13293/Someplace in Chinatown...

Someplace in Chinatown...
Date of Scene:	16 May 2021
Location:	Someplace in Chinatown!
Synopsis:	A healing training gets positive effects, plus forehead fan thwaps
Cast of Characters:	Beast, Xiang Zhao, Nightingale, Vitali Svyatoslav

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Beast has posed:
WHEN! -- SOmetime in the not too distant future. Exact time maleable.
WHERE! -- Someplace in New York's chinatown, a little dumpling shop with a room above it that once upon a nevermind and sometimes not so once-upon-a-nevermind... gets used by an unlicensed doctor to treat those that cannot go to an ER easily. They exist all over the place, it is the nature of the underworld.

And why Hank McCoy would know if it is a question nobody should currently be asking. He asked Vitali and Zhao to be a part of this little experiment, but by its nature it couldn't take place on school grounds. Not to mention, they can't get easy ACCESS to the school grounds. And so here we are, in a little room that has some equipment and a sterile surface, but nothing that would be considered high tech. Hank asked SHannon to bring her A-Game, get a good night's sleep and no arguing and to get a good, hearty breakfast and lunch in, before she even considered coming out to play hookie with one of her teachers. So this is where they're at.

Hank brought a few devices, but nothing particularly high tech. A Sphygmomanometer that's manual and works only by milibars of mercury and a hand pump, a Lie detector, also known as a Goose-eeg, which reads electrical signals of the brain without programming and a few other gadgets.

Xiang Zhao has posed:
Having been requested to a place he comes occasionally anyway, here Xiang Zhao is. He has lent his help here from time to time when having wounds heal faster than their normal was a beneficial thing. And when he was in the neighborhood and not on a hunt or drained of energy. There is a soft knock on the door, soft, but at the same time, almost sharp, for the thing knocking is not knuckles, but a folded up fan. Folded up precisely for the knocking it had done. There is only the one rap of sound, and then the door opens to reveal Xiang Zhao with Vitali at his heels.

He steps into the room, expression and body language both calm and serene. His left back is being tucked at the small of his back as he steps forward. His long, dark hair is partially bound in a half tail, secured with that curved white hairstick he prefers. The rest trails down his back in an inky waterfall to his waist. That dark hair shows a hint of red to it, perhaps a reflection of the bright red robes he wears today. There's a pattern in shades of red to those robes, that looks almost like flame due to the color, but is in fact lilies.The sleeve of his inner robe is a matching red, and that of his outer shirt a pale cream.

As he walks into the room, Zhao flips that fan open again, and waves it slowly back and forth, wafting the breeze up into his face, a thing that stirs the two long strands of hair that hang loose to either side at his temples. He looks at the things curiously as he walks a slow circuit about the room, having a glance at this, a bit longer of a glance at that over there. "What are we doing today, Doctor?" he asks, as he comes to a stop facing the blue furred beasty he'd just spoken to. His voice is, as it always is, soft, calm. Both things habitual.

Nightingale has posed:
     Certainly, it was odd for Shannon's teachers to contact her, instead of the other way around. Twice now, though, it had been Dr. McCoy, and this request told her something was most definitely up. Given that it involved her A-game, told her that her healing gifts were likely to come into play. Sleeping well and eating heartily was not even a question in this case. When she did eat, she made damn sure it involved high amounts of protein and calcium, as well as leafy greens--visualize a giant omelette with spinach, swiss cheese, sausage, and mushrooms stuffed inside here. Top that off with some green tea for antioxidants and a light caffeine boost, some fruit juice for vitamin C, and she was good to go.

     She was dressed in some loose-fitting turquoise cotton pants, a loose-fitting sleeveless tunic shirt to match, and made sure to have a bag packed with a change or two of clothing in case things got a bit messy. She also, as always, had her little brown leather bag, with its assortment of minor first-aid goodies--and two highly treasured business cards, though one had become slightly dog-eared over the past couple years. Her shoes are those daisy-toed flip-flops she tends to favor sometimes--though there are likely other shoes in her backpack if need be. For once, she actually looked a touch apprehensive, even a little bit fearful, glancing between Dr. McCoy and the equipment in question.

