WHEN: 1943 April 27, evening
WHERE: Roesler's airship
WHO: Roesler and Drystan
--
[16:33] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) had cleared his agenda for the rest of the afternoon and early evening. Requests like Mr. Shepherd's did not come often and they tended to take some preparation. The staff were all briefed, and arrangements were made for certain other guests of the doctor's ship to be elsewhere or otherwise occupied. The ship operated on a skeleton crew in times like this - the ones that the psychic could feasibly either forcibly mind control or trust to keep secrets.
Drystan would have been borne up on one of those round, propeller-driven craft, brass and wood, marked with a rose decal on the side. The hawkish pilot was taciturn and non-conversational and the trip was quick. Once deposited on the deck of Roesler's airship it was a purple-skinned Moon Elf that escorted Drystan into the receiving room, offering to take any coat or hats or other such things before bringing him down, past the galley, and through a hallway of doors. The ship's interior was a mix of gold and deep reds, art deco stylings and rose motifs among the decor tastefully incorporated into the ship's design. The galley, this close to dinner, issued the aromas of sweet, roasting pork and aromatics.
The Moon elf led him forward until they came to a room marked, 'Beratung.' She stopped there, opening the door for Drystan before bowing and waiting for him to step inside.
[16:59] Drystan Windgrace (jacksonn.shepherd) leaned his head low to exit the round transport copter, putting a hand to his chest as he did, expecting there to be wind, but there was none. An eerie stillness surrounded him as he was greeted by a Moon elf and led down the halls and past the Galley. His stomach gurgled lightly at the divine smell of food being cooked, as his eyes roamed the ship itself, noting the style and richness of the place. It spoke of the man himself he believed, or what he wanted to present. He did much of the same himself, and he admired what he saw.
Finally at the room, he looked up and smiled lightly, “Thank you kindly..” he offered to the elf, and stepped inside the consultation room, either knowing the door would be shut behind him, or he could just nudge it himself if needed once he was further in. He pulled his wrap around jacket a bit more tight and took a few steps inside, eyes wandering as they had while he made the jaunt here. It looked mighty comfortable, the same rich welcoming feeling here as the rest of the ship seemed to give him.
[17:06] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) || The room was comfortable and cozy - a single open space with a desk occupying one wall to the right, chairs sitting across it against a window and bookshelves occupying the far wall with a deep red rug spanning the wooden floor in the middle of it all. Roesler stood from where he sat behind the wooden desk, meticulously polished and well-kept. He shut the book he was reading and set it down before turning toward the door, eyebrows raising when he saw who had stepped into his little consulting office.
"You have me at a disadvantage, Mr. Windgrace," he said, advancing with an amicable smile. The doctor extended a hand as he came in range, his eyes sparkling with curiosity behind the round-lensed spectacles. "I hadn't expected my mysterious new patient would be you. Rest assured precautions have been taken to keep your identity under wraps. My staff is discrete." Roesler gave a firm handshake and relinquished it without any lingering touch, turning to gesture toward the office proper.
"Please, have a seat. Would you like something to drink? I've found it can, at times, make the initial meeting a bit less fraught depending on the reason for it."
[17:19] Drystan Windgrace (jacksonn.shepherd): || Breaking into a charming smile as the doctor stood and greeted him, he opened his hand to him and shook it. “Forgive me for the secrecy, an old habit I fear in some situations…” He let go of his hand and followed him into the office proper, taking a look at the seats, landing himself down into one, stretching his legs out before getting comfortable. “Yes please, I’m not one to turn down a good drink, and with whatever you have got cooking back there, “ he jabbed a thumb in the galley’s direction, “..I think that it will help tide me over till I can get back to my own kitchen.” His other hand rested across his stomach.
“Honestly this is partially an actual needful appointment with a knowledgeable and trustworthy physician, as well as a chance for me to properly be introduced without, ..familial distractions.” HIs tone was warm, polite, but friendly and amicable. He clearly didn’t seem to bear any bad blood towards the fae, or any grudge on behalf of his brother. “You’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Dinah so I do hope the positives outweigh the negative preconceptions one might have of me, if I were in your shoes.” He absently tugged some hair behind his ears and leaned forward some, getting adjusted in the seat and the space around him.
