
Heh, well, it's been this way for months, so I think I've got a few years left in me yet.
[As far as pain...]
My pride tells me to shrug off that question, but, aye. Most days.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-08 01:02 am (UTC)I am truly sorry.
[There is the sense that this is not pity, perhaps, but that Shu is apologizing on behalf of the karmic universe. Despite the absurdity of the sentiment, it somehow feels as if she might have the authority for that.]
Please sit as comfortably as you can.
[She gestures to a small sofa in the sitting space.]
This could take a little bit. I am going to be as thorough as possible.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-09 03:21 am (UTC)No apology necessary, lass. I did this to myself. One thunder bolt at a time.
[He nods, though.]
Take as long as you like.
[What she'll find is that there is stiffness in nearly all his joints, not only in the arm that is calcifying, and also that his lung capacity isn't what it should be for a man his age, mid 40s, suggesting that the curse has spread farther than he lets on.
He probably shouldn't smoke.
Not that that stops him.]
no subject
Date: 2025-05-09 01:33 pm (UTC)A fish that leaps out of the stream is more easily caught by the net. Is it the fault of the fish for following its instincts that it is caught?
[...This is the kind of philosophical oddity that comes out of Shu's mouth sometime.]
Please relax.
[Her examination is perhaps not what Cid might expect. As she kneels beside him, she opens a hand filled with tiny seeds and allows them to filter through her fingers. There is soon a spreading carpet of greenery around the two of them, tiny buds peeking out from the carpet. Hopefully Cid doesn't mind becoming a terrarium.
Whatever injuries or battle wounds that Cid might currently be harboring on his body - or anything as minor as a shaving scar - will slowly begin to knit together. There is no change, of course, in the calcification. Shu's hands run slowly up and down his body without actually making physical contact, though the sprouting seeds glow gently and stretch up to meet her.]
...
This process accelerates every time you use your Arts?
[This might be rhetorical, but a confirmation is always helpful.]
no subject
Date: 2025-05-10 04:36 am (UTC)[Okay, he wasn't expecting the nature magic, but he's not put off by it, instead taking careful note of how the buds and sprouts grow.
When she asks her question, he nods slightly.]
Aye, if I use enough of them. A little burst of lightning here and there doesn't cause too much harm. Anything more, though... [He nods.]
no subject
Date: 2025-05-10 10:27 pm (UTC)Shu speaks without judgment, with an air of absent-mindedness as she focuses on the examination. When he responds to her query, she shakes her head slightly.
"Then you must stop. ...Or learn to use the Arts of this world, instead. I, too, am learning. But your internal organs are stiffening. This is more similar to the progression of Oripathy, where the disease tends to spread from the inside out. Ignoring the state of your arm, you would be considered a moderate to advanced case."
She sits back on her heels as the brilliant greenery around them begin to dim and wilt.
"There is one significant note. Oripathy is resistant to treatment because the inhaled dust acts as a nucleation point, calcifying the blood and organs. It is resistant to treatment because it is impossible to fully remove the dust - much like a cancer. I do not sense anything like that now. It suggests it may be possible to resist. Or perhaps, now that you are removed from the magic of your world, it may stall."
no subject
Date: 2025-05-11 04:49 pm (UTC)The idea that being removed from the Crystal's influence is a new one as well, and one he'll have to think on a bit more when he's alone and doesn't have to play nice for an exceptionally generous hostess.
She didn't tell him anything about his condition he didn't already know, though. The Hideaway in his own world has one of the best healers in the world, and certainly the best anywhere nearby, and Tarja had told him the same, urged him to stop using his abilities if he could avoid it and scolded him anytime he came home claiming it'd been unavoidable.
There there hadn't been an option, but here? Learning new magic might be a way to go and still be useful.
That was the crux of it, after all. He'd started to feel obsolete.
He nodded, shrugging back into his leather jacket as the greenery around them faded. "Nothing that surprises me, lass, but a few things to think about, aye. Thanks for havin' a look."
no subject
Date: 2025-05-14 02:40 am (UTC)She dips her head slightly in an apology as she gets back to her feet, clasping her hands together once more. When the seeds fade, they seem to simply disintegrate into green motes of light that drift away on the air currents.
"Although this is a physical malady, its source is something I cannot fully comprehend. Because its origin is a curse from the spirits of your world, it is akin to dousing an oil fire with water. ...Not that it would make it worse, but simply that it is ineffective. The issue is not cellular damage or an absence of cellular growth. Those are the types of maladies I can heal."
She briefly hesitates before offering her next suggestion.
"...The pain, however, should respond to treatment. That is caused by the nerves still connected to your intact cells sensing the compression and unnatural weight and pull of the petrified flesh."
no subject
Date: 2025-05-15 04:54 am (UTC)"And if you've got a suggestion for the pain, I'd be a fool not to listen."
no subject
Date: 2025-05-16 03:40 am (UTC)She doesn't really have much experience with half-stone limbs.
"That is about all I can say."
If Cid is threatening to leave, he will have barely finished putting on his jacket before a large tote bag filled with eight pieces of Tupperware is thrust at him.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-17 03:57 pm (UTC)He could work with that.
And he was working on heading out, smiling amusingingly as the tote bag was thrust at him.
"You'd think I was feeding an army, lass." But he wasn't offended. "Not that I can protest."
no subject
Date: 2025-05-20 02:24 am (UTC)Whatever the answer, it doesn't matter because Cid is walking away with the entire contents of a large pantry.
"Be well. Do not hesitate to drop by for anything - medication, food, or advice."
no subject
Date: 2025-05-23 03:32 pm (UTC)He smiles at her jovial accusation and brushes it off. "Alright, alright. I'm off, then. And what if it's only the company I'm seeking?"
no subject
Date: 2025-05-25 02:59 am (UTC)Shu responds obscurely, though this can be fairly easily interpreted as an open invitation.
"Take care, Cid Telamon."