ellipsanet | video; un: calabash

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video; un: calabash

Could I interest anyone in classes for basic first aid?

[The slim, white snake that some people may remember from the last time a post attached to this username was put on the network is looped around the green-haired doctor's neck and looking directly into the camera with oddly human-looking eyes, her forked tongue flicking out now and then.

Baizhu's voice is light, casual. He looks well.]

I'm sure we have people here very talented in healing magic, but with the strangeness of this world you never know when knowing how to correctly apply a tourniquet or treat a burn on the spot might come in useful. We do seem to be being encouraged to expand our skill sets, no?

[The doctor smiles.]

I can be sure to find a location that suits the level of interest but having some people to assist on the teaching side wouldn't go amiss either. Do let me know, and I'll make the arrangements.

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I see... and then, I take it, you'll do the same, should you take on an apprentice?

[Jeep has decided to get into a staring contest with Changsheng. He doesn't speak, but he can stare!]

Aha, I had some idea, yes. May I ask what you are instead, Changsheng?

[It seems polite to address the snake, herself, for this one.]

[Here, Baizhu hesitates, unsure if he should proceed with giving an answer to the first question asked. Luckily for him - for the moment at least - it's followed up with another and Changsheng turns her peculiarly human-looking eyes on to Hakkai as she lifts her head up and briefly flicks her tongue out.]

That is not a quessstion easily answered.

[She feels the soft movement beneath her as Baizhu chuckles lightly.]

My memoriesss of my early life are dim, and I cannot recall much of them... only that I was incredibly weak the firssst time the contract was made.

[Baizhu nods, adding his own comment then.]

The contract sustains Changsheng as much as it allows her to assist the healer she is contracted to. Without it, she would not last long at all.

I see. [He inclines his head to her.] That must be difficult to navigate for you - aside from your companion, that is.

[He means you, Baizhu.]

Forgive me my curiosity. But that is a fascinating sort of connection. In my world, we would say she was a spirit of some sort. Though, for yours, I would hesitate to apply such a label.

You would not be too far off the mark, I think.

[Baizhu has his theories, but Changsheng is unable (or perhaps unwilling) to either confirm or deny any of them. It's likely she was some kind of adeptus at one point but perhaps used too much of her own life force doing exactly what Baizhu now utilises his contract with her to achieve.]

But no, I don't find it difficult. It has given me a strength of purpose that I may not have found otherwise. [He would have always been a healer, to be sure, but with Changsheng it's different.] I have achieved things that most in my position wouldn't be able to imagine.

Ahah, well. Whatever she may be, she's quite charming.

[And adorable. But you probably shouldn't say that to a sentient snake.]

I see. I... do understand such conviction. My feelings on the ability are similar enough. [If he's going to be cursed to be a monster, at least he can get some kind of good out of it. Repay some of the blood he'd shed.] You must be very sought-after, in your world.

[Though it's hard to tell given she's a snake, Changsheng does puff up a little at the compliment. She is not without her vanity, after all!

In the meantime Baizhu keeps his eyes on Hakkai. He can feel his heart pounding, the adrenaline rush at having been so open with a stranger making his head spin slightly, but he tries to keep his expression calm.]

In a manner of speaking. I don't travel outside of Liyue often due to my own poor health, but many people do take the time to come to me.

Poor health? Are you all right?

[Here, and now, he means. If someone says they have "poor health", asking if they're all right seems... very foolish in general. If his fellow healer feels poorly right now, he's got to offer to help.]

[Doesn't he?]

Ah, at the moment, I mean. [To clarify. Belatedly.]

At the moment, yes. My condition is stable.

[He has only been terribly unwell once or twice since arriving here, likely thanks to the fact he has not been using his abilities to heal people and putting strain on his body. Changsheng has been having an easy time of keeping his health good of late and she has not been complaining about it at all.]

The nature of the contract means that all those who hold it die an early death due to the strain on our health. We expend our own energy for the sake of others. [Changsheng gently nudges her head against his jawline. He pets her absent-mindedly.] I knew this when I accepted it, so there's no need to feel sorry for me.

Well, that's good to hear.

[The stable part, anyway. The rest is ... it's more of a concern. strain on our health and expending energy for the sake of others - those are terribly familiar things. Is it different for someone who isn't human? He does recover with little lingering effects.]

[But still.]

Ah, don't worry. I wasn't considering pity. Reflecting on similarities, I suppose. Though Jeep isn't nearly so talented as your Changsheng.

I'm sure Jeep has his own talents, no?

[Sir he saw you arrive.]

But I do believe I've spoken more than enough for the moment... perhaps you'd tell me a little about yourself?

Hahaha, goodness, you're right. He's an exceptionally skilled driver.

[Enough to bail them all out of trouble when necessary.]

