open: "accidents" will happen.

[aberratic]

WHO: Ness Tavane (aberratic)
WHAT: An "accident" and an amputation
WHEN: Backdated-ish to mid-March
WHERE: The Gallows/Infirmary
NOTES: CW for amputation of a limb, illness from infection in said limb, confusion and disorientation as a result of fever. Lmk if you need any other cws and I'll add them!

It's early morning one balmy day in the middle of Drakonis, and the central tower of the Gallows is quiet. A few early risers have already made their ways to their offices, not to mention those who fell asleep in their offices—or those who never slept in the first place—but most of Riftwatch is still asleep, or at least milling about the dining hall. Coffee and tea are still brewing, breakfast is still being served, the work of the day is still at least an hour away for most.

This is purposeful; it means there's no one near the Quartermaster's office to see what happens. There is only silence, and then a sudden cacophonous crash to break it, and a high, sharp scream.

Comments

[youwonscience]

As a practical matter, Cosima takes fewer infirmary shifts than she did before she became the head of Research. But fewer isn't none. On her first shift after the "accident," Cosima arranges to arrive early so she can pay a visit too. (If all is quiet, it's possible she'll just end up rolling bandages in Ness's earshot anyway, but Cosima finds it pays never to assume.)

She hasn't pressed Stephen, purposely, and for now it seems like everything is going actively better than expected for "major surgery without modern equipment or antibiotics." At least Ness has the energy to put up a front, if that's what it is. Cosima likes Ness, though she doesn't assume they're especially close, and if this goes better than expected, well. She won't begrudge the other woman a bit of luck.

"So have you reached the bored out of your mind stage of surgical recovery yet?" Cosima asks, lightly, as she comes to sit by Ness's bedside for a while. As in their chat before the event, if Cosima has any feelings about the choice to amputate, the choice to stage it as an accident, or both, they're impossible to read in her manner. As usual, the vibe is laid-back but warm.

[aberratic]

"Surpassed, in fact!" is the cheerily-chirped response to Cosima's question, though Ness appears good-natured about her boredom, at least. She's not dead; that's a miracle of Rifter medicine she needs to be grateful for, and not throw in Stephen's face by flouting his rules regarding her recovery... No matter how difficult it is to stay abed and unproductive for this long.

"I've been spending the time considering what should be done with me now—I'm something of a singular resource, aren't I, at least while Madame de Foncé is in Orzammar?"

Perhaps it's a bit gauche to refer to oneself as a resource, but Ness doesn't seem bothered by it. It's merely a practical description of what she is now, after all.

"Do we have records of what experiments were run on Madame after her own amputation? It would be prudent to determine if their conclusions are replicable with me."

[youwonscience]

"Long term, maybe, yeah. Though two data points still aren't statistically significant, unfortunately. Same problem with all rifter science, there's just too few of us. But once you get the full all-clear from Stephen, we can talk about what we want to keep an eye on." If Ness reads that as we are absolutely not doing any experiments on you until you're medically cleared, well, she's reading correctly.

That said, Cosima isn't going to dismiss the idea out of hand. To wit: "I have Madame de Foncé's report, and some notes of my own from discussing the matter with her. And Viktor co-authored the study. If nothing else, it would make sense to carefully observe your relationship to lyrium, though as you know better than most, lyrium's a tricky thing to work with." Quietly; she can imagine it's not the thing Ness is most looking forward to, but it is the most measurable.

[aberratic]

Ness doesn't even try to suppress her sigh—no one wants her to work!—but it remains good-natured, and she smiles through it. Not even the mention of lyrum experiments serves to bring her down—if anything, she looks excited.

"Two is more than one. We can begin to see if patterns emerge, at least, and that's more than we have now!"

She looks at Cosima, pale and unkempt and maimed... and yet it wouldn't be a stretch to say she's never looked happier, more energized. A future stretches out in front of her now, no more uncertain than anyone else's. She might die at Venatori hands in a month, she might fall to a fatal accident tomorrow, she might drop dead of a sudden apoplexy in the next five minutes—but she's not going to disappear.

"I can't wait to see what we learn. I can't wait to see how Thedas changes because of us."

She gets to stay.

[youwonscience]

"I think we've already changed Thedas a fair amount," is not unkindly said. Cosima doesn't want to depress Ness, or even really to chastise her. (It's not as if Ness isn't aware that Cosima wasn't thrilled with the make it look like an accident component of the plan. There's no need to belabor that now.)

"What has Doctor Strange been saying about your recovery? Any prognosis so far, or is he still keeping that close to the vest?" It's not, under the circumstances, a change of subject so much as a reminder that all of the many experiments Ness is picturing will remain theoretical for at least a while to come.