milliways_bar | (no subject)

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The door opens and slams shut, and Gamora throws herself against the wall beside it, her right arm slamming across the wood of the door to make sure it is very very shut indeed.

She leans against the wall and surveys the bar through ribbons of pink and black hair, caking itself to her face with sweat and a reddish dirt. Her left arm hangs uselessly to her side, torn out of its socket, her sword tip trailing something black and sticky on the floor. Her clothes are in shreds - and underneath her green skin is riddled in spreading red lines.

Her breath comes in short, ragged gasps.

She glares at the bar, daring it to say anything about her appearance or the fact that she appears to not be totally winning this one. And double daring it to suggest she needs to sit down.

In the fingers of her right hand she holds her Milliways coin, the dangling chain glinting in the light of the bar.

To her left, there is a swwwmmmp sounds as Godslayer retreats back into its hilt.

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[Optional post healing EP]

Whether you saw that or not, a short while later Gamora is in a booth, carefully and thoroughly cleaning the goop off her sword, and planning her next move.

Her next move is clearly just to go out and continue the fight, but now she's healed and rested and (there is a plate of meat beside her) fed, she's going to have a significant advantage.

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Wen Qing is sitting idly and contentedly one moment and then on her feet the next at the loud bang. She has been told this is a safe place, that violence is forbidden, but her life has proven rules are only for the powerful and cannot protect her. Seeing a green woman with a naked sword, she watches her enter and can't help assessing her condition. She seems harmed and Wen Qing cannot ignore such.

Approaching diffidently and cautiously, she bows her head enough to show respect but not to take her eyes of the strange woman. "Hello, my name is Wen Qing and I am a healer. Do you need assistance?"

Gamora glares at her for a few second, pride and anger flashing on her face.

Of course she doesn't need help. She is Gamora, daughter of Thanos, deadliest woman in the galaxy, unrivalled assassin. She does not need help from anyone.

On the other hand, the room is spinning and she's pretty sure something has been pierced inside and she could probably heal it with time but if she went back to her father in this state there would be more surgery.

And no one wants to undergo surgery in the Sanctuary's labs.

She doesn't take her eyes off the woman who offered help while she reaches her right arm across to her left shoulder and forces it back into its socket. She roars in anger and pain, but she had to prove she could handle it.

She then takes a step forward, which turns into a stumble.

(Yes. Yes, she needs assistance.)

This woman is very fierce; she even makes Wen Ruohan seem a child!

When she stumbles, Wen Qing is there and holding her up without seeming too. Her time with Wen Ruohan had taught her much of subtly. In a low voice, she says, "There is a room here, an Infirmary. I can help you there so none may see."

"I can walk," says Gamora, against all evidence to the contrary.

She stands up, shaking the woman off with more force than is strictly necessary, and which probably more of a visible scene. But when she's standing she glances at her savior and then glance down, nodding in acquiesence.

She starts, carefully and shakily, but fully independent of any support, the long walk across the bar floor to the infirmary.

Hopfully the doctor will come with her?

The woman is used to rough treatment and manages to turn the shove into a casual spin to grab a last bite of her fried potato.

(Whoever thought to cut the potatoes into long strips was a genius.)

She follows closely after the fierce jade warrior, just in case another stumble occurs. Once at the Infirmary, she darts forward to open the door and then closes it behind them.

"I am Wen Qing."

"Gamora."

She sits, stiffly, on the nearest cot, and finally allows herself to wince as her torso muscles react to that action.

The pride is still there - it's not just not showing weakness in the bar, it's not showing weakness anywhere in front of anyone, except when unavoidable. But right now, it is unavoidable.

"You said you're a healer? What kind?"

"I am a cultivator," she answers but then realized that may mean nothing. "I practice internal alchemy. I have cultivated my spiritual power to allow me to do many things, among them healing."

"I also use herbs and medicines." Her voice might trail off a bit as she looks at this place of healing and is mystified by all the tools. At least she assumes they are tools.

Gamora would rather herbs and medicines, but that is not going to cut it at this point. Parts of her skeleton are shifted in ways they shouldn't be, and her metabolism doesn't react well to medicines anyway.

She weighs up spiritual healing against surgical healing, and decides that the former is probably the lesser of two horrors. It's also the only optiom available.

She nods briefly her consent.

Wen Qing approaches and holds out her hands, palms toward her patient and empty.

"You may feel a warm sensation or the like," she says as her breathing slows and deepens. She senses for the injuries first, the places the body is in pain; assuming this woman feels pain. Then Wen Qing shifts and projects her power to push the body's energy where it needs to go. She starts with the smaller injuries, which are numerous so that the fierce warrior might know and get used to how it feels.

