Medic!

[Alistair Greene]

July 1st, 2017

11:23AM

ARMA HQ

 

Some days, Alistair often thought, you just shouldn't even bother getting out of bed.

 

This time it hadn't even been the Inquisition. Just because the little war had popped up between the Order of Ulrich and its onetime subsidiary branch in New York didn't mean that the rest of the messes that were constantly popping up in New York City had stopped. Sometimes he thought they might have even gotten more frequent, but he knew that was just his own paranoia talking - and the fact that the additional load was more frazzling than usual for him.

 

He'd just been on the way home to pick up a few things and have lunch when the call came in and he had ended up diverting to Central Station. Lizards had been pouring out of the tunnels.

 

FREAKING LIZARDS.

 

There were worse things he'd gone up against, sure. Giant spiders, nagas, shit that looked like it belonged in some deep sea ocean voyage. But this had been entirely too many lizards. Big ones, little ones... REALLY goddamn big ones. Someone had opened up a portal to the fucking lizard dimension and just left it on full blast. Most of them weren't a major problem (apart from the claws), but the few abnormally large and hungry specimens had been a problem. A problem Alistair, equipped more for lunch than for a war, had really been hoping to avoid. In the end his coat caught the worst of the mess, but one of them had gotten in a nasty slash on his leg - one that was now tied up with a somewhat hastily wrapped Ace bandage as he limped back into the building.

 

[alistair]Oh... hush.[/alistair] he muttered when a few stopped to look - then again, one or two injuries weren't all that uncommon. There was a reason they had the medical branch. Alistair pushed through the door into Doctor Martin's domain and sat unceremoniously in one of the chairs, wincing.

 

[alistair]Medic?[/alistair]

[Altheia Martin]

It had been a pretty long early morning for her at the hospital where she tends to volunteer her time to. There had been a couple people that came in with broken bones and about 2 or three who had been stabbed 3 or 4 times. It amazed her how violent the world had gotten. A couple times it had occurred to her that living in the wilderness and being a hermit would probably be slightly better than living in the city, but then she would think about all of the innocent people and her heart would cry out for them. Inwardly, Altheia sighs to herself as she gets up from her desk in the medical branch at ARMA.

 

She had been going through a few of the files that she kept in her office here, making sure that they were all up to date and organized. Sometimes she would pull a folder out that would need to be worked on, but the sound of the door opening just out in the hall made her stop for a split second to listen. After hearing the word 'medic' she closed the filing cabinet and walked out of the office and down the hall to where the chairs were. Her eyebrow went up slightly as she looked Alistair over quickly. [altheia]It seems like you've gotten yourself into a little trouble today.[/altheia]

 

Slowly she kneeled down in front of him and moved her hands out to the leg that had obviously been unlucky that morning. Carefully and slowly she rolled off the Ace bandage that she noticed was very poorly placed over the slash.

 

[altheia]So what was it this time?[/altheia] She had asked the question as her gaze moved back down to the wound. Her right hand moved over the wound and slowly as well as carefully her right hand laid over the bloody wound. Her eyes closed and she mentally pictured healing light moving through her hand to Alistair's leg. If someone was watching they wound notice a faint gold white light come from Altheia's hand.

 

Her eyes opened to see the light from her hand and her eyes went back up to him. [altheia]This may take 5 minutes. They got you really good, Alistair. You should probably think about being more careful.[/altheia]

[Alistair Greene]

Violence was sort of the new black. It wasn't something Alistair exactly approved of... rather the opposite in truth. The problem was that part of his post-Shift experience had been getting really, really good at violence. He used that to stand up to the others who had become that way on behalf of the people who hadn't. But it was hard, sometimes... wondering if you were helping or hurting more. He told himself he was helping.

Sometimes, that helped.

[alistair]Today? What do you mean by 'today'?[/alistair] Alistair drawled, flashing a cheeky grin as he sat down, frowning at the bloody pants he was wearing, then shaking his head a little. Another part of that 'standing up to the darkness' thing was a relative propensity for getting injured that he really could have done without. But it was part of the job. It was a necessary job. Sometimes even a good one.

Not that it didn't really suck sometimes. [alistair]An Iguana. Or some other... similarly oversized lizard with a dire need for a manicure. And hey - I'm careful, but you try fighting a couple hundred of the things in a subway station with a dozen civilians still in the crossfire. I can't exactly open up with the lightning in a situation like that. Honestly I think I got off pretty light, considering.[/alistair]

Okay, so maybe he was a little defensive. But he also had a lot of experience with exactly this - well maybe not exactly this - kind of situation, and it usually went better. Anything you walked away from was a good operation. If you needed stitches afterward, well, sometimes that was the price you paid for coming back. If you let every little injury concern you, you'd lose sight of the real thing you wanted to avoid: dying.

