Is there a doctor in the house, Sorry, it was too tempting a title XD

[Jarek]

Jarek stopped at the door to the infirmary and tugged at the short sleeves of his t-shirt. He had not given his tattoos a second thought in months, but he seemed to be the only student at the Academy who had any. Looking at his arms he was satisfied that only a small part of his eagle tattoo was visible. That would do. He wanted to make a good impression with the Academy's physician.

Then again, perhaps he shouldn't bother. The rumors he had heard hadn't painted the doctor in the best light. Jarek found it difficult to believe that Four Point's doctor was as... unhinged as some of those rumors said. But there was only one way to find out. The Academy offered no classes in healing magic, and if he wanted to improve his skills, Jarek would need some help from a pro.

He pushed open the door and stepped into the infirmary. The place didn't look much different from any other medical ward Jarek had seen in his life. That, he thought, was a good start. He softly closed the door behind him and cleared his throat.

"Przepraszam," he called out before he realized that he had fallen back on his native Polish.

"Excuse me? Is anyone here? I am looking for Doctor Fireside."

[Zowan]

OOC: I have made a decision! This thread shall be the first in post-asylum Zo life. Not barring the continuation of the final threads before his absence.

BIC: In his strangely empty room, Zowan flicked a long cylinder of ash into his footbath. It was, to be certain, an especially slovenly gesture coming from him, but there wasn't really anything about the man that didn't seem new, unbecoming. He brought the cigarette back to his lips and dragged hard on it, sucking smoke deep into his lungs. It burned and soothed simultaneously, both sore and balm.

There was nobody with him. Not in any form of the definition. Only emptiness that seemed to assail his ears with an unfriendly is not is not is not.

When he first heard the stirring on the other side of his door, he was a bit confused. The sound seemed quite foreign, although the chord it struck within him was the same as it had always been. To help, to heal, to do for others what he had never been able to do for himself - this was what remained of Zowan, and what had always endured. In an absentminded gesture, he dropped the cigarette into the footbath and stood up, pulling down his shirtsleeves to cover as many scars as he could. A silver amulet on a chain fell to hide the top of a curved scar at his throat, although the memory of its significance was dim, undefined and, he presumed, highly inaccurate.

He feared that most of his memories were.

Zowan opened the door and stepped out into the main hallway of the Infirmary. Immediately he noticed his assistant, Noemie, making her way toward the newcomer. 'I guess she's more like my partner now,' he mused. She had, after all, gone above and beyond the call of duty to take care of the Infirmary during his absence. If she'd wanted to, she could easily have petitioned for his Head title and taken it, but it seemed she was content working under him. Indeed, the young Healer-in-training had grown to admire her eccentric "boss" while accepting that she would never understand much about him. With a glance in his direction, Noemie acknowledged Zowan's motions toward greeting the visitor and went back to her work, remaining in earshot.

Zowan approached Jarek, encouraging the corners of his lips to curl upward into something resembling a smile. "Hello, there," he said, extending his hand to the student. "I am Doctor Zowan Fireside. What can I do for you?"

[Jarek]

Jarek thought the doctor's smile was a bit forced, but turned the thought aside with a mental shrug. That wasn't really his business, and he assumed a healer's job was quite stressful at times, everyone coming through the door potentially being in a life-threatening condition.

Was that something he'd be prepared to deal with? No, perhaps not, but he was years away from becoming a true healer - if he ever made it. There was more than enough time to make up his mind where to take his magic training, but for that he needed to learn more.

He grasped the offered hand and introduced himself: "Jaroslaw Kowalczyk, but please call me Jarek." He let go of the doctor's hand and took a step back, to put between them what he considered a respectful distance.

Jarek drew in a deep breath and stood very straight, almost stiff. "I wanted to ask if you would be willing to take on a student, Doctor Fireside. I know only a little healing magic, but I would like to improve my skills, learn a little more. As there is no class in healing I thought perhaps you could give me some lessons."

[Zowan]

After a moment of slow comprehension, Zowan's eyes lit up. It had been so long since anyone had requested his teachings; with a brief pang, he remembered a certain old friend who had saved his life. He nearly laughed aloud at himself when he felt a flush of pride rising.

With a smile spreading across his lips, the Doctor replied, "I think that would be a really good thing. I'm glad you came to see me. I don't know if I'm really a great teacher, but I'll certainly do my best to help you out! Do you - you mentioned you know a bit already? Do you have time now to sit and chat?"

