Abraxas waited at the free clinic in Princeton New Jersey. There wasn't much to do at the moment, so he was just sitting around, waiting to be called on for his next patient. He certainly wasn't unhappy with the lack of work, he was just getting paid just for being there, and besides, at least people don't seem to be getting hurt or sick, at least for today. Maybe today would be his lucky day and he wouldn't have to deal with anyone. It's not like he didn't like people, he loved people. He just couldn't deal with their idiocy today. People self diagnosing themselves with lyme disease, MS, cancer, and leprosy while begging him for ludicrous prescriptions. This one couple the day before were asking him for a green card. Questioning them further about this, he found out that they had diagnosed their 8 month old kid with cancer, and were trying to get him marijuana to help him eat more. Quite a few things wrong with this. Chemo is what causes the lack of appetite, and no way was he getting chemo this early in his life, much less so considering they hadn't even told a doctor about their concerns. And.... a green card was what they were asking for. A GREEN CARD. He sighed shaking the pain inducing thoughts from his mind. There were only two hours left till his shift was over. So long as nothing happened until then, he'd feel just shipshape.
Jack is an average, unassuming guy. He stands bashfully, avoiding eye contact as he looks around at everything except the person he's speaking with. A closer look. however, will reveal more.
Beneath this carefully neutral appearance, Jack's body is lean and efficient. He's slow to anger and behind his bashful demeanor is an assertive individual observing his environment with an almost predatory nature.
Post by Jacksoπ Flεtchεr on Jul 25, 2016 22:03:29 GMT -5
What was he even doing there? Well, Jack wasn't entirely sure what he was doing in this particular state but he definitely knew why he was at the hospital. He'd gotten sloppy. It happened from time to time. Anyways, when that happened the young man typically found himself in need of medical attention. So he'd made the obvious decision to hit up the free clinic nearby, since his injuries weren't terribly life threatening but definitely needed addressing. Preferably as soon as possible.
The young man entered the clinic, glancing around. He was relieved that the place wasn't too busy for the moment. Large groups of people made him anxious and Jack was feeling particularly vulnerable in his weakened state. He made his way up to the desk, moving slowly and fighting to maintain his usual friendly expression while trying not to bleed all over the place.
"Hi," The young man began with a smile, speaking to the nearest, least busy looking employee. "I'd like some medical attention, please." Jack requested, gesturing toward his mangled left arm with his right hand. Some bones in the forearm were decidedly broken and the flesh on top was fairly torn up as well. He wasn't a medical professional but the shoulder felt awfully dislocated, too.
Normally, Jack would fix himself up or go to a friend for treatment but neither of those options were available to him at this particular moment in time. So he was unfamiliar with the whole official process but he hoped that things were off to a decent start.
"Do I need to fill out some forms or... What's the, uh, process here?"
Abraxas was just about ready to wave the guy off and say there was someone else who could deal with him, it was probably just some minute problem, his voice seemed fine and he was even smiling, but then he saw the guy's arm. "Jesus... what the hell happened... no... you don't need to sign anything... it's a free clinic." He took another quick look at the guy's face then frowned. "Okay... what are you doing? There are very few reasons why you wouldn't be crying out in pain right now. First is, this is some really good prank and you are some special effects wizard, which is cool, but a waste of my time. IF on the other hand, you are actually injured, then you're either on some really hardcore drugs, and I should call the police, or, you're used to the pain of something like this. Meaning, you are either with the law or against, and I don't see you being with the law, because why wouldn't you have just gone to the ER? So... two things left. First is, you don't want the normal stuff written down like the ER does. Or of course you're not human, that's a totally logical option."
Last Edit: Jul 26, 2016 21:49:43 GMT -5 by Abraxas
Jack is an average, unassuming guy. He stands bashfully, avoiding eye contact as he looks around at everything except the person he's speaking with. A closer look. however, will reveal more.
Beneath this carefully neutral appearance, Jack's body is lean and efficient. He's slow to anger and behind his bashful demeanor is an assertive individual observing his environment with an almost predatory nature.
Post by Jacksoπ Flεtchεr on Jul 26, 2016 19:30:37 GMT -5
"That's a relief," The young man exhaled between gritted teeth. Paperwork was bad. Jack no like. Anyways, it took a few moments for the other man's question to sink in. His mind wasn't exactly the swiftest even during the best of times and the concentration he was putting into managing the agony of his wounded limb was leaving him painfully distracted. Jack was too hurt to come up with a halfway decent lie so he decided to tell the truth. It wasn't like the guy would believe him, anyways.
