milliways_bar | (no subject)

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(no subject)

[OOM: One commission, two gifts and an unexpected visitor. Small warning for a bit of blood and gore.]

Weyland returns to the bar sometime later, when he has recovered enough to appear calm again, and he carries the gifts he has made up to the bar. It looks like it's going to be another Atlantean night.

He takes a seat at the bar, and waits. There's one person in particular he's waiting for and several others he'd be very happy to see, but really any distraction would be welcome.

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"It will protect him," he says quietly, ordering up a glass of vodka from the bar and dipping his thumb into it--Coreen may remember how he handles ear-piercing. "There's no need to worry about him pulling it out by accident, either. It will be safe."

She remembers that day quite well, and shudders a little, and then nods.

She idly thinks about the small, nearly healed hole in Joe's ear from being tagged.

She rubs Evan's cheek softly, continuing to sing to him.

It's probably over before Evan can even realize anything is happening. Weyland has had enough practice, after all.

So shortly there is a simple gold hoop earring in Evan's ear, and Weyland is rinsing his thumb off in the vodka again.

"He's very well-behaved."

It does startle him, once it's done, a bit, but with his mother still acting like everything's alright...it's less of a big deal. He squirms a little in her arms, and gurgles slightly grumpily at her.

After he's shown that, he's back to dosing.

"Thank you. He's a good boy."

"So he is," he nods. "Would you like yours now, then? It will... not be as painless as his gift, unfortunately, but I think the benefits will outweigh it. And it won't last long."

She takes a deep breath and nods.

"Alright. Just let me grab him. I leave the other things with Bar."

She murmurs to the Bar for a moment, and everything besides the basket holding Evan disappears.

She picks him up by the handles and slides off the barstool.

"Alright."

It's going to hurt. She knows it.

It is, naturally.

He gathers up his wineglass and the remaining box, and stands again. "Shall we?"

She nods slowly.

"What's this going to do?" she asks, heading for the door.

"Hurt a bit," he says, honestly. "But it should be worth it. You're going to be branded--it's up to you where."

Branded.

Branded?

What the fuck?!

"Should be worth it how?"

"You want to understand the speech of squirrels, do you not?" he asks softly. "This will let you. In his world, in your world, here... anywhere. Unlike jewelry, it cannot be taken from you. You will always have it."

She looks up at him, "Even if...everything changes?"

It's a valid question.

"My work cannot be changed so easily," he says. "If I say it is permanent, it is. It should even carry over if, and let us hope we never find out for certain, you were to be possessed and just a soul in here again."

She nods.

"Okay. Let's get this over with. Anywhere I want, you said...hmm...How big is it going to be?"

Once inside the forge, he sets the box on the workbench and takes out the metal of the branding iron.

It shows a stylized squirrel running, about two inches by one inch.

"Not very, so it can go almost anywhere. But I'd recommend somewhere you won't mind having a bit sore until it heals."

She shudders and sighs. This is going to be bad.

Then she worries about having Evan there.

"Do you have a piece of leather?" she asks, thinking. She's not going to just scream, and startle the hell out of Evan.

"The top of my left foot, I think."

"There's a box of leather pieces over there," he says, nodding toward a workbench in the corner. "At least some of them should be clean. I'll need you to take your shoe off, and have a seat... right there."

Evan gets placed near the door, away from most of the fumes and noise.

She walks over to the box, and digs through a few pieces before pulling one out, before walking back over to him, slowly, and pulling her shoe off.

Her breathing is coming in more rapidly.

He sets the end of the brand in the fire, and turns his attention to pulling the bellows.

"I hope you have sandals you can wear, afterward?"

"I'll go back upstairs barefoot, but yeah, I've got sandals."

She tears off the under layer of her skirt. It's...the same skirt that she tore the under layer her first day in Milliways with Joe, bandaging her foot. The same foot.

She closes her eyes, and focuses on her breathing, trying to ready herself for this.

"Good," he says quietly, building a steady rhythm with the bellows. "You will probably need them."

He falls silent again, watching the metal grow hotter.

"I've been working on my dress, and I still have a lot to do. I'll probably be spending most of my time there."

Not have to walk too much, which is good.

"There are those here who can heal," he says, "and even I can do it to a degree, but unfortunately, this sort of situation you would need to heal without magic influences, just mundane medical treatment. Otherwise, it cancels out."

She shakes her head, "I'll deal with it. Can't be much worse than having a scar that doesn't heal and still hurts."

And at this point, she figures it always will.

"This will heal," he says. "Don't worry about that."

He studies the metal appraisingly, then leaves the bellows as the are to go fetch a bucket of cool water, which he carries over and sets near Coreen's feet.