(no subject)

[delancret]

Who: Danielle, Rose, Ril, and later Eight
What: Danielle needs healing and is too shy :c
When: days 338
Where: Odin House
Rating: PG i guess?? discussion of what is basically child abuse.

As soon as Rose saw the whip marks on Danielle's back, the mama-bear instincts went into overdrive, and a Thing started to happen. This odd thing where someone other than a servant saw what happened to her and not only was concerned, not only got angry, but obviously thought it was wrong that it ever happened at all. Rose told her once, in response to Danielle's protestations that she had earned it, that nothing gave them the right to do that. It left her a bit off-balance, all this concern and kindness.

Then Rose started talking about friends with healing powers, and a phone call and an hour later, Danielle was sitting in her room in Odin House, her dress loosened in the back, waiting for someone named Ril.

Of course, as it happens, Ril was only a level One healer. So, after the smaller cuts and bruises and some ragged edges healed, Danielle still had a problem. After Ril went home, Rose called up someone Danielle had heard about - the Doctor. She was a bit reluctant about that, since she really didn't like the idea of taking anything off in front of a man, but Alice and Rose made him sound so kind and brilliant, so she didn't argue. Just waited, with Rose.

Comments

Ril thread!

[delancret]

Bam.

[sheloves]

Ril arrived still partially in costume, sans wings, but still in her dress from the costume party. There wasn't anything she could bring but herself, and since this was a first for her, she wasn't exactly sure of what to expect. But, all that aside, Sigyn have given her a power to heal folk and that's what she'd do. Scrubbing a hair through her white streaked coppery waved hair, she found her way to the right room and poked her head in.

"Danielle, then?" It came out a soft question and was immediately answered as she caught sight of Rose. "Right spot. Hello, I'm Ril." She waved, already moving toward her first patient. "Let's see if we can't make your evening a bit better, mn?"

[delancret]

"Hello," Danielle answered softly, looking from Ril to Rose a little uncertainly. She's changed into a plain blue dress, with a fine red gown drip-drying on the other side of the room.

She nods with an "Alright,' and starts unlacing her bodice, shedding the thing like a shell and unlacing her chemise in the back. Another moment and she discovers, unpleasantly, that her chemise is - ahem - stuck to her a little, and she winces as she attempts to pull it away.

Underneath is an ugly web of injuries, some of which are very deep and disturbingly wide, but they're still covered up right now. She looks at Rose. "Can you- I can't reach."

[badwolf]

In honesty, Rose was a little unsure about Ril. Not that she didn't trust the woman to do what was needed, but ... Whether she could or not was the question. She hadn't the faintest of what 'level' the woman was, but the very fact that she was female was what had sort of cinched it. Danielle didn't feel entirely comfortable, and that was understandable. But Rose only knew of one female healer.

So for now, they would try this.

She hovers though, giving a brief, tight lipped sort of smile to the redhead upon her arrival. But it was Danielle's request that has her moving in the end, scurrying over to gently pry the fabric from the young woman's back. It was ... slow going, but it wasn't the first time she'd done something like this before. Though her last 'patient' had generally been male. (The Doctor, Jack, The other Doctor, Mickey, on occasion...)

We'll get this all sorted up quick... Won't hurt anymore.

[sheloves]

"I will do everything I can," Ril said, her voice soft but firm as she meant it. She eased her way in to have a look at the damage and let out a breath, centering herself. Those were deep marks, some very much so, but Ril could, she thought, tackles as much of it as her body would allow. Skin to skin contact would be best, it was how she worked with telepathy the best when she had the talent. It would suffice, now.

She glanced at Rose and nodded, letting her cool hands rest on Danielle's shoulders, well away from the wounds themselves. Seeing the damage helped Ril visualize closing wounds and fading bruises until she had what she wanted in her mind's eye. It took a half moment before she found it, the healing power that had nestled itself into her. It was an ever expanding warmth that worked its way from the base of her spine and spiraled down her arms as she called it to her.