Vitali Svyatoslav has posed:
With an invitation being extended to include his presence as well, Vitali has come along with Zhao. He isn't familiar with Chinatown -- he's only been here once, and that wasn't a particularly good visit. And so, he walks with Zhao, following along with him. He's neat, tidy and clean. He wears one of the few outfits that he has -- a pair of black steel toed boots, black jeans, and a dark purple turtleneck. His long hair is damp and tidily caught at the nape of his neck and braided down the length of his back.

Sitting on his left shoulder is his eagle, Soraya, her feathers lightly ruffled up as she rests at ease there. She's calm and watchful of their surroundings. He waits beyond the door, with Zhao, and then follows after him when he enters into the room. He's been a little quiet, along the way. Once within the room, he tilts his head a touch to one side, looking things over, and one of his eyebrows quirks up a touch. "Have never seen similar things," he says softly, a flicker of curiosity to his voice.

After looking things over for a longer moment, his gaze turns to the Doctor, and he gives a small nod. "Good day, Doctor," he says softly, a small smile touching at the corners of his lips. His gaze turns towards Shannon, and he gives a small nod to her, a gesture of greeting.

Beast has posed:
"Ah, welcome, come in, come in..." Hank checks the sticky pads of the EEG whilst people arrive, looking most specifically at Shannon. Forehead is clear, lots of nice attachment points, good good good. "I asked you two here, to help me help Shannon in some of her studies. Both of you have healing gifts that are very separate from the ones Shannon possesses and are not grounded in any medical practice specifically." He says this in english, then helpfully repeats it all in Russian and Chinese, which he will do the entire time that this is occuring. All further language should be considered to be said in all three tongues so that there are no miscommuniques! He gestures to Shannon, getting the EEG pads ready. "I need to hook you up to the EEG. I want to measure your brainwave activity and your pulse oxymetry when you're healing, but I do NOT want you to extend the fullness of your ability on the injury at hand. I asked Zhao and Vitali here, just in case you overdo it, Shannon."

Here he turns to both the men in the room. "I want this to be clear. I heal very quickly. The term for it is regeneration, so there is little to no risk to me. There is however, in Shannon's response. I need to ask you to make sure she doesn't take on more than she should... because we will be able to measure her help, against healing without her help. Allow me to demonstrate," having hooked up the EEG and left the angel girl to put the pads on her forehead, he takes a scalpel to his own palm, cutting a long line there and holding it up so all can see how long it takes to close up. Overall, the cut is gone in about a minute.

Xiang Zhao has posed:
Xiang Zhao turns his head to glance to the Siberian. He nods. Agreement. "I have never seen these. None. What are they for?" He turns his dark eyes from said Siberian to rest firmly upon Hank. His brows raise a bit at the explanation. "I know almost nothing of medical practice. I can bandage a wound, or burn with hot metal, but nothing more complicated than those." He pauses for a moment, then shakes his head. "I do not heal as ah'Tali or Shannon heal. My magic convinces your body to heal at double what it normally would."

There are things said then, and translations, and despite this, he doesn't understand some of it. "What is an ee ee gee?" With that, he goes quiet, for the moment, watching with interest everything being hooked up. Having been reassured that the Doctor isn't in any actual danger, the fan continues waving calmly even while the blue furred ghost's palm is cut. Once the cut has healed, he looks up to Henry. "Interesting."

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon's actually a bit hesitant to let herself get hooked up to the EEG, but relents, pulling her hair back away from her face and using an additional headband to ensure her bangs stayed clear. "You realize how rare it is for anyone to ask me to actually -use- my gifts instead of restraining them, right? It's been about learning to do without them, rather than see how far they could go. Okay, there was that time a couple years ago that you had me help miss Burkle out, but that was very, very unusual. Most of the time... it's learning to do without them, or restrain them, rather than try to really -understand- them. They scare people." She sighs softly, ducking her head. "Sometimes they even scare me. But I can't always just do nothing."

     As she sees Dr. McCoy take the scalpel to his own palm, though, one hand darts out to reach for his wrist, and try to heal him. But his regeneration is too quick, and she can do nothing for now.

