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“I’m alright, it’s a bit better now.” The throbbing had dulled thanks to what they’d done and some of that tension had relaxed on his face. Pulling the kettle off its base, he filled both cups before returning it to where it began. The tea bag floated as he stirred it three times and tapped the spoon on the edge of the cup before rinsing it off in the sink and putting it on the dish drying rack. After washing his hands he picked his cup up and sipped it carefully.

“I think that photo shoot was… interesting. It reminded me of your uniform in a way though without all that hair corrupts have. If I didn’t know better I would say that might be triggering migraines on its own but you had them before according to… Hisoka?” It was odd saying their past name, almost like talking about someone who had died even if it wasn’t someone he knew. What was even the protocol for things like that? Did they feel like that person was who they were or were they just a stranger? It wasn’t something he liked the idea of, a loss of memory and self but in this case, it had lent itself towards his trust in this witch.

“We can sit at the table this time.” Moving into the living room, he set his cup down on the coaster he often left on his chess table before going about clearing the board and putting it away in the drawer built into the table. Another time he might see if they played but for now he was still thinking about things. It wasn’t like him to be distracted but he kept thinking about their back, it was something he’d double-check and add ointments to after the tea.

It hadn’t gone unnoticed, how they stared at the chess pieces. He could see gears turning but he wasn’t sure why. “Do you play? Or did you?” Settling in as he sipped from his cup, the warm brew helped with stress apparently but he preferred it because of its taste.

“School could be stressful depending on family as well as social aspects. I found it alright though my rotations were where things drained on me. Seeing steps skipped or things falling through the cracks, there’s a reason I opened my own practice after being freed form that.” That and he knew that it would work best if he had his own schedule to work by, one free of most random interruptions. Sure he still had the one of emergency call from a regular patient but it was much less frequent than the calls or texts he got from family. If he were to bill his cousin accordingly he would probably own their home by now.

“The lights seemed to have you stopping and starting while driving so you look a bit worse off, I assume that’s because you hit your back against the seat a few times?” Probably irritating things more than they were already. “In a normal situation I assume they wouldn’t be putting such weight on something fresh?” He really didn’t know but it seemed like something like that would hinder a healing process more than help it.

It sounded familiar to how he’d seen people recovering from memory loss handled things and it made sense given what apparently had happened. Though unlike the mundane type of memory loss there wasn’t much of a chance of things bubbling back up from what he’d read, at least not much of it.

“A shame then, I play frequently though my cousin is terrible at it. They have a tart, one I don’t quite enjoy but at least they offer a challenge.” It was an exchange of sorts, when Rene came over to play a game of chess and questions would come back and forth between turns. It lasted longer than the games with Alexandre but he still wished he had someone a bit more…. Polite to play against much like the older people who gathered in the park he visited once a month for a gathering.

“Not as many as you would think, though I had seen how things effected a few of my classmates in undergrad. More often than not I saw a few people upset in the halls over test scores.” It had never been an issue for him and he’d just stepped around them and kept on his schedule between classes. It was easier back then without as many things popping up and shaking up the rhythm of his days.

“I have a feeling that your profession relies more on the social aspect though so it might not be as easy to take such a leap? Considering your situation as well, without much of a background, I would say your current shop with its practices is the safest option.” Not being rude but being direct before sipping down more of his tea. Stability was something that needed to exist to lower stress in his opinion and this person had a lot of that going on which made their migraines worse from what he’d noticed since catching them out with the first one.

Listening to the explanation of different piercings and practices, he took mental notes about it even if he wasn’t sure it was something he would look into right away. A passing fancy maybe, something to have them explain but not something he came across in his practice outside of the odd one-off infections he saw. Not normally related to the piercing itself but more related so something near one that just causes an opportunistic infection on something akin to an open wound in most cases. He’d seen it in a tattoo once after one of the sons of a regular patient of his had gone to the beach too soon after having it done. It had been vile, something he had to approach carefully, and after he wasn’t sure of how well the thing would heal given what had happened.

