INT - Roesler’s House
Niles Roesler: The twins were given an appointment time and the address of Roesler's personal residence. Once arrived they were greeted by the man himself, though the presence of house staff was certainly audible - footsteps pattering about upstairs, a familiar (to Dinah) pixie fluttering back and forth, another young woman in a maid's uniform cleaning up the kitchen from the most recent meal. He greeted them warmly but left little discussion for the house proper - instead ushering them to the staircase that lead upward. The doctor's piano sat in a sun room just beyond, and as they climbed the steps he reiterated his gratitude for the twins' role in its repair.
"That has never sounded better you know," he mused, smiling warmly as he led them to the attic. He pulled the door open, gesturing for them to enter the prepared room. It was impeccably clean - no dust or clutter. A large armchair had been set back against one wall next to recently-installed chains and shackles, a cart of refreshments of various types at its arm. Dorian likely recognized some of his regular choices of liquor from the Cabaret - and any bar snacks he liked to order. In the middle of the room was an operating table, set up with an IV stand and tools. A utility sink, ice bucket, and bottles and liquid bags of medication and IV fluids spanned the other wall.
Dinah was holding her brothers' arm as they had approached, giving him a warm smile. "I promise you. everything will be fine" she said earnestly before they had entered the Roesler house. Upon sensing the pixie in the house, she initially froze and stared around herself, eyes shining, but she made another thoughtful noise. Hopefully having exposed herself as 'scary' to the pixie, neither of them would have anything tied to them this time.
She glistened slightly in certain spots as she caught the light. Symbols painted on her skin in something that was pale enough to be near translucent and looking almost like silvery-peach glitter against her wrists, her pulse points at her throat, and one at the hairline at her brow.
"I'm definitely pleased to hear that it works well for you. Sometimes, you don't realize how out of tune something is until you hear it played freshly-tuned" she paused upon the entry to the attic, smiling gently. "Where would you like me, Mr Roesler?"
Dorian accompanied his sister to her grim task for the day, being the one among the pair who deemed it thus. He carried more than the best person in the world on his arm, he also took with him his forbearance, as well as himself with quiet consternation peeking in past a plastered on smile below a rare shadow unshaved on his face. Additionally he had palmed around it's middle, a bottle tied furoshiki style with a pattern printed on it. The rose of Sharon, he'd learned, meant resilience to some people, and though he'd attained bottle and silk to wrap it in, he'd had lessons from one of their house maids for an afternoon to get the knot right himself, and not look janky. He had spent the time before their arrival, and meeting Dinah for it, out, alone. Wandering the wilds between their home and the city with his mare Irene. The last thing he held was a looped length of thick galvanized steel anchor chain, and a currently open thick lock to which he'd given his sister the key.
In some ways, such as those to do with his comfort zone, letting his twin take the lead was easy. The suppression of his overly zealous protective urges, and the argument that arose from them took up the main part of his mental capacity, past walking and keeping his face in order. He was thinking, most audibly about a song, over and over, repeating the lyrics so that he would not say anything else. One he'd hummed on the way every once in a while without even realizing his thoughts had taken over his mouth. He'd grunted a monosyllabic that was meant to sound agreeable to Dinah's last reassurance, Once they were inside though, he made a point of ratcheting up the smile though it did not touch his eyes, and handing over the bottle he'd brought to one of the man's staff. At the door the taller twin had remarked a rehearsed explanation of the gift, "I could not let my sister be the only one to bring you a gift of immense value. This scotch was laid down in '17. Please enjoy it with our gratitude for a job well done. "
Once they were in the room, he'd look around with a critical eye and that smile almost gone. But he said nothing further, just stepped back a few paces to his appointed chair, where he'd pour himself a small one, and shoot it, then speak after he'd lubricated in a throaty, quiet voice, "Glad to hear it about the piano, which is lovely. And thank you for the refreshment."
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Niles Roesler took the bottle from Dorian with a smile and a nod of his head. "Much appreciated. I can't thank you enough for what you and your sister are providing today," he said graciously. In the room the bottle to one of the side tables, away from the tools and other such things. Roesler stepped to gather some surgical drapes and blankets from a nearby cupboard and set them folded in a pile at the foot of the table. "Well... firstly Ms. Windgrace, I'd like for you to relax. If your brother would be so kind as to help you out of your clothing and with a bath? The salts and soaps provided are specially-formulated for cleansing the skin - " he paused, chuckling softly. " - a pre-operative requirement and not at all commentary on your hygiene I assure you."
There was another little table nearby that he indicated with a turn of his hand. "Your clothes can be folded and set there unless Herr Dorian would like to hold onto them." He instructed and set a towel out by the tub for her. "Once dried off, kindly lay back on the table. The blankets can be used to cover up until I can come back in and drape you for the procedure." Roesler looked from one twin to the other. "Once situated I'll be inserting an IV and preparing your skin. We can reassess your preference for... awareness and sensation during the procedure at that time. Any questions or concerns for the time being?"
Dinah had kept the lock close to herself though she was physically incapable of handling the chains. Far too heavy for her, but Dorian was brutishly strong. She watched him take the drink and pressed her hand to his arm, smiling fondly.
She canted her head and studied Roesler with a curiously intense gaze. She nodded though, smiling cheerily.
"I am quite relaxed, Mr. Roesler. It's my brother who is struggling somewhat. I should have remembered about the bath. I would have pinned my hair up" she gave a weary sigh. Now she was going to have to curl it all over again.
