undergrounds | The situation is grave [Open]

A: Faust's clinic, Lambeth:

Patients that had other options did not visit Dr. Faust. His bedside manner was impeccable during the day, of course, and his medical knowledge was near-encyclopedic. But often he looked as though he had not slept in days and there was a strange, distant component to his manner that had been present ever since the loss of his wife some years ago. And his touch, even to ordinary patients not overly sensitive to the supernatural, made the flesh crawl in inexplicable fashion.

But of course there were many patients that did not have other options. Faust opened the door to the waiting room, peeking his head through with a mildly encouraging smile. "Next?"

B: Night visits

Faust was out at the graveyard, peering down into a freshly-dug grave in the Earth. Empty, as of yet, but he preferred bodies that had had time to... settle. He looked over his shoulder at the skeleton trailing behind him. It was carrying a shovel and spade.

"Over on the east side, if you please."

Time to do a little grave robbing.

Wildcard:
Feel free to make up your own! Faust's been in London for a few years and hands out business cards for his clinic on occasion, so your character may have heard of him by reputation :).

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Just a ghost," Faust echoed. Well. Technically, there were many possible uses for ghosts.

"Have you ever given any thought to your personal ~~salvation~~ resurrection?" Ghosts could possess the living, of course, but not indefinitely. He wondered if Clara had ever longed for solid form, to once again feel the air in her lungs and the sun on her skin.

~~FaUST PLEASE.~~

"… A lot of times," she admits, looking a bit forlorn before she tries to perk herself up. "I later learned that you had to do a lot of, erm, dealings with fae and others though. It might not always work out for me too. The last thing I heard of a method to come back involved a life exchange, a large group of witches and a fae helping out! Sounds rather too complicated for me."

Which makes sense. She supposes that's the price of trying to reverse one of the natural part of life.

Better to be safe than sorry. No matter how much she wants to be able to feel sunshine again. (She would miss being able to phase through things. It is a fun thing to do when she was bored.)

Faust nodded; in this world, you rarely if ever got something for nothing. And certainly not in necromancy.

"It's a complex ritual. And of course, much can go wrong..." Like your sacrifice breaking free and running for it, for instance. HOW INCONVENIENT.

But he did know a few like-minded witches. Witches who might cooperate in exchange for a little information...

"I wonder if my wife would feel the same way. But I have no way of talking with her."

"Not even a seance with her name being called out?" She wonders if she's still here on this realm but, given the circumstances of her demise, it should be a strong possibility. "That always had me drawn out in the past by people looking for me."

It also made her much easier to find in the person's attempts to shoo her into passing but there's no need for such distressing details like that. "I'm sure, either way, there's a very strong chance that she's touched by your dedication and drive to bring her back. That's commitment."

"I know how to perform summonings. I've done it before. But my own wife? Nothing." Now he drooped a little. "Each time, I think it will go differently. Gathering up the materials, making my preparations. Calling her name. But perhaps she's simply beyond my reach."

For now.

That does sound very strange. It makes her frown, trying to think of any reasons why it'll be so hard to contact her spirit. Maybe she's really gone but, at the very least, communication with her from the other side should be possible.

Right? She'll need to ask someone about this later.

"Only for now! I'm sure you'll be able to speak with her soon!" Stay positive! That's Clara's advice even in the wake of a man trying to bring back his missing love. Yeah. "I hope this doesn't sound redundant but maybe you can also try her full name and her special nickname if you had one for her? Just a thought. Maybe I'm speaking nonsense to you."

"Her special nickname..." The way Faust repeated the words was distant, as if he were struggling to regain memories of some long-forgotten time. Or perhaps struggling not to remember.

Suddenly, he buried his face in his hands, slumping a little where he stood. He still remembered tiny details about her, little snippets of memories that came less and less frequently to the fore as the years passed. But when they did surface, they were more than he could stand. Her favorite flower, the way she sipped at her tea. The dress she'd bought and never worn.

"I miss her so."

Edited 2015-08-03 17:11 (UTC)

Oh God. Oh God. How does she-- What if he-- There are no words to describe the level of alarm she feels for him. Panicking a bit, Clara is at loss at firston how to respond. Clearly she said something wrong and feels awful for since he needs to deal with the repercussions of it.

Poor man has been through so much as it is and it makes her heart go out for him.

Enough to have her drift closer to see if there's a way to comfort him while the skeleton continues to do his work out of the corner of her eye. She pays them no heed despite her reasons being here in the first place, wanting to help the man here somehow.

She doesn't touch him just yet, having no clue of his stance on personal space and wanting to be careful, and tries to suss it out carefully. "I'm. I'm sorry. It must be very hard to be in your position. I'm so sorry, I am."

Faust took a moment to try and get himself back under control, to somehow fit the overspill of emotion safely back into place. "I know. Thank you."

He took a deep, sighing breath. "Sometimes it's the small things that make me remember. Then it's as if it happened yesterday. They told me it's supposed to get easier with time. But it never does."

Then he looked back up at Clara. "You're very kind, you know."

"It doesn't from my experience," she observers, recalling the few (and too many) times that it's happened in the past. "The most I can really say about it is that, sooner or later, you'll be able to not cry most of the time when they come to mind."

His comment takes her by surprise and she blinks, needing a moment to respond to that. "Ah... Thank you? I was just hoping you're okay is all. Others would do the same thing if they were here, I'm sure."

Sooner or later. Maybe. But he doubted it. As he doubted that others would care much about him.

"You're welcome. But now I think... I should get back." The skeleton lumbered back toward them, satchel in hand.

Ohhhh poor Henrique. He's going to have a headache when he checks on this part of the area later when he comes by doing his rounds.

Still, she realises that she should leave the man be and she nods to show her respects. "Of course. Better you get moving before someone catches you and your friend. Just-- Take care, okay?"

Much as she's still cautious over all of this, she doesn't want anyone to get into trouble.

"I will," said Faust, wobbling a little as he turned to head toward the exit. "Thank you. I'll... thank you."

Hopefully, he didn't run into anyone on the way back.

She has so many questions to ask him still but she can tell he either needs rest or something else for his plans. Perhaps the latter.

The best she could do now is leave him be and head to the direction of the grave, trying to delay the inevitable findings of his work here. It's not much but hopefully it'll be enough in the long run. She hopes he'll be fine.

The situation is grave [Open]

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