here comes the sun

[brushy]

Who: falco grice (grice), shōyō hinata (asas) & amaterasu (brushy)
What: this is a catch-all for april! various closed prompts and one that's open for ammy (wonderkind), please refer to the character's specific top levels and headers! if you'd like to plot something out, hmu @ the plotting post or liberos!
When: april!
Where: throughout trench!
Content Warnings: violence, harm to an animal, will add more as they come (also see headers)

falco | shōyō | amaterasu

Comments

[grice]

[ they’re—! gorgeous, detailed— not as glaringly complicated as the book he had in hand, which sends a jolt of hope through him. at the right time, he’s sure he’ll be able to pick that book up again without scrambling his processing too much. this, this was much better for his start and level, even if it had already been some steps higher than the average adolescent as is. well, the modern ones. wide eyed and entranced, falco leans in to scan the pages, makes a reach for them before immediately deciding it’s best to keep his hands to himself. nehan never said it was his, now. best not to act like it was.

(he’s sure the top of his hand would’ve been smacked if he was indeed, wrong). ]

Can I copy them, sir?

[torpour]

Keep them. [then he waves his hand at the stack of resources he has.]

The loose sheets are free for the taking as long as you're able to read them-- they're my own notes or diagrams. The notebook can be looked over, but at the end of the day, it's mine.

[not that he thinks the boy can read his shorthand scribbling, anyway.]

[grice]

[ oh, boy. he gets to study all of these. because he wants! and because nehan has decided, too. it's small and he's trying to clamp down on it, but there is quite the start of a smile there, as he sifts through pages and pages worth of information. ]

Thank you, sir. [ he'll never take the notebook, but the rest— he has a lot to look through, to gather his first batch to study. ] Is there a system you think I should give more attention to? Right now?

[ as a beginner— he considers maybe bones, since it's the base of everything, but there's just so many things that it's almost overwhelming to choose a starting point. he wants to start everywhere. ]

[torpour]

Cardiovascular and the skin. Because of Trench's focus on blood, we need you up to speed on how veins and arteries work, and where they can be found. [and thankfully all the major organs are just part of that.

but still, blood.]

[grice]

[ oh, that seems actually . . . good! in the sense that falco has prior knowledge of how it works and where important spots are on a basic level. it should help guide him through the plethora of names, names, and more names, along with locations.

with a nod, falco opens his mouth to say something— then decides against it, keeping his head in the papers and getting to studying, repeating, reading (with— a lot of squinting, here and there. the writing is difficult to make out, but by the power of deer translation— ) and jotting down what he needs to review in his own notebook. ]

Right.

[ no dawdling. he'll pick up conversation at a later hour. ]

[torpour]

[nehan was ready to respond to any question the boy would have had, especially given his actions, but apparently not. apparently the boy wants to study by himself, so nehan will do his own work.

he lifts himself from the chair and goes to the window to light incense, because he's about to make it reek enough that beasts might get interested. since he's pulling out jars of fresh leaves, a cutting board and a knife.]

[grice]

[ at the very least, he wants to better his impression to his teacher. at most, he’s excited to learn. a few questions do rise here and there, but nothing far beyond doubts of what was written in the doctor’s chicken scratch handwriting. falco compiles a list of actual inquiries directly related to the systems, all while keeping the occasional close eye on nehan going about his business.

the silence breaks a tad harsher now, as the boy wets his lips and aligns his back to begin the real learning. ]

Mister Nehan— if someone’s bleeding internally, how much time do they have? Usually?

[ asking, because it’s a genuine question, and asking, because of personal experience. sasha bled out fast and was gone in a matter of minutes. ]

[torpour]

[nehan looks up from chopping the rolled leaves, blade wet. that sounds like a very specific question from experience-- he already knows the signs, when all his students have asked such things of him so far. suffering from thoughts of "what if i could have done something to change this outcome?" because someone suffered or died from that one specific thing.]