"Oh, you know how it goes. Took my eyes off a shifty for a second and the next a wolf was going at my arm like I was an oversized chew toy. Fool me twice, amiright?" He attempted to chuckle at the end but it came out more like a pained wheeze. Ugh. More questions. Okay, think. Sweat was beginning to bead on his forehead and the most pleasant facade in the world couldn't hide the vein bulging at his temple while he clinched his jaw and tried to think.
"I can assure you my good sir," Jack began, his eyes wandering to stare at a scuff on the floor before darting back to the twins. "I'm not bullshitting you and I am neither criminal nor law enforcement. No drugs either, k? Just a normal guy asking to please NOT BLEED OUT IN YOUR WAITING ROOM."
The young man took a deep breath and composed himself before continuing. "Sorry, I didn't mean to shout. I think the adrenaline is starting to wear off and this kinda hurts," He indicated his injured arm. Jack had a fairly respectable pain threshold but even he was beginning to lose patience. "Ask all the questions you want while you treat my arm, please. Pretty please?"
"Okay, Okay, let's just come on into the examination room, I'll help you out in there." The Reaper lead the injured man into an adjoining room and gestured over to the examination table. "Take a seat, I've just got to do... something.... quickly..." He tossed his coat to the corner of the ceiling, covering a camera with it. "Alright, there's a few things I need to ask first. Just so I know specifically how to treat you, and don't question them, they are important." Abraxas took a seat on a rolling desk chair, kicking his legs up onto the table beside him. "First question, what the hell did you mean by shifty? And a wolf doesn't simply bite someone unprovoked, so what did you do for real this time?And don't worry, there is no sound on the camera. Just tell me who you are and what you are and I can get this all taken care of."
Jack is an average, unassuming guy. He stands bashfully, avoiding eye contact as he looks around at everything except the person he's speaking with. A closer look. however, will reveal more.
Beneath this carefully neutral appearance, Jack's body is lean and efficient. He's slow to anger and behind his bashful demeanor is an assertive individual observing his environment with an almost predatory nature.
Post by Jacksoπ Flεtchεr on Jul 27, 2016 0:37:38 GMT -5
Jack was lead into an examination room at long last. The young man hopped up onto the examination table, stifling a gasp caused by the sudden jolt to his arm. He sat there a moment, composing himself. At this point, his friendly smile was really more of a pained grimace.
The clinic guy seemed awfully laid back, kicking his legs up to relax rather than so much as tossing Jack a bandaid for his injured arm. He wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that. Ok, that's not true. He was decidedly just little bit annoyed. But whatever.
"Very well," The young man sighed, resigned to answer the guys questions rather than argue if it would push the whole process ahead a bit. The stranger immediately launched into his questions without so much as an introduction. Rude. "Well, shifty is sort of slang for shapeshifter. I mean, who has the time to just say the whole thing every single time? That would be so lame. And no, I didn't provoke him. There might've been a slight misunderstanding but I totally didn't start anything."
"I'm Jack. Nice to meet you..." He introduced himself, holding out his right hand in greeting, trailing off for the other man to give his own name. "As for what I am, I'm not much of anything at the moment. I used to be a solutions engineer in the discrete applications department for this one company. Unfortunately for me, there was a hostile takeover and I didn't find out until it was too late."
"They wanted to saddle me with about three times the responsibility, nowhere near the autonomy I had previously, and definitely no say in the creative direction they intended to take us in. So screw that, my talents would be better appreciated elsewhere." The young man held up his uninjured hand and sighed as if to say 'what can you do?'
Jack paused for a breath before continuing. "I'm not too bitter though. Anyways, I don't see what this has to do with my arm."
"Ok, good to meet ya Jack." Abraxas shakes his hand lazily, ignoring the obvious question he had had. Then the kid started going on about his job or something. He could barely get a word in edgewise. He lost a job or something? No, no... he quit, that was it. The boss sold the company, probably couldn't give a damn if his workers lost their jobs and or paychecks. Wait why was he even listening to this? This wasn't what he was asking. "No, no, no, hold on a sec, I'm asking what you are, like.... this." The reaper shifted to his normal form, his bright yellow eyes, unblinking, stared into the elemental's, a wide bony grin on his face. "First question was to figure out if you knew about this stuff. This second one, was to know how exactly to help you out. In case you didn't know, some creatures have different anatomy, and I don't know what my abilities might do to something I don't totally understand."
Jack is an average, unassuming guy. He stands bashfully, avoiding eye contact as he looks around at everything except the person he's speaking with. A closer look. however, will reveal more.