Vitali Svyatoslav has posed:
The dark gaze of the Siberian turns towards the doctor, and he tilts his head a touch to one side. There's a flicker of curiosity that shows in his eyes as he listens, and he glances briefly towards Zhao before his attention turns back to the doctor. "Have magic healing, have knowing of healing with herbs," Vitali says, a thoughtful tone to his voice. He glances towards Shannon for a moment, studying her, and then his attention again turns back to the doctor, and he gives a small nod.

One of his eyebrows quirks at the demonstration of scalpel to palm, and he makes a soft sound of appreciation as he gives a nod. He wishes that he could heal that quickly! He is, alas, not gifted with any enhanced healing, as of yet. "Am not knowing what... things... do," he says, lifting a hand to gesture towards the machines. That hand lifts then to Soraya's chest, to lightly stroke her feathers. "Is okay for Soraya being here?" he asks, tilting his head a touch to one side.

"Abilities, gifts, are for using, not for hiding. Not for closing away. Gift cause harm, da, but... is hard for believing is not way to work with such. Healing I have, is same as others in family, da? Can heal from little part of wound to all of wound," Vitali says, his tone thoughtful. "People scare easy, sometimes. Da? Have different thing, have unexplained thing, mean people be afraid. In home, sometimes, people outside fear power of me. Is thing. Is not meaning is bad," he adds, his brow furrowing a little bit.

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy wipes off his palm and addresses the curiosity of the moment. "EEG - stands for Electro Encephalography. It measures the pulses given out by the brain and records them as signals on the paper. The more the signal, the greater the divergence on the page. We will be able to see what areas..." indicating the various electrodes that connect to the spinnels on the page "...work hardest when Shannon exerts her gifts." He picks up the pulse oxymeter. "This device measures the rate of her heartbeat and also the level of oxygen from the air in her blood, a measure of how exerted she becomes, as we would expect to see a small drop in the oxygen levels if she exerts a lot of energy. It measures from zero... which is well... dead... to a hundred, which is fully working lungs."

That being said, he listens to the methods of healing. "Both are significantly helpful if she loses control over her gift. Shannon does not heal an injury, she takes it on herself. This I find to be a very self-defeating kind of mutation and it is likely the beginning of something she has yet to control. I think her aura, her ... biofield... extends out of herself and transfers energy to repair, degrading her own energy as a result. This is not good. So I wish to see if she can do much as Zhao here does... instead of taking it, I want to know if she is capable of just speeding it. This we can measure, as it takes about a minute for a shallow cut on myself to heal. If it is quicker, she will have managed to do it. If it disappears entirely, well, then you gentlemen may have to step in. But the nature of -our- gifts," he gestures here to Shannon and himself "...tend to be directly related to stress levels. It is simply a biproduct of mutation as opposed to talents learned and schooled over time."

INhaling, he looks to Shannon now. "And because of that, I am going to have to stress her out a bit, to get her gift to ignite. Gentlemen, bare in mind everything I have said about -myself-..."

And with that said, he slits his own wrist, from radius to humerous, diagonal across all veins and arteries beneath. The blood is sudden and plentiful, which is a bit... stressing.

Xiang Zhao has posed:
Zhao, on the other hand, had just watched passively as the cut healed itself, trusting that the Doctor knew what he was about. It really would be nice to heal that quickly, but Xiang doesn't, so there's no real use wishing, is there? "Mm. People fear what they do not know or understand," says Zhao. "Fear of something does not make that thing bad." Clearly, he agrees with Vitali on that score.

He listens as the Doctor explains what an EEG is and what exactly that means. He nods slowly. It makes sense that the brain gives off signals. It really does. Energy is something Xiang does understand, it would appear. At least in so far as his magic goes. As oxygen is mentioned, he looks to Vitali, remembering a conversation about oxygen once. Again, a slow nod as he understands at least the concept of what's being explained.

"Mine works by forcing the energy channels to align properly." Which likely allows the body to heal at the maximum efficiency possible. "If it would be helpful, I can show you what I do. Shannon has experienced it once." He nods once again. "When I first started learning, I could only convince a body to heal slightly faster than is normal."