[17:30] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) shook his head, waving away any notion of shame in the secrecy. "Now, no reason for forgiveness as no slight or inconvenience was made," he said, the smile unwavering. He hovered by his desk until Drystan mentioned the drink and nodded, pulling out a drawer to withdraw a glass carafe and a couple of lowball glasses. "A little Glenfiddich, matured in rum casks from the Caribbean," he explained as he poured, setting one glass aside for Drystan and one for himself. "The cooking will have to wait until Kherys is finished cursing me for another last-minute change."
Roesler had given no verbal order but a psychic missive had gone out to the staff, informing the kitchen of the need for both his plate and a guest's to be delivered to the consulting room. The doctor took a seat, raising his glass. "To proper introductions," he toasted with a quirk of his smile. "Though... I will say I harbor no negative preconceptions. Nor negative will against your brother, for his actions." He took a sip, letting it run over his tongue to savor the flavor before letting it burn its way down his throat.
"He is protective and passionate. These are admirable things in a man. As is familial loyalty. You'll find no ill will with me."
[17:44] Drystan Windgrace (jacksonn.shepherd): c/me held up the glass offered to him, and held it aloft, “To proper introductions, so say we all.” He took a longer sip than that of the doctor, but as was his way, as it took more of the stuff, as fine as it was, to have the desired effect on him. Damnable crazy metabolism. Once done, he let out a smooth breath, shaking his head slowly side to side. “That ..is good. Thank you.” He held it up again before leaning forward and resting it on his knee, holding it in place. “I appreciate your blank slate. We three are very similar in many ways, but so incredibly dissimilar in so many others.” He spoke of his siblings that were blood kin, not Lilah nor of Hunter, though he wasn’t sure how he was really related, but it felt as if he was. Drystan had no psychic ability, and was only used to speaking to them in that manner, when they initiated it. Usually, they tended to speak aloud around him despite this, unless they were in public or with company. The same held true here, he had zero ability to sense that the good doctor was ‘speaking’ with his staff, in other words, he didn’t open a door unless it was knocked on by someone else first.
“Dorian is …quite passionate, and though we are close enough in age, they are six years my junior, we were all raised a bit differently, likely due to those differences. But we do share the loyalty in family, nearly above all else. It’s..a nice way to be.” He cleared his throat lightly and lifted the glass to take another long sip, letting it sit sublingually while he ran his tongue over his bottom teeth inside his lips.
[17:52] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) took careful sips of his own. He didn't drink much in the presence of others - something anyone who went to the Cabaret when he had been proprietor likely could observe. Once he seemed to get the idea that Drystan was one of those with an inhumanly strong metabolism he slid the glass carafe his way, smiling and nodding. "Have all you like. I've got plenty to enjoy here," he said with a gesture of his hand. "Water will come with the food, along with a bottle of wine. There is a Nerello Mascalese that my head chef and I have selected specifically for the dish in question."
Leaning back, Roesler listened as Drystan spoke of his brother, nodding as he took in the little tidbits of insight about the Windgraces. "I imagine there must have been a bit of a difference. There tends to be with powerful families... responsibilities and expectations differ. And often the eldest feels them heaviest of all." He leaned an elbow on the arm of his chair, curling fingers against his cheek to stare across the table at Drystan. "I've admittedly never had siblings but I've seen the gamut of... pairs and triples and others - dynamics that run from hated rivalries to inseparable souls. From an outsider perspective it is quite the tumultuous experience, but always a worthwhile one."
[18:07] Drystan Windgrace (jacksonn.shepherd): || Bright blue ponds with lazy floating sunflower pupils widened when Niles spoke of food actually coming, for him as well. “Wow! Well thank you, I did not expect to dine, but I’m certainly happy if it’s not any trouble.” He smiled widely, patting his stomach before scooting forward a bit, engaged in the conversation. “It was very different for each of us, and it is true, I was handed a lot of responsibility, and had very, very high expectations placed upon me at an early age. Dorian had his own rough time, I’m sure Dinah has stories of her own she can tell you if she likes.” He waved a hand a little and nodded in thanks to the carafe being closer to him.