"I can tell you already though.. I shall like to be as aware as is physically possible, But i don't much care for the idea of feeling it." she said thoughtfully. "When I've bathed, we ought to get you into your chair too, Dori. if i'm to hold the key still, that will be somewhat necessary" she reached out to give his hand a squeeze.
"I must warn you, Mr Roesler. My brother is fiercely protective, as I have mentioned before. we have brought the chains in case seeing me in any sort of...disarray upsets him. When he manages to break those chains, I suggest you run, though both of us certainly hope it shan't come to that". she gave the other blonde an admiring smile "he's terribly strong."
Dorian had assured Dinah he hadn't any weapons at all, he'd even taken the knife he normally carried in his boot out, so was less clad than usual to demonstrate his accession to her wishes. Then Englishman's past actions merited her concern over his being there and behaving, surely, but he'd sworn, and did not like making her cross. A little vexed sometimes, in peevish ways leftover from childhood, like throwing peas at her until she'd want to tell the staff to stop serving them. But Drystan got that treatment too, since the pair of them and Delilah usually were the ones who needed lightening up. He'd just dropped the chain onto handsome leather when Niles had finished speaking; the bathing request was not something he'd come prepared for, and apart from blinking twice, then a third time and putting that song into his head again, (Robert Johnson's Kind Hearted Woman Blues), he'd turn from the pair and pour himself another one, muttering "Blimey."
He'd chug it down, aiming to solve his annoying sobriety all of a sudden, and then rip a nervous hand through his already flopsome blond mop, and add to Dinah's remarks, giving her a nod as she looked so warmly at him, "My sister is right. I do not wish to do anything that would bring me cause for regret. That is not a threat, Mr. Roesler, nor do I intend insult, or injury. On my honour as an Englishman, and my name I swear it I am sure you can understand this as a... somewhat unusual thing to bear witness to... passively. For me at least." He was not like his kin in their passions and extremes, he lived and brooded in far more conventional ways, despite his adjacency to such exceptional people. His face had started to go pink in the cheeks, because he was also failing at not considering the concept of bathing her. It was not even until Roesler brought it up that he'd realized she would not be fully dressed for the maneuver.
Niles Roesler didn't laugh but the amusement in his eyes was likely easy to see, even with the spectacles. "Well, there may be room for two," he offered with a little glance at the tub. Was he picking up on Dorian's flustered distress at the prospect? Possibly. "I understand the protectiveness. Such is the way for family, is it not?" He went to the door, hovering beside it. "I don't doubt your brother's strength but... I will say I've no intention of running and leaving you in a state on my operating table. I'm resilient enough, or at least resourceful enough I think... to at least ensure I can properly stabilize you before Dorian can incapacitate me."
His eyes rest on the Dorian meaningfully. "I will emphasize... that chasing me out of the room when I am the nearest medical professional may be a severe detriment to your sister. I will happily call someone else to come and -- close her up if necessary, though." He turned to put his hand on the doorknob. "If you have wards or protective spells in place against empathic or telepathic magic, Ms. Windgrace, please consider dropping them for the time being. In lieu of medication I intend to use my own abilities to... null the pain, but leave you awake as per your stated preference." With that, he was prepared to step outside for the twins to handle the bathing.
Dinah glanced towards Dorian as, quite predictably, his cheeks had gone pink. she laughed gently and she nodded. At least the concept of her being bathed had distracted him at least a little, for a moment. she gave a giggle behind her hand, shaking her head,
"I can assure you, Mr. Roesler, the only state I would be bothered about would be being unclothed. I will be perfectly fine soon enough even once my heart has been removed, I should imagine" She smiled, shaking her head, touching the symbols at her pulse and brow.
"Not wards, nor protections. I am experimenting with ground aetherite which should hopefully help me not be quite so exhausted when this has been performed. It will be tiring, regardless, but healing a heart is going to be a little strenuous, I'd wager '' she hummed, thumbing at the buttons of her blouse. "thank you, Mr. Roesler, we shan't take long."
Dorian managed to agree with Roesler by proxy, in that he answered the man, smile gone grim, but at least present, absurdly, against the roses flushing ever darker in his face, spreading toward his ears, "I do understand that harming someone in the midst of surgery upon my beloved sister is not rational. But it is not my rational, sensible mind that I am worried about. That is why I am walking away from that delectable looking table you have set me. Furthermore, I reckon you are rather less harmless than you look, though I am also altogether certain we, all three of us, prefer amity to enmity. I shall endeavour to maintain this state of affairs as well as the pair of you have." He knew that he was not beyond snapping when seeing red, his sister made it clear that she felt the same. days of grappling with himself had allowed him to be as calm and considerate as he was being. Stepping toward the door, he'd lean against the frame, with his back against the jamb, and look from the tall German to his sister, raising a brow at her in lieu of asking an un-askable question.
Niles Roesler nodded his understanding. He admirably did not look any lower than Dinah's eyes as her fingers went to the buttons of her blouse. "Do let me know when you're done. Left side tap is the hot water, right is the cold. I'll leave you to your bath - do take your time." His smile widened just a tiny bit, nearly imperceptible before he pulled the door open and stepped outside. Footsteps went away from the door itself, evidently to give them some audio privacy. It would've left a question as to how in the world to fetch the doctor back once finished were Dinah not aware the man could communicate by telepathy.
