At least Indy hadn’t healed Blix’s right hand; she wasn’t sure she would have been able to cut it open again for the sake of this spell.  

Blix was sitting in a chair, staring off into space, when Indy interrupted her reverie. As had so recently been the case, it seemed to jolt her out of a fog. Indy leaned down and smoothed Blix’s hair back, planting a kiss on her forehead.

“Hey. I want to talk to you about something.”

Blix’s good eye met hers, and Indy gave a very basic overview of what she’d been looking into over the past couple of weeks. She kept it vague, because she wasn’t sure how Blix would like the idea, but it seemed like her interest was instantly piqued. She even said she was hungry.

Hearing those words made Indy pathetically happy. If Blix wanted to eat, that was a good sign. Indy suggested steak, because of the protein content, and Blix agreed– if they’d split one. So Indy stepped for the kitchen, retrieving a single steak and cutting it in half. She’d cook Blix’s how she liked it, and eat her half raw. Some instincts just couldn’t be overcome.

While she cooked, she explained the basics of what she had in mind to Blix: a few druids over the centuries had had the idea to blend plants with flesh, typically to repair lost limbs. Fewer had succeeded. But Indy had tracked down one who did, who had given her sister a replacement hand, and this wonderful woman had given her all the information she needed to replicate it, right down to a seed of the plant she’d used.

Blix, for her part, was inhaling the steak, often asking questions with her mouth full. Indy was thrilled to see so much interest out of her.

“It will look like… have you ever seen the forest guardians? The tall, sort of centaurs with the antlers, and the plant hands?" Indy bit at her lower lip, completely unaware that this made her fangs incredibly prominent.

“Yeah, I have! Like, um. What's his dick. Big boy. Trained antler man. Malfurion's teacher.”

Indy felt a sort of rising druidic horror and started laughing helplessly. “Cenarius?”

Blix started cackling, and had to put her silverware down. “Cenarius! Fuck. I just– I couldn’t– his name!”

“What’s his dick?” Indy said dryly.

Blix grinned. “He's "what's his dick" forever, now, I'm so sorry, I don't - I don't make the rules.”

She forced herself to breathe and ignore the very Kaldorei reaction to Malfurion’s mentor being called “what’s his dick.” Eventually, she was able to reply: "I love you. Oh, and I can never let you near my teachers. I love you more just for that."

It was a lie; Indy knew full well that if Blix ever met any of her superiors, she’d be respectful. But it was so nice to be able to tease again, in the moment, that she let it carry on a bit longer before bringing the tone back down.

“It’s going to hurt, love,” she admitted eventually, giving in and taking a sip from her flask for the first time in days. “When I cast the spell. It won’t be easy.”

“Of course not! You’re planting a tree in a very sensitive place. But I’m gonna have a tree hand.”

Indy chuckled despite herself. “And you’re okay with that? As someone who often has weird hands… I just want to make sure this is something you want.”

“Sign me up for the weird hands club. I’ll be vice president.” Blix’s plate was empty, silverware down, and there was a sense of life in her good eye that Indy had been missing.

Indy took a deep breath. “Then let’s do this.” She had a final bite of steak, and then took the envelope with the seed in-hand.

“What kind of tree will it be?” Blix sounded slightly sheepish.

She looked down at the envelope. “...It’s a type of woody vine, actually. The stems are strong, which helps it anchor to the flesh, and the ends are much more flexible, which makes for good fingers.” 

“So should I lie down, or…?”

Indy nodded, and took a moment to admit to herself that she was doing this. “Yeah.”

Blix abandoned her plate and moved for the bedroom. “Hey, can you grab my belt?”

Because it was going to hurt. Night, was she really going to hurt Blix so badly that she’d need a belt to bite down on? She was. They’d agreed to this. She had to follow through.

Indy picked up Blix’s belt and wordlessly brought it into the room. “I was going to suggest this,” she admitted.

Blix had stretched out on the bed, mangled arm facing her, and took the belt with her good hand. “I’m ready to be a fuckin’ honorary druid.”

