One Too Many

[Wendell]

10 Vhalar 716

Ideas were better after a drink or two, at least that had always been his father's logic, so when Wendell found himself stumbling out of some backwater tattoo studio with an empty bottle of wine in his hand and short a few coins of gold, he had thought nothing off his spur of the moment decision. It was some days later, when the pain of the new tattoo did not decrease but instead worsened that the man went out to seek medical advice. Or course, that advice was sought in the local tavern, rather than the infirmary as it probably should be.

"She's butt-ugly," the men laughed as he tugged his pants down to show them the tattoo of the pin-up girl on his left arse-cheek. "You ought to get that checked out, lad!"
"Nah," Wendell had shrugged. "I'm sure it will be find in a few trials."
"That's what Fred said before he lost three fingers to frostbite after his trip to Viden, you you remember?"
Wendell looked at Fred, and sure enough he was reminded of that being the case. "I don't want no man pawing at me backside."
"You might get one of them pretty girls take a look," the bar tender winked.
"They only ever give me a man," Wendell complained.
"Get a drink in ya then, that'll take the edge off!"

And so, Wendell had spent the morning drinking, it was his day off after all. A bottle a wine later, he was marched out the door by the barkeep for interrupting a tavern sponsored card game, and shoved in the direction of the infirmary before being told to get on his horse. He had walked through the doors of the healers building and been told to sit down and wait. Wendell stood in the waiting room against the wall, stinking of red wine and tobacco. This was not how he had intended to spend his day.

[Rei]

Drinking, gambling, and smoking were never things that interested Rei very much. She much preferred quiet activities, especially when it involved being outdoors. That was how she spent her days off, outside tracking animals or just sitting under a nice tree with a musty leather book in hand. She was constantly studying, trying her best to commit to memory every single piece of useful flora that could be found- whether it was around Rharne or not. It helped further her medicine education. Ever since the death of her father, she had been very eager to learn any and all things about medicine, chemistry, and surgical procedures.

Today, though, she was not without things to do. She had to work a shift in the infirmary that would take up most of her time today. No time to go out and sit under the peaceful bough of a tree and take a look through her herb books. Instead she had lugged one of the old and worn tomes with her. The book was old brown leather with shimmering green letters embossed on the front. Magical and Mundane Uses of the Plants of Idalos.

The pages were old and fragile, and she had to be careful that the parchment didn’t tear when she turned the pages. Rei was sitting at a wooden desk in the back of the infirmary, the book sprawled open to a page toward the center. It was a section on the flora of Central Idalos. Rock Mushroom. Her finger moved down the page. Takes the outward appearance of a normal gray rock, yet is fragile and will collapse under light pressure. When collapsed, it releases a green glue that can be used in addition to sutures to help seal off an open wound. She studied the picture of it, finding it difficult to discern the ordinary rocks from the plant.

One of the other girls working the infirmary stuck her head in the doorway of the room and alerted Rei that there was a man up front that had come in to get something checked. She failed to mention what exactly it was. Leaving the book open, she stood up and went to a steaming bowl of water and sterilized her hands. She liked to be clean when dealing with new patients. She looked a bit out of place in the infirmary with her hide clothes and soft hide shoes. Truthfully she preferred no shoes, but it tended to make people more comfortable if she conformed to more standard dress.

She strode down the hall, her sandy hair littered with braids that were woven with leather straps, decorated with beads, or holding feathers. There were an assortment of earthy tones and her hair made soft noises as she walked. Blue eyes fell upon the rather attractive man sitting in the room, though the stench of wine and tobacco was a turn off. She smiled politely at him. “They mentioned you need something checked? Come this way.” She led him to a room and closed the door behind them. Rei didn’t notice anything sickly about him from outward appearances. “So what is troubling you?”

[Wendell]

There wasn't enough wine in the world to make him brave enough to pull down his pants in front of such an attractive woman when the pain of his infection made it almost impossible inspire any sort of arousal of the flesh. He hoped this woman was only leading him off to the doctor's office he would then see a male doctor in, but no such luck. Wendell had to fight back a smile and rubbed his face, lacing his fingers through his hair to pull the ends frustratedly. Could this day have gone any more differently than he had planned?

"Yeah, I got a tattoo a few trials ago that's looking a little nasty at the moment." Sweat began to bead at his temple, and not on account of the infection. He hooked his thumbs over the band of his pants and grinned awkwardly. "Off then?" The woman looked to be waiting, and so, Wendell put his back to her and undid his pants. He hadn't worn any undergarments on account of the discomfort the material rubbing against his skin caused, and tugged down his shirt a little at the front as his pants fell down around his knees.

Wendell was already embarrassed about the situation his drunken escapades had landed him in, but on top of that he was now showing his backside to a woman he wished he had met under better circumstances. Not only that, but the tattoo on his left arse-cheek was of a topless woman with dark hair and black, lacy stockings. He cupped his front bits with both hands and stood trying not to burst into a nervous fit of laughter.