Dinah gave a soft chuckle in her throat as Dorian decided to stand guard at the door instead, and she smiled. "it'll all be fine, Dori. See? I won't even feel it. you're fretting so much. I'm a little excited to see how fast I can heal" she unbuttoned her blouse, back turned to him, fumbling with her skirt fastening too, but she paused before removing either to crank the hot water faucet. She would happily boil herself.
"I don't suppose you brought a hairbrush, did you dear heart?" she asked him hopefully, picking up one of the blankets that she could use to wrap herself in, stepping back and casually draping it over the top of Dorian's head with a titter to make him look like a sheet ghost.
Dorian re-opened and re-closed the door, then stood in front of it like an unarmed sentinel dressed in riding clothes from the previous century, only to get a blanket put over him. He then joined her in laughter, and explained as he didn't bother undoing being made a sheet ghost, "Of course I don't have a hairbrush, but you know that. I did not mean to repeat myself with Mr. Roesler, and I cannot help but worry. I shall try something different, and I can turn around and look away--" This he did, after going silent a moment, which she'd be able to see and hear, since his voice would start bouncing off of the wood, "I will quiet myself and..." He'd closed his eyes, took a deep breath and relaxed, tried to with the long exhale. He did the same long breath again, tapping his foot in time to the song in his head as he opened up his mind to her, to maybe sponge off of her excitement. Instead of thinking about England when he closed his eyes to calm himself, though, he thought of Dinah, and Robert Johnson's song, which would come through in his own voice rather than as a memory of hearing the recording,
[A-ain't but the one thing
Makes Mister Windgrace drink
I'm worried 'bout how you treat me, baby
I begin to think
Oh babe, my life don't feel the same
You break my heart
When you call Mister So-and-So's name
She's a kindhearted woman
She studies evil all the time
She's a kindhearted woman
She studies evil all the time
You'd do well to kill me
If you have it on your mind].
His exhilaration at her undressing, and embarrassment over all of it taking place outside their home, but inside someone else's notice was extant and rose atop the fretfulness and general deep magma layer of unsettled feelings. At least the parrot brained twin did not go to sleep being so dressed. His placement did put him between the door and her. The better to take the blanket off and hold it up for her as she got out.
Dinah finished undressing with her besheeted brother serenading her from his post at the door and she smiled, dipping a finger into the water to check it was scalding enough. She stood on her tiptoes to press a kiss to the shape in the blanket where his nose was before stepping into it.
"I like that song." she said thoughtfully, swiping the soap across her skin, though she was carefully avoiding the spots she'd marked earlier. "I shan't kill you though, Dori. Quite the opposite. You're stuck with me, I'm afraid" she tittered, dipping her head backwards to soak and submerge her hair.
Dorian laughed as she reviewed his performance, and did not peek. He did not need to. He could be with her, feel what she felt. The humid air rising from the tub was subtle, but he felt it strongly through the twin bond. He asked her aloud, "I do not think you would kill me, but are you sure you are alright? I do not know how to describe it, but I have felt... strange and unsettled, even before I knew about this, if I am very honest. Since perhaps Christmas, which was rather fine and not foreboding." That unease had been something he could not pinpoint, though it effected other psychics in the area, he never considered that would be his problem, because he barely used that gift. Certainly did not wield it with precision nor often outside of sister-related reasons out of mere habit.
Dinah made a noise of assent in her throat and she nodded, smiling up towards him. "There's something in the city. something of *mine*. or ours, I suppose. But it's thrown a stone in the aetheric pools around here. I suppose I am becoming somewhat territorial of this little island" she agreed, taking her hairpins out and shaking her head.
"but that'll be fine too. I'll find it. Either it's something that is intending to harm us, in which case, we will be protected, or it is on our side, and in which case, much the same" she sighed and smiled, setting the soap aside and standing. "blanket, love. then we'll get you into your chains. the fact you could carry them means you'll be shredding through them in moments but..."
Dorian grumbled as he reached out his arms and all at once unsheeted himself, "I could not very well carry an unspiked iron maiden here and look any less strange. Nor find one on short notice. And in the end even those are only as firm as the locks upon them." He'd open his eyes before he leaned down to help her out of the tub, offering his draped outstretched arm, and upon standing again, maintaining strict eye contact after letting his gaze wander for a few moments, then explain about the other thing what he got from her revelations, mainly surprise and confusion which, "Oh. Hm. You will tell me if I can help, won't you?" The very fact that she knew so much about it, proved that it was above his paygrade, so to speak. He did remain close enough once she was on her feet to reach around her so she could readily grab the blanket to wrap around herself. That way he could lift her hair up while she clad herself like a little Artemis ready for sport minus the sandals. Her arrows were always wit based, when it came to her brother, anyway.
Dinah stepped into Dorian's reach to enclose the blanket around herself, tucking it about herself like a towel. She did lean backwards over the tub and squeeze her hair out like wringing a rope.
"I could probably have found you an iron maiden but it'd almost definitely have had spikes in it. we don't want that" she agreed, rummaging in her clothes for the key.
"I don't know much yet. we'll see." she sighed, gesturing him to the chains "off you go, sweet boy. you know I can't lift them anyway" she closed her eyes, sending out the little psychic knock towards Roesler once more before adjusting the key in her fingers so she could lock her brother to the wall.
"...i hope this isn't a supporting wall" she smiled in amusement. "I promise you Dori. all will be well." She approached the operating bench, hiking herself up onto it and laying down, adjusting the towel-blanket over herself like a sheet.
