[FIN] And All is Mended [Callypso]

[Lucca]

The Goat's ears flicked forward, taking in the instructions while the rest of his body remained motionless. He felt tired and irritable, and part of his mind was still busily listing all the reasons he shouldn't have come, shouldn't have even gone out at all tonight, shouldn't -ever- go out except for work. Work he knew, work was easy. There were 'good guys' and 'bad guys', and though he didn't trust either as far as he could throw them...well, being a Club, he could actually throw people pretty far. And there...death was known, and accepted as a possibility. It would come in a fight, it would come by dark magic, he would be prepared to leave his miserable life behind him once and for all.

Death by crazy doctor was not something he would ever be prepared for or know to expect.

"Understood," he said mechanically, though he did feel certain of one thing - the doctor had done good work on him. He'd watched how carefully she did it, and as long as he made it back to his apartment without falling over or sprouting tentacles, he'd assume that guilt really was the motivation Iso had in refusing payment and think little of it.

That didn't mean, however, that he wanted to see her again, and he shifted a bit uncomfortably. He was reluctant, very reluctant, to trust her again...what if she suddenly felt like her conscience was appeased, or what if she was now harboring him some sort of resentment, personally, and would sabotage his recovery if he came back? Aberforth shook his head, trying to dislodge the paranoid thoughts. He'd have to get the stitched removed somewhere, or else do it himself...and he'd either need to find a different doctor (and Iso had been so -calm- and -quiet- before she went manic on him) or come back here.

He eyed her for a moment, pink gaze unreadable. "No further questions." A pause, pink eyes blinking once, seeming to change expression. "...I suppose...I shall see you ten days from now." He watched for her reaction very carefully; if she showed any hint of not wanting him to return, he wouldn't. "Thank you for treating me." If she didn't accept money, she would at least accept gratitude. Then she'd know she was doing real good or...some other sort of sentimental drivel.

[Callypso]

The morning wore on and with it dragged Iso's discomfort and ability to maintain her detached demeanor. She was exhausted. Yet another sleepless night had stolen the promise of rest. Then this unexpected visitor had knocked on her door and with him brought an unwelcome, uncomfortable debate. She didn't resent the goat for bringing business - it was never a bad thing to keep her skills sharp - but the tumultuous feelings he had sparked within her had been a bit too much for her. The Corvie didn't like to dwell. She had ways of dealing with that. What she really wanted right now was sleep and a pill to help get her there. Feelings were unwanted distractions in her life and she made an everyday effort (though she would never admit that) to dull emotion. There was no room for second-guessing, being disgruntled or upset. She had better things to do.

It didn't escape her notice that the goat seemed uneasy when she had mentioned removal. Clearly, the argument had resonated in some way with Aberforth as well. Interesting. She continued watching him as he seemed to slip into his own thoughts and shake himself free. The gesture removed any doubt Iso held that he had mixed feelings about returning to her lab. Just as she thought. Most Cards would address their speculations out loud and ask why the Club had misgivings. Unfortunately for both of them, Iso had no such inclinations. She didn't find it necessary to explain herself, and besides, she doubted anything she said would change his opinion of her.

The goat's expression altered slightly and Iso had a feeling she was somehow being tested.

Yes, ten days, unless you notice infection. Come as soon as possible if you notice anything odd.

She wasn't sure what this man wanted of her, only that she had a job to do. Suits help her, she would do it no matter what. He thanked her, and she hesitated before responding. Normally, she would have simply nodded, but the situation seemed delicate and she felt pressed to do more.

You're welcome.

It sounded strange to say something so commonly uttered by other Cards, but hopefully it would assuage whatever doubts he had had about coming back. She may have felt betrayed somewhere within, but her concern for his full recovery overpowered anything she might have been feeling. Again, she hesitated.

Please take care of yourself.

The statement was sincere.

[Lucca]

Aberforth's expression barely changed when Iso replied, but its intensity lessened, just slightly. Inwardly, he was...relieved was far too strong a word for the feeling, and he still had misgivings about trusting this doctor, but...he would come back. Ten days. He had ten days to prepare to interact in this way with the woman again. It was...an odd thought. It was neither good to have something to anticipate, nor was it bad. It just sort of -was-. A lot of life was like that, the Goat found, when he bothered to even reflect on it. He rarely did. It only squashed any chance of his faith in his fellow Cards ever being restored.

Aberforth nodded to the woman, and started to leave, though her last statement made him pause. Professional integrity, he thought, because the alternative was almost laughable...or would be if he had a sense of humor. "I will," he said, and the tone was...different from his normal neutral one, somehow. Softer? A slight frown that Iso probably wouldn't see, as his back was to her now, pulled at his muzzle as the Goat walked back out of the laboratory. He didn't want to think about why he'd said that.

He didn't want to think about any of this for the rest of the night.