Alistair was very good at avoiding death. Cuts, scrapes, burns, stabs? Not quite as much. A magic coat couldn't save you from everything.

[Altheia Martin]

Altheia wondered what it would be like to fight so much. I mean she had had her altercations and had her rough nights, but that was only once in a blue moon. It made her wonder what could drive a person to want to fight so much. She figured it was the appeal of helping people that needed it and people usually always did nowadays. She, however, felt that healing was something that she could do better than fighting and causing damage. It always upset her to cause pain to people, even if they were an enemy. It wasn't so much that she didn't think they didn't deserve it, she just knew that once you killed someone it would always stay with you, or at least she thought that's how it would work out.

 

It always bugged her how often Alistair would get hurt, but she always kept her mouth shut and was here standing by to heal him if need be. More often than not she felt like punching him and telling him just once she'd like to see him come back not all battered, bruised, or cut. [altheia]You know exactly what I mean,[/altheia] she replied to him as she worked on his leg. It always amazed her that she was able to do this kind of thing, healing. Even though she'd practically found out about it right after the shift it still amazed her, seeing the soft glow of light come from her hands. 

 

She shivered slightly at the mention of lizards. If there was one kind of animal that just made her skin crawl it was lizards and snakes. [altheia]Well. In that case I'm kinda glad you were there to take them on. Anything like that probably shouldn't be allowed to roam around in the first place,[/altheia] she paused for a minute as she focused more on his cut, then looked up at him. [altheia]I know you're careful, but sometimes being careful can still get a person hurt,[/altheia] she responded to him, but thought of her parents as she spoke. They had tried to be as careful as anyone could be and it had still gotten them killed. [altheia]Maybe next time you could at least call for back up. Hell, call for me. I'll come and help you,[/altheia] she looked back down at his leg after she spoke.

 

[altheia]Just a few more minutes and you should be ready to go.[/altheia]

[Alistair Greene]

Alistair wasn't the only one who got hurt plenty - after all, when part of your job was 'fight evil creatures', you tended to get hurt. He had more than his share of scars from days where he hadn't had a healer to take care of the wounds. That was alright though - mages tended to heal a little better than most people, if not faster, so the scars weren't nearly as bad as they might have been.

He chuckled a bit then at her comment. [alistair]What I mean is, I kinda get into trouble everyday. So, it's not really a question of 'today' as it turns out.[/alistair] He flashed her a cheeky smile. Really he didn't go out in the field as often as he once had, which was hard for him sometimes, but he had other responsibilities these days. Still, every now and then...

[alistair]It really shouldn't be.[/alistair] he agreed, nodding. [alistair]And you know you can't always call for backup when a torrent of scaled monsters starts pouring into the room you're in. I'm alright, honestly... if it was any worse, I'd have cauterized the wound myself. I've had a good deal worse, unfortunately. I really am trying to work on that, you know.[/alistair]

He did appreciate the healing... but did she always have to lecture him after the fact about it? It wasn't as though you could anticipate everything every time you went into a fight. Sometimes you got lucky... sometimes not so much. Today was just a not-as-much day. Even he had those now and then. Okay, perhaps especially him. His luck, for all his talent, was pretty much atrocious.

 

[alistair]Thanks, Altheia. I prefer not to bleed all over the place if I can manage it.[/alistair]

[Altheia Martin]

Altheia always thought as fighting being barbaric and completely foolish, but then once the world went bonkers she realized that there was always a time and a place for someone to fight until their last breath. Especially if that person were to be fighting for loved ones or in a cause that was just and true. For the most part she was glad she didn't fight too much, but if she was needed anyone can be damned sure she'd be there to do her part. Besides, it wouldn't be too bad fighting along side people you knew could take care of themselves and people who are team players.

 

Her eyes glanced up at him and then back down at her hands covering his wound. A small blush painted her cheeks as the result of his smile. She cleared her through softly and kept her eyes on her hands. [altheia]I'm beginning to think that trouble may or may not be your middle name,[/altheia] she said in response to his words. Even if it isn't his middle name, she thought, it should defiantly be changed to it.

 

After hearing his next words she thought about them for a moment and then glanced back up at him, the blush having faded away by now. [altheia]Maybe you should think about having a partner. I'm sure that would be a good thing to have since you get into trouble so often,[/altheia] her words were true and sincere. She figured he wasn't the kind of guy to have a partner, but she was sure without a doubt that it would at least keep him from getting hurt so often. Then maybe she could not get his blood on her hands.

