Hey, Do You Know Anything About Crab Bites? [Active/Closed]

[geekofthegate]

Characters: Daniel Jackson, Kida
Content: After being rescued from the worst three days he's had in Manhatten, Daniel convinces the search party to drop him off at Kida's place as he is reeeally tired of being outside and it's close by. He soon finds out that Kida knows more about healing than just how to use bandages.
Location: Kida's apartment
Time

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[geekofthegate]

Ah. Everyone was gone now. Daniel shook himself back to full alertness at the sound of Kida's voice; now wasn't the time to be dozing off. Gritting his teeth, he carefully pushed himself up into a sitting position, leaning at an angle against the back and couch arm. As she tucked the sheet behind his back and arm, he felt awkwardly conscious of the fact that he was probably going to get blood all over her couch soon, especially when they removed the long-dried-on bandages. He'd have to find a way to make it up to her later for going to all this trouble on short notice

[crystalchamber]

Kida noticed a pause at her own request. She cocked her head over Daniel's hesitation and wondered if there was something he was hiding. If Kida had known of the awkwardness he felt, she simply would not have understood it. Her culture was used to men with bare or partially-bare chests and free of the connotations carried with one gender stripping in front of the other. Simply, it did not phase her. "Very well." She pulled the jacket off, but also slid it down the other arm as well so she could have it fully out of the way. With care she made sure the jacket's bloodied areas were on top.

Indeed, the bandages were a mess and half-wrapped over Daniel's shirt so that it too could help with the bleeding. She began to undo the gauze. "I will still need the shirt pulled up. The collar is too high and the wound too long to pull the collar down." It wasn't long before she got to not just damp bandages, but soaked ones. A little blood trickled down his arm, which Kida ineffectually wiped away with the back of her hand.

[geekofthegate]

Daniel hissed between his teeth reflexively as she pulled the gauze off; some of the blood-soaked parts had dried and stuck to the skin, and as they worked together to get his black undershirt off, he had to bear the discomfort as bits of cloth that had been sunk in by the crab's teeth were tugged loose. But finally, they had both off, and Daniel got a new look at the ugly bite wound

[crystalchamber]

With a thoughtful sigh, Kida examined the bite wound. It was bad, but she'd seen worse. She dipped the cloth into the water and began to wipe away the dried blood and the clots. Her touch was firm, and knowing it would be painful, she placed her other hand on his back to steady him. Wiping everything away worsened the bleeding a little, but Daniel was far from bleeding out and this could potentially still wash away infection.

Kida raised a brow at his words, and she was almost ready to comment on her own ability to heal when he mentioned a familiar name. Cocking her head, she asked, "You know of Sora? And be not afraid, your body is strong, it could heal this." She did not know the boy well, but she intended on meeting him one day. Yet by that statement, could the youth heal wounds as well?

That being said, she still wanted to heal this herself. A wound such as this could still become infected easily and it was pointless letting him be vulnerable to additional parasite attacks.

[geekofthegate]

Daniel nodded, doing his best not to wince as she cleaned the sore wound. "Yeah, he...uh, helped a friend of mine." Oops. Wasn't supposed to reveal Sora's healing power. He bit his lip, hoping that she either already knew about it or hadn't understood what he meant. Trust pain to lower one's gaurd when it came to secrets. He kept his voice nonchalant as he covered for himself. "Nice kid, seems to know a lot of people. I thought he might know somebody who knew about these things." Well, that was technically true.

He sighed and let his head fall back against the couch. She obviously hadn't understood what he meant about the wound not healing. "Well, the wound itself wouldn't be so bad, but from what I've heard, only particular people can heal a bite from one of those crab creatures."

[crystalchamber]

Kida missed the implication that Sora could heal. Even so, she still wouldn't have understood the full signifigance of it. "He is a very nice boy, from what I know of him. For his age, he seems very well adapted to the hardships of this place."

Kida paused and a look of pure bewilderment crossed her face. "I do not understand. Why? What must one do to heal a bite such as this?" More importantly, what had she been doing right? She'd successfully healed two bites, one of which was her own quite some time ago.

Though her movements were made to clean the rag in the water, her eyes were on the pendant on the floor. It was slowly sinking in that she had yet another thing to be grateful for from the Mother Crystal.

[geekofthegate]

Daniel nodded, gritting his teeth in a painful grimace when she dabbed the wet cloth against one of the bite holes. "Ye-ah, he's a good kid. Helped out a friend of mine a while back." He was careful not to make any notation about HOW Sora had helped, since that steered into the secretive healing area.

At Kida's question, Daniel's eyes widened in surprise. He sat up a little staighter, studying her with a perplexed expression. "You mean you don't know?"

Shaking his head, he growled at himself for being vague. Obviously she didn't know or she wouldn't be asking. Well, now was a great time to do some Crab Awareness education, then

[crystalchamber]

The woman's expression grew grave. Though her understanding of viruses was limited, she understood the connotation of "illness." "Then those that can cure those wounds... They are called Healers, are they not?"

Kida took her glowing crystal in her hand, holding the cord right above the pendant so that it laid on her finger. The following was something she planned to ask anyway, but now that she understood the seriousness of this, until she could consider this further it was even more important for this not to be known. "I need you to keep something a secret. Can you promise this?" Her tone was extremely firm, if not also commanding.

If she was part of a select few... This city was at least as large as her own. Keeping her home safe was her duty and her purpose. Yet how could she keep this ability from others? She pursed her lips.

[geekofthegate]

Daniel stared at her, eyes widened somewhat. The tone in her voice...the sudden apprehension...and...his eyes were drawn to the glowing blue crystal lying in her hand. His eyes cut from the crystal to the look in Kida's eyes, and back to the crystal...

No. Way. There was NO WAY he was that lucky.

Not even daring to hope that she was implying what he thought she was implying, Daniel nodded solemnly and promised. "Of course I'll keep a secret for you. I promise." His eyes narrowed slightly. "You can't possibly mean..."

[crystalchamber]

Judging by the lack of reply to her initial question, Kida guessed she was right.

Kida's reply came not in words, but in action. She came uncomfortably close to him, in part because her own culture's sense of personal space was smaller than America's. The pendant, cool to the touch, was run through the wound's marks before she held it in both hands. As they began to take on a subtle blue glow, she pressed them - hard - against the bite on either side of his shoulder. Kida pressed her lips together in concentration, then left two glowing handprints behind on Daniel's healed shoulder. The soothing glow slowly ebbed away.

She sighed, looking drained as she slouched, but looked back up at Daniel with the same seriousness as before.

[geekofthegate]

When she came close, he didn't react very strongly at all; the people of Abydos had similar reactions to personal space and he was used to accepting it when people showed this inclination. Anyway, his eyes were following the pendant, both suspicious and intrigued.

When she rubbed the pendant into the bite holes, he grimaced a little, but was surprised at how relaxing it felt. Then when she pressed - that got a sharp grunt of pain out of him

[crystalchamber]

The queen could not help but smile a bit at Daniel's reaction. She hadn't intended to shock the man.

"Nor did I." Kida closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, releasing it in a long sigh. "I had not known these bites are any different from that of most animals." She hummed a thoughtful note. "Perhaps that is why Giselle and Miwako were so surprised when I 'recovered' in a week from the bite I received."

Straightening, Kida readied her crystal again. "Now, you have yet one more wound, do you not?" She smiled slightly.

((Ooooh, it'll be blatantly obvious in a minute. XD))

[geekofthegate]

Daniel grinned in relief when she mentioned that even she hadn't known about it. "Well, good. That makes me feel less like an idiot," he chuckled.

Oh wow he couldn't even believe how much better he felt. The refreshed feeling in his shoulder was so nice that it almost made him forget about how badly the rest of his body still hurt. But her question brought it back into focus, and he winced again as the pain in his leg demanded that he pay attention to it

[crystalchamber]

Kida breathed a laugh through her nose and shook her head when he compared himself to a fool, making it clear she didn't agree

[geekofthegate]

Daniel was prepared this time, and he watched the healing process with intense fascination. Seeing the blue glow spread over the wound, sealing it shut seamlessly; feeling the pain dissipate like an exorcized ghost; it was an amazing thing to experience. It was almost a prettier version of how the Ancients healed, only this type was obviously supplimented by the crystal in her hand. He had to ask her what gave the crystal it's healing power, and

[crystalchamber]

At Daniel's first inquiry, she took in a deep breath and sighed a, "Yess," but it was quiet, and she knew it was unlikely to be heard. However, when he had lifted her head into his lap, her eyebrow raised ever so slightly.

This was certainly a disconcerting feeling. Kida felt no pain, nor was she numb. She could feel when Daniel picked up her limp form. And yet, despite all this, her muscles could not respond. Almost all the energy from her body had flowed out through her crystal. Breathing alone seemed to take a little more effort than it should.

"...I can." She closed her eyes a moment, mentally counting the three slow breaths as if she were watching second pass on a clock. Kida opened her eyes after the alloted time. "Is it finished?" She didn't move, but her eyes flickered to Daniel's leg.