Scene #3698: Ark and the Lady

Owner	Pose
Winnowill	Going to medical is a reasonable idea when injured, but weird biologies happen. Winnowill's directions were fairly easy to follow, but the woman herself is... more 'normal' than expected. She's made do with a small office, which is fairly rustic... much like her outfit. For the moment she's in her human guise, wearing a very archaic-style dress complete with laces up the front rather than buttons. It would almost look improper for medical purposes... but a sharp eye will notice the entire room, her clothing included, is meticulously clean to a degree that is almost suspicious. "Welcome welcome," says the woman. "Winnowill, as stated. Or, when in this appearance, Lady Venevol."
Ark Line	Ark doesn't wear his usual monochrome camouflage when he's wandering around base. Instead, he's replaced the more rugged clothing with something in black and edged with gold, with a bright red scarf through over his shoulders that seems almost intolerably bright for the shade it is. There must be something about the fabric. Still, he's armed, with his usual sidearm on the right and his Knight Arm on the left: a notched and carefully carved war fan made of a single human bone. Ark follows the directions precisely, and arrives when he said he would. He's schooled his expression enough not to stare awkwardly at the nearly improper and terribly archaic dress or the woman wearing it, but it's still not exactly what he was expecting. He glances around the office for a second, noting the cleanliness, and seeming at ease with it. Sterile environments are the norm for him. "Ark Line. Thanks for seeing me on short notice." He starts to raise his right hand as if to offer it to her, but hesitates. His left is wrapped in something like a pressure bandage crossed with a cast. The materials seem advanced enough that it probably does a bit more than that. "I'm... not really sure what the appropriate gesture is here," he admits. "Do you have a preference to what I should call you?"
Winnowill	"Amongst the Confederates, Winnowill is fine," the woman replies. "It's simply not a name known outside of Confederates. I'd prefer to keep it that way." She gestures toward a seat, and adds, "Since it is your hand, we don't need anything in particular. My healing is focused upon the mystical, or at least what most would term as magic. I'm curious what sort of biology could make more technical means less effective." The pressure bandage is noticed, and Winnowill doesn't seem surprised. "I am familiar with less magical manners of healing, of course." Of note, she doesn't try to take the offered right hand.
Ark Line	Ark lets the hand drop, a little awkwardly. "Understood. I'll keep it to myself, then." No need to make enemies out of allies, he thinks. Ark has a seat. He moves the bone weapon on his hip a little, adjusting it with an unconscious motion with his left hand to sit properly. He winces the second he bends his fingers to try and do it. "I'm not exactly human," he says, after a second. "The world I come from is for all intents and purposes dead, as far as anyone from outside it is concerned. There's a substance in the atmosphere called 'Grain' that kills anything not specifically adapted to it that it comes in contact with, humans included." "But humanity isn't really the type to roll over and die," Ark says with a momentary smile, "so they made us Liners. We're like them, but we can use the high energy content in the Grain for sustenance. When that didn't help save the human race," he explains with a more grim expression, "they kept trying until they made people like me: Ether Liners." "The key difference is that Grain builds up in our physiology in huge concentrations -- in particular, in our bones." Ark reaches to his left side with his right hand and unhooks the war fan. He holds it up, looking over the surface. "When it's concentrated enough, they remove the bone in question, and it turns into a weapon to fight our enemies with. We call them 'Knight Arms.' The other guys like to call them 'Demon Weapons.'" A grin crosses his face at the thought. Ark rests the Knight Arm on his leg, frowning a little. "The problem is, just because that one is replaced doesn't mean we /aren't/ still full of Grain -- and it turns out it's that high-energy because it's some kind of... hyper-concentrated mana. Given I'm one of the only people with a clue about practical magic in my world and I'm kind of bad at it, we aren't really sure if that's going to make healing spells kind of... unreliable. Or dangerous." He looks down at his wounded hand, and shrugs his shoulder a little. "Besides, we've made it this long relying on technology. I think the lab guys just don't want to be shown up by something they thought was a myth."
