The Doctor is In

It's been a sleepy week in the Tower, relatively speaking. While elsewhere in The World, there is a battle underway to determine the fate of Shibuya, the Tower has been... pretty quiet! Sure, there are rumblings and disussions about What To Do, and people have been quietly reassigned to probe the eleventh floor for another much belated push, but things are... Peaceful, for once in a very long time. Not that people haven't been busy, just... most of the work has been focused on assembling an expedition into the depths of Karluin, chasing after a hunch as to the secret structure that may underpin the great tower.

Prophylaxis has elected to spend the relatively sleepy evening in his office, sipping at a cup of coffee and listening to the troubles of those who look to him for guidance. His office door is open, and chairs are set out on the opposite end of his table for anyone who needs to take a seat. He's having open consultations today, it seems, and his schedule is open.

    The door of the doctor's office chimes as the notorious necromancer of the tower enters. Lately anyone who has came across him would have seen him practicing things like juggling and card tricks. Apparently the new member, Shenmi has somehow convinced the necromancer that with enough practice Setsuna can get his name up in lights. However what brings him here today would definately seem to imply that such a thing was not going to happen anytime soon. "Doc you here? I need an extra hand."

     Looking through the rooms the Necromancer finally finds the doctor, "Oh good you are here." Stepping into the room he keeps his right hand behind his back , "So you know how sometimes we get stabbed in the field and its ok because things slide back out without issue. Well I seem to have critically failed at knife juggling and apparently it is not as easy when ..." He trails off and holds up his right hand showing a knife through, "well when the knife goes in one end and out the other."

There just happens to be an experienced practicing Doctor in Tolbana. There is also the major center of Monster Handling work with the Ranch and Slime Labs currently locked down. If this has anything to do with Kauchemar doing some training on the First Floor of the Tower is up for debate, but it is certainly convenient either way.

Whatever the reason, the Nightmare Bard trudges into the clinic in a beraggled, disheveled mess. What started with just her mane being untidy has become what's clearly the depths of a Strange Mood lack of personal attention. On top of that she's scratched and scuffed up, and looking absolutely exhausted. "Mmf." The focus of her current attentions, the Rock Mole, is tucked under one arm while nomming on a chunk of metal that might of been a farm tool at some point.

Instead of her usual showmanship antics, Kauchemar just leans against the wall with her other arm. "I have confirmed that some monsters, even when not predators, have -extremely sharp claws-."

Two people wander into the doctor's office and--

...

"Setsuna, how do you... did you try to catch a knife with the back of your hand...?" Prophylaxis sighs and pushes himself up from behind his desk. "Hold on, let me get the bandages. Can't you train with... balls, or something? Something that's not sharp and liable to hurt someone--"

And just as the doctor has the knife out and starts getting the wound wrapped, there's...

Someone... else.

"......." Prophylaxis stares at Kauchemar and the mole. His eyes tighten slightly as if trying to peer into the very depths of her soul. "Ah, right. Of course. Strange Mood. Right, you're going to need to get yourself clean. I'll dress your wounds first but--"

Beat.

"Monsters are not allowed inside the bath-house, just so you know."

Ah, and he thought it was going to be a nice, quiet night. Now he has to apply disinfectant to some soon-to-be-very-stingy-wounds...

    "Well I have been needing blood for some necromancy stuff, so I figured if I got cut I could use the blood for that. You know sort of a two birds with one stone thing. I just didn't expect to get it stuck. " Setsuna answers as the doctor dresses the wound and he looks at the bandage for the moment. "Does the bandage suck up the red pixels or is it just coded to look bloody when applied to a wound." Finally the wound is dressed and the knife is out. Then he hears the voice of Kauchemar and the common warning abuot the bath house and Setsuna totally rolls his eyes and shakes his head behind the doctor.

    Walking past the doctor he reaches over and grasps the Mole, picking him up out from Kauchemars arm and holds him up above him Lion king style. "Aaaaawwwww, he's so cute. Yes he is, and you have a nice shine to the coat and don't worry about the mean old rabbit. The bath house is perfectly monster friendly." The grin of the devil appears on his face as he continues to hold the mole without ever asking. Looking over at the doctor he asks, "So what are you doing here all by your lonesome Doc?"

