un: Bachelor | text

[thantagonist]

Attention Fellow People of Etraya,

I am Doctor Daniil Dankovsky, Bachelor of Medicine. As I understand it, few of you have seen a doctor lately. That simply won’t do! Please, don’t wait to get sick to establish care. I am situated in the hospital, ready to take consent forms and make updated medical histories. At least a few of you have unaddressed concerns, I just know it. The average person comes to see the doctor when it’s too late! Though we cannot die here, there is no reason to suffer unduly.

And if you are otherwise healthy, perhaps think of it as helping me out. In the event of an outbreak, it is far more helpful to have complete clinical pictures of the inhabitants. Especially, as I understand it, there are many biological differences in this population.

Please come visit me during my clinic hours, every day from 10am to 6pm.


[What Daniil really wants is to meet more of the unusual inhabitants of Etraya more quickly as well as conduct casual interviews of the sort of people who are slated to save the universe. But he can’t just say that completely outright.]

Comments

[hexcope]

I know it wasn't my strong suit, but it's one thing to know it, and another to be told it.

[Sorry Sophie. He's still sulking.]

You'd really rather not. Ask me about just about anything else. That one requires dinner first.

[thantagonist]

I’ve been told plenty of things to my face that weren’t true.

[His voice is playful and sympathetic.]

You want dinner? As long as I don’t have to cook it myself, I could arrange it. I’m not much of a chef, and I don’t have much of a kitchen anyway. So… Why not now? We could go into that restaurant a couple stops from Alcyone’s Wake. “The Diner”, I believe. They have somewhere quiet to sit and talk. It’s right off the trolley. Unless dinner was meant to be a deterrent.

[hexcope]

[ It was meant to be a deterrent, but Daniil sounds so sincere about it. Daniil's new, he's already died, and it sounds like if anything, he might need a friend. All things Jayce can't resist trying to help him with. ]

... Okay. Alright. The Diner it is.

→action

[thantagonist]

[he certainly does need a friend after the week he’s had and made worse for himself. Daniil is a bit closer to the Diner and shows up first as a consequence. He politely waits outside as it gets dark, his doctor bag held in his hand. He probably went everywhere with it.]

[The Diner is right off the trolley, and Daniil keeps his eyes peeled in that direction. He ponders what he’d just learned about the other man. Openly partners with another man. A great engineer, a poor leader perhaps. But he consented to coming here and letting Daniil learn a bit more about him.]

[hexcope]

[ He knows it's getting late, and in the interest of not having Daniil wait around in the dark any longer than necessary, Jayce takes a shortcut he doesn't often use: superpowered flight. The powers he retained from their trip to another world sure come in handy when he's trying to be more expedient with his travel- with the new consequence of making him a little nauseous when he flies. He didn't used to feel this way when first using it, but ever since the Ravine...

Jayce lands within a few feet of the diner with a grunt, it always hurts his leg a little when he lets gravity take back over, and offers Daniil a nod. ]

Hope you like greasy food. This place isn't known for its salads.

[thantagonist]

[Jayce’s arrival leaves Daniil with his jaw hanging open.]

You fly as well. Are you some sort of alien, too?

[Still, he notes the grunt. That leg doesn’t like impact.]

[Daniil doesn’t look particularly excited about the prospect of greasy food, not that he was a big salad eater either. But he’ll cope. He was mainly relieved to be taking meals in a town that didn’t just smell like cowshit and rot.]

[He opens the door for Jayce, obviously looking at his leg to watch him walk after that impact. From up close, he notes something else, too.]

You look a little unwell.

[hexcope]

Hah. No. This is from my time here. A remainder of a mission.

[ The first few steps are limped slightly, but he gets back a more normal walking speed as he gets used to it. ]

Unwell?

[ As he steps into the diner, he brings his fist to his mouth and exhales into it, trying to ease the nausea. ]

Oh. Yeah. Flying too long does that to me now. I'll be fine.

[thantagonist]

I am a doctor. No need to make yourself worse on my account. In fact, I expressly forbid it.

[Still, the idea that the ability to fly could merely be granted? ]

[They’re seated, and the juxtaposition of the scenery and decor against the level of service and variety of food on the menu is strange.]

There are familiar things here, but… pancakes with syrup? Not jam? Not caviar? There’s no fish here…

A lot of eggs and toasted bread.

Do you even have an appetite after that flying? I saw you limp through the door. Did you hurt yourself?

[He turns to a bot.] Bring my friend a peppermint tea, please.

[hexcope]

It's just some nausea. It'll pass.

[ Hardly the worst he's had to deal with. ]

Caviar on pancakes. Haven't heard that one in a while.