He goes quiet and nods about remembering things that have been said. And as the wrist is slashed so brutally, that fan does not stop it's slow motion. Even with the appearance of the blood, the fan doesn't stop, nor even pause in the slightest. Zhao, at least, is perfectly calm in the moment. "Will this severe an injury heal in about the same amount of time as a cut to the palm?" He sounds curious, but there is no stress to his voice. Nothing but a serene calm.

Nightingale has posed:
     "Son of a bitch...." Indeed, that quick, deep, long cut alarms Shannon to no end. While yes, she does know Dr. McCoy's regeneration would let him heal in just a few minutes from a deeper cut like that, it's still a few minutes in which a fair amount of blood could be lost. This, she could not allow to happen. There was no need for her to restrain her gifts. Anybody with even the slightest modicum of knowledge of anatomy would realize that most, if not all of the veins and arteries in that area of the arm would have been sliced open.

     Without even a second thought, her hands dart out, closing around Dr. McCoy's forearm. First, in a bid to hold the wound closed and staunch the bleeding. But as she closes her eyes to try and restrain her gift, it's a little bit too late. The connection between her biofield and her mentor's is established, quick as thought, and the transference of the wound begins. She hisses softly as her body begins to draw on the injury, to absorb it and blunt the pain that he must be feeling. In turn, her own flesh, pristine and whole, begins to part, and her blood begins to flow from the ensuing cut instead. The needles on the EEG swing wildly to and fro, as the whole process is taking place....

Vitali Svyatoslav has posed:
There's a blink, and then another blink, and Vitali gives a small shake of his had. A whodsywhatsit? He stares at the doctor, and there's not a hint of recognition at all for what an electro encephalograph might be. He tilts his head faintly to one side, glances to Shannon, and then looks back to the doctor. And he gives a small nod, at the last part explained about working lungs. He looks towards Zhao for a moment, but his own understanding of lungs and how they work is likely less -- he knows how lungs are supposed to feel to his senses whilst working inside a body, how they're not supposed to feel and how to fix them with his magic. It's a different sort of understanding that he has. "Try to figure out how parts work together for making healing?" Vitali asks softly, a bit of curiosity to his voice.

He blinks a little bit, again, then tilts his head slightly to one side. "Biofield?" he asks, speaking the word with uncertainty and some hesitation. This, he doesn't understand. Then he gives a small nod. "Can heal whenever have need," he says, a small smile coming to his features. It uses energy, but since the cut isn't expected to be too bad then it shouldn't use much in any particular go. He stays near to Zhao, not feeling any particular need to move to anywhere else in the moment.

He tilts his head slightly to one side when Hank says he'll need to stress out Shannon, and then... then there's a lot of blood. And that much blood is generally a very bad thing. He shifts his weight slightly forward but doesn't take the step, remembering what had been said. Without looking away from the doctor, he looks over the wounds. "Would expect longer. Deeper cuts," he says quietly, a thoughtful tone to his voice. It's only when Shannon's gift has done it's work and the cuts have been fully transferred that Vitali steps forward and towards Shannon. Lifting his left hand, he brings his fingers to rest upon her forearm, his concentration focusing and a faint murmur of sound slipping past his lips. He is calm, and at ease, solid in his knkowledge of what his healing is able to do. This, Shannon has experienced before, and there's a slight warming around the wounds as he uses his healing to close them and leave nary a scar behind to the flesh freshly knit back together.

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy looks ever so slightly annoyed in the wake of all of /this/. He does however, cast a glance to the EEG, which shows that a lot of activity occurs when she intends to do, but instinctual gut reaction takes over. Different areas of the brain fire up, when intent and instinctual gut-reaction occur. He replies to Zhao: "About two minutes, three at the outside for one such as this. But we have learned something," and here he looks to Shannon, narrowing his eyes to half-mast and sniffing with a twist of nose and lips to the side. "Miss Shannon here, acts before she thinks." He reaches for a rag to clean off his arm of blood, providing a fresh one to Shannon also, because yes: Lots of blood.

Xiang Zhao has posed:
Xiang Zhao tilts his head as he watches. "Biofield seems to be another word for internal energy. Qi." He doesn't seem to mind Vitali standing near to him. And even as Vitali leans forward, Zhao reaches out with that fan and places it between Vitali and the Doctor. Once he's satisfied that the Siberian isn't moving forward any further, only then does Zhao withdraw his fan. It goes back to waving lazily, wafting a breeze gently toward his own face.

