voidtreckernet

Entry tags:

Video

[Several hours after his apparently miraculous resurrection, Joscelin Fitzthomas opens the video link. He looks shellshocked and confused. But he also looks different. Even as washed out as he is by the video feed, his face is not quite as pale as before, and there is actual color in his cheeks that make his freckles (which also suddenly seem more numerous than there had been) stand out even more.

When he speaks, his voice is quiet and subdued, with none of his usual sarcastic swagger.]

It would appear that I troubled many of you during the mission. For that, I am sorry.

Romeo and I caught a saboteur in the act, and that person reacted by shooting at us. I took the bullet—or bolt, I suppose; how does one classify science fiction weapons?—for Romeo. At any rate, I was under the impression that I had been wounded, but I have since been disabused of that notion and it now appears that I spent the last several days dead, somehow. Tony Stark had my ashes and personal effects in his room. I...

[He seems to realize he’s rambling and cuts himself off.]

Since then, Romeo has vanished.

[His voice breaks.]

I came to bundled away in a suitcase earlier today, so please—help me by checking the baggage car regularly. Maybe Romeo needs help extricating himself from a piece of luggage. Romeo is the very best of us and I beg you all to help me find him and keep him safe. Please.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

...I have asthma?

[That isn’t possible. Vampires don’t get asthma. But...unbidden, a hazy memory from nearly 700 years ago rises to the surface. He’d played too long in the hay and couldn’t breathe. One of the monks had fetched a bowl of hot water and forced him to breathe in the steam until the tightness in his lungs went away.

Oh, fuck.]

“Timelord” is a stupid name for an alien.

[Yes, Doctor, he’s sulking.]

[ Joss is a child and he's adapting to a pretty extreme change so he's allowed to be grumpy. ]

Well, I didn't choose it-but that's what we're called. What we were called-what I'm called. I just happen to be the last.

[ But he doesn't dwell on that and moves onto the next thing. ]

But yes, you have asthma and we'll sort that out-gonna take some medications-you'll need to take them in the morning and the evening. Will you be able to remember it all or should write it down?

and has there been anything else you've noticed that's different that you're used to? Anything at all?

[He’s still pouting but he takes in all the information from the Doctor quietly. He’ll have to talk to the Doctor later about all of this, once he’s had time to process.]

I can’t see as well. Up close is fine, but further away it gets fuzzy. And I can’t see in the dark anymore.

Well, most people can't see as well in the dark that's not much of a fault. The fuzziness though.. I'm going to step back and you let me know when I start to get fuzzy, yes?

[ He prompts, taking a two steps back. ]

[His answer is immediate:]

A little fuzzy.

Yeah.. okay. well.. I'm a bit limited with supplies but I can make it work. It's a medic car-probably don't have an eye chart-no harm in looking though.

Ever been to the Eye doctor Joss? Do you remember having worn glasses at all?

[ He starts pulling drawers open. ]

Eye doctors didn’t exist in the fourteenth century. I didn’t even know anyone who wore spectacles.

Ah, yes. I well.. I suppose that checks.

[ He mutters in response while rummaging through drawers. ]

Yowza! An Eye chart!

[ He exclaims, pulling it out. ]

Okay, we're going to do a test. I need you to cover your... right eye and red down the chart as you can see it-if it gets to blurry then stop and try not to squint-lots of people have a hard time with that one.

[He does fine with the chart until the fourth line.]

Er...L...D? No, P? B...C...

[It’s all a bit downhill from there.]

Okay.

[ The Doctor says, signaling for him to stop on that side. ]

Now, same thing but cover your left eyes-sorry. eye. You only have two.

[The left eye is a bit stronger than the right, but only barely. He makes it through the fourth line, but the fifth proves too much and he quits halfway through the row, frustrated with his inability to see.]

This is so stupid!

Yeah, I know-it's boring. Why I'm the Doctor and not the Eye Doctor-actually that's not it at all.

[ He rambles as he looks around for some supplies. ]

Okay-so we need to get you on medications for asthma and a lovely new pair of glasses-gives me something to do, I suppose.

So, you did a great job, I'll get you some candy. Really wishing they had ice lollies but they can't give me everything.

[ He puts the chart down and offers a hand out to Joss to help him hop down. ]

[If Joss had felt shellshocked before, it’s nothing compared to what he’s feeling now. He’s human. Not only that—he’s a particularly weak human child with bad lungs and poor eyesight. If he still believed in God he’d be cursing the deity right now. Before, he’d been several times stronger than the average adult, and faster than any Olympic sprinter. Now he’s just a stupid little kid who can’t even see particularly well.

He allows himself to be helped off the counter, still glaring daggers at the Doctor, as if this is his fault and not a massive cosmic joke.

Then he remembers that the woman is still there, in the room with them.]

I want a second opinion.

[He points at Wen Qing.]

You. You’re a human. Tell me if he’s lying to me about all this.

