Closed Tender Care (Valerius, Verin)

[Verin Rush]

While he watched the doctor, Verin made a mental note only to make literal statements around the Nitrozian. His statement haven’t been sarcastic, per se, but there had been an element of untruth that the doctor apparently hadn’t picked up on. Verin’s knowledge of poison was limited, but his time with Inoadar had cemented nigh on all agents will cause a reaction to a concoction, for good or for bad. Though not a medical man, or a herbalist, he knew that the painkiller he had been given was, in a higher dosage, a poison, and a sweetening agent might have made it ineffective. “The injury was not intended.” He stated the obvious at Amolina returned with a painful looking implement, “And I also hope that it doesn’t happen again, for my own sake, rather than yours.” Verin’s tone was mild and his expression impassive, yet there was a subtle, uncontrolled element of bite in his voice, to counter the doctor’s own apparent disdain. He wondered whether it would have actually been worth going to the Healing Hand, rather than here; the elder of the Rush brothers was not one for over-dramatisation or a needless display of emotions, but he appreciated – nay, expected – a good bedside manner when he went for medical treatment. As the antiseptic made contact with the open flesh, the blond winced, a hiss escaping his lips. Now glad that he had accepted the painkiller, he prayed that the medicine will have taken full affect by the time the doctor came to pushing the needle through his skin. The man nodded once as Doctor Nitrozian informed him of the immanent stitching and he did his best to calm himself, using the same technique he employed before Hypnotising someone. His eyes closed for a moment and his breathing noticeably slowed whilst his good hand gripped the side of the bench he was on, taking the strain of the muscles, rather than allowing his other hand to tense up. He opened his eyes again, however, preferring to watch and know when the pain was about to hit, rather than be unprepared. The first was the worst and he grunted a little in response to the pain, but it could have been a lot worse. “So why the change in job?” He turned to Amolina for conversation, hoping that, if he got her talking for long enough, he could distract himself a little from the needle which was, effectively, creating more holes in his skin for the purpose of sewing up a larger one. “Change of scenery? Kelvics not offering stimulating enough conversation?” Verin didn’t think much of the creatures, knowing they were fast to age and slow to learn, with little other value than their loyalty, if bonded, unless one desired a pet. Of what he knew of the Kelvic Research Institute, the creatures kept there were even less intellectually capable; their purpose was mostly carnal, so why would the handlers bother to teach them anything? “No wish to continue with performing?” There was a small hint of disappointment in his voice at that, having always admired the girl’s talent at her craft. He didn’t acknowledge Valerius’ comment about returning, other than a brief nod of his head, and he raised his arm as requested, but kept his attention on Amolina.

[Amolina]

Amolina did her best to conceal how uneasy she felt when Valerius sewed in Verin’s hand. In order to cope with it, she decided to go for impersonation OOCApproved by Amelia of the fortune teller Amelia Cross. She took on a pleasantly smiling facial expression, the calm and ever-smiling mask of a fortune teller, a shop assistant … a nurse. Her face went like a mask that seemed to smile complacently and sweetly whether she was smiling or not, and she made her voice be soft and sweet to match it. She prepared to launch one of the lengthy and vague speeches that were part of the impersonation.

“The stage is my first passion” she said. “And lately I did a successful performance, so perhaps my future as performer is looking up…or would be looking up if I would go for it, which I’m not sure of anymore. But aren’t we all torn between old and new passions, mister Rush? Don’t we all have a first youthful dream and plan lurking in the background, while we start looking for a new and more mature direction? Won’t we all sooner or later come to a crossroad where we need to choose between our different desires and leave some of them behind? “

She could see that Valerius was putting in effort to do an excellent job of the stitches, and she hadn’t expected anything else, as she was familiar with how he always wanted to be perfect. But he worked very slowly indeed, like it was about embroidery rather than just stitching. Verin seemed to not feel totally at ease, so she spoke on, in order to distract him.

“Although doctor Nitrozian and I found each other at the KRI, our calling isn’t the kelvic research but the welfare and health of the citizens of Ravok. This and the research that we conduct here is my second passion, and when doctor Nitrozian offered me a position here and even to associate the Nitrozian name with mine I was happy to accept. We are going to take medicine in Ravok to a brand new level. It has nothing whatsoever to do with breeding kelvics.”

At this point she paused and glanced at Valerius before she continued. “The experts on kelvics are doctor Nitrozian’s aunt the head researcher of KRI, and doctor Alzelin. Doctor Nitrozian may know more about kelvics than I do. My work at KRI has been temporary and limited to simpler tasks, like feeding and caretaking, so I don’t know much, but I have learnt by experience that most kelvics have bad manners and aren’t particularly clean. They make take human form, but I must admit that can be quite embarrassing.”

Amolina thought about how she had actually been cleaning cages, but caretaking sounded better. She would soon have worked off her debt to KRI after the emergency treatment she had received after being poisoned last year’s spring. She had still not found out exactly what doctor Alzelin had done to her and what kind of drugs he had used. The mysterious ‘Vipocarine’ from the research notes she and Valerius had copied and stolen came to her mind.

She hadn’t had time to investigate it further. There had been lots to do just with getting the location in place and making deals with their third partner, Parnell. She really ought to try to get more information somehow. But it seemed hard, when she lacked the knowledge to read and understand the notes. Part of them might even be encrypted as she recalled it. One of these days she would remind Valerius about the notes…

The thoughts had made her forget the impersonation and she was back to her nurse role when she gave Verin a new reassuring and compassionate smile and told him to not worry. She quite liked Verin Rush, the way you can like somebody in general, without knowing what goes on beneath the surface.

"Aren’t we all torn between old and new passions? And won't we all sooner or later come to a point where we need to choose?"

OOCThis seems like a good place to end the thread. As it's next season in a day I hand this in now, february 27. Made a placeholder we can use to write the rest of the treatment in case it's needed. Message in PM.

[Abstract]

Grade Awarded!

Amolina

Skills

~ Organization - 1
~ Medicine - 2
~ Socialization - 1
~ Impersonation - 1

Lores

~ Estimating Number of Painkillers
~ Rush Twins: Verin's Appearance
~ Medical Needles: Curved

Other

N/A

Verin

Skills

~ Observation - 2
~ Investigation - 1

Lores

~ Tamo Daggers: DO NOT Catch
~ Amolina: Works at the NHCS
~ Valerius Nitrozian: Works at the NHCS
~ Amolina's Connection With Valerius
~ Amolina: Loves the Stage

Other

N/A

Notes

Val, please update your ledger for the Winter season... so when you finish up your job threads and put in the request, I'll edit this thread and give you your grade.

Otherwise, a nice and simple thread.