The “special boost” she had alluded to would not be revealed to Nimue that day, Gwen had decided. It was one thing entirely to practice in the traditional sense, and another to make her blood offerings known. It had been explained to her long ago that she could offer things of value; small precious stones or the bones of her meal would suffice for small, simple things. To cure what ailed another, though, would cost a much higher price. She was brought back to sitting before her grandmother’s hearth, the crone’s words echoing in her ears. “To heal the blood and mend the bones, you must take your blood and break your own.”
Focusing on Nimue now, she listened intently. The way the other woman’s eyes rested upon hers felt like a touch, prickling down her spine as she sat. Gwen took the moment to admire the woman before her, imagining for the briefest moment what it would be like to rest her cheek against hers once more. In a way she’d never imagined before, she found Nim’s slender form pleasing. One would learn new things about themselves daily, she supposed, but this female was teaching her quite a lot. Snapping her eyes back to her face, Gwen’s own heated, hoping Nim had not caught her looking. From the coy smiles and generous gestures, though, she was starting to wonder if this woman found her appealing, too.
“Reiki?” She asked, curious as she shifted her focus to the conversation at hand. Gwen could honestly say she had never heard of such a practice in her sheltered life prior. “An amazing gift to have, Nimue. How does it work? Can you see the energies of those around you?” How interesting would it be to simply know another by laying eyes on them, she wondered. Had she seen anything when their energies and themselves had, quite literally, collided? Perhaps it didn’t work that way at all, but Gwen was eager to know another’s abilities besides her own. She’d heard of wolves able to visualize auras, but never one with the ability to manipulate it. A tie to her affinity with water, she supposed. Water ebbs and flows, forever changing the surrounding landscape. It only made sense one gifted with such an ability could do the same.
