[open & closed] and when that day comes

[thereneverwas]

WHO: Barrow & friends
WHAT: ye olde lyrium detox in its various stages
WHEN: vaguely Wintermarch
WHERE: the infirmary
NOTES: I'll be adding a few starters at a time since I want later developments to feel organic and make sense. please feel free to request something if you don't see it here!

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[thereneverwas]

From the infirmary comes a rhythmic thudding as Barrow begins to dully smack his forehead against the wall.

[portalling]

Yesterday had been bad, and it’s only getting worse; but they knew that going in. This is to be expected.

Doesn’t make it any easier to be ultimately responsible for the outcome, though. The Stephen that Mobius sees now is more uncertain and strained around the edges than yesterday and the day before and the day before. This particular process still isn’t his forté. This wasn’t the sort of medical work he once did. Surgery mostly meant solving the mechanical puzzle and then not having to see them again —

“Define ‘problem’,” he says, crisp. He could hear the occasional raised words during the templars’ conversation — fucking lyrium — and now the thudding, but he wants to hear the assessment in Mobius’ own words.

[favoriteanalyst]

"He's being very insistent that this needs to end." And, well, shit, of course Barrow wants it over and done with. That's just how it is when this happens; it's not pretty, and it's not comfortable, and it could go very wrong at the end. It could get worse and not get better. Or he could break through to the other side.

"I figured I'd at least say something. It's fine if he's testy," even if that's so unlike Barrow, "but when is the point where we stop ignoring him wanting to stop and actually stop?"

[portalling]

“The misery and unpleasantry is a feature, not a bug,” Stephen says, unheeding as usual about dropping incomprehensible turns of phrase on Thedosians.

“Like, the whole process isn’t easy, which is part of the whole reason you’re not all lining up to do it. I’m keeping an eye on the situation. Him wanting to stop isn’t indicative of anything; but if his physical symptoms actually endanger him, and his health becomes at genuine risk, then we can reconsider.”

It’s a sternness, a flintiness, that Mobius doesn’t often get to experience from the doctor. For lack of anyone else around to do it, he has to put his foot down and hold their ground. (It’s not an enviable position.)