It took her a minute to realize who she was looking at. She was sat half-huddled a little higher than midway up in the stone stands, her mind completely elsewhere, so that her eyes trailed along with Vivilene blindly for a moment. The beautiful hues of purple went unseen, until her brain at last registered, and she blinked. Oh-! That's Vivilene! There was a clatter of cloven hooves as she scrambled upright--dropping her drink accidentally. "Ah shit," she hissed, glancing down with a grimace, but what was done was done--so she shrugged and just left it behind.

It took her a few minutes to pick her way across the arena, around its circular rows of benches to the other side where Vivilene--now up high, near the back--was seated. Thalia didn't know if Vivilene was at all looking her way, but she periodically offered a bright smile and a rather exuberant wave up her way, though she had to watch her step rather than Vivilene herself. There was a lot of trash already left around up here, so that she picked her way carefully over popcorn and half-eaten, abandoned corn dogs.

Perfectly good food, she thought, and picked one up as she went, chewing on it absently. (Thalia could be sort of disgusting.)

By the time she reached Vivilene, at least, she was empty-handed; her previous thousand-yard thoughtful stare had turned into a broad grin. She was genuinely happy to see family here, though-... the thought did occur to her, as she came closer: if what she'd seen had bothered her, would Vivilene be okay-? The smile faltered only a little at the thought, but she forced it back as best she could.

"Hey!" she called up, speeding into a brief jog... or was that a trot? She hustled her way in a clicking scramble over the last few benches. "Vivilene, hey! What's up? How're you doing? Man, isn't this shit crazy?" She gestured out, wider-eyed, over the bloodied arena as a whole. It wasn't the sort of place, in retrospect, she'd expect to see the gentle faun, and so she scrunched up her nose with a quizzical smile as she looked back to her... well, whatever the relation was. It was definitely something. Half-sisters, at least... sort of?

"What're you doing here?" she asked--but it was a friendly question, and hardly a demand, as she scooted over to take a seat close by, uninvited.

Thalia blinked. Healing? "Cool..." she said, staring at Vivilene. She waited, though--taking the piece of roll with a grin and a nod of genuine thanks, popping it into her mouth and happily chewing it up as Vivilene quietly explained. She leaned a little closer to hear her over the din, nodding along, a little. At the question, though, she blinked and pulled back, looking at Vivilene with first a shocked expression, and then one of hilarity--"Fight?! Oh, hell no--I didn't even think of that!" The very idea was hilarious to her--her, fight!? It wasn't that she was laughing at Vivilene; her laughter was bright, spontaneous, surprised. "Nah, what am I gonna do, talk at them? You saw my magic; I can make little lights. That's still about it."

She sat for a moment in silence, chewing and swallowing the last of the bun, but her eyes sparkled with interest as she peered back toward her family. "What about you, though-? Healing? How's that work?" she asked, and her eyes locked riveted on Vivilene's. She'd never really heard of that before--not past vague descriptions of some magic--and the idea of using magic so strong it made one a dedicated healer (there to administer medical attention and nothing else!) was fascinating to her. Unless, of course, Vivilene meant, like... bandages, and stuff?

Thalia didn't know, but her hooves bobbed in the air with interest--and for now, the sight of a monster crushing a cat in her jaws was blissfully forgotten.

Her answering laugh was genuine--"I could," she agreed, good-naturedly, and shook her head with a grin: "but I don't think it'd end all that well." Teeth crushed into pelt, blood spilling, the crunch of bone- Her smile faltered, and she glanced away for a moment, hands smoothing over the black fur of her thighs as she forced cheer back onto her face. Forced her attention to what Vivilene was telling her.

That's some shit I'm not gonna forget, she thought to herself, but luckily, Vivilene's conversation was actually interesting, and in seconds the memory had passed in favor of Thalia's full attention on the seeds.

"Seeds-?" she asked, curiously, peering down at them. Black specks, really. "How'd you figure this stuff out?" she asked, and there was very real interest in it. Her mind was wandering over the possibilities: had Vivilene just... started eating everything she saw-? Or was there a maybe more reliable method to her learning process?

