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[rehandle]

WELCOME TO THE SALTBURNT NETWORK

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STRANGE

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[rehandle]

Ok. Stop using the moisturizer or I'll sneak in and swap it with self tan when you least expect it.

[sink]

You overestimate the amount I'm applying. This is an experiment, not a skincare routine.

[rehandle]

And it's a necessary experiment why? Boredom isn't an adequate answer.

[sink]

You don't think we should find out about what they're trying to drug us with?

[rehandle]

Not by drugging ourselves with it, no.

[sink]

Good thought, but I don't gave the facilities to hold captives. And as I may have mentioned, I can't find a laboratory.

[rehandle]

[ Uhm? Moving on. ]

You forgot to mention you're a scientist.

[ Said because he's fairly sure he's not. ]

[sink]

Not professionally. But I have a passing interest.

[rehandle]

So you're a hobbyist.

Stop.

[sink]

No.

[rehandle]

Why?

[sink]

Because I don't take orders from you.

Disappointing that I can't count on your assistance, but not particularly surprising.

[rehandle]

You didn't ask for my help. You told me to find you a lab under threat of continued self-experimentation. Pass.

[sink]

[ Leaving Stephen on read because his feelings got hurt. ]

[rehandle]

[ It's maybe an hour later. Ten minutes to wait for a response that isn't coming, forty minutes of his phone launched onto his bed so he can throw himself into an angry bout of drills, then a shower, then another five or so to drip all over his bedroom floor, dampening the sheets as he huffs down onto his bed, picks up his phone, reads back through the conversation from its beginning. ]

You don't get a lot of pushback, do you?

[sink]

My whole life has been "pushback".

[ It's why this conversation is half trauma response. It's why it's disappointing but unsurprising, that his brief vision of solving this together was killed so quickly. He has always done the hard and necessary things alone. ]

[rehandle]

[ It offers some reminders: first, that he knows only the skimmed surface of this man, the things he's chosen to share and the things he's wrung from his body; second, that they are two very different people, on a fundamental level he can do nothing about.

Third, while his people skills may be better than they once were, there's significant room for improvement when his first response is a deep breath and a sigh. He takes a couple of minutes. Tries to step off the defensive offense and try a different approach - maybe clarity. ]

I told you to stop because I'm a doctor, a scientist, and a sorcerer, and in that context I have concerns for your wellbeing. I didn't run to find you a laboratory not because I don't think the inquiry's valuable but because I'm not about to foster a dynamic where you think you can wield your health as a bargaining chip and I'll fold. It encourages harm.

[ Unfortunately, even clarity comes with a high horse. He is what he is. ]

[sink]

My health and wellbeing is just fine, thank you for asking.

I offered you a way to have what you wanted. But you feel entitled to mindless obedience. Pass.

[rehandle]

Silco. You're experimenting with things that you've already identified are capable of altering one's body beyond the quick fix capacity of any modern medical supplement I've heard of. You don't know that you're fine.

[sink]

I know what sick feels like.

At this point I've gone through withdrawals at least three times, in escalating severity. I suspect those who are deliberately using this might die if they stop abruptly, but could taper to something more managable. Part of the problem is it's difficult to be precise with dosage of a topical cream.

[rehandle]

You're fucking with me.

[ He's not. He knows he's not. But he's so incensed that he can't not account for the possibility. ]

[sink]

This would have been a more pleasant conversation if I was.

Stephen.

[rehandle]

You've gone through withdrawals of escalating severity at least three times, you think cold turkey would kill people, you're still using this shit, and you're fine because you're not actively sick right this second.

No.

[sink]

[ Immediately, violently defensive. ]

Are you listening to what I'm telling you? You need to make sure the clinic has a supply of this drug in the most measurable form you can manage, extra staff for the incoming burden, and at the very least extra saline and — whatever you use to treat epistaxis.

[rehandle]

[ Mental notes made, calculations set running, intrigue at knowledge and terminology tucked away, impressed with the assessment of the situation, thoughts already moving to the local clinic staff rotation, to wondering if they'll heed him when he issues a warning, to whether the manor is already as they speak adapting to accommodate pending needed. But all of it goes on the back-burner within the bounds of this conversation, because - ]

I hear you. Do you hear yourself?