[ She had been watching the whole procedure attentively while still doing to appear like she wasn't watching. She still didn't understand how the device worked but at least the rest of the exam had been more familiar. She had only been tempted to interfere once, when the boy had suffered a panic attack, but the two-hearted physician - two hearts?! - had had it well in hand every step of the way.

This Doctor is certainly a lot nicer with difficult patients than she is, though she does try to have a better bedside manner with children - except when they're being brats on purpose, anyway.

Now when the boy remembers her, she deliberately takes her time to put down her pharmacology notes before stepping towards him. ]

It isn't a matter of me being human that makes me more qualified. But I am trained in treating humans. We will start with a pulse diagnosis, then I would like to give you a physical exam and more in-depth examination of your qi. It will be non-invasive. We should not only be concerned with you being human but also with detecting possible ill effects of your... revival and your transformation, and whether there are signs of it being temporary. There may be more surprises than just your trouble breathing.

[ Because in truth, while she is willing to indulge his desire for a second opinion, it's pretty obvious that he is alive in every sense of the word even from just having observed the Doctor's exam. ]

[ Really? A second opinion? The Doctor doesn't say anything but when he steps away to let Wen Qing step over to give her opinion he's maybe just a tad huffy about it. His diagnosis is spot on! The Sonic said so. ]

Oh come on, people coming back to life is hardly the oddest thing I've seen-would like to know how it's done though. [ He shrugs. ]

But then, that's probably what did it-turned you human, I mean. This is all a bit of a gray area because strictly speaking, my universe doesn't have vampires-that've found. Just big fish that sort of act like them-but anyway! As a vampire your not exactly alive but you're not dead either-you're considered undead so when you died.. all the way.

You don't come back undead you come back fully human. It makes sense, in a way.

[ Or at least it does to him. Anyone else? ]

[ no? ]

[The Doctor’s explanation makes a truly frustrating amount of sense, and matches up closely with his own thoughts. That annoys Joscelin to no end. He’s far too stubborn to simply accept that something like this may have happened to him.

So he glares at the Doctor (but mostly looks like he’s pouting), spurns the offer of candy, and gives his full attention to the woman.]

Fine. Let’s begin.

[ Oh. Has she ruffled some feathers now with her mere presence? Wen Qing gives the Doctor a sharp look, though she can't say she would be any less disgruntled to have her opinion questioned. ]

I'm not saying someone coming back to life is the oddest thing but it is still an unknown factor worth investigating. It does make sense for the subject to be brought back in the original condition rather than the altered one.

[ But for now she grabs the boy's wrist, using the various pulse points and depths to check both on his physical health and most importantly in the case of supernatural beings, his spiritual energy. If he weren't human she should be sensing something off, even if she can't pinpoint it for lack of having ever studied such a thing before - and she certainly hasn't run into vampires before. She grabs the other wrist as well, frown slowly deepening. Nothing. As if he had never been anything other than human. ]

I'll need you to take off your shirt, I'd like to study these vanished marks you mentioned.

[ Whose feathers are ruffled? Certainly not his! He's just a little offended about the second opinion thing-that's all. He stands off to the side and watches the doctor work, rubbing thoughtfully at his chin. ]

Yes, well... testing the theory isn't something I want to do. Was Joss a one off? I'm not exactly keen to find out. [ He says casually even if there's a slight tension in his shoulders. ]

However, it might be a good idea for you to stay here-in the medic car for tonight-just for observation.

[ He turns back to Joss. ] Don't worry, I'll keep you company if you'd like.

Edited 2020-03-30 22:31 (UTC)

[Joss finds he likes Wen Qing’s kind of doctoring much better. Instead of just zapping him with a colored light, she’s bothering to take his pulse and do the kind of doctor things he’s seen on television. When she asks him to take off his shirt, he does so, revealing an exceptionally skinny frame...and some things even he hadn’t noticed before.

The name he had been given by his goddess back in heaven is gone. That much he knew. Same with the scar he’d given himself in his attempt to heal her. He points that out, pointing to a spot on his stomach just above his belly button:]

I used to have the Chinese character for child right here. It looked like an old tattoo. The scar on my hand was the result of me trying to play with magic, and it backfiring somewhat.

[The other things are less obvious. The are two whitish pinpricks on the side of his neck, right where he’d been bitten when he was turned. A purplish scar next to his armpit is what remains of one of the plague buboes that had killed him the first time, long ago. There is another on the inside of his thigh, near his groin, but that is still covered by clothing.

He turns to the Doctor.]

Spend the night?

[That...might not be so bad, actually. As long as he assures his roommates that he hasn’t vanished again beforehand. He doesn’t want Reigen to get all weepy on him again.]

[ She just huffs at the Doctor's protest that they shouldn't be testing the theory of people coming back to life, momentarily far more interested in the exam than in the banter with her colleague. Yet as she examines the places on his body the boy points out for having previously been marked, she can neither discern anything as a physician nor sense anything off with the senses of a Cultivator. ]

I can't find any traces of lingering spiritual energy or any other form of magic that I can sense where the marks have been... removed. [ She looks up towards the Doctor. ] Which speaks for your theory that they started out with his original state, rather than changing him back. [ She pinches her lips together. ] Which doesn't explain how it was done. At home, we have techniques for bringing people back from the dead but they still require the sacrifice of a host body.

