Inquest Encounter II

1323 AE 

 

Another day of the same day. Every day. Stauvv trudged down the same hallway he trudged through every single day, just wanting to sleep and get started with the next. This was truly starting to feel like a joke to him. He was supposed to have graduated with honors and accelerated study, so why the hell was he rotting at a dead-end job in the Inquest? How did he end up like this? 

A woman’s face, cold and angry, flashed in his mind, and he grit his teeth, shoving the smoldering anger back down. In his lousy office, there wasn’t much to distract him from ruminating on past regrets and conflicts, but at least he didn’t have to deal with anyone at the same time.

Approaching the door, he let his shoulders slump forward with the weight of it all. But then he could only stare incredulously at what, or who, was in front of him.

Krill, leisurely sat in Stauvv’s own chair, one ankle up on the other knee, hands clasped politely in his lap. Pleased, narrowed eyes and a snake’s smile. Stauvv left his door unlocked. He wins.

“Why are you in my office?” He couldn’t keep the whining exasperation out of his usually even-toned voice.

“My hand’s broke. Fix it,” Krill demanded, widening his smile, holding the awkwardly limp hand out and fluttering his eyelashes.

“I’m on break,” Stauvv hissed, stomping into his lab towards the troublemaker. Not today. He wasn’t going to take any of this today. “Get out of my chair.”

“Oh? But not out of your room?” He laughed, spinning the chair once, still holding his hand up awkwardly. 

Annoyed, Stauvv lightly flicked it, earning an offended yelp from the sentry as he wasted no time hopping out of the doctor’s seat. “Okay! Okay! Point taken,” He pouted as Stauvv sagged into the seat and spun it around to face his desk. “Can’t you look at it, though? It hurts, Doc!” Krill begged, holding it in front of his face.

“Can’t you read? You’re here after clinic hours, if you want me to treat it, the emergency fee is 20 gold,” Stauvv stated, devoid of empathy, motioning to the sign outside of his office. He set his elbows on top of the desk and held his head in his hands, massaging the headache forming behind his eyes. All he wanted was some peace and quiet. Not taking kindly to the established rules of his lab, Krill waved his good hand about.

“What kind of person charges their friends!” He complained, reaching forward and dragging Stauvv and his chair away from his desk, demanding attention.

“I never said we were friends, you ass!” Stauvv sputtered as he fell forward, then got back to his feet in order to wrestle the chair from the sentry’s one-handed grip. Pink dusted his cheeks and ear tips at how clear it was that he completely lacked the strength to challenge Krill at all. “Either pay up or leave me alone!”

“You’re such a liar! We’re on a first name basis!”

“Yes, Because hearing you call me ‘Doc’ was annoying!”

“Your words are so hurtful… I thought we shared something!”

“Yeah right, a building-“ 

“Um… Is…. everything okay in here?” A sudden chipper feminine voice interrupted their squabble. Stauvv whipped his head around to face the doorway, seeing a teenage asuran girl peering into the infirmary with concerned topaz eyes. Her energetic, looped, auburn pigtails made her seem familiar…

“Roussi!” Krill cried, dropping to his knees at her feet. “The Doc’s refusing to treat my broken hand, because I’m too poor for the emergency fee!” He wailed. Roussi laughed at the poor guy, lightly kicking his head with her toes. That’s right, Stauvv suddenly recalled, Roussi was a younger intern who had just recently gotten a position at this complex. She was working in the bio lab under a few different krewe leaders to study hiveminds and mind control technology. Not bad for someone in their teens, barring the fact that this was the Inquest, not a good reputable lab in Rata Sum.

“Policy’s policy, Krill. Can’t argue with that,” She replied, to which Stauvv nodded, appreciative of the support. “Oh, well, unless you’re me, haha. Doc!” She said, abruptly turning toward the doctor, who had just turned to return his chair to the desk. “One of the subjects got a little rowdy and I think I ended up spraining my ankle trying to manage them,” She explained, tapping her fingers together. 

“I hate both of you. Get out,” He grumbled, sitting back down at his desk, beginning to fill out some forms.

They both exhaled, accepting they were hitting a real dead end.

“You’re the worst doctor ever!” Roussi lamented, throwing her hands in the air.

“Don’t care. Your ankle will be fine someday, I’m not doing you any favors for a wimpy sprain, Roussi. Maybe watch your feet next time.”

