apocalypsehowcomm

Entry tags:

network.

Who: Stephen Strange & Emily Dyer
Username: strange, emilydyer
Warnings: None! Will add if necessary.

un: strange

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Doctor Stephen Strange. Back in my home universe, I once practiced as a neurosurgeon; here, I’m offering my experience as a doctor in ADI’s medical department. With that comes a variety of responsibilities, but also the obligation to make the occasional PSA. So, here goes:

I understand that not everyone is completely trusting of ADI, or agrees with their handling of any given situation. And I’m not here to convince you otherwise. Instead, I’m here to make sure everyone knows that the medical department always has its doors open to any who need it, regardless of your feelings on the organization. So please take advantage of that fact.

If you’re injured, or sick, or feel affected by anything odd or supernatural in this world, don’t hesitate to get yourself checked in. Your health is always of the utmost importance, and we’ll do what we can to take care of you. Remember: you can’t continue to investigate if you’re ill or otherwise incapacitated.

If you need to contact me personally, that’s always an option, too. Doctor Dyer is also available for the same services, and is just as competent — if not more so.

-Dr. Strange

un: emilydyer

Dr. Strange is being kindly flattering in regards to myself, but in regards to your health, he is absolutely correct. My name is Emily Dyer, and I'm operating as another physician in ADI's medical department, with my background best classified under general practice and community medicine.

Our allegiance, in the end, is not to those who've agreed to help ADI, but to anyone who is in need of a doctor's care. Wherever you come from, whatever your take on this entire predicament we find ourselves in, we wish only to aid and to be deserving of your trust.

This sentiment isn't limited to just us, but rather all of our colleagues as well. If you aren't able to come into the department, or an emergency has arisen, send us a message, and we'll come to you instead.

Additionally, I'd like to put forth a small secondary announcement. I've been working on a medicine to aid sleep and reduce nightmares, and at this stage, it's ready to be given to a larger group. I'd like to offer this out to those who'd wish to try it, with a request that you let me know how it works for you so that I can accurately calculate its efficacy as a remedy.

If you're concerned about what it's comprised of, it's based in herbology and natural sources instead of harsher synthetic chemicals, and I have been taking it myself, so you needn't feel there is a risk associated. At worst, it simply has a bitter taste, which can be improved on with time. Regardless, I realize that this will raise questions, and I'll answer them to the best of my ability.

-E.D.

(( ooc: since this is a joint post, both Stephen and Emily will make appearances in the replies. ))

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[ Abel, never a patient but frequently a visitor to medical, hones in on Emily like she's got some form of magnetism; he's got two lidded cardboard cups in his hands as he makes his all-too-jovial approach... trying to fumble both cups into one arm so he can enthusiastically wave with the other. ]

--Dr. Dyer~! Who would've thought to find you here...? My, what a pleasant surprise!

[hopefully he won't spill, but if he does, they can treat the burns. to minimize the chances, though, she'll get the door for him, offering a smile as she does.]

Is it really surprising by now? This department is practically a home away from home.

[they keep her busy, and if not, she'll invent projects like this to keep her moving.]

[ somehow -- miracle of miracles -- he does not spill the tea!! the lids are doing their job and with Emily's assistance in door-wrangling, he avoids any potential tea-burns. wonderful...!!! ]

Oh, no! No way at all to anticipate you being here, Doctor. Not at all. Takes me by complete surprise every time~!

[ is he hinting she lives here

maybe, ]

--By the way, I wasn't sure if you wanted sugar or milk... did you? I have some in my pocket if you'd like!

[she can tell, but given that she runs up against the limit of what ADI allows consistently, it's not an unfair tease. no rest for the dutiful.]

A little, if you'd be so kind. Please, come and sit - it's not like the medicine will run away if I don't look at it.

[an unused lab table is hardly as comfortable as a cafe, but it's calm, since no one else has been needing to develop things.]

Hopefully you've been well yourself? Nothing I need to go and be concerned about?

[ right, right right-- Abel will follow her lead and plop the tea and tea-accessories down at the table, removing the lids to begin sugaring-and-milking appropriately. ]

Oh, no-- I mean, yes yes, of course! I've been fine, I mean to say... Maybe a little homesick, perhaps. [ more worried about things left behind rather than pining for it; he hopes everyone is doing alright... ] I don't suppose you have a treatment for that kind of thing lurking around here somewhere, Doctor?

I do, as it happens, and it's the easiest thing in the world to administer.

