I See You, You See Me

There was a momentary silence that passed in the air before the brute had spoken. Just a moment in which his gaze had met the gatherer’s, briefly catching a glimpse of something, perhaps relief, perhaps distress, or maybe a mixture of both. But there was something else there that remained even after he had inquired about her business, something vaguely reminiscent of apprehension. Hollow had heard himself described as intimidating before, whether as an off-hand quiet comment, or stated right to him. And he wouldn’t deny such claims. Even in his own mind, his demeanor could be accessed as chilly at best. But that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Scary or otherwise, it stopped none from continuing to seek him out when in need of medical attention.

As he spoke his question, the femme squeaked, almost mouse-like, as though he had somehow startled her despite knowing that he was standing there. He could have assumed incorrectly, but it seemed as though she had been looking for him in the first place, so her behavior was slightly strange. Not strange enough to question or doubt, though.

Her voice was soft and her movements slow, confirming that she did need some form of assistance, though from a distance the only clear sign of such was the moderately raised paw. With her confirmation, the healer’s paws brought him towards her, Razun the hare making small hops forward at his side. Upon reaching her, from an outside point of view it may have been a little bit funny, as both Hollow and Razun needed to peer downward to gaze at Flora and her own bunny tafa. While his rabbit greeted her own, the dark healer rotated his paw, hooking it beneath her lifted one and gently raising it just a tad, trying to avoid touching the bottom of the paw itself. He lowered his neck to get a better view, having to tilt it just a bit so he could see the problem.

When she first spoke that she needed help and had a paw lifted, his guess was something along the lines of a sprain or maybe a cracked pawpad, but he found a rather large but also thin sprig sticking out of the pad instead. A thorn of some sort, its plant of origin not something he could figure out just from this view alone. As not much of it poked out of the pad, he figured it was either a small thorn that was more of a nuisance, or it was long and went deeper than was ideal.

“Do you by chance have a clue of how long this thorn is? Or how long it has been stuck here?” He glanced to the side for just a moment, intending to meet her gaze from more of a distance, but finding that his leaning had brought his face…a tad closer than he intended. His eyes flicked back to the pawpad, considering. Thorns weren’t too much of a problem, as long as they were removed and not left to cause further pain. The only tricky part was trying to get it out if it managed to go too far in. Luckily, as far as he could tell, if it remained right where it was, he could adjust it just enough for it to poke out further, giving easier access to either grab it with his teeth, or get some assistance from his tafa.

Bri