"ah, this bench is cold"
Dorian was lead off to the wall and bondage like a lamb, though he was certainly not that. He didn't move like a predator though, nor like a dancer, though he had the musculature to perform as either, more like a reluctant boy toward school. With a sigh, and a heavy look, as the bard would say, he'd straight his arms at his sides so she could loop him up in addition to completing the task with whatever was on offer from Roesler. This was not an accustomed feeling, but there was a beast inside him being sorely tested already, simply because of his attraction to the freshly bathed twin, glittering with literal magic dust, skin hot from the water. But one did not speak of such things, apart from in desirous glances stolen around her limbs and sucking his bottom lip into his mouth while she bound him. He'd bite it, not trusting his tongue, until she was far from him on the bench. Standing there, trussed up in the corner, he'd murmur, "Bother, I did not knock on the door, nor call the man back, shall I thump the wall with my boot?" He didn't notice Dinah had already paged the doctor silently.
Dinah shifted and adjusted the sheet, idly reaching up to the last remaining painted spot that had been beneath her clothes, a glittering sigil painted on her sternum. that was partially washed away, but hopefully the aetherite had soaked into her skin enough. She couldn't really be sure if it was, or if the rush in her veins was because of the impending surgery.
"Oh, I called for him already" she tapped the side of her head, smoothing her soaked hair away from her brow. "...ah, I'm going to be seen without my makeup on. how distressing" she frowned in distaste. she would have to work at making her glamour incorporate her chosen look though whenever the styles changed, she would have to renew it and that could be dreadfully tiresome.
Niles Roesler felt the knock. He went to the door and gave one of his own - audible knuckle on wood. Once given the okay he entered again, sweeping the room to get a glance at how things stood. "I hope all is well?" he queried, moving over to help assist Dorian with the chains and as if picking up on the mild concern of his sister, looked to the wall itself. "...well, do try not to tear the wall out," he said with a friendly-enough smile. Once the man was secure he turned back to Dinah, rolling up his sleeves as he went to the sink to wash and disinfect his own hands. "The procedure itself is simple enough and I'll repeat these steps as I go. We insert the iV, start the fluids running. Your body will be draped for decency's sake. Your skin is swabbed with an antimicrobial disinfectant - it will look vaguely orange and smell strongly of iodine. A cut down the middle of the sternum, two diagonally toward the end of each side of the collarbone. The skin is reflected away, as are the muscles." He dried his hands off and slipped on a pair of gloves as well as a stiff smock over his clothing, returning to the tableside. "The ribs are removed, then the heart is taken. I will leave the major vessels intact as close to the organ as possible." Blinking, he hummed. "Would you mind terribly doing me a favor and removing the glasses?"
Dorian did not manage to say anything at all, just nodded when their host asked if all was well and stood there with his face pink all the way to the ears. His lip got bitten again, and his golden brows drew down over his eyes as he watched the pair of them. He almost wanted the sheet for himself so he wouldn't have to worry about what his face was doing when Niles explained the procedure. He ticced his head chin first to one side, then the other as the man went on though, as if the words landed and his expression became a mask of concern around an out of place wide tooth-gritted smile. He did not mean to look creepy, he was trying to not worry, face first.
Dinah turned her head so she could see Dorian, smiling warmly towards him. Such a casual thing, all considered, but she peered up towards Niles as he spoke. She nodded along with his description of the procedure with a thoughtful smile. "I see" she murmured "I didn't realize that the ribs would be removed.. not that it changes much. Dori, dear heart, it might mean I cannot vocally speak but I shall keep talking, regardless, if my voice fails me" she promised him earnestly "I do apologize in advance, Mr. Roesler, if the procedure causes my... causes me to look distasteful." she murmured. Clearly she was more concerned about her glamour dropping and him being exposed to the *creature* beneath. Mostly, because if he cut along her sternum, he'd be looking right into one of her eyes.
"Oh. of course" she nodded, reaching a hand upwards to help remove Roeslers' glasses.
Niles Roesler bent to assist before smiling. The tri-color eyes with their blood-red streak were visible once the glasses were removed. He pivoted a little. "If you could just tuck them into the pocket there... thank you very much, I'd hate to have to fidget with them after I've gotten all gloved up." Of course, it also brought Dinah's hands close to the warmth of his chest and her face a bit closer to his own... but that was purely happenstance and not at all purposeful. Once the glasses were away he tutted. "Nonsense. I'm sure you're being unnecessarily harsh. If it would make you feel better I can certainly drop my Glamour, though... it may be a bit harder to maneuver in the space." He went to the table of prepared things - packaged individual tools and such and began opening up the sterile packages. "Ready?" he asked. "For the IV, at least. Must keep the fluids up."
Dorian maintained his silence, and his frozen expression of madness with two different emotions fighting in his face. His cheeks yielded lines and dimples of tension, his nose wrinkled above the bridge and his nostrils flared while he tried to get used to bearing witness. Such a thing was impossible though he tried very hard to stanch the worry, capping that bubbling fluid emotion deep in the Dorian caldera with a long deep breath. He didn't know he looked like a maniac, while they two behaved altogether calmly about this all, as if it was normal. He was blessed to only be worried about the procedure.
Dinah studied Roeslers' eyes as they were uncovered and she smiled, folding the arms of his spectacles down and slipping them into his pocket. The proximity just gave her a better look at him, fixated on those strange eyes for a long moment, but she shook her head with a smile.