“You really will be, after this.” Indy sank to her knees beside the bed so that she could reach. 

“Will it feel like a real hand?” Blix stretched out the belt across her neck, readying it for use between her teeth.

“For the most part. I’m told that pressure will feel off, because the plant is stronger than flesh and so reacts differently, but everything else will be the same.”

“Good, because this phantom pain shit sucks ettin balls.”

Indy pushed back Blix’s hair and took a deep breath. “This is going to be the most complicated healing I’ve ever done, love.”

“You’ve been doing this for centuries. You’ve got this.” She crunched up enough to lean and give Indy a kiss on her temple. “I just hope I can repay you one day, wildflower.”

Indy thought about her years alone in Outland, and about how Blix had dragged her back into reality, and society, and filled the hole in her middle that Indy had been indulgently feeding with pain for almost two decades. “You already have,” she said, completely seriously.

“Not even close,” Blix replied immediately, before offering up her mangled arm. “Now let’s do some cool guy shit.”

Indy began unwrapping the bandages surrounding her stump, nostrils flaring as druid senses told her what to expect underneath. The wound came into view, and Indy saw signs of mild infection and hated herself for not catching it sooner. She cast a spell to cleanse it away, and then used the bandages to wipe the wound clean of the bits of pus.

Blix hissed and went tense.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t heal this sooner, but I wanted to be sure we could do this if you wanted to. I’d rather heal an infection than cut you back open.” Her voice sounded miserable, and she didn’t care.

“Same,” she hissed. “But that already actually feels a lot better. So just– just talk me through this, okay? I’m not gonna look, but….”

Indy inspected the wound. "I'd say I've seen worse, but because it's on you, I'm not sure I have." She sniffed, and realized she was only smelling blood, which was a good sign. "That was the easy part. I'm going to slip the seed into it, now. Then we're going to count to five, you're going bite down on the belt, and I'm going to sprout it and grow it out, okay?"

She was pretty sure that Blix looked a little pale as she responded, ‘Yeah. Okay. Count to five. Got it.”

“I’m going to put the seed in, now.” Indy removed it from its envelope, and then inspected the wound, before carefully slipping it into the center of the remains of her arm. Blix hissed, body going tense against the bed, and took the belt between her teeth.

Indy felt ill, but she kept going. “Five. Four. Three. Two. One.” On one, she summoned as much magic as she could into herself, before sending it into the seed. She was going to have to guide its growth, but she’d spent fifteen years doing that in Outland. She knew how to plant a plant.

But into Blix? No. She shook her head, almost tossing her braid, and focused on her patient.

The air in the room grew warm, with flecks of light dancing around them, as Indy focused in on the plant. Veins first. She closed her eyes, letting her magic tell her what was happening with the seed, and began lining the xylem and phloem of the sprout up with the veins and arteries in Blix’s hand. It would need to be fed, after all.

As the plant sprouted, Blix screamed and bit down on the belt. Indy winced, but kept going, because once they’d started, they’d have to finish. If this spell failed, Blix might lose her entire arm. She could feel beads of sweat blossoming across her entire body already, and they had just begun.

No. She could do this.

Next, the motion. She tried to ignore the greasy feel of the air around them as she focused on the plant’s roots, sending them deep into Blix’s flesh to wrap around severed nerve endings. Blix wailed, and then screamed as they progressed through her forearm, sound muffled by the belt. But then, she shrieked, the way only the cursed could do. Indy felt the sheer force of the sound hit her like a wall, but ignored it. After a couple of seconds of teeth-rattling cacophony, her hearing went dull. She could feel blood flowing from her ears, but she kept going. The roots needed to be strong. They needed to be deep. Otherwise, Blix wouldn’t have dexterity in this new hand. And she was a rogue, and right-handed; Indy couldn’t let a little pain impact the rest of her partner’s life.

Blix went quiet as the roots quit their progress, tears streaming down her face. Indy took a deep breath, gathering all the magic in the air and everything that was present within her innately, focusing it into her right hand and then pulling, ordering the sprout to form into a hand. Her magic was immediately ripped from her, but she shrieked and kept going. The palm formed. And then, one by one, the fingers, slightly longer than those on Blix’s left, but with joints in all the right places.