This time, when the Siberian leans forward, Zhao doesn't interfere. This time it's to do what had been asked of him, to heal Shannon. He waits, the fan waving slowly. Up until the point where the wound has been healed. Then there's a sharp snicking sound, accompanied by the softer sussuration of silk on silk, as the fan is closed in a single fluid motion.

And what does Zhao do then? Well, Zhao does what a Zhao does best. He reaches out and thwaps the fan right to the middle of Shannon's forehead. "Think before you act."

But oh no, Zhao's not done. The fan flicks out and points straight at Henry, but without any thwacking this time. "The point of this excercise is to teach Shannon to control, not react on instinct. If you give yourself such damage, she is not going to control it, but react on pure instinct. A less severe wound would be a better idea."

Zhao dark eyes go back to Shannon, and the fan flicks open with that soft sound of silk on silk, but no snap this time. He goes back to waving it. "Can you bring your qi to the fore consciously? Like what you did, your qi touched the Doctor's, only hold it out, without the touch?"

Nightingale has posed:
     This time, when Shannon's hands come up, they're to cover her face, her wings snapping into place in front of her like a warm, feathery shield. But it's not quick enough to block Zhao's fan from striking her on the forehead like a naughty puppy caught in the act of piddling on the carpet. "Owwww...! Sorry!"

     She sighs a little bit, and shakes her head. "I don't know. Every single time I use my gift, it's relied on touch." She frowns, chewing her lower lip. "I've... been able to use it as a diagnostic tool, partially restraining it. A full healing wouldn't take place, but... it's very, very difficult to hold back. Everything in me screams to make that person's pain stop."

Vitali Svyatoslav has posed:
Once the healing has been done, Vitali eases his hand away from Shannon's arm and then he gives a small nod to the winged woman. He looks towards Hank, and there's a slight flicker of what might be amusement that shows in his dark eyes. Lifting his right hand, he focuses his concentration again before making a faint gesture of his fingers at the same time as what he murmurs something -- it's not Russian, but it's centuries older. Water, cool and soothing, washes over the arms of Shannon and Henry both, whisking away the blood and drawing all of the blood to it from where it may have fallen upon clothing and the like, including the rag that Henry holds. The separate streams of water pull together into a twining sphere of it, lowering to the floor to gather up any blood that had spilled there as well. Vitali gives a slight flick of his fingers, and the water simply is gone, sent back from whence it had come.

He hadn't minded that Zhao had blocked him from stepping forward -- the sight of so much blood is a thing that causes a sort of gut instinct reaction to act. He looks to Zhao, and one of his eyebrows quirks up at the thwap of the fan to Shannon's forehead. Tee! It's not him, this time! He -knows- what that's like! He wisely doesn't comment on it. And he moves then to step back a bit, watching Zhao and tilting his head faintly to one side as he listens to the questions posed.

He tilts his head a bit to one side, looking over to Shannon. "Need to quiet scream. Da? Want to stop pain, is good, but not good if kill self to do. Maybe... feel wound first, fix only little bit. Leave rest. Maybe will work, maybe not. Am not knowing," he offers, a soft tone to his voice.

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy watches the wonder of the whisking away of blood with a child-like expression on his face. Sometimes, a gift really does elicit that sense of awe. It ends with a grin and then sobriety as he looks from the vanishing ball of water, to Zhao. "I apologise. However, Vitali demonstrated it and expressed it very well in his own way: when it comes to the moment, it is very hard to hold back. It is a difference in training, whether in practical measures or mystical means. For you and I, master Zhao, we can clearly perceive what must be done, because of that specific training. For those that react to lessen the pain, it is harder to look beyond, despite what they are told. I wished to see how much must be worked upon and we have an answer."

