(2022-02-07) The Scar & the Splinter

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Author:	Saaron
Summary:	Colson comes to Sandy for medical advice. 1600ish words.
Rating:	T for Teen

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Discussions of wounds

Sandy stops in his tracks to get a snack and looks at Colson, who seems to be lost in thoughts. He then approaches. "Hi Colson!"

Colson stares out at the landscape, rolling his left shoulder, his right hand pressed under the pauldron, a faint look of strain leaving his features looking tight and almost pained. He turns at the sound of Sandy, and inclines his head. "Mr. Spellbond."

"Is it me or is something wrong with your shoulder since yesterday?" Sandy's brows furrow into a worried frown. "If it's your armor that's bothering you, you could ask Dane or Ben for a new one!"

Colson moves his right hand away from his shoulder, but his shoulders remain stiff, as though he doesn't want to move around much. "Ah. No. It's…" He pauses and places both hands on the railing, and seems to think for a long moment. "Mr. Spellbond. You…seem to have demonstrated an aptitude for detecting fel energy. How good would you say your ability is?"

Sandy grabs his own chin and taps on his cheek. "Hmmm, I'd say I'm really good! I can feel when a demon is around! I also know when an object contains these energies too!" He thinks harder. "I can do that with the Void, too, at times!"

Colson nods, slowly. "Yes. I am rather attuned to the Void, myself, but unless the fel energy is very strong, I…" His right hand moves slightly on the railing, and he seems to press it down deliberately onto the stone. "May I beg of you a favor?"

Sandy leans on the railing next to Colson and grins. "Sure! You're my friend, I'm always here to help!"

Colson turns to Sandy, only moving his head. "I have an old…injury. From one of The Legion. It seems to be…reacting, somehow, perhaps to…" He up nods the general landscape. "I cannot feel anything different about it, but if some fel energy has taken root, I would know now, so that perhaps it might be purged." He hesitates. "If it will not discomfit you overmuch, I would remove the impediments, so you may examine it." He gestures to his pauldrons and plate armor.

Sandy's eyes widen. "Oh, yes, sure!" Sandy smiles at him. "Did you get hit with a weapon or a claw? Or maybe a spell?"

Colson looks forward with the bland and blase attitude of a man who has undressed in front of entire barracks of soldiers as he removes his armor and shirt. His voice is even and monotone as he says, "A felguard's sword." He removes his shirt fully, exposing the massive scar on his left shoulder. It looks faded and well healed, but the skin around it seems to be reddish, as though he's been scratching or rubbing at it too much and caused irritation.

The scar looks as though it came mere centimeters away from cutting through his heart. As angry as the skin around it looks, however, there is absolutely no fel energy emanating from it.

Sandy grimaces a little at the mention of the felguard, for more than one reason. He stares at the wound, feeling a little bit uncomfortable looking at such a scar. He takes a few steps closer and just stares at it for a few seconds.

Colson stands very still, his eyes focused on some middle distance.

"I don't… Can — May I, uh… touch it?"

"Yes, of course." Colson's voice is mild, and polite.

Sandy gets up on the railing and kneels a little to get a good look at it. He first first gently hovers his hands over the scar. Not feeling any Fel yet, he ends up touching the scar directly, his hands pressing on it gently.

Colson remains perfectly still, and doesn't flinch at the touch, but his eyebrows twitch ever so slightly at Sandy climbing up on the rail.

"I don't feel any Fel in there! I'm… going to try a little harder. Don't be freaked out, okay? I rely on you for balance a little bit right now!" Sandy chuckles.

Colson does not look like he has freaked out a day in his life, but he does brace himself ever so slightly in his knees.

Sandy presses his hands on the scar with more strength. He starts whispering incantations in demonic and soon enough, his eyes light up Fel-green. This is his attempt to see if the Fel in his body tries to reach or attract this potential other Fel source.

Colson's lips press tightly together, but otherwise he might as well be a carved statue.

Sandy's eyes go back to their slightly more natural color as he stops whispering. "I don't feel Fel coming out of that wound, no!" He jumps back to the ground.

Colson closes his eyes, and leans forward onto the railing, his shoulders slumping slightly as though a much heavier weight than Sandy is pressing them down. "I…see. I…thank you. For your assistance, Mr. Spellbond." He doesn't move or open his eyes, and several muscles twitch in his face as some expression flickers across it.

