Senecio and Tide

[VisAnastasis]

" He looks rather fearful, so that might be best. Please, do. " Being whispered. " I would feel calmer. I feel.. to awkward right now, to stay with them the night. Besides, I want to spent it fixing the sketches, and making new hand - I hope to do it tonight. So, after you finish the talk, the kids can come in and sleep. I shall stay here, in front, at the stage, and work and guard their sleep here. " he sighed, sounding a little bewildered a thoughtful. "It's already six minutes past their bedtime, and human children need healthy sleep routine... But please, talk with Emmet as much as you need to. This is big change for him... "

[Mirach]

Svarik smiled a little. "For humans, half an hour more or less is still within a routine. Even an hour, occasionally. We are not terribly exact creatures." He then went downstairs to Emmet. "So how did it go?" he asked. "He said you agreed to a toy hand, as he puts it..."

[VisAnastasis]

Emmet seemed rather disoriented, and withdrawn - it was enough his whole world was shaken after Guliermo died, this was an additional blow, something he never dreamed will be offered to him. Still, at the words, he smiled a little bit.
" I don't think he would agree to make it if we didn't agree to call it a toy... " He whispered a little bemusedly." That distinction seemed really important to him..."

[Mirach]

"Yes," Svarik smiled, sitting down. "So this play you are making is about Death, right? Not that I would want spoilers as I will see it tomorrow, but does he heal someone in the play?"

[Mirach]

"Yes," Svarik smiled, sitting down. "So this play you are making is about Death, right? Not that I would want spoilers as I will see it tomorrow, but does he heal someone in the play?"

[Mirach]

"Yes," Svarik smiled, sitting down. "So this play you are making is about Death, right? Not that I would want spoilers as I will see it tomorrow, but does he heal someone in the play?"

[VisAnastasis]

That was am unexpected question that tore the boy from his thoughts.
" Oh... Actually, yes. We read the script. It isn't much of a spoiler, as it is at the start of the play - but Death heals a wounded demon at a start. It's a first event, actually, so I think it's meant to represent how awesome he is, and contrast to how he kills the demon king later. "

[Mirach]

"Yeah... so, actually... that's the kind of healing that I do. You should know this. I have a Being in my ancestry and I learnt to use the power it gives me in this way. Do you want me to tell you what exactly I would do with your hand? But first I want you to know that it won't hurt..."

[VisAnastasis]

" Really? " the boy, who must have been bracing himself for quite a while having to struggle while healing, was surprised, but also, expressed some shy interest, watching him more intently under the blue light of the lantern. " Is that... Why did Janus ask you two if you are Beings or humans? Did he see it right away? You look very much like a human to me... But your eyes are really bright... "

[Mirach]

"Yes. Both of us have such ancestry. That's not enough for healing thuogh. Using the power in that was is something you need to learn... unless you are Death, I guess."

[VisAnastasis]

" I see... Well... I guess not everyone can be that Death. It's amazing enough that you can actually learn something like that. " Emmet seemed impressed still, seeming to speak easier with Svarik when he didn't have to watch out what to say before the kids. " So... What do you plan to do? "

[Mirach]

"Alright, so first I will put a sleep spell on you so you won't feel anything. Then I will do the cut. But first we will draw a line on your hand, so that you know where it will go and there are no surprises or misunderstandings, alright? Then I heal the wounds in that way like Death in the play. And then you will wake with no pain from that wound, although there might be some strange feeling at first. Like in your missing fingers, so I think you are familiar with that."

[VisAnastasis]

" That sounds... Very refined. Much less... Unpleasant than how it was first time around. Don't... Think of me as ungrateful, but... May I ask you something first?" Emmet asked quietly." Everything in Being world seems to cost something. Does it... Cost you, to heal like that? Like a piece of soul, bit of sanity, feeling pain yourself?" He gulped." I have to know. Because if the price is too high for you, I am afraid I couldn't accept it. I don't want to take advantage of your kindness. "  

[Mirach]

"It takes energy," Svarik said. "I only have a limited supply of it, so I wouldn't be able many people in a row. But it renews when I sleep, and a bit when I eat something with a lot of sugar, too."

