ph_logs | Sometimes I stare out of the window and think about how lucky I am...

Sometimes I stare out of the window and think about how lucky I am...

Who: Bart Torgal and...you?
What: Seasonal log, as he attempts to earn enough money for a vessel
When: Mid-spring through event times
Where: Watson's clinic, Bart's lab
Warnings: General warning for poorly-dealt-with mental health themes, will update as necessary

Bart's winter had been bad. Terrible, really. For every ounce of progress he made, there was some kind of setback. Something that crippled him in his research or his attempts at having anything resembling a social life. He feels more alone than ever, even with the knowledge that there are people that at the very least think well of him. But what did that matter, really, when he's opted not to show his face out in the world unless it was for work?

1. The Clinic
From the moment that he knew he was good for something around here, he'd put himself to work on it. Working intake at John Watson's clinic, he'd been updating paperwork and helping to educate the doctor on updated medical techniques and information, knowing that if he had the common knowledge behind him of an additional couple of centuries of advancement, then who would he be to keep it to himself? So he was careful to pass on everything that he knew, and make all of his research available to the staff both here, and at Winterbottom's clinic closer to the center of town.

A handmade wooden sign with a slider that denotes when the clinic is open indicates that they are seeing patients. Walking into the clinic, you will see him sitting behind a desk, writing or occasionally drawing, filling out page upon page of notes from loose sheets. There are pamphlets, printed on thick card paper and folded neatly, for newcomers to peruse so that they had a better idea of how to approach an appointment. In an emergency, the boy is cool-headed, his manner and way of speaking incredibly gentle.

"Welcome to the clinic of Doctor John Watson, what can we do for you?"

2. The Lab
When not at the clinic, Bart is at home. Those that have known him for a while know that he's been working nonstop to turn part of his home into a proper laboratory for the production of everything from batteries to make the radio project by Tarantulas viable in the long term, to assisting in the production of penicillin from the samples that he'd been getting from the various farms around the island. The latter is at least coming along better, as materials to fabricate long-lasting, rechargeable batteries that wouldn't degrade into physical hazards is somewhat beyond his means just now.

When at home, he works late into the night, his lamps lit until the wee hours. He doesn't associate much with the people outside of his research, a long-standing habit that he has yet to curtail as he remains nervous about getting close to anyone at all.

A visitor will have to knock loudly, or find a window of his lab to tap on if they want his attention while he's wrist-deep in a production cycle for an antibiotic that he's attempting to prepare for proper in-vivo testing. He's going to look poorly slept, somewhat haunted, ragged around the edges like a college student studying for finals. There are samples absolutely everywhere, from the island, from the ocean, and from the outer edges of the entrance of Hepogaia.

Wildcard
Bart can also be found in fits and starts out in the forest, or down at the beach, pursuing lines of inquiry and writing in blank notebooks that rapidly fill with small handwriting and sketches that look more akin to diagrams than regular art. He's not an artist after all, just desperate to remember as much as possible, with an eye for details and an almost pathological need to put everything down accurately. Speaking up without letting him see you coming will make him jump. Sorry.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Dabi can't help the cheshire grin that pulls at staples when he sees the reaction on Bart's face. Yeah he's used to that.

"It's nothing I haven't lived with for years." Dabi calls after the guy as he looks down at the papers and starts jotting things down as best as he can. Which isn't very good. He can manage his name but a few other things...he knows the words it's just hard to write them. Well...César knew some Japanese...maybe someone else did too? Sure it's obvious to him that Bart isn't Japanese but he could hope for some similarities right? So he does his best and then answers some of the answers below his English answers in near perfect Japanese as well.

When Bart gets back he's passed a few papers and shrugs. "Sorry, writing isn't great..."

"That doesn't necessarily make it better he points out as he re-emerges and waits for Dabi to finish his paperwork. A look over it tells him a lot less than he would hope. He wouldn't call it chickenscratch, but it certainly looks like the handwriting of someone that hasn't cared to learn how to properly form their letters. He can at least gather that using English letters isn't going to work well in general.

"Ah, no, don't worry about it, I'll just follow up on whatever needs to be rewritten for ease of copy for later," he assures Dabi, while moving to open the side of the counter to let Dabi in to follow after him. "Come, I would like to take your basic vitals and start to talk through a treatment plan, if you're looking to try and control this...whatever is actively happening to you."

Shrugging, Dabi just follows the other back. Look, the guy is smart but he didn't finish middle school....sue him.

"Doubt there's much you can do about it. It's caused by my own quirk...sorry power. I kinda burn through my body when I use my fire." Hands stuffed in pockets again as he follows, sitting when he's instructed to and just staring up at the guy.

Bart covers his horror at the idea that the man is literally burning from the inside out because of his powers, for the most part.

"So it may simply be a matter of management," he muses. "Still, it can't be comfortable, so I think after this the main goal will be improving your general quality of life. I can't imagine that it's particularly easy to move with that much scar tissue." After all, he can see that the dark stretches of burnt flesh extend into Dabi's clothes, and he can only guess how much further for now.