Winnowill	"Interesting," Winnowill says, though her voice sounds dry and bland. That is just an affectation though... as she looks toward the bone weapon with eyes narrowing. "My grandparents came from a dead world, and mastered their elements with what you might term 'magic' there. They took to the stars to find a new home, rather than remain on a dead planet. You should consider the same... though there are down sides, as it turns out." Winnowill finally moves closer, taking a more thorough examination of the hand. "I have quite a bit of experience with healing humans, trolls, elves, and animals, including changing their shape and blood." She pauses to think. "What you would consider their DNA." She muses over the injury, "Let's see what I can find about this. I suppose the greatest worry would be rejection..."
Ark Line	Ark holds the bone weapon with the kind of ease a master swordsman handles their favored blade. It is quite literally an extension of his own body, and it's comfortable for him in the same way. Closely examining it with not-quite-normal senses might reveal the tightly-packed amount of magical energy contained within, and even more of it in Ark. With that kind of bundled energy, it's a wonder if he isn't ready to explode. Looking up, Ark holds up his left hand a little off his lap for ease of examination. He's used to tools being involved, and doesn't know what to expect, here. "That's... really impressive. I mean, I was engineered in a lab, so I kind of know what it takes to do that to a developing organism, nevermind how hard it must be if they're already fully formed." His other hand tightens on the folded bone fan a little. "They were worried about rejection in the, uh, 'body rejects a new organ' kind of way, or... expecting it to go out of control. I bet you're better at this than anyone else I could look up, though, so..."
Winnowill	Winnowill does have magical senses, enough to tell the potent magic is in there, and its rough nature, but her senses aren't precise enough to tell more than that. Mainly, that it's 'there' and that's all. She tsks lightly, "There are not many in my own world who can do that. Myself and... perhaps one other, if she ever unlocked her potential." By implication, fucking around with organisms liek that is probably a bit of an immoral thing amongst healers. "Let's try something a little simple first, and just knit a bit," she offers. "I can reverse it if it has a problem." She'll hold out her hand, and if accepted try to just knit some capillaries back together, nothing major, with a subtle little nudge of magic feeding in. "Perhaps if we go slow, that won't be an issue. Fascinating biology however. If you weren't so rare, I'd ask for a sample."
Ark Line	A guess at it's rough nature would be as simple as 'power.' Trying to figure out what the Knight Arm is supposed to do is an exercise in headaches. Whatever it is, it has to do with... time? Or... something...? Well, he's not breaking it out in Winnowill's office, so it's probably nothing. "Uh huh." Ark nods slightly. He braces himself, prepared for... well, maybe he can't imagine the worst. The subtle nudge seems to be working, though it's a little strange; there's so much potential energy in there that wants to be used, that it's easy to open the floodgates and overpower the spell. That might cause some serious issues... or interesting side-effects, depending on how you look at it. If Winnowill keeps control of it, it shouldn't have any problems. "What kind of sample are you looking for?" Ark asks, too curious for his own good.
Winnowill	It's fortunate that Winnowill is /very/ good at what she does... but also cautious. Very cautious. Fortunately, she seems to have great patience, so backs off when it seems like the surge might be coming. "Mn... an Ether Liner, of course." It... probably would not be a good idea to give her one. That said, she does not seem particularly grabby for one right now, nor easy to offend. She's back to being something like a professional. "It could indeed be a problem if this was done without care. Annoying. I can likely spend several minutes working through a slower healing, but if you would like something fast from a magical healer, you're going to need something that will keep it from running wild. I'm not certain that would hurt you, but it might dampen or destroy the spell."
Ark Line	"Oh." Yeah, Ark feels like giving her one is a terrible idea. "There's... a very small number of us. I mean, I could get you a sample of Grain, or appropriate tissue samples or something, once I got clearance from my bosses...?" He sounds a little bit leery of what she plans to do. What /could/ someone do with a full Ether Liner, if they can genetically manipulate people nearly on the spot? Actually, the possibilities are kind of scary. "So I shouldn't be too worried about people trying on-the-spot magical triage," Ark says, about summing it up, "except that it might not work." He nods his head a little. "I'll keep that in mind, thanks. Takes a load off my mind, actually." He definitely seems slightly less tense. The tension now is more that he's really unsure what her deal is. The Confederacy doesn't just have people around with that kind of power waiting to fix broken hands, do they? "If you don't mind spending the time on it, I'd really like to be able to use my hand again," Ark adds, "but I don't want to take up any more of your time than you're willing to spend."
