singillatim | 4. You're sounding very like one to me just now.

Entry tags:

4. You're sounding very like one to me just now.

Who: Harry Goodsir and OPEN TO ALL
What: Open log for any and all nonsense
Where: Mostly Milton, but a little Lakeside as well
When: May and stuff
Warnings: TBD but you know, Harry's canon is what it is.

I. Milton

Out of any given month, Harry Goodsir spends at least three weeks in Milton. He has a fairly constant routine now ~~that is ripe for disruption~~: in the mornings, he is at home to anyone who needs medical assistance, and then after lunch he makes a round of the town to see if there's anyone who needs help who is unable to come to him, or who refuses to look after themselves for their own good and needs some gentle prodding. Around tea-time he stops off at the community hall, making himself available there. Then he returns to his cabin for the rest of the evening, again available to anyone who needs help or indeed any social callers. Likely as not, one will find him reading one of the scientific or medical texts he's scrounged from Milton and Lakeside.

II. Lakeside

Harry tries to get over to Lakeside for about a week each month, to check in on how things are going there, to scrounge for more supplies, and to visit his friends who live there as well. His routine there is much like that in Milton.

III. The hot springs

Every now and then, Harry hikes up to the hot springs for what passes as rest and relaxation for an afternoon. If there are others there, he may hang around somewhat awkwardly until they leave before getting in himself, or he might just give up and go home. But if there's no one there, he will get in and stay there for a good while. Which means he is liable to be surprised by anyone who happens by.

IV. Wildcard

Amidst all this routine, there is plenty of opportunity for Stuff to Happen; feel free to come up with any scenario that suits.

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Has Erich even met Goodsir? Probably not, considering he spent most of his time reading alone and walking around in the outskirts of the city of the forest. He is not a fantastic tree climber but that's beside the point. He's rather nervous as he's approaching the clinic. The man makes sure no one else is waiting to be seen by the doctor before knocking at the door. He's well covered, healthy as far as one resident of that place can be and... doesn't really want to take the doctor's attention away from anyone who may need it.

He awkwardly stands there, waiting for the door to open or a voice to invite him in, assuming Goodsir was there.]

[ From within: ]

Come in!

[ When he opens the door, he'll find Goodsir having just put the kettle on for tea. ]

Ah! Good afternoon. Can I help you?

[Okay, sweet, he's actually there alone. Erichthonios stepped in, carefully tapping his boots outside to get rid of the snow as much as he could and offering the man a small bow. He was never quite sure of what was proper or not, but hopefully that was going to work. Months with the locals and he still had confused ideas a- no, his focus was on one single thing.]

Greetings, ser. Good afternoon to you. I'm Erichthonios and I am healthy at the moment, I am... however interested in asking if you were interested in mentoring others, perhaps. [A pause.] I don't have lot to offer, to be honest, but I forage often and I am decently efficient at gathering wood...?

Harry Goodsir. A pleasure to met you. Would you care for some tea?

[ He goes to get down a cup and the box of tea bags, which are frankly awful, but it's better than nothing. ]

I'm always glad to teach others what I can. Have you met Levi? He has been my assistant these past few months. While there are now more doctors and scientists here than once there were, more trained hands are no bad thing.

[Raises one hand, shaking his head]

Thank you, but I will pass. I had some herbal tea at the Hall earlier.

[He will not stop the other from having tea himself, though. At the mention of Levi he actually smiles, that's one man he actually met more than once and dares to consider a friend.]

Oh, yes- he actually has been occasional but more than welcome company. He is quite a talented man, isn't he? And... I am aware the community is growing and glad to hear there are more medics- I would have come sooner but I needed time to obtain at least the basics. It's quite the shift moving from an exaelemental magical system to... this.

Anyway, I- would gladly be up for any kind of training.

Peter's not in need of medical attention but he does find himself at the community center at the same time as Goodsir. He vaguely recognizes the man from seeing him around Milton and knows that he's the doctor so Peter decides to go say hello.

"Hey, hi." He gives Harry a little wave as he gets closer. "You're the town doctor, right?"

Before Harry can start to worry or look him over, Peter adds, "I'm not hurt or anything. I'm fine."