Setting his empty cup down, he straightened up and stretched. “Well I can take a look just to make sure of things, I saw you bleed a bit which means it's more open than most things. I would say to lay on your stomach but people each have their own positions that are most comfortable.” It wasn’t always easy to switch it up for some people which was why he knew he had a hard time sleeping on anything other than his bed, it just wasn’t comfortable.

“If you’re ready I can take a look and get things cleaned up a bit more and provide some things to help with it.”

It made sense, the only reason he himself had luck with his own practice was through his family and word of mouth from his rotations. His reputation for his tenacity in helping patients and his track record of positive treatment plans had also helped. “Understandable.” Shrugging a bit he followed them to the other room as they explained tiger parents and the pressures of family on good grades added on top of expectations from society to be a certain way.

Heading towards the cabinets, he washed his hands and pulled gloves on as he grabbed what he needed down which included a set of forceps to hold cotton balls he was going to use to apply alcohol to the cuts to help sanitize them before he covered them up again.

Turning back, he saw they were already laid out and he felt an odd feeling in his stomach and chest. It wasn’t something he was sure about, it was new to him but he shrugged it off as he leaned over and started carefully pulling the existing bandages off. “You bled through a few of them, not terribly but it will hurt so I apologize.”

Throwing each one into the biohazard bin at his side, he leaned over and inspected the small wounds. They were definitely from hypodermic needles, something they had explained was used for these temporary things. He still didn’t like the look of it, especially considering how otherwise their skin was free of scars. Running a gloved hand over the worst ones, he felt for any foreign debris from the bandages or the other’s shirt. Loose fibers that might have gotten caught while on the drive.

Once he cleaned the last bits from it all, he dabbed the soaked cotton balls one by one on the wounds and cleaned them up before applying medicated ointment and new sanitary bandages that were free of fibers so that nothing would get in them. They were waterproof as well so that would help for the few days it would take for things to either close up or scab over. That done, he took a glove off and thought for a moment as he looked down at their back. A curious thought floated through him and he traced a finger between some of the bandages, where the chains and jewelry had draped before. It had been something eye-catching, even if it had hurt them.

Shaking his head he scooted back on his stool and threw the rest of the things in the biohazard before cleaning his hands again and pulling out some ibuprofen and a steroid. “This will help with some of the inflammation and pain. Just a few days run of it then you should be alright other than the itchiness that comes with healing, which I am sure you know about.”

“While that is true, you should consider that the normal amount of pain should be none for people.” It was something he had to bring up frequently for those who suffered from chronic ailments and pain in his clinic and it seemed like a foreign thought to most of them. It was sad and he did what he could to ease their suffering.

The sigh they made had stirred up things too but he again shook it off and focused on what they were mentioning. “Yes that would be good, if you can reach back to apply it is another matter. As you said, you aren’t that flexible right?” It was hard to reach everything and unless they had a few mirrors to help see, it would be impossible. “I doubt it will scar though, even with the ones that were irritated, the needles were sharp and clean so the piercings were clean as well. Your skin should heal fine pending you getting sick or something that might lower your immune response.”

Looking over the tattoo on their arm, he nodded. “Especially with how covering that tattoo is, I might not know much about them but I would assume that the amount of ink that has would have made for a long session and a longer healing process?” He’d picked up bits and pieces from their conversations even if he had no intention of pursuing things himself. In a way he was attending little seminars just from their conversations and he always approached it with the same focus and care as any of the ones he attended for work.

“I would say light food, the steroid can increase aggression or appetite but it only lasts as long as you take it which would only be for three days. Let me know though if you have any other issues. I will be up late the next few days even if it is the weekend and my clinic is closed. I have to work through some things for Benitoite.” More plants, more compounds, things to get lost in as he listened to books and poured over notes and measurements.