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?
“I see.” Sunjata responds, glancing at the desk to see if there was any water sitting around so that he might be able to take them. It’s not like he’s going to deny the relief it might bring, given the fact that he still has a full patrol to do. “Thank you.” He pauses, making sure his gaze lifts to meet Nate’s, and at the admission he shies away again.
“It was worth it.” He pauses, shutting down Nate’s train of thought, before a different thought occurs to him. “I, uh, think I need some help fixing a brace if you have time.” He pauses, sure that he could dip out and tell his partner what was happening and that it would give him more time alone, away from his usual duties.
don't make a sound, if it gets too loud will you hear me come around?
A bored hand offers out a brightly coloured bottle, the juice inside fizzy and warm, but better than nothing. “You paid for it.” Nate’s shoulder rolls, and he taps the box before it vanishes into his desk again.
Nate’s mouth bites shut around his words, his eyes drifting to the shadow behind the door again. “Sure.” His tongue dips out between his lips, his head cocking to the side. “S’long as you make sure smiley out there doesn’t hassle my patient on her way out.”
Two fingers out towards Sunjata, the offer of a deal as a dark brow cocks up towards the enforcer.
don't know what you're thinking of do i chip away or keep defenses up?
He squints at the brightly colored bottle, grabbing it gently and takes a sip to down the two pills, swallowing it down with a slight wince at the taste and not because of the pain, and offers the bottle back to the doctor. And when the request is made, Sunjata nods, already taking a step back. “I think I can do that.”
He steps away, moving toward the door at a slow, stiff pace, and when he gets there he opens the door enough to make it chime, to slip outside easily and explain what he needed done, and after a few explanations of he’s a fucking doctor and you sure as fuck aren’t going to do it and if you don’t want to listen to me complain you’ll shut up and sit tight and wait at the side of the building. Which thankfully seems to get through the man’s thick skull, before Sunjata’s slipping back in and the shadow steps away to the side of the building.
And then, like any good patient, he stands there and waits for the exchange of customers, for Nate to be able to let him into the room.
don't make a sound, if it gets too loud will you hear me come around?
The bottle is polished off and dropped in a can on his side of the desk, Nate watching Sunjata step out before returning to his own patient. They’d been in the ending steps of her appointment anyway, chit chat while he had some free time, so it’s a quick thing to escort her out the door, Nate not sparing a glance to Sunjata while he does. If anything, he keeps a block between his patient and the enforcer, covering her up as much as possible, and locking the door when she’s gone.
“Clean room.” Fingers snap towards the closed door, which opens into an exam room nearly identical to the first one. No sooner does the for close behind them than Nate is melting somewhat, his shoulders dropping and a sigh heaving out of him.
Of course it’s not a huge amount of relief. There’s still the question of what exactly Sunjata actually needs his help with. “So… what’s braced? And why do you need my help with it?” Nate thinks better of it for half a second, then let’s a slick grin ooze across his face. “You just lookin’ for an excuse to undress in front of me, puppy?”
don't know what you're thinking of do i chip away or keep defenses up?
His partner doesn’t bother the woman leaving the clinic – both in part to Sunjata’s distractions and Nate’s own body blocking, and luckily simply just remains outside while he steps back in, moving to the exam room when Nate gestures to it. Once inside and Nate relaxes, Sunjata takes the mask off, setting it on the table before he starts unhooking the excess amount of body armor. His back is to Nate, but the question and the joke does spark a soft laugh – nothing too much because ouch it fucking hurts, but he responds honestly. “Because I can’t reach it.”
Once he gets the hooks off from the main outer plate of his armor, he sets that down on the table too and turns to face Nate, fingers working along the under armor to untie it from the sides, the fabric bunching where the brace is visible through the fabric. And once that’s pulled away, sun tanned shoulders dotted with freckles meets Nate first, before the fabric of the brace strapped to his shoulder, along the lower half of his chest and entire rib cage toward the middle of his stomach is wrapped in that body brace.
