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.

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[mandragoraspiritus]

From having looked down at Mal kneeling by his feet, Regis must now tilt his head back to keep Mal's face in view. "Since I left Toussaint shortly after Dettlaff's death," he confesses. "I wandered for a couple of years before coming here."

[fadingworld]

That is too long for anyone to be alone with only thoughts and memories for company. He squeezes Regis' shoulders, offering some little comfort.

"Too long," he murmurs, "But that changes now. Any time you wish to talk I will listen."

[mandragoraspiritus]

A few years is but the blink of an eye to the immortal, Regis could argue. But at the same time, it has been a few long years.

"I'm not sure I know what to say," comes another confession from him. At first he had thought that taken Mal on as his apprentice had been for mostly altruistic reasons, but perhaps he is doing this as much for his own sake. Because he needs the company.

[fadingworld]

Mal's lips quirk up into a teasing smile to lighten the mood a little. "A thank you will do and an answer to one question." He goes back to his seat and takes a sip of his drink. "Exactly, how old are you?"

[mandragoraspiritus]

His expression softens, becoming milder as he bows his head in simple acceptance of the situation and of the gift he's being give. "Then, yes, thank you, Mal. For your kindness and your company."

Gently nudging Mal to resume his seat he reaches for the bottle to top up their glasses. "And I am 439 years old, according to the human calendar." More humor creeps into his expression. "As I said, rather ancient."

[fadingworld]

Mal cocks his head on one side. "I would have said you didn't look a day over 200," he responds with cheerful humour. It was quite a shock to hear the age out loud, but what does the age change? Nothing.

"Forgive me if I pest you for history lessons."

[mandragoraspiritus]

In part Regis wonders if Mal truly understands all this, what it is he's been told. It seems so easy for the other man to just accept it all.

"My knowledge of history is not without gaps, I must admit. There has been periods where I have been, ah, indisposed. As it were."

[fadingworld]

"Indisposed?" Mal raises an eyebrow. "How do you mean?" The drink is going down far too easily and it does not take huge doses to get him drunk.

[mandragoraspiritus]

"When I say that we higher vampires can be incapacitated, I know of which I speak. I once spent some fifty years buried underground, regenerating from having a steak through my heart and my head chopped off." He smiles wryly, now sipping his drink more slowly. "While such time gives one ample opportunity to think and consider ones life choices, it is not conductive to keeping up with current events."

[fadingworld]

"....gross," Mal admits. "And the people who did that to you believed it would kill you." It had to be lonely, lying there for such a long time. "Waiting to regenerate, that almost seems worse than a clean death."

[mandragoraspiritus]

"They did," he says. "Many of the things supposedly known about vampires are ultimately false, though it is useful for us for such notions to be out there. And waiting to regenerate is certainly not worse. You must understand that I have a completely different perception of time than you do. In a way, you could think of it as not so different that it would be for a human to recover after a lengthy illness or serious injury. It takes time and effort and is far from pleasant, but, we simply heal."

[fadingworld]

"Oh," Mal looks thoughtful. "Do you remember every year, or do memories fade like they do for us?" Apart from the happiest and saddest memories that never fully go away.

[mandragoraspiritus]

"I remember them," Regis answers after a moment of thought. "For better or worse." There were years he would far rather forget.

[fadingworld]

"The bad can make the good memories shine all the brighter," Mal says gently. He holds up his glass, "And where have you got this delightful drink from? I have not tasted something this good before."

[mandragoraspiritus]

"It is of my own make," he reveals, a more lighter smile at the change to a less heavy topic. "It is a mandrake distillate that I have been developing for quite the number of years now. One of the rare things I make purely for pleasure's sake rather than for practicality."

[fadingworld]

"I think I am going to love it and it maybe a little dangerous for me," Mal confesses. "I only sipped drinks around clients which I sometimes regretted. I could have drunk more."

He grins, "So I am sorry if I say or do anything silly."

[mandragoraspiritus]

Regis chuckles softly. "Then it might be best if I am in control of the bottle." Looking amused he pulls it closer to himself. Should Mal get drunk, it won't be the first time someone ends up like that from his mandrake hooch.

[fadingworld]

"It must be nice to get drunk sometimes and just forget for a while," Mal says wistfully. He holds out his glass for a top up. "And I would like to forget the Rose Thorn tonight please."

[mandragoraspiritus]

Regis looks at him mildly. For a night such thinking isn't dangerous. Perhaps not even for a period. But Regis is also painfully aware where such thinking might lead.

Still he does pick up the bottle and tops up Mal's glass. "Luckily you will have a physician on hand to help you treat the hangover in the morning."

[fadingworld]

Mal sips at the topped up glass. "Do you make your own hangover cures?" He pauses, "Can you actually get a hangover? Or get fully drunk?"

[mandragoraspiritus]

"I can get intoxicated, certainly, though I would need to imbue far more than you would. I make sure to drink with moderation, however. I... have a predisposition for addiction." It is back to the serious topics again, it seems.

"Alcohol has never been a problem. Blood, however, is. We higher vampires do not need to drink blood to survive. It makes us stronger, yes, but it also have somewhat similar effects to us as alcohol does to humans. Though I would indulge, and indulge far too much, I do not drink blood anymore. I gave it up many years ago." A grimace. "As I said, half a century in the ground gives one time to think."

[fadingworld]

"Okay, so I know not to offer blood to you," Mal says. He is not going to let Regis dwell on unpleasant thoughts tonight. "You should be proud of yourself for conquering it."

He swirls the drink around. "I think I may be quite boring, I don't have any hidden secrets."

[mandragoraspiritus]

"Are you quite sure? There were things you voiced for the first time but a week ago, were there not?" How badly a celebrated courtesan such as him had wanted to leave the luxury life for a simpler one.

"There is very little you have actually told me of yourself."

[fadingworld]

"I had no one I trusted to tell me thoughts to," Mal points out. "I am an open book," he takes a long sip of the drink, "Ask me any question you like because I don't know which part of my story you might find interesting."

[mandragoraspiritus]

Regis ponders this. He has revealed much today, many deeply personal things. So he decides to go tit for tat with that free question.

"What is the most guarded thing you dream about?" He asks, leaning over to top up their glasses again.