Indy gasped and sank against the bed, now rank with sweat. The new hand reached out and grabbed hers, squeezing hard, so she lifted her head to check in. Blix had bitten through the belt, so Indy used the absolute last of her energy to heal her to quell any lingering pain.

"It's– it's over with." She immediately started checking Blix over, ignoring the blood in her ears and the way everything was ringing faintly. 

Blix was panting as she rolled to face Indy, and her eye still looked hazy. "You did it," she breathed. "You did it." Blix raised her new hand to Indy’s cheek, petting her, and studied her vine fingers as she did. "Holy shit." They made eye contact, and after a long moment of mutual staring, Blix gasped. “Indraste.”

Indy was reading lips at this point, but she could recognize her name when her lover said it. “What?”

“Your eyes. They’re both gold. Perfect gold. Holy fuck.” 

She felt herself blink. A wave of strange emotion washed through her, but she ignored it, because she had to make sure Blix was okay. She touched at her eye, which had always had those lingering, stubborn flecks of silver, as she focused on her patient. “I’m more interested in your hand, honestly. Do you hurt? Does it move right? Can you feel?” Her voice sounded muddy, like she was hearing it from underwater.

Blix pulled back, studying Indy, and then her eyes went wide. Her fingers moved to Indy’s ear, wiping at the blood there. Immediately, her voice sank into panic. "Oh, my gods. Oh, my gods, you can't hear right now. I'm so sorry. Baby, I'm so sorry. Please, please forgive me, I never meant to do this to you, I am so fucking sorry." Indy tried to reply, to tell her that she didn’t give a fuck about her ears if Blix’s hand was okay, but she was already off the bed, now wiping at both Indy’s ears, sniffling openly.  "I'm– here, here, hang on, I can–" Blix left Indy, scrambling under the bed, pulling out a kit and retrieving a healing potion. The second Indy saw it, her shoulders relaxed; she was too tired to heal herself, but this would work.

“Here, drink this, it'll– it'll help, I'm so sorry.” Blix’s voice cracked, and Indy felt like a monster.

She took the potion and tossed it back, shivering uncontrollably as her ears healed. There was still ringing, but sounds were coming back into sharper focus. She set the empty bottle aside and held out her arms. "Come here. I'm completely fine. I knew it might happen, and I suggested this anyway, didn't I? There's nothing to forgive, in my eyes."

Blix wiped furiously at her nose, sniffling. "I, yeah, I just– I didn't wanna do that, I didn't wanna hurt you, I feel fucking terrible." She wrapped Indy in her arms, hugging her hard. The feel of it was wonderful. "The hand feels good. It feels perfect, you did perfect." 

But then she collapsed against Indy, shoulders shaking. “I'm sorry for the scream, I try to control it, it's hard sometimes. I'm so sorry I hurt you. Did the potion help, can you hear okay?”

It was Indy’s turn to hug. She gathered Blix in against her, and sighed. "Yeah. I can hear, and the ringing's mostly gone." She pet at Blix's hair, taking a deep breath. "I know you didn't mean to, but I also know how much pain you were in. It's okay, love. We're okay." She closed her eyes, and then chuckled quietly. "I used to get punched when I was trying to heal people, you know. It's a hazard of the calling. Anyway, didn't I just hurt you even though I didn't want to?"

Blix sat back enough to inspect her new hand. Indy watched her test the fingers, and then felt her heart grow lighter when she smiled up at her. “This is amazing. You’re amazing.”

Indy smiled back. "Night. I'm over the moon that this worked. I trust the druids I was speaking with, but actually seeing it?" She studied Blix closely, smile growing. "I think you look amazing with that, too." Indy was well aware that she’d think Blix would look amazing in any state, but the hand did suit her. And considering how often Indy had talons? They really would be the weird hands club, and something about that was completely charming to her exhausted brain. “Do you think it will bloom sometimes? I kind of hope so.”

Blix’s face grew oddly serious. “...Indy?”