[ He says with a lighthearted grin, because it does strike a memory in him of Viktor. ]

I'll get an appetite soon enough. For now-

[ He intends to just have water, but Daniil went ahead and ordered tea for him. ]

Uh, thanks. And it's just my leg.

[thantagonist]

Just your broken leg, you mean.

[Daniil glances down, as if he can see through the table.]

Pancake isn’t quite the right term. I must say, there is an aspect of these translators that frustrates me. Being unable to choose my own words irritates me, I’m not sure what stupid homonym will rear its head. I’ll learn your language. It won’t take me too long, I suspect.

I’m surprised you’ve heard of it at all. Have you had it? It’s wonderful.

[Daniil looks through the menu before ordering chicken noodle soup. How could chicken soup be greasy and go wrong?]

Now why does it make you nauseous? Not a fan of heights?

[hexcope]

I haven't. I was never a big caviar guy, and even less so now. You lose your appetite for fish-like things when it's your only option.

[ He says as if it's just like he had a limited menu for a while, and not, you know, the Horrors. ]

A fear of falling, I guess.

[ Being vague on purpose, but he's realizing that maybe going to dinner with an apparently very nosy man might have been a bad move. His tea arrives, piping hot, and he decides to take a sip of it anyway just to alleviate the need to answer more thoroughly. It does burn his tongue a little, but he ignores it. ]

Do you mind if I ask you to turn off your translator for a minute? I'm curious what your language sounds like without it.

[thantagonist]

You make it sound like you’re being forced to. There’s a trolley.

Ah- Of course.

[He takes the whole thing off his head and clears his throat.]

It sounds like this. My name is Daniil Dankovsky. Bachelor of Medicine. I’m honestly very grateful to be here, sitting with you. It’s been a difficult time adjusting, but I’m grateful to be here alive.

[And then he slips it back on and peers up at Jayce for his reaction.]

[hexcope]

I know I wasn't forced to, but I didn't want to... you know. Leave you waiting. I know it can take a while for me to get somewhere on foot.

[ It didn't use to be. He used to be fast- agile. The internal debate continues on if this self-imposed consequence of his injury serves as enough penance for his mistakes.

Jayce listens, and of course, doesn't understand any of it. But it's interesting to hear nonetheless. ]

I'm not sure if I was expecting I'd be able to pick out a word or two there- some kind of common shared derivative of language. I did at least hear your name!

[thantagonist]

Silly man. I know what your leg looks like. I saw the x-ray. I’m not about to expect so much from an injured man.

Besides, I’ve been luxuriating in not needing to be anywhere at any particular time, actually. I even brought a book to read.

[He’s glad he couldn’t understand him. He did genuinely say some fairly vulnerable things there. His cheeks heat a little.]

Let’s hear yours. It’s common here, isn’t it? I have two other languages that will make it simple enough to learn. I can pick words out, I was before.

[hexcope]

Wait you- Robert showed you it?

[ Ughhhhhh. ]

Fine, my turn.

[ He takes out his translators, and speaks: ]

My name's Jayce Talis- but you know that already. I feel out place here too, more often than not. Something about you ... reminds me of home in a way a lot of people here don't.

[ With a clearing of his throat, he puts the translator back on. ]

So? Any cognates?

[thantagonist]

[Daniil laughs, he had paid such close attention while talking, but…]

Not a single one! Well. “My” and “name” are similar in many languages. But it falls apart quickly after that. Still, I’m not discouraged. All the medical journals and books he has are in that language you speak. I have much to update in my study, this will just be one of them.

Nothing worth reading was in it, after all.

[Daniil quietly thanks the robot that drops off his soup and saltines.]

And yes, he did. I’d apologize for talking about you, but I think it was very productive. We might have a good solution. I should ask for your consent to show sketches of your leg to someone I think help. Though photographs would be better.

[hexcope]

You've already got a study somewhere?

[ Daniil really does move fast, doesn't he?

Jayce stares down into his peppermint tea as Daniil keeps talking about his injury. If he lets this happen- allows himself to be helped... ]

Would you fix it again? Say you fix it. Totally healed, or as best it can be. Would you do it again, if it happened again?

[thantagonist]

Of course. There’s no time to waste when it comes to being prepared. Robert invited me to the hospital on my first day here, and I took him up on it at my first available opportunity.

[He is a rather extreme example of a man who doesn’t want to bother others. The build of of scar tissue in his leg will be extraordinary. ]

You don’t know me well yet, and I won’t bore you with specifics. But I’m well known for performing grueling tasks. So, of course I will.

[Really, given the choice between treating one leg and an entire town… ]

[And the leg is attached to a very charming man. Very much unlike my usual patient.]

[He shakes himself out of it.]

I’ll be reading the manuals for the machines in the magical illness wing. Robert was waiting for you to teach it to him, but he’s just a bit lazy. I can read them myself, I have a mind for mathematics. It should be easy. So… If it comes back, we’ll be prepared.