"I promise this is the most stupid thing I have ever done," the man acknowledged, "I guess we all do silly things from time to time, huh doc?"

[Rei]

They walked down the hall and, with winter coming, there was a series of groans, sneezes, and coughs coming from the various rooms that branched off the main hall. After shutting the door behind them, Rei stood and waited to be alerted to what trouble the man was having that he needed medical attention for. He seemed very hesitant about even telling her what it is. A brow raised slightly in curiosity as she watched him run his fingers through his hair. Nervousness emanated off him. What could he possibly be so worried about showing her? Was it some disease of his most intimate areas?

Finally he spoke up about a tattoo he had gotten that was “looking nasty”. Rei had to force an amused smirk from her face and stifled the laugh that was bubbling in her throat. Sweat was beading on his head and the urge to laugh grew as he put his thumbs in his pants. It was on his bottom? Or somewhere else that was covered by his pants? She silently hopes and prayed to the Immortals that the tattoo was somewhere on his leg, though his awkward grin suggested it might be where she hoped it wasn’t.

Luckily he had turned for his back to face her, because her cheeks were flushing a soft pink. She was embarrassed to be seeing the nether regions of a man she was, admittedly, quite attracted to. He was easy to look at. She even enjoyed the view as he tugged his pants down to reveal a rather toned and attractive bottom. On it was a tattoo of a topless broad with dark hair wearing black stockings. She wondered what tattoo artist agreed to do this, considering the place, the content, and the fact that he was obviously intoxicated.

Rei wondered what was going through his mind as he stood in this vacant room with her, his pants around his ankles, showing some woman he did not know a terrible tattoo in an awful place. As much as she didn’t want to, she stooped down to examine the flesh. It was red and there was a thin layer of colored pus that was oozing out of the fine needlepoint holes in his skin. “Yes, though I can’t think of anything I’ve done worse than this at the moment,” she jested, moving to the cabinets to pull out a clean cloth, some bandaging material, and a salve.

“I suppose though,” She paused and soaked the cloth in steaming hot water mixed with alcohol. Rei placed a hand on the small of his back and started to gently clean the pus from the tattoo. “I ran naked in the forest once. I don’t think anyone saw me, though.” She smiled and finished cleaning the tattoo before picking up the jar of salve. She placed a thin layer of the white cream that covered the busty topless woman on his bottom. She began to wrap a silk bandage around his lower waist, giving him a covering of sorts. She was very careful where her hands went as she passed around his front.

[Wendell]

There was an unwelcome stirring in his loins at the mention of running naked through the woods, causing Wendell to start weighing up what might be worse, this experience, or death. He closed his eyes and thought of anything but the doctor without her clothes on. That dead cat he had found in the gutter once, taking out the rubbish, the greasy chin of the fat piano player at his favourite bar; anything but her.

"Would you ever do it again?" Damn it, he thought, that had lasted all of three seconds.

"What about with me?" The man chuckled. "We could play a game, it's quite simple really. All you have to do is answer five questions dishonestly and if you tell the truth, I win. If I lose, I'll run through the forest by myself," he laughed.

While the doctor wrapped his backside, Wendell helped guide the bandage around his front. "First question. Where did you grow up?" He looked back at her over his right shoulder, as if to try and guess whether or not she was telling a lie or the truth. The question was relatively easy, so when the woman answered, he followed up with a second. "What's your favourite colour?"

[Rei]

Would you ever do it again? The question came over her like a bucket of cold water. Her cheeks flushed from a soft pink to almost a cherry red. Luckily he wasn’t looking at her, his back was still to her, so that he couldn’t see her face and how much she was blushing. Rei had suffered the advances of men before but it had never embarrassed her, nor had she ever enjoyed it. She was finding, at this current moment, that she rather enjoyed how he was speaking to her. Even if he wasn’t the most suave person on the planet.

He asked her if she would ever do it again. Rei’s mouth fell slightly open, her mind seeming to blank on almost everything. She wondered if she would even remember who she was before this was over with. “Uh, I guess? Probably. I really enjoy being outdoors. It makes me…” She trailed off, not really knowing what it made her. Peaceful? Tranquil? At home? It made her feel something. Besides, when she was in the seclusion of the forest, she could talk to her familiar without anyone looking at her with such an odd look.

In the corner of the room she glanced and saw the translucent looking wolf that seemed to have an ethereal glow. The white wolf with her blue eyes was looking curiously at the man in the room. Then he asked her if she would go running naked with him. If it were possible, she would have blushed more. “Well I-“ But he interrupted and asked her to play a game- a game of questions. She was supposed to answer the questions and he was supposed to figure out if she was telling a truth or a lie. She understood that the stakes were a nude run in the forest.

