Emmett Frye (fryebaby) wrote in angellogs, @ 2018-08-25 12:13:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, combeferre, emmett frye, noah fon ronsenburg, prince hans |
Who: Emmett Frye, Noah, Hans, Combeferre
When: Current
Where: A doctor's office
What: Emmett's agreed to see a doctor about medical issues, and Noah's honestly not sure what's troubling him. While they're waiting in the waiting room, Hans emerges from the fun that is vaccination.
Rating/Warnings: Vague references to Noah and Hans past angst
Status: Complete
Noah did have to grab a long sleeved top to hide the burn on his arm, since he'd been in short sleeves when Emmett teleported in. The scar doesn't bother him, and he's used to having it out at Craigcrook, but he forgets that other people startle at it. "I did get Shaun to help file your starting paperwork, so we'll just be signing off on things and the doctor will talk through anything that he didn't know."
He waves a hand faintly. "I can find it a bit - hard to get faced with a big pile of papers about where I'm from and that kind of thing, and for us, it's difficult, since things like birthdates don't really get good answers."
“That IS a bit odd as things go, the big piles of papers. I mean, it makes SENSE, to know straight away.” Emmett will admit to that. “Just...a bit new, I suppose. Then again, they’re a lot more careful about finding out if you’re telling the exact truth these days.”
Which, okay, he’s not sure if he’s planning to be TOTALLY honest or only mostly, here. If his calendar log is minus a few times he’s spaced out, or a few ‘events’ that he was the only person present for, well, it lets him keep doing everything he’s gotten used to.
“That’s appreciated, and well, the birthdate issue..” He laughs. “I can well imagine the looks people may get. Particularly from worlds where...well, I believe you and Balthier have mentioned how VERY different the year is at home for you. At least in my case, I’ve come from a close world equivalent.”
"I was born in 670, which doesn't really - work here. Or well, it can, but you spend more time talking about how pigs don't exist at home than you do the problems at times." Noah shrugs slightly. "Do you want me to talk of only things that are light while we're waiting? Or I can keep quiet."
“I don’t suppose it matters terribly.” Emmett muses, thinking it over. “Light topics probably DO help a bit more than not. More conducive to this going well, I suppose. I’ve got...a few things to think over about it all, but better than ominous silence. And really? No pigs? Interesting. I suppose we’ve got a few things like that too, that are vastly different enough. I’m told some people never existed here, that sort of a thing, mostly.”
"We had boars, but they were - like wild boars here. And there was a sentient race that looks a bit pig like. I first thought bacon packages were a cured slab of an animal called the bacon with racist imagery." Noah looks sheepish. "Things like that. Would you like to hear what I've been baking?"
“That does sound interesting.” Emmett nods. “About the baking. Although the packaging bit is also quite different here for me. Of course, we were only really starting to get that IN to the shops, honestly, most types and varieties. I think the mall shocked ME the most. But what HAVE you been baking then?”
"There's apples starting to show up, so we've been doing things with that. And some elderberries which we've been using for a sort of dark bread." Noah waves his hands as they slide into seats post signing in. "I've been sort of appointed the guy for gluten free baking, so I'm almost out of the wedding season for that. Have you had brownies? The concept of them isn't something we had back in Archades."
“I think they’re a bit more of an American thing. If they were out there in my time, anyway, I never saw them in London.” Emmett muses. “It’s a bit different from most of what we’ve got, though I’ve tried a few. I think I’d as soon buy fudge if really good ones couldn’t be found, though.”
And huh, the gluten free bit is interesting. He’s seen a few mentions that there are diets that are lower in carbs that are technically meant to help with having seizures, so the idea’s sort of intriguing. “Is that difficult to do, brownies?”
"Apparently we only do fudge for a few months because it's popular, and it's more work than some of the other things," Noah says ruefully. "But they're not bad, brownies, when it comes to the recipe. A bit like a cookie and a cake combined. Tricky when you can't use normal flour. We've been offering a bunch of bar cookies for meetings or that sort of thing."