Winnowill	She's still working on it, and Winnowill nods. "Something like that. I'd still warn them to be careful." Her healing doesn't actually... feel very good, and might even hurt if she weren't being so careful and slow. "A sample would be fine, I'm mostly curious." Apparently it does take some concentration, but the elf can speak while she's healing. "I have the time. I am not one who rushes about. Most of my plans are very long term, leaving me with a considerable amount of downtime. Though I suppose having a human doing much of my work forces me to rush things a little."
Ark Line	Ark had to fight with a broken hand for a bit in recent memory, and is used to getting the crap beaten out of him by things much stronger than him. As such, he deals with the discomfort like a champ. He mostly reminds himself that medicine doesn't taste or feel good if it's effective, nine times out of ten, and increasingly tightens his grip on his Knight Arm. If it turns out she's doing something unwanted, he has a solution for it. He /probably/ doesn't need to be that paranoid in here, though, right? "Oh." Ark lapses into silence. He shifts a little bit awkwardly, all but staring at her. Eventually, he just comes out and asks, because he doesn't get the feeling she'll be offended. He might be totally wrong. "So, uh... what... /are/ you?"
Winnowill	The question comes as a minor surprise, with the woman looking upward. Certainly she /looks/ human right now, but the smile she has is mild and a little too detached. "Me? I am an... humans didn't have a name for us for a long while, but eventually they settled upon 'elf' over time. I've been called many things, but perhaps that is the most reasonable, even if my kind are not like the elves I've seen in the Multiverse. You might say we are beings who modelled ourselves after elves." She releases the hand, which is still throbbing, and considers. "It will be sore for a little while, but should be healed fully tomorrow, I think. If not, I will take another look. Perhaps I can find a faster way."
Ark Line	"...Huh." Ark nods his head, slowly. "I don't really know anything about 'elves,' or the other races in the Multiverse. Between us Liners and humanity being in it against the A-RAYS, and the Grain... I guess if there was anything else that lived in the Land of Steel, it's long dead now." He barely suppresses a wince, the slowly-building, constantly-lingering ache finally getting to him. "You just seemed too... still. To be human, I mean," he says. "Even the oldest ones I know are always so animated. Like it's their last day alive, and they need to make as big an impact as they can." Ark moves his hand back, looking down at it. He nods, twitching a finger testingly. It's throbbing, and it's going to suck for a while, but if she says it'll be good tomorrow, it'll be good tomorrow. "Thanks a lot. Don't suppose you can teach that sort of thing," Ark asks, a hint of joviality in his tone. "I wouldn't mind being able to put myself back together."
Winnowill	It's not surprising that Winnowill doesn't laugh at the half-jest, but neither is she utterly unamused. Her lips quirk, at least. "Some don't have them. My world is not 'Earth' as most call it. It is very much like an Earth, but it seems to have an entirely different history and landscape. That may be the difference." She contemplates what he just said. "Still... I may have to work on that." The actual thrust of the half-serious question is treated with a mild shake of her head. "Elf magic is for elves. With your abilities, you may be able to learn something in time, but I think attempting to learn it the way I do would just slow you down."
Ark Line	Getting another expression out of her but the vaguely distant smile is a win in Ark's book. "It could be. Then again, a world having trees on it is a pretty big difference from mine." He shrugs, very slightly. When he said 'dead,' he wasn't kidding. "Ah, well. I guess I'll have to just keep reading." Ark picks himself up, replacing the bone object at his belt. "I don't know that I've got a whole lot of time to spend learning, anyway." He smiles, inclining his head a bit. "Thanks again, though. I'll be sure to tell the guys in the lab that I didn't explode into shards of bone or something."