Dabi staring at him makes him squirm just a little bit, but only because he's just not used to being stared at in general. He notes absently that that shade of blue is both very uncommon in Japanese ancestry, and very pretty. The thought is pushed down and ignored as he collects his equipment to perform a proper checkup, from examining his ears (and noting the missing piercings as evident by the holes through them), and listening to his heart and breathing.

"Either you are very feverish, or you naturally run quite hot," he notes as he makes his own tidy notes for his initial file on Dabi. "Is this more of your ability?"

"Oh yeah no, that's normal." Nodding Dabi forced himself to relax as Bart did his checking.

"I naturally run hotter but I'm also really bad with heat or fire...got my dads power but my old ladies weak constitution." Sorry Rei. "Also my pain receptors are all kinds of fucked and I haven't been able to really cry since I was about thirteen." He motioned to the scars under his eyes with a bit of a grin.

"Also before you ask, the burns cover a large percentage of my body."

Bart's eyes widen in both shock and sympathy. "Goodness, you've been living with this for so long," he says quietly, remembering the age that he'd seen on Dabi's form. "How unfortunate...and living with a body not made to handle something that you were born with on top of it. It isn't any wonder that things have gone so poorly..."

Bart moves away to make a few notes as he thinks on a few different treatment ideas, the beginnings of a plan forming. "You're from the same kind of place as miss Magne from over at the inn, right? She called her magnet powers a Quirk too."

"Yeah," Dabi shrugs, he's so used to it that it's weird to remember that this isn't what it's like for any one else. That his treatment wasn't normal. "Yeah, you could say that again."

The question about being from Magne's world does get a little smile.

"Yeah, we were friends back home actually. Met through...work."

"Raise your head for me please," Bart says quietly as he moves to carefully lay cool fingers against the underside of Dabi's jaw, feeling carefully for his glands. "That's very fortunate, to have found someone you cared about here. It seems like a lot of people are in that position just lately. It's good to see them all supporting one another."

"Yeah, guessin' you weren't so lucky?" Tilting his head back, Dabi relaxes a bit at the cool hands. While some might find cold hands uncomfortable, they'd always been a more soothing feeling to the fire user.

Bart had been more concerned that it might be unpleasant on the scarred tissue, but as long as Dabi isn't expressing any discomfort, he would continue his checkup as normal and make sure that there was no infection to be found as a result of the tissue beneath the burn scars. "You could say that. Terribly busy, you understand."

"Yeah? You the only one here? I can only imagine how busy it must get." There is a small wince as fingers brush over newly damaged skin but it's fairly minute. More uncomfortable than painful.

"Not that I'm used to seein' more than one doc. All we had was a short guy with a weird mustache makin'....well let's just say he didn't stick to his oath much." He has to stop himself from shrugging, keep still while he's working Dabi. "That bein' said, you're definitely easier on the eyes."

"Oh, no, this clinic actually is run by Doctor Watson, and Doctor Morgenshtern is on staff with me. I wasn't actually in medical care before all this, I was a biology student. Open your mouth please-" A request quickly accompanied by a tongue depressor to look down into Dabi's throat to make sure that the internal burning hasn't affected that as well.

The stick is removed, and he turns back to his notes, only just catching the blatant compliment and blinking, turning subtly pink around the ears but moving on. "According to what miss Magne's said in the past, you all didn't have much access to healthcare overall. I'm glad that you've come of your own volition; I might have asked for you to come and see me when I had the time."

"figures, you look way too young to be a full doctor." Oh...opening his mouth before he can make a comment. Dabi behave, you've known this guy for ten minutes tops.

"Yeah you could say that. He didn't really do much for us other than get us into more trouble...the doc I mean." As for coming here of his own volition. "Less that and more if I didn't I had a feeling either her or her way too chipper boyfriend would drag me here."

Plus...his scars were kinda itchy.

"They needed the help, and I wanted to provide some updated information for Doctor Watson. He was about a hundred years behind in his medical knowledge, through no fault of his own. I thought it would be rude to keep it to myself when I could help the rest of the village," he explains as he finds the reflex mallet to swing against the tendon just under Dabi's knee. "I'm only 19 though, so I was a bit surprised that the people here were as willing to listen to me as they were."

A soft sound accompanies Dabi's commentary on the last doctor he'd had. He doesn't really know what to make of it, except that Dabi didn't like him, and just from the grapevine of what he's heard come from Magne about the state of her world, he can only imagine that it wasn't exactly ethical.

"Oh I'm sure one of them would say something eventually. They've been good about coming in for their exams, themselves. Mister Salazar is very eager to maintain his health," he notes as he turns to the corner basin in the room to wash his hands and then pull on a pair of gloves.

"One last thing, if you wouldn't mind. May I take a look at some of the edges of your scars? If they've been spreading, it would be good to know what form the damage takes under the epidermis to know how to treat the spread before starting with other procedures."

Edited 2024-05-10 01:21 (UTC)

"Heh yeah, trust me. Magne would bring it up once and then when I didn't she'd probably drag me here physically." That same chuckle and grin. "Pretty sure he'd want to but he might still be too...uneasy with me sometimes." At least that's how Dabi saw it, even if the guy was nice he could only imagine how far that would go when César has heard what the man is capable of.