"Huh?" Kauchemar blinks a few times. Looks down at the rock mole under her arm. "Oh, right. Yeah. Training this guy has taken a lot of focus... I'll put him back in the Menagerie after they fix up a pen that he can't dig out of." A beat pause. "Or eat out of."

The mole just looks up a moment, then swallows the rest of the metal lump like it was nothing. "Don't act so goddamn innocent. Not after you scratched me up getting you out of that tool shed."

Well between the two it's probably better the experienced monster handler takes the monster so it's out of the Doctor's way. Still, be careful of those claws. They're big and sharp, and supernaturally hard, despite the mole not being extremely large himself even if he's larger than a 'normal' mole would be.

Though the attention gushing at him appears to keep him calm, for the moment.

Kauchemar grunts as she sits down and lets Proph do his thing. "Well, at least the training is working... but he's got to learn the difference between raw mineral and metal made into something."

"You're training dire moles for mining?" Prophylaxis asks as he daubs a piece of gauze soaked in some /extremely/ high-grade alcohol on the nightmare's wounds. "Not a bad plan. Certainly safer than sending Players or Landers into the depths. Are you going to be training them to avoid mine gases too?" At least there's plenty of farm tools scattered around the first floor for it to chew through. It's almost as if there's a large farm right around Tolbana or something.

"Something like that," he answers Setsuna with a shrug. "I'm not actually sure how it works. My theory is that the red damage stuff is actually a protective barrier around our fleshy bits. The blood and guts are all still there, just underneath the red stuff. The only issue is that there's only so much of the red stuff to go around, and if you take too much damage it can't keep up and you end up dying. But when I bandage up a wound like this, it basically tells the red stuff that I've got things covered and it can take a breather. So you actually end up bleeding into the bandage somewhat as a result, but your reservoir of Red Stuff goes back up along with your HP bar. Make sense?"

It's Medical-Programming Theory Hour with Dr. Prophylaxis, apparently.

"I've been looking into plans," the doctor explains, applying an actual salve this time over Kauchemar's cleaned injuries. "But mostly I've kept my door open for this kind of thing, and various other consultations."

    Setsuna continues to play with the mole and all is going fine until Setsuna does this very complicated toss and grab to shift from holding it up to holding it on it's back. Of course like any animal it doesn't like being on it's back and panics rolling and clawing and well it rights itself and Setsuna is losing more of his red pixels. It's fine though probably not like monsters carry disease or anything. The smile on his face he is forcing also shows he is in no pain what so ever. " A dire... mole... huh. Must be a kid? Just keep in mind when it gets bigger it won't like us as much." He casts a glance down to it as it seems to have found one of the juggling knives to chew on now.

5t looking up at Kauchemar he adds, "I'd say take the tower wall pin, but I have the wyvern there. Probably best to use the one with the lake partially in it. The walls are a bit deeper down and well the water probably isn't this guys friend."

     Setsuna gives the doctor a glance before responding, "Some day doc you have to learn to put aside the work and have fun. Maybe we should get you a pet. Hmm you don't like fur though... " Contemplating for a moment he goes through his mind on different types of pets before asking, " What do you think of Iguanas?"

Kauchemar perks up a bit from her Strange Mood stupor, pointing a finger at Proph's talk about training. "Yes, exactly! Especially a lot of the more uncommon materials crafters use are in places that are too dangerous for Landers to set up facilities. But monsters are more resiliant. These rock moles eat rock and metal, so they're natural at digging to find it... The training is mainly getting them to -give- it instead of eating it."

She rolls her eyes a moment, then nods to Setsuna. "Well, you're a monster handler as well. You can figure out why I caught a younger one to start with. Hopefully it'll take the training better so by the time it is grown up, it'll be managable still." The ointment stings because that's what medicine applied to scratchs do, but keeping her talking about her current obsession keeps the Were Fang from getting squirmy.

