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Post by Nako on Feb 28, 2010 3:23:32 GMT -5
The knock on the door made Merlin's heart nearly leap out of his throat. For some reason, the reality of it all was starting to truly crash down on him. Maybe he truly -was- being paranoid. Perhaps there was nothing to be worried about at all and it truly was just some vicious cycle of overeating that could be treated with some tonic or regimen. He paused just short of the door and took in a deep, calming breath, making sure to put his rank upon his chest before unlocking the many deadbolts on the heavy wooden door.
His mouth had opened to greet her, but her, ah... 'witty' remark caused him to pause, if only for a moment. ".... And good afternoon to you as well, Doctor. And I see you opted for the frightening, monstrous look after all? The wings -do- suit you. Quite lovely. Would you like to come in?" All manners, protocol, and regal poise. Even if he was a Joker, the Heart pride had certainly been bred and cultured within him. At least he was able to play the part well. He made a note to ignore her absurd comment. He had no desire to come up with some witty remark to titillate her.
Archimedes preened in the corner, lifting up her head to send a keen glare towards the Card that entered the house. She gave little more than a hiss of annoyance before going back to the task of separating and oiling her gray-toned feathers. Obviously the beast was getting used to what seemed to be rather frequent visits from the Corvid hybrid.
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Feb 28, 2010 3:43:18 GMT -5
There was something almost refreshing about the sight of Merlin not being covered in his own blood. Or, in one outstanding case, the blood of a child. She gave him her usual level stare for a few long seconds, then her gaze dropped down across his body, pausing for a moment on his belly. She couldn't be certain just yet, she would need to do further investigation, but... Well, he certainly looked pregnant.
At his small compliment, the woman's gaze moved away from the Avington, her head twisting so she could get a better look at herself. She shuffled her wings, folding them more tightly against herself. "I'm glad you think so. I'm still not entirely sold." Then she gave him a small shrug, a casual roll of her shoulder. "And yes, I would like to come in. Unless, of course, you'd rather just have your examination outside?[/b]" Her beak parted at that, her teeth showing in a bright grin. Then she followed him up.
It was a new home, but it had a similar feel to the last she'd visited. She gave a quick visual sweep of the room, making sure she knew where the Jub was sitting, making a mental note to avoid that corner. Then she moved towards the sitting room, placing her bag on the table and taking out the instruments she would need. "I have to admit - I haven't had a lot of experience with pregnancy. I did go through a cycle in prenatal care, but I haven't done a lot since then.[/b]" Then she glanced up at him. "I believe I can do this well, though.[/b]"
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Post by Nako on Feb 28, 2010 3:53:58 GMT -5
Beak and teeth.. such a fascinating appearance. Admittedly it was not an uncommon occurrence of creatures that were hybridized, though he'd certainly seen more.... malformed appearances come from those pairings. Merlin was sure his face would have looked absolutely bizarre with a beak on it. Especially the small and compact owl beak of his ancestry.
"Well," Merlin drolled on, locking the door as he usually did once his guest was inside. "Other than being a male pregnancy I expect things to be quite normal. So hopefully a more specialized expertise will not be necessary. I hope you do not mind me opting for familiarity over finding some.. tuttering midwife." That was a lie.. at least the part about expecting things to be normal. He had -no- idea if his children would be normal or not, considering he couldn't remember who the father was. It could of been one of at least... five men! And.. one woman. Oh, blast it all! He'd used a condom -every- time!
Not sure what to do with himself, the Avington sat back down in his chair. "I take it there is a test.. to be sure, yes?" That was probably the moment that any hint of anxiety would actually escape. Yes, in the slur of anxiety that was going on in his mind, he certainly hoped he -wasn't- pregnant. Goodness, he hadn't even considered such a thing! Him.. raising children. At least, he hadn't considered raising children that had no father to lay claim to.
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Feb 28, 2010 4:17:32 GMT -5
Male pregnancy certainly would complicate things, at least somewhat. Which actually meant that this would be easier for her - she'd found pregnancy as a whole to be fairly dull, uninteresting in comparison to her other areas of study. She'd had to keep herself interested in other ways throughout that process, and male pregnancy had ended up acting as the carrot to keep her moving through a sea of uninteresting facts and processes. So this... this was at least a little bit better, even if it still wasn't ideal.