He asked where the she grew up. She thought the answer was rather obvious. Desnind was the home of all of her people, and she thought it was apparent that she was Sev’ryn. “Rharne,” she answered sarcastically. He looked over his shoulder and her face burned at the fact that he would see her blushing. Then, her favorite color. “Blue,” she answered honestly, though she tried to sound jovial. She pulled the bandage snug and tied it off around his middle. She tried to be gentle so as not to hurt the sore spot.

“What is your name?” She asked curiously, helping pull up his pants. Rei threw the cloth in a bin and put the salve and the extra bandaging material back up in the cabinets. “You can call me Rei. It’s pretty infected. You should come every other day at least and get it cleaned and salve reapplied.”

[Wendell]

This was fun, Rei had no idea what the man was up to, and once everything was said and done, he pulled up his pants and tried to make himself look presentable, though a small part of him would always feel naked under the woman's gaze. Return every other day? That would be tricky with work, he thought. Hopefully Rei worked late or it might be back to seeing that doctor he was a lot less fond of, the old man with the cold hands.

"Wendell," he offered, the confession partnered with a warm smile. It was then he realised he had held the woman's gaze a few more seconds than might be polite, and lifted his brow, trying to remember where he was in their little game. "Wait, how many questions was that?" He scratched the back of his head and looked as if he were trying to work it out.

[Rei]

Relief flooded her when he pulled his pants up and secured them around his waist. She didn’t have to worry about accidentally getting a glance of his nether regions. They didn’t know each other well enough for that- yet. He looked like he tried to straighten out his clothes and make himself look better put together than he was. A smirk crossed her lips and she laughed under her breath. It was going to be hard to make yourself put together and yet reek of bad wine and tobacco all at the same time.

Wendell. It wasn’t a name she had heard before, then again, most of the people she had known had been Sev’ryn and there was a style to the cultural names. “Well, it’s nice to uhm.. meet you Wendell. Glad I could help with your.. infection.” She had to stifle her laughter at the words. Glad to help you with your infected and unusually attractive butt. His gaze held hers a bit longer than was probably deemed polite. Did he fancy her, she wondered? He got confused and asked how many questions he had asked of her. It was sort of cute the way he seemed to forget himself in front of her.

“It was only two. So that’s three left. I hope you make them worthwhile for all the trouble you’re going to through to get them answered.” She crossed her arms in front of her and an amused smile tugged at her lips. “I can’t say I’ve ever had someone get a really bad tattoo just to talk to me.” Laughing, she brushed her sandy hair back, the beads clinking together and the feathers and leather rustling.

[Wendell]

The smile he wore then was terribly smug, both as a result of him winning their little game, and the comment Rei had followed her answer up with. Wendell crossed his arms and raised his chin a little, proud of the outcome of this visit. "So I guess I'll see you again in a few trials, naked and ready to run through the woods with me," he laughed, and when Rei looked momentarily perplexed, he explained himself. "I did tell you not to tell the truth after all, so when you answered my question about which we were up to, truthfully, well you basically handed the win to me," his shoulders shook with mirth.

All right, so he probably wouldn't hold a complete stranger to a bare dash through the woods, but he would like to see the woman again and not just so that she could bath and dress his wound. "Tell me a place you like to go for dinner, anywhere and I'll make it happen," Wendell offered, and hoped Rei might be receptive to the idea. "I scrub up pretty well you know."

After a quick look about to make sure he hadn't left anything behind, Wendell let Rei usher him to the door, but found it difficult to wipe the amused look off his face. He doubted he would ever have a doctor's visit go quite like this ever again, so felt content to savour the feeling. "It was lovely to meet you, Rei. Hopefully we can bump into each other again some time." With that Wendell bid the woman farewell and went to the front desk to find out if there was any charge for his visit.

[Rei]

Rei didn’t understand quite why he had such a smug smile on his face. It wasn’t until it was already too late that she had realized what she had done. When he said he would see her again, naked and in the forest, her mouth fell slightly open. Her lips twitched as he explained how she had lost their little game. What a clever little game player he was! “So I will,” she began with a light sigh. “I have to admit I didn’t see that one coming. I’m rather disappointed in myself.”

“Alright. You win.” She was defeated, though she wasn’t sure how much she really minded. She had to admit she was surprised when he asked her to go with him to dinner. He wanted to know what place she liked to eat in order to make it happen. She was one to eat a lot of meat and there were only a few places in the city that served a good cut of meat. She smiled at him, unable to keep herself from liking this man despite the fact that he had come in full of wine and tobacco. “There’s a place by a butcher up town. They serve his meat. It’s really quite good.”

But she couldn’t waste much more time with Wendell, as much as she would like to. You could never tell when there would be an influx of patients. She shuffled him to the door, noticing now that his eyes were blue just like hers. “Bump into each other? You did just ask me to dinner.” She chuckled and placed her hand on his back, steering him out of the door. He bid her farewell and she followed him down the hall until she turned off to the room where she had sat, reading. Rei took a seat back at the desk but found it hard to get her mind off the man with blue eyes.