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Doctor Carlisle Cullen (doccullen) wrote in labyrinth_rpg,
@ 2009-04-15 08:58:00

Entry tags:

carlisle cullen, complete, day six, severus snape

WHO: Carlisle Cullen and OPEN
WHEN: Day six, afternoon
WHAT: Hospital preparations
WHERE: First floor of the main building
RATING: PG
STATUS: Incomplete

After the fiasco with Juniper, Carlisle decided something very important. What this place was lacking - well, one of the many things it was lacking - was a proper hospital. What did have, he found, was a set of interlocking rooms that seemed perfect to create one. It gave Carlisle a purpose again, gave him hope, and gave him what he had never lost the need for. Helping people. And in a place as dangerous as this one could be, there was no doubt in his mind that this was something that was going to come in extremely handy, for as long as Jareth continued to drag people to this place and throw them into situations that they couldn't handle.

After an admittedly odd discussion with some goblins, Carlisle had what he needed, and the promise of equipment when that need arose. Then he got to work. The sound of furniture being moved, cots being set up, and things being cleaned could be heard down the hall, and Carlisle left the door open for a bit of a breeze, taking off his lab coat and tie, and loosening the top button of his shirt, his sleeves rolled up.

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severelyseverus
2009-04-17 11:22 pm UTC (link)

Severus Snape, never one to for long in ignorance of his local environment, had chose to wander through some of the communal buildings of the city today. Coming from a culture where goblins had tradititionally been subservient to humans, he had no compunctions about going wheresoever he wished, no matter the indications of purported goblin authority. The only authority here he was inclined to listen to was Jareth, and so far the King had not appeared to stop his progress.

As he strode the length of a short hall, he heard sounds coming from one of the rooms, sounds unlike any he expected goblins to be making. Someone was doing quite a bit of work in there. Intrigued, the wizard stopped in the doorway to investigate. Inside, a pale youngish looking man was busy cleaning, arranging, and generally preparing the rooms for some specific purpose. If he had to guess, Snape say it looked like an infirmary; either that or a strange hostel.

"Excuse me. If you don't mind, may I ask what you are doing?"

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doccullen
2009-04-17 11:34 pm UTC (link)

Carlisle was standing in the middle of the room, leaning against a cot, his ankles crossed over each other and a note pad in his hand. He was making a list of equipment that he was going to end up needing, having been assured that he'd be given just about anything he required. Despite his complete and utter shock that there wasn't a hospital already in the city, the goblins had seemed to consider it a wonderful idea, so he was off running, and there wasn't a lot that was going to stop him at this point.

But of course, he had time for a chat, didn't he? Lifting his head, Carlisle smiled the same calming, compassionate smile that he gave everyone he came in contact with, and shook his head slightly. "No bother at all," he assured the robed man, waving him further into the room with one white hand, sticking his pen in his shirt pocket and laying the pad down on the cot next to him.

"I've only just arrived recently, but I've already noticed that there is a distinct need for - at the very least - a clinic. So I'm setting one up," he said with an easy shrug of his shoulders. His hand moved down the side of his thigh as if brushing off any dust that might lay there, though he was actually using the friction to warm his skin slightly, and then offered it to the man in front of him. "Doctor Carlisle Cullen," he smiled.

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severelyseverus
2009-04-18 10:58 pm UTC (link)

Snape took the cool hand, looking Carlisle up and down the whole time, reassessing him in light of the new knowledge that he was a healer. The man wasn't wearing robes of any sort and he didn't appear to have a wand on his person, so the wizard assumed he was a muggle healer. It was remotely possible that muggle medicine was better than no medicine at all, but Snape wasn't about to bet on it. Considering the man's project, he found two things interesting; one, that he himself had not noticed a lack of medical facilities in the city, and two, that someone had been motivated enought to take time out of their day to assemble a clinic such as this one.

"Professor Severus Snape. Pleased to meet you. Surely you intend to treat the city's newest inhabitants, and not the goblin underclass. Are you yourself a recent arrival, Doctor Cullen?"

Snape had made a conscious decision to get to know more of his fellow inhabitants in this place than he had in the last. Partly, the choice was motivated by the fact that Jareth did not seem inclined to instantly and miraculously satisfy the merest of whims, as the last place had; but also he realized that the most rewarding experiences he had had on Mirage had not been alone in his room, but mentoring the Slayer, Faith. Perhaps the possibility of such rewards was worth the risk of social contact.