Sandy tilts his head to look at Colson's face. Seeing how his diagnosis doesn't seem to make Colson feel better, he adds. "That doesn't sound like what a Felguard would do anyway, I just checked to be completely sure! Your scar is completely fine!" Sandy gives Colson an encouraging thumbs up.

Colson nods and his shoulders hunch further. "Indeed. I…" He opens his eyes and tilts up his head to the sky. "I had hoped…" He stops and stares for a long moment. "It would have explained the pain." He pulls on his clothes with the automatic movements of a man who has learned how to dress in the full dark in the middle of a military drill.

"Is it… new that it hurts again?"

Colson pauses, and then nods curtly. "Yes. It started when we arrived. Except for when it was new, and the scar tissue still…forming fully, it has never caused me any difficulty. Recently, however…" He trails off and he rolls his left shoulder. "I used to have a salve for it. The scar tissue, that is. But, I have not needed it in years. I…" He reaches for his bag to touch it for some reason. "I do not have access to that salve, at the moment."

Sandy tilts his head in thought. "Maybe Nilunelle could help with that? Or there could be an herbalist that brought the right herbs from Azeroth to make it?"

Colson nods slowly, and turns his head to look at Sandy. His lips move in a faint smile. "That is a good thought, Mr. Spellbond. I do not know the construction of it, unfortunately, but…perhaps someone has something similar."

Sandy opens his own bag on the floor and takes out a pouch containing some Azerothian herbs. "I actually have some with me here! I brought them with me because they smell good. Especially the Dreamfoil! Maybe these could help?"

Colson looks at the herbs with genuine interest. "These are well preserved." Colson leans slightly closer and inhales slightly, nodding with professional approval. "Ah," he says, examining the color. "You used the Filandre method, I see. Well chosen."

"… Yes." Sandy didn't use the Filandre method but the Mom method and it's written all over his face.

"I did not realize you were so well versed in botany, Mr. Spellbond. I'm something of an amateur botanist, myself." Colson holds out a hand for the pouch. "Thank you." He pauses again and looks Sandy in the eye, holding his gaze for a beat. "Truly. Thank you."

Sandy grins as he hands him the pouch. "My pleasure! I'm always happy to help! I hope these will help too." He pauses. "But, uh, you know, about your scar…" He looks at the ground, scratching the back of his neck.

Colson tucks the pouch inside another pouch, one that looks like someone built a specific bag for just herbs. It is embroidered in a way that someone familiar with Cress' work might recognize. Colson raises his brows slightly. "Yes?"

"Maybe it's…" Sandy pauses again, trying to find the right words. "Maybe it's like when you get a splinter in your finger and you have to remove it! And then, you know, you get ready to remove the splinter and it hurts before you even do anything to it, even though it didn't hurt until you noticed it! It hurts just because of the memory of… removing a previous splinter, I guess?"

Colson's right hand twitches to his shoulder, and he places it firmly down on the railing, staring at his hand for a long moment. "I…see. Yes. I suppose that is…" He flexes his fingers in the mailed gauntlet. "I should not rule that out. You are most correct, Mr. Spellbond. I…should consider that as a possibility."

Sandy fidgets with his tabard. "And I'm not saying your scar is like a splinter! That would have been a pretty big one!" He lets out a nervous chuckle.

Colson's expression moves slightly and his voice goes dry. "Indeed. It was a rather large splinter. Regardless, I should at the least consult the younger Mistwalker. Perhaps she knows of something I do not. And should it prove to be the memory of a…splinter. Well." He rolls his shoulder, and inclines his head. "I will attend to that."

Sandy nods. "Nilunelle is great, I'm sure she'll be able to help! Worst thing that could happen is that she makes it look less red around the scar!"

Colson inclines his head politely to Sandy. "Indeed. I wish you a good…" He looks up at the sky again, and mutters something about pocket watches. "Day, Mr. Spellbond." He cuts Sandy a shallow bow in farewell.

Sandy laughs. "It's probably day, yeah!" Sandy waves. "See you, Colson! I have a question for you, but I'll ask it another time, you seem already pretty busy!" He waves and smiles again before walking towards the food part of the inn.

Colson raises his brows, and nods at Sandy, a faint puzzled look on his brow.