recolle | [Closed] The Back-Alley Magic Faith-Healing Clinic

[Closed] The Back-Alley Magic Faith-Healing Clinic

WHO: Cloud Strife and Kei Shigaraki
WHERE: Ramen, that restaurant that only serves mapo tofu
WHEN: Mid-April-ish
WHAT: Cloud doesn't want to wait for his blistered hands to heal naturally. Kei is able to provide another option.
WARNINGS: None, will update if necessary

Following his dreams turned out to be a lot less glamorous than Cloud had hoped.

"The app" had given him access to a world of swords and sorcery, abundant in opportunities for daring adventures and exalted deeds. It was everything he had wished was true since he had been a little kid. With a fire in his heart (literally, thanks to the little spirits broken free from Respartum), Cloud had thrown himself wholeheartedly into learning how to use a sword. The instruction at Zephyr Jin's kendo school was top notch. From the very beginning, Cloud practiced everything he learned with obsessive fervor.

Over the course of a single week of constantly swinging around a wooden sword, Cloud had raised blisters all over his hands, broken them open, then worn them raw. His sensei had given him ointment and some black under gloves, along with some "advice" about not practicing while his hands healed... Yeah, they hurt. Yeah, the damage wasn't going to do him any favors, but how was he supposed to get any better if he wasn't allowed to pick up a sword?

It had been almost three days since Cloud had left his bokken at the dojo for safekeeping and the skin on his hands hadn't exactly grown back yet. It was driving him nuts. At least the mapo tofu in this tiny restaurant was good, even if he was having a little trouble using his chopsticks with ripped up hands under clumsy black cloth gloves.

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How intriguing. He didn't do anything to lighten the spice of the mapo tofu. But Kei didn't think that he needed to warn against such spice -- the entire shop had the smell of the sauce hanging in the air. Yet the person didn't seem to complain once. In fact, it looked like he was honestly enjoying the food. Resting his chin on his hand, he watched the new customer. True, some spice-fiends do hear about this place, but I'm always a little surprised. Usually, there is at least one comment on the spice. Is he all right?

His eyes narrow slightly as he noticed the trouble that he was having using the chopsticks. Leaning back away from the counter, he dug through one of the drawers to retrieve a savoring spoon instead. New to using them, perhaps? Walking out through the kitchen, he headed over to where the young man sat. "Sir, here you are." He held out the spoon for him to take. His head gave a small tilt. "I apologize. I was noticing that you were having just a little bit of difficulty so thought this might help you some."

He paused to look to the gloves that were worn. "But you might have an easier time without the gloves?"

It wasn't ramen, but that was a good thing. Ramen was really bland. It really was the smell of the sauce that got Cloud's attention as he walked by. It was a relatively pleasant visit until someone showed up to offer him a baby spoon.

He gave the guy a tight smile and took the spoon. "Thanks." Then he set it aside, nonchalantly, and went back to eating.

"You're welcome."

His head tilted slightly as he watched him eat with difficulty. Did I insult him? He lightly chuckled as he felt that was all right, but he paused at the table for a second while longer before asking:

"Sir, are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?" It was spoken rather mildly. The guy was just trying to be nice, there was nothing wrong with that. And he did make a pretty mean mapo tofu, so he had that going for him too.

Cloud tilted his hand to get another small bite up to his mouth. It was taking awhile but at least he wasn't fumbling the chopsticks or dropping them. Cloud was satisfied with how well he was managing, and that's what mattered.

"I see." He commented more to himself than to the young man before him. His eyes were exceptionally sharp -- it was the only positive that he could give himself. Crossing his arms, he looked him over carefully.

"It wasn't that you are new to using chopsticks, but rather that you've hurt your hands in some way, right?" Kei watched how he brought the food up and it wasn't that he was unskilled, but that his fingers were not working as they should. "Indeed, if the problem was just due to the gloves, you would have taken them off... however, since you haven't to make eating easier for you... that something has happened."

He shifted how he was standing, tilting his head. "Is that about right?"

Cloud blinked at him and quirked his eyebrows up.

"Are you really into those 'super-famous-detective' stories? Where the other characters can't possibly keep up with the brilliant deductions? Everyone except the arch nemesis, that is. You need an arch nemesis in a story like that because otherwise the super-detective would never have any obstacles to overcome?"