[hexcope]

I read the manuals too, a few times over to be sure. I could run through a few tests with both of you, it'd be good to actually put my hands on it as opposed to just reading about it.

[ Jayce finishes off his tea, and waves down another companion bot to order some real food: a turkey club sandwich. ]

Has anyone explained... well, no one else calls it this, but I've been calling it 'personal timeline progression.' What happens when you "return" to where you're from, only to come back here again?

[thantagonist]

Good, I’ll have someone to keep me company. [And he offers a genuine smile. A sort of rare thing on his face.]

[Turkey club sounded either gruesome or bizarre. What, like a chess club? He’d have to see.]

It was mentioned in passing to me once. I would appreciate if you elaborate on that.

[Good. He’ll be eating soon. I wonder if he’ll still regale me with his failures.]

[hexcope]

One of the few things I'm good for.

[ Jayce sees the smile and can't help but offer one in return. He pulls out of his inner pocket a small notebook, clearly well used, with a burned sigil of a hammer on the front. Many of the pages are lined with notes, and sticky notes as bookmarks, as he flips to a specific page and turns it around on the table to show Daniil. ]

This is an example of a person's timeline. Their life, events, and so on. On the second line, that's an example of what happened once I came here. Progression of my life, as normal, and then forcibly ejected from world to come here, we'll call that point A. My original "timeline" is paused, as point A timeline progresses. Then, at some point, I'm returned to my timeline in Runeterra, with no recollection of anything from point A. Then, I'm ejected again, now we'll call that point B. Point B retains memories of point A, and the rest of my life. However, the physical changes to my body also come with me from my original timeline.

[ The implication being of course, this injury. ]

I know I'm not dead yet, in my original timeline, but it's a very near thing. I could... feel its approach. But that means there's always a chance I could go back to Runeterra to die, and return here again. Or not at all. If I return, whatever healing is done to my leg here would likely be undone. I'd need to undergo the surgery and treatment a second time. You can see why I've been "dragging my feet" on doing anything at all.

[ Sorry Daniil, did you know he's a yapper? ]

[thantagonist]

[Daniil doesn’t mind the yapping at all. For once, someone around here speaks clearly and with enough words to actually make a point. He’s nice to listen to.]

[And all of that information utterly fascinating, plus he appreciates a diagram.]

I understand. But while you hold yourself in suspended animation, your body does not. It continues to solidify scar tissue and injure your nerve endings. As it sounds like you have no control over which timeline you’re in, the best practice is to just address the issue.

I won’t pretend like treating it will be easy on you, but it certainly can’t be worse than this. Besides, if we have to do it again, we’ll have had practice. Doctor Romano especially could use a trial run.

[He gives Jayce a wink.]

Again, this is far from the most grueling task I’ve ever been confronted with. [He sighs.]

I’ll tell you about it one day. It’s really too horrible to recount, most of it a complete nightmare. [He has a bit of a faraway look in his eyes for a moment.] Just trust me that I can handle this. Besides, the doctor treating the patient is by necessity not suffering as much as the patient! You would find all of this absurd if the roles were reversed.

Like refusing to fix an important engine just because it’s broken again. An utterly ridiculous position for an engineer to have.

[hexcope]

It could be worse.

[ Jayce's sandwich arrives, and it's huge. Triple-decker sandwich that only someone with hands as big as Jayce's can hold in one go. ]

Every surgery has the potential for things to get worse. Not that I don't trust you and Robert, I do- but my condition's something none of us have dealt with before. Re-opening the wound, there's magical contamination risk, it's possible my bones have started petrifying into stone and there's no way to reset them...

[ He pulls the little tooth picks out of the sandwich. They're shaped like swords, for some reason.

Jayce doesn't have an argument on the engine comparison. It's apt, and it speaks to him specifically. ]

I'm not backing out of this. Only... warning you, we might have to do it all over again. After I...

[ Go home to die. ]

[thantagonist]

That is true. We may have an x-ray, but we’ll only know what we’re dealing with once we’re inside.

[Daniil is sort of impressed by the way he handles that sandwich. Jayce is certainly bigger than the average engineer. Or doctor, for that matter. Well. Orthopedic surgeons excluded. Those men were intense.]

Are you really so worried about inconveniencing me, or are you scared of the treatment process? I seem to recall you mentioning needing to be put into a coma for it.

[hexcope]

Does my reasoning for why I feel the way I do affect what needs to get done?

[The sort of question would sound curt, if it didn't just sound tired instead, coming from Jayce's mouth. He bites into the sandwich, chewing slowly and keeping eye contact with Daniil as he does it. It's almost an intimidation tactic.]