The full seasonal event can be read here! Below are the main seasonal items for quick reference:
1. A thread reacting to the season's weather in some ways.
2. A thread in the part of the city your character doesn't live in!
3. A thread relating to your vocation.
Of The Season
Quote
"Tell Dr. Nate that Gale sent you, and he still owes me for the mushrooms. Except that it takes you a while to reach the clinic, and by the time you do your fever is spiking, and so instead of the requisite message you instead tell the poor soul who greets you that 'A gale'a m'shrooms sent me cus'a my hands.'" - Zephyr in Oh help me, please doctor, I'm damaged
don't know what you're thinking of do i chip away or keep defenses up?
He doesn’t notice when Nate steps away, the warmth of the doctor traded for the warmth the numbing gel offers, but there is a small amount of surprise at being told to lay down – given that he was simply just expecting the brace to be tied back on once it was mostly feeling better. Which, in his mind, is now – nevermind the fact the numbing gel will wear off quickly. “Oh, okay.” Is all he can manage, moving to do as asked, laying on the table as Nate takes the moment to go and grab something.
It leaves him alone with his thoughts and that annoying fixture up above – so he folds his arms under his head and presses his eyes and forehead into it as if it might conceal some of the discomfort at being so open right here, even if the numbing gel was working. But Nate returns and Sunjata doesn’t quite lift his head yet, working his jaw as he hears something heavy get placed upon the counter, Sunjata turning his head slowly as if to see what it is when he realizes he can’t.
“For what?” He asks, confusion clear in his Plate accented voice, his steel gaze peering up at the doctor in bewilderment.
don't make a sound, if it gets too loud will you hear me come around?
A blue gloved hand holds up a small, wriggling worm, an easy smile on the doctors face. “Leech.” There is a touch too much giddiness in the single word to be comforting. “The less swelling in the area, the less pain you’re in when you’re sewn in again.” It sounds reasonable, and Nate is clearly confident in his choice, a brow lifting at Sunjata as if he’s not sure what else he could be doing.
“Is that alright? I mean… it will leave a mark.” Nate hesitates now, working his jaw in a tight grind. It’s crazy to assume that such a small thing would be looked over, but… well Nate would never presume to know anything the nobles thought.
And as you stumble through your last crusade
(This post was last modified: 10-13-2022, 04:27 AM by Nate.)
don't know what you're thinking of do i chip away or keep defenses up?
Brows pinch the second the leech comes into view, a tightness in his stomach forming that only presses against the tightness of his worn and bruised muscles. There’s a soft groan of acceptance and distaste, however, as he buries his head back into his arms and takes a slow inhale, as deep as his ribs will let him. “I can probably keep it quiet.” Even if he had to fight with the doctors to omit it during his recheck.
There’s a part of him that hopes they pity him after Shaju’s own reaction, but that’s beside the point. “I’m ready.” He decides split second, face buried and attempting to mentally prepare for the leeches, so long as they provided relief to the tightness and pain of his body for the rest of his shift. He doesn’t even care if it lasts longer than that, so long as it lasts the next six hours.
don't make a sound, if it gets too loud will you hear me come around?
Nate hesitates a moment longer, locked up with concern for the other man’s choice. In the end though, it’s not his decision to make, and he steps close again. The coolness of the gloved hand is the only sensation Sunjata will feel, pressing against his back twice.
“There.” The doctor sounds nothing if not pleased with his work, his hip pressing against the edge of the bed. “You can keep laying there. Generally they’ll only stay on about ten minutes, so you have some time.” Its not really an invitation, not even a suggestion, but there’s a silent implication that this is Sunjata’s time, whether he wants to talk or stay silent.
don't know what you're thinking of do i chip away or keep defenses up?
The gloved hand is surprisingly cool compared to the warmth his back has started producing, and the pressure is something that he minutely focuses on (trying to ignore it the best he can given that its leeches and he’d prefer not to think about bugs on his skin), but theyre set up and Sunjata keeps his face buried, jaw tight, listening as Nate speaks.
He isn’t sure if he really wants to talk, but it’s awkward not saying anything, so eventually he loosens his jaw enough. “Let me know how much it'll be.” He murmurs quietly, trying to make it a mostly purely transactional connection between the two of them, wondering if it buries the previous jokes and his awkward blurt about Nate’s warm hands. Nate's performing his job, it's only fair Sunjata pays him for it.
But he does eventually tilt his head back toward Nate, peering at him with tired steel, taking shallow breaths as to not move the leeches too much and to not spark up too much dulled down pain. “And thank you for this, by the way.”
don't make a sound, if it gets too loud will you hear me come around?