He looks back to Shannon then, nodding to her nodding toward Vitali's suggestions, but couching it in more western terms. "You know, in your conscious mind, that what I am doing to myself is not fatal. You have had it demonstrated to you, how fast I heal. You -know- this. Now, you must take that knowledge and resist the instinct. You actively have to quiet the scream. Take a breath, /then/ act. A breath takes a moment and for the injury you will face, a single beat will not mean life or death. You will be better for being able to -help- without risking going down. Again!" Although as a testament to Zhao's words, he does not cut quite as deep this time. AND she knows it is coming. "Touch, but do not let your urge to staunch the wound interfere with your knowledge of triage. You want to stop the flow of blood, then concentrate on what naturally occurs. There is clotting factor. It usually begins at five seconds. Make it start at three."

Xiang Zhao has posed:
Xiang Zhao remains just as calm and unruffled as before, despite the wings trying, and failing, to block him. When he wants to, Zhao can strike as quick as a snake! At least it hadn't been a terrifically /hard/ thwap. The thing is weighted wood. He wouldn't want to give a concussion, afterall. "Hm. Perhaps try that, but only let a little through. Do not let it all loose at once. Hold almost all of it back."

Here, Zhao is briefly distracted by the magic in the air as Vitali does his water cleaning spell. "Watching that will never get old," he says, a thread of warmth held in his voice. He doesn't miss the reaction to the thwap Shannon had gotten, though. He lifts the fan and gestures with it toward Vitali, as though to say, 'be careful, bub, you could be next!'. Not that he does, just now. Nope, he goes back to fanning himself. There is a nod at what Vitali says.

He inclines his head toward Henry. "We already knew how much need to be worked upon, from experience. Shannon's instinct to heal, without regard for herself, is great." He fixes a look on Shannon at that, and then looks back to the Doctor. He watches, now, in silence. Control. And now Shannon knows the fan is in play. Knows that if there is reaction without thought, the fan will be used to disagree with that behavior.

Nightingale has posed:
     "I may know it's not fatal up here..." Shannon taps her forehead. "But in here's a much different story." She taps immediately over her heart. A deeper sigh escapes her, and briefly she rubs her temples. "I already knew there wouldn't be much I could do with my gifts in the state they're in to help Warren, out in the field that one time. The best I could do would be traditional field medicine, get him home, and hope for the best. I've had adults telling me to guard myself and not go down or I'd be no good to anybody. Hell, I've had the god of the ocean tell me the same thing. This..."

     She bites her lower lip, looking between all three of them. "...I'm not sure how to do a partial healing. I was healing Megan once and she tried to pull away from me in the middle of it. It almost killed me. Very literally. If Triage hadn't been there, we might not even be having this conversation."

     Shannon flinches as Dr. McCoy repeats the cut across his arm, a single tear falling. She knew it was coming, knew it was for teaching, but she did not like it one bit. She forces herself to watch the blood flow for a moment, taking a deep breath. Already, the needles are starting to swing on the EEG as she tries to fight instinct. It seems to be doing some measure of good, as their to-and-fro dance is not quite as wild. When she closes her eyes to reach out and touch her mentor's arm, again, the battle against instinct intensifies. The flow of blood begins to slow, and there is a reddening of flesh along her forearm, corresponding to his wound.

     But this time, it takes longer to open, and bleed, by more than a few seconds.

Vitali Svyatoslav has posed:
It's a gift that Vitali seems to use with extreme ease, that summoning and controlling of water that he does. But then, it's an ability that he's had for a lot of years, and he's had a lot of practice with it. His dark gaze turns to Henry, and he tilts his head a touch to one side, listening to the words spoken. "Is needing practice. Training. Have had heal gift for many years, use many times. Is... instinct. Is hard for see past blood, sometimes. Want for save life, for fix," Vitali says, his brow furrowing a little bit. And he gives a small nod, agreeing with the rest of what Hank says. "Da, breathe, assess, act," he says softly.

He stays back a bit, returning to stand next to Zhao, watching as the cut is made again, though this time less deeply. His gaze turns to Zhao, and he tilts his head a touch to one side before he ducks his chin, a bit of colour creeping to his cheeks. "Could use more often, if like. Not take much," he says softly, a smile quirking at the corners of his lips. And it doesn't, really, so long as he doesn't summon the maximum amount of water at any given moment. He eyes the fan for a moment, and softly clears his throat. Yes. Yes, he very well knows he could be next. He's been there!

