The Return of The Fae Doctor - OTA

[yves]

He didn't like to return to the Other Side, but now and then it couldn't be helped. Some things he required for his work could only be found there, and so he'd been off back home for what had been not terribly long here, but quite some time there. 

It was good to be back in London though. ...Well, perhaps good was a bit much. It was preferable to home though.

It wasn't terribly cold tonight, just chilly, and Yves strolled down the road with his hands in his pockets, taking in the holiday lights and the crowds. Dreadful, all of it. Just herds of  mortals looking for things to spend money on- Things that might make their brief and dreary lives slightly better. Though, to their credit, he supposed they did. Not for long, not in a way that lasted, but emptying their wallets seemed to amuse them for a while. Like a dog chasing after a ball, or a cat who'd just discovered nip. A brief little high that got them through the dregs of the year.

It was almost infectious, and for a moment, just a moment, he found himself outside a shop window, staring in. There were watches on display, dozens of them, along with silk ties and leather shoes. Pretty little baubles he didn't need. Tiny temptations that were usually little more to him than the odd armour he was forced to wear in this world. Here and now, however, they stopped being a necessity and became a desire.

How odd. Perhaps he'd been away too long.

Comments

[yves]

"Oh? How so?" Yves asked, curious to see how she defined selfish.

[miss_ives]

"As I've said, I'm doing it mostly because I like it," Vanessa stated, still smiling slightly. "That's not exactly selfless."

[yves]

"I see," Yves nodded, not asking more questions since they seemed to be wandering in circles on this topic. "Will you be seeing any family for the holiday?"

[miss_ives]

Her gaze saddened for a second, before she covered it up. "There's no one, actually. My parents died a few years ago, and whatever remote family I have... Well, it's quite remote."

[yves]

"I'm sorry to hear it," Yves replied softly, his voice growing a touch more gentle than usual. "Friends then, I hope?"

[miss_ives]

"Well, I've a Christmas party to attend," Vanessa answered with a brief smile. "In a theatre. It should prove a rather lavish affair, but I expect the eggnog to be top of the shelf," she added with a glint in her eyes.

[yves]

"Sounds lavish," Yves replied with a smile. "And what of the new year, hmm? Any life changing choices approaching? New paths to take?"

[miss_ives]

"None that I can predict," Vanessa answered with a small smile, knowing better than to answer with a simple 'No'. That would be too much like tempting fate. "I do want to take some time off in the new year and - travel to Moscow, maybe."

[yves]

"Sounds exciting. Any reason?" the fae asked curiously.

[miss_ives]

"Someone mentioned it, and the idea's stuck with me," Vanessa replied, trying to sound optimistic about it, rather than concerned. "Have you ever been? To Russia."

[yves]

"No. Well- Yes, sort of," Yves said, rubbing his jaw a bit and frowning to himself. Had it been Russia then? He couldn't remember, it was so long ago, and names were always changing it felt like.

[miss_ives]

"Sort of?" Vanessa echoed, intrigued.

[yves]

"It may have been called something else at the time. ...Or perhaps I only passed near it," Yves said with a small shrug. "I travelled a bit in my youth, it all blurs a bit."

[miss_ives]

His youth. Vanessa only knew that that had been a long time ago, without any specificity. She smiled, and nodded. "Then I won't turn to you for travel advice."

[yves]

"I'm terribly unreliable when it comes to that sort of thing," he confessed, offering a small smile- A rare treat from the fae.

[miss_ives]

And Vanessa cherished every one of them. This one drew hers out in return. "I suppose I shall have to make do with travel guides, then." She took a sip from her mug, then asked, "But what of you? Any plans for the holidays?"

[yves]

"I haven't decided," he admitted. "I think it may be time to leave the hospital, but I'm not sure where I would go."

[miss_ives]

"Have you grown dissatisfied with your work there?" Vanessa asked, although it might not be the work itself, of course.

[yves]

"Bored, more like," Yves sighed. "They're all so... Mortal. The other doctors, I mean. It's exhausting watching them work. It's dull watching them with their stacks of paperwork, that they fill out while gossiping about one another's drab little lives. 'Oh, did you know doctor whoever is shagging blonde nurse number three?' No, I didn't, and I don't care."

[miss_ives]

"You're likely to encounter that sort of gossip wherever you might work," Vanessa stated. "Unless you're thinking of focusing solely on your research?"

Yves already struck her as as isolated as she was. She could not imagine how she would feel without her work at the Museum making her interact with people daily.

[yves]

Sighing to himself, Yves shrugged his shoulders a bit.

"Perhaps. I don't know," the fae confessed, a streak of white appearing in his hair as he pushed it back. "I think I'm just ruffled from being home too long. I do loathe that place."

[miss_ives]

Vanessa only just stopped herself from reaching out to brush her fingers through his hair, hand twitching as she stifled the urge. "But you're back, now," she told him instead, confidently - a statement that was meant to anchor him in the here and now.

[yves]

"Yes. ...Yes, I escaped that land and I returned. That is something to be glad for," Yves agreed quietly, frowning to himself, then glancing at Vanessa.

[miss_ives]

Vanessa held his gaze for a beat, and then asked, before she might change her mind, "Would you like to come to Moscow with me?"

She would like for him to say yes, but having asked was an achievement in itself. And a statement all on its own.

[yves]

Visibly startled by the offer, Yves was silent for a long moment, before he finally spoke.

"...I think I would enjoy that immensely," he replied after a beat, surprised by the truth of his statement.