Well, there's not much to tell. I used to tutor children, have taken up healing... and this is not the first strange world I've been transported to.

Not the first? Now that sounds like something worth hearing about.

[Changsheng gives a small nod of agreement, sliding forward from Baizhu's neck to curl into a loose coil on the table next to his arm instead.]

Ah-- if you wouldn't mind, that is.

Haha, no not at all.

[Seeing Changsheng move, Jeep decides to follow to sit on the table too. Friend??]

It was a place called "Trench". It was dark, run by powerful creatures known as Pthumerians... and powered by Blood. Everyone who arrived did so by waking up on the shore of the sea. A processed described as "Waking" - as if our previous homes were nothing more than dreams.

[Perhaps not 'friend', but Changsheng will investigate this creature while Baizhu is otherwise occupied making a friend. It's good for him to have friends, she thinks.]

That sounds rather more dangerous than where we currently find ourselves...

[Looming threat of the darkness outside the barrier aside, Ellipsa has proven to be rather peaceful for the most part.]

[He'll keep a decent distance, but sniffing is going to happen. Sorry, Changsheng. He's like a cat.]

Oh, indeed. This place is... honestly, I find it hard to wake up without anticipating some new curse descending upon us. Whether the city will suddenly be swarming with strange cultists, waves of blood, and the like.

The possibilities of horror certainly were endless.

[Changsheng does not seem to mind the sniffing. Baizhu keeps half an eye on them, but he knows that the snake can take care of herself.]

Goodness.

[That does sound awful. Definitely not the kind of place that Baizhu would like to find himself in.]

How did you get by?

[Sniffing accomplished, curiosity satisfied, Jeep decides it's time to preen his wings. All is well.]

Sleepers, as we were known, were rather... insistent on looking out for one another. They had established safe houses, patrol routes, all sorts of ways to make sure we survived another day.

For nearly a year, that was how things were.

And then I arrived here.

And then you arrived here...

[Here, where within the general bustle of day to day life it can be easy to forget that there is any danger at all.]

That must have been a shock.

[Not necessarily an unpleasant one, mind you, but to go from a situation where you spent each day fighting for your life to one that was so calm by comparison? It must be strange.]

It has been.

I admit, I am not... entirely used to the calm. I keep expecting things to suddenly explode. Or for a multitude of beasts to descend.

[There doesn't seem to be nearly as much danger here, as there was in Trench. Or even back in his world.]

[Somewhere that feels less and less like "home" by the day.]

I will admit... even without the kinds of experiences that you have, I find myself often anticipating much the same.

[Baizhu smiles sympathetically. Even as peaceful as Ellipsa seems most of the time the threat beyond the barrier still looms, and Baizhu has seen first-hand some of the creatures that lurk in the darkness beyond.]

I don't think a little wariness is too unusual given our situation, but try not to let it trouble your mind too greatly. [His smile softens.] But if you do have issues with your nerves, I'm sure I can put together a tonic for you.

Have monsters ever breached the city itself? Or... things stronger than those we typically go up against on missions?

[It was that way in Trench, after all. Things emerging from the sea, or beyond the walls. Things the Pthumerians allowed to happen.]

Haha, well. I'm more than used to dangerous living conditions. I should be quite all right. [He bows his head slightly.] But thank you. I will keep that in mind, if the need arises.

Not that I know of, but I can't claim to be aware of everything that happens here.

[Something from the Darkness breaching the barrier in any significant way feels like it would be noted, though, so although he does not say it outright the answer is probably 'no'.

For what comfort that might bring.]

And, as for the rest... I am quite used to living with my poor health, but that doesn't mean I don't still take steps to remedy the problems that it causes. Try not to ignore your own needs. At least not for so long that you find yourself beyond help.

I can't imagine anyone could be.

[But that's not a problem. Not really. He's so used to living in a constant state of "what's going to try and murder us today", that another place full of it won't be much of a problem.]

Please don't worry. I have no desire to be so much of a detriment to myself that I am in danger. [... Most of the time.] But I will keep you in mind.

And that shall be all that I ask.

[It isn't often that Baizhu meets someone with whom he feels enough of a kinship that he might try to gain that person as a friend. Friends are risky business with the kinds of things he tends to go sticking his nose into... but he thinks Hakkai would understand.

And Changsheng would be pleased, he's sure, to see him making some friends.]

What of your home world, though? How does that compare?

I shall keep that in mind.

[It's surprisingly honest. Granted, he will probably not manage it, but he'll keep it in mind - nothing against Baizhu. He quite likes the other already. That's... just his self-destructive ways.]

[He hums, thoughtfully.]

It's been quite a long time since I've dwelt on it. In Trench, I learned we were not missed while we were away... which was a relief, I admit.

But, overall, this place is far calmer than the world I came from, as well. Though the occasional bouts of mayhem are familiar!

video; un: calabash

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