[someone somewhere is probably screaming at the way she handles jasmine tea, putting milk in it, but it's her choice.]

Conversation, about whatever's on your mind. Consider this a private space to say what you would.

[ o-oh...

Abel looks slightly taken aback at that; clearly he had been anticipating something along the lines of jest, but this response is terribly endearing, instead. ]

You'd be my counsel, Doctor...? Ah, offering that kind of thing is very dangerous, you know? I'm very famous for talking one's ear off...!! What if there isn't enough time in the day...?

Isn't the answer self evident, then? We add another day on, and another, and so forth, until you have all the time you need.

[there's not a hint of joking about it in her expression - just straightforward sincerity, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

she's always been a decent listener, and these other worlds strike her as both unsettling and fascinating - to glimpse it via another's words, why would she turn the opportunity down?]

[ Emily...

Abel's cradling his mug of tea between his hands as though to warm them, though there's something decidedly warm in his expression already. ]

You truly did go into the right line of work, didn't you? Didn't even hesitate...!

[ it's kind of her. offering an ear, perhaps a shoulder-- and her time. ]

...I promise I won't abuse that generosity and go extolling a laundry list of petty grievances... It would be rather cruel of me in the face of that offer, wouldn't it? [ does this suggest he might have done otherwise beforehand??

maybe ]

But... in all honesty, I'm not sure I would even know where to start. Does that sound silly...?

[she shakes her head.]

Sometimes there's so much you wish to say that it's difficult to begin. Sometimes you must pluck a thought out at random and go from there - like any of those petty grievances you mentioned.

[there's nothing saying one has to speak about a certain class of subjects, to just express their mind. it all lay in the offered choice to tell - to not say is as important as saying. sipping her tea, she breathes in the floral scent - a treat, after burying herself in the sterile scents of the lab.]

And to ease your conscience, it's not abusing generosity if I've gone and made the offer. That's a worry you needn't have, and I say that as a worrier myself.

[ the gentility and calmness Emily radiates is so very soothing; he wonders if she's aware she has an exception bedside manner. it's one he thoroughly appreciates, and he can't quite manage to keep a soft note of fondness from creeping into his smile as he sips at the contents of his tea cup in turn. ]

Then... would you mind if I asked you something, Doctor Dyer? Is there anyone in particular you find yourself missing from home, or... thinking after? Wondering how they're doing while you're here?

[and here she thought it was supposed to be conversation about his world...he won't escape so easily. still, at the question, a name and face comes to mind swiftly. it'd be stranger if they didn't - one doesn't shrug off the past.]

I'll admit I spare a thought for a few, but as to who I wish is simply staying well - there's a young woman I know, Miss Woods, who is a dear friend. We met at a peculiar turn in her life, and she simply decided we were companions of her own accord...anyway, I can't help but hope she hasn't gotten into too many of her own misadventures.

[somehow, she thinks Emma would take to the apocalypse all too well, if news ever got to her. but she's safe(?) and away from here, and if Emily pulls through this, maybe by then she'll have the woman's cure. maybe. who's to say?]

What about you, Father? Whose good health do you hope for?

[ ah... the sort that simply decides Friendship Is Happening, eh? Abel is pleased to hear such types abound in Emily's life; those sorts tend to be good for the more soft-spoken (and workaholics) of the world. ]

Miss Woods...! Is she the friendly sort? She sounds it, from the way you describe her.

[ it's times like these that Abel's reminded there is an entirely different world waiting for Emily when they find a way to get back home; he knows so very little about hers. ]

Would you mind if I asked how you met...? Ah, and-- well... let's see. I suppose there are a few friends I find myself wondering about, but-- there is one person in particular I'll admit I find myself thinking on more often than most. A-- a good friend who's recently put quite a lot on her shoulders, though I know she's more than capable of handling it all. I can't help but be curious how she's doing, you know?

Oh, naturally. You'd like to know that she's fine, and be able to offer your help if she needs it.

[because she can tell, if Abel's so willing to do these kind gestures for strangers, that he'd be even more ready to step forth for friends. particularly those that might be taking on more responsibility in life.]

I know it sounds somewhat cliché to say this, but if your faith in her is true, she likely knows, and that gives her strength to go on.

[ hmm, suppose he can wait on tales of Emily's meeting with certain cute-sounding companions back home... even if patience might not be Abel's forte, he will have to restrain himself!! ]

That sounds very much like something she might say, actually...!