Krill gave her a snarky little laugh, waving at her. “Yeah, you’re shit out of luck. Better luck next time.”

“... Or just come when I’m open?” Stauvv pointed out without looking over his shoulder. It really was not that difficult to figure out.

Roussi stuck her tongue out at him with a ‘hmph!’ then flipped both of them off as she limped back out the door.

“Yeah, yeah. Drink lots of fluid if you’re gonna cry over it,” Stauvv mocked during her exit, signing off on a clearance form for a patient earlier that day. Not that it would be heeded by any of the superiors, no matter how ironically amusing it would be to see the Inquest honor labor laws regarding injury and compensation. Still, he had standards for his conduct. He wouldn’t be meeting the Inquest where they were.

Acutely aware of Krill still standing brainlessly by the door, he lifted his head to fix him with an unimpressed look. 

“Shouldn’t you be following her?” He asked.

“I’m persistent!” Krill smiled, placing a hand on one of the axes on his waist.

“Is that a threat?”

“Whatever do you mean, kind doctor?”

“Oh, fuck off.”

Krill laughed, walking over to him. He leaned on the back of his chair with one elbow, and braced himself on the table with his good hand, staring down at the papers Stauvv was filling out.

“Wow… you have awful handwriting, Doc,” He commented, eyebrows raised. Krill was no master at penmanship, but even he was better than this. Stauvv’s writing couldn’t even be called legible.

“Want to hear a secret?” Stauvv asked, continuing to write. “Doctors are taught to write like this.”

“That’s a lie and we both know it. You’re just saving face.”

“No, no… Think about it, information’s more secure if no one is able to read it but you.” He explained, flicking his pale pink upwards to read his reaction.

The sentry over his shoulder went silent, as if he was struggling to decide to trust him or not. His brows were slightly furrowed and the tip of his nose twitched, and from this distance he could actually see shades of yellow in his ocean blue eyes and… Stauvv decided to look at the injuries he’d treated a few months prior instead. Yes, the scratches had healed nicely, and his nose wasn’t crooked at all. It was good work from him. Yes, he’d focus on that, and not the warmth rising to his cheeks. Warmth that was certainly due to the frequent fevers he suffered, and nothing else. Why was he so close? Back off.

“Why not codify it or come up with a different shorthand then?” He finally asked, making eye contact with him.

He quickly turned his gaze back down towards the paper. “Who says this isn’t a different version of shorthand?” 

“Ah… I see.”

Stauvv smirked a little bit. Sucker. 

A long moment of silence passed, until Krill expectantly cleared his throat.

“I’m still not touching your hand,” He told him, reaching for a different colored pen in the upper right corner of his messy desk.

A fake sniffle. “You won’t even hold it?”

“Absolutely not,” He shuddered.

“Kiss it better?”

“Will you go away?” He growled, irritation obvious.

Krill deliberated. Then, “I’ll go away if you kiss it better!” He said with a wide, wide, innocent smile.

Slamming his fist down on the table, Stauvv turned and flicked him on the forehead with his pen, sounding a solid thunk! “Krill, I am two seconds away from paging Bezz and leaving you to die, do you hear me?”

The other asura flinched in the form of squeezing his eyes shut for a short second, then started laughing, getting in Stauvv’s face.

“Oho? Those are some fighting words!” He said, looking awfully pleased to have finally broken the doctor’s composure.

Flushing deeper and stifling an aggravated scream, he stood up, table banging as he brought both hands down hard as he did. Behind him, his chair drifted backwards. Whirling to face him, and jabbing his finger to his left, Stauvv growled. “Get on the fucking table, just stop. Speaking. Please.” 

Humming, the immediately pacified Krill skipped over to the exam table, hopping up with ease and kicking his feet in expectation.

Enable him once, Stauvv, and before you know it he’ll be stopping by weekly begging for free treatment. 

…

Oh well. 

Walking over to one of the powered-down golems in the back, he pressed a few buttons to turn it on, and gave it a little kick when it seemed to be struggling. If the Inquest didn’t start increasing his budget soon, they’re not even going to have a doctor in this sorry facility. Whirling gears and start up beeps answered him as the golem rose to its full height.

“[MODEL: ICU MAKE: 1312 NOW INITIALIZING. PLEASE WAIT]”

He waited.

