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Fate is cruel, where timing is involved, for it is mid-feeding that Tahmina Ashtifar makes her way into the abandoned convenience store. "Hello? Rena, are you still here?" Her voice, accented with Persian layered with French, is likely recognizable.
Eyrgjafa lets Rena drink until she hears Tahmina's voice. "In here, Auntie!", she calls, pulling her arm from Rena's grasp.
Rena stumbles back, indelicately falling on her ass. She stays there, somewhat splayed out and waves her hand lazily at Tahmina. "'m here!" she says, her voice sloppy and tired, like she's two seconds from collapsing. "Zhe's in the bathroom over there."
"What happened?" She focuses her attention on Rena for a moment, like a spotlight, though the tone of the question is more thoughtful than accusatory.
"The Rats got my sibling and they're also Finley's best friend and we learned about it and both snapped and attacked each other and I went crazy and hit them as hard as I could and I didn't know what I was doing and I'm so sorry," Rena says, her breath hitching with choking half-sobs, though no tears are coming out of her dead eyes. She curls up again, clutching her knees like they might get stolen otherwise.
Eyrgjafa crouches, patting Rena on the shoulder gently. "It'll be okay. We'll get Finley woken up, and then we can organise a group to go rescue your sibling."
Tahmina also sinks to the floor, sitting down beside Rena, her voice calm. "Finley is in torpor?"
Eyr's touch makes Rena recoil into herself further, as does Tahmina's approach. "Yeah," she says, barely over a whisper, "they got really really hurt. I f-felt parts of them squish in ways I never want to feel again." For the first time she makes eye contact as she asks, "I'm a monster, aren't I."
"That you don't want to feel that way ever again would argue against you being anymore a monster than I am, or Phaedra is." Eyrgjafa's voice is soft, reassuring. "We've all made mistakes in our time, kid. This one we can fix."
Squick parks the bike on the street and slings a heavy backpack over their shoulders, walking for the door with quick strides. They knock with both hands.
"Nothing has been done that can't be reversed. Would you expect a monster to immediately ask for help, instead of trying to hide what they had done?" She tilts her head to one side slightly, all of her attention focused rather tightly on Rena for the moment.
The knock causes Rena to jump. "Hello?" she calls out, her voice far more scared and small than when Squick last heard it. "I don't know." she says to Tahmina, sounding utterly drained.
Eyrgjafa stands, moving to let Squick in, blinking one at their odd appearance before shifting out of the way. "You're the night doctor she mentioned?"
"Hey! It's just me!" His voice is the same old soothing, smoky tenor. "Heard you needed some first aid, so I hurried over to get my merit badge! Wait until the other scouts see, they're gonna be so jealous." Squick breezes past Eyrgjafa after a brief, flicking once-over. He pauses to read the room, pace slowing as he slings his bag down off his shoulder.
"Right. We should get Finley back on zher feet. Zhe will need to feed imminently, as well." She raises to her feet, and then gives Rena a small look. "This conversation between us is not yet over, though--I'll be back once Squick's working on Finley."
Rena nods, shivering. "Please save them," she says to everyone, "I can't lose them. I can't."
"That's the plan, Rena." Eyrgjafa glances at Tahmina. "Do you want me to come with you, Auntie, or should I keep Rena company out here?"
Squick takes this chance to saunter on into the bathroom, crouching beside Finley. He heaves a sigh, resting a hand briefly on Finley's forehead. "I didn't do a very good job taking care of you," Squick mutters. "It's okay though. we'll get you back up and running." Squick leans over to plant a smoochie on the Haunt's cheek, and then wanders out to the group. "So, gonna wake zher up and then I'll get to work, probably?" He sidles in among the others; when he reaches Rena, he bumps his shoulder up against hers in a gesture of affection.
It's the first time Squick has seen Finley without a mask, so they get a nice look of all them teeth. Which look even worse as they look, currently, very much dead.
"Please keep Rena comfortable." She nods at Eyrgjafa, a smile coming easily to her face. "Thank you, Eyrgjafa."
And then she moves to the bathroom, moving to sit on the ground and cradle Finley's head in her lap, nipping at her own wrist gently with a fang. She holds the wound to Finley's mouth, willing her Vitae to flow for zhem. in order to mitigate that frenzy.)
The first thing Finley registers is the taste of vitae. Zhe gasps back to waking, eyes wide and for a moment delirious from the taste. Zher hand comes up to grab Tahmina's wrist, almost pulling it in closer to bite into--but zhe seems to come back to zher senses at the last minute, jerking zher hand and head back. But the fangs remain extended. Zhe stares up at Tahmina with a lost, yearning look until the pain in zher gut sinks in and zhe whimpers, curling up against her, arm curling around zher stomach.