“The life I knew before they arrived was short, and not very memorable in any good sense. But, thankfully, much…much has changed.” He took another sip, neatly clearing the glass, leaning, and pouring himself another, carefully, and not an overzealous filling, he knew how that looked. “I honestly don’t know how much you and Dinah have even ..well…no. I take that back.” He leaned back some and made a funny sort of sturgeon face frown. “You know full well quite a bit about how different my family is, what abilities we have…some intimate personal information. In fact, that very intimate knowledge is…sort of why I am seated here now. Otherwise I would have just rung you up to come to the house for a get together rather than make an appointment.” He evened out his frown and lightly lifted his brows towards Niles. Of course he knew that Niles knew of Dinah’s regeneration abilities, and Dorian’s strength.
[18:17] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) chuckled at the man's surprise. "Come now, what sort of host would I be if I didn't oblige? As Miss Dinah likes to remind me, I've made quite the slight by missing your spring social. I've got to make amends somehow." There was clear jest in his voice, a lightness that told of the fact that it was a playful slight, or friendly jibing between himself and Dinah regarding his absence. "Besides, on nights like this most of the ship is off in town or elsewhere. There will be suckling pig to spare."
He quieted down as Drystan spoke, explaining a bit more about island life for the Windgrace household. Niles might have interjected had Drystan not provided the information himself - he knew quite a bit about the twins and their abilities by now, though in the doctor's mind there was always more to learn. "Not terribly intimate," he corrected with a held-up finger. "Or I'm sure I'd not be sitting here now. But - that is besides the point."
Leaning forward in his chair, Niles gestured to the man across him. "I am less familiar with your own abilities or any associated issues but I am more than happen to assist in any way I can. I'm all ears, Mr. Windgrace."
[19:03] Drystan Windgrace (jacksonn.shepherd) huffed a laugh at his commentary on not sitting where he was now, because that was the long and the short of it, wasn’t it. At least he understood. He took a deep breath and let it out smoothly, then took another sip before speaking. “Well I suppose I’ll explain the situation, and you’ll understand more clearly, without me giving you some, …whittled down list. Just get to the heart of the matter, …as it were. You see… I have the same regenerative ability as my sister, not …quite as full of rejuvenation and lifted spirits, but I physically heal as fast as..” He paused and held his glass up now in a clawed hand, and raked his pointer finger over the back of his hand, ripping into the flesh and slashing it open. Red rose to the surface, but by the time he had to reach into his pocket and retrieve a handkerchief to wipe the blood away, there was no wound at all underneath. It had likely started to thread and seam together as soon as it was starting to be cut being such a superficial wound.He shook out the hankie and set his glass down to hold his hand out for the doctor to see, and allowed him to fold up the cloth and disappear it back into his jacket.
“So this is something that has only grown stronger since being on the island. Back then after we’d first arrived, you generously invited us to a lovely dinner party at your former home. I was…not feeling well just after Christmas, mentally. I ..failed to know of any of the goings on, till…afterwards.” He smiled tightly. “Dinah brought some of her heart home on a plate of leftovers, and I ….entirely unknowingly, grabbed a large portion, if not the rest of it, and attempted to eat it. I was..more than a bit drunk.” He admitted that last part, almost as an excuse as to the whole matter, though that was far from correct. “I began to chew, …and the meat became ehm.. Very tough, almost like a gum? Hard to describe what was happening. I attempted to swallow it, and choked.” He took in a deep breath and sat back, taking another drink. His eyes left the Doctor’s face as he described the rest, like he was watching it happen again, or perhaps feeling it. “I don’t mean a little cough, I mean, this wad of meat was stuck inside my throat, right about here..” He gestured to his throat around his adam's apple. “Basically just far enough back that when I literally opened my mouth as wide as I could and started to try and claw the thing out my longest fingers would barely touch it.” He held up his fingers.
A sigh. An adjustment in his seat. “Dinah, with her small hands grabbed hold of me and reached right in, and grabbed….it. It…was whatever her heart had turned into upon me chewing… resembling a black ball of gooey ichor, with a wide mouth filled with tiny glass- like teeth. It had protrusions like tendrils that appeared and subsumed into itself, ..before Dinah killed it by …forcing her hand to a fist. I was spitting up black goop and could feel where that thing had tried to burrow into my neck.”