And to top it off, the ties for it sit in the back, loosened from getting stuck on something and perfectly centered in the middle of his shoulder blades where he has little hope of actually reaching and fixing it. Then, in an effort to alleviate the way he knows Nate will see just how painful it is when he has to unwrap the brace to reset it, he flashes a small smile toward the doctor. “And I don’t think I really need an excuse, do I?” It’s a gentle tease, but the only thing that comes to mind to clear the tension in the air.
don't make a sound, if it gets too loud will you hear me come around?
A quiet professionalism skims the jokes off the surface of Nate’s face, his gaze focusing on the drawn out layers and what it is he’s supposed to be seeing. Even before it’s fully in sight, the weight of the brace has the doctor frowning, muted concern on his face. His nose twitches, a single hairline crack in an otherwise perfect mask.
“You should still ask permission.” The gently chiding words are preceded with a flick of Nate’s tongue, each syllable carefully weighted and controlled. Warm hands reach out, gently guiding Sunjata to turn around. “Hands on the table.”
As soon as the gentle order is followed Nate sets to work removing the brace, loosening the ties until it can be slipped down.
don't know what you're thinking of do i chip away or keep defenses up?
He clicks his tongue in response to the gentle chiding words, a soft little “yeah, yeah.” leaving him before Nate’s approaching and those big warm hands guide him around, telling him to place his hands on the table. And he does, easily (if not a bit awkwardly given the way he can’t move the way he usually can), turning his back to the taller man and rests his hands on the table.
As each of the ties is loosened he can’t help but to press more of his weight onto his hands, head drooping a bit each time until the brace can be slipped down. Once it is, though, the red lines along his body where the brace had been tightened and pressed in becomes hardly noticeable against the blooming blue watercolor along his back and ribs. He takes a deep breath, one that rattles and shakes him, makes the hands supporting most of his weight shake a little.
In an attempt to make that less noticeable, he blurts out a quiet “your hands are warm. The Plate doctors always have cold hands.”
don't make a sound, if it gets too loud will you hear me come around?
“You're not allowed to flirt with me while I’m treating you.” Nate does that his hands over the worst looking of the bruises, taking stock of each individual pattern and mapping the blows, his jaw growing tighter by the second. “I have morals, unlike those hacks.”
Stepping away and fussing in a cupboard, Nate throws some questions over his shoulder. “Have you taken anything else for pain? Or had anyone actually looked at you? How long can you be in here before your friend kicks my door down?”
His warmth returns to Sunjata’s back, a wet sound preceding the touch of cool ointment to the worst of his bruising, an immediate buzzing numbness starting in his skin. “Sorry about the cold.” Nate mumbles softly, his hands warming quickly as they spread the cream into the other man’s back.
don't know what you're thinking of do i chip away or keep defenses up?
A soft snort leaves him, but there is some amount of mortification that he’s quite lucky Nate can’t see with his back turned to the doctor. He works his jaw as he hears the cupboard open and be fiddled with, drawing silent so as to not make any other blunt comments that he can’t take back once they’re in the air. “Just painkillers. And yes, I was looked at. I was supposed to be on bedrest and light duty after but they couldn’t say that to my father, so.” He’d shrug if he didn’t completely lose his balance from the arms that shake on the table keeping most of his weight up. “I’d say half an hour.”
He tenses immediately with the cold, the press against the bruises, sucking in a sharp breath through his nose and teeth, exhaling it out slowly the best he can. “S’okay.” He manages to grit out, feeling the warm tingle of relief start to spread along the majority of the pain. It eases his breathing, the young Bratena slowly getting to the point where he can relax ever so slightly, the tension soothing and his arms start shaking less.
And alongside it, his head droops a fraction more with the relief – wanting nothing more than to just curl up here and sleep until it doesn’t hurt anymore.
don't make a sound, if it gets too loud will you hear me come around?
“Oh perfect, that’s plenty of time.” Nate backs away again, letting the numbing do its work without his hands adding to the ache. “You can lay down now if you want, but I’ll need you back up to put the brace on.”
A hand that is clean of the numbing gel presses against Sunjata’s shoulder gently. “Get comfortable, alright? I’m going to be right back.” The door closes behind Nate, leaving Sunjata alone in the exam room, quiet save for the insistent buzzing of the light fixture above.
He’s left alone just shy of five minutes, Nate returning and setting something heavy on the small square of counter space. “Are you ready?”
