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 Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:51 pm
Class Biology, one of those fundamental classes you just have to take, and either you like it, or you don’t. Today, however, you have been assigned to dissect a frog. Yes, a frog. Did you manage to make it through the entire dissection? Wei sat on top of one of the tables, instructions next to him. As much as he wanted to get started with the dissection, the instructions suggested at least two people. Hopefully someone would come by today as he really wanted to do this.
It would be like a practice surgery, and though he didn't specifically imagine himself to become one he'd have to know about the body. The veins, arteries, the organs and their functions. All of it even down to the physiology of how each works. It was invigorating.
Still, he waited calmly taking notes and making sketches from one of the posters on the wall. If he finished with those he'd go into one of the textbooks. But he honestly would prefer starting on the macro physiology versus the micro.
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Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 7:30 pm
Biology! A long awaited class! It was sure to be fairly interesting in the way of science. Something useful and knowledgeable for Nathaniel to learn. The more he could understand organisms and their functions, the better he'd be able to understand the way poison flows through a system and concoct his own. Despite all that had happened, his mother was still gone and he still wished to make the poison. Though he had reasons now, reasons for everything... life, goals, everything! It was all different now. There were no more rose-colored glasses to fog his views.
So as Nathaniel stood, he checked himself one more time before trying to mentally prepare himself for what was to come. It wasn't necessarily for whatever was to come in the class, but rather for the socialization with which he was so unfamiliar! He no longer wanted to treat people like useless trash on the sidewalk. That was old news. So more than the class, today's challenge would be a more pressing one.
Dissection was old news.
Still, he swallowed. For all his research, he'd never actually dissected something that had once been alive. Would he be able to stomach it? He certainly hoped so. Steeling himself, he stepped into the room and saw... someone. The other boy looked vaguely familiar, like a memory from a bad dream. Quietly, he walked all the way in and set his stuff down on a nearby table.
"H-hi?" he said, feeling guilty already for interrupting the note taking. However, he figured it would be best to get it over with. At least this person seemed moderately familiar and not totally a new face. That made it either all the more difficult or all the more easy.
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Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:16 pm
The older male glanced up to look at the source of the voice before shifting his gaze over to the poster. With a few more lines he had finished his graph on the membrane potential of an action potential. It was seriously crazy to think that such a complicated process of ionic flows occurred in nanoseconds and caused every single movement and sensation in his body. The nervous system was great.
Finally, Weiyuan looked up, smoothing his bangs back. "Ah, hello. Ready for the dissection...?" He didn't quite recognize the other. But he was obviously from S&T, and here he had thought he met just about everyone. But he did seem...familiar. He quirked his head, knowing that he had met him recently. But where could he of met someone without even remembering their name? Oh...that time..."...aren't you...the one at the Halloween party with...the black stuff?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:25 pm
In the time it took the other to look around, Nathaniel took in the surroundings of the classroom. It was covered in all sorts of strangely normal posters about the various bodily systems and their extended functions. Some of these notes the British lad had already, but some of them were new and far more extensive than anything he had taken before. He then pulled out his own notebook and scribbled a few things down. Nothing was too much or excessive when pursuing a goal.
However, he stopped short when the other referred to the Halloween party. His face became slightly flushed and he avoided the others gaze, "Uhm... I think so? And you were...?" He turned at last, willing and daring himself to look at the other. He raised an eyebrow, face quirking into a strange sort of emotion he couldn't really describe. It was something akin to slight nervous shock and horror. He couldn't be the... no. Impossible.
So he changed the subject back to the dissection and forced a smile, "This fascinates me, I'm looking forward to it." To be so honest was strange for him, but it got easier. All he had to do was answer the question and admit the truth. There wasn't really anything complicated about it. He was never embarassed when discussing his passions.
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Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:45 pm
The brunette flushed a bit. Uhm...yeah. That night was usually never to be talked about again. Quickly he slid off the desk and went to the box that held their specimen. "I was the...........cat girl." He lowered his volume as he spoke the last two words. His identity had been spoiled late in the night though he supposed this one hadn't heard. Or actually...didn't even know him considering Wei didn't know the fellow brunette either.
He finished preparing the frog before bringing it back to the desk. "My real name is Weiyuan Leung, by the way. Sorry about that night, it was a bet." Lame excuse but true none the less. He wouldn't embarrass himself further by saying he had actually somewhat enjoyed it up to a point.
