----------------------------------------------
RESPITE CLINIC - AFTERNOON
----------------------------------------------
Tarbin putters about in the clinic, tending to nobody at the moment, really just keeping the place occupied while Doctor Plume is delivering some medicine. He's not sure where Melia's gone off to, and their combined abilities tend to keep the injuries from all the construction cleared up. He occasionally wanders out into the front garden to feel a bit less claustrophobic, but really the lizard is more than happy to greet patients in Plume's absence for them.
Rhask comes into the clinic, looking perhaps a little uncomfortable as she idly scratches at her arm, having been escorted by Piper from the Minnow. She'd been urged by an apologetic Piper to see Plume after a painting session resulted in an allergic reaction to some new pigments. She'd been a little reluctant, since the itch extended all along all four of her arms, but ultimately, Piper's concern won out. "Um... hello?"
Tarbin pokes his head out from the back room curtain, paused in the dusting he'd just started to do, not that the clinic really needed it. Plume seems to keep up on that very well. "Hmm yes? Hello. Oh, miss Rhask! It has been some time, how are you?" He steps into the main room, setting the rag aside.
Rhask looks around, then smiles upon seeing Tarbin looking out from the back room. "Oh, mister Tarbin! I've been well, at least... until today, anyway. How have you been?" She steps further into the clinic, still idly scratching her arms as she goes.
Tarbin shrugs a little bit, smiling at her. "Very well. It has quiet down lately. Some still get hurt building the houses, but that is not so bad." He notes that she's scratching at her arms. "Hm, I think you are not here for just a talk visit?"
Rhask shakes her head. "Ah... n-no. I'm here because I, er... well, I had an allergic reaction to some paints a friend of mine used to paint my scales this time. We already washed it off, but..." She sighs, "I guess we didn't do it fast enough. Everything itches..."
Tarbin hums, stepping closer to Rhask and gently taking her right arm to examine it. He notes the redness between her scales, rubbing his thumb over a spot. He coaxes the Flow to shift within her, giving him a clue on what's happening. "Some of the oil is still soaked in. Seems like... Hm. Red ivy? Was it a dark purple paint? Or something shiny?" He coaxes the magic a bit while he talks, managing to cause small droplets of the oil to form on the surface of her arm between his hands.
Rhask nods as she watches Tarbin work his (literal) magic. "Piper said it was an 'iridescent' paint that works well on crocodile scales. I guess it didn't work all too well on my scales, though."
Tarbin chuckles, dabbing the revealed oil up with a cloth, which he sets into a steel bowl. He taps her wrist a bit with his fingertip. "Your scales are soft. Crocodiles are tough. They don't absorb anything but sunlight. This wont stop itching right away, but I can make it go away sooner, at least. This will take some time, though. And more of Nature's help, hm." He turns from her, filling the bowl with water at the sink and rinsing the cloth out.
Rhask gets a slightly uncomfortable look on her face as Tarbin turns away for a moment. "I don't mind the wait, really. It's mostly just... well, we didn't realize it would affect me until Piper was almost done painting my scales. If you're going to remove the oils... they're all over. My arms, back, chest... Piper paints a lot."
Tarbin chuckles quietly, shaking his head a little. "It takes a little while, yes. I'm sure it was pretty before it was itchy." He picks the bowl and cloth up, nodding toward the back room. "Come. Comfortable chair in the back, and I need something in there." He leads the way to the curtain, holding it aside for Rhask.
Rhask nods and follows Tarbin, ducking through the curtain and moving into the back room as prompted. "Piper does some beautiful work. This is just the first time she tried using those paints on me." She sighs, "I wish I wasn't allergic to them, because she seemed so eager to try them out."
Tarbin nods, walking by Rhask and moving a cushioned chair to the middle of the room. It's very clinical in here, unsurprisingly. Sterile, as it should be. Very disconnected from Nature. Which is why after he sets the bowl on a nearby table, Tarbin crouches down and lifts a floorboard next to the chair out of the way, exposing the cold dirt a few inches below. "So the rash is on your back and chest, too? Please remove your shirt, then."
Rhask nods, though she pauses and tilts her head as she watches Tarbin lifting a floorboard up and away before she can do more than grip the hem of her shirt. "Uh... is that... a normal procedure?"
Tarbin grins, nodding. "For me, yes." As he turns to her, he lets his tails slide over the edge, resting the tips of them on the dirt. He seems to perk up a bit more, feeling immediate relief from the mild claustrophobic feeling that civilized indoor areas still give him.