"I am—well, it pleases me greatly to say that I am now one of the doctors here," he says. And possibly the least qualified of the lot, but he's not going to bring that up right now to someone he's just met. "Harry Goodsir, at your service."

"Hey, nice to meet you, Doc," Peter says with an easy smile, extending his hand once he was close enough. "Peter Parker. I'm fine, no doctor needed right now but just thought I'd say hey and see how things were going."

Typically, his healing would take care of anything that was going on with him but with the disappearance of his powers, probably better to know the people that could put him back together in this place.

"I'm glad to meet you. And ... well, I hesitate to say that we are between alarums at the moment, because I am sure that once I do, something terrible will rear its head."

It's sort of a joke, but also not. Goodsir's humour of late has taken a decided turn toward gallows.

"Ah, you're worried about jinxing people."

Because he knows all about that. He's worried about that. Not so much here as back home but he knows the jinx will carry.

"I think that's smart. Don't want to speak anything into existence."

Claudia's nosy, but that's only because she has to be. She'd grown so used to New Orleans that it started to feel like it was the only place in the world, even after the seven years she spent travelling; she knows she needs to become familiar with this place too, now it's become her new normal. So she's not above peering in windows and peeping inside buildings, even if they look occupied.

That's how she comes to be standing at Goodsir's cabin door, knocking primly. When he answers, she offers him a small, almost apologetic smile, the picture of teenage innocence. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I noticed you reading when I was passing by your window." Not strictly a lie, even if it had been more lingering than passing by. "I was wondering where you got that book."

The book currently in Harry's hand is a copy of The Hot Zone, which he has been reading with increasing fascination and dread. In fact, there was a bit of a delay before he answered the door, because it qas quite difficult to put down.

"Ah—well, it was here when I arrived," he says, here meaning the house. "The previous tenant seems to have had a scientific mind. You're welcome to browse, if you like?" He opens the door a little wider.

Claudia can't help the way her eyebrows lift in quiet disbelief; even as young as she looks, she doesn't remember ever being allowed to just walk into somebody's house after exchanging only a few words. But if he's offering...

She steps inside, her hands clasped politely behind her back, as she peers around the space. Very quaint. "Are they all science books?" she asks curiously.

Goodsir is, perhaps unfortunately, rather trusting in many ways, particularly when it comes to someone who is youngster-shaped. Besides, he tends to think of the front part of his cabin, where he sees his patients, as a semi-public space. So he thinks nothing of letting Claudia in for a look around.

"Nearly all," he says. "The person who lived in this cabin before—she seems to have had an interest in such subjects."

Sveta's returned from Lakeside for the time being and needs the hot springs. It's not a typical indulgence for her, but she thinks that, in a strange hour, perhaps she could arrive there and not have anyone around.

She does not expect to see those dark curls as she slips into the little cave and she squeaks out a quick apology and averts her gaze.

"Dr. Goodsir. I - I'm sorry. I didn't think anyone would be here. I can - leave you be, if you'd prefer," she says, staring very intently at the ceiling, as if it might give her the wisdom she needs to simply walk away.

Edited 2024-05-05 01:46 (UTC)

Lost in thought, almost drowsy, Goodsir isn't aware that anyone is there until Sveta speaks—and then he very nearly launches himself out of the water in surprise. The only thing that stops him is the fact that his clothes are just out of arm's reach. He sinks back down, almost to his chin, which in the relatively low lighting, is at least something like modesty.

"I—that is—I beg your pardon," he stammers. "You're welcome to—I mean—I have been here quite a while—it is no trouble for me to—to leave, if you like."

"No," she insists, turning her back to him, but she's already found her way around to perimeter of the springs. "No, please don't go. You - god, you deserve it as much as anyone."

She still doesn't look.

"Are you alright?"

Goodsir is now carefully scooting through the pool where he's sitting so that he's at the farthest edge from Sveta that he can manage, to spare both their blushes. Thank God the light in here is poor.

"I'm—yes, quite all right, yes," he says. "Er. Well." He clears his throat and turns so that now he's looking studiously at the wall of the cave behind him. "I have—I have averted my eyes as thoroughly as I can. You—you may trust my discretion, I assure you."

