Fantasy To Hunt or Be Hunted (1x1 RP with Mystics Apprentice and Thanny)

[Thanny]

When the bell had chimed at 7:15, Rhines looked up from his work in the half-shrouded room, the curtain parting when he and a shallow box slipped through the door frame. Placing the box on the counter revealed its contents, a few phials of clear liquid and some more modern medical devices. Rhines next looked up toward the others and smiled.

"It is quite all right. No need to dirty your scarf," he commented to Inari, seeing that she was trying to clean up the snow from the floor. "Hughes or I can broom and scrub that up later. So you are this girl's father, yes? I am Doctor Rhines, the local druggist of these parts. I heard you had challenges with remembering things and would like to run some tests to see what the source is."

Hughes trotted down the stairs, pausing at the last step to look at the others in the room with a polite smile before capturing the nearby broom to sweep up the snow before it melted. Rhines glanced over in a slow manner and held out his hand towards his son.

"This is my son Hughes. He will be assisting with the diagnosis today. You may both sit down anywhere you would like or continue standing, though some equipment will require sitting down."

Allowing the two guests some time to get themselves comfortable and place their items on the nearby racks on the wall or near the hearth, Rhines worked on getting his supplies fully in order. He was dressed in his usual doctor's overcoat with a blue linen shirt and deep black pants, gentlemen's garb to attract a good reputation. Shined shoes completed the ensemble. Hughes was similarly dressed in a white cuffed shirt with his sleeves rolled up and dark brown trousers belted taut, though his shoes or slippers were beside the hearth, revealing only stockings on his feet as he swept the snow into a dustpan and whipping the contents outside. Hughes took note that he will need to shovel out the front of the shop before the snow melts enough to freeze.

"Now," started the doctor to Inari's father, "can you tell me in your own words what you experience regarding this issue?"

 

[Mystics Apprentice]

The dark-haired huntress glanced up as Rhines made his way downstairs, his son in tow. Inari's eyes widened as her gaze fell upon Hughes; she would have recognized him anywhere. While the years had indeed aged him, leading him to grow into the fine--and rather attractive--young man that he'd become, he still had the same soft eyes, the facial structure that she'd long-since memorized. She bit her lip, wondering if he would recognize her as quickly as she had him. And yet, it was too late to leave now. She only hoped that her past would not come back to bite both her and her father in the rear.

Embarrassed to be found using her towel as a scarf, Inari quickly snatched it away, stuffing it into a pouch at her waist that was much too small to accommodate itl. She made her way over to sit alongside her father, placing her hands in her lap as she crossed her ankles in front of her. While Rhines busily addressed her father, she allowed herself to steal another glance at Hughes, taking in his features, the set of his jaw, the broadness of his shoulders. If he noticed her, she would dodge his gaze sheepishly, lips curving in the faintest of smiles before fixating her gaze to her fidgeting hands instead.

"Nice to meet you, Doctor," her father said, bowing his head in respect. "Yes, I am Inari's father. Durando Bylilly." The man seemed perfectly calm and composed, a frown contorting his brow at the mention of his "issue." "I fail to understand what you're referring to."

A sigh escaped his daughter, who gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Your memory issues, Father. Tell him what you have been experiencing."

"I have no issues in my memory," he stated flatly, as though partially offended. "Is that why we are here?"

He jabbed a thumb in the direction of Inari, before explaining calmly and slowly to Doctor Rhines. "It is my daughter who forgets everything that I tell her, and she puts my things in the wrong places. But I do not want you to hold it against her. I do not think there is something wrong with her or her memory. I think she is just stressed; we have been through a lot since her mother died."

Inari huffed, folding her arms across her chest. She glanced over to Doctor Rhines hopefully, expectantly, as though hoping he understood that this was part of her father's dementia and didn't think she herself was a lunatic.

 

[Thanny]

Perched on the final stair, Hughes listened in on the conversation among the other three in the room, and halfway through he left his roost to collect the slippers he left near the hearth. Setting foot within them allowed him a sense of contentment as his feet, acclimated to the cold from the upstairs room, became drunk on the warmth of the slipper's interior. He did not waste much time, however, and after deciding to head back to his father he stole a glance toward Inari who also looked up at him.

She dodged his gaze, as did he with her due to it being impolite to stare, but he had to admit hat in more proper light than last night Inari was certainly quite pretty. She still held some vestiges of her old self, that young girl who came here long ago, and his mind wandered. What kind of life did she lead? What brought her back here? Her homeland was far, so he suspected that it could not be anything too ordinary. Then he recalled that her father Durando said her mother died. He frowned and looked back, studying her face. Was this the reason?

Doctor Rhines looked between the two Bylillys with a sort of understanding, forcing his face to be expressionless except for a quiescent smile. If a person had memory problems, perhaps they were unaware of their condition in the first place. He suspected it was the older man, but in order to placate him and give cross examination he would have to be fair.

"Stress does numbers on anyone," he uttered low, smiling good-naturedly, "especially the young people. I would ask, in that case, to see you both simultaneously, so that if there is anything that ails you I can aid in providing a cure. Durando, was it, and Inari, would you permit me and mine this much? By old and new medical standards, we are sworn to secrecy, to be fair, and to do no harm."

He tossed an innocuous glance between the both of them before putting together some final touches on his medical tray and coming close. He ushered Hughes to step forward, who did exactly that.

"So, Mr. Bylilly, I will run you through some memory exercises. Hughes, would you please run Inari through stress relief options?"

That caught Hughes off-guard, who also thought that she seemed not quite as stressed as the older man had implied, but he nodded and took a step forward.

"Of course. Er, we do have a number of remedies for relieving stress in the short term, like honey and herb dallops to help calm the body in the day, and other medicines to aid with sleep at night," he prattled, wondering between the lines how to talk with her. "Though the best medicine is dealing with the source if possible. Do you happen to know the source?"