Rhask hums, then shrugs as she takes a few seconds to remove her shirt, leaving her upper torso's scales bare except for her bra. There are traces of paint left over from the washing that she and Piper did to remove the paints. "I'm guessing it's some kind of magic specific to you?"
Tarbin shakes his head with a light laugh. "Quite the opposite. Specific to everything but me." He retrieves the cloth, wringing it mostly dry before he turns back to Rhask, draping the cloth over the arm of the chair for now. "Did she paint around your underwear?" He does a he did before, taking her right forearm in his hands and drawing on Nature to help seep the oil from her scales. With an actual connection to the Flow, he's able to do it much easier, and probably with a slightly uncomfortable tingle on Rhask's end of the effort.
Rhask shakes her head at the question. "Ah, no. She also painted across my chest, and..." She squirms a little at the tingle from the magic as Tarbin draws the oils out from between her scales. "...I guess you need me to remove my bra, too?"
Tarbin nods as he focuses on dabbing the revealed oil off her scales. "Sorry, I can slow down a bit if the magic is irritating you. And yes, you should probably wash that without putting it back on, too. It will have some of the paint soaked into it."
Rhask sighs a bit, figuring it was probably inevitable she'd have to do that for proper treatment anyway. "It's mostly just... a little uncomfortable, is all. As for my bra, well..." She gives Tarbin a slightly nervous look, "Please don't tell anyone, okay? Piper already knows, but she's kept her promise all this time."
Tarbin tilts his head a bit. "Of course? I only want to help, after all." He releases her arm so she can do her thing, turning to rinse the cloth out again.
Rhask nods as she waits for Tarbin to turn again, then goes about removing her bra. She sets the garment aside as she lets her second pair of arms unfold from their usual resting position crossed over her chest and instead clasp loosely over her abdomen. "A-alright, well... since it'll help."
Tarbin turns back, pausing halfway through his nod when he sees her arms. "Ah. Maybe blunt, but not any stranger than breasts, miss Rhask." They are, as far as he's concerned, but he remembers himself, raising his two tails to his side to emphasize his next point. "More alike than I'd expected, though."
Rhask chuckles a little and nods as she looks at Tarbin's twin tails. "Mmh... that's why I'd asked if your tails were something common where you came from, remember, mister Tarbin?" She manages a smile after a moment, glad that he, like Piper, is taking it in stride, "But... yeah... Piper paints these arms like she does my main pair."
Tarbin nods a bit, setting his tails back into the open floor to continue working on Rhask's right arm. "I do remember, yes. It makes sense now. The Flow as well. When we met there was something a bit off about how the Flow within you seemed to move around your chest. But of course... I didn't want to stare like a... Er... [Pervert]." The scales on her right forearm weep very little of the irritating plant oil on his third effort.
Rhask tilts her head at the word she doesn't recognize, but she at least understands the implication. "I remember you were looking at them for a short bit, but I guess I never thought you could see what they actually were. Thank you for being so courteous, though, mister Tarbin. I don't know what I'd have done if you asked about it back then."
Tarbin nods, moving up to Rhask's shoulder to continue the healing. "I haven't met anyone else with four arms, but perhaps they hide them too. I don't think you'd be judged on them here, especially. Maybe I am biased, though. Do they work well?"
Rhask nods as she shifts her arm a bit, the tingling of the oils slipping out from under and between her scales just a bit uncomfortable still. "They work just fine. I use them when I'm not in public to knit things faster."
Tarbin chuckles a bit. "Did you pick your job on that advantage?"
Rhask giggles and shakes her head. "No, I learned it from my parents, who work as clothiers up in northern Vamas. It's one of the only really sort of "job" things I know how to do, so I figured I could make something of it here in Respite Falls."
Tarbin nods, dabbing away the oils and wringing the cloth out again. He turns to the sink, filling another bowl with warm water and fetching a clean cloth to wipe her right arm down for any remaining drops. "That's good, I think you have a bit of the market, then. It's been cooler than I would have thought when I arrived, and I didn't come here with any expectations at all."
Rhask hums and nods. "Yup, it's really felt a lot like Vamas in the evenings so far. I guess the desert nearby doesn't hold a lot of heat for very long." She tilts her head curiously, "Are the clothes I knitted for you working well, still?"
Tarbin nods, carefully taking Rhask's lower right arm and starting to work with it as he had the other. "Yes, thank you. My hut is not much better at holding heat than the desert sand, but it is small enough that my lanterns keep it tolerable. Do you also do blankets, though?"
Rhask smiles happily and nods again. "I could! A blanket is a lot easier to knit than clothing, so it's a lot more about creative designs than anything else."