"I dunno if comfortable is what I need right now," Rena says, having just enough energy in her to be snarky. "I just need everything to be alright." And then she hears Finley's whimper and she shoots to her feet. "Should I go up to zher?"
Squick slinks over to wait outside the bathroom, rocking on their heels.
Eyrgjafa shakes her head gently at Rena. "Tahmina'll let us know when zhe's ready for more people." She considers the younger vampire carefully. "Was anyone else around when the incident happened?"
Tahmina runs a hand through Finley's hair lightly, and a look of concentration briefly crosses her face, before it smooths again in its usual serenity. "I know. I know it hurts. Squick is here to see to you, to heal you. I'll send her in shortly, if you're ready for that. Or call him in, if you'd rather I stay here."
Finley clings to Tahmina's shirt, burying zher face into her stomach. Zher upset doesn't seem to just be from the pain, as zhe seeks comfort from her like an upset child would their mother.
"Will... you stay?" zhe murmurs softly. A beat pause. "Is Rena okay...?"
"I have no idea. We were right outside Bug's gang's hideout when it happened, so they might a scene. I smashed a wall before I lost control and that mighta woken someone up? And I just ran here with what looked like a dead body." Rena sits back down and curls back up. "I fucked up so bad."
Squick sets their bag down and crouches, content to keep to himself and get his things ready. He seems about to say something, but instead presses his lips together, brow furrowed.
"I will stay. And Rena is worried, and feels guilty, and the fact that that is the second question you ask coming out of a painful torpor is proof to me that there is nothing that's been done that will destroy your friendship." She smiles, then calls out louder. "Squick, we're ready for you!"
"Okay. How trustworthy are the gang? Do we need to plan around bringing them in, or on making sure they don't have the knowledge to spread to anyone?"
Finley is slow to uncurl zhemself, but zhe does, stretching out with a wince so Squick can get to zher stomach. Though Finley looks away from Squick in embarrassment, hand coming up to cover zher mouth while the other clutches tightly to Tahmina's.
"Oh jeez, like I haven't seen teeth before," Squick assures Fin, tone bright and cheery. "Now if you're a very good patient, I'll describe what I'm doing to you, as your night doctor." He bumps his brows, setting his bag on the floor in front of the vanity and begins setting out his tools. "And good news. No rectal temp! Things are looking up already, right?"
Tahmina doesn't bother to hide a bit of a smile at Squick's bedside manner, continuing to stroke Finley's hair reassuringly, offering her presence as a pillar for zhem to cling to.
"They're..." Rena pauses. "They're pretty good to Bug and to me. But I wouldn't call 'em trustworthy. I wouldn't a told 'em anything if it hadn't come to this. Fuck, what am I going to tell them about Bug? 'hi, sorry, they're either rat chow or kindling or at least horribly traumatized'?"
Zhe doesn't remove zher hand, but Squick's offer does make zhem perk a bit. "Okay... Can... I watch...?" Zher head lifts a little to look down at their stomach. It's not really bruised, because there's not any blood spread into the damaged skin, but the vital organs underneath are... very much damaged.
"I would be insulted if you didn't," Squick exclaims, tugging on his gloves. "Now, let's take a loo-oooh, Lilsib," Squick whistles, moving to kneel beside the bathtub (or wherever his patient might be laid out!). "Did you ever see the movie 'Death Becomes Her'?"
"Making sure they don't have the knowledge to spread to everyone it is." Eyrgjafa considers Rena for a moment. "How much do you want to tell them? It might be better to wait until we've had a chance to go rescue your sibling."
"I don't know what I want to tell them. I don't know if I ever want them to see me again. I just got back into their life and now it's all going to shit," Rena says, snarling at herself. "I'm going to kill every last Rat in this city."
"...No?" Zhe murmurs, blinking slowly at Squick. Zhe winces whenever he starts to examine zher injuries.
Eyrgjafa blinks once. "No, I meant how much do you want to tell their gang. Not your sibling," she clarifies.
For her part, Tahmina seems almost as fascinated as Finley, and even asks a few questions while Squick works, with the same sort of admiration one might give a classical musician or a famous painter.
"I don't know. They're shits but their close as Bug's got to family. Mr. and Mrs. Lamity are real fuckin' cunts from what I hear." Rena sighs. "Bug don't trust 'em with their shit, so I'm inclined not to trust 'em with ours."
Finley is... a baby when it comes to pain. There's a fair amount of whimpering and winces as Squick cuts into zhem, then does zher surgery thing. After a while it becomes too much for zher to care about hiding zher mouth anymore, hand moving from zher face to cling tightly to Tahmina. But despite the pain, Finley is clearly fascinated. Zher eyes are wide, and zhe struggles to push through the discomfort to listen, hanging on every word. At least zhe isn't bothered by the sight of zher own insides, more fascinated than anything. Zhe asks frequent questions as well.