Honestly, she's so content chatting up the training subject she's barely noticing.

"Mmn? I have pets though?" Prophylaxis looks at Setsuna like he's sprouted a second head. "Did you not see the box in the lobby for the office mascot?" There is in fact a particularly grumpy-looking grey bun-bun sitting in a box in the lobby. Usagintsugi is very well taken care of, but also /very/ carefully watched.

After all, bun-buns in great quantities are... something of a problem.

"And there's Konpeko too," the doctor adds, speaking of course of his ever-reliable peko. "Of course, I guess a horsebird doesn't necessarily count as a pet...?" Wounds cleaned, the doctor pats Kauchemar's shoulder, "I won't bandage them up until you get yourself a bath. I'd just have to re-bind them afterwards anyway. But you need to get clean, or those're liable to get infected even after the treatment."

"And I do too have fun, but work is work, it just so happens that I have a lot of it," Prophylaxis sighs, "I've got an entire organization I'm planning to put together to improve conditions in the Tower, and it's not going to plan itself."

Beat. Prophylaxis huffs and sets himself back down into his chair, "...And what gave you the impression I didn't like fur? I'm a lover of all things fluffy and adorable."

And to Kauchemar: "Have you tried covering metal with chili pepper extract? Then you can train them to bring you the metal they find in exchange for tastier metal."

    Setsuna looks over at Kauchemar and just answers matter of factly like it is something everyone should know, "Well it's very food oriented, so obviously the best option is to find it's favorite rocks. Reward it when it does what you like and mark it, a sound or whistle will work." Taking a moment he does what probably everyone will think is stupid and sticks his hand in the moles mouth to poke at it's teeth. The mole is not amused, "I would also find some hard metal or rock to choose. The cor whatever one , the hard one you know." Then he looks over at the doctor and nods, "Doesn't have to be chili either, could be something bitter. Oh and teach it how to fetch. "

     Looking over at the doctor before back to the box with the bun-bun in it. The second bun-bun in Tolbana, "I just had this bad premonition of this coming spring. Grey baos everywhere." There is a shrudder before he looks at the doctor, "So let us find you an assistant to pawn some of the work off on. We have plenty of new people to pawn it off on. Then again I am always in favor of giving Robert more work. As for the fur, you seem to always be complaining about it, but ok I retract the pet statement."

     Looking back over to Kauchemar he tries his best to change the subject, "Speaking of premonitions what is it you wanted to talk to me about the other day?"

"At first I tried raising undead miners. But they couldn't keep themselves together long enough to dig up anything valuable. I tried ghosts searching deeper in rock, but they had a tendancy to get stuck 'haunting' the terrain instead of returning. It took a few other ideas before I came upon the rock moles and--" Kauchemar stops as she was about to continue on. Puts a hand to her chin thoughtfully. "--That's not a bad idea. Stay a temptation with a bigger temptation."

She nods absently. She's probably going to need a reminder about that bath when she leaves, less it be forgotten in the new train of thought.

As is it takes her a moment to realize Setsuna asked her a question, and a good minute or two to slog past the Strange Mood to recall the event he's asking about. "Oh.. Oh, right. It was that I noticed we both seem to have taken to a certain... power set that involves premonitions and speaking to things that aren't normally speakable to."

Then after a moment adds, "Bun-Buns are only an issue if you let them be together." She's not clued in on a certain magician's assistant.

"Mmmmn, well there's Uta, but she's not precisely a personal assistant," Prophylaxis yawns into his hand, "Honestly, part of the problem is that the rest of leadership is so busy doing /other/ things that I'm the one stuck with managing the day-to-day on top of also all of my other duties. Not that I mind being the sole and de-facto overlord of the Scale Emblem Alliance, but I could use with more sleep on average." All the paperwork passes over this man's desk, and he is far too earnest to just rubberstamp it all.