Beneath this carefully neutral appearance, Jack's body is lean and efficient. He's slow to anger and behind his bashful demeanor is an assertive individual observing his environment with an almost predatory nature.
Post by Jacksoπ Flεtchεr on Jul 27, 2016 15:55:18 GMT -5
"Ohhh," Jack said as the realization of what the guy had been asking dawned on him. Well, that was kind of a personal question, now wasn't it? And the guy hadn't even told Jack his name yet. Rude.
The stranger had changed form and, at first, Jack inwardly rolled his eyes. Another shapeshifter? So soon? But the guy changed into a reaper rather than something ready to take a bite out of him. That was something of a relief and a curiosity. But Jack supposed it made sense. The guy couldn't very well walk around as a skeleton in public. At least, not when it wasn't Halloween. It didn't really surprise him to see one working in medicine, either. They were supposed to be fairly intelligent and maybe it helped him get access to corpses, too. Oh no, his mind was wandering again.
"Right," The young man began, trying to think of the words he wanted to describe himself in this time. "I am of the magically inclined humans. An archmage of extraordinary power, wooo." Deep voice and finger wiggling for that last bit. "Eh, you probably call us elementals, though. No dramatic transformations for me, I'm afraid."
Peering at the stranger, Jack wondered. He'd mentioned some abilities, perhaps of the healing sort. "So you mentioned some abilities, dare I hope they are of the healing sort?" The young man echoed his thought, eyes hopeful. "Also, I didn't quite catch your name earlier. Who are you?"
So, just a fancy powered human essentially. Nothing major to worry about then besides maybe some sort of magic backlash. He'd only done this to creatures and people with abnormal physical abilities, nothing of the metaphysical sort, so he wasn't really sure what would happen. "Ah, sure thing magic kid. I am pretty darn sure I can help you out with your arm. Only a very small chance of blowing us sky high." He gripped the Elemental's arm with his skeletal hand, pulling it closer to him. "Alright, just keep it nice and loose so you don't end up with phantom limb syndrome. My father had it when some humans caught him for a while. Kept cutting his arms off and having him heal himself. Real sick stuff that was." He stops to hear his next question."Ohhhhhhh, that's what you were trying to get me to tell ya. Nah, I may tell you later, I don't know if I can trust you yet." Abraxas then starts healing the kid, concentrating heavily on the mending skin. "This might hurt a bit."
Jack is an average, unassuming guy. He stands bashfully, avoiding eye contact as he looks around at everything except the person he's speaking with. A closer look. however, will reveal more.
Beneath this carefully neutral appearance, Jack's body is lean and efficient. He's slow to anger and behind his bashful demeanor is an assertive individual observing his environment with an almost predatory nature.
Post by Jacksoπ Flεtchεr on Jul 27, 2016 22:48:10 GMT -5
"Phantom limb syndrome," The young man echoed. He'd heard of it before, but wasn't terribly familiar with the term. Welp, at least he knew enough to know that he definitely don't want it. Jack reclined on the exam table and tried to relax as much as possible, biting down on the corner of his jacket for the pain. As he did so, the young man marveled to himself how lucky he'd gotten. He'd shown up, expecting a cast and some bandages, maybe pain meds. Instead he'd be walking out of here practically whole. Sweet.
"I'm ready."
Jack was familiar with healing of both the ordinary and the magical time, as a couple particularly nasty scars might be willing to attest to. He'd broken bones, lost limbs, and ruptured organs. He'd been on the brink of death more times than he could remember and had probably even suffered a little brain damage at some point. But he never really got used to the feeling of his flesh squirming, wriggling underneath the ministrations of a healer as it knit itself back together.
He couldn't breathe. The pain in his arm was all he felt and his eyes wouldn't look away either. Jack watched the process, trying not to think of when it would end. Maybe it would go faster that way.
Abraxas could feel the flesh shifting under his hands, restructuring itself, almost like a brand new arm. Once the process was done, he leaned back into his chair, breathing heavily. He feigned wiping sweat off of his brow, giving the other inhuman a lidless stare. "Yeah, well, phantom limb normally happens with soldiers, ya know, when they get their arms and legs blown off. They live with the pain that they had in their limb in the last moment of its existence, every hour, of every day. Not a hard thing to fix if you actually don't have a limb, but with you, it'd be much, much harder. I'd probably have to cut it off to even have a chance at it, and I probably lose my job too, what with having to explain why there would be blood all over the place." He nodded, swapping how his legs were crossed, putting his hands behind his head. "And I'm not so much of a jerk not to tell you my name, I just feel I should let you know before I ask some more questions. Abraxas, that's my real name, but if anyone asks, just call me nurse Bill."
