OPEN

[soul_mods]

Characters: Open
Location: Death City, Clinic
Rating: PG
Time: Jan 17 onward
Description: Missions 151 and 152, crossposted to DW

Comments

[ghostofaqueen]

With no partner to accomplish the act of fighting, Sarah was forced to remain behind in the city. She would have liked to scout out the areas that all the other partnered pairs had gone, but she was displeased with herself for her failure to acquire a partner in time. So, she had forced herself to stay behind and help in the new 'occupation' that she had taken up.

Moving around the incoming patients, she had quickly sorted who had needed a real doctor, who could deal with the not-doctors and who would be trouble for either group. She would suture when she had time, but she moved along to make certain that all was well until she had spotted him. Amused, she had looked at the nice neat suture line on the patient at the man left, and she knew from personal experience that one only got that good doing it quite bit.

Sliding through the crowd of people, she seated herself on the cot that the patient had just been sitting on. "That was quite a nice suture line," she murmured in a conversational tone, though the glance she sent him was anything but. "Either you have plenty of practice on yourself," she murmured, glancing again before adding, "doubtful, or you know how to sew very well. Such a domestic trait."

She gets his unhappy face :3c

[judgementbyfire]

Yuri had become aware of the one approaching him while he'd watched his previous patient disappear. Judging by the approach, he didn't feel that this was another patient, and as the familiar red-head slid onto the cot in front of him, the judge's expression instantly became neutral.

Sarah Kerrigan. This woman was trouble from what he'd seen of her so far. After their first meeting, the judge had done what he could to research everything about this woman, and he could easily say that he hadn't been pleased with what he saw.

"Knowing how to sew is far from a crime Miss Kerrigan," Yuri said in reply. He wasn't about to be provoked into anything, and he certainly wasn't going to shed any light on her assumptions.

She takes pride in earning it already

[ghostofaqueen]

She knew him as Yuri Petrov, but other than that, information on him was fairly scarce because of how new he was to the city. He worked for the investigative agency and as far as anyone there was concerned, he was a fine and upstanding citizen. He did his work well and efficiently, and he was a personal authority and resource to people there.

His actions about mingling were too good for what she had seen previously. The fact that she knew he had looked into her in return was amusing, and she turned a predatory smile on him at his reply.

"Of course not, Mr. Petrov," she replied in a mocking tone. "I was just saying that such skills usually go to waste, and men typically aren't ones to learn it. What other wonderfully domesticated hobbies have you taken up that could be of use in Death City, hmmm?"

She's going to be the death of him...

[judgementbyfire]

The predator smile didn't go by his notice, but he didn't react to it either. Instead he simply continued to regard her with the same expression even as she attempted to provoke him into defending himself. He was far from a blind man, and while such tactics might work on others, they wouldn't work on him.

"I see little point in limiting myself to activities that are stereotypically gender specific," he said with a light shrug of his shoulders. Of course the movement of his left side was a little more stiff from his right shoulder, but no reaction to it was shown on his expression. "Are you in need of my assistance for anything?"

The topic change was smooth and obvious, but Yuri didn't mind. He wasn't about to let her gain control of this conversation.

He'll eventually like the attention

[ghostofaqueen]

"Oh, well, you're one of the few," she replied in that same conversation tone. She was having an entertaining time getting such replies from him, and it only revealed to her how well he had set himself up to take advantage of the life that he led. Where was the predator within lurking? "You'll make a fine husband someday, no doubt. I'm surprised you aren't snatched up already."

She noted the shrug, and she slowly pushed herself to her feet even as he asked if she needed anything. She turned and reached out slowly, letting him make the move to avoid her hands as they made for his shoulders. Go on, make a quick move...

"Since I'm here and that shoulder of yours is a little off, you should let me take a look at it. We wouldn't want it to get infected," she replied in a falsely-sweet voice. "A bandage change at the very least, hmm?"

[judgementbyfire]

He did glance at her with an unimpressed expression when she spoke of him making a 'fine husband' in the future. That was something that Yuri had no interest in ever becoming: not here, and certainly not back in Sternbild either. He simply had no interest in pursuing such possibilities and was more than content to continue on the path he'd chosen. He would never turn a blind eye to evil, or allow anything into his life that would hinder that goal.