“I did like the lemon kind when I tried those.” Emmett nods. “And no, they seem like they could be a good way of doing that. There’s always fancy flourless cakes at restaurants, so I would imagine it was quite the same. Or nearly so.” He leans forward a little. “So, bar cookies. Those sound like a reasonable approach for that kind of event.”
"Don't really need plates, you can have an assortment, and less fussing over having each cookie spread the same amount." Noah splays a hand to kind of illustrate. "Plus popular for kids if they recognize the type of cookie. One place insisted they were out of fashion and we ended up doing about five hundred petit fours. Which - was a thing. I think this year they want cupcakes."
“As in those tiny fancy things that are covered up on all the sides?” Emmett looks sort of horrified. “That would take FOREVER to frost. They like to have them at the fancier balls and such at home. We get out of most as a matter of course, but my father IS a knight of the garter so some occasions, we’ll end up putting in appearances. Very socially awkward appearances in borrowed clothes.” He adds, laughing a little.
It feels a bit better, waiting here, just sort of...shooting the breeze as it were while he waits this out. He’s not sure why he decided this really WOULD be a good idea, but the doctor’s from not that far from when he was alive originally, like Courfeyrac was, and that didn’t turn out badly.
There IS a bit of a surprise, or sort of one, potentially, when someone heads back from around the corridor, then blinks at them.
“I didn’t think you’d be around HERE,” Hans says, giving Noah a little nod, and then blinks at Emmett. “You’ve hung around with Aedan a little, right? I’ve just gotten my vaccines started.” He makes a face. “You would THINK they could come up with a more pleasant way of giving them than shots.”
“Hated those.” Emmett winces at the memory. “They’re necessary and all but it doesn’t mean they’re nice, no.”
"It makes sense to get them though, since there's a chance things could be fairly rough." Noah could imagine what'd happen if he ran into a chill if he'd never had one before. "I should check with Calum that if you get feverish or feel awful, you can get out of work."
“Right, it does,” Hans says, shuddering a little. “I SHOULD be all right, but he’s said that if I need any time or have any problems to say.” He doesn’t think that he really WOULD do it, but he MIGHT try if the circumstance ever comes up.
“I got some fevers when they did mine.” Emmett nods. “It was...not pleasant.”
"Well, you're getting a little bit sick to not get greatly sick. So it makes sense that you'd get a fever." Noah shakes his head. "We're keeping you though, Hans. Do you want to head home? Or is everything all right?"
“Everything is fine, actually and I’ve got time before I head back around myself.” Hans grins. “Long break to do this in, but I DID promise I would head back in to Craigcrook later, pick up a few things that I need to review for signatures.” He’s really taken to the whole secretary thing, oddly enough. It’s work he’s decent at and can do, after all.
There’s the sound of a throat clearing and Combeferre’s making his way over to greet Noah and…”oh YOU must be Emmett. I’m Combeferre. Uh, you can come on back through if you’d like.”
“I…” Emmett nods slowly. “Courfeyrac, before you got here, mentioned a LOT about you. Past you. I can work with this.”
“I DO remember how things were done.” Combeferre’s grin is a little mischievous. “Of course, we WERE French, so the medical schools were a LOT better but…”
"I'll be waiting for you, or you can text me that you headed home," Noah says to Emmett. "I'll keep an eye on the phone." He smiles at Combeferre. "Balthier says hi, by the way. He's offering to drop off a casserole at some point. Or - is that any stew in a pot sort of meal, or is it something specific?"
“It probably depends.” Combeferre smiles. “Whatever Courfeyrac comes up with, I’m sure. There’s a good chance it might be specific, depending.” He looks interested at the prospect. “I”m sure we’d enjoy that. Or I could possibly help them doing it. Depending on if there’s time.” But he DID get fairly regular hours with THIS job, so it’s possible.
"I'm sure he'd not mind." Noah leans back. "Thanks for this."