"no, I am not," she murmured, her vanity spurring a sullen grumble in her voice. She heard the inhalation from her brother and she turned to look towards him, smiling again, and lifting her arm.
"please do, mr. Roesler. I do so always hate needles."
Niles Roesler nodded. He wrapped a rubber band around her arm and felt for a vein, installing the IV port smoothly. "Well... the needle does not stay in, you know. It's replaced with a flexible tube - so if you really like, you can bend that arm despite that being installed." He flushed the port with saline before attaching the fluid back to it and letting it trip. Then he cracked open a little vial, and soaked a sponge, swabbing her chest with a cool orange-brown liquid. As he did the fingertips of his free hand rested on her forehead and temple. She felt him reaching - a psychic knock that preceded the slow creep of influence into her mind.
Dorian stood, watched, gritted his teeth, and barely clanked in the doing. He was not getting great huge breaths like a free person might, chained as he was, but he mitigated this by slowing the breathing down to fill the space between the links without stretching against them. The strange smile compressed to not be such a terrifying toothsome thing, truer to the tension it belied. Best to stay quiet, he didn't have anything to add, and this was not his day, it was Dinah's. And his sister got what she wanted. Keen silver eyes tracked where Niles' hands went with rapt attention.
Dinah chuckled quietly and she fidgeted just a little. better to do so now before she spilled her innards out all over the place if she moved. "I didn't know. Back when I last needed medicine, they were not invented" she admitted, flexing her fingers in her IV tubed arm. She did tense a little at the sensation of the swab across her chest, but at the 'knocking' she closed her eyes and smiled, opening her mind to not just him, but both of them so she could keep mental connection with her brother. it was a shame he couldn't get closer to her, couldn't hold her hand... but at any moment, that temper of his might end up with the spectacles in a new souvenir case. "it's alright, Dori, '' she said fondly. "I'm fine. it's not even going to hurt."
Niles Roesler shut his eyes for a moment as she let him in. The presence of his mind swept through with polite efficiency, shutting off painful sensations coming from below her neck - like a sweep of local anesthetic, only much deeper. His fingers moved when he was finished, lifting to tap lightly once at the side of her neck before doing the same to just below her clavicle. "How many times did I tap you?" he asked as he turned to drape her chest in a window, carefully removing any blanket or towel she had wrapped around her from underneath. Once covered he went to scoot a tray of proper tools over - scalpels, saw, forceps and such. "At any moment if you feel pain as opposed to... say pressure, at most, you know how to reach me even if speech is not feasible."
Dorian made a noise that was nothing near a word so Dinah could know she'd been heard. He'd meant to speak, but he was quite past that. It took quite a bit of willpower not to shake his head instead. His heart was leaping without his permission. But he did not fight, he barely moved, just watched. He really meant to talk, to be able to, but there were not words for this. Not ones he had access to, or could remember. Hating it, and not fighting was a terrible and terribly trying thing for the taller of the twins. The one not being opened up.
Dinah kept her eyes closed for a moment, wriggling her fingers and flexing them again. She tried not to lift her arms, though, not wanting to tug on the IV line. She opened her eyes again as he mentioned tapping at her and she shook her head "I vaguely felt something, but not much. once? perhaps?" she said thoughtfully. "I will let you know if i feel anything distressing" she turned her head to look towards Dorian again, noting his distress but she gave him another warm and reassuring smile.
"My dear heart. It's fine. I feel nothing" she said softly. "it'll be fine."
Niles Roesler took the scalpel in hand. He looked from Dinah up to Dorian. "First incision. Laterally, down along the midline of the body," he explained. He lowered the blade, making a long, clean slid down over her sternum - the full length of it and a little beyond. It was a sharp, fresh blade - it cut quickly. Any blood was quickly dabbed at with gauze and the leaking severed vessels staunched with what looked like a little pen charged with a small chunk of Aetherite that glowed faintly when applied and directed. "No stinging? Only a slight... tug of pressure?" he asked, his eyes on the incision. "Ah -- I should ask. I can move a mirror into place above if you'd like to see."
Dorian peered on, torn. Tearing. Rooted where he was by more than chains. He shook his head and tried to keep watching, tried to say nothing and be a calm observer. The sight of her blood was enough to make his breath catch, and the attempted tidal breathing stop as he held it. He was quite decent at holding it, practicing diving with the men had shown this, though the sport of that was somewhat different to this.
Dinah stared out towards her brother at the first slice, not even wincing or scrunching her face. she shifted her hand a little, shaking her head. "No. no pain. it just feels like you drew on me with something" she perked at the notion of him moving a mirror, but she tittered and shook her head. The arm with the IV lifted, propping her elbow on the bench and a black, green-gleaming eye opened on her palm "No need for the mirror, doctor. I am quite able to see you wherever you go"
The sound of Dorian's breath made her turn back towards him with a smile. "it's alright, Dori. I can't feel it. it'll be healed in no time."
Niles Roesler smiled as she confirmed the lack of pain. "Good. Two more cuts, then I'll be spreading the skin." Two incisions were slit from the far ends of each side of her collarbone to meet the central one, then each flap of skin was gently pulled as he cut at the connective tissues beneath, allowing him to expose the tissues of her breasts and the chest muscle beneath. "One I begin separating the muscle certain movements will be much more difficult, if not impossible. I imagine breathing will become more difficult as well, but I have a way around that if you like." His eyes flickered to Dorian, the man's distress filtering in through his empathic mind. At least Roesler was taking much care to only touch and do what was absolutely necessary.