It depends on the severity, and location, but typically minutes to hours-- and never more than a quarter of a day. Such things are considered an emergency and everything needs to be dropped in order to save the patient.

cw for war imagery

[grice]

[ falco hones in on the notes picturing the abdomen; a lot of little vessels, almost too many to count and slap a name on (but each one did, amazing). most of the problems there, he sees, were the organs. softs things easily dissipated, important things connected to important veins, and arteries other than the heart. the liver was a bloody mass. the intestines were a contained infection zone just waiting to make a survivor's chances minimal. ]

There was someone I saw, once, shot in the abdomen with a rifle. Point-blank range. [ she was sure that with the distance gabi fired, she didn't need to compensate for direction. she fired, straight on, and hit, straight on. ] There weren't any doctors on the airship. Only soldiers with, [ falco's lips press harder together; he knows what nehan had meant, now. ] basic notions.

[ notions that weren't enough to do anything. it was just as much as "not knowing". ]

They only wrapped her stomach, and she died a few minutes after. Would that have been, um . . . A surgical case?

[ or a lost cause? of course, he knows there's no point in grieving too much over it, but he did want to understand: could more be done, if they had the resources? people in his time die so easily, and medical care was still evolving so slowly. ]

cw: near death talk

[torpour]

[bow the scenarios are vey specific, and nehan can piece together just what falco is doing. trying to do, and where he's come from. speech, manner, the constant fighting and the intense need to learn medicine... all signs of someone going through some sort of war, like a real soldier. of course the military of that world would employ children, they're lacking in resources and personnel, if they're dying like that.]

You are looking at a man who has survived being shot in the back by a rifle. [just... to give the boy some perspective.]

She would have survived if there was a surgeon with an operating theater on board. [or if there had been a magical healer. which is another thing he has to think about. he scrapes all his cut leaves back into the jar, where they start to float in their own juices. exactly what he wants.]

Am I right in thinking magic is not something available in your world?

[grice]

[ visibly, his eyes widen at the thought of being shot in the back without any lasting scars, some of even the crippling variety. unless one was like him, who had very specific and different physiology. “magic” in the way that it’s usually seen— spells, enchantments, potions— falco shakes his head and his hand down the page he keeps open.

she could’ve survived . . . with the right tools, the right people. the right knowledge and experience. ]

You’re right, sir. There’s science, that might look like magic . . . [ but not “magic”. ] Nothing like that.

[torpour]

Then it's a shame, because then you would have access to even some potions, and something could have been done. [but he shakes his head.] Isn't it?

I don't want you to dwell on the could haves and should haves, even if it's an easy mindset to have-- it's a trap. I want you to focus on the here and now, and what you can do in the future.

[grice]

[ stiffening his posture, falco lowers his head and dips into a single, obedient nod. ]

Yessir. I just wanted to know . . . For another time. [ just in case. just to be sure. just to— have peace of mind, in a way, that there were ways. ] There's so much that can be done, the more you know.

[torpour]

[nehan wipes his hands clean with alcohol, then dry with a clean cloth, then cleans his tools and slides the jar of leaves towards the boy. it smells just... well. like freshly-cut grass, just stronger.]

This is one of the things I'll be teaching you. My primary preference is to use medicine for healing-- they're magical, of course.

[grice]

[ falco’s attention shifts to nehan’s eyes, his own wide as if just being told a huge secret. not a secret, no— but it certainly surprises him to be a candidate for such technique. ]

Will I . . . Be able to that?

[ it’s ironic how turning into a giant bird is perfectly alright for him but, magic? healing magic? it is so very wanted but so surreal despite what he’s already seen everyone else do. ]

[torpour]

[nehan screws the lid on top of the jar, just to keep the leaves fresh.]

With potions, it doesn't matter whether or not you have magic. All that matters are the ingredients, and how you treat them. [meaning, yes, he will be able to do that, if he studies hard.]

This is why I emphasize studies, and having good habits from the beginning. You need discipline to not make a mistake and kill yourself with the fumes when you brew.