Combeferre really did seem like the perfect choice. Familiar with Victorian esque medical limitations, and able to translate things, hopefully, for Emmett, male (in case if it's an embarrassing wart or something like that,) definitely not Templar, and so on. Plus, if he can't help, he can surely work with others to find someone who can.
Definitely. And he’s on the network and done some reading between the lines and isn’t inclined to let some things go. Sure, he’s not inclined to necessarily tell everyone everything he hears, but he started as a pediatrician once, so you do learn some techniques that work across centuries, after all.
So after Emmett’s followed him off, Hans is giving Noah a bit of a nod. “I don’t think I’ve said before, speaking of you and Balthier, how grateful I really AM that, well, you seem to think, even without knowing all of my details, that I don’t have to be what I was. It helps.”
"It's the truth as well." Noah gestures at a chair. "If you want to sit. I've made some stupid choices, and yet I'm here."
Hans takes the seat, looking grateful. “It’s...you know, hearing about that sort of thing...makes me feel less alone, like even though I MADE the choices, I’m different now. And that other people have made it through.”
"There's people who haven't changed here too." Noah shrugs. "But I'm glad you feel like you're changing the way you want to. It sounds like it wasn't great at home, and living a happier place might help."
“Well, I did make it worse for myself, the last year or so.” Hans says, quite seriously. “So now, unmaking that...I suppose it’s a work in progress. Well, that I am. But I may get there yet. How’ve you found that sort of thing? It LOOKS like, by all accounts it’s gone well for you.”
Noah looks thoughtful. "I had a few years, after my worst mistakes, but I was not here. Unmaking things -" He shrugs. "Where I'm from, there's a saying that sin is causing harm by intent or negligence. The cure, they thought, was what you did after that. Actions, not trying to find the perfect apology or that sort of thing. Don't ask me if that's the right way to do things, but - unmaking what you did wrong would be seen as a bit weird, back there."
“Unmaking?” Hans shakes his head. “There’s not really a WAY to do that. And actions, then. That’s…” he shifts a little. “It’s weirdly comforting if that makes sense. There’s a power there.”
"I suffer from - I tend to want people to be mad at me, because I'm mad at me." Noah shrugs. "So I warn people. My brother said he can't be angry, because I am worse to me than he would be."
That’s kind of an interesting thought as far as Hans is concerned. He doesn’t think anyone in his family managed to pick that kind of thing up, but...thinking about it a little more, it does sort of seem like what Lars, the one brother who cared about him said when he got back.
“It’s funny. MY brother, the one of them I’d choose if I had any choices in it, couldn’t be angry either. He was disappointed but he did say that I’d probably spent the voyage back to the Southern Isles making myself sicker than anything anyone else would do to or with me.”
Noah nods. "Can you think of what you'd like, that'd not harm you or someone else? Obviously consenting things don't matter, but it's harder to be sure, when you're already rough to yourself."
“When it comes to…” Hans thinks. “Well, just about anything, I guess. I actually like the work I”m doing here. It feels like something I can DO. I was always the smart brother, though.” he might as well be honest. “Lars, the one I mentioned, he was really smart too, but honestly. He’s more of the NICE one than the smart one if we’re labeling. I don’t think it’s anything anyone else would THINK about, so...that’s kind of nice. And everything else?” Hans just shrugs. “More friends, I think, but I have no idea how you meet the offline kind here. Or in the Southern Isles either. We were...remote.”
"You could start working on getting some official schooling for here. Part of that for me has me meeting people. Or there's classes in specific fields." Noah looks thoughtful. "I suspect Dmitry would want you to come on a TV interview with us. Not on camera, I'd think, but - perhaps giving us some topics to discuss? Would that interest you? Philosophy and meeting people?"
“Mm schooling for here.” Hans ponders what that might BE, and he’s not quite sure. “I do know the meeting people part would be good. And fields...I have NO idea yet. I meant to check things out like that on the internet, but...it WAS the internet. I got distracted by fanfiction. “
Noah laughs. "Really? How was that? I haven't dared."