((ooc: should we time skip to when he comes back in ten days, or would you rather just end here? )

[Callypso]

((OOC: *does the Wayne&Garth Scooby-Doo time change dance* Eh, a couple more exchanges couldn't hurt! ;D))

The days that passed weren't much better for the doctor. Although Iso had no further unexpected visitors, the nightmares hadn't ceased. Instead, they were getting worse. Her... habit... was steadily increasing as well. Her attempts at furthering her research and finishing the lab had all led to nought. It seemed that for all the Capital's artisans and shopkeepers, none of them could provide what she had in mind for her workspace. (That, and her dependence on alternative methods for inducing sleep caused her sense of time to ooze in a rather odd manner; lately she'd been inclined to miss appointments or not leave the house at all.)

She had also tried not to think about the exchange with Aberforth. For some reason, it had left her feeling uncomfortable in a way that her sleepless nights never could. The goat had left her feeling... vulnerable. His comments and scrutiny had actually aroused feelings of indignation and betrayal when Iso took specific measures to avoid feeling at all. Normally, the Corvie was dismissive of others as if they were mere additions to the scenery. She wasn't cold or cruel, but rather indifferent, short and somewhat distant.

As the clock hand ticked closer to the appointed time, Iso found herself pondering their prior meeting with mixed emotions. She felt -twitchy- which was unusual for her, and her first instinct was to reach for a bottle that was so tantalizingly close, even if hidden away in a drawer.

Slowly, she closed her eyes and shook her head as if to admonish herself. She'd already taken a couple pills a few hours earlier. By this time the narcotics weren't doing much for her anxiety, however, she knew she had to be aware for the procedure. It wasn't exactly difficult, but knowing her patient was Aberforth was affecting her self-consciousness. The ferret had no desire for him to question her intentions or ability again.

It occurred to her that these were irrational, emotional thoughts and something she wouldn't have bothered with in the past. The more time she seemed to spend in her late brother's space, the more her dispassionate facade seemed to crumble. That thought alone made her more uncomfortable and she made an effort to push away the tide of uneasy and unusual mental meanderings.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she looked back at the clock, waiting.

[Lucca]

The days had actually been much kinder to Aberforth, if that was the right word. Unsatisfied with his police job and with living in the busy Capital, he'd taken to wandering on his days off, though he never made it as far back towards Tulgey Woods and Torquehelm as he'd like. At least he could usually find somewhere quiet. He'd also taken up blacksmithing again on the side, more as a hobby than a profession. It kept him busy, kept him from dwelling on the ultimate meaninglessness of his life.

The injury had healed up normally, and the Goat would almost have forgotten that he was supposed to revisit the doctor to have the stitches taken out if a coworker hadn't commented on them just earlier that day as he was getting coffee. Still, the Goat pushed it to the back of his mind until later, when dark had fallen and he felt safer being on the streets. The darkness and the potential danger of the Capital at night still held a feeling of home for him...it was almost comfortable, in a way. Though he was never at peace, hadn't been since the day his entire life had changed all those years ago, he got closest to it on those nights.

It was very dark by the time Aberforth clopped unhurriedly up to Iso's front door, the ethereal sound of his hooves ceasing as he paused to knock firmly on the door with one hoof, pink eyes focused on the door in front of him, expression as cold and emotionless as ever as he waited to see if the doctor was even there. A lot could change in a week and a half.

[Callypso]

Pounding sounded dully throughout the house alerting the doctor to her patient's presence. Her ears twitched briefly in response and she took a moment to rub her face with her paws before crossing the hall and admitting her visitor. As before, Iso directed her patient downstairs toward the lab after shutting the front door behind him. The laboratory was much the same as it had been the week prior; only a few beakers had been cleaned and put neatly away. Again, she directed the goat toward a corner of the lab near the desk with better light.

It was clear she was weary by the puffiness around her eyes, though her actions said otherwise. Her movements were precise and careful as they had been before as she began collecting sanitized utensils and prepared the area for her work. Brightness crept into her tired orbs as she glanced toward the injury. From afar, the wound appeared to be clean and healthy and the ferret couldn't keep herself from feeling mildly pleased. So far, she seemed to have done her job well, and Aberforth had done his part in tending the injury. Once her accoutrements had been located and set neatly on the desk, she turned back toward her patient.

There was a moment of hesitation before she spoke. Though she had managed to push back any of her earlier feelings aside while preparing her workspace, focusing on the man caused some of those questionable feelings to emerge. It upset her that the Card was having that great an effect on her, never mind the reasons why. For some reason, their exchange now reminded her of an unpleasant history and she was neither ready nor in a proper state to delve into that period of her life just yet. Steeling herself against the memories and focusing all of her energy on the task at hand, she finally addressed the goat.

Are you ready to begin?

[Lucca]

A flicker of something unnameable passed behind Aberforth's pink eyes when Iso answered the door, and the Goat actually lowered his head slightly in greeting. It was...good...that she was still here. Aberforth followed along behind the doctor as she led him back to the lab, which a very brief glance told him hadn't really changed since last time.