[VisAnastasis]

" I see..." Emmet nodded, looking thoughtful." If it really is so, may I please... Make a request?" He bid quietly." I am more used to pain. You said you can't heal many people in row... Would it be okay if you healed Maryl and Jack instead? We will have lot of work tomorrow, running from one mechanism to the other... Hand does not matter as much. If you couldn't heal all of us and have to choose, I would rather choose them. My heart would feel easier..." He whispered, despite hoarsely, as it was a heavy choice, but he could not choose otherwise with clear conscience.

[Mirach]

"I believe I will be able to heal all of you and still have something left," Svarik said. "Considering the area, it won't be such a big wound, actually."

[VisAnastasis]

" Really? That would be great! But... Please don't be annoyed with me. I am sure you will be surprised by this, but there is something I am considering, so if I go through with it, I would not need to take more of your energy than necessary." He whispered, a little embaraassedly, as he added, with weight."  That is... Would you be willing to do this amputation as you described... But without the sleeping spell while cutting?"

[Mirach]

"No," Svarik said. "Subjectively, I don't want to cause you more pain. I don't want you to have such a traumatic memory of me. Objectively, precision is needed and you wouldn't be able to keep perfectly still. Not even with someone holding you."

[VisAnastasis]

" I won't have a bad memory of you. You would be doing me a favour. " Boy whispered. " There is a medication that can temporarily paralyze a person, for a couple of minutes up to a half-hour, in the right dose. I can buy it for tomorrow. It is... quite cheaper than high enough dose of a painkiller needed to make someone drowsy enough for amputation. So... when I hurt my hand and had to come to healers, that's what Guillermo chose to buy. I've been through it once, it's really not a pretty feeling, but it should be quicker when you are cutting a finger and a half, compared when you have to stop the bleeding and clean and disinfect it and all. You shouldn't have too much trouble with it like that. You'll only have to cut quickly... "

[Mirach]

"I don't want to be under pressure of having to work quickly. Or under the pressure of being aware that you are feeling it. If it's my energy you are concerned about, I can get the painkiller instead. Or, a cheaper option, you can get me a jar of honey. That's about enough for replacing the energy needed for the sleeping spell," Svarik said.

[VisAnastasis]

" It isn't about energy. " Emmet whispered quietly. " I thought you would figure it out... It's not really complex. Janus eats things embedded with pain. He doesn't speak much about it, but he did tell us he eats nails, only of Beings, though, because they can be regrown easily, and he can get a decent amount to store. He eats scarcely, though, and I've noticed he always prolongs it, to the last longer, and that ever since he decided to stay after the premiere, he only fills half the cup for his meals, to last him longer. He didn't ask for it, he seemed too reluctant to... But I feel it's... selfish to have such an opportunity to go to waste. I don't need to regrow fingers, after all, and you are the one that convinced me they are not salvagable... "

[Mirach]

"Ah, I see..." Svarik looked torn. "But isn't there enough pain in them already?"

[VisAnastasis]

" Don't... get me wrong. I am not terribly excited about the process. But there is just... something in the way he talked with me. I think he did really want it honesty, not just because my hand looked tasty. " he whispered. " He told me - he would prefer if we made more advance option, and if we do, that it'd be better for me if we cut off the whole hand because it would be wired with nerves and act like a normal hand, and have extra strength and other stuff. But if I were to choose the simpler option... He actually insisted on your choice, only one finger and top of the other. He took out so many sketches and made alterations with me... He explained to me how for better mobility, we will keep the base of middle finger, to have mechanisms around it and around forefinger, and the wrist. He insisted me to have more instead of cutting off everything because that's logically sound and better for me. I want... to do something that's better for him, too. He could have made me choose his way, and demand the remnants. He could have blackmailed me for a better meal. But because he didn't, and because he didn't ask for it, I want to give him this... "

[Mirach]

Svarik sighed. "If you are sure... Is the paralysis complete, though? Is there now way you could communicate throught it? I would prefer having that so I can but you under the sleep spell if it gets too much..."

[VisAnastasis]

" It won't get too much. " Emmet replied quietly, but firmly. " The process isn't pleasant, but the results are what counts. I want to give him something that tastes better than those tiny nails he's nibbling all the time. He will stay the whole night making this for me, and he's already made hundreds of sketches, doing it in his free time... I want to give him something equally valuable, for all the thought he is putting into it. This... This could change my whole life. " he gulped. " Isn't such a gift not worth, a little meal in turn? "