 

A few seconds later her eyes closed and she saw flashes of the lizards he had fought and how he came to acquire his injury. She shuddered slightly and kept her eyes closed for a minute longer. Sometimes she really hated that part of her ability and most of the time she would prefer it be of the person’s past than of a fight, especially against a crazy amount of lizards. She breathed out softly and a minute later removed her hands from Alistair’s leg, opening her eyes and seeing some of his blood on her right hand.

 

She looked back up at him and smiled as she stood slowly. [altheia]There you go. All fixed up and ready to go. Just…. be careful. Please, and seriously. If you need or want someone to go out with you to check out things around town. I’m not scared or fragile and I can help if you want,[/altheia] she added the last part of her words quickly. She knew she was no where near the level of fighting that Alistair was, but she was trained in some areas and she always had her ability to cause injury just by touching someone.

 

Her left hand dug into her left side pocket of her scrubs and pulled out a white cloth, wiping her right hand on it to remove his blood. She made quick work of that and placed the cloth back into her pocket thinking that she would put it into the proper disposable bin as soon as necessary.

[Alistair Greene]

Alistair gave her a cheeky grin when she made the middle name comment. [alistair]Actually it's Lloyd, but who knows what the hell names mean.[/alistair] She started talking about the rest then, and he propped himself up on the bed, letting out a breath. On the one hand, he appreciated the sentiment, but on the other...

[alistair]Altheia, I'm honestly not certain who you think you're talking to. Not that I'm taking offense or anything, but you realize I've been doing this for seven years now, right? I've been in worse fights than that one. Come out of some just fine, come out of others hurt worse than this. We're not in a safe, risk-avoidant business here. We all play things as smart as we can, but every now and then you have to do something stupid, or else people are going to die. You've been here a while now, you know the drill.[/alistair]

He rubbed at the back of his neck, frowning slightly - more at the fact that he had just given another one of those 'boss' lectures. They never sat terribly well with him, but then again he was the HMFIC of this particular outfit, and it came with the territory.

[alistair]And anyway I generally do have a partner. But Kelly and I aren't exactly sewn together at the hip, thank God. She had her own shit to take care of today, and as far as I knew when I started out, I was just heading home from the grocery store. The Inquisition can pull all the shit they want, I am not going around acting like I'm the fucking President with some security detail. Besides, you should see the other guys. Subway's gonna smell like burned lizard for a month.[/alistair]

He held up his hand, wiggling his fingers in a gesture that was pretty much the universal one for 'magic' in the city. Of course, when he did it, a couple sparks of static actually popped between his fingers, most people couldn't pull that part off.

[alistair]I appreciate the offer, Doc, really. But there's a reason you're in Tower division and not Knight. I will keep that in mind, but there's a lot more headstrong morons like me with elemental powers than there are healers with an actual med degree like you, you know?[/alistair]

[Altheia Martin]

Altheia thought it was really interesting that his middle name was Lloyd. It really wasn't a name that she would ever associate with Alistair. Then she wondered what the name Lloyd did mean because all names do have meanings and it was sort of a guilty pleasure of hers to know what different names meant. She stared at him as he moved himself on the bed as she herself stood there with her hands in her front pockets of her scrubs. [altheia]All names have meanings, silly.[/altheia] She spoke quickly and paused, listening to him.

 

[altheia]Oh I know who I'm talking to and I know there really isn't any way to be safe in the world anymore. There are so many possibilities of things going wrong or even all of the psychos out there to make anything safe. That however doesn't mean I like it when people get hurt. It's just how I think is all....[/altheia] Her words were strong and serious and after she said them she wondered if any of that made sense, but she was sure that Alistair would understand to some extent. Sometimes she couldn't help but feel like most of the people now a days put themselves in harms way just a little too much. Sure it does save lives, but it also puts others lives at risk. There really just is no win win situation.

 

She couldn't help, but notice him frown and she figured it had something to do with his little speech he just made, but it did come with his job. That's what happens when you're the boss and that's why she wasn't the boss, nor had any feeling to be one. A small smile touched her lips as he talked about Kelly and that was because she knew they both were really good partners to one another. She laughed softly at his last words and shook her head. [altheia]That... is disgusting. I think that might be the best thing about not being around when nasty creatures are getting fried....[/altheia] Her words were coated with amusement as she spoke. Her eyes moved to his fingers as he wiggled them and smiled more seeing the sparks of electricity. She always did think his gift was beautiful in it's own way.

 

[altheia]Aw, come on now. You aren't a moron, but headstrong. Yes you are defiantly headstrong.[/altheia] She teased him slightly and kept the smile on her face. The next instant her shoulders shrugged slightly. [altheia]I'm sure there is someone else out there that is as skilled as I am in the medical field and maybe even have an ability like mine. You just really never know nowadays. Besides. I always try to make sure not everyone knows what I can do. I don't think that would be very good for my well being.[/altheia]