"I trust you," she tells him genuinely and, with a large sigh, she starts to undress and scurries into the water, all the way to her neck, as soon as she can.

And oh god is it worth it.

"Oh," she mutters, rubbing her arms and forgetting for a moment that she's supposed to be embarrassed. "I didn't know I could be this warm again."

Lalo, too, goes to Lakeside for a week each month. His home is still in Milton, but he appreciates the quieter area. It helps him think. And there's the junkyard, and the hot water!

He's in the hydrodam staff quarters when he sees Goodsir. Lalo lights up. "It's you!!" he says. He claps Goodsir on the shoulder. "How ya doin'? You take good care of yourself? Look, I — " Hang on. Lalo turns away, to cough into his sleeve. " — sorry about that!! My arm healed! Look!"

Lalo rolls up his long sleeve to show Goodsir his arm, riddled with deep scar tissue, but healed.

"All thanks to you!"

Goodsir gives the arm a critical look before nodding in satisfaction; it does seem to have healed perfectly well. Good.

"I'm glad to have helped," he says. "How have you been, Mr Salamanca?"

"Me? I've been great!" Lalo says cheerfully, as he claps a hand to Goodsir's back and starts to guide the other man in the direction of his choosing. Wherever Goodsir was going before, it seems like they're going to Lalo's cabin in Lakeside now. "How have you been. Hey, listen, what kind of doctor are you, anyway?" What kind of doctors did they even have in the 1800s? Lalo doesn't know. "How much do you know about psychology?"

Goodsir mentally rearranges his schedule as he follows Lalo's lead.

"I ... well, I trained as an anatomist, originally. I believe another word for it in your time is 'pathologist'? But I worked with my father in his medical practice, and then served as assistant surgeon and naturalist on HMS Erebus—that was ... that was just before I came here."

That last phrase is doing a lot of work.

"But of psychology, I know very little—that is a science that did not exist in my time. The study of the mind and its workings, yes?"

Poor Goodsir. What a trooper.

"Ah. Right. Old timey guys. I forgot." Lalo looks distracted, anxious, as he gently guides Goodsir in the direction of his new house. Lalo's stomach hurts. "Hey, uh. Listen. But you, uh, you know about doctor/patient confidentiality, right?"

While Goodsir is making his rounds, Levi is on patrol. He pauses when he sees the other. "Oh, doctor! How are you doing?"

"Levi, good afternoon." Goodsir greets him with a friendly wave. "Quite well, at least for now. And you?"

"I'm fine. I had some trouble with the fog but I think its back to, uh, well...not posionus anymore. For now."

"So it seems." He shakes his head. "I'd be grateful for a month where we're spared another outbreak of such danger."

He's still annoyed about the mushrooms.

He sighs, "Yeah...I don't ever expect that but it'd be really nice. At least there are some calm periods between crisises."

[ Considering the cold, and the fact they don't have easy access to hot water, Jim is honestly surprised the hot springs aren't more popular among the Interlopers. Still, while more often than not he finds them empty when he goes there, he's not surprised either to find someone else already there, submerged in the welcoming water. He pauses as he comes into view, greeting the unfamiliar face with a brief smile and a nod. ]

Mind if I join in?

[ There's plenty of room, after all. Still, seems only right to ask first. ]

[ Goodsir has been thinking about the latest book he's reading, and starts a little when addressed. As his interlocutor is male, he is much less embarrassed than he was with Sveta. ]

Ah, good afternoon—please, make yourself comfortable.

[ With the prompt response, and since he doesn't look especially bothered by Jim's presence, he wastes no time in getting his clothes off, several layers laid down carefully on a dry patch of rock along with the backpack he's brought. It's still cold outside, even with the steam coming from the water, so he doesn't waste much time with that, already shuddering a little by the time he slips into the pool, sinking down to his shoulders with a relieved sigh. ]

Oh, that's so worth the hike. [ He shoots Harry a curious look. Sorry buddy, but he's a friendly sort, and a talker. ] Jim Kirk. I've seen you around, I think. You're a doctor, right?