Dorian watched with chain bated breath, and the moment his sister's skin was peeled back he'd drop to his knees, in a heap, face slackening by degrees until his mouth hung ajar. His golden head tipped to one side then stayed there, and he stared on unblinking in a stupor. It seemed the beast he had worried about was much more tamed by his sister than he cared to imagine, because it fled, leaving a barely animate shell. This was not alright, but Dinah said it was. Nothing about this made sense, but everyone else seemed to think so. He couldn't bear being there, jumping back and forth in both realities. The light went out behind the eyes.
Dinah watched through her palm-eye, fascinated but relieved to see that so far, the skin and flesh beneath it seemed to be regular human meat. She gave another soft 'alright' under her breath. As Dorian dropped, she nearly pushed herself up but she resisted, squeezing her free hand tight.
"I will help him. As soon as I am up again. Poor Dorian. my sweet boy" she whimpered, though at least this was slightly better than him leaping across the surgery to feed Roesler his own scalpel. "...please continue, Mr. Roesler."
Niles Roesler had paused, taking a moment to look over at Dorian as he slumped onto the floor. "Of course," he said simply. He did not personally reach out to the man, aware of the sort of can of worms opening up a mind could be. Instead he went back to his work, making slits along the connective tissues that connected her pectoral muscles to her sternum and collarbone. Each side was reflected outward, the connective bits beneath anchoring the layers to bone severed. It left only her ribcage and intercostal muscles intact. He set the scalpel aside. "...the saw comes next, Ms. Windgrace," he warned. His eyes went again to her twin. If there were anything that would rouse him, perhaps the visceral removal of bone might.
Dorian was catatonic, but breathing! So they didn't need to worry too much. He watched on unseeing and went to a place in his thoughts that was not in the room. An afternoon with Dinah and his rabbits in the lawn, in the sun. With a proper picnic. Not a scrap of meat to be found on that blanket, just some cake. And a barrel of wine.
Niles Roesler took up a little handheld device, something with a round circular saw at the end of it. It was connected via thick wire and rune-inscribed circles of metal to something that looked like a battery. "Grating and pressure," he confirmed. "But no pain. Or there ought not be. Do let me know otherwise. May want to close your eyes lest you get any fragments flying that way," he warned. The flick of a switch and the Aether-powered saw hummed to life, buzzing until he set the blade to bone at the outer edge of his window of exposed chest, carefully sawing through each rib until he could remove the section wholly and set it aside, her beating heart and (likely) struggling lungs exposed beneath. The cavity was washed in a solution that felt warm and mildly tingly, like static latent in the air. "Professor Dashrix has helped to developed quite a bit of Aether-based technology. Solvents too, to aid the body's own natural processes," he explained as he suctioned the fluid away. "Next is the heart itself. Almost there now."
Dinah wrinkled her nose. "...like sawing wood, i'd wager" she grimaced at the mental image, but did as bid, closing all of her eyes and resting her hand at her side. Poor Dorian in his picnic, she would take her eye off him for a moment to make sure nothing flicked or chipped into them. As expected, the sensation of being sawed open made her shiver a little, the vibration sensation making her quake.
<"it feels unpleasant. but not painful"> she clarified if he questioned the grimace on her face. Beneath the bone, her heart was the part that showed signs of corruption where her flesh had not. Looking almost bruised and blackened in places, nebulous purples and patterned in unknown constellations, her arteries and veins raised in twisting spirals throughout it.
Niles Roesler kept his face carefully devoid of anything more than the genial smile he typically wore but someone like Dinah- and Dorian even perhaps were he not so distracted- could likely pick up the fact that the doctor enjoyed his work. Particularly, the sight of her heart and its state were thrilling. His eyebrows raised as he marveled at it, moving quickly to clamp off the major vessels leading to and away. "Your constellations," he murmured. The cuts were quick, practiced movements and when they were done he folded his fingers around the parts of artery and vein that were closest to the organ, pinching and molding like clay to seal them off and trap any blood within the chambers inside. He lifted it to show her, nodding at the thing - though he was more than happy to project the image into her mind from his perspective if her eyes closed from the experience. "You are gorgeous, Ms. Windgrace."
Dinah kept her eyes closed even after the drilling had stopped, naturally, falling far more still as there was no more heart to pump.
<"you did not see all of it. only the heart. the external part is less so"> the connection was weak. Fading. Blood cooling even as it pooled in the well of her chest where her heart had been. For a moment, the connection severed entirely, as if her brain had realized she wasn't alive anymore and finally caught up.
Slowly, inside one of the clamped veins, something thin and black squirmed and wriggled from beneath it. Wispy as parasitic worms, a half-dozen others started to crawl from her flesh, knotting and writhing where her heart had been. They thickened and fattened, like blood-gorged leeches, before the whole messy sight twitched, jerked, and started to beat once more. It took a few minutes, of course, but after a few long moments, Dinah took a deep breath, though didn't reconnect the mental synchronization just yet.
Dorian was yet quite gone, and limp, staring. Chained and kneeling catatonically, poorly bearing the mental burden as he had the same blood and genes and magic running through him as his siblings, but nothing near the mental acuity to justify impossible things.