Nose scrunched up--one hand itching idly at the other forearm--as she tried to imagine the... "root goop." (And undoubtedly, if she hadn't spilled her fucking drink all over the other stands, she'd have offered hers to Vivilene but--oops.) "Can I ask, like--what took you down this path? I mean, to be a medic," Thalia clarified, with a quizzical smile. "I mean... don't get me wrong--it fits. If that makes sense? You've always been really nice," she explained, "and I'm guessing nobody wants a jerk of a medic, but what uhh..." Fingers scratched face, a bashful grin crossing Thalia's features. "Man, for someone who makes up poetry and songs, I'm pretty shit at words, sometimes."

It was an idle observation, self-mocking humor, and Thalia didn't even realize that it might be a bit of a stinging remark in Vivilene's presence; she never really thought about Vivilene's own struggles with language. It wasn't that she ignored it--it was that it had never affected their exchanges in a bad way. She accepted that about Vivilene, it was just a quirk to her, like any other. Hopefully, the deer-taur wouldn't take it badly. Hell, Thalia was still gesturing, still trying to find a phrase that fit. "But like... what drew you do it? I guess? Why'd medicine interest you, in particular?" Curiosity lit her eyes, and thankfully (or maybe not) there was no arena battle this conversation was distracting her from, because she'd have missed the entire thing.

'Words are hard' didn't garner so much as a second thought--just an agreeing grin and a somewhat bashful nod as she struggled to find her own. To her, it was conversation--come and gone--and the topic had moved on moments later. Words were a pain in the ass, sometimes, and later Thalia might reflect on the conversation the two had shared today and realize (in mild horror) her faint insensitivity. Right now, though, most of her mind was stuck on trying not to think about flat teeth crushing into a tawny-grey pelt...

The idea of jerky medics had her nose wrinkling up again, a sort of scrunchy, thoughtful expression. "Mmmmaybe?" she said, and shrugged at Vivilene, expression relaxing to open and happy. "I'd say I haven't met any jerky ones but I've hardly met any medics, so that's not--really a high bar," she went on. The offered hot dog offered a brief shake of head and hand, and a "I'd need a drink, first. I'm 'bout to get hiccups at this rate. I spilled mine," (cue a wistful glance back across the arena at all that Thalia had lost and left behind).

Then, she fell silent: her attention swept back to Vivilene, curious again. The dryad explained how she'd discovered the properties of the little red flowers and their tiny black seeds--and why she'd started searching to begin with. Thalia hadn't expected the turn of mood, either. It wasn't a bad thing, but it was sad, and for a minute she forgot they were at a loud, bloodied arena watching fights to the death below. Instead she was thinking about Vivilene when she'd been young: a scared kid, afraid of everything, crying alone in the trees.

It was sad as fuck, actually.

And the more Vivilene explained, the more touched Thalia actually felt. She was almost lost in the ideas, breathless with the intensity of the feeling, drifting from Vivilene's words to related sad scenarios. And when Vivilene paused, and asked her question, Thalia's attention snapped back.

She offered out a hand--as if to take Vivilene's own, if she allowed; a quiet and warm hand-holding, reassuring.
"No, it--makes total sense," she answered, all previoius loud bravado replaced by a quieter, more solemn softness. "Like-... I guess, why would anyone think to themselves, 'I need to help others,' if they haven't experienced terrible things themselves? You know what it's like--that makes sense. I think it takes a lot of--selflessness? Kindness, to put yourself out there for other people. So they don't have to experience the same thing. It's really good of you," she added, with a gentle smile at Vivilene.

Because--it was.

She couldn't imagine the work that must go into finding and perfecting the medicines. The courage to walk up to injured monsters like those in the ring, and offer aid. To stick one's hands in blood and mix up tea for murderers, or whatever it was Vivilene did down there. And for once, Thalia felt... ashamed. Not deeply, but she felt more keenly how all she did was lounge around the family camps drunk, singing and hitting a drum to an off-key tune, loud and cheerful. What did she actually offer anyone-? And here came quiet Vivilene, shy and unassuming, doing far more good and more work than she ever had.

Maybe it was time to start doing something with her life.

"Honestly, I didn't know you'd become a medic, but I think it's really brave of you," she started, offering up a filtered version of her own thoughts aloud. "Like, some of those things down there? Big. But I bet they're glad to have someone there to give them... I don't know, peace? Help?" She glanced down at the arena, and back at Vivilene again, a little wider-eyed, serious. "I know I would be. That's really cool," she finished, and wished she were a little more eloquent--a little more able to express her admiration... no, her thanks--for Vivilene's kindness in the world.