❛ ah, so you're not heartless after all. ❜
"And please do not let anybody know," Karina scoffed, rolling her eyes as she took a sip of her coffee. She had finally managed to track down Eirwen after that incident off-island, and even Karina in her usual heartless situation, knew she owed quite a lot to her friend.
"I am thankful you managed to get there in time." Her expression was now serious, the glint of her eyes flashing into that reptilian gaze from her lineage. She hadn't spoken to Lio after they had returned to the island, telling him to recover quickly. She was still a bundle of stress that couldn't be shown to anybody. At least until she managed to ravel herself back together.
"Your skills are amazing, I apologize if I did not show my thanks at that time. And my own powers..." She trailed off, before sighing and taking another sip of coffee. "How do you even know to reverse such things? I had not been exposed to those kind of bullets, even in Koschei's arsenal."
This may be odd, but in the privacy of the bakery’s backroom, Eirwen found much more urge and energy it needed to socialise. The coffee today was slightly sugary, hot, and dense with robusta at its finest. A taste that reminded her a lot about her today’s uninvited but welcomed guest.
“You’ve just reminded me that I still haven’t sent either of you the bill for my presence, so thank you.” She put her cup of coffee down on the porcelain plate, a merry tiny sound came up, the audible version of the subtly playful gleams in her eyes.
Eirwen was not exactly the playful type, but it was entertaining somehow to see a nervous Karina sitting on her couch. The daughter of Circe may get the urgency in Karina’s voice that day, as it was a life on the verge of unliving. She also could get Karina’s embarrassment for showing weakness in her body suit to Lio and her. But this prolonged aftermath tension that had stopped Karina from seeking her out just to have this conversation? Odd.
“You don’t look like someone who knows how to give genuine compliments, but it’s better than nothing, so thank you again.” Eirwen knew she should take the cheeky smile off her face soon, but the coffee was too good for her to do that. She took another sip after her friend, buying herself some time to find the words to simplify the pages-long reply in her head.
“If we want to say it exactly, then I didn’t reverse those cuts. And they weren’t caused by bullets.” She gently put the cup down once again, the sound coming off this time was much duller, barely there.
“It’s an ancient venomous magic attack, or you can understand it simply as dark magic. I cleansed the venom out of his system with your venom, and the rest of the ingredients helped to heal the skin. Those could not help regain the lost blood, hence he had to spend some time in the hospital.”
A genuinely kind smile was painted across her face as she looked into Karina’s eyes. “You should thank yourself, and know that it’s Lio who owes you an enormous favour, darling. If it weren’t for your venom, he might have already rested six feet underground.”