Zowan took a step backward, turning to survey the area around him for chairs. He felt a pleasant sort of adrenaline rush, something that spoke of old times. It brought back a spark of something that had seemed like ancient history to him. Zowan realized that he felt happy and that he liked it.

Turning back to Jarek with a wooden chair in each hand, the Doctor waited for his reply.

[Jarek]

"Yes, I have time, doctor." Jarek relaxed a bit and took one of the chairs from Zowan's hands. "My next class only starts after lunch break."

He waited until the doctor had sat down, before he got seated. Undecided what to do with his hands he placed them on his thighs, before looking at Zowan. The doctor seemed like an agreeable fellow, but some doubts whispered in Jarek's ear that, by the standards of a real healer, his own skills might be hardly something worth chatting about.

"I...I really don't know very much. Just a few spells to treat minor ailments like headaches, bruises, or small cuts. Things that are a bit help in everyday life, but nothing you couldn't do with some basic medicines and a little first aid too."

He ran a hand back and forth over his head as he tried to think of anything more to add, but that was really the extent of his skills. “When my grandmother taught me she always said I had more talent for elemental magic than healing. But I am used to working hard, so maybe I can learn a little more.”

[Zowan]

Zowan nodded, listening carefully to Jarek, and then leaned forward in his chair with a smile to respond.

"First thing," he said in a confident tone, "don't belittle your accomplishments! I think it would surprise you to learn how many young people don't bother to explore healing magic at all. What's really important is that you've learned to make a connection with the flesh that is the necessary basis for all magical healing. In doing so, you've made a far greater step than you seem to realize. Some people will never be able to affect the flesh in the fashion necessary for healing. Most work very hard trying to establish this skill in the first place." Zowan settled backward again in his chair, and punctuated his next thought with a grin that was quite warmer and far more genuine than he had been able to muster when he first saw Jarek. "I am not, of course, suggesting that you haven't worked hard to get where you are with your healing magic. Just pointing out that it sounds as though you have something of a natural affinity. The basis of healing, as you have probably realized, is heavily dependent on a person's ability to connect their internal energy with that of another person. And though there is a place for elemental magic within healing - I use water - drawing upon your internal energy stores will always be a key aspect of your medicinal work."

With that, the Doctor stopped a bit more abruptly than he usually would have, tilted his head to the side ever so slightly, and gave Jarek a speculative look, his eyes suddenly full of curiosity. "Speaking of which," he began slowly after a few dense moments of silence, "this might sound like a strange question, but, you don't ... just heal entirely with your brain, do you? I mean ... your grandmother, she actually taught you this type of magic, right? You can't just ... do it naturally?" As the words were out of his mouth, Zowan wished that he could bite them back, revoke them. It was the most absurd thought, and had come out in the form of an absurd question, and Jarek would probably think he was entirely cracked.

Zowan comforted himself with the thought that he was not, indeed, technically crazy any more. Or something like that.

[Jarek]

Jarek listened carefully to everything the doctor said. That the healer thought he had already made a big step in the right direction came as surprise, but it also filled him with some pride. If an expert like Zowan thought he was on the right track, then there had to be some truth in it.

The question about his way of healing provided an even greater surprise, and it showed in Jarek’s wide-eyed expression.

“Naturally? You mean like some kind of… psionics?” That sounded like things Jarek knew only from comic books and movies. Magic was one thing, but just thinking about something and doing it only with the mind, without spells… “Nie.”

He searched a moment for the right words, as he shook his head. “No, Doctor. All I do is repeat what I have been taught. With my spells I only, how to say it… walk down a path I’ve come to know well. I mean, I think I know what you are talking about with the inner energy and connecting with someone, but, my knowledge of the theory doesn’t go very far. Forming that connection is just what I have been taught as one part of my spells. I never thought it was such a basic step for all healing.”

Once again Jarek ran his hand back and forth over his head in contemplation. “But what you said - is it even possible, Doctor? To cast magic on natural affinity alone, without training?”

[Adhara]

"Of course it is," A woman with normally twinkling emerald eyes watched the two as she leaned against the door frame. Zowan's antics brought a ghost of a smile to her lips and the movement felt long unused. She remembered how bouncy and ramble-y he would get when an idea really got ahold of him. Or if he was nervous. And the little subtle character ticks that made him her Zowan.

Of course he was Brae's, not hers; she had no illusions about that. However the man before her was undoubtedly her brother and one of her best friends. It had been too long although she was surprised to see that he had company with him at this time of day. The brunette had hoped that coming during lunch would mean an empty hospital wing and a chace for a heart to heart.