"Here we are," she murmured, eyes closed as warmth flooded from her fingertips. It hit bruising first, fading it, then moved to the lighter slices until they were thin white lines. Ril pushed more energy into it, winding it against the deeper marks, silent as she circles back around to them, her lips pale lines as she wrestled with the injuries again and again. The lighter things, those were better, and the pain, she could draw away, but the best she could do was begin the healing work on the edges of the deeper cuts. Her fingers ached, and her head buzzed, as she opened her eyes.

Again.

She could do this again.

[delancret]

As she had that morning with her sister, Danielle tried to keep her pain to herself, but once the fabric took some of her with it and she made a pained sound. She could handle it, though; pain wasn't entirely new to her, in the life of a servant. Nor was the touch of hands on her; she'd been patched up before by the other servants, the ones who still called her Mistress, so she just closed her eyes in anticipation.

Then there was warmth flooding through her, enough to make her gasp in surprise at the strange, tingling, bone-permeating sensation. Fantastical as it was, she could feel her body start to mend as easily as she had felt it start to break, with bruising fading to nothingness and some of the smaller wounds knitting together. She kept her eyes closed and hand on the bed, absorbing it, and when the feeling stopped she waited for a moment, expecting that it was simply going to build up again.

After a minute, though, she turned her head, trying to keep her hair from falling over her back, and asked a bit breathlessly, "What happened? Is there something wrong?"

[badwolf]

Don't worry about her hair falling back- Rose is quick to make sure it's all tucked to the side. She's also quite ... aware of the progress. Moreso than Danielle could hope to be. She can see the lesser wounds healing without much fuss, but with the larger ones... and Ril's own appearance. It wasn't hard to tell how much it was affecting her. No. Level one just wouldn't be enough.

"Ril." She's saying it with a sternness she probably doesn't have any right to have. But if it's enough to get the woman's attention, then so be it. "Don't push it. We can- I can call up the Doctor or something. Take a breather, yeah?"

[sheloves]

"I'm fine," Ril says calmly, ignoring Rose's sharper tone as it isn't particularly needed. Even if she wanted to try again, it wouldn't have been worth much. She knows that from the pause she's taken, but she could, at least try again. Perhaps, later. It would likely take longer than either Rose or Danielle were willing to wait, though, if she judged her energy levels correctly. "But I'm not sure I can close the larger wounds. You'll have to find someone who has a better grasp on healing than I do at this moment." She surveys her work for a few moments and it's done well, but the larger lash marks are still left to be closed. Hopefully, the pain is less, at the least. Her efforts are incomplete at best, but not wasted. Whomever comes will have to expend less energy.

"I believe I may have to head home for a rest, I'm sure Eight or Eleven can be of more help. They both seem to be quite adept at this sort of thing. My apologies for not being able to aid more."

[delancret]

Danielle pulled her chemise back over her shoulders as she turned around, looking from Rose to Ril with concern. "Are you all right?"

"I should hate to think that this has hurt you." Indeed, the very thought was distressing. Ril was so kind to come out here and do a favor for a complete stranger; she had to make sure. Danielle took one of Ril's hands into hers with a look of genuine gratitude. "I beg that you not apologize, you were only doing what you could to help me."

Eight thread!

[delancret]

Boom.

[badwolf]

She'd been practically beside herself when she'd found out. When she'd heard, when she'd seen... And to find that Danielle was so complacent about it, as if she'd deserved it. Rose didn't care what sort of society you came from. Abuse was never okay, and the mere fact that Dani came from her own home world where she knew how wrong it was, knew it was her own planet, her own species...

So she'd ushered the woman to her room, shut them in and sat her down to take a look. Not for the first time (or even the five hundredth), Rose felt a surge of anger that she'd not been given the ability to heal. So instead, she flicked on her bracelet and scrolled through her favoured contacts. The Doctor had come up first, of course. All of them. And from the top of her head; Eight. Eight had a high level healing. The highest, if she remembered right. So he'd been rung up right away. No great detail was given beyond the fact that a friend was in need of a gentle healing... He'd be there soon.