He exhaled a lonnnng breath and looked to Niles. “I should have healed. But, I have a constant feeling of something being there, scratching, moving. I cannot see it myself, and I’d rather not worry poor Dinah over it. That whole affair has brought too much ill will.” And that was that.
[19:16] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) observed the gash and the healing with intent curiosity. He nodded as he watched Drystan's flesh mend itself, leaning back and swirling the remaining scotch in his glass. "I envy you all your regenerative capabilities," he said wistfully. "It certainly seems to come in handy. I do heal though... not quite as quickly. A testament to the favor of your patrons on you all I suppose." He lapsed again into silence to listen to the rest of the tale, seeming at first troubled, then curious at the description of what had become of the rest of Dinah's heart.
"I certainly hope it's nothing I did," he began then shook his head. "No... it sounds decidedly otherworldly in nature. My cooking skills are not borrowed from the Old Ones and no part of the preparation of that meal invoked their power. I have to assume it is entirely something to do with your sister's physiology and her... intimate connection to the gods." Setting his glass down, Roesler stood and rounded the desk, leaning himself against it close to Drystan. He reached out a hand, hovering near the other man's jaw.
"May I? I'd like to take a look... and a feel for what might be bothering you," he said, not quite touching but close enough that it was clear he was about to if Drystan didn't protest.
Drystan Windgrace —
Drystan opened his mouth some, making a soft “ahh” as he explained how otherworldly it may be, and it did not take a visit with Niles for him to understand that much. When the doctor stood and rounded the desk and gestured to his neck, he nodded and made an affirming face, as if it were no trouble. “Of course, please. It is why I am here after all, ..mostly.” He smiled softly, charmingly, and lifted his chin, laying out his long neck to allow the doctor to feel what he needed to. His manner of dress aided in this effort as he wore no undershirt under the robe-like jacket, making a somewhat neat naked V that plunged to his waistline.
“It seems to come and go in intensity, but it is always with me.” He gasped a little and shut his mouth so as to not yammer away while the man was about to try and feel around his throat for whatever may be causing this trouble, despite his healing factor. He hadn’t said anything in reply to Niles’ envy, as nothing was to be done for it at least from him. Having Niles this much closer to him, and nothing to do but look at the man, and that was precisely what he did. He noted the glasses and his eyes behind them, unusual but not in a bad way. He was neatly dressed, well groomed, even his tie was as straight as a pin. Drystan considered his height, which was similar to his own, and they had similar frames as well, broad at the shoulder, thin-waisted. Strong but lean. He also recalled the things Hector had told him about Niles, and it folded into everything else he’d heard and observed, slowly evolving into his own opinions of the fae.
[18:31] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) reached up slender fingers to press gently around the musculature of Drystan's neck. He felt at the contours of his windpipe, roamed fingertips over his Adam's apple. The touch was exploratory and curious, two fingers lingering at his carotid artery to measure his pulse as the doctor opened his other senses, empathy reaching to feel what Drystan felt in his throat and get some sense of the sensation. "When you speak, when you eat, when you swallow... does anything make it worse?" he asked, shutting his eyes briefly as the Aetheric energy focused his mind's eye on Drystan. That close it was evident Roesler himself was always groomed to a tee. His hair was meticulously well-kept and as were his clothes, as tidy as his desk and his office in general. The scars that ran over his skin, peeking out on the backs of his hands were the outliers. Especially considering the man was a fleshcrafter it was odd that they still existed at all.
[18:43] Drystan Windgrace (jacksonn.shepherd) blinked softly as he could feel his fingers pressing against his skin, trying to feel if anything was “off”. He’d done this himself a thousand times over, trying to compare it to how he felt before…but he couldn't tell any difference, but he also felt like he was probably a bad judge of it. He swallowed and tentatively spoke when asked, “Sometimes if I’ve been speaking too loudly, occasionally when I swallow. When my throat is strained then - I notice it.” He remembers flashes of it irritating him after having yelled at the spring party, after eating at the seaside restaurant, after having drank something, the coughing fit in front of the household. The pain was like having something tugging and scraping in his throat, too far back to do anything but clear his throat or cough, which did little to help it. His own empathic ability fevered off him, the worry over this, the feeling of choking, how he could only really get past it when it occurred in moments of passion, when pain naturally melted into pleasure. “Sometimes it’s not so bad, but I should have nothing there. I have no scars, my body can eject foreign matter after a time, like a splinter?” He lifted his brows and sighed a bit.