He pinched up another bite. "Shouldn't you be working on murders or jewel heists, though? That's way more interesting than me."

"I'm afraid that I'm not too into reading." Kei offered a very small shrug of his shoulders. "I'm afraid that in any story that I would be part of... I would be the villain and not the hero." He chuckled at the idea that he would actually be the detective that saved anyone; his personality simply did not call for it.

"But it seems as though my assistance is not required here, hm?" It seemed like the man's pride was getting in the way of good sense, and so, he should just leave him to suffer. However, he cannot. Unfortunately, he had always said that as the owner of the shop that he would always do his best to watch over the customers that entered. It was not out of pride, but obligation given to him by the previous owner.

"You're going to end up hurting yourself worse than what you are if you keep being difficult." A beat. "I happened to know some first aid, so you can consider it part of the experience of eating here."

A villain? How was this guy doing anything evil? Assistance? With getting food into his mouth? That's not the kind of thing a restaurant owner would offer to do. Being difficult? But Cloud wasn't being difficult. He was going out of his way to let his hands heal, or he wouldn't bother keeping them protected with the gloves. "... You're right about my hands, but why does it matter?"

How could that be part of the dining experience or whatever? Because of the $500 super-spicy challenge on the menu? Maybe this guy was just a little weird. "I don't think first aid would help. Unless you have some secret formula that can actually make skin grow back faster, or something. Otherwise, I just have to wait for them to heal on their own."

"Because it is troublesome for me to let my customers suffer." An easy and honest answer.

Kei looked down at his own hands at the comment of a secret formula. His eyes closed in resignation; heretical as he found his healing, he could not keep it to himself. He had offered to assist someone with their own medical practices, after all. While he may have wanted his help to be the traditional sense, he realized how foolish it was of him to talk about "wants." A person that lives as I do... should not worry about his own wants.

"I do have something like that, actually." Besides, if the young man was a non-Retrospec user, it wouldn't matter. The odd manner in which he healed would be forgotten with enough time, anyway.

Cloud paused mid-chew. This wasn't a medical laboratory, not by a long shot. Any secret formula available here would have to be a lot less like bioengineered skin grafts and a lot more like magic elixers. Since magic was officially real now...

He carefully set his chopsticks down and finished the bite in his mouth. "I'm listening."

"I can heal your hands."

He leaned back as he rubbed his nose, recalling how Kamui had broken it. Kei was aware that people responded to his healing differently; Kamui had lashed out violently while John had stayed frozen. There was no way of knowing how a person would respond until the healing was done.

"I will warn, however, that it is a painful process. However, the results are... what they are." His smile turned lopsided before he elaborated as he realized his statement was a little on the vague order. "It will be as though the injury never was there. Not even a scar will be present."

Kei hummed as he looked at the hands. "Depending on the severity of the injury, it shouldn't last more than a few seconds." He flexed his fingers. "However, the choice is ultimately yours. If you decide against it, well, I shall wish you luck, of course, sir."

There wasn't much to think about. "What do I have to do?"

If this was a villain then the price would be in, what, a piece of Cloud's soul? Vile deeds? Something as simple as money?

"Not hit me." There was a lot of seriousness in his request.

"I want you to know that is actually quite difficult." He had a wry smile as he turned his own hand over to look at the palm. "I heal the body through the soul. The soul, however, does not desire to be touched by mortal hands and rebels against it."

So there was something about a soul involved. Cloud had no idea if souls actually exist, he sort of doubted it, but specific beliefs or lack thereof didn't make actions less effective.

"I'll try my best not to hit you, but try to duck just in case."

"I suppose I cannot ask for more." His head dropped in resignation; he, at the very least, was capable of healing himself. Kei merely did not enjoy healing himself since his healing did not make him an exception; he, too, hallucinated and experienced a rush of pain. But the hallucinations and agony felt vanished as soon as he stopped touching the soul -- so, there was a small consolation.

"Give me your hand. You need not remove your gloves, however." He became aware that it was silly to have them remove their clothes. After all, he was reaching through the physical body. "We will start with one hand and see how you do with that, sir. Ah, I suppose before I begin I should at least get your name."