"Huh? Oh yeah sure, knock yourself out. They spread more when I push myself...there was an incident recently and..." He sort of motioned towards the parts with redder edges that definitely looked irritated and raw. "What ya wanna see first? Face? Hands? Probably have to get a gown for you t'see the rest."

If Dabi doesn't stop looking charming when he says things, Bart might actually sort of feel like it's safe to look at him in the first place.

He almost smiles at the commentary about Cesar, until Dabi points out that he would have to be wearing a lot less to have full access to the extent of his scars. Bart makes a soft sound, then nods. "If you would be comfortable, having a full accounting of the damage would be beneficial for developing a treatment plan." Approaching it as a scientist rather than any kind of flirtation.

Too bad for Bart then because Dabi is pretty charismatic for a walking pile of burnt bacon.

That being said, as much as Dabi wants to say something else flirty in regards to having to strip, he does also know that he needs to be serious about this and he does want to get better. "Whatever makes shit easier, you're the boss."

It's unfortunate really, he's not used to charismatic people giving him positive attention.

Dabi needs to be serious, and Bart is honestly very good when it comes to his job as a nurse. He'd handled the questions regarding STD testing and protection with the sterile approach and confident candor of a consummate professional, and he could certainly hold that now. "Then if you'll give me a moment I can fetch you a gown," he replies with a small nod, heading back out of the exam room and shutting the door behind him to preserve Dabi's privacy. He would be back soon enough, and wait outside the door for a minute before knocking for re-entry.

Dabi hasn't been in a hospital gown since he woke up from his coma, he's definitely grown since then and the gown is different but...he manages to figure it out and sit patiently for Bart to get back. Definitely colder than he's used to now.

Damn.

But at least Bart can actually see most of his scars now and can have easier access to seeing all of them as they band around his body in thick swatches.

"Not the prettiest thing to see."

It may not be as frigid in this office as it might be in normal doctors' offices where either of them grew up, but it is still cold to sit in a room with only your underthings and a thin gown on. While Dabi gets comfortable, Bart drags a stool over to be able to sit while he conducts his examination. He picks a pen light out of a pocket of his work coat and reaches a gloved hand out for Dabi's wrist, gingerly turning it over to be able to get a closer look at the subtle gap between his burn scars and the pale skin it was stapled to. His thumb glides gently over the seam and over one of the staples themselves.

"Goodness," he murmurs, carefully turning the hand over and frowning at the rippling, dark tissue across the meat of the man's palm. "Your pain receptors must be utterly shot..."

"Completely." Nodding Dabi sighed. "It's great when I wanna give myself another piercing or take a hit in a fight but....also means I don't always catch when I've snagged a staple or something."

He could be falling apart and never actually notice it.

"It...hm. It wouldn't necessarily be feasible to try and replace them with sutures, not for damage this extensive. Really this should have all been debrided a long time ago and grafted over, but I daresay there isn't much by way of viable tissue left. I would have suggested taking thin swaths from your back to cover larger areas, but it would be essentially degloving you repeatedly and I wouldn't want that for anyone regardless of whether they could feel it or not. If there were willing donors, that would be a bit safer, but it also carries the risk of rejection. I wouldn't worry about cost, but the procedure as a whole may be difficult." He's just thinking through the process as he continues to feel his way around the scars, making mental notes here and there. Somewhere that a staple has popped out, where a hole has stretched or ripped, where one has snagged and come askew. He handles Dabi delicately, occasionally moving to make a note in his file before moving back to work again.

He maintains that gentle touch as he turns Dabi's head to see just how far up the back of his neck it went. Those fingertips slide into the edge of his hairline as the other hand shines a light to get a better view. The damage seems thinner here, slightly less devastating, but still rough nonetheless.

"Would you be willing to be patient while I talked with some of the local healers? There are some that could speed your recovery in between proper treatments. I just want to be sure that this is done correctly so you don't end up with lasting side effects or long-term complications from rejected donors."

Dabi isn't used to the careful way that Bart treats him, tilting his head where he's directed with little coaxing. He's also not used to the idea of someone wanting so badly to help him in a way that won't hurt him...even knowing he can't actually feel pain.

"Uh..." It makes him falter a moment, stall as he has to get his brain firing again because...he's just that unused to someone being so nice to him. Clearing his throat Dabi does finally manage to speak up. "I mean, I was just here for some burn cream or something. This is a lot more, yeah I can wait."

When Dabi points out that he was here for something a lot simpler to begin with, Bart colors around the ears once more, withdraw in his hands and busying himself making a last note. "Yes, right, my apologies. I suppose I got a bit carried away there. You don't have to do anything if it isn't what you want for yourself, but the option is there either way. Here, I can write a prescription, and have you see miss Boyle at the apothecary."

The color is amusing to see, not as much as the first time but it does still have Dabi smiling.

"Hey," He starts, waving the other off a bit. "You are trying to help me, that's more than I can say for a lot of people. It's....not half bad." It's nice even. "I appreciate it, really. Honestly, it might be nice to see if fixing some of this is actually possible."

you not wrong

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject