[PRP] Options (Temperance & Ashton)

[The Semblance of Unity]

"He certainly is a strange man. Is he no longer there?" Mount Me was such a childish name for a shop, she thought.

"Do you deal in found animals anymore, Ashton, like for the bones? Or solely commission work?" She desperately wanted to know more about Ashton and human flesh, but it seemed inappropriate to ask.

daekie

 

[Daekie]

"It's hard to say." Ashton averted her eyes. "I haven't seen him since...November, I think -- but he still retains ownership of the shop, and certainly I'm not the one managing hiring. If he is still in town, he's even more of a recluse than before, I suppose."

"I don't have much time for found animals." She laughed, a little bitter, an ugly strangled noise. "Between school and work, I have to plan hobbies far in advance, you know? Unless I want to start hunting down bluejays with a bow and arrow or poison my entire backyard in hopes we have a rat colony, there's just no time for the luck of found-work roadkill anymore."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Temperance took a sip of her coffee. In the grand scheme of things, he was worth very little. Certainly, he was a noble - she knew that much - but there were other reclusive nobles. One had even locked himself in the other Ashdown hospital for a bit. It was amusing to think about.

She laughed, an oddly tinkling sound. "I'm sure there are other ways to find the dead and dying. But I understand about not having enough time. I am glad that I'm set to graduate soon. When do you?"

daekie

 

[Daekie]

Ashton smiled at Temperance's laugh like she was sharing a secret, giving a gift -- she knew a kindred spirit when she saw the glimpses of one peeking through. That want to step on things just to see if you could, tempered only by foresight and bystanders. In some bygone age, perhaps they might have been kings and queens, conquerors, the people kneeling before them -- but that wasn't now. It didn't matter, what could have been, if she couldn't use it.

She sighed, heavy. "Second year of premed right now, going into third -- I have an associate's degree in fine arts, that was two years already -- so technically I graduate after four or five years of premed, depending on how hard I double down on some courses. But there's four years of medical school after that, and at least three years of residency before I could dream of opening my own practice. It's a long road."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"A long road, but if anyone can come out of top, it's you. I've heard them talk about how brilliant you can be." She smiled. Parts of Ashton were infuriating, but there was something irresistible. Maybe it was the ambition.

Temperance turned towards another fork, walking aimlessly. It wasn't perhaps the most adrenaline-fueled of dates, but Ashton was certainly interesting. "What kind of practice do you want to open?"

daekie

 

[Daekie]

"We'll see how pretty that long road looks in four years when I'm going grey before I'm 30," Ashton groaned, still melodic even in that. "That's still a long time away -- I'd rather not count my chickens before they hatch, or before I get into residency and figure out what sort of people I'm best at dealing with." She shrugged, aimless.

"If everything's a mess, I suppose I can always realign myself and try to go for veterinary. Pediatrics is definitely off the table - children are little goblins, aren't they?"

The Semblance of Unity

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