“It was interesting.” Hans shakes his head. “You were all right about googling yourself. Apparently people have...interesting ideas. Some were kind of not that bad, but weird and a few…” he makes a little face. “People have too much time on their hands.” He snorts a little.
“There are so many categories too. But I wouldn’t really recommend doing it.”
"I do not think they believe people are real." Noah frowns. "Well, even if someone who cannot be real, is not a real person. It's not terrible to dream about things, but I wonder sometimes why those are the dreams someone has. Doesn't hurt me, of course. It's like not knowing where someone is. I might run into someone with a secret that I wished I knew, but it feels like I'm trying for peace, not knowing things." He's not sure that makes sense. It didn't sound like Hans' family liked peace that much.
“I don’t think we’re SUPPOSED to be real.” Hans says, nodding. “So I THINK I see what they’re getting at there. Mostly, anyway. And well, people DO have weird dreams and fantasies, it’d appear. Some of it’s just...what? I can’t even judge someone because of not being able to wrap my head around it.” He nods at that.
“Trying for peace. That seems reasonable. And I’m trying to...be better. It’s helped a little, seeing what people obviously think needs to change.” Mostly, it’s that Hans shouldn’t be breathing anymore, or the one where he only needs someone’s love to change. Either is bizarre as a concept, but at least the first one is understandable.
Noah tilts his head. "So - there's a young man I knew, who has the problem that he died, in a previous life, in a rebellion for freedom. He's frustrated that he remembers this, but he's young, and people do not want to let him just charge back to the front lines. Freedom, like many things, is not something that just appears, even if politics has changed since his time."
This - might make sense if Noah keeps going, right? "He was particularly frustrated that other teenagers his age weren't driven, the way he was. Which - in a way - he does not have to be a teenager, but - I did tell him that it seemed unfair to say that a child was horrible for being a child, or that adults were terrible because they didn't want exactly what he wanted. I think he understood me, and was mostly venting frustration. You can see though, where I frown on just - taking anyone's advice for yourself?"
Hans nods at that part, though the first? Is kind of hard to follow until the rest of the explanation goes through.
“Taking blindly, sure. That WOULD be a problem. But, as something to THINK about?” He shrugs. “It’s not so bad, doing it that way. Seeing if I’ve MAYBE missed things, you know? But no, I get your point. And it’s funny. I’ve been the one who gives people exactly what they think they’re getting and hide the rest. THat’s one of those things I PROBABLY should stop.”
But, the point of that really is more like…
“I do know how it works, is what I mean.”
Noah nods slowly. "I'm comfortable with talking about it, if you are. I think the therapist I work with would say it's better to do it with a therapist, but - if you want to just get the words out, I'd be fine with listening."
“It may be.” Hans says, “But, lets see, the main point, I guess is THINKING about it, but not ALWAYS having to be the one who changes. There ARE other reasons people might not like me. Not online, at least for anything HERE, but…”
But it’s still one of those things where Hans DOES feel like, maybe, it’s worth thinking about, at least a bit. “It’s weird.” he says, after a moment. “I don’t think I’ve disagreed with people who’ve taken it so mildly before.”
Noah tilts his head. "Is that - a good thing? Does it help, feeling that even if I was mad, it wouldn't be that bad?"
“Well, I don’t think that most people WOULD be over that, but it IS, actually.” Hans nodded. “MUCH less of a hassle, at least, I know THAT right away.”
Noah grins. "It's - easier, you know? Most things in the long run, you can deal with them, but you can't if people are too scared to tell you things. Just looming isn't showing you're strong." He shrugs faintly. "Besides, it sounds like your problem was that you were in a bad place, and picked the first easiest option, and didn't care as long as you ended up in a better place. And who knows what you'd do if you weren't in that situation. So - give you a chance."
“It wasn’t so much easy as the option people wanted, I think.” Hans muses. “But no, it wasn’t really the sort of thing where…” he shrugs. “And no, the looming DOESN’T really help. Sure, it got people to pay their taxes, but it’s different, when people are that afraid of you.” Especially based on something false.