She settled back on her knees and frowned. “What?”

Blix reached into the pocket of her pants, and then settled down onto her knees, looking up at Indy. She held out a ring, and Indy gasped, falling utterly silent. She’d been around humans for long enough to know what that meant.

Slowly, Blix spoke. "I can hope it will bloom for this. Indy, you've been an important part of my life for some time now, and all the adventures we’ve gone on, all the friends we've made, the homes we've shared - it's an experience I genuinely never figured I would get to have. I always thought that I would die before I got to where I need to be, and instead, I found you. You're headstrong, and stubborn, and ridiculous at times, but you're also incredibly funny, intelligent, and beautiful. Your compassion– even after everything you've been through– makes me believe there's always good out there in the world. It makes me love you more every day..”

Indy sniffled and stared at Blix as she continued speaking, utterly entranced. “Watching you come into your own, into a world that's so different from what you knew before you stepped through the portal has been amazing, and I don't ever want to be in a position where I can't continue to share that with you. You're the springtime that brings me to bloom, and I couldn't ask for anyone better." 

Blix shifted fully onto one knee, holding out the ring. Indy felt feathers forming in her braid, and laughed breathlessly.

Blix’s voice broke as she finished. “And I couldn't ask for a better honor than to have you as my wife, so... Indraste Darktalon, will you please do me that honor, and marry me?"

Indy stared down at the ring as her hand rose to her mouth, realizing immediately just how much it matched her. The band was gold like her eyes, and the stone was red like her tattoos. And even if that hadn’t been the case, the woman holding it out to her would have been enough to make it perfect. Her mind swam; she’d never considered herself marriage material. She preferred her meat raw and slept in trees unless there was someone else in her bed. She shed feathers constantly when stressed, and couldn’t always keep into a single form because she’d spent so long as something other than an elf over the past few decades.

And yet, Blix loved her. Blix loved her enough to want to spend the rest of her life with her. And Indy had known for months that she loved Blix enough to do that, and then love her for ages afterwards. The world was a strange place, anyway; who knew who would outlive whom?

She realized she was just staring, sweaty and bloody, and willed herself to speak: “Oh, Night. Really? I– I mean, of course I will.” She took a moment to run her hand down her braid and breathe, before she repeated, “Yes, Blix, I will. Of course I will. I love you so much, and I swear you've saved me every day I've known you." She looked down at the ring and tried to ignore the way the room was shining from the tears in her eyes. "Do... Do I put it on? Do you put it on me?" 

Indy gave up, laughing, and stared helplessly down at her fiancee. 

Blix laughed. "Yes, I'll put it on you." She took Indy’s hand and slipped the ring onto her finger. Indy wasn’t surprised to find that it fit perfectly. “Was waiting for my hand to grow back 'fore I asked, didn't wanna pop the question and fumble it,” she admitted.

Indy leaned in for a kiss, taking a moment to really savor it, and think about how many times she was going to be able to savor it again in the future. Finally, she pulled back and laughed. “You could have asked me in any state and the result would have been the same. Night. Now I need to get you a ring, don't I?" She curled a bit so she could rest her forehead on Blix's shoulder. She exhaled, and the sound was more content than anything she’d heard from herself in ages.

Blix laughed. "Yeah, but we can worry about that later." She pulled Indy’s face back into range and then kissed her cheeks, grinning from ear to ear. "I love you," she murmured. "More than anything on this weird fuckin' rock– rain or shine."

Indy beamed. "You must, to want to hitch along for this ride." She kisses Blix's forehead. "I'll think on the ring. For now, you know what I think we need to do?"

Blix looked at her, good eye steady and brighter than it had been since she’d been back. “What?”

"We need to have a bath. Warm, bubbly, and full of us, cuddling." Indy gathered her in her arms, using the last of her strength to rise and carry Blix to the bathroom. It was time for a bit of peace. They’d both earned it, and Indy was willing to fight to keep it.

"Zexx, we got company, cut the chatter and look alive," Dell grumbled as EM-23 nodded it's oblong head to the approaching pair of floating video pods.

