never put your hat on the bed, son, never put your hat on the bed

[aldabeyoun]

Who: Njoki, Bob Barker & YOU.
What: Fixin' horses, seein' clients, chattin' on the phone, etc.
Where: Mafaton, various other places throughout Baedal.
When: All throughout the week
Notes: The remade horse scenario is for Martha, but the rest of the options are open to everyone. If you want to chat and set anything up, give me a shout.
Warnings: Some gore and bodyhorror. These are Remade horses.

Even with the reduced population of cruorvores in the city, Njoki is still busy enough to have regular wait periods between making an appointment and seeing her. It seems those that are left have a vested interest in warding their property and making sure their appearance is as human as possible. For this reason, she's often out and about anywhere in town: tracking down new suppliers, riding the trains, taking a well-earned break in a coffee shop after a particularly difficult bit of work, and so on.

Today, she's on time and waiting for Martha outside a Mafaton stable with a rucksack over one shoulder and a toolbox in hand. It's worth noting that she's wearing clothing to suit a dirty, messy, hands-on sort of job.

Comments

[aldabeyoun]

"What's a nice boy like you doing in a stable like this one?" Njoki laughs, grinning and showing off her own teeth, while checking over one of he other not-horses that someone reported a bit of a fussiness with. That's the trouble with Remaking - sometimes it works without a hitch, but if there's one little thing wrong, it's a nightmare trying to figure out where the missed connection is.

[magnetic]

"I've come to see a man about a horse, actually." How about they just communicate in cliches from now on. (And yes, he does know this is sort of a cheeky euphemism, and yes he's great at nigh-deadpanning it regardless.)

In keeping with the atmosphere, Erik moseys on over to where Njoki is working. Although his mutation lends him a unique understanding of these Remade creatures—he's begun to fancy himself a kind of whisperer, if you want to be honest—he stops at a respectful distance nonetheless, in case her patient is the fussing kind. It's only polite. "Is this one of your usual sites for on-call work?"

[aldabeyoun]

"For now. They've had to replace most of the horses here with new animals and some of them are still a bit new on their pins." The particular animal she's checking over is one that was remade with speed in mind. Lacking the heavy pistons or steampower that drive the usual workhorses, this is a lightfooted creature with some metal reinforcing weak joints and hooves that may be more saurian than anything else. For her, it doesn't matter if they're wearing scales, fur, or feathers; they're all horses. Sort of.

"Did you get a star and a ten gallon hat?"

[toldastory]

Martha nodded, and she shifted herself out of the way, and as well as out of the light source. She didn't say anything when the warning about being ill happened; once she might have worried about it, but field surgeries without the benefit of more modern medical supplies had changed her mind about that.

Instead, she just watched in an interested manner as the skin was pulled away from muscle, and then as muscle was pulled from bone. It was amazing how little blood there was, and Martha expected that it was due to the fact that the blood wasn't pumping at whatever the average rate for a horse was, so it made sense. After all, blood was such an important thing to living tissue.

Speaking softly so as not to be an interruption, Martha asked, "what secures the muscle to the piston?"

[aldabeyoun]

"There's a sort of magical graft that the remakers do. I dunno how it works, but it does, although ..." She trails off as she gets down to the bone and runs her hand along the surface, feeling for a catching. "Although, sometimes they miss a bit and I come in."

"You pass me that file?" It's less like a proper file and more like a letter opener made of bone, but for her purposes it works the same way.

[toldastory]

Magic wasn't a concept Martha was unfamiliar with at that point. She had gotten used to the idea that it could be its own thing, and that it had its own logic for knitting flesh and bone together even without the things her medical mind was informing her that were needed.

Martha's eyes widened, when she saw the bone, and she quickly leaned forward just a little bit so that she could see what was happening. The file was passed quickly, and she made contact with it with her skin as little as possible; leftovers from when she'd done her surgical rotation.

[aldabeyoun]

Njoki chuffs in thanks and then working by feel more than sight, she runs the file over the tricky bit of bone until she's satisfied that it's smooth enough to be comfortable but still able to catch the muscle where it's needed.

"And the bottle now," she continues, passing the file back, and pointing towards a small, empty green bottle.

[magnetic]

"They're on order." No they aren't.

He is quiet for a beat, observing the examination with his head tilted in genuine interest. "If you can spare a moment once you're done with this fellow, I could use some advice, I think."

[aldabeyoun]

"You need someone to check on your long, little doggie?"

A beat.

And then Njoki's mind catches up to her mouth and she's trying (and failing) not to laugh too loud.

[magnetic]

Meanwhile, Erik is just kind of... looking at her, his eyebrows having reached that perfect angle between concerned and entertained. How many westerns has Magneto seen in his lifetime? Not enough to understand this joke, apparently. ...If it is a joke and she's not suddenly being crass.

Feel free to explain while he flutters a few blinks, lady.

[aldabeyoun]

"Shit, shit, sorry," she says with a wave of her hand that ends with a soothing pat for the horse-like creature. "It's the classic round-up line from westerns. S'what the rancher always yells out to get everyone moving."

It's also a line that's so culturally commonplace that Njoki didn't even think about it. "I've never figured out if it's the horses or the cows that are lil' doggies."

[magnetic]

"What does he call the dogs, then?" Now he is the one who is kidding. ...Mostly. None of this makes sense.

He's folded his arms in the meantime, as well—not in annoyance, or any such thing, only because he is generally prone to doing so.

[aldabeyoun]

Ki stops, cocks her head to one side and then shakes it off, a bit like a dog stepping out of the water. "No clue. Now, who do you want me to take a look at? I'll have to see him in action to know for sure, but this fellow seems pretty much together."

[toldastory]

Taking the file back and handing over the bottle, Martha was definitely having the same feeling of excitement that she used to have when she had considered being a brain surgeon. Too bad there had been that small interruption in her educational process.

"How often does something like this require maintenance?"

[magnetic]

Swell. Erik was prepared to wait around for a while if need be, but not having to wait around is even better.

"She's in the other barn." The smaller one, he means, where the less excitable beasts of burden are kept—donkeys, mules, other donkey- and mule-esque creatures, all of them Remade to varying degrees. The general atmosphere in there is more sedate, and the stalls generally smaller.
Save one.

(He's kind of enjoying the potential suspense.)

[aldabeyoun]

"Anything specific giving you trouble? Or do you just want a tune-up?" Njoki keeps chatting as she gathers up her kit and does one last looking over of the horse and stall she'd been working in - it wouldn't do to leave anything amiss.

[magnetic]

"I was hoping you might be able to tell me what she needs, if anything. The stable master claims she's sound, but this is the first time I'll be seeing her up close... and, actually, I'm not at all familiar with the workings of these Remade creatures."

The Remades certainly do feel interesting—but the two of them can get into discussing that later, should it come up. (He should probably tell Njoki what his deal is, eventually, aside from the numerical tattoo.)