"Maybe I can look into getting a proper secretary, but they'd need to be someone I can trust completely and who doesn't already have other important duties to attend to. If it's just more busywork, I'm confident I can keep handling it; no need to burden somebody else with it." Or rather, no reason to become a burden for others to shoulder. So much goes on behind the scenes, but given the Scale's complicated political situation and the Divine Dragons' duty in navigating it all, the doctor has to handle much of the administration of it all himself. Adding the administrative burden of the other two branches' needs on top of his own work as a doctor and adventurer and it's... a lot.

No wonder he's always drinking coffee.

"Indeed, and Usagintsugi is actually rather gentle as long as he's well-fed. Bun-Buns in general only seem to become an issue when their numbers grow too high for the environment to sustain. Kind of like grasshoppers turning into locusts when they eat too much of their own food supply."

    Setsuna nods his head, "Oh yeah I got gifted this, " pausing for a moment the necromancer gestures to the emerald butterfly hairpin in his hair, " and suddenly bam I could see the future. " there is a moment or two more before he asks, "What do you mean speaking to things you can't normally speak to? Wait did your whatever come with a manual? Do you even have a whatever?" Taking a moment he gathers himself and tries to look cool and aloof, " I mena , thats cool we can do the same thing."

    Turning to the doctor at the mention of handling it and not wanting to burden others, "Doc, before I was a bad ass necromancer I was bad ass at doing other things but in that time I knew this young employee for years he would put in hours and hours of over time trying to cover things. Finally it got to much for him and he had to take a leave of absence for a month. Came back to find three other people able to do the same job. The point is that the day to day stuff may be able to be handled by you but at the same time others may be able to handle it." Setsuna nods his head as he thinks about all those extra hours he was putting in and shrudders.

Kauchemar shakes her head. "Not particularly. But as a musician and messenger communication comes naturally to me, so it was more stumbling upon the new aspect of what I could do." She reachs over to retrieve the mole from Setsuna. "It does help with working with monsters though. And the glimps to the future are stronger than what I could accomplish with Divination." So it boils down to her figuring out what could be done because she already had similar abilities to derive from. "I've worked out how to use aspects of it in combat to increase my defensive chances."

Then her attention shifts back to the mole as she holds him up. "You eat rock and metal. Just need to figure out what kind you like better than the others... You keep trying to eat tools and such, maybe a forged alloy is like a delicacy to you..." Yeah she's already drifting back down the Strange Mood rabbit hole. Or maybe molehill would be more appropriate.

It wouldn't be a rabbit hole if it wasn't made by rabbits.

"I know, I know. But until we find people who fit the necessary requirements, it's going to be hard to pull off. And I enjoy being a doctor, so this, at least, is work I'm not going to be giving up." Of course, an assistant in other matters would be... helpful. Maybe foisting more work onto Sprites is called for.

"Alright, you two are more or less bandaged up," Prophylaxis says into his cup of lukewarm coffee. "Kauchemar, don't forget the bath. Come back after you're done and I'll bandage you up. Setsuna, if you don't mind guiding her there to make sure she doesn't get distracted...?"

    Setsuna, mole still in arms, nods his head. "OK ok, I will stop pushing but just remember what they said about the doctor who never left the office." Setsuna doesn't seem to answer for a moment before he adds, "I don't remember what he said so I was hoping one of you would. " Shaking his head he walks to the door with the mole, "Come on Kauchemar, I am going to go see if all your hard work these last few weeks can swim." It appears that Setsuna has indeed figured out how to lead a horse to water and get them to swim. Before the doctor can say anything though out the door he goes running to the bath house, a mad cackle echoing through the air.

As the baths are mentioned again the rock mole emits a grating grumble that almost sounds like crunching gravel. "... He is Earth element aligned, I think you might be right about him not likeing water. I'll probably need a different type of monster for aquatic excavations. Once I've perfected the training method." Kauchemar gets up from her seat. "Guess we'll try the water barrier idea!... Or, right, bath..."

And Setsuna is off running. "Hey! It only counts if I'm there to see the results, wait up!" Which is a silly thing to shout, as even tired the equine Were Fang is more than fast enough to catch the necromancer. But at least it'll get her to the bath house.