Cerilaine watched him, her fur calming as he turned. Farina? Who was Farina? Apparently they'd have rewards too- and Cerilaine's mind turned at that, wondering what kind of reward was offered. Something this being wanted, it seemed?

She followed his hand as he picked up the pieces on the ground, ears folding back. "How do you expect to put them on me?" she questioned, reaching forward to inspect the offered rocks. "But glowing... May be good." She looked up for a brief moment, considering. "Are you restricted to any color that isn't blue?"

She pulled back once she was done looking over the crystals, snorting. "And for this, you want me to just swim somewhere and find a key? How many others are roped into this?" She hesitated for a moment, looking between Attikias's expecting face and the soon to be earrings.

She groaned. "Fine. I guess it won't hurt to go to Fornax. It's not like I'm doing anything here, anyways." She hissed out from under her breath, shutting her eyes before she rolled them again.

"I'll be honest, I've never pierced ears before," he confessed, pulling back once Cerilaine was done looking at them. "I can do blue, though. And I can go to Fornax with you and see if anybody who can do water breathing'll show up." He tilted his head, before looking down to the items, already pressing Carja's nail to the center of one.

"No- you'll be finding someone's stone. The key's needed to go into the city. We don't know-" and he paused, twisting the claw into the surface of the crystal and getting nowhere.

"... I might need to use something else. Hold on-" Reaching to the side, he pulled close two actual rocks, looking as though they'd been discarded a while ago. This, he could edge the nail into, and this he could carve- but he'd need to gem form it if he wanted it to look good.

Once he'd gotten into the rhythm of it, the earrings were easy to smooth out, the nail twisting this way and that and giving it a nice curve. One edge was left open- supposedly to slot over, or through, Cerilaine's ear later.

"But, there were a lot of people willing to help the Blacksmith. I made some beads before to help them out, so I'm hoping this'll be good." He looked up at Cerilaine without moving his head. "It's um- It's important, I think. And you can check it out, and back out, if it gets too dangerous." And he continued to work, shaping the rocks into rings that would fit nicely in Cerilaine's ears.

Cerilaine watched, casually, as he worked, calming a bit more and sitting. The fact that he'd never pierced ears before was concerning- but it seemed he'd know enough about it to let Ceri give him some trust. Her ears turned forward, and she curled her tail about herself, watching as he stroked the claw over the rock.

"How do you plan on making it stay on?" She asked. Nevermind the rest of what he said- she was still thinking, considering if she wanted to help, what rewards there would be--

What knowledge she'd get out of it.

Tucking her limbs in a little more, Cerilaine tilted her head as she leaned in.

"I'm gonna gem-form it," he uselessly explained, finishing off the curve of the second, smaller earring, looking down at his work. "I know I said I wasn't good at magic, but, y'know, it'll work." He put the rings down- done, now- and huffed out. "Or, it should. Are you ready for ear piercing?"

At her question- will it hurt?- he shook his head. "It shouldn't. Ears aren't very sensitive." Or, his weren't- and he lined up the talon with Cerilaine's ear, his hand coming up to gently hold it and stretch it out. "Alright, one quick, easy pierce."

He steeled himself, before quickly slicing the talon into the leopard's ear.

When he pulled back, he could see the blood on its tip before he saw the hole in her ear. He pierced it alright, but he winced as he lost his grip.

Cerilaine's eyes watched the rings when he put them down, squinting. It'll work? Hrmh. Shaking herself out, Cerilaine sat still and pushed her ears forward, letting Attikias take one in his hand. "Y'think this might hurt?" she asked, staring at him with thin pupils.

She might trust him about whatever rewards there were, but she didn't trust this.

She was right not to, because the moment the talon went through her skin, deep-rooted panic flooded her mind. Pain shot through her over-sensitive ears, and she yelped as she snapped her head away, blood already dripping down.

"You said it wouldn't HURT," she yowled, scrambling backwards. One paw flew up to her ear- and seeing the amount of blood, she cried out again. "Caves alive, you wanted to do that TWICE?" Slamming her paw on her ear to staunch the bleeding, she curled back her lips and hissed at Attikias, eyes pinpricks.

"And you're SURE this is WORTH IT?" Her tail lashed as she stared, bristling at the elf.

Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:

gore

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Attikias froze. Quickly, his hands came up, the one dropping the talon as he tried to get closer to Cerilaine. "It's okay! I'm sorry- you'll be fine!" Even as she backed away from his hands, he splayed out his fingers, trying to show that he didn't mean this.

"Hold on, let me-- we need to stop the bleeding-" Reaching forward, Attikias pulled Cerilaine's paw off of her ear with a good amount of effort before putting his own finger at the hole, pinching it shut as Cerilaine hyperventilated beneath him. "It's okay. Shh-shsh, it'll be okay-"

They needed something there to block that bleeding, though. One thing he had, was the earring- quickly taking it in his hand, he finangled it over Cerilaine's ear and slid it into place, blood trailing out the other side as he rotated it.

"Stay still, and I can get the other one in." There was a long moment, where he waited for her response- but when he got it, he only nodded and picked up the talon again.

"Yeah, I'll... Count down this time. On one, okay?" He breathed in again and pressed the talon into place, aiming for an area with less veins.

"Three. Two. One-" And he dug the talon in, less blood this time. Quickly, he reached behind himself and got the second smaller earring, putting that in too and moving it so the empty part faced the outside.

"There. We're done."

Cerilaine's lips curled back again when she felt the earring go in, hissing at the touch inside the new wound. It stung, so much, and she could feel tears beading at her eyes-

But she'd be fine. She had to be fine. Struggling to control her breathing, she shut her eyes tight and leaned against the freezing cold of her ice, grounding her in the moment.

It was a hole. It would heal, and it would be worth it. She repeated these words over and over in her mind, eyes shut as her breathing calmed, her fur settling as the pain set in. "Can you not make it bleed this time?" She huffed, her teeth gritting. Probably not, but she'd manage.

Tensing, Cerilaine kept her eyes shut as Attikias crowded her, breathing in time with his counting. At one, she tensed further, her ear tugging back- but not out of his grip- as the pain sprung up again. "Get it in," she hissed, eyes tight as her fur raised again.

Oh, how she wished she knew healing magic.

She shuddered as the second earring went in, shaking as her nerves got the best of her, ears folding back the moment Attikias let go of them. "What now?" She peeled open one eye to look at Attikias, her expression pained.

Attikias sighed as he rocked back on his feet, wiping Cerilaine's blood off on his pants. "Now, I try some magic." Leaning to the side, Attikias scooped up some sand that'd built up in a crack- from some lessers passing, or life going on, or anything. It wasn't a lot, but enough to wrap around the earrings' holes and get them shut with the forming.

He had the magic flowing through him, ready to solidify the rocks into gems, when the dusty sand turned to blackened ash in his hands. "Wh-" He squinted down to it, opening his palm and staring.

It would still work, but that's definitely not what he'd meant.

Breathing in again, Attikias leaned in to wrap his hand around one earring's hole, pressing the ashy sand between it. Following the strain of magic use, he pressed it in harder, letting it envelop the rock that laid in Cerilaine's ear.

It compressed a lot, getting smaller than it was- which was understandable, given the substrate. Rocks to gem- it'd be a lot of shrinking, with that, but his plan worked- the earring shut with the ash, forming a rough blue tourmaline earring on her ear.

Moving quickly, he kept the magic channeling as he sealed shut the second earring, this one rough, too, and a lighter blue. "There. Uhh- now, lemme bauble one."

Attikias leaned to the side when Cerilained turned her head, giving her a moment to get used to it. He didn't need to touch it, this time- and, focusing his hand over the surface, he let more of his magic flow into his fingertips as he focused on the upper, smaller earring.

Slowly, a strong blue began to glow from the earring, illuminating the surrounding area and casting a shadow on the other side of her face, soft yet noticeable. "There." He sighed as he leaned back, letting his hands hang off of his knees now that everything was done. He'd wait for her to recover before talking again, hands coming together to hold one another.

"If you want, you can find someone to enchant the bottom one, or help find the key- it's some... Stone, with glyphs on it?" He shrugged slightly. "If you want to help, I'm gonna wait in Fornax for a little bit until everyone sets off. I'm sure people know the water spell there, and I can get it set into the earring for you there. It'd be useful."

He stood, nodding, looking at the ice. "Or, if you wanted to look for the key, it might be in Leo. I was thinking of stopping that way and checking in with the Blacksmith again, but uhh- I was also just coming to check out this cave, really."

Tilting his head, he eyed Cerilaine's earrings. "Will you be okay?"