[ and his smile is a mixture of amused and content at that, ]

Miss Esther once told me something especially wise for someone her age. That, no matter what we endure-- as long as there's someone looking out for you, someone walking beside you... you can keep moving forward, no matter the weight of your sins or burdens. Very profound, right? And a little cheesy. But... I like to think there's truth that rings in that all the same. Do you think so...?

[she nods, though internally something twinges to hear the phrase sins or burdens. it's true for most people, not those that have to haul themselves up through atoning for mistakes. there can't be forward motion until you get the past to not be dragging at your heels, taking half your steps away.]

It's true. People like to focus on their own strength, their own accomplishments, as if they managed it all on their own always. But even the strongest have at least one person who believes in them, who gives them their support, and so they manage to not crumble through life's trials. There's only so long a man can play at being an island, after all.

Maybe it's a lesson one has to learn firsthand?

[ self-reliance can only take one so far; pride can only carry a wounded soul such a distance before imminent collapse. ]

Making it through the hardest of times on borrowed wings...? I suppose it has something of a humbling effect, certainly inspires growth once you bring yourself to acknowledge it. And though it can be a bitter pill to swallow-- that sort of medicine can go a long way to heal what ails you.

[ --and then a sheepish sort of laugh, ]

But who am I to speak on medicine to a Doctor~!

Do you not give medicine of your own to those who come to you? My talents lie in healing the body, but for what afflicts the soul, your skills would be better appreciated.

[no amount of physical care would ease a wound so deep. she hopes that somehow, she'll be able to mend the mind, but anything in the depths of the heart...well. there was a reason so many turned back and looked upwards in the most despairing moments.]

No one comes to this office for consolation, after all - but they come to yours.

Hm... is that really true? I'm being treated for homesickness, as it turns out... maybe you're simply a practitioner of more than one sort of medicine, after all?

[ chuckling as he cups his tea, he can't help a little pleased fidget in his seat. ]

But I have to say... if you consider me a man whose 'office' provides consolation-- then I'll be happy to return the favor of a good treatment, anytime you'd like it, okay? Consider my doors always open to you.

That means a great deal, Father. You may end up seeing me at some point to take you up on that.

[hopefully later rather than sooner. she has the looming, terrible feeling that if she tried to let off just a little, more than she wanted would spill out, upended by any lapse of vigilance.]

Tell me a little more about your home?

[she still owes him answering how she met Emma - she remembers, but if the conversation should slowly get there, she sees no reason to hurry it for now.]

[ Emily... he certainly hopes she does take him up on it, one day. he might not have been here terribly long, but he can tell that having a shoulder to lean on now and then will probably only grow more important as the months drone on.

and speaking of bearing ones soul... he hasn't forgotten that bit about Ms. Woods either!! but he's sure the conversation will take him back in that direction. things have a way of meandering as they will, mmhm~!

for now-- Abel tilts his head ever so slightly in thought. hm, HM, ]

Ah, well-- before I get ahead of myself, may I ask you something first, Doctor? --I'm not changing the subject, I promise you! It'll simply make it easier to explain I think, if you might tell me the year you're from? Are you from an earth similar to this one, perhaps?

Somewhat. The last year I recall is -

[somewhere in the medical wing, an unfortunate intern drops a tray of glassware, obscuring the year that definitely is far from the 21st century.]

-so you see, I had quite a lot of catching up to do once I found myself here. Thankfully there were more than enough kind souls who helped me, and while much is unfamiliar, I at least can navigate without feeling lost.

[ such unfortunate timing, that intern's clumsy fumble of glassware that shatters in the distance; conveniently, Abel is nodding right along as he absorbs the precise year Emily's extolled. ]

Ah-- you know, I think you might be the first person I've spoken to whose time comes considerably before this one...! I wonder if there's any rhyme or reason to it? But I'm glad that acclimating wasn't too difficult. [ must have been daunting, to say the least. ] I suppose I can empathize with you in some way, Doctor-- though my predicament was in the other direction. The year I'm from is, well... quite a bit ahead of the year 2021.

Truly? As startling as that must have been for you, to hear that is something of a reassurance - people will still survive to whatever year you've come from. It says something for persistence.

[she can't call it farfetched, when her coworker is a sorcerer and Abel's right in front of her. he has no reason to lie about the year he was from.]

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network.

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when you don't notice a typo until it's far too late... single tear rolls down my cheek

pensive emoji i've been there

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