The older S&T student got back to business as he took out the tools required. "It's already been drained of it's blood so don't worry about any stains. We better get the aprons and gloves on though. It says that the chemicals preserving the body stink and stain."
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Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 9:16 pm
All at once, the horror of that night seemed to come back to him. He sat perfectly still, finishing up with his notes as the other prepped the specimen and brought it over. He frowned a moment, looking at the poor frog in the tray but currently more preoccupied with the 'cat's' real identity, rather than the thing he was about to cut open. Weiyuan Leung huh? A bet? Even for a bet, there were things that had definitely been going a tad too far. Closing his notebook, he went into one of the supply closets of the classroom and poked around a bit, pulling out some of the suggested materials.
He handed two gloves and an apron out to the other, as well as some goggles, just in case. "My name is Nathaniel Jacobson," Nat returned, saying nothing more about Halloween, and instead focusing on the now. It would do no good to remember that night. He tried to offer a smile, but it failed miserably, seeing as how he wasn't used to socializing anyway.
"Goggles, just in case you forget and try to touch your eyes. No point in tempting bacteria..." he pulled on the apron and gloves, as per the others suggestion, and then put the goggles on his head, looking oddly as he had at Halloween. Also very fitting. "Formaldehyde helps preserve things. I'm not sure that's what was used, but if it was... it's toxic to humans." He smiled smugly, knowing full well a good deal of common (and some not so common) things that were 'toxic' for human beings.
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Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 10:05 pm
Wei couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed. It was obvious the other remembered that night. Really well by the way he moved. He sighed and started to re-arrange his hair into a tight bun. He didn't want his hair to get involved into any of chemicals.
He accepted the protective wear offered and put them on, making sure they were on right. He opened the case containing the tools, noticing that the frog wasn't already pre-cut. He could feel adrenaline starting to pump already. This was exactly what he'd been waiting to do. "Do you want to do the honors?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 2:55 pm
Nathaniel adjusted the apron and goggles, as well as the other protective gear he had adorned. It was both a comfort and a nervous wonder. There were butterflies in his stomach, doing all sorts of strange things. In honesty, the British youth wasn't able to tell if it was from nerves or anxiety. Was he expecting something exciting to happen? Was he expecting failure or something dreadful? Was it simply the knowledge of who Weiyuan was that made him uncomfortable? He didn't know, but he set his face in such a way that said he was serious. When dealing with things like this, he couldn't afford any silliness or slips of the mind.
"Of the first cut?" Nathaniel said precariously, not quite sure the terminology meant. He was always rather picky with his words and since he lacked proper 'training' for conversations, he was also behind in the most common of statements as well as understanding some of the basic structure of indirect questions. "I have no problems doing it... if uh, you don't want to?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 9:44 pm
Weiyuan chuckled a bit, handing the sharp instrument to the younger boy. "I don't mind. I plan to become doctor and maybe even a medical researcher, I'll have the chance to do this again." Well, he hoped he did. But it was his older person instincts kicking in. He was old, he had more experiences, what right did he have to suck them up when their were youngers ones around?
He pulled the instruction sheet closer, to peer at the instructions. "So we have two options, depending on how long you want to spend with an open cadaver. We could go straight for the organs or take it apart muscle by muscle." Personally he liked the second option. He didn't mind spending so much time with an open body, in fact it would would provide better understanding to the body. But he was an understanding person and he know that some people would be disturbed by this. Shame he didn't have to chance to do this on his own.
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Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 7:09 am
Nathaniel took the instrument in his hand, examining it while the other spoke. It almost seemed like he was being spoken down to, which was a change of events for someone like him. But perhaps it was just because of the age or experience difference. After all, this other boy must've gotten his uniform quite some time before the British youth had gotten his own. He nodded thoughtfully, knowing that chemists didn't really have reason to cut things up into pieces (at least not animals.)
Glancing at the instruction sheet as well, he looked around for his notebook, half-reminding himself to take notes when he had a chance. It was nearby, close enough to stop and jot something down if it so suited him. If the moment felt right. Which he was sure it would at some point at least. Thoughtfully, he tilted his head, "We'll learn more if we take it apart muscle by muscle." He whole heartedly agreed with the option. There was a lot more to be gained, and he didn't expect any problems.
Taking the knife, he poised it above the center of the frog, wondering in truth how well he could do this. Plant and poisons were totally different from a frog. Not to mention that studying something was not nearly the same as doing it. He checked the instructions one more time, just to make sure the first cut he was planning on making was the right one, and then sliced the frog open from the middle.