[18:48] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) pulled back, tapping a finger to his own chin as he contemplated the complete lack of palpable scarring. There was no swelling, no oddity in Drystan's neck - just the feeling and the context of the man's concern. Roesler gave no indication that he'd caught the little bit of insight into Drystan's more passionate life beyond a little pull outward of the corners of his lips.
"I could look, internally. Fleshcrafting is a wonderful thing and coupled with some of the... tools available thanks to the more innovative technomancers of the age, I could do it while you're conscious, if you're amenable." The doctor tilted his head, leaning back against the front edge of his desk as he waited for the man's reply.
[18:55] Drystan Windgrace (jacksonn.shepherd) sat upright and adjusted his head on his shoulders while listening. He looked up at him and quirked a brow. “If I could stand my little sister sticking her hand in there and ripping ..whatever it was…out? I think I should be able to do that!” He huffed a laugh, exasperated. His experiences with modern medicine were few and far between but it certainly couldn't be anything like that particular experience. “Perhaps you may see something waving back at you and you can just pluck it out like an unwanted stowaway, hm?” Humor, or what he thought might be humorous was one way of easily dealing with any anxieties he felt. They were all sourced on the thing itself, not any of it was aimed towards the practitioner. It was actually pretty normal all in all. “WHatever can be done. Yes…please.”
[19:02] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) grinned right back at the man, stepping forward and tapping him on the shoulder. "If I see something waving back at me... I may just leave it be until we can be sure it isn't that little friend your sister keeps," he responded with a bit of a shake of his head. "Otherwise - of course. Anything unwelcome will have to be done away with." He gestured to the door. "I keep surgical theatres down the hall. Follow me, Mr. Windgrace." He went to the door and opened it up for Drystan, waiting for him to come by so he could lead the man down toward where he did his... actual work.
[19:08] Drystan Windgrace (jacksonn.shepherd): || Standing and stepping through the doorway, he waited for Niles to step past him then, to guide him towards whatever place he had for such things to occur. He laughed softly at the idea of having Hunter wave back at Niles, giggling out of his own throat. He wouldn't be mad at the ..boy? The ‘entity’ but he would sure be curious how it managed to come to pass that he was lodged in his throat vis a vis his sister’s heart. But it was a mad world after all, things you think aren’t possible become real in the blink of an eye. “Oh, you can call me Drystan, no need for all that. Unless that's your prerogative with patients? To keep strictly to business?” He said and wondered aloud as they walked and his eyes roamed the hall and each door they passed.
[19:15] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) chuckled as he led Drystan down the hallway. One of the surgical rooms was labeled in German and he paused there, bowing a little at the waist. "...oh, I try to make a point of being on a first-name basis with my patients. Bedside manner and all that, you know." The door to the surgery was oddly, not windowed. It had no door handle either. Niles opened it with a push of his mind, telekinesis shunting the thing side where it slid easily into a slot made for it in the wall. The doctor stepped into what looked more like a lounge than a surgical suite. Chaise lounges sat against the walls, bookshelves and a gramophone encased in glass also occupying the room. He shut his eyes for a moment as he gestured to the chaise, a telepathic command sent to his staff to ensure they weren't disturbed. "...have a seat, Drystan. Make yourself comfortable. And - it may be easiest if you remove everything from the waist up."
[19:24] Drystan Windgrace (jacksonn.shepherd) paused at the door, looking up at the sign and then at the door itself, and how it slid easily open for the doctor. His mouth curled at the sides as he stepped inside, looking about. “Gifted with your knowledge of medicine, and of the mind over the world around you.” He said as he unbelted the jacket and tossed it off his shoulders, halfway folding it then draping it across the back of the chaise he sat down upon. Nothing seemed out of sorts to him, because the last time he’d set foot into a practitioner's office had been likely well over a hundred years prior. He didn't know what to expect. So he was as at ease as he could be. He grasped the bauble hanging from his neck and lifted it up over his head and popped it into his pocket for now.