Apparently reunions weren't in the cards that afternoon.

She studied the boy with the formerly blue-haired man for a moment as she absently pushed a stray curl away from her face. It looked as if Zo had acquired an adoring fan while she'd been away. She'd never heard anyone refer to him as "Doctor" before. The woman almost cracked a smile at that thought but at the last moment the light extinguished from her eyes and she returned to looking a bit contemplative and wistful.

In trying to pull herself out of her mental lethargy, she focused again on what she'd heard the boys saying. After their long friendship, the brunette was more than familiar with Zowan's original style of healing. She flinched away from the painful memory of just how he'd lost that, as well as how he'd gained it in the first place. However she perfectly understood how one drew energy and elemental magic from within and the focus that was necessary. That was, after all, her own specialty. She just didn't apply it to healing people.

"Zo's done it, and frankly," she looked the boy up and down, once again feeling like a Professor, "It's the same thing as doing wandless magic. I mean, if you grow up doing a magic that is second nature to you, you don't need the focus of a wand. Often strength of mind is more than enough to channel that energy."

Unlike the woman of old, she did not come bouncing into the room and throw herself upon her beloved friend. She remained, wary almost, in the doorway as if waiting to see what her reception would be.

[Jarek]

Jarek turned in his chair to look at the woman leaning against the doorframe. There was no way to tell if she was a student, guest, or maybe a professor, as she was wearing no badge to denote her status.

He opened his mouth to answer what she had said, but then fell silent and cast a glance at Zowan from the corner of his eyes. It was obvious this woman knew the Academy's physician, and perhaps he should keep his mouth shut for a moment, despite having quite a few questions for her.

There was - or so he thought - a big difference between using concentration alone to do something one had been trained in, and using magic naturally, without training. But perhaps he would have a chance to talk with her later about this. Theory was a department he thought he knew not nearly enough about, and whoever this woman was, she sounded like she knew what she was talking about.

[Zowan]

He had just parted his lips to respond to Jarek when Zowan heard a familiar voice from the doorway, answering quite bluntly the question that had been asked of him. He tried not to wince visibly when she tossed out a personal fact about his life without even a hint of the tact he had been attempting to employ. Zowan closed his eyes for a moment, biting back a comment about how often he had burst into her Charms classroom, and then turned to face Adhara. "This is certainly a surprise," he said. "Well, this is Jarek Kowalczyk, a ... a student of mine. And Jarek, this is Adhara Naunet. We went to school together."

Zowan felt awkward in the silence that followed. What was he supposed to do? Adhara's sudden appearance had disrupted his thoughts, and he didn't want to fumble about foolishly in his and Jarek's first meeting, lest the student deem him some bumbling incompetent. He wanted to curse at his old friend for her horrendous timing, and simultaneously he wanted to give up on the whole venture, melt back into the shadows, and glide away again. Unfortunately, he could do neither.

Of course, she had always been better than him at magic, always would be. All the people he'd gone to school with had been head and shoulders above him in terms of capability. He could deal with that. What he resented was the fact that he had been easing his way back into things, attempting to reacclimate while keeping a firm grip on sanity, and an important part of the process was that those memories - of healing when it was natural, and healing when it seemed anathema - were to be kept locked up. Access to be restricted, exposure to certain memories taken one baby step at a time.

This sort of a pretense was difficult to maintain when old friends didn't bite their tongues. Of course, Adhara had never been one to bite her tongue on any occasion.

[Jarek]

He was about to rise and introduce himself, when Jarek glanced at Zowan again and hesitated briefly. The physician seemed to be caught in a predicament, just sitting there silently and looking deep in thought. That was not the way to act around an old schoolmate, was it?

Something, Jarek thought, was off. But while that gave him pause, it couldn't quite dispel his manners and education. A woman needed to be treated politely, and while Adhara was perhaps only a few years older than him - if any - age didn't change that, especially with someone who might have finished her studies and perhaps knew a lot more about magic than Jarek did. Seniority wasn't just a matter of age.

He slowly pushed himself out off the chair and offered his hand. "Jarosław Kowalczyk," he repeated the introduction. "Pleased to meet you."

[Adhara]

"Adhara Naunet," she took a few steps into the room in order to shake the man's hand. Seeing him now, she realized that he was about the same age as herself and that she had been wrong to assume he was a 15 year old school boy. She offered him a brief smile, "The pleasure's all mine."

Green eyes flicked to the man still seated behind him. We went to school together. Was that honestly all? He was one of her closest friends and that's all she got?! Seriously? It was her! It was Zowan! There was no warmth there and she was completely perplexed.