Niles Roesler chuckled but he did not respond. He pivoted and moved to set the heart into bag that he sealed and put on ice before returning with fresh gloves with every intent on closing her up... but he stopped when he saw the black, thick things writhing around in her chest cavity. There was... recognition in his face. Something like surprise, then calculation... then swift guarding of whatever else came next. He did not interrupt the creatures their reconstruction of the organ. Instead he replaced the bone over it, using his fingertips to craft and meld bone back together. The muscle followed suit, then the skin - using no sutures, no staples, simply fleshcrafting, the exercise of his particular skill putting flickers of himself on his own image - the wings, the mottled black at his limbs, the darkness to his hair, the crown that could have been bone.
Niles Roesler also definitely unclamped them veins.
Dinah opened her eyes only when the ribs were pushed down over her lungs again and she took a deep breath, lifting her hand with the IV line and then murmuring a soft 'oh', as if she'd forgotten she was strung to it. Instead, her head tilted, staring at her brother with an impassive, though mostly just tired, expression.
After a moment or two of making sure that he was okay.. or as okay as he COULD be, she turned to look up towards Roesler again.
"What *are* you?" she asked drowsily. "I mean. from the stories. what type?"
Dorian was la la landing his way through an afternoon that was half made of memories and half fantasy. He could feel that wrong like a cloud that was behind him, gathering, the air holding it's breath, but he ignored it, while comparing bunny fur to Dinah's hair. She was full grown, gorgeous and in one of her flowery dresses that he'd loved. He was much smaller there, having gone to a safe time when he was perhaps 8 years old and knew nothing beyond the mundane world. There, as in the room he physically occupied, he was blissfully unaware of his less than fearsome appearance at present, though he'd meant to keep his sister safe. Some guard-dog he was.
Niles Roesler followed her gaze over to him once her chest was closed again. When she spoke he took that to mean all was on route to being well internally and he was pleasantly taken aback by the speed of her recovery. "I believe the term is... Sidhe, though. It isn't purely accurate anymore," he said with a little laugh. He set to swabbing excess blood and betadine from her skin carefully. "I did mention I have my own little star. Unfortunately that association doesn't seem to make... Seelie an accurate or appropriate designation anymore, depending on who you ask." He began cleaning things up, replacing the drapes with a blanket so he could clear things away. "Do you need a drink? Something to eat? Don't move until "I've had the IV out... needle or not, it isn't quite fun feeling it rip. And feeling will return soon enough."
Dinah made a soft noise of recognition at the name he gave but she didn't speak beyond that. The hand closest to her brother reached towards him but he was still too far gone, too buried. limb by limb, she lifted each one a few inches, then took a deep breath and settled again. tiring.
"water, please" she confirmed when he offered her something to drink, but she nodded. beyond lifting her arm, she'd make no attempt to move just yet.
"they never liked me reading stories like that. too fanciful, they said" she murmured, turning her head to watch Dorian again "my poor dear heart. i'm glad he didn't get cross though"
Niles Roesler bagged up the used disposables and set the other things in the sink before returning, new gloves again, to remove the IV. Presses and kneads of his fingers sealed up the site and soon the bag itself was being tossed too. "Almost wish he had frankly," Roesler said with a sigh. "I do so hate to see people go that way.. much prefer they express themselves fully." He didn't audibly call for water but Dinah likely felt a little pulse go out like a signal, moving above the house to find one of the available people to fetch it. A patter of feet later and he was handed a glass of ice water through the cracked open doorway, which he happily brought to her. "May I help you sit up?" he asked, and moved to do so if she allowed him.
Dorian was a more fixed creature than his brother and sister. He had held onto his sanity, largely by virtue of holding onto his youthful pursuits. Music, dancing, Dinah, sweets. Trying to please his parents. The bon vivant couldn't jive with the dark side of what his family did. He wrestled with the monster he was for murdering his sister's past suitors enough for the lifetimes he'd lived, and beyond them even. He owed that to those dead men. As he owed the service he'd paid to the crown in the navy. As he owed his sister undying, unbound affection. His brother: admiration in like measure for his genius. But he could have a picnic while the storm formed and gathered behind him: his distant feelings refusing to only and entirely let him be.
Dinah laughed quietly, a fond smile on her face "he would have torn you apart. or tried to, at any rate." Her own healing factor was healing the IV puncture even as his own assisted, and she took a deep breath, closing her hand around the glass. She nodded her agreement in being aided in sitting up, her free hand clutching the bloody sheet to herself. "I think if anything had gone wrong, he might have, even like that" she winced a little, an ache of pressure in her chest as her new heart became more accustomed to shunting blood about herself. She mentally reached for her twin, the catatonic thoughts of his beautiful picnic making her pause, then smile softly. It took effort, focus that left her silent for a few moments as she made the memories of her being cut apart fuzzy and indistinct in his mind. Carefully, she eased her feet to the floor and she slithered from the slab, ungainly but thankfully upright as she wobbled close, curling herself into a hug against his chest.
Niles Roesler assisted as much as she let him but let her be once they reached the cart of refreshments he set out for Dorian. He set the glass down there and nodded to it. "I'll give you time. In the room mind, in case anything goes awry... but I hate to leave tools messy." He smiled then bowed his head to excuse himself, moving off to the sink to wash and dry things before plunking them into sterilizing solutions.
Dorian was genuinely and immediately confused to find Dinah hugging him. Blinking and looking around at where he was he'd shake his head and then again, and slowly remembering why he was chained and kneeling in a room with his half-naked sister hugging him at all. It didn't make much sense so he'd ask, dimly and quiet, "It is already done? I am-- am sorry." As he came back to himself, he'd search over DInah and seeing her looking fairly normal, all considered he had to find the reason for the whole thing too, and squinting at Niles past her, he'd just remain otherwise mute, foggy. Piecing it together with embarrassment reigning supreme.