Tarbin smiles softly, thinking for a few seconds. "If I can bring you a drawing, perhaps a design from my homeland?"
Rhask seems quite interested at the question. "Oh, I could try! I've most every color available now, so I should be able to match designs closely. What sort of material would you like for it?"
Tarbin hums, considering it as he wipes her lower arm with the warm water. "I think cotton if that is alright. I can try to recreate the designs later today, if doctor Doctor Plume comes back soon. It may take a few tries, I am not good with paint or ink."
Rhask 's lower arm flexes a little in Tarbin's grip as he wipes down the scales. "It's fine, mister Tarbin! As close as you can get it will do the trick. I'll try to keep as close to the design as possible, of course." She tilts her head again, "About how large of a blanket are you looking for?"
Tarbin hums, releasing her arm and spreading his own for emphasis. "About this wide?" The cloth flops in his hand, getting water on the floor and face of a cabinet. "Ah. But yes, a bit wide, if that's okay. And tall as me. If it's no trouble, of course!"
Rhask hums thoughtfully as she looks over the rough size of the blanket and compares it to her stock of materials. She slowly nods. "I might be able to make something of that size without too much delay... It'll probably come down to how intricate the designs are."
Tarbin nods, putting the cloth back in the bowl and staring to work on drawing the oils from Rhask's chest scales. "No hurry, and if you don't have enough for it, I understand. Make sure your other orders can be filled - first."
Rhask lifts her head a bit to give Tarbin space. "It's fine, I do have another shipment of materials coming in soon, so I'll be slightly overstocked for a little while."
Tarbin works a bit slower, not wanting to push too much magic around within his patient's chest. "I see. So you are well settled in then, hmm? Have you made any customers of the Saurs that have moved in to Respite?"
Rhask chuckles, nodding happily. "A few, so far! They have their own folks that can make clothing, of course, but I've been trying to learn some of their designs in my free time." She smiles, "I've been settling in well, too!"
Tarbin smiles, nodding as he dabs Rhask's scales again. "That is good! At least after everything, a sort of... [broadening] of art is one benefit."
Rhask nods again. "Mmhm! They're all really neat to talk to, and their children are really cute, too, even though I've seen a couple here and there getting caught stealing."
Tarbin sighs quietly. "I couldn't blame them. They escaped with so little, after all."
Rhask hums in agreement. "I helped some of them get materials for clothing and such, and even made some clothes for them as well. It's been a tough several months for them."
Tarbin hums, wiping her scales down with the warm water. "It has been for a lot of folks. But ah... Less sad topic, how did you wind up letting miss painter crocodile start painting your 'secret' arms?"
Tarbin continues coaxing the allergenic oils from Rhask's scales as much as he can manage while she tells him her tale, the rest of the procedure taking a bit over an hour and leaving the knitting lizard with at least a little relief. And probably a newfound caution when it comes to which pigments she lets Piper choose.
----------------------------------------------
SOMEWHERE IN THE HIGH SEAS BETWEEN SARN AND AEPHIX
----------------------------------------------
Leana sighs as she leans on the railing of the ship, staring into the distance in which somewhere supposedly is one continent of Aephix... and the town of Respite Falls within. Respite Falls, a small frontier town the black swan-snake had not even heard of a week ago, but now pressures in her mind like an itch inside her skull that won't go away. Granted, the timing works as her father and brother (Gods bless them... with spikes and thorns down their throats, preferably...) sent her a letter that informed her that her time 'chasing dreams' was over, that it was time to return to the fold.
Leana shuffles her wings anxiously and glances around despite knowing that her family isn't, and can't be, on this small ship with her. Nor would they be able to fly this far. Still, she can't help keeping alert.
Leana glances back towards the direction she's leaving behind. Sarn. Suppose that university art world was too good to last. She'd even carved herself a pretty good niche, painting portraits in a style unique to her (not everyone can supply their own feathers for techniques) and mingling in the art groups that wasn't quite noble but like... getting there? She had hopes, now dashed, is the point.
Leana sighs again and stares into the distance. What is she even going to do? Besides this odd clue of 'Respite' she really has nothing to go on, almost nothing on her, and from what she understands, a mostly empty and wild continent isn't exactly going to offer much opportunities for art. But she couldn't stay in any of the big cities of Sarn, and there's no way she wanted to get any closer to the Orelan archipelago than she had to either. So... following vague clues it is.
Leana: "Where's your sense of adventure, Leana?" She asks herself. "Well buried until last week. Kinda rusty. Needs help."
Leana sighs as she leans on the railing. Where is all this even going to lead?