[ If ever I was a doctor... But over the last few months, Goodsir has found the title does not provoke the shame that it once did. It's still not quite right to his ear, but now he only hesitates a fraction of a second before answering: ]

More de facto than anything else—I trained as an anatomist—but yes. I don't mind admitting that I am very glad that I'm no longer the only man with medical training in this community.

Well, you probably have more knowledge and experience than most other Interlopers. That counts.

[ Under their current circumstances, Jim isn't especially picky, and he doubts most others are. ]

Thankfully. I mean, I wouldn't wish for anyone to be stuck here, but that some of us have more specialized and useful skills is definitely a plus.

Billy has had plenty of reasons to not really seek the other man out, really. There's first and foremost the awkwardness that always seems to exist between them. Billy has practically never spoken to the other in this place without Harry giving him some sort of incredibly guilty-looking kicked puppy stare. And then the idea of speaking with him much has only gotten even more awkward ever since he was told what the other mutineers did with Harry's body in the end, putting that right in the forefront of Billy's mind whenever he spots the man around town.

.. but it also means that there has been something he's been curious about for months now that he hasn't been able to ask. There's been a lot of weighing whether it'd be worth the trouble of asking over the past while - and Billy's gotten at a point where it's such a burning curiosity that he truly can't help himself.

So when he spots Harry sitting in the community hall right when Billy was getting some more thread from the general supply there, he decides to just approach him this time.

"Mr. Goodsir? Could I have a moment of your time?"

Someday he will be able to look at Billy Gibson without that churning sensation in his gut, but today is not that day.

Please let this be something harmless, he thinks, as he arranges a polite smile on his face and nods.

"Certainly, Mr. Gibson. What is it?"

".. It might be a bit of an odd question."

An ill omen, considering what Harry is hoping here for. Though thankfully Billy doesn't have anything to ask regarding their time back home, or about any of their (ex-)crewmates.

"But have you ever treated Rorschach?" Usually when bringing someone up he'd clarify who it is, but.. considering how the other man has been here for longer than Billy himself has, and considering how hard it is to not recognize Rorschach with that odd mask he always wears anywhere, he's pretty sure Harry knows without him having to specify. "For a burn, more specifically?"

All right, that's a question he can handle. It's a relief, really.

"I have treated him. More than once, in fact," he says. "It isn't my place to say more—why do you want to know?"

HIPAA has, of course, not been invented in Harry's day, but his father had always drummed into his children that even a small village doctor owed his patients some discretion. One ought not feed gossip.

At least his assumption that Harry is the doctor Rorschach would have gone to was right, then. It mostly made sense since Goodsir is the doctor who's been here the longest - and Rorschach also has been here for longer than Billy has. It only make sense to visit the same doctor again for repeat visits.

"I was wondering if he mentioned anything to you."

There's a slight pause, but he realises that with Harry's wording so far, the other might not bring it up unless Billy adds a little bit more of his reason for asking this in the first place.

"He must have come to you with a rather severe burn. I.. am afraid that was my doing." Well, maybe afraid isn't the right word. But it's also true that it hadn't been intentional at first, even though it felt kind of good after the fact. Empowering. "I was worried as to what he might have told you about it."

It's easy to spin it as an 'I'm worried about my reputation and being unfairly seen as a pyromaniac' sort of matter - because that's also true! But Billy is infinitely more worried that Rorschach may have passed on the information that Billy and Hickey are living together and in an active relationship to the other man.

Rorschach had made a few trips out to the springs in the recent months. Mainly it was just due to Louis shaming him since the odor that had happened after he'd been sick when the stomach flu had lingered in his clothes for a very long while. Really, it was a wonder no one else had the courage to tell him that, though maybe it was just because they valued their fingers more than being blunt with the vigilante.

So here he was, scrubbing off the parts that made up his usual outfit and wearing one made of lighter layers while he did so. He was scrubbing the trenchcoat that was one of his signature items with a vigorous nature but he was beginning to fear nothing was going to get the smell out. Well, this was what he got for wearing a garment consistently for the past twenty years without getting it laundered once in a while.

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4. You're sounding very like one to me just now.

Milton

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I. Milton

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III.

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LAKESIDE

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springs

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III