Granted, she was interrupting a meeting. Granted she had spoken out of turn. It was obviously her fault.

Stepping back from Jarek, she back a few more steps closer to the door before addressing Zowan, "I'm sorry to have interrupted you two. I knew it was lunch time so I assumed you would have been alone, Doctor Fireside. Please, pardon my unannounced intrusion and perhaps we can catch up some other time."

All of the barriers went up and her polite words held no warmth or familiarity behind them. If any emotion was to be shown, she probably would be horrified to discover that it would result in tears. His reaction had been the equivalent of a slap in the face to her. Now she just needed to retreat gracefully without cracking in front of either of the men.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Jaroslaw," the smile she gave to him was just that, a smile. It held no meaning at all other than sheer politeness. Once again her eyes flicked to Zowan but she continued speaking to the Polish man, "You can't find a better teacher than Doctor Fireside. He really knows what he's talking about. You'll learn a lot from him."

With one final look at Zowan, she turned and walked to the door.

[Zowan]

'Oh, Jesus Christ.'

Zowan's shoulders curled ever so slightly further, so that he was suddenly hunched over in his chair with his face in his hands. For several seconds, he took slow, deep breaths. He felt as though his insides were trying to shoot out of his body and run away in all sorts of different directions. He just had to hold on, keep his skin together and wrapped around his bones, just for a minute and then he would be all right.

He needed a cigarette. Actually, Zowan felt as though he needed something much harder and he remembered the feeling of liquid coating his throat and simultaneously his brain. Fuzzy lights, and light fuzziness. How he could lie down on his bed and float away and not constantly remember how many times he had defied death. 'Stupid, stupid, that's how you got yourself in this mess in the first place! Moron! What are you thinking? You're not thinking! YOU NEED A GODDAMN CIGARETTE!'

Zowan finally lifted his head and stood up from his chair, after what felt to him like a harrowing ordeal but had been in reality only a minute of silence. "Well, Jarek," he said, when he knew that Jarek thought he was an idiot and all he wanted was to bolt to his room and smoke himself silly, "I'm really sorry about that. It seems as though there are some things I need to fix now, but I'd appreciate if you'd let me know if you're interested in coming back, and if so, when that would be good for you." He extended his rough, slightly shaking hand to the student who seemed now more like judge and jury.

[Jarek]

"I'm sure I will," Jarek answered her remark about learning from Zowan. His eyes followed Adhara to the door and lingered there for a moment as he wondered why she hadn't stayed. He would have given them all the time they wanted if she had just asked. But, then again, she couldn't have known that this wasn't a real lesson, just what Jarek considered a preliminary meeting.

When he returned his attention to the physician Jarek was surprised to see the man so... upset was perhaps not the right word he decided after a few seconds, but what exactly it was he had no idea. He cast a glance at the doctor's assistant from the corner of his eyes, but Noemi just shook her head. That didn't help Jarek much. Was that supposed to tell him that she had no idea what was going on, or that it would not be a good idea to speak up and interrupt Zowan's thoughts? Just to be on the safe side Jarek decided the latter would be his best course of action, so he just stood there and waited.

He let the brief encounter pass through his mind again, and in hindsight was reminded of a scene from his youth, the first meeting of his parents after their divorce. He wasn't sure if he had been 13 or 14 at the time, but he could recall the mood of that encounter quite well, the different expectations, the moments of silence that seemed to stretch into infinity, punctuated by words that didn't manage to form a dialogue. Adhara had been around only for a moment, so there was little to draw comparissons, but the mood was perhaps not so different. But before he could dwell on that thought for long, Zowan rose and offered his hand.

"No need to be sorry, Doctor." He gave the doctor's hand a firm shake and smiled widely. "Of course I will come back. I came here to learn from you, and that is not changed."

He let go of Zowan's hand and took a step back. He didn't want to hold the physician back. "I will tell your assistant a few times when I am free, then check back tomorrow. Then you can let me know if one of those times would be good for you too, yes?"

[Zowan]

Zowan returned Jarek's handshake, and found himself smiling right back. The student's response had been a very kind and perceptive one, and that did not go unnoticed or unappreciated. "That would be great. I'm really glad that you came by."

The cool thing was that he meant it. It was incredible to Zowan that he was able to feel badly about hurting Adhara and simultaneously feel alright about the meeting with Jarek. It had been such a long time since he could control his mind in a rational way that this felt absolutely amazing.

"Thanks," he added. "I'm looking forward to getting started on the lessons."