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Trevelyn was expecting further questions about the healing process, so he was thrown for another loop when Whinny seemed to drop the subject entirely and instead started in on names. This was surprising in a couple ways; one, that she was so willing to pass on discussion of something she'd seemed so interested in, and two, that she was willing to have what was, to his way of thinking, a personal conversation with someone she'd only just met. She certainly was a trusting mare!

He wondered if that was what had gotten her into trouble with the Kalona in the first place. Hopefully not, or she was on a bad track towards being eaten!

Pleasant conversation had never been one of his strengths, so he could only hope he managed to avoid any faux pas! "That's an interesting nickname, Whinny for Lightening. Whinny seems more fitting, I think. Lightening seems a bit too abrupt." He paused, realizing that he probably sounded a bit harsh, and decided the best way to deal with that was to change the subject. "Would you like to try healing at all? I can't easily reach the leading edge of this wound on my neck, so you're welcome to try your horn. I'm pretty thick-skinned, so I'm not too worried about you stabbing me." He smiled as he said the last part, hoping she would take it as the joke it was intended! Pleasant conversation was tricky.

Stand-offish? Well, he supposed he couldn't argue with Whinny's logic, or her perception in that respect. It was quick of her to have noted his backwards shift so keenly, as well as judging the reason for it. Impressive that in spite of that, she still didn't seem to think he was being rude. That was a nice change of pace. Perhaps this little meeting wouldn't end on an awkwardly painful note, after all.

He could appreciate the sentiment, as well as the honesty, even if it couldn't change anything. His stand-offishness was his defense, as it were; more importantly, it was her defense from him. The best way to avoid hurting someone was to never let them get close; years of experience had only reinforced the truth he had learned from his warring parents. Even thinking about them was enough to make him wince, and resolve to keep his aloofness as pronounced as possible!

But there was no reason in beating Whinny over the head with that. Instead, he merely nodded. "I appreciate your candor, Whinny; it's something very different for me. I've never been a flutter, obviously, so I don't know about that sort of complication first hand, but I certainly get the idea." Figuring he was already committed to the conversation, he allowed himself to chuckle, briefly displaying his small fangs. "And I appreciate your attempts, but my guard is...well, it's really a part of me. Please don't be offended, it's nothing you've done or said personally."

But enough of that. "Positive I'm not fruit, but I appreciate your concern. I know you'll do fine. Just lay your horn on the wound, gently, and concentrate on healing. You want to channel positive energy through your horn. And if you're nervous, you can lay the horn a bit more sideways. The whole thing is magical after all, not just the tip." He smiled, lowering his head so that she could see his small, curved horn a little bit better. "As you can see, my horn is an atypical shape and size; I've had to use the whole thing before."

Though Whinny might be a trifle nervous about her healing attempt, Trevelyn himself felt no such qualms. Just in the past few months, he'd been repeatedly goed, suffered broken bones, a couple concussions, and multiple lacerations far worse than what he had now. On two occassions, he'd been hurt badly enough that he'd seriously wondered if he was going to pull through. Consequently, he had confidence that the worst Whinny could do was poke him.

He was amused when she refrained from actually touching the wound, leaving her horn hovering just barely away from the skin. A risky move for a mare who'd never healed; the contact had always been, to his knowledge, an important part of the process.

Yet apparently, it wasn't necessary! Trevelen could feel the slight warming sensation indicative of healing, and Whinny's excited comments only confirmed her success. Remarkable that she'd been able to pull off even a partial heal without contact! Craning his neck around, he examined the wound as well as he could, giving Whinny another toothy smile. "Very well done, for a first try; I wasn't aware it was even possible to heal without touching the injury. If you're not too squeamish, feel free to touch your horn to it directly when you try again." Hoping he sounded supportive and sincere, he added, "It would seem your horn has more than enough power to pull off a heal."

Trevelyn had felt nothing as well, and his glance confirmed that the wound was unchanged. Still, what she'd done so far wasn't bad for a first attempt. "Don't worry about it too much, Whinny; even experienced healers don't always hit the mark. When that happens, we just need to take a beat and try again. Would you like to make another try, or rest for a while?" Since so much mental energy went into healing, Trev himself often needed to take a breatherwhen dealing with larger wounds. This one wasn't too big, but it made sense the healing hadn't worked. Trev wasn't sure of the way a horn actually healed, but he'd always considered his own horn as a muscle; it needed to be used to get stronger.

"Or if you'd prefer to call it a day, that's fine as well. I can imagine you might well be exhausted after everything that's happened today." And he only knew about the Kalona part; who knows what might have been going on before that? "There's not too much left."

A quick glance confirmed for Trevelyn that Whinny was correct, and he gave her a warm (for him) smile of gratitude. "Very well done, Whinny, and a clean job to boot." One of the advantages of healing wounds with horns was that the practice lessened the chances of a scar forming. While hardly vain about his appearance, Trev would much rather have his hide be smooth than crisscrossed with scars. The only exception to that personal rule of thumb was his ankle, where the tightly wrapped metal chain tended to chafe and rub. Callouses and scar tissue had built up there now to the point that he barely noticed the chain, but when he was younger it had not been uncommon for him to just let the blood flow freely.

After all, what was the point of penance if it was never felt or thought about?

But that was his ankle, and this was his chest. Big difference, and he considered any 'debt' Whinny might have owed him for the rescue to be satisfied now. Chest and neck wounds were tricky, as there was very little he could do in the way of healing them himself. "I hope you don't have much reason to practice, but I'm sure that you'll be a fine healer, now that you've got the basics down."

He would have said more, but the mare's light-headedness finally registered for Trev. It had been a long time since he'd either passed out himself or seen anyone else pass out for anything shy of major bloodless, but the reflexes for one would certainly serve the other. Quickly, he stepped up to Whinny on the side she was going down on, easily supporting her weight against his side. "Whoa, careful there, Whinny!" The question was, had she actually passed out, or was she only staggered? If the former, he'd better let her down gently; there was nothing more that he could do for a non-injury than that!

There was no denying that their current proximity was awkward for Trevelyn; he preferred to do his healing and move on. It wasn't often he was thrown into such prolonged contact with another Soquili, and his internal 'proximity alarm' was clanging urgently, telling him it was time to get moving. But he was no callous creature, to abandon someone who needed his help. Whinny had had a strenuous day, and she deserved compassion and understanding. He would just have to play it by ear as he figured out what compassion and understanding actually entailed!

"Don't worry about me, Whinny, just focus on resting up and getting your energy back. In a way, your Kalona situation just helped save me some time, so there's no need to thank me on that score." He didn't elaborate any further, as his renegade Kalona hunting didn't seem like the sort of restful, relaxing conversation topic that would help Whinny out. "Thank you for healing me, though. With a little practice, I'd say you'll be able to take on just about anything." He paused, adding with a smile, "But not today. Do you know where you are? Will you be able to get back to where you need to be from here?" There was no reason for him to lurk around when the mare was resting, after all; that was just creepy. Still, if she was lost, then he had an obligation to get her back on the right track; no sense saving someone just to lose them to the woods!