As the leeches do their job some of the pressure eases from Sunjata’s back, the deep ache soothing to something more manageable, something more easily masked by the cool numbness of the gel. Nate has to distract himself with looking around the room, too willing to offer comfort beyond what is professional, his head swayed by a far different part of him.
Nate does let a rough little chuckle rumble out of him, his hands folding in his lap neatly. “I’ll just open a tab for you, eh?” His head angles down towards the other man, voice taking on a conspiratory tone. “I’m sure you’ll be back.”
His jaw works again as his eyes find the ground, something almost shy about the gesture. “You don’t need to thank me. It’s just what I do.” Nate shakes his head, and huffs out a breath. “I guess you could say I got a thing for strays.”
don't know what you're thinking of do i chip away or keep defenses up?
It seems they’re both trying to ignore something bigger than them as Sunjata keeps his face half concealed by his arms and Nate masks his with the rough laugh, the words sparking a soft twist of a smile on the young Bratena’s face. “I hope so.” He offers as everything starts to loosen up a fraction, as the pain grows more manageable as time goes on and he wonders what’s in the numbing cream first of all, before Nate’s next comment surprises him from any internal thoughts.
The way the doctor’s head angles toward the ground and Sunjata watches, looking away the second the comment is made, and this time Nate doesn’t have to be touching him to get that splotch of a red flush to start along his neck and cheeks. Instead, Sunjata half sinks his head deeper into his arms as if it might hide the radiating heat. “You nicknamed me puppy, I hardly think that’s a coincidence at this point.” He pauses, glancing back over to peer at Nate while the tips of his ears start to burn, too.
don't make a sound, if it gets too loud will you hear me come around?
A real laugh bubbles out of the doctor this time, his whole face lightening with the smile. “Most people don’t hope to come to the doctor, ossifer.” It’s another joke meant to nudge them back towards a more appropriate path, another one with as much potential to backfire as it does to work.
“I had to, you’re just like a,” Nate hands fly out, roughly making the shape of something as he struggles for words. An annoyed sigh rushes out of him and he just barely stops himself from putting his face in his hands. “I can’t be the only one who sees it. I’m not.” No amount of control can stop one of his hands from creeping up and tugging on a curl, pulling it straight before releasing it and letting it bounce, over and over.
“S’like… your dad is this big bad hound, and you’re…” Nate shrugs, and turns to look at Sunjata, noticing the flush for the first time. “Puppy.”
don't know what you're thinking of do i chip away or keep defenses up?
“What can I say, you have a charming atmosphere here.” He drawls alongside Nate’s joke, the loosening of his pain making way for easier jokes, not the awkwardness of their interactions on the Plate and what he can and cannot get away with. This is private, easier, he doesn’t shy away from it. That and it helps being able to keep his face mostly hidden.
Like it’s some kind of curtain he can blurt out into and hide away unsure of the reaction it brings. But so far, it hasn’t been bad, even as he squints over at the doctor and watches the hand gesture, the way the doctor almost nervously tugs at a curl. “Regardless—” he begins to say, cut off as Nate continues, as the nickname comes back and he’s looking at him and Sunjata’s forced to bury his head again for fear of being found out (he doesn’t hide it well enough, of course).
But there’s the muffled “you’re the first one to say it out loud to my face.” He admits, waiting a few heartbeats (counting them as he feels them pulse against his neck). “Dad’s a big bad hound and I’m just the lost puppy looking for attention and happened to stumble across a doctor with an interest in strays… Do I have that correct?” He pauses, forcing himself to tilt his head back to peer at Nate with curious steel, face flushed red. “Not like I’ll complain, mind you.”
don't make a sound, if it gets too loud will you hear me come around?
“Guess I got more balls than anyone else who’s ever met you then.” The brag leaves Nate quickly, though the doctor manages to clamp his jaw closed before the much more inappropriate follow up slips through.
Eyes drop to the cracked tiles on the floor as Sunjata starts his retort, the doctor shifting just a little where he leans. A rough chuckle leaves Nate, faux confidence making up for the red at the tips of his ears and the nervous smile on his face. “Those’re your words, not mine.” He doesn’t disagree though, just rolls his shoulders and keeps his gaze trained at the floor, afraid of what he’ll see if he looks up.
“You just… got this vibe.” Now that he’s not looking at the other man, Nate’s lips grow looser again. “I don’t really wanna trust you, but you ah… you seem real.”