A beat. "I am Kei Shigaraki."

"Cloud Strife." Not taking his eyes off the person in front of him, Cloud carefully pushed all of his place setting to the side with his left forearm so he could drop his right hand on the counter between them, palm-up. With his elbow locked out like this, the only thing Cloud would really be able to do if it hurt too much is to pull his hand back.

It looked, and felt, like Cloud was either inviting this Kei Shigaraki to join him in some intense undertaking or surrendering, sword-hand first, to a great and seductive power. "If I can hit you from here I'll be impressed."

"You could always headbutt me." He supplied another method in which he could be struck with a little more cheer than what he should have.

His smile grew strained, however, as he looked down at the offered hand. Kei rubbed his thumb along his fingertips as he visibly hesitated. It wasn't necessarily the pain that he was afraid of, but the meaning of his own healing -- if he had the right to touch anyone's soul. If I had reservations, I should have not offered help.

Ease settled in on his face. The second I decided that I should use this power is the second I decided that such questions are ultimately worthless. So, there's no reason to hesitate anymore. "Well, then, Cloud Strife, let's see this through together, hm?"

Resting his hand over Cloud's offered one, it seemed for a second that it was an elaborate ruse to hold hands with one of his customers. But such concerns would have lasted briefly. His fingers grew translucent, appearing almost outlined in soft-green light. Turning his hand, he dug his fingers through the glove to where the meat of the injury was -- reaching past the flesh to touch the wounded soul.

Kei did say it was going to be painful. Cloud didn't exactly understand what that pain would be like, though, and it would have been impossible to explain it to someone who had never experienced it anyway. It hurt too much for him to pull away, or stay still, or move. It hurt too much to scream, or even to pass out. The universe erupted into a kaleidoscope of bright lights and screaming entities, pulling his brain apart like it was taffy. Cloud had been yanked clean out of reality and now dwelled only in the realm of terror and nightmares.

In the physical world, his whole body twitched and trembled as if he were having a seizure.

Pulling his hand free, he flexed his fingers over the gloved one. His expression shifted from neutral to mildly concerned as he looked Cloud over. The pain of having one's soul touched immediately alleviated as soon as he stopped; it became little more than a distant memory to where even the body only suffered minor aches. But that didn't change the fact that what was experienced was agony.

"Are you all right?" His head dropped a little as he reached to touch the young man's shoulder. "Your hand should be doing better now." Doing better now was an understatement; it had completely recovered from what had been done to it prior.

"But ... how are you?"

In place of a verbal reply, Cloud met Kei's eyes steadily. Then he thrust his left hand out onto the counter for the same treatment. He used his healed right hand to steady himself, gripping the counter's edge harder than necessary.

"Don't do that with your other hand." Kei frowned at how the right hand was gripping the counter's edge. The reaction that Cloud had to the healing was, at least, not a violent response. However, he did not want to have to repeat his work on the newly healed hand.

"Just attempt to relax." He held his hands out in front of him. It really did seem like this young man pushed himself too much -- through pain, through difficulties for one reason or another. "I don't know if that will do anything, but it is certainly better than, well, tightening yourself up, wouldn't you say?"

Cloud closed his eyes, took a slow breath, and made himself relax. "You would know." He let go of the counter, tugged his glove off, and stared at the perfectly healthy skin.

Take care of your hands.

It wouldn't be easy to follow his sensei's instructions, but the wisdom in them was obvious. Cloud would make an effort to see that he didn't wear his hands raw again.

He turned back to the counter and stuck his still-gloved hand back out. "Okay. I think I'm ready." He was ready before, but whatever. Cloud had every reason to humor the healer.

"Ah, good."

Kei understood the desire to rush through the agony as quickly as possible, but he decided to pause between each healing. Because-- He frowned as he realized that it simply was to increase the amount of anxiety that would be felt. Even if the pain of his healing faded quickly, it didn't make the process any easier for the person.

"Very well." It went about the same as before -- he positioned his fingers over the palm of the hand before his fingers turned translucent. The translucency traveled up his hand and stopped at his wrist, leaving only the outline of his hand in soft green light. A second later before he dug his hand down through the glove into the flesh, into the soul.