All of Yuri's thoughts came to a crashing halt when she stood up and reached out towards his injured shoulder. Eyes widening subtly, he moved to take a step to one side to place his injured shoulder out of her grasp. The move itself wasn't as quick as he could have been, but the instinct to dodge remained hidden within his gesture.

"While your offer is appreciated, Miss Kerrigan, I am more than capable of taking care of it myself," Yuri said in return. Glancing away dismissively, he muttered, "Besides, there are many others here who are of a far higher priority and should be attended to."

[ghostofaqueen]

She couldn't help but be amused when he didn't even offer her any kind of response for her comment. His silence meant far more than if he had tried to defend himself, since it was very obvious he wasn't interested. "Oh, nothing to say about that? Are you interested in men instead?"

Sarah didn't move to intercept his shift aside, aware that it would cause too much attention on them both. While this was fun, she had her ways of making him comply with her wishes. This was so entertaining.

"I never said that you couldn't," she replied, her eyes narrowing. "However, you'll be unable to help other people if that shoulder bothers you, and you're already in a clinic. Let me take a look and bandage it," she said, insisting.

[judgementbyfire]

Yuri simply gave her a look when she attempted to see if he was interested in men. How she'd deduced such a ridiculous outcome was beyond him, but it was nothing but a ludicrous notion to consider. Not that he was about to correct her. The less she knew about him the better, and if she thought his interest was directed towards men, then it would simply give him one more advantage if it came down to it.

He kept his injured shoulder directed away from Kerrigan even as her eyes narrowed. If she was one who didn't enjoy having her authority challenged, then that was her problem to deal with. As things went, his injury was nothing to be concerned over, and he hardly wanted anyone gathering any information on the type of wound he'd sustained.

There was a threat hidden within her words. He didn't miss it. It left him feeling as though she would stoop to low levels to get what she wanted if he remained. The thought was irritating, to say the least, and that irritation flickered across his brows before he murmured, "Very well. All it will need is a re-bandaging, Miss Kerrigan."

[ghostofaqueen]

She knew that he wasn't about to deny anything, and she was content to know that she had created that sour feeling in him. It was so much fun to bug him, and he would soon enough realize that she was not that easy to shake off when she was interested in weaseling out information from him.

Tilting her head to the side when he finally agreed to let her have a look, Sarah flashed another smile before walking over and pulling close the drape that would protect his injury from others. Only she would see what it was that he was desperate to hide, and that was good enough for her. It was just more information that he couldn't hide from her after all.

"Of course, Mr. Petrov," she replied casually before gesturing with a hand at his suit. "Your clothing, if you please. I'd like to get a good visual on the wound before I re-bandage it."

[judgementbyfire]

The sound of the curtain closing around them was heard, but the main focus of his attention remained fixated on the red-head. He had done nothing to cast a cloud of suspicion over himself, or so he thought, so he was unable to understand just why this one had developed such a growing interest over him. If such a thing continued, then he would have to do something to divert such attentions, but he'd continue to observe until then.

His hands came up to undo his tie, his left arm moving far more stiffly than the other, before unwinding it and placing it on the cot. Removing his jacket, he made the act appear as casual as possible even when it came to removing his shirt to reveal the bandages below. Draping both his jacked and coat over the side of the cot before turning to seat himself down on the cot. The last thing he wanted was for her to believe that she had any form of power over him, and once his weakness was healed, he would be done with this woman.

[ghostofaqueen]

Sarah stood silently waiting as her request was met with little resistance, but she suspected it was due to something other than giving into her. Perhaps he was thinking of a way out of this, but he seemed more steady-fastly resigned than looking to make an escape. She had sort of hoped for the escape option, but she would take this.

The fact that he sat was pleasing, and she picked up one of the bandaging kits and approached. She set it down on the bed next to where he was sitting as she slid in behind him, waiting to see what he would do as she lifted a pair of bandage scissors and began to cut the material away just below his shoulder blade.

