Sirus growled softly, the shadows whisping up to form a series of letters, 'Don't know don't care.' they said. his eyes stone cold as he watched the healer move. 'I take care of me. Always have, and I've never needed anyone else.' they faded a few minutes after that, as soon as the healer had seen them. Frankly speaking, no one's ever bothered enough to care about my wellbeing anyway he thought to himself.
“If you are the one who’s been dealing with those injuries, then I'm impressed. But you still should see a healer every once in a while.” the healer said gruffly. “Everyone needs someone. Now hold still, this may sting.” they added before applying the salve.
Gwen looked over at Sirus, a little confused and concerned by what he was saying.
Sirus rolled his eyes in annoyance hardly even twitching as the healer applied the salve, even though it did actually sting quite a bit. Though, he did move enough to notice Gwen's worried expression, and the shadows moved again, 'It's nothing you need to worry about Gwen.' they said for a moment, his ears twitching softly.
Gwen managed a small smile at the whispy words, though her eyes still looked troubled. She wasn’t going to forget about this anytime soon but she wasn't going to make him talk about it now.
The healer noticed the interaction between them and almost smiled. “In that case, I’m putting Gwendolyn in charge of making sure you change your bandages and apply this stuff when necessary. When you shift back, make sure your shirt doesn't stick to the medicine.”
Sirus flattened his eyes at the healer, the whisps changing again. "I can deal with it myself." they said, seeming a bit angrier.
The healer narrowed their eyes at the response before jabbing at a bruise from the fight. “If you could, I don't think you would have so many knotted scars. Some maybe, but even a decent healing apprentice can do a better job than this.”
Sirus growled, louder this time. shifting as he pulled away. "You don't know anything. And I'd appreciate it if you let me handle it myself." he said, his tone brooking no room for argument. "One more scar isn't going to hurt me much anyway." he pulled himself to his feet at that, stalking towards the entrance after summoning a couple of shadows under his shirt, keeping the fabric from sticking to the salve. "I'm heading back to the training grounds to look for information and to dispose of the bodies."
(Not even a good healer could've kept him from scarring after being attacked repeatedly and deliberately at least every other day.)
The healer didn't even flinch at the growl or seem to back down from Sirus’s attitude. “Maybe I don't. But the moment you were injured on tribe lands, you became my patient like everyone else here.” they pointed out in a softer, matter of fact tone. “At least until you leave or heal. Whichever comes first.”
“I’m coming with you.” Gwen told Sirius, standing up at his announcement. “I want to help. It's my fault they were here anyway.” she said even though she had more to explain.
Sirus frowned at the healer, but ignored it, giving only a nod to acknowledge Gwen's words. Then he was out th door and stalking down the path back to the training grounds, shifting midstep so Gwen couldn't interrogate him.
Gwen gave a brief apology to the healer, quickly grabbing the ax and dagger before following after Sirus. She knew he was upset, it was obvious, but she had no intention of questioning him at the moment.
Sirus was more tired than upset, also annoyed at the implication that somehow his scars were his fault. Of course that wasn't what the healer meant at all.. but.. he couldn't have done any better than he did… could he? He honestly wasn't sure. Maybe… maybe he could've left sooner. Escaped. But… how could he? By the time he was strong enough to do so he was also too beaten down. Too scared. Too aware of the consequences of failure.
(Don't mind me, just emulating my chara's awful self doubts.)
Gwen managed to catch up with Sirus and walked beside him, unaware of the thoughts in his head. “I’m sorry about that. The healer means well, they just… have a unique way of showing it.” she said gently.
Sirus chuffed a little, not up to more shadow manipulations now that they were in sunlight. Though the way his ears flicked seemed to convey the vibes of don't worry about it and I realise that and Whatever, don't care.
Gwen nodded a little at the hopefully good reaction. “Honestly, I think they're even like that with the Chief.” she said with a small chuckle, hoping to lighten his mood some.
It wasn't that Sirus wasn't listening, as his ears flicked to show his acknowledgement, but more that he just didn't… he didn't want to be cheered up right then. The negative feelings were comfortable, and everything else was weird and strange and.. well… not comfy. He could manage icky feelings better than good ones.
Seeing that didn't seem to work, she fiddled with his dagger for a moment. “Thank you, by the way. For… saving me and Corvin.” she said sincerely. “I don't think I need to say how much he means to me but… Corvin is more of a father to me than the man who hired you to take me back to him.”
Sirus looked back at her and nodded, a mix of "You're welcome" and "Don't worry about it" rolled up in one. And with that, they had arrived at the training grouds again and Sirus was shifting back to rifle through the dead men's pockets.
Gwen smiled back as she watched him shift instead of looking at the bodies. “Here. I believe this is yours.” she said, holding his dagger out to him.
Skye looked up from the body he was searching and nodded a little bit, offering something close to a smile. "Thank you.." he said softly, "These are harder to replace than I'd like to admit.."
“I’m sure they are.” she smiled softly back as she handed the blade to him. “And you’re welcome.”
Sirus took it, slipping it back into a sheath with a soft hum, before moving to investigate the next corpse. He'd made it through all three goons before he said anything more, "Those guys don't have anything on them, I'm going to check the leader, and sometime tomorrow I'll head out into the woods to look for their camp." he said, already moving to check Drake's pockets.
Gwen joined him in silence as he searched for… what exactly, she didn't know. She had meant it when she told him that she wanted to help but for some reason, she just couldn't make herself touch the men right now. Sirus's comment brought her out of those thoughts and she nodded. “When we were getting water… Do you think they might have been watching us? The path was too quiet on the way back.”
Sirus paused for a moment, frowning as he looked back at her, "Its… it's very possible." he said softly, "Though the silence could've just been because of us…" he hummed, a little worried. With that, he was rifling through Drake's clothing, eventually producing a small rolled up piece of paper. Sirus unrolled it, frowning at it. "Looks like his majesty really wants you home," he said with a soft sigh. "This paper is a contract, but it's not custom made. That means that there are copies, which means the king has hired a lot of men to try and rescue you." he passed the paper over to her before going back to Drake's pockets, though he didn't come up with anything else that was useful.