[19:37] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) removed his own tie, loosening his shirt and rolling his sleeves. He set his tie aside on a rack nearby. He moved around the room with fluid ease, clearly comfortable in the space. Carts and tools floated to him, sometimes with gestures and sometimes with mere power of thought, forming a little arrangement of medical accoutrements around the chaise lounge. "You give me too much credit for someone who hasn't yet been treated," Roesler remarked, coming over with an iced glass of water. "Have a sip. Keep it nearby," he instructed, his mind reaching out again to make sure he could feel what sensations arose in Drystan's throat when he swallowed. There was a little end table for him to set the glass down on if he so chose, easily in reach.
"Now... what I intend to do is temporarily cut off your trachea - that is your windpipe, and ensure that you can adequately take the oxygen some other way while I take a proper look at your throat. Don't worry terribly about speaking... if you need me to fix you before I'm finished, I will pick it up in your thoughts and do so. Understand?"
[19:46] Drystan Windgrace (jacksonn.shepherd) watched Niles with curious interest and smiled as he commanded items around the room. He laughed lightly, and shook his head. “Wishful thinking maybe, but the other talent is evident.” Here was a professional that could use that power to assist in it. He supposed he did the same, but being a random painter was hardly a profession. He took the glass and had a sip and it was refreshing and cool. He set it aside and nodded. “Okay…I can do that.” He tried to not imagine what was to come, although the explanation helped some. It also told him that his mind was not shielded, and since he’d had the knowledge taken from him on how to make them, he had no wards on him against this. “Sounds…easy enough, but…that’s up to you. I understand
[19:51] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) settled into a place next to the chaise. "Well I'm certainly glad for the vote of confidence," he replied. Slender fingers were laid on each side of Drystan's torso, between his ribs. "Now this next question is purely one of preference, and one I gave your sister as well. Would you like to feel everything I am about to do or would you prefer the sensations numbed? I'm capable of it. I'm capable of shifting those sensations into more pleasurable things as well, but... I would hate to assume that would be welcome." His index finger drew a little line across the skin between the second and third ribs on his right side, letting the sting of the slit skin well up and ache before disappearing as if it had never been there to begin with.
[19:57] Drystan Windgrace (jacksonn.shepherd): || Lifting his arms and laying them back a bit he looked up from his chest to look at Niles face. “Oh… I don’t think I’d prefer being numb, it’s such an awful sensation.” His face wrinkled as if he’d eaten something sour. “I don’t necessarily welcome pain either,..” He trailed off and took a deep breath. “I suppose the other option would be like ether? That would be alright I think. I suppose I might not need as much juice as others though? Ha clearly I am inexperienced, forgive me.” He pulled hair behind his ear errantly.
[20:01] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently): || There was nothing but patience on the kindly doctor's face as he listened to the response. "Well. Something like it, yes. Allow me to demonstrate." He made another cut, just like the first simply by trailing his finger over the skin between the next set of ribs on Drystan's right side. Instead of pain, what the eldest Windgrace felt was a sensation like that touch, gentle and teasing, but.... distinctly elsewhere, more sensitive, more sensual and distinctly more pleasurable. Niles' eyes never left Drystan's face. They watched the play of emotions over his features carefully.
[20:08] Drystan Windgrace (jacksonn.shepherd) looked down and watched his finger open the flesh, but then felt the sensation entirely elsewhere. His eyes widened and he looked up to meet Niles' eyes. His mouth opened then shut again and he just nodded. Whatever anxieties over medical procedures he had now melted into a sort of wonderment. “That.” Was all he said and nodded again, his stomach doing a small flip into itself. Whatever that was, who could say no to that rather than pain or numbness?