Jack is an average, unassuming guy. He stands bashfully, avoiding eye contact as he looks around at everything except the person he's speaking with. A closer look. however, will reveal more.
Beneath this carefully neutral appearance, Jack's body is lean and efficient. He's slow to anger and behind his bashful demeanor is an assertive individual observing his environment with an almost predatory nature.
Post by Jacksoπ Flεtchεr on Jul 28, 2016 18:33:47 GMT -5
It was over. The pain in the young man's arm was replaced with a swiftly fading echo, a memory of the injury that was. There wouldn't even be that soon. Jack reached over to prod his left arm. No pain. He flexed his grip a bit, balling his fist and rotating his forearm. Everything seemed to be in working order and he was pleased. There wasn't even a scar left over, one of the lovely benefits of magical healing besides the whole instantaneous mending part.
"Sounds like fun," Jack muttered sarcastically while Abraxas told him about phantom limb syndrome, staring at his healed arm the whole time. He finally looked up when the other man finally told him his name. Abraxas, huh? He thought to himself, observing the reaper and wondering what a guy with his abilities was doing in a free clinic. Magical healing was always high in demand and he could probably make a pretty nice living in certain circles. Oh well, it didn't really matter, he supposed. "Nice to meet you Abraxas."
"So," The young man began, sitting back up on the exam table and swinging his legs over the edge. Jack stretched and yawned. "You said you had some more questions? Answering 'ems probably the least I can do after you fixed me up."
"Yeah, but first I'd like to say something. I can see how weird you think my name is, and to be honest it is. My father was always a fan of subtextual hearsay when it came to typical religions, so he named me after something supposedly stronger than a god. If you find it tough to say, just stick with Bill, that's what I go by around here. As for the questions, First, What sort of misunderstanding was this with the shifter? Second..." The Boney figure pulls his face close to the elemental. And with a grim voice, even for a skeleton, he asks, "Is there any chance of them having followed you? Because, if there is, you're gonna have to stay here for a while, no way am I going to let you leave right after I helped you. If they come and you aren't here, I have no way of defending myself from them."
Jack is an average, unassuming guy. He stands bashfully, avoiding eye contact as he looks around at everything except the person he's speaking with. A closer look. however, will reveal more.
Beneath this carefully neutral appearance, Jack's body is lean and efficient. He's slow to anger and behind his bashful demeanor is an assertive individual observing his environment with an almost predatory nature.
Post by Jacksoπ Flεtchεr on Jul 29, 2016 19:03:00 GMT -5
Weird? Nah. It's not so weird. I've met people with weirder names than that. Hell, my names Tenebrous Jack right now-- Oh. Did things just get serious all of a sudden? The young man thought, interrupting the tangent his inner monologue had begun. Abraxas wanted to know more about the misunderstanding he'd mentioned earlier and whether or not he'd been followed. Well. Jack didn't think there was too much to worry about. He had his professional pride, after all. Disappearing without a trace was something he was fairly competent at. It was a lot easier than one might think when teleportation was an option.
"Oh, you know how those things go. I'll admit, I probably could've handled things better than I did but they caught me at a bad time and I sort of lost my temper after the bite, you know? That's just not a hygienic way to handle your frustrations. Not very mature, either." The young man slipped out of his jacket. Jack's arm might've been fixed but the sleeve was still messed up and it would need replacing. "I might've seen something that they didn't want anyone to see. Like, a murder. I might not have even told anyone if they hadn't made me drop my skittles. And that was just crossing a line."
"Anyways, it's highly unlikely they might've managed to follow me here but they'll probably be doing a cursory check of the nearby clinics and stuff in the area for me. Maybe I should've killed em, but I was feeling oddly merciful at the time. Which is strange because my arm really hurt. Don't worry. If they do show up and are acting ornery, I'll handle em. With as little mess as possible. I promise."
"Okay, so in that case, you're staying with me until some time has passed." The reaper stood up, cracked his joints and started walking around the small room. "So, actually, it's up to you whether or not we stay. You up for a coffee or something? My shift just ended, so I'm good to go. And yeah, I may seem a bit pushy right now, but I'm sort of on a huge adrenalin high right now. You're like, the 6th person I've let know of my RATTLING appearance." He gave a slight chuckle, nodding to Jack as he shifted back to his human form. "Get it? Skeleton puns. I'm really tired." Abraxas waved it off like he didn't really care, but the stress was visibly evident on his face. "Look, I'm not normally this way, I try my best to keep myself calm and collected, as reapers should be. So, just do me a favor here."