For now, though, Rose felt compelled to hover near the woman, to keep physical contact in some way, to bring her tea and soothe a cool cloth against the angry red welts that lined some of the harder injuries.

"...He'll be here soon. An' you won't have to- to get undressed or anything. Just the back, here. An' he's nice, really. A proper gentleman, too."

[delancret]

Danielle already felt undressed enough, with her bodice abandoned somewhere, but she nodded anyway, appreciating the older girl's kindness. The cloth made her shiver as she clutched the tea a bit closer, not really knowing how to handle so much sympathy.

"I have heard nothing but good things about him. Alice speaks of him very highly."

[beforethewar]

It wasn't too long before the Doctor arrived, knocking lightly to announce his arrival before peeking his head in the door. He was still wearing the blue naval uniform that stood as his costume for the Festival, this time with the added accessory of the medical kit from being in the Medic Corps slung over his shoulder.

"Hello. I was called to patch someone up?" he said quietly with a friendly smile to Danielle, and something of a shy one in Rose's direction.

[badwolf]

Rose is half flitting between the sink to re-cool her cloth, and dabbing down her friend's back. But when the knock comes and the door opens-- well. That shy little smile is returned just as quick. Rose is, thankfully, in trousers, her red cape discarded on the side of the bed in a haphazard mess.

"'Llo Doctor." She motions for him to join them with a slight nod of her head.

"This is Danielle. Dani, this is the Doctor. .. Or um, one of 'em."

[delancret]

"Hello," she said to him. Danielle's attempt to smile fell a bit flat, making her look pained more than anything.

"We called someone already, but... there are levels?" She still had no idea how it all works.

[beforethewar]

"Rose," he said with a nod and slipped into the room, kneeling down next to Danielle. "Well...I'm not sure how precisely the powers are quantified, but yes, in a way there are some people who have developed their gods given ability to a higher, ah, "level". Now, let's see what--"

The Doctor's words stop dead as he stares at the damage to the poor girl's back. It took a great deal of effort to school his expression into one more reassuring, and less like he was about to explode with fury.

"Who did this to you, Danielle?" he asked quietly, in as gentle a tone as he could manage, using the excuse of opening his medic kit to give him further time to calm himself.

[badwolf]

A reaction that was quite similar to her own, in all honesty. She'd been practically livid. And though she'd gotten the source of the damage out of Danielle earlier, she'd let the woman tell, or not tell, on her own. For now, she simply keeps herself parked next to her, one hand against Danielle's wrist, the other still gently dabbing at the edges of her lash marks.

[delancret]

Danielle was a perceptive girl and could sense the anger rolling off of them. It wasn't that she thought it was directed at her or anything like that, she was too old to make that kind of mistake, but it still made her uncomfortable and unsure of what to do. Nobody ever got angry on her behalf except for the grousing of the other servants, and they didn't have proper anger anyway- they weren't really allowed to.

This is different, it's sharp and white-knuckled and loud, and no matter how her rational mind reminds her that France is far away and that the de Ghents cannot get to her anymore, it's still hard to dissociate punishment from that kind of wrath. She stays where she is, strong and composed, of course, but it creeps into her posture when her head ducks down and her eyes find her knees, and it seeps into the hesitation in her voice. "My... my stepmother."

[beforethewar]

"And she's not here," he said simply, his tone wavering a bit between relief that the horrible woman isn't here to inflict more pain, and disappointment that she's not here so he can confront her and get her to stop beating her step-daughter.

"Why-- wait, no, that isn't a proper question. There is no reason adequate enough for beating someone like this. Nevermind my questions, Danielle. You just sit there and relax, and Rose and I will take care of this."

Opening the medical kit at his side, he pulled out a bottle of liquid and looked up to Rose, somewhat awkward and shy as he handed it to her. "Dab that on a bit. It should numb some of her pain while I work."