[20:15] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) simply nodded. "Then we shall go with that," he answered. There was a touch of each of his fingertips on Drystan's skin, kneading and pressing this time until they seemed to slide right into the flesh so he could modify the surface of his lungs and the way it connected to his skin. "What I'm giving you, temporarily... are essentially gills. They will take air into your lungs when you inhale and the rest of your respiratory system will facilitate the exchange of oxygen and other such things as needed," he explained. "Once I'm certain you can breathe... then I'll work on your throat."
He worked with focused efficiency, making the adjustments and tweaking the perception of the changes in Drystan's mind. He felt the pleasure of being massaged, being stroked, being stimulated - but as gently and steadily as Roesler worked on his chest.
[20:24] Drystan Windgrace (jacksonn.shepherd) nodded again, deciding not to watch what Niles’ hands were actually doing but more on the sensations. He splayed his arms out across the back of the chaise so that he was lightly holding onto the back of it, and would give the easiest access to his side where Niles was working, other than just raising his arm over his head. Dinah had gills, now didn’t she? Did she only use them underwater or in everyda-- oh. He lifted his hips and squirmed a bit, his blood thrumming and collecting, his heartbeat quickening. He held his breath, though he wasn’t sure why, and felt himself start to feel like maybe he’d put on pants two sizes too small. Which wasn’t the truth at all. He blinked several times and tried to just focus on the doctor’s face, the reflection of light in his glasses.
[20:29] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) paused as Drystan's hips lifted off the chaise, his hands adjusting to the movement as if he were rather... accustomed to adjusting for that specific movement. Perhaps more patients than not opted for this kind of pain-management when it came to the doctor's fleshcrafting. Soon enough though he was finished and he pulled his fingers back, looking over the "gills" he'd created. He ran his index finger up Drystan's sternum to press in just over the dip where the two sides of his clavicle met, one finger then two moving into his flesh pinch off his trachea. There was no blood. He worked as if molding clay, rerouting blood vessels to keep the circuit of his circulatory system intact. "...take a deep breath," he instructed, watching his chest to see if it all functioned properly.
[20:34] Drystan Windgrace (jacksonn.shepherd) did as instructed and took a deep breath, though it came all together differently than what he was expecting. His chest expanded, and the slits between his ribs grabbed at air, as his mouth and nose did absolutely no good. It was a confusing thing, to go from breathing from your face to breathing from your chest, but - he was doing it. Exhaling was also rather a strange sensation, but all was well. He felt no pain as Nileshad worked his fingers in to pinch off his trachea, he just blinked at Niles, and breathed carefully.
[20:39] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) nodded. He left the trachea sealed and straightened up for a moment to admire his work. "Good. It's an uncomfortable sensation I'm sure... but it won't be for long. I'll be opening up your throat now," he warned. He touched a fingertip to the front of Drystan's throat, just beneath his chin. Drawing it downward he slit the skin open and parted it, taking clamps from one of the nearby carts to hold it open. Drystan felt the stretch decidedly elsewhere, less rough, less mechanical - more like the pleasantness of stretching around an intrusion one needed to adjust to. Niles did the same with the muscles of his neck until he exposed the cartilage of his windpipe and larynx, then opened those to visualize the inside of his windpipe itself.
[20:46] Drystan Windgrace (jacksonn.shepherd) kept his head upright, and while he could feel where Niles started at his chin, it feigned elsewhere, and his eyes slid shut. His body relaxed, and though he was unable to produce any sounds, the feelings and ideas were all there in the forefront of his mind. It was somewhat dizzying, but not enough to have him move his head at all. Instead his legs lent a bit slack, and his abdomen curled into tightness and then released. He could move his mouth and such and with eyes closed he absently licked at the inside of his mouth, at the backs of his teeth, all while his neck was being opened up and peeled back.