[grice]

[ that's exciting even so. it's wonderful news, great news, and one he hopes he's on the right path to. i'll try my best, he thinks, but to make sure of that, he seeks criticism: ]

How am I doing, so far?

[ was there something he could improve on—? ]

[torpour]

You only just started. [blunt, but also the truth.] You handled yourself just fine the last time we met, but I expect that to change once I've crammed more knowledge in you, and you're trying to remember all of it while battling your nerves.

Unless you're like me. [meaning, has no nerves at all, and possesses an excellent memory.]

Is your memory good?

[grice]

[ falco nods in understanding and takes that to heart to apply, anyway. something tells him he is not like nehan. falco is emotional and tends to become self-sacrificial or even a little brash when his nerves are high. he can hold out well for a while, possibly a lot more than others or those who are more hotblooded— he can think on the fly and improvise if he’s not at his breaking point.

if he worked on that and matured it as much as his age and knowledge, he could be useful. ]

It is, sir.

[ he at least recognizes that he has one; he excelled in his theoretical studies the most, and part of being a warrior candidate was, of course, having the academic grades for it. ]

[torpour]

Then you will have no issues memorizing all of these. [and he taps the loose sheets for emphasis.]

Or the recipes that I will eventually teach you.

Like I said, I made your study sheets myself-- and I did it all from memory. That's the sort of teacher you have.

[someone who forgets nothing, he means. he's well aware that it's an incredibly high standard to live up to, and he says this to intimidate the boy... or motivate him. some people would take to the former, and then leave, in which case good riddance. if falco takes to the latter instead, then he's passed all of nehan's first tests.]

[grice]

All of this . . . [ his fingers brush over the pages in front of him. next to them, lays his open notebook with his own handwriting in it. his eyes are wide with uncensored impression. there is only two words for that. dang, son. ] By memory—?

[ it’s not a question, he’s simply assimilating a huge answer. that means . . . that means, if he didn’t have a role model to look up to in the field then, he did now. they were awfully big shoes— but wasn’t any type of study based on health? constantly changing, constantly needing more, and more willing people.

he wants to learn. he really wants to learn. and he wants to reach at least a few percents of what his teacher is, in life. it doesn’t discourage him. it tells him to work much harder. ]

That’s . . . Amazing, Mister Nehan. [ he knows it’s a difficult thing, to make certain promises— but if this was by his own diligence, then it wasn’t a promise, it was an effect to a cause. ] As your student, I will.

[torpour]

[well. seems like he passed the test.

nehan sits back in his chair again, lacing his fingers together, hands over his stomach. looks odd, feels odd, with just one hand in a glove, but he's getting used to it. not having feeling in his left hand helps.]

I don't expect that sort of performance out of you. But as long as you have the memory you profess to have, and steady hands, there will be no problems.

Now, where are you in your study of the systems?

[grice]

[ that was rather refreshing to hear. falco's bee held so damn high on the chart of what he should be doing and what level of performance he should be upholding if wanted have something as basic as human rights. tense shoulders seem to slump in a gentle relax, and before he could tell his eyelids to blink, his eyes are stinging, picking with tears just barely collecting at the corners.

tears of emotion, and silently tucked happiness through validation and treatment. he keeps his head low, as to not bring attention to this (he's easily shy, doesn't enjoy too much attention on himself to begin with), and presses his lips together, but it doesn't avoid the gentle smile prying its way out of it. the swipes by his eyes are quick and precise, to make sure nothing gets on the papers that he's stacked and marked neatly into a pile and started on the next. veins are done. ]

I finished this one— I'm going to get started on arteries and skin, sir. I'll review everything again this evening, to start clean tomorrow.

[ so he could get a head start—! ]

[torpour]

[what are the wet eyes for? nehan doesn't understand it-- perhaps that is understandable, when he still doesn't know falco well, but still...]

Hmm. What is the difference between arteries and veins?

[grice]

[ ah—! a pop quiz! falco straightens his posture and gets to work: ]

Arteries— they take blood with oxygen to the organs, and the rest of the body. Veins bring that blood back to oxygenate again.