Either way, I agree you should spend the night under the Doctor's observation. There might be side effects that won't show until later. [ So whoever runs this train can bring people back to life. That doesn't necessarily guarantee they are good at it. It never pays off to assume competence. ]

[ Her hand find familiar scarring left behind the plague buboe and her frown deepens, attention drawn back to the here and now of her patient again rather than theorizing. ] Do you still suffer... did you suffer any ill effects from the plague before becoming a vampire? We will need to weigh and measure you, too, to determine your malnutrition, as I would like to keep an eye on that.

[ The Doctor's eyes narrow sharply when she mentions a sacrifice. He doesn't like the sound of that in the slightest. Soul for a soul. Not if he can help it. ]

Let me go ahead and clarify for you-No one is going to be a sacrifice if I can help it. Not for any reason. No matter what.

[ There's a sharp edge in his voice before it returns to the normal, friendly tone he normally has. ]

23.5868 kilograms, 122.2248 centimeters. Severely Malnourished-yes, the sonic picked up on that too-I'm thinking some nice soothing vegetable soups just so you don't split the lining of your stomach-yes, that can happen. So we're gonna go with no solid foods until you've gained... oooh 5 more kilograms but we'll play that by ear.

[The Plague. Joss had almost forgotten about it. He looks startled, then feels the scar in his armpit that he’d complete forgotten avoid it. Ill effects?]

We called it the Great Mortality. It killed me. I died from it. The vampire who was my sire turned me, but she didn’t kill me. She let nature take its course. I...don’t really remember it. I think I was unconscious in the hours before I died.

I woke up in a mass grave. I suppose I’ll take waking up in a suitcase over experiencing that again.

[He’s happy when the Doctor changes the subject, though he looks rather dismayed at the menu.]

I can’t have sweets?

[ At the Doctor's sharp rebuke, Wen Qing narrows her eyes at him. There is something venomous in the glare she shoots him but she keeps quiet, though her lips are tightly pursed in displeasure. If she is going to expound on that, or clarify what she means, though it's quite clear in her opinion, then she will be bound to upset her patient.

After all, if he has been brought back in the same way it is done in her world, then the sacrifice has already happened and Joss being back is the result of it... Definitely not something to discuss further in front of her child patient.

She nods at Joss's explanation, her gaze softening again. She's still terribly curious about the exact circumstances of him waking up but that, too, is probably left for better circumstances. Gruff bedside manner she may have but she isn't wholly without tact. ]

You will want to get your stomach slowly used to solids again. But since my colleague has so kindly taken care of the measurements already [ Oh yes, she's still annoyed about that rebuke. ] you can get dressed now. [ She sizes him up. ] To the best I can tell, you are a perfectly normal human, if a sickly one. [ She meets his eyes solemnly. ] But you knew that already, didn't you? You were just hoping for me to prove your fears wrong.

You're welcome. [ Either he didn't notice her annoyance or he's just antagonizing her. It's probably the former. ]

It is going to be a bit of an adjustment and don't worry, I'll be here to help if you need it. But you are Joss, you are, at this moment one hundred percent human. Any problems or complications just call for me-or Wen Qing.

Now, anything you want to take care of before we get you settled in for the night?

[Somehow being dressed down by Wen Qing feels worse than being lectured at by the Doctor. He shuffles awkwardly, eyes down, looking for all the world like a schoolboy being called up to the front of the class by a teacher. He nods, eyes still firmly on his shoes. His voice is barely above a whisper.]

I didn’t want it to be true.

[He doesn’t. He doesn’t want to be human. Being human terrifies him, even though it’s also something he’s longed for for centuries. He’s breakable now, weak and mortal. Before, Joss had assumed he would live to 1,000, forever unchanged. Now he’s going to grow up, grow old, and die.

And he’s scared shitless.

Slowly, he pulls his shirt and hoodie back on, covering up his bony frame in enough cloth to hide it somewhat. He’s noticed that since he woke up, he’s constantly very cold. Probably because he hasn’t got any body fat to keep him warm. He can’t help a small shiver.

He’s about to answer the Doctor when his stomach decides to do it for him, letting out an embarrassingly loud gurgle. He blushes (another thing he couldn’t do before).]

Er...I suppose dinner ought to happen. And I’d like to check in on my roommates, and Tony Stark. I gave them all a scare, and I’d rather not vanish for the night again without telling them.

[This? This newly considerate Joscelin Fitzthomas? That’s all Romeo. It’s all Romeo and Joss feels his absence so keenly he wants to cry again.]

(no subject)

radishlobbyist - 2020-04-06 17:48 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

usernamesarecool - 2020-04-13 08:30 (UTC) - Expand

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only