"Fuck the press," added his own grumble to the mix as he turned his rig to face the pair of pods.

The bi-pedal two meter tall mecha would turn to face the pods, it's heavy riot shield lowering as it raised a hand to the drones.  The high gloss white paid covering it from it's winged head to the tripod feet, the only defining color being the emerald green stripes it bore from shoulder to chest and around the slit glassed optics that made it just imposing as it ever needed to be.  A quick blink and twist would switch the output for his microphone to set it to the micro-speakers from near the color of the STON unit.

"Excuse me, this a secure site.  You will need to leave and await release to the media from local Midwich Precinct 42," Zexx was speaking as slowly and clearly as he could, though he knew it wasn't his voice coming forth the video pods.  They would hear the STON automated voice, a lovely baritone that was supposed to invoke calm and civility to match the respect of an automated civil servant.  Beside him he could see EM-23 shift in it's spot to adjust it's own riot shield as it took up the space beside him as backup for his formal request.

The hovering pod would snap it's camera filter with a few clicks as it hovered along, the other trying to move around him causing his fellow unit to try and block it's visual.

Zexx sighed and spoke again as best he could to keep his voice calm.  "You are asked again to please stand down and return to your home position.  This is a closed site until further notice.  If you would like entry, you will need to contact Midwich PD Precinct 42."

"Oy!" came a cry from beyond the camera drones as a three figures came up through the rain, being led by a wet woman.  Her hair was cut short as was the style lately, half shaved leaving the layer soggily over half of her head.  It was bright yellow and seemed to thrum in the low light to match the purple overcoat she wore while the digitally altered makeup she wore showed no signs of fading from the growing downpour from above them.

"Oh shit," Dell spoke through the internal channel.  "That's Sue Dearborn."

"Fuck."

Flanking the personality was a shlubby looking man with a wide rain hat, neck beard, and datapad in one hand.  His eyes and body language spoke of how much he did not want to be facing the two police units as they towered above them.  Beside him was another woman with an overcoat and large satchel bag, her hair was cut in a bog with a pair of retro round glasses perched on her nose.  It was doubtful she needed them to see, but nostalgia was a hell of a drug and everyone has their little kinks for long forgotten times.  Zexx already could surmise the camera operator and an assistant.

Sue Dearborn pushed past her drones with fire in her eyes that caused the thrum of the incandescent dye in her hair to flare brighter as she marched up to the EM-19 unit with one perfectly manicured finger pointing up at him.  "Listen you overgrown garbage disposal, I'm Susan Dearborn of channel MD-1.  This is a high crime hate attack against the automated conduit citizens of our city.  We have ever right to be here and to cover this story.  So I don't give a flying fuck about your protocol, move your titanium ass out of the way and let us do our job or so help me I will have STON industries ass on the 10 o'clock new so fast for hiding public knowledge it will send you fucks back to the toaster days!"

The heaviest sigh ever resounded in the digital frontier that Zexx and Dell occupied in their units.  

"What you gonna do?" Dell asked over the internal channel.

"You know for being the tough as nails cigar chomping ex-cop, you sure do sound like a scolded little boy right now?" Zexx growled through the channel, already dreading the next call he was going to have to make.

"She scares me."

Zexx sighed.  "Me too."

"Mrs Dea-"

"Miss."  Susan growled up at the robot as she crossed her arms over her purple overcoat as she continued to pulse with yellow light.

"Ms Dearborn, I'm afraid that is against city protocol and Midwich Authority law," the calm collected voice spoke to her as EM-19 was adjusted to show some passive proclivity in it's hand movements in hopes of achieving a rational resolution.

"Get your fucking supervisor on the line," Sue glared up again.  "Now."

Pain was beginning to flood Zexx's head as he grounded his teeth and did his best to remain in character as he spoke softly as he could which was only made all the jollier on the street level with his unit.  "Of course, one moment please."

"Remy," Zexx called out, his nose itching all the worse as she fought to remain call.  "We got a live one here."

There was a pause before the line picked up and Remy spoke with a draining voice.  "I heard it, I'll call her."