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doccullen
2009-04-18 11:05 pm UTC (link)

Carlisle frowned. He didn't particularly like the class system that this man was referring to, given that back home, Carlisle would most definitely be in the "Other" category. Here, he was finding, it was less of a bother, which was both helpful and unnerving at the same time.

"Pleasure's all mine," he nodded politely. "And it's Carlisle, please," he smiled, waving off the formality. What were such things in a place like this? "As for my intended patients, I'll admit that my schooling is restricted to humans, though if one of the goblins needed assistance, I don't see why I wouldn't help them," he shrugged, staking his claim in that whole issue. "Though I imagine that, having lived here as long as they've seemed to, they more than likely have their own system of health care.

Carlisle nodded. "Just yesterday, in fact. My son is here as well, he came ahead, apparently. Edward Cullen?" he offered, wondering if the man had met him yet. "When did you arrive?"

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severelyseverus
2009-04-19 10:47 pm UTC (link)

Snape blinked at Carlisle's request that he be called by his given name. It was not a form of address he was accustomed to using, but since this man was likely his peer--as far as muggles went, anyway--he could acquiesce to his wishes. He wouldn't feel comfortable extending the same courtesy to him until he knew him better, but decided it wouldn't be worth the trouble to get upset if Carlisle did it of his own initiative.

"I imagine the goblins have their own health care as well, but if you do get one to lay down and let you open him up in here, do give me a call, please. I would be very interested in an opportunity to learn more about their anatomy. Tell me ... Carlisle, if you would, what is the nature and extent of your schooling?"

Despite his tone, Snape was doing his best to be honest in what he said. His interest in potion-making intersected inevitably with medical practice, and he wasn't completely ignorant of the healer's art. Besides, if he was going to consider this man as an alternative to self-healing, he had to know a little bit about his professional qualifications.

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doccullen
2009-04-20 11:59 am UTC (link)

Carlisle smiled. "Well, I hope I won't be doing any major operations, given that I'm sure there will be a limit to the supplies that I'm given, but if the chance arises, I'll be sure to let you know," he promised with a nod. He was always willing to teach, and to share information, after all.

Normally, Carlisle would rattle off his standard story, leaving out the bits about his actual age and experience, giving up his proficiency as natural talent. But here, Edward had assured him, there was less need to hide what they were. And gruff as this man seemed, he was a fellow scholar, and a worthy contemporary, as far as Carlisle was concerned.

So he told him. "I've been studying medicine for the last three-hundred years, at various institutions and under even more varied masters," he assured him with a smile. "Most recently though, I took something of a refresher at Johns Hopkins University."

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severelyseverus
2009-04-23 01:16 am UTC (link)

Snape looked at Carlisle with new eyes when he heard that he had been studying medicine for three hundred years. Clearly there was more to this man than there first appeared. What might be his secret of longevity? Even among wizards, three hundred years of age was a lot. If Cullen wasn't a wizard, he had likely been exposed to their world. Besides, the veil of secrecy between the muggle and wizard worlds did not seem to matter so much in this place.

"You say you have had centuries of training. Impressive. Tell me, Carlisle. Have you ever studied magical medicine?"

Snape found that part of himself was hoping that the man did, in fact, have training in wizard medicine. It would be good to have someone knowledgeable to converse with about his health. Also, it would be good to have someone for whom to create potions.

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doccullen
2009-04-24 10:12 am UTC (link)

Because he could certainly be productive and attentive at the same time, Carlisle shifted, going back to stocking the medical cart to his liking while the two men spoke. And really, it was so ingrained in him by now, that his gold eyes never glanced at what his hands were doing, but stayed politely on Professor Snape as he spoke.

"Magical medicine?" he asked with something of a laugh in his voice. Then he remembered what Edward had said about this place, and the people that lived in it.

The billowing robes, the lofty attitude..."There's magic in your world," he finally said with a little nod, and then smiled. "There isn't any in mine. I'd be very interested in at least learning the theory though," he admitted. Carlisle, of course, wanted to learn everything. It was a great deal of what had kept him going all these years.

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severelyseverus
2009-04-25 11:55 pm UTC (link)

Snape had miscalculated. The man had no knowledge whatsoever of magic. It was disappointing, but to be expected, the wizard supposed. That ruled him out as a personal physician. But what about his long life? That was still unusual for a muggle. Perhaps he had had magical assistance and did not know it. Such a thing had been known to happen.

