( a shard of paranoid instinct causes john to initially shrink back at cid's approach, though it doesn't take him longer than a second or two to realize that he'd done so out of concern. what... a pleasant surprise. he grits through another wave of pain surges from the injury in his shoulder as a minor shift in his posture aggravated it, muttering under his breath to his fellow Zenite, ) It's - really, don't worry yourself too much about it, I - ngh, I know it may be, ah, hard to believe, but I'll - I'll probably end up fine...
( and while cid's healing spell can't do much about the bolt currently spearing all the way through his shoulder (not much to be done about that until it's removed), it actually does alleviate some of the pain and helps staunch the bleeding. ) Thank you, ( he continues in undertone, tone fervent. his dark gaze flickers between manon, his flanking meridian, where cid and zhongli stand closer to where he's pinned. ) If - ( he's already hating the idea of what he's about to say, but it's the quickest way he can see out of this, ) if you can snap off the rest of the arrow here, ( his left hand marks a place in blood a few inches from where it protrudes out of his shoulder, ) I can probably - pull myself off the rest of it.
( God, it's going to hurt like bloody hell, but there's not really a path out of this situation that won't.
it is, at least, a welcome snap of relief from somewhere deep in his chest when manon agrees. some of the non-injury related tension eases from john's expression, and he nods his assent a little too eagerly. ) Yes - of course. ( he's read enough statements of those who had fallen victim to the Spiral to know that what actually happened is sometimes far less important than what the individual believes they experienced. or, well, it is to him as far as his gnawing hunger is concerned. it would likely be less useful for them in getting to the heart of this problem between Zenith, Meridian, and Aetós, but they can cross that bridge when they get to it.
he's... definitely filing away that little tidbit about memory alteration for later, but for now, he continues, ) Whatever it is you can remember. Whatever it might be - it's important, what you went through, how you felt, ( it's back again. that restless, ravening undercurrent to his words, but there's actually no compulsion accompanying it this time. manon had agreed to tell them, and he's trying to respect his agency in that. so instead he lends as much of the borrowed power of Beholding as he can, bolstering what pieces of memory he might have left to him, entreating insidiously for what details of fear and pain the Eye could feast on. ) Tell us all that you can.
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( and while cid's healing spell can't do much about the bolt currently spearing all the way through his shoulder (not much to be done about that until it's removed), it actually does alleviate some of the pain and helps staunch the bleeding. ) Thank you, ( he continues in undertone, tone fervent. his dark gaze flickers between manon, his flanking meridian, where cid and zhongli stand closer to where he's pinned. ) If - ( he's already hating the idea of what he's about to say, but it's the quickest way he can see out of this, ) if you can snap off the rest of the arrow here, ( his left hand marks a place in blood a few inches from where it protrudes out of his shoulder, ) I can probably - pull myself off the rest of it.
( God, it's going to hurt like bloody hell, but there's not really a path out of this situation that won't.
it is, at least, a welcome snap of relief from somewhere deep in his chest when manon agrees. some of the non-injury related tension eases from john's expression, and he nods his assent a little too eagerly. ) Yes - of course. ( he's read enough statements of those who had fallen victim to the Spiral to know that what actually happened is sometimes far less important than what the individual believes they experienced. or, well, it is to him as far as his gnawing hunger is concerned. it would likely be less useful for them in getting to the heart of this problem between Zenith, Meridian, and Aetós, but they can cross that bridge when they get to it.
he's... definitely filing away that little tidbit about memory alteration for later, but for now, he continues, ) Whatever it is you can remember. Whatever it might be - it's important, what you went through, how you felt, ( it's back again. that restless, ravening undercurrent to his words, but there's actually no compulsion accompanying it this time. manon had agreed to tell them, and he's trying to respect his agency in that. so instead he lends as much of the borrowed power of Beholding as he can, bolstering what pieces of memory he might have left to him, entreating insidiously for what details of fear and pain the Eye could feast on. ) Tell us all that you can.