"Need control. Need practice. Come in time, with use," Vitali says softly, giving a small nod. "Is why are here, da? For give practice. Is learning," he adds, a small smile coming to his lips. No one likes to see the blood of someone that they care about being spilled. It's not a fun thing. But there are times when it's a necessary thing. He watches, and after a moment, he shifts to step forward towards Shannon. It's only once her healing has finished (he doesn't want to interrupt it) that he actually reaches out to her forearm once again, with his right hand. And he focuses, giving that soft murmur, his magic slipping into Shannon in order to work his healing once again to knit the wounds closed and, just as before, leave nary a scar behind. He slips his hand from her and, with a slight shift of his focus, a murmur and a gesture of his left hand to bring the water back in order to cleanse once again.

Beast has posed:
"That is enough. Well done, Shannon. I apologize for the pain, but I do not apologize for the learning." Hank smiles at her then, gesturing to the bags he carried in here, with the medical equipment. Inside of them are high energy foods; some sausage rolls, a few portuguese tarts, packets of potato chips and gatorade, which does help with some aspects as a quick fix, though no matter of quick fix can compensate for good diet overall. He then looks to Zhao and Vitali. "Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. This kind of training is very hard to do, because it can be fatal without being handled properly. I..." he hestitates then continues, because it is necessary.

"I would appreciate your assistance again, in the future. This measure of training must be repeated, for practice, but it will get worse. More dangerous. It's the nature of life to be unfortunately complex." He nods to both men, gravely and seriously, then stoops to the bags he brought, bringing out a couple of gifts. Both are edible -- a Moon festival cake for Zhao and a honey cake for Vitali -- "I also would be glad to buy us all dumplings from downstairs. I understand that they're quite fantastic. They even do Momos. I think the wife is tibettan."

Xiang Zhao has posed:
Xiang Zhao nods to Shannon's words. "That is why you need practice. Why you need to make yourself stop and think before you act. Instinct will kill you. Maybe not this time, or next time, but maybe the time after." He shakes his head a little bit. "They may be right about if you go down, but if none allow you practice, you will never get good enough to heal and not go down." He is quiet now, as he watches the battle in progress. Both what is visible to the naked eye, as well as what is visible to his magical senses. He nods and then does something that happens very, very rarely. Zhao's left hand uncurls from where it was behind his back. The fan stills. His left hand reaches out to rest on Shannon's shoulder, once it is done. "That was a very good first try at control. Much better than the first try. Now, you need more practice. To keep trying to gain control."

He withdraws a moment later, retreating back to where he'd been before. His fan goes back to waving. His left hand moves to rest at the small of his back. Relaxed and calm. "If you like, when you like," he says, of using water for cleaning. Or anything else. "If you would like to practice more, and the Doctor is not available, I will take the injury for you to heal." He knows, either way, he'll wind up healed. Everyone will.

He shakes his head to Henry. "Pain is part of life. Part of being alive. Without pain is only oblivion." He nods then, at the request to help again. "Of course we will help. Shannon is our friend." He thinks nothing of speaking for both himself and Vitali here. He knows Vitali's feelings when it comes to anyone who is a friend.

At the presentation of the mooncake, Zhao's eyes practically light up. His left hand uncurls again, and he accepts the cake, then cups his hands together, the left holding his mooncake, the right holding his fan, and bows with the hands extended toward Henry. "Thank you. For the yuebing as well as the offer of dumplings. I would be happy for dumplings. They are very good here. As are the momos. And she is. We have exchanged some recipes." That should surprise exactly noone here. By this point, Henry would have been invited to partake in dinner or lunch with Zhao's cooking, at the cabin during the tail end of their recuperating.

Translations: Yuebing - Mooncake.

Nightingale has posed:
     Once the healing on both sides is complete, Shannon takes a few moments to breathe deeply. Healing on instinct was never easy. Attempting to rein in that instinct was even harder. "It was a lot easier with Josh, the first time, figuring out a sort of 'passive mode' for my gifts. To feel without letting the connection complete. That's actually proven to be a very effective diagnostic tool." She shakes her head lightly, peeling away the EEG contacts from her head, and looking at the readouts from both healings. She just looks confused for a moment. "Once the healing begins, though, I have yet to be able to stop it. And if it's stopped forcibly, that's very dangerous for me."