When the Corvie set her instruments on the desk, Aberforth looked at her, really looked, for the first time since his return, and noted with a sort of detatched interest that she -had- changed. She looked more tired and worn, but as long as it didn't affect her work (and it didn't seem to, so far) Aberforth really didn't care. It was probably connected to that whole ridiculous guilt complex she seemed to live with.

"I am ready," he confirmed tonelessly, sitting down where she would indicate and arching his head slightly to make the stitches on his neck more accessible.

[Callypso]

The back of Iso's neck prickled lightly while she placed her tools upon the table top. Careful not to give anything away, the ferret had turned to her patient and noticed that Aberforth had been watching her closely. It was slightly unnerving to have such careful attention from the Tulgey- was he merely observational like herself? Did he harbor ill will from the week before? Clearly, the weeks that she had spent in the Capital had been unkind to her. The combination of the dreams, her mood swings, inability to keep her emotions under control were grating on her, creating self-doubt and the beginnings of paranoia.

She managed to keep her visage calm, however, and decidedly reached for a pad of gauze and flask of antiseptic cleanser. Irrational doubts had no place right now. There was a job to be done that required careful attention. Though she was desperate not to complete her own realization, she was inching toward terror of what was happening to her. Instead, she tried appreciating that her patient had seated himself and offered his neck for easy access.

First I'll clean the site with some antiseptic.

Talking through the procedure would seem normal. The goal, as before, was to not startle the patient and, this time, was helpful to keep her focused on her task. Somehow through speech the action was made more real than the unwanted thoughts. The Corvie placed the gauze over the top of the flask and quickly flipped it to moisten the pad with the antiseptic. Iso gently swabbed the desired area for about 30 seconds. Aberforth's fur had grown out a little since she had stitched his wound, however, it was not long enough to be bothersome. Her eyes softened as she cleaned the goat's neck. He had done a beautiful job of caring for his injury, and she was impressed at the excellence of her work. Despite the shaky start to her new life she was still able to match performance with her own expectations. Once the wound was clean, Iso placed the gauze in the waste bin, patted dry the site with a clean pad, then gathered a pair of medical shears and tweezers.

I'm going to isolate the suture knot and cut it away, then I will pull the stitch out. I will need to repeat this for all of your stitches.

Iso paused and looked to Aberforth for confirmation.

[Lucca]

If Iso had known more about her patient, could see what made him tick, so to speak, she would be able to take some comfort in the fact that the Goat was more paranoid than she could probably ever be. What he had was a fundamental inability to trust anyone unless he could ascribe motives to them, i.e. greed for money, keeping up their good reputation, or guilt, which was how he chose to interpret Iso's odd behavior.

Aberforth calmly and methodically chose out of the Cards around him those he thought were least likely to stab him in the back...but sure that they would anyway if given a good enough reason. Anyone would. Iso was simply the lesser of evils, in his mind, despite his small...disagreement with her upon their previous meeting.

An ear twitched at the doctor's insistence on talking out what she was doing, but it was something he expected, this time. So he sat silently, watching her intently enough that he might not be looking at her at all, and instead deep in his own mind. When she turned to him for confirmation, though, the Goat nodded briefly, and went perfectly still. Physical pain wasn't something he let bother him, but why would he care to make it worse? It would merely leave him less prepared, should something happen.

[Callypso]

When there was no objection Iso began her work. The unconscious verbal announcements of the coming steps finally overpowered her worrisome mediations. Soon, her attention was fixated solely on the current occupation (though that included a swift glance every now and then to check on the status of her patient). Her motions were meticulous and careful, much like it had been before. This procedure, however, took only about half the time the prior had. When all the sutures had been removed – she piled the removed stitch threads on a tray that had been placed near her other utensils – she gently tested the area for any signs of complications. The area looked a little red, but that was to be expected. Satisfied that there was nothing amiss, she swabbed the area again with a clean pad with antiseptic and again patted it dry with a clean towel. She reached for a jar and smoothed some ointment over the wound. One last inspection of the site satisfied the doctor and she stepped back to look at Aberforth.

Finished. There’s some redness on the wound, but that’s perfectly normal. I’ll give you some more antibiotic ointment. Keep reapplying that twice daily for the next few days and it will heal nicely. Come in if you notice any irritation.

Looking toward the goat with a somewhat elated gleam in her eye – which tended to creep into her features while she worked- she felt suddenly compelled to extend a touch more than professionalism toward him. The doctor knew to give credit when it was due.

I doubt you’ll be in, though. You’ve done a rather excellent job maintaining the injury.

He had been so calm and undisturbed during the operation that it was difficult for her to believe he had been capable of the quiet fury he had unleashed a week earlier. The contentment from a job well done began to slowly ebb away into a mild discomfort. As before, she maintained a professional demeanor, though the gleam in her eyes had faded. She felt unsure of herself, which was unusual (though Aberforth seemed to inspire atypical responses in her) and simply desired appreciation for the work. To distract herself from her own uneasiness, she searched a nearby cabinet for an unopened jar of ointment.