All the same, she'd brought some pages of notes to help jog her memory. She scanned it over quickly, then set some items away from the others, and pulled out a small cage. Inside was a mouse, squeaking nervously. Poor stupid thing. Wouldn't even know what hit it.
"Of course,[/b]" she responded as she pulled a thermometer out of her bag. First came normal vitals. She'd move onto the specifics from there. She reached out, waiting for him to open his mouth, and then slipped the tip under his tongue. "If I have any reason to suspect this case is not normal, then I won't hesitate to refer you to one of my associates. And yes, there is a test. We'll be getting to that in a moment.[/b]"
She glanced up at the clock, then slipped the thermometer out of his mouth again. Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly as she read it. "A little high, but that's normal for a pregnancy. Is there any possibility you're carrying from a realm with... special needs? Torques?[/b]"
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Post by Nako on Feb 28, 2010 4:29:55 GMT -5
Merlin's fidgeting was kept to a minimal, but the gentle tapping of his fingers on the armrest gave his anxiety away as she took his temperature. He outright sucked in a breath when she'd mentioned his temperature, and just what that might mean. Now now.. there was no need to panic.. but there was now a belly full of crumpets sloshing most uncomfortably in his gut.
A mouse. Yes, he'd heard of that pregnancy test; certainly cheaper than those things the Corvies made. For those, you actually had to admit yourself to the clinic and Merlin just couldn't have any of that. What a timid thing.. it reminded him of the mouse accountant that had come by his place only a few months ago. At least -he- wasn't one of the men on his list of who he'd slept with. After that bad experience with the one Jossigy, Merlin felt a need to avoid seducing that realm. Not to mention the mouse struck him as being absolutely, entirely straight. Merlin had a bit of a nose for straight-dar when he put his mind to it; most times he stoutly ignored it and put on the guise of a female form to get his ways. Was that... bad of him? He wondered.
The question as to special needs made him pause noticeably. His strange eyes darted from one side to another, trying to find the right answer to that question. Had there been a Torque? There might have been one. Well, one was at least partially. He'd had the most -fascinating- piercings 'down there', but he'd had a bit of something else in him.. ah, Villa. Then there'd been an Esterberry, oh how he loved the Esterberries. So snotty until you got them under the bedsheets. A Jossigy.. that had been a mistake. Merlin simply hadn't shared his hate for Lowlanders and found himself making a hasty retreat from their hotel room after boasting of having killed a Lowlander. And the Morganberry bull... a lovely Selkie mixed with something else.. perhaps Midori. And then... there was the Bog dweller. That -couldn't- have been him. That could have easily been the longest ago. Surely he'd have been showing more. Why.. he'd have to be a good.. four months along!
Merlin's hears pinned against his head as he swallowed dryly. "Ah.. well, hm... it's a possibility."
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Feb 28, 2010 15:07:28 GMT -5
It really seemed like the normally composed Merlin was feeling quite... twitchy. Which would only be natural. Pregnancy was quite the big deal, and in all her visits, she had never seen evidence of another person at his home. Did he know who the father was? As the man considered her question, she went about getting the next stage of the test together.
The mouse was grasped in one taloned hand, squeaking and squirming. She injected it with something from one syringe, then put it back into a cage. That would quicken the process, at least somewhat. Next, she reached out to take a scaled forearm, lightly swabbing at it with something strong-smelling. Many of her fellow Corvies seemed to have little care for such procedures, but Zenon didn't want to take any risks for infection. She was certain the Avington wouldn't be at all happy. Carefully, she slipped the needle into his arm, withdrawing some blood, and then turning back to the mouse.
Then the man began to speak again, and she made a soft grnk-ing noise. "Ah. Well, try to figure out the most likely and arrange to have that taken care of. I've heard some Torques can get... quite odd if they aren't bound in time.[/b]" The mouse squeaked loudly as she injected it with the man's blood, and she looked it over. Then she turned to face her patient. "And now we wait.[/b]"
After a moment, her ears flipped backwards, and she inclined her head to the side. "...how are you feeling? About this, I mean. This is big news.[/b]"
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Post by Nako on Feb 28, 2010 15:36:58 GMT -5
His body gave the slightest of flinches when the needle went in; the smallest of reflexive twitches that was followed by a long, shaky breath. It wasn't the needle itself that had him so high strung. The situation had every nerve quite literally on fire. Merlin couldn't even give in to what would have been fascination as the woman injected the poor creature with the blood she'd extracted from him.
