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

[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.

[torpour]

[he's correct, and nehan nods to let him know that. of course, he's not going to let it end there.]

Veins bring blood back to where, then?

[grice]

[ ah—! ]

—The heart! Or, the lungs, so they could replenish the oxygen— [ he's a touch uncertain of his answer. he knows it's correct, but which came first? ] W-would it be correct to say, both of those?

[torpour]

[nehan raises one shoulder in a small shrug.]

Half correct-- the answer is the heart.

If you wanted to speak of the lungs, you would be mentioning the pulmonary circulation, which connects it to the heart for replenishing oxygen, in your words. If you wanted to include them, call them pulmonary arteries or veins, and mention them as separate from the arteries and veins that are visible under skin.

[grice]

[ falco watches and only listens, briefly, before his body jolts into a curt hunch over his notebook. i need to write that down is the blatant thought and energy here, pen working to solidify the answer and serve as a study tip for later. ]

Pulmonary . . . Circulation— [ okay, plenty of equal signs and underlining here, differentiating pulmonary arteries and veins, ] And the heart's would be . . . Coronery.

[ he's working his memory for this one, but he tries his absolute best not to make it a question in turn. that's his answer. ]

[torpour]

Coronary.

You don't need to use the scientific wording for every single thing. Your patients wont know what they are, after all. [then he pauses, and amends:]

Peers among medical fields will mind, yes, but there are few and far between here, and your focus is on patients, not them.

[seriously, who cares about stuffy academics who insist on using "proper" terms for everything.]

[grice]

[ ❗❗ making sure to scribble away at the e enough to make it look like an a—! ]

That's true . . . [ that his focus here in trench was something else; it was treating, immediately. he had way too much of a journey to walk and mature into something more professional, but he still considers it. he still wants to be corrected. ] I'll still look to saying things correctly, though. If I go home one day and this is what I want to do there, too— It's going to be important.

[torpour]

Military personnel don't care much for the longer explanations, despite demanding to know what exactly you're doing to them in the moment. Don't neglect the common terminology in your pursuit to learn.

[then he writes cleanly, properly, even if his scratching is light enough that his lettering is merely a collection of thin lines on paper. he's working on a close diagram of the heart, given falco is working on that too.]

Many people will feel at ease as well, but children are easier to placate than adults. Better patients, at that.

cw: mention of racial oppression

[grice]

[ one that comes quickly to mind is a fallen soldier falco had taken in to aid. most would have left the enemy to rot, as some had huffed at him for, but falco hid behind international law during war to mask his altruism. legally, he's our prisoner was a misty cover for i want to save him. falco's heart quietly shattered that day, when the unconscious man began to come to and preferred death over letting his hands stop the bleeding— the years of trauma across generations done to each other was something that had always saddened him. the words still stick: don't touch me. you'll corrupt me. devil.

it encourages him to continue giving his best to anyone, everyone— as what he'd always wanted for himself. ]

Some of them are more . . . inflexible. But I've seen children be the same way, too. [ gabi was a snarling, rabid beast when an enemy approached, no matter how concerned they were for her. noticing nehan's writing, falco pauses his own to observe and pay attention to what it was. ] I like to think it's a little different, here.

[torpour]

[nehan snorts.]

Nothing is more irritating than an adult who is so convinced of their independence that they must show it to everyone-- unless it's a teenager convinced that they can do anything.

[children are better.]

That is always the case with the military sorts. I suggest you don't forget that.

think we could start wrapping up soon!

[grice]

I'll make sure not to.

[ among other lessons, including the act of keeping his humbleness intact on his pursuit for new knowledge. there's something, suddenly, at the tip of his tongue that he must throw out there: ]

Mister Nehan, [ he watches the man, then bows his head. briefly, but respectfully: ] —Thank you, for having me.

[ perhaps he didn't have to thank him— the warming in his chest simply came, then the words followed suit. it's the kind of thing he felt like he had to say. ]

o7

[torpour]

[nehan's nose wrinkles slightly at the thanks. he dislikes such mushy feelings, doesn't want to waste time on dealing with them either.]

Don't mention it. Truly, do not-- if you have time to profusely thank me, you have time to put your nose into a book.