"Okay. I'll let Tahmina know that I'm going to check in on that situation once we're ready to leave here." Eyrgjafa pauses for a moment. "Should I take it as read that Bug's real name starts with a 'C'?"
Squick winces when Finley does; as a result of these whimpers, Squick changes their angle or works out a different method, when he can. He chatters at Finley and Tahmina and answers every questions with nerd-level depth; it is very obvious that he is thrilled to have a patient so interested in the work. "It should get a little better here before long; hang in there," Squick tells Fin, briefly touching zher forehead.
Finley is looking exhausted once the first hour is done, but zhe nods, seeming willing to be patient--and no less intensely curious. (AFK a few, need to roll out meatballs)
"Wait, you know Bug?" Rena asks, eyes boggling. And then she hears the painful whimpers and grunts from the other room and cringes with sympathetic pain. "Zhe deserves better than this. It should have been me who got the shit kicked outta her."
"You're very comforting. That isn't a trait every Night Doctor I've known has possessed." She favors Squick with a warm smile as she works.
"Oh, you're kind to say so," Squick replies, earnest. "I think I just have empathy for my patients. I had a lotta surgeries when I was alive. Well, and this time I'm biased; Finley's my only family." Squick boops Finley on the nose with a pair of clean hemostats. "But I take care of more than just vampires, too. Have to keep my customers coming back and all." He pauses, brow furrowing thoughtfully. "...Also, I'm probably nice to make up for my face." He nods. "That's probably part of it. Huh." And with that, he dives back in!
"We've met a few times." Eyrgjafa pats Rena on the shoulder gently. "Zhe'll be fine. Finley's a tough kid, and I'm sure this Squick knows what they're doing."
"He's real cool, right? Squick, I mean," Rena says with open admiration. "I mean Big Bug's cool too. Just in a different way. Don't tell Bug, but I fuckin' love them more than life itself. If they aren't around..."
Even though the surgery has clearly taken a toll on the whimpy little Nossie, Finley does look much better as Squick finishes up. Zhe lays more at easy, and there's only the occasional wince.
"That was... so cool..." Finley murmurs softly.
"Squick, do you think you, Rena and Eyrgjafa can successfully get Finley fed tonight? Otherwise, Finley, you'll need to hold onto the wounds overnight, or you'll heal in your sleep and wake hungry." She offers her support in helping Finley to a sitting position.
"That went really, really well," Squick assures Finley. "Sometimes it's a real pain in the ass to get the spleen back to where it should be, and the liver can be really fragile so you have to use specific stitches, yadda yadda." Squick rolls his eyes at himself, making his hand 'talk'. "Oh yeah, absolutely. You gotta get that healed up, we can be on tap. Doctor's orders."
Finley gives Tahmina and Squick a grateful look as zhe sits up, moving far more easily now. Zhe peers down at the stitches in zher gut, but knows better than to poke them, at least. Zhe stands slowly, still holding onto Tahmina's hand a moment before, finally, releasing it with a sheepish look down. "Thanks..."
"I didn't mean to feed Finley from your own Vitae, in this case." But her smile remains, as she levers to her feet as well. "It's not necessary. But if there's no other way to ensure Finley gets fed, that's up to you three."
Squick laughs, smacking the butt of their hand against their forehead. "Jesus, of course not. Yes, no problem."
Eyrgjafa nods at Rena's words. "The Night Doctor techniques are one of the most valuable innovations the Carthian Movement has given us."
Zhe shifts zher weight between zher feet, then glances out the doorway to where Eyr and Rena are waiting. Then... zher face falls as the excitement of the surgery fades and zhe remembers why zhe'd been hurt. Zhe doesn't start crying, not being Blushed, but the upset that suddenly strikes zhem is potent as zher hands lift to cover zher face, shoulders hunching. "No..."
"It's okay," Squick says, tone gentle. He rummages in his bag and produces a bandanna, holding it out. "I'm supposed to work masked, as luck would have it."
"Finley!" Rena says, forcing some of her usual loud into herself, "You want me to come in there or you want me to go? I get if this is quits for us."
"Rena, would you please come here?" Tahmina's voice rings out. "If every time someone frenzied, a friendship was completely shot, I would have many fewer friends than I do. This was, relatively speaking, not a bad frenzy. No one met their Final Death. You dealt with it admirably, from where I'm standing. You got help right away."
Zhe shakes zher head at Squick, but... accepts the bandanna anyway, though it doesn't seem to fix zher upset. "They're gone," zhe mutters. "Calamity got taken--what if they're dead? I don't know... what I'd do if..." Zher hands bury back into zher hands as well as the bandanna, shoulders shaking.