     She sighs a little bit, reaching for one of the Gatorades in the bag, and twisting the top off, taking a good, healthy slug of the stuff, thinking for a moment. "You have no idea how many times I had it out with miss Pryde over this. She wanted my safety. But I wanted... -needed- training. Yet with a gift like mine, it's a very difficult line to walk. I could see her point, but at the same time, without training, it's just a matter of time, like Vitali said." Her grip on the bottle of Gatorade tightens, her knuckles starting to lighten, and her brows furrowing. "There's so much more I could do, if I could figure out how to actually harness this gift. But how do I even begin to -ask- for help, when I can also understand the concern for safety? It's... a very frustrating place to be in."

     Dr. McCoy, Vitali, and Zhao all get a look from her, with mists gathering in her eyes now, a smile of gratitude forming on her lips. "Thank you. Spasibo. Xiexie. And... yes, Zhao, I remember there's another form, for a very great gift given, but I forgot how to say it." Each of them gets a brief hug of thanks--even Zhao!

Vitali Svyatoslav has posed:
"Learning important. Pain sometimes important. Pain sometimes help learning, da," Vitali says, giving a small nod, a hint of a smile touching at the corners of his lips. His dark gaze turns to Henry, and he gives a small nod. "Are welcome. Pozhaluysta. Am glad for helping, for being able to help," he says, his tone sincere. "Can be bad, da, but all go well," he adds. He tilts his head faintly to one side, and then he gives a small nod. "Da, of course. Whenever are wishing. Start with small things, then make worse bit by bit. Is way of learning. Willing to help, in all ways," he says in a soft tone. He looks to Zhao and smiles as he gives a nod, easily agreeing.

As the gifts are given to both Zhao and himself, he takes a moment to blink with a bit of surprise before looking to it, and then he looks to Henry. "Medovik! Ah, spasibo! Have not had in long time," he says, truly grateful and his dark eyes bright. "Have many thanks, is very kind," he adds. Even with the healing and the use of water that he'd done, he doesn't seem lacking in any way.

"All gifts take practice for... to... master. Me, learn heal before even see ten summers. Water, ice, same. Practice, very much," he says softly, his brow furrowing a little bit. He looks to Zhao, then back to Shannon, and he gives a small nod. "As Zhaoshenka say, was very good. Control come with more practice," he says, a reassuring note to his voice. His gaze returns to Zhao, and there's a smile that quirks at the corners of his lips as he gives a nod. "Like using water," he says softly, his dark eyes showing a sparkle to them. And he does. Then he tilts his head to one side. "Dumplings? Momo?" he asks, one of his eyebrows quirking a touch. He has a different name for dumplings and doesn't know what to connect the English word to!

"Will try to stop healing, later. Not next time, likely. Time after, maybe. See what happen," Vitali says softly, giving a small nod to Shannon, a hint of a smile touching his lips. "Hardest thing, is to ask for help. Da? Is best thing, as well. Need help, with training. With practice. Will get there. Have faith," he adds, his smile returning. There's a soft murmur from him at the unexpected hug, and he slips an arm around her to hug her in turn. "Are welcome, Shannon. Always, da."

Xiang Zhao has posed:
"Xiexie ni, or doh je. Doh je is the most formal, the strongest." The hug... well. It's Zhao. He goes entirely still. Even the fan stops moving. He does not hug back, either. The fan remains still after the brief hug has been released, and his eyes are just a tad bit wide! Zhao never knows just what to do when it comes to hugging or more serious touch than a hand on a shoulder, very briefly. He nods, once, briefly, about taking things bit by bit. "Start small. Work from there. Practice small. Make it a little easier."

For himself, he seems to be entirely back to his usual self. And there seems to be no shortness of breath at all! So this is good. He smiles at Vitali's statement that he likes using water. It's a good thing! "Dumplings and momo are the same thing, prepared a little different. Momo are a type of dumpling from Tibet." He nods about trying to stop the healing. "You can try to stop the healing. That will probably be less dangerous than if we try to stop the healing." He nods with Vitali. "Always willing to help."