"And even if you did something terrifying, that doesn't mean you weren't yourself scared." Noah shrugs. "It's not simple, things you regret. I thought my problem was that I was stubborn and angry, which I am. My brother seems to think my problem is that I'm frightened and do not feel safe. I cannot cure that, when I don't even realize it."
“There’s some truth there.” Hans says. “I mean, I don’t think I REALIZED I was, or that it went that way, but maybe we don’t all the time. But….are you? In the moment, I mean?”
"Am I -" Noah tilts his head. That's a leading question and not fair, but - "Uneasy, you mean?" Noah is trying to not use old interrogation / leading question tricks. "I suppose I am. I trust people, but at the same time, I hear the wrong patterns, or the wrong scenarios, and I am back to watching things uneasily."
Hans nods at that. “I’d wondered. You seem so adjusted to all of this, yourself. It’s a bit hard to tell sometimes. Balthier...it’s easier to tell when something’s made him...uneasy.” Mostly things Hans has let drop, it looks like, which has been strange for him but not quite BAD.
"Huh. He's not feeling all right? I suppose some of it is that they've got a young kid in the house, and he's been worrying about that. He . . . was not in a great situation before he got here. Do you remember what was making him jumpy?" Noah's trying to think about the last time he saw Balthier. "I've known him since he was about ten, so I might not be paying attention to the right signs. Or it's something I've known him to worry about."
“More of a I seemed to unsettle him when WE talked.” Hans says. “That sort of a thing. I’m not sure how he’d be doing outside of that for sure. Your brother might know more.” And if there IS something going on, other than Hans disturbing Balthier a little with some of the things he’d absently let slip, that really ISN’T okay, so it probably bears some looking into.
“We got in some practice and I think I said a LITTLE too much that I didn’t realize wasn’t exactly average. It seemed...disturbing for him. It makes sense if things were pretty bad for him. A lot of sense.”
"He may've just been worried that you weren't trained the way he was. I can check in with Basch though. What about you? Did it go well, the practice?" Noah could see Balthier being worried by Hans' occasional implications that his brothers tried to make him feel terrible. Or whatever else they did.
“It seemed to.” Hans nods. “I got to see what his style is like and it was interesting. It looks a LOT more useful it you tend to think through things a little more. Strategic, I think is the word. It’s a LOT easier to see more of what he comes from, when I see him drilling. How someone fights is probably a decent way to figure them out.”
"I can see that. He was trained by Judge Magister Zechts, before he vanished. Which I can definitely see in his style." Noah shrugs. "Perhaps I could show you the way I learned, or Isannah could. I warn you that I tend to use larger swords than he does. We might have to find a way that it doesn't feel like you're too close."
“I do get nervous practicing that sort of thing.” Hans has sort of worked out why. “Not in actual fighting, that’s FINE, even if I’m better mounted, but practice sessions get...uncomfortable.” And he frowns, absently tapping his chin. “Which actually, probably is a very good reason to try it in a different way, isn’t it?” He frowns. “And now I’m thinking.”
"If you feel like it." Noah shrugs. "I know it's an issue that it's me, and I know that using bigger weapons might be an issue. Isannah, I think, sticks to a more normal sword size."
“That’d be good.” Hans nods. “I don’t suppose I’ll need it anymore, here but…” he shrugs. “It’s a decent way to keep in shape, anyway. Since I’m not the one mucking out stalls here.” He wrinkles his nose.
Noah snorts. "I suspect even if we paid you well, you'd refuse."
Hans snickers. “Well, it’d depend. I wouldn’t be VOLUNTEERING, anyway.”
"So, a while back, we had - weird donuts in the sky. Some sort of alien mess." Noah shakes his head. "They were blathering in a sort of computer language, binary, and whining that we didn't seem to like giant donuts in the sky or people trying to grab people. I did have a sword out at one point? Some poor police officer was there at the time, and I think I startled him."