Dinah gave a soft 'thank you~" towards Niles as he assisted, though she smiled, hugging Dorian somewhat feebly as he came back to himself.
"You don't need to apologize, dear heart. it all went fine. I started healing before he'd even started fixing me" she confirmed. She pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Are you alright? I can't help you up. I'm something of a wet noodle right now" she was, using a lot of her energy getting from the bed to the lap. "I'm just tired though. not hurt."
Dorian groggily replied, voice croaky as if he'd been recently asleep, "You needn't help me up, if you or... Mr. Roesler would not mind unchaining me, I am fine. It is not me who needs help, it is you. I did not-- It did not happen to me." As if being vulnerable was not crushing enough, and having to ask to be set free, he'd push himself to his feet with relative ease, no staggering necessary. The body was willing, the mind was the problem. His brain seemingly connected well enough to the physical faculties, though there was no need to ruin perfectly good chains and risk shrapnel. "You feel fine?" He asked the topmost question to come to him next, he'd be able to help her, at least if he had his arms back and was not bound to a wall of a man he was supposed to be friendly to.
Dinah snuggled against his chest a moment longer before she slid out of his lap and rummaged for the key. She returned after a moment, slower than she ought to be, but getting there.
"I feel tired. a little feeble, but getting better" she promised, reaching for him again to help her stand. "it just feels like... my chest aches like i've been running" she giggled somewhat breathlessly, holding tightly to his arm. "I don't even really remember the actual heart part much. I think I broke connection for a moment."
Dorian hung his head right at the end there when she mentioned breaking connection. He'd thrown his arms all around her the moment his arms were free and his bonds gone. His own broken connection was knitting back together, and he hated that he'd left her unprotected, by losing himself to some, by now, faraway dream. After a few moments of close embrace, he'd reply once more, unable to worry about what anyone thought over doing what he pleased, "You are a wonder."
After his voice broke for a moment he'd wait a moment, and swallow over the lump in his throat before calling to their host, "Thank you Mr. Roesler, for taking care of my sister."
He couldn't find anything else for his tongue to stir, though he meant to, instead, without thinking about how she needed to get dressed, he asked in his silent voice, meant to be aimed at his sister, but definitely unguarded, [Shall I get you home now?] He would ultimately relent though he'd not move away from her past un-embracing her and letting only one arm remain around behind her to keep her upright as if he had to make up for not being a good enough bulwark before. Or he loved the feel of her so close.
Dinah burrowed her face against his shirt and she clung to his waistcoat, gladly attached to him again. She smiled faintly as he called her a wonder, reaching with one grasping hand to loosely pull her clothes over the top of the bloody sheet she was wrapped in.
"he was a gentleman. very efficient" she confirmed quietly, though as his mental question came she didn't audibly respond, just nodded slowly. she'd do without shoes for now, not trusting herself on the little spindly heels, but she would keep herself fully latched to his arm...at least, until she remembered, stepped away, then picked up the strange heart in the ice, hugging it to herself. "...this is yours"
Dorian closed his eyes against her nudity, modest as someone his age had no business being. He turned his face to the floor and only disengaged from her enough to ease her dressing. He'd renew the blush that had fled from his face, however unwillingly, and stayed rather near to her, as he murmured, "I shall leave the chain. If you are unshod, perhaps I should carry you? I do not mind, I am, we are fi--" He trailed off when he got to understanding that he had a heart to take, and following along after her like a late, taller shadow, he'd reach into his waistcoat pocket for his handkerchief, the one with his initials hand sewn onto a green square with excellent lettering, to place it there as he'd planned. It was why one wore black to such an event, even if they were dim as Dorian. His pockets could handle it, and that was a lesson from long ago.
He once again was struck speechless though. Staring at his sister's heart.
Dinah held the heart-bag close for a moment as he stared, but she looked somewhat distressed for a moment. She took the handkerchief and wrapped the ice bag in it so it wasn't visible anymore, and once more she pressed herself to his side.
"it's ugly" she muttered "but..i think that might be safer than me risking shoes. I will try to walk but you might need to carry me for stairs" she agreed quietly. Her hand reached out for his, still a little chilled from the ordeal. From its position in the bag, held between them both, the heart jumped just a little.
Dorian could not help but feel jealousy alongside guilt for not having done the thing he came to do, but telling himself he was wrong for it, he'd given voice to the grateful aspect of what Niles had done. He'd argue with his sister, which came naturally when it was on this topic, "That is not so. A goddess cannot be anywhere near ugly. Awe-inspiring, maybe." It was still low with distance from remembering how to use it, but he'd managed to pretend they were already out of the place, because that was where they were headed and the sooner they were home, the sooner he could try to get to the place where he could attempt, surely failingly to forget any of this had ever happened. As if to keep that certainty alive, he felt her heart beat in his breast pocket. He was sure of it, his heart was not going to be starry, vital, and awe-inspiring in how terrible it was; if anything when plucked from his breast, it'd be black with the char of rage and the rot of guilt, tinged sickly green with jealousy.
He'd scoop her up without asking when it came time to negotiate stairs, and do nothing short of carrying her until he walked no further but they were borne away by horses. This was a line he'd draw hard and fast.