“[WELCOME. PLEASE ENTER ACCESS CREDENTIALS]”

A keypad emerged from the golems chest, by which Stauvv input his relevant information with a sigh.

“[ACCESS DENIED. INCORRECT PASSWORD. REMAINING ATTEMPTS: 2]”

“What happens if you fail all of them?” Krill asked, staring at the golem with interest.

“[PROCESSING INQUIRY. ANSWER: THE UNAUTHORIZED USER WILL BE SWIFTLY DEALT WITH.]”

“Oh. That’s tough.”

Stauvv wordlessly input his access code once more, being extra careful to not mis-enter anything this time. 

“[NOT TO WORRY. THIS USER IS AUTHORIZED. ACCESS SUCCESSFUL.]”

Leading the specialized golem over to him, he glared and flatly ordered for him to stick his hand out. Krill obliged, wearing an infuriatingly triumphant smile, allowing the x-ray golem to scan it. “He’s taking pictures of my bones! Haha oh, ICU. I get it.” He giggled.

Picking up the pictures that it spit out of a slot in its chest, Stauvv silently inspected where the breaks were and how bad it was in totality. “Lucky me, I don’t need to operate.”

“Aw bummer… I wanted to hang with you longer! Even if it was only under the sweet kiss of anesthesia…” The guard mused, glancing skyward and smirking. 

“You think I’d waste anesthesia on you?” Stauvv retaliated, feeling his face grow hotter yet. He set the images down and crossed the room to get the stockinette and cotton wrap, small bucket of water, and then the casting material from one of the storage cabinets in the back. “At the most, I’d consider letting you get drunk first.” The other asura laughed.

Walking back over, he slid on a pair of rubber gloves, the elastic loudly snapping against his wrist with the motion. “Hand up,” He told him, setting everything down on the table next to his patient. 

Krill did as asked and quietly watched as Stauvv, surprisingly gently, bent his aching hand backwards to the correct angle and slid the sleeve onto his arm, and then wordlessly began to wrap the cotton padding around his wrist and palm. Kicking his legs again, he let his attention drift as the doctor kept working. It was probably a simple, standard procedure, but he was still impressed that each motion was confident and precise. 

“You really know a lot about medical stuff, don’t you?” He eventually asked as Stauvv had long-since moved onto wrapping the hard casing intricately around his hand, occasionally cutting it to bend better. Calmer in his focus, the doctor only shrugged. 

“Of course. I studied hard in college,” He replied, patting the casting material as it dried, making sure it was flat and proper. For a begrudging treatment, it seemed he still cared a lot about quality. 

“It’s not a word I’d associate with you, but you must be pretty passionate about this, then.”

The doctor’s pale pink eyes looked up at him for a moment, before quickly dropping back down to the broken hand, carefully emotionless. 

“Oh… no. I just didn’t have a choice,” He replied after a short hesitation, focused on finishing and tying up the loose ends, such as rolling the stockinette back down and trimming it. “Not that it meant anything in the end, anyway.” 

Not waiting on his patient to reply, he began cleaning up, absentmindedly raking his hand through his chestnut hair, leaving it tousled and disheveled. Krill blinked, the action catching his curiosity. Not a good topic, was it?

“You’re done,” Stauvv told him as he had his back turned, putting the supplies away. “Like your rib, don’t do anything stupid for a few weeks and you’ll be fine. I’ll put the cost on a tab so you can pay me back later,” He sighed, turning around and looking back at him. “Now will you finally get lost?” 

Krill smiled at him, hopping down from the bench. “Sure, sure. Thanks, Doc! Er- Stauvv.” With a casual wave, he made for the door, humming a jovial little tune.

Stauvv watched him go, a strange look on his face. He was so aggravating, so why was he feeling a little sad to see him go? If nothing else, the behavior of Krill cracked through the fog of monotony the doctor was all too used to by now, and that was welcome. And that weird shyness he keeps feeling? What the hell is that about? It’s not unpleasant, but it’s so unlike the stoic doctor to get flustered over nothing. He lightly grabbed ahold of his tattered eartips and pulled, unable to parse what he was feeling.

Shaking his head, he reclaimed his seat and unconsciously raked his hand through his hair again.

No matter, it was nice to feel something other than vague, muted anger sometimes.

In the end, Krill was never billed for the visit. And if Stauvv was ever confronted about this, he’d likely say: “Oh, what a shame. It looks like I forgot, how irresponsible of me.”