A medical emergency

[fadingworld]

A deep navy cloak hides his features and the more ornate tunic the courtesan usually wears to greet his clients. Mal hunches his shoulders and slides through the crowds hoping to avoid notice. He keeps his head down until he reaches the home of the doctor and wraps smartly on the door. "Open up," he calls in a voice that expects to be listened to.

How much time did he have? He could not have a client bleeding out. Not this one. Not one who had come to him for help, to be treated privately.

Comments

[fadingworld]

Mal spoons the soup up his appetite much revived now. "Thank you," he says softly. "I know it will take much of your time up. I will make sure it is worth your while."

[mandragoraspiritus]

"Yes, I'm rather counting on that," Regis says simply and kindly. He's sure that Mal will do his best.


Things start to settle into something of a routine for them over the coming couple of weeks, with studies both practical and theoretical. Mal does well in both, but one evening when Regis for the third time fishes a long strand of dark hair from the pile of dried herbs they are working on turning into powders that the vampire can no longer keep from commenting.

"It isn't that I do not appreciate the appearance of your hair, Mal, but have you never thought of more practical ways of wearing it?"

[fadingworld]

It has been an exhausting and busy few weeks for Mal as he adjusts to his new life. Not for anything in the world would have changed it. He is still inwardly nervous about making mistakes and is giving his full attention to the task at hand.

"Hmm?" he says. He looks up and glances at the strand in Regis hand. "Oh...sorry." He makes an impatient brush at hairs that have slid loose from the tight knot.

"LIke what? I'm open to suggestions. It did take a long time to get it up today.""

[mandragoraspiritus]

For a moment Regis wonders if this is really his place to comment on, but if not hos then whose?

"Have you never thought about cutting it? I realize that hair can be a rather important thing to some people. To many, I dare say, be it to have a lot of it or to not have any at all." If looking at him, well, he does have a rather receding hairline. But even so his hair is well groomed.

[fadingworld]

Mal is silent for a moment. He touches the back of his head. He's always loved how it looks. But...oh he had so many mixed emotions about it. When he looked at himself in the mirror he had bought, he saw the courtesan. And truly he did n't want to think about that every day.

"Do any surgeons wear their hair long?"

[mandragoraspiritus]

"I'm sure there are some. But generally, most people working in a practical profession must have ways to at least keep it away. More often than not that is accomplished by rather keeping it short. It is simply easier that way."

He looks up from his work for a moment, smiling somewhat sheepishly. "I do speak from experience." Oh yes, once upon a time he too had worn his hair long, but not anymore.

[fadingworld]

Mal had approached every crossroad so far by making a decision and embracing it fully. If he wanted this, he needed to look the part too. "I would like to have seen you with long hair." He cocks his head on one side trying to picture it. "I believe it may have suited you."

He gives Regis a small smile. "But I had better follow your current example, and get a more professional looking haircut." His eyes dance and he adds teasingly, "Do you know where I can find a good barber?"

[mandragoraspiritus]

At first Regis almost missed the teasing tone and start on a lecture on the title of barber-surgeon, as to why the two professions were often interlinked. He does manage to catching himself, however, and just chuckles quietly.

"I'll go get the scissors, shall I?"

[fadingworld]

"Sure, why not." Mal's heart races a little faster. This would be one of the more significant moment for him. He puts the herbs carefully to one side and unties his hair. He runs his hands through it as he brings it down around his face. He really doesn't have the time for it, and it has lost some of that perfect sheen.

"I'm a vain fool if I care about this," he murmurs to himself.

[mandragoraspiritus]

Regis comes back with a comb and scissors as well as with a sheet folded over his arm. He pulls out a stool to the middle of the room, gestures for Mal to take a seat and then wraps the sheet around him to keep the cut hair off his clothes.

"The cutting of hair can be a very symbolic act in some cultures," Regis starts talking as he ties Mal's hair into a tail at the back of his neck with some string, then starts gathering it into a long braid.

"Such as in Velen, where the first time hair is cut from a child that hair is offered to the beings they call the Ladies of the Woods to be woven into a tapestry of human hair, as a way to creating that child's future." With the braid done he ties it off with yet another piece of string.