"Oh, there's magic in your world, Carlisle. You just have no knowledge of it. It is generally kept hidden from ... non-magical folk. Still I daresay you have encountered it if your life has truly lasted over three hundred years. I am not trained in medicine myself, and could not, therefore, train you; however, I am an accomplished brewer of potions, and could, should you be interested, supply you with various concoctions of a medically-assistative nature."

Despite his disappointment at not finding a proper wizard doctor, Snape still saw an opportunity to put his skills to use. Cullen had already suggested he was open to the idea of magic, so it remained only to be seen if he would accept magic's products for use in life-or-death situations.

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doccullen
2009-04-26 02:04 pm UTC (link)

Maybe, maybe not. But Carlisle had been around long enough to have at least gotten wind of a rumor, and given that he was strange and unusual himself, he was pretty up on all that fell in that same category. As for using this magician's potions in his clinic, Carlisle was wary. After all, he didn't know whether or not he could trust this man, and so why would he put the very lives of his patients in his hands?

"Perhaps," he said with a smile and a noncommittal nod. "You'll have to forgive my not jumping on it straight away. After all, your method of healing is quite a bit different than mine, and I do have the well-being of my patients to look after," he explained, not being rude, just cautious, which certainly couldn't be faulted.

At the very least, he could be honest with him though. "And my life, I'm sure, hasn't been touched by magic. I'm just a vampire," he said with an easy smile and a one shouldered shrug.

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severelyseverus
2009-04-29 12:11 am UTC (link)

Snape looked Carlisle over again, forced a third time to reassess the man before him in light of a new piece of knowledge. He was a continual surprise, Dr. Cullen was. The appearance of another vampire was no shock to the wizard, who had met several of that race even before he had first been abducted. It did surprise him that one should wish to act as a healer to the non-vampiric. That was not at all typical, in his experience.

"A vampire? I see. Well, I suppose that does explain things. I further suppose you wouldn't have told me of your nature if your plan were to use this clinic as a covert way to harvest blood. Curious. Well, Carlisle, if you truly are ignorant of magic, then I don't blame you for not trusting in the efficacy of my potions; nevertheless, I spent years at school for witchcraft and wizardry, where I supplied many beneficial concoctions to the school infirmary. If they were good enough to heal children, they'll be good enough for you. I will bring some by in a few days and demonstrate their powers to you."

It occurred to Snape that he was prepared in this project to go to a lot of effort to contribute to the communal good. He would not, if you had asked him in passing, have mentioned that virtue as one of his notable qualities, but this evidence of it could not be ignored. He hoped Cullen would be appreciative, but the potions would be useful even if he were not.

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doccullen
2009-04-30 12:34 pm UTC (link)

Carlisle had to laugh at that. "No, I wouldn't have. But as it is, I don't feed from humans. I'm a vegetarian, as it were," he said with a little crook of his lips at the family's inside joke. "I've never fed from a human, actually," he admitted. Well, not unless you counted the minute amount of blood he'd tasted from each of his family members in their turning, with the obvious exception of Alice and Jasper. Which, Carlisle didn't. At least on his good days.

"I would like that very much," he nodded at the other man's offer, feeling better about the situation. While he could never be fully confident in that there was no risk in allowing this man to treat his patients with alternative medicines, a demonstration of their capabilities would help greatly in Carlisle's understanding of the situation, and for that he was grateful.

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severelyseverus
2009-05-02 11:13 pm UTC (link)

Snape raised an eyebrow, finding Carlisle's joke odd, and not particularly funny. Even if he never fed on humans, which was very unusual for his kind, to Snape's knowledge, the vampire surely still needed to feed on blood. Even if he fed on the lowest of animals, he wasn't really a vegetarian, was he? Snape felt is was more polite not to offer a fake laugh to the doctor.

"Excellent. You shall not be disappointed, Docto--Carlisle." Snape gave a sharp respectful nod to the man--whose sincerity and skill with muggle medicine he had no reason to doubt. "Now, I must be going. I have been able to accumulate more ingredients for my potions here than I expected to, but there are more I must find if I am to produce for you the elixirs I wish to. Good day, Carlisle."

With that Snape gave the doctor one last penetrating stare of watchful respect, turned, and strode away the way he had come, out of the incipient clinic and down the hall. He felt motivated and purposeful about his new project, and had meant what he had said to Cullen. There were many reagents he had not yet been able to collect, but which he would need for restorative draughts. Were, for example, was he going to find arctic caterpillers?

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