Cloud was starting to understand why Kei would refer to himself as a villain, even though he was generously providing physical regeneration to a stranger. For Cloud, trying to get his other hand healed immediately wasn't about trying to get the agony over with. Anything truly worth having was worth going through hellfire to get, anyway. The blond was trying to make sure this strange healer didn't lose his nerve because of how Cloud had reacted.

Watching the process intently even though he knew what was coming, Cloud's entire body spasmed with pain at the strange magical contact. White light screamed at him from every direction, blinding and deafening him. As soon as it was over he collapsed to the floor, twitching helplessly.

Once his hand was free, he looked down at Cloud. Alarm showed briefly on his face as he moved quickly, with some concern, so that he could look over how he was. He wondered if he had hit the floor hard, but probably only enough for a small bruise.

"Still... that is an interesting reaction." His tone sounded almost clinical, but he knelt down to rest his hand on the young man's head. His fingers soothed through the other's hair as he offered a sympathetic smile. "Indeed, everyone responds to it a little differently."

He offered a few other less than consoling words, "And let's both be happy that the floors have been cleaned recently, hm?"

The twitching stilled quickly at Kei's touch, even though Cloud half-suspected the only reason he was doing it was because his feathery spiky hair looked so touchable. That happened way too often, even with total strangers.

"I'm fine," Cloud declared, relaxing into a bizarrely pleasant daze on a floor that he honestly didn't care had been cleaned recently. He had long realized that he had an adrenaline junkie streak and tried to be careful about not letting it cancel out his survival instinct. Cloud hadn't realized, however, that he was an endorphin junkie. He knew he had a ridiculously high pain tolerance, but there was no heady endorphin rush if the pain was still there to cancel it out. This time the pain had vanished suddenly, leaving the tidal wave of narcotic oblivion nothing to crash against, and so it washed over him in a disorienting flood instead.

"You certainly look it."

He lightly patted the side of Cloud's head before pushing himself up to stand. Normally, in such a situation, he probably should have offered to help the young man up. However, he ultimately decided against it. The young man wasn't someone that was going to admit to vulnerability or requiring assistance unless he was cornered; he decided that he would let sleeping dogs -- or drained bodies, as it were -- lie.

"I will ask you to lie in the booth rather than on the floor. I do have a bit of a reputation to this shop to maintain." Yet he sounded more amused than scolding.

Maybe Cloud didn't care right now that he was on the floor, but someone else did. That gave him a reason to think about it, which made him realize that he was lying on the floor.

"...Right."

In a bit of a daze, Cloud carefully pushed himself up and glanced around. Oh, right, there was the rest of his dinner sitting on the counter. And his other glove. He had been sitting there. Making sure to keep himself balanced by resting his newly healed hands on the counter and the back of his chair, Cloud pulled himself back into his seat. Then, still dazed, he reached out to pull his dish of mapo tofu back over so he could pick up the chopsticks and resume eating, this time with nothing impeding his ability to use his eating utensils. No sense in letting the food get cold, even though the spiciness was muted right now.

"S'good, by the way..."

"Attempt to take good care of yourself from now on, young man."

The series of words could sound scolding but he has a light smile that indicated otherwise. He brushed his hands off as he took a step back so that he could return to the kitchen. It seemed as though his good deed was done and he need not worry about his customer enjoying his food anymore. Indeed, that is as much as a chef could hope for.

"Ah, right, payment." He turned to look over his shoulder at Cloud. "Pay what you believe is fair." Kei was someone who did not like forcing others to be in debt. But that was because he, himself, was constantly in debt. His head dropped as he chuckled to himself, amused with his own failings as a person.

"If all you have is your life that's worth anything, then I'll take that." He chuckled to himself once more, as he returned to his spot behind the kitchen.

Cloud raised an eyebrow in Kei's direction and huffed a little laugh. "I don't know if you're a villain, but you sure do a good 'creepy and ominous' bit."

It wasn't really possible for Cloud to pay what he thought was fair, partly because he had no idea what the going exchange rate for magic healing was, but he had enough cash in his wallet to leave a $50 tip. That would have to do for now.

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[Closed] The Back-Alley Magic Faith-Healing Clinic

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