"In many other cases, it is the mark of change. A near ritualistic act of cutting ties with the past and setting out for something new." He picks up the scissors. "Now, are you quite certain?"

[fadingworld]

"It is a time of big change," Mal says softly. He takes a slow, deep breath. "And it is only hair. I am not the person I once was. Please proceed. Did you feel sentimental when yours was cut?"

[mandragoraspiritus]

"No, not very. I cut it myself, simply for the sake of ease. Now, then..."

There really isn't anything like the sound of sharp scissors working through hair. Regis cuts quick, above the first tie of string, and soon he has the braid cut free. Stepping from behind Mal to his side, he offers it to him in an outstretched hand.

[fadingworld]

The fingers that receive the braid tremble slightly. "Thank you," he says reaching to touch the nape of his neck. "My neck feels cold," he announces, keeping the mood light.

[mandragoraspiritus]

"It will feel a bit strange at first," Regis says, stepping back behind Mal again, nudging him to sit straight and look straight ahead, running his sharp-nailed fingers though that head of hair a few times before setting to work with comb and scissors. It is now the shorter strands of hair start to fall, gathering in creases of the sheet around Mal as well as falling to the floor.

Regis cuts it short, baring that neck completely and getting the hair out fo Mal's face. The end result is very short but not at all choppy or uneven. Regis is pleased with it, feeling like this might actually suit Mal better than the long hair did.

[fadingworld]

"I do feel lighter," he comments, turning his head from side to side. He runs his hand through his hair and turns to look at Regis. "How do I look? I am prettier, or have I traded prettiness for something more handsome and rugged?"

[mandragoraspiritus]

Having slid the sheet off, Regis takes a couple steps away and stands in front of Mal, studying him. He does look pleased. "I do think you have," he says. "You look maybe a little bit older, but I would say that to be a good thing."

[fadingworld]

"Older is definitely a good thing," Mal says with utter conviction. Looking younger than his years would be a curse when he wanted patients to trust him.

"Do you mind if I go and look in my mirror? I would like to see for myself." He grins, "It's weird to think that mine is the only opinion that counts about my looks now." That was almost completely true. he cared about what Regis thought.

[mandragoraspiritus]

"No, please do." For obvious reasons he never have any mirrors around for himself but he could certainly understand Mal's own curiosity.

While Mal goes to have a look, Regis fetches a broom to start sweeping up the black hair that now dusts his floor.

[fadingworld]

Mal darts off to his room. The braid goes in the space below the floorboards before he summons the courage to look in the mirror. He blinks, seeing a stranger reflected back at him. The face was more angular, the eyes had depths with more gravity in them than he remembered.

Overall he liked it. He looked more real and alive. Plus he won't have to spend as much time looking in the mirror.

He carries himself self consciously as he rejoins Regis. "You have improved on what people considered perfection." He comes forward to embrace Regis. "Thank you."

[mandragoraspiritus]

The first few hugs that Mal had given him had all but startled him, coming as rather unexpected. But now he has come to better understand that Mal is rather physical in how he expresses his appreciation, and so Regis finds it easy to gladly return the embrace.

"Perfection is but a myth and beauty is in the eye of the beholder, is it not?" He claps Mal on the back before they step apart. "Although I am rather relieved that you approve of it."

[fadingworld]

Mal laughs, "I made it my job to make it a reality. It was a fun challenge." He spikes his hair up by running it through and flattens it down again.

"If I had truly hated it, I could have covered it until it grew out again." He returns to grounding the herbs. "I think I would have been upset if I looked ugly to you."

[mandragoraspiritus]

Regis lets out something between a scoff and a chuckle as he gets back to work. "I do not think that to be at all possible." No, not even if he had shaved Mal's head completely and dressed him in sack cloth would Mal have been ugly.

[fadingworld]

Regis might only have meant it as a compliment but it does warm Mal's heart. "Really?" he asks. "What if I developed warts?"

[mandragoraspiritus]

"If you developed warts then I would naturally give you a cure for them," the vampire simply says, carrying on with his work. "Really, Mal. You are a beautiful man; you hardly need me to tell you that."

[fadingworld]

Mal crushes the herbs intently for a moment. "It might not seem like it to you," he says quietly. "But it is very different to hear it from a friend rather than it coming from a client or Madame. Your words mean something."