Gamora tenses at the sensation, which in turn aggravates some of the larger injuries. It's a whole vicious cycle.

She swallows instead and forces herself to stay still through it.

He body is - well, even in its base state Wen Qing wouldn't have encountered anything like it - it's got a different suite of organs than Terrans. But on top of that there're the inorganic modifications laced through her body, from bone replacements to the network of neural implants tracked into her central nervous system.

Fortunately, Gamora's body is so tightly wound into it that the two systems work together, so as one heals the other is forced back into place.

But she still has to grit her teeth against the pain.

Wen Qing can feel the pain, linked as she is in the healing, so she shifts some of her qi to attempt to numb it. She turns her focus to the shoulder to make sure it was put back in place well, studying the skeletal and muscle structures; listening to how the body wants itself to be. Then she turns her attention to the next major injury. It seems to be irritated as if there is a foreign object within.

"I think there is something in the wound here. I am not entirely sure as you have many inorganic pieces within you, but this one feels like it interferes to me. Is this correct?"

Edited 2020-10-09 15:51 (UTC)

Gamora glares at the mention of 'inorganic pieces.' It's her base expresison with the pain and humiliation of near defeat, but she doesn't like to be reminded. She's worked so hard to keep herself intact, dones so much to avoid the punishments inflicted on her sister. Naming out loud the modifications she does have is salting old wounds.

Knowing however the good intentions, she nods.

"Shrapnel," she says, moving a hand close to the wound. "The building exploded."

With her in it, of course.

"I am going to try and get your muscles to expell the object. This will likely be uncomfortable at the least, but I will try my best to avoid excessive force. I will count to three." She moves her hands over the wound to prepare. "One. Two. Three."

"Just do it," Gamora says. She knows it can be no less comfortable than it was getting in, and on the scale of discomfort she knows, hardly anything.

She still digs her fingers into the side of the cot by her legs, and as Wen Qing does her work, she releases the pain with a good, focused scream of pain up at the ceiling.

There's quite a bit in there, and it takes some time, but eventually it all makes its way to the surface.

Wen Qing startles at the scream but keeps her focus. Truth be told, she is impressed that this fierce warrior allowed herself to show the pain. Too many tend to hide the pain, holding it in for it to fester.

Soon enough the pieces are out and she is moving to the next hot spot. To save time she merely taps the area as a warning before setting in to do the work.

It also helps, that release. If you're used to the levels of extreme pain Gamora has gone through you learn that showing pain is sometimes the only way to survive it.

Each time needs a little less vocalisation, however, and she grunts instead through the rest of them, gripping onto the cot as she endures each one.

As it progresses, she realises she's going to need to find out what the woman wants in return.

Wen Qing continues to work quietly, only speaking up with she thinks she's hit a more painful area. Eventually, the work is done or at least as done as her endurance can handle. She sways and reachs back to another bed to catch herself.

"I am afraid that is all I can do. At least for now. I would be willing to do more after I have rested."

"I'll be fine," Gamora says. She cocks her head at the woman, now the pain as subsided enough she doesn't need to ask for much more assistance.

She's tired, and needs to rest, and she did this without talking payment first.

"I will leave payment for you at the bar."

It's not an offer. Or a question. Just a statement of fact.

She nods as she leans against the bed.

"As you wish. Some advice, if I may. Your body has spent a great deal of energy healing you. Some of it was mine, but most of it was yours. Please eat something nutritious before you go back to your battle. Also, it will be inflamed as it continues to heal. I would suggest eating neutral foods." Neutral here meaning bland or basic. "Avoid anything which is spicy to you or too cold in temperature. If you feel slightly feverish, then spicy food might help but not until then. Some rest would be ideal, but I am certain you have things which you feel cannot wait."

"And drink fluids such as water if you are able. The body makes toxins when is it in pain or injured, which must then be flushed. Assuming your body is anything like mine."

Gamora listens to it all with a neutral expression, and then nods.

She has all the time in the world, and isn't in a hurry to go back to more pain. She suspects her body can handle toxins better than Wen Xing's, but hydration isn't a bad idea.

"I could do with a rest anyway," she says.

She flexes her shoulder, feeling its newly returned range of movement, and stands, testing all her injuries.

"Thank you."

Wen Qing straightens her back to give a proper bow but stays seated. This healing took a lot out of her.

"You need food and rest too?" Gamora asks. The woman now looks more tired than she is.

"Can I bring you anything?"

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