She slid her hands up under it to make certain it wasn't sticking to his skin and possibly pull on any scabbing. The bandage came away clean from his flesh; he knew how to work. "Look at all those nice muscles; I never knew pushing a pen around all day produced such things. You must have a wonderful exercise plan," she murmured close to his ear as she leaned down to stare at the wound he bore.

[judgementbyfire]

He wasn't about to rise up to her baiting, and was more than happy to patiently wait this out. That seemed to be about the only thing he could do given the risks of refusing her offer. The last thing he wanted to do was to draw any further attention to himself, and this appeared to be the best method of doing just that.

His muscles tensed when she moved to sit in behind him, but Yuri made no attempt to react. It was difficult, given his natural instincts, but the judge mentally inhaled and relaxed his mind. He could feel the path of her hands while she cute at the bandage and carefully began removing it. There was no need for such caution given how much care he'd been giving the wound, but he didn't bother voicing such thoughts.

Instead the muscles along his shoulder tensed when she leant in to murmur quietly to him. "Writing reports can be a rather strenuous activity," he muttered dismissively in reply. He wasn't about to give anything away, and while it was obvious that he took care of his body, the judge wasn't going to feed the woman any further information.

[ghostofaqueen]

She snorted softly at his brushed words, not about to actually believe them one bit. No, this was something more than just pushing a pen around for the purpose of writing reports. His musculature was too good, but then again, he could really have an exercise plan.

Leaning down, she wasn't sure what kind of exercise plan involved plasma rifle fire, but then again, he must have been some judge. She reached up and pressed on the side of the wound, investigating it. So, his world had enough technology to produce plasma rifles?

"Do you dodge plasma rifle fire often in the courtroom?" She turned away from him to leaf through the salves that were there, looking for a specific cream for burns. It was looking good, so he was at least taking care of it. "It was a glancing hit, so either your shooter was a poor shot or that desk you dodge behind has enough room for you to move effectively."

[judgementbyfire]

He was more than aware of her closing proximity towards his wound, but he didn't react to it either. She wouldn't be foolish enough to attempt attacking him here, especially given the fact that she'd even gone to the trouble of closing the curtain.

There was a subtle wince as she pressed down close to the wound, but he offered no sound of pain or protest. "I often preside over cases involving dangerous criminals," Yuri murmured with in reply. He wasn't about to confirm or deny anything, and while he hadn't lied to Kerrigan, given that he did judge over the criminals of Sternbild, Yuri had received the wound out on the field instead.

"I counted myself fortunate that it was simply a glancing hit," he muttered dismissively.

[ghostofaqueen]

She didn't pause in looking through the salves for one that had ingredients for burns. None of the ones that she found actually were good enough for plasma rifle burns according to the medics she had spent time with on Antiga Prime. All of these were for minor burns, but she supposed she could combine some of these for an effective mixture.

"I wasn't aware that criminals were allowed to bring weapons to the court room," she commented casually as she rose and got a bowl and began to spoon out a few of the salves together. "Funny thing about plasma rifles is how difficult they are to dodge. Most weapons have a wide burst and accurate targeting systems to limit friendly fire."

Sniffing the salve mixture, she was happy with it before approaching Yuri again. She began to liberally smear the mixture across the line of injury, leaning over to make certain she didn't miss any spots. "This will help more than whatever you were using before," she commented. "You can take the rest home to your little hovel to repeat at least once a day."

[judgementbyfire]

"They're not, of course," Yuri simply said in reply. He could fabricate reasons to why there may have been a weapon in the court room, reasons that could very well be justifiable, but he wasn't about to lie either. So the best next option was to simply not answer that question either.

The speculation of the plasma rifle was also met with a silent return. He was far from foolish enough to give away such crucial information, especially given the situation, but he did at least gain some level of knowledge to the technology in the world this woman came from.

Keeping his silence, his eyes narrowed subtly at the mixture of pain and coolness that spread around the area as she began to smear the mixture over the injury. "While it was far from necessary, I thank you for your time and effort," he murmured in a hope of ending the conversation there. With some luck, she'd take the hint and quietly finish things off before he could return to the other patients here.