Waiting games. He hated them, especially when he was waiting for such pivotal information. He stared down at his hands distractedly until she spoke to him again. Looking up, his expression was almost confused as he stared towards the strange, mythical looking Card that was regarding him in a way he was slowly getting used to. Calculating? Something like that. Perhaps she was using her diamond ability on him. Then again.. probably not.
If there was news at all. Merlin thought to himself, though her sureness of the current symptoms was shattering whatever hopeful doubt in his mind."Ah... well, how does one -ever- take such news, hmm? I... suppose I'm a touch horrified."
A timer went off in the background, and he stood up abruptly. "Oh goodness.. the Scotch eggs!" Well, he didn't want his sausage wrapped egg goodness to get burned! Not to mention it made for an easy escape from the conversation... and somewhat from the situation.
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Feb 28, 2010 19:44:39 GMT -5
It would take time for the hormone to manifest in the mouse's blood, if it was indeed present. Which really, just looking at Merlin... He seemed to be fairly certain of the state of his body, and even without the chemical evidence, Zenon herself felt rather convinced. He must have been pregnant. Unless he'd really been eating a lot, but even that could have been a sign of pregnancy.
She knew it must have seemed odd to have her suddenly inquiring into his emotional state, but this was an emotional thing. Someone she'd gone to school with had once told her that a patient's emotions were just as important as their physical health. She hadn't bought it at the time, but she did remember that stress could have negative effects on a pregnancy. And really, she did like Merlin. He was an interesting person, and... he might have needed someone else to talk to about this.
"It is a rather major change. A lot to take in, for sure.[/b]" Not that she would know, but she could only imagine how she would react. Not well, she was sure. At the beeping, her ears flipped back. Scotch eggs? That was... odd, to say the least. Another craving, or an attempt at hospitality? Either way, it gave her time to get to work on the next steps of the test.
When Merlin returned, the mouse would be dead and mostly sliced open, the woman looking at some blobs of flesh under a microscope and grimacing. Sure enough, the chemicals she'd injected the animal with before had helped the process along, giving her results much more quickly. She raised her head to look at him. "Well... You're certainly pregnant.[/b]" Did she congratulate him, or apologize? "I'd guess... three, maybe four months along.[/b]"
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Post by Nako on Feb 28, 2010 19:59:13 GMT -5
Merlin walked back in rather swiftly, muttering hasty apologies as he set the tray of baked scotch eggs down on the table next to the tea. Normally he fried them, but lately he'd much preferred the taste of baked things as the grease had felt terribly gross and unhealthy on his stomach.
His hands, which had been neatly folding the towel he'd used to carry the hot plate, suddenly stopped when she gave him the news. So nonchalant, but quite neutral. Rather purposefully neutral. A vacant, distant expression eventually floated toward the doctor who still stood studiously over her microscope. Was she evaluating him again? She was certainly looking at him, no doubt trying to gauge his own feelings on the matter. After all, hadn't she just asked him how he'd felt. Why yes.. she had.
Carefully, a hand reached back to help him find his seat.
"... Oh. Oh goodness."
And then he broke down into tears.
"Damn it all, I don't even know who the father is! H-how... how can I raise a baby without a-a-a...." His face fell into the towel in his hands, muffling the piteous keens and wails that escaped him.
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Feb 28, 2010 20:15:27 GMT -5
As the rich smell of meat and egg and filled the room and the woman's nares, something else settled into the room. This was not delicious. It was heavy and strange, making the hybrid's gut twist unpleasantly. She'd had to give bad news before. It happened all the time - cancer, wounds from battle, old age, any number of things could happen to someone that they'd hoped never to experience. These things didn't always kill them. In fact, they usually didn't. But Merlin's reaction...
Well. It wasn't exactly what she'd hoped for. She dropped down out of her seat and slowly walked over to the man, rearing up onto her hind legs and reaching out one talon, resting it lightly on the man's thigh. "...Merlin. Shhh. It's all right. I see a hundred people a day, and a lot of them are getting this same news. A lot of them are much worse off than you are, and they still manage to raise children without problem.[/b]" She paused for a moment, the corners of her mouth turning down. This didn't matter. If he didn't think he could do it, it wouldn't matter what she said.
When the man broke down into wordless wails, she went quiet, rubbing at the leg in what she hoped would be recognized as soothing. Interpersonal things like this - she didn't know what to do. "Would you like me to stay?[/b]"
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