[20:59] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) squinted when he saw the interior of the trachea. There was nothing, initially... but closer inspection had him looking up towards his epiglottis, the little stopper that prevented things meant for the stomach from entering the lungs. "Back farther just a bit, Drystan," he said and with a thought an invisible hand tugged at Drystan's hair, urging his head to tilt backward, his chin upward to stretch out his throat as taut as it could go. Niles probed upward before tensing palpably, his arm stiffening up as something pierced into the flesh of his finger. He scrunched up his face and pulled back, looking at the little cut that had formed on his fingertip. "....well. Something is certainly there," he mused, sucking the finger of blood. His own regeneration was nowhere near as fast as the Windgrace family's seemed to be. The bleeding slowed, but it took careful application of pressure and some molding of flesh to close it over quickly. "...alright. I've found something. It'll be a matter of excising it now." He went in with a tool this time, a wand of sorts with a glass chamber and a little Aetherite crystal embedded in its handle. Sliding it up through the opening he created he pushed it up through the opening of Drystan's epiglottis and turned a switch, causing a vortex that sucked a mass of bone-white tooth and wriggling black tendrils into the glass chamber.
[21:06] Drystan Windgrace (jacksonn.shepherd) had his head tugged back further, and he stretched out his neck, pointing his chin into the air. He slid his eyes open a moment, and let them slide shut again as Niles spoke. Something was in fact there. For some reason that was a relief to him, it meant it wasn't just in his mind, it wasn't some shadow only he could see. He kept his body as still as possible, all while the feelings continued across him. He couldn't feel the pull of the thing being sucked away out of him, just steady probing pleasure that ebbed and flowed to mask the pain.
[21:19] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) stared at the little creature he'd removed in wonder. A piece of Dinah? He set it aside on one of the carts and turned back to Drystan, beginning the much less interesting work of putting his throat back together. He did it with as intent focus and skill as he'd used to open him up. "Given how quickly you heal... I imagine you'll be tip top before too long," he explained, making sure to open up his trachea again before closing the incision he'd made in his throat. The doctor's fingers remained on his throat for a moment, reading the sensations there before he pulled away. "You know, gills suit you as well as they do your sister," he said with a quiet chuckle. "But... I'm sure you'd like to regain the use of your throat, hm?" He dug his fingers in again, beginning to rework the lungs and space between his ribs as the sensations heightened, more intense pressure, more deliberate stimulation. The massage of a finger across a prostate, the stroke of a palm against a shaft - incessant and building - until all at once he was finished, withdrawing his hand and no longer touching Drystan's skin
[21:28] Drystan Windgrace (jacksonn.shepherd) heard him well enough, and though he was unable to feel it, the areas where Niles had started his incisions, the openings, were already beginning to thread and pull together, growing and weaving itself all back into place, making his work at closing him up easier than splitting him open. He didn’t nod or move, but yes, he did want use of his throat back thank you. The sensations heightened, and almost as soon as his lungs were whole and he was able to suck breath down his nostrils and from his mouth he did, gasping at the ability to do so, like coming up for air when swimming, but also because of the incessant feelings pushing against him internally and externally, as his balls had begun to swell - and then. Nothing. Niles took his hands away from him and Drystan was left reeling in the absence of completion. His eyes flared open and he feared moving his neck too quickly, but he was panting and biting at the air trying to pull himself together, quite literally.
[21:31] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) was sitting back, still rather closeby and at a crouch near the chaise with the instrument in his hand. His eyes were focused on the thing he'd removed, watching it writhe and poke at the glass container it was being kept in. "I suppose I should ask if you want to keep it," he said idly, the curiosity in his voice making it entirely clear Roesler would keep the thing if Drystan didn't want it back.
[21:44] Drystan Windgrace (jacksonn.shepherd) tried to calm his pulse, worked actively at pulling blood away from his crotch and the raging hard-on he had that had leaked onto his pants. He scrambled with his hands to move away from Niles if even a bit, because the man was within reach, and no sip of water would quench that particular thirst. But he knew better, and was able to somewhat bring himself to some state of near normalcy. His hand went to his throat, where he could feel the skin moving and slipping back together, leaving none of the telltale white scar left behind, none of the unpliable tissues that came with it. Hoarse but able he spoke, “Figure out what the damned thing is, please.” He reached over and took the glass and drank from it, heartily, nearly draining it. “I have no want for the damnable thing.” He looked over to watch Niles peering into the little jar with the wriggling mass. He broke out in gooseflesh and shook his head negatively, adjusting himself in his pants so that he wasn’t being rude. “Thank you..for finding it.” He left one hand on his throat that was normal looking, but still mending internally, and one across his lap, to keep his god damned cock in check.