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Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 4:44 pm
Weiyuan nodded at the cut. He felt a bit anxious. Thinking about doing it and actually doing it were different. "Alright, then make two slits at the top and bottom of this cut. They don't have to be long, we have the surgical scissors to use and we still have to skin it."
Skinning it would probably be the hardest part. Though the connective tissue was most likely easy to get rid off with the dissection probe/needle. It was the actually separating part he wasn't sure off. As much as possible he didn't want to nick the muscles underneath, frogs were small creatures. He didn't exactly know how thick the frogs skin in comparison to it's fat layer was.
Wei didn't mind spending so much time. He liked doing things right the first time. The brunette's hand went to the dissection kit, pulling from it one of the toothed forceps and the dissection needle.
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Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 2:19 pm
Nathaniel did as per the request of the other, or rather the proper instructions that would make the whole experiment worthwhile, and then lifted his own knife away a little. It was easy to see that the other was far more into this than the Brit himself was, but he had no qualms about it either. He adjusted the goggles lightly, straining to keep a slight nervous shiver from going through him. There was nothing to be nervous about, he almost shrugged as he thought this to himself. It would be easy enough if they worked together and took their time. What need had they to rush either?
But skinning a frog? Well... the frog was kind of small and it was basically all skin and... innards anyway. He wasn't sure he had hands delicate enough for this. Poison didn't require delicacy, it required precision. So he was unfamiliar with the more subtle arts of slicing things, other than plants, into pieces.
"I would like to admit that I am not positive in my ability to ...skin the frog," Nathaniel said, more nervous that he was admitting to something like that, rather the content of what he was admitting. But he was opening up to people, little by little. When working with another person, you needed honesty. If you couldn't do something... you shouldn't pretend you could because all it would do was bring trouble.
If this were poison and he claimed to know a vital formula for an antidote when he did not... if someone he was testing it on drank that poison and took the wrong antidote, Nat would become a murderer. No better than his enemy. And so he had to learn. It was slow going, but at least it was going at all.
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Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 8:21 pm
Wei wasn't too sure how to proceed either, but the text given was thorough enough that he could figure it out as he went along. "That's fine. I can guess as to what to do from the manual." He ran his gloved finger over the instructions, reading them twice before picking up the small toothed-tweezers, a dissection needle, and small sharp scissors.
With the tweezers, the taller teen lifted one of the flaps. "Ah, see there? The difference in color?" He moved so that his partner could see it. They were lucky that the color was so pronounced. Slowly he teased skin away from muscle with the dissection needle. "Here. See these white web-like looking things? That fascia, it's a connective tissue. Muscle to skin, muscle to muscle, muscle to bone. And for the most part as long as you see them, it's safe to cut."
Exchanging the dissection needle for the small scissors, he began to cut away the fascia. The flap was finished and nicely pulled back. He turned to the fellow brunette. "Want to try the other side?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 5:52 am
Nathaniel watched the boy carefully, observing his movements and how he took care of the operation. He was delicate and smart about it, even the British youth could recognize the skill. He wasn't so sure he could be so okay with once living flesh. Chemicals were a whole other delicacy entirely. There was something interesting about the way the color changed and how the fascia looked. Connective tissue hm? Interesting stuff. And quick as a wink, Nat was already jotting down notes even though there was very little to look at yet.
Nodding his assent to the comment about it being safe to cut, he watched the other pick up the scissors and cut at the fascinating tissue. It was then that he was asked to 'try the other side'. Nathaniel blinked and examined it, green eyes thoughtful before he gave a small smile, "I can certainly try." The idea of assisting someone else seemed almost exciting. The idea of cutting away at tissue like that seemed just as exciting. Yes, he could certainly try.
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Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 9:20 pm
Weiyuan grinned, noticing that shine in the other's eyes. Yes, this is something Wei enjoyed too. Taking apart the body, analyzing each bit...That's what got to Wei. That is what got him to want to continue this path. Gently, he coached Nat, trying to build up his own confidence. Once the youth had finished, the brunette brought the manual closer, pointing and explaining each muscle.
"...and that's the thoracic region." The brunette sighed. Abduction, adduction, flexion, and extension. Terms that he absolutely had to memorize. That was essential to his path. "Do you want to do the leg or go straight to the organs?"
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