Eyrgjafa nods. "I've made bigger mistakes than this, while frenzying." She moves to embrace Finley. "They'll be fine. We're going to get a rescue team together."
Rena enters, fixing Tahmina with a glare. "Fuck you, I don't have to do what you tell me to." She sticks her hands in her pockets and looks at Finley, her face covered in guilt and sadness and fear. "It's your choice, Huck. Not mine or Tahmina's. You still want me around?"
Rena's words don't seem to upset Tahmina particularly. She inclines her head and steps off to one side, letting Finley speak for zherself.
Finley leans into Eyrgjafa's embrace for a moment, head hunched into her shoulder. But at Rena's words zher head lifts to look at Rena, searching her face for a few seconds before zhe slips away from Eyrgjafa and moves over to pull Rena into a tight hug. "Stay... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry." Because it's clearly zher fault, right?
Squick is watching from the side like it's a game of tennis; he has his hands clutched up under his chin.
Eyrgjafa lets Finley go easily, moving to stand next to Tahmina, watching the younger pair.
"Shut the fuck up," Rena says, in a very bad attempt to be comforting. She's not good at this and never pretended to be. "You need to stop apologizin'. It's not your fault that I flipped out and punched you into a coma. And it definitely ain't your fault that Bug got got. I shoulda warned them better. But I didn't. 'nd that's my fuckin' fault. No one else's."
Tahmina gives Eyrgjafa a nod. "I think you have it from here, as a group. Yes?"
Squick clears her throat, piping up. "I don't mean to interrupt all this healing, you two are doing great," he murmurs, and sounds sincere. "But can I just offer a thought? You two aren't to blame. The people who took your friend - that's the cunts that are at fault. Not you two. Let's burn down their whole world, yeah?" ((1s on providing inspiring words))
Eyrgjafa returns Tahmina's nod. "I think so, yes. Enjoy the rest of your night, Auntie."
Finley... doesn't argue, but it's clear that zhe doesn't completely agree that it's all Rena's fault. Still--zhe clings tightly to her for another moment before pulling back, eyes downcast. Squick's words make zhem pause, and after a moment zher eyes lift with a soft nod. "...Okay. I... we'll... we'll get them back..." zhe mutters, before blinking over at Tahmina. "Thank you..."
"You're welcome, Finley." She nods, and places a hand on Eyrgjafa's shoulder for a moment before leaving.
Squick gives Finley an encouraging double-thumbs-up, nodding. "That's the spirit! There's no question - you'll get your person back. I just know it."
"Yeah, everythin's dandy," Rena says, making a noise with her tongue as Tahmina leaves. "Fin, what the fuck are we gonna do? Squick, Eyr, you two got any fuckin' ideas?"
"Okay," Squick says, raising both hands. "Give me the lowdown. What happened, besides you two being really upset and raging against the machine." Squick hoists himself up on the counter, sitting criss-cross. "If there's one thing I know, it's how to fuck someone up."
"We need to get Finley fed, first. Then we can discuss what happened further." Eyrgjafa glances between the other three. "I know a few good bars near here, if nobody has any better ideas."
"I don't know..." zhe murmurs, shoulders slumping again. "I guess... go... down there...?" Zhe lets Rena explain the situation, mostly because Fofo is distracted finishing up dinner cooking.
"Shit's bad. My sibling whose also zher friend got fucking stolen away by evil rat spirits. We don't know where they're based or what they're doin' other than that they've been killin' and kidnappin' people. They're tough, too. I could prolly take one of 'em, but if there's a bunch, that'll be some deep shit. Specially if y'all aren't as fighty as me," Rena explains, trying to look less nervous than she is, for Finley's sake. It doesn't really work. "My only ideas probably wouldn't be great for Fin, less you want some horse in ya."
"I really only feed by catch and release, so I would not be any help in a bar," Squick laughs, waving a hand over his face. He rubs his chin then, having carefully and attentively listened to Rena's account. "So you need...an army, basically. I can't fight my way out of a paper bag; my methods are uh...different. And probably won't work on spirits."
"I... usually just... grab someone on the street," zhe admits with a grimace, arms wrapping around zhemself. "I don't know. I don't know what to do. Maybe Guy will know... or Artie..."
True to her word, Eyrgjafa does in fact know several decent bars for feeding at locally. She lures out a different victim at each, making sure to get Finley well fed without taking dangerous amounts from any one individual. Once the Nosferatu's hunger is sated, she pats zhem on the shoulder. "I have errands to run, but I'll see you around. Let me know if you need anything else regarding getting your friend back?"
Finley is a bit skittish about feeding in front of other people, it seems--but isn't going to turn down the free meal. They carefully slip here and there before eventually nodding to Eyr. "Thank you... I will..."
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