Riven Isles

4 | The Doctor's Thirst

You don't realize how miserable it is to be filthy until the filth is gone. I had thought I did, but, really, I hadn't grasped it at all. Itchy and irritated and grimy, for sure, but, enough so that I had forgotten what it felt like to be clean. Let me tell you what it's like. It is beyond refreshing.

I must be sure to give Dr. Oswald my many thanks for all his generosity towards me. A hot bath was the first surprise blessing. Following that, I've been assured that I have a place to stay and work arranged to keep me busy.

I couldn't ask for more.

Supplied with a fresh set of clothes, I stand before a tall mirror and appreciate myself and my cleanliness. Yes, outstanding. Dashing.

The materials are soft and comfortable, though the clothes themselves aren't particularly extravagant. In fact, they are the very same as I had worn to my last general physical, which I do think odd. Odd that I ever wore them, for one thing, but, mostly odd that the doctor had them remade for me. Overnight, I'm told. I suppose he wanted me to feel like everything was as close to normal as possible.

I pull at the socks, stretching them over my knees. Green and white stripes spin up my shins. I fix my breeches over them, but only a small portion is hidden.

"An elf," say I, "that's what you look like."

The red bandana at my neck, tied like a boy scout's, doesn't help. I stare at it for a while longer, contemplating whether to remove it or not. The socks I must to keep to conceal my shins, as is proper, but the bandana I could do without.

Come to think of it, however, it matches the leather strip in my hair. And, it was a gift, which I must certainly accept to show my gratitude.

I like it, actually. I think it's charming, in its own sense. You don't find men wearing bandanas around their necks very often in Amity.

I fix the cuffs on my blouse and am decided. The socks and the bandana look great together, and I'll proudly wear them, just as I did two months previous.

Though my hair is still damp, I feel ready to present myself to the doctor. Comfortable, clean, and smelling of sandalwood, I step out of the guestroom. Mrs. Reed, the maid, greets me with a curtsy. She muffles a giggle, but I catch it.

A flirt! It's the bandana, I tell you.

As my response, I brush it off as though I hadn't caught it and give her a gentlemanly nod. "I'd like to see the doctor now, Madame, if you don't mind."

"Right this way, sir."

The library is up a flight of stairs, at the end of a corridor. My focus as we walk is not upon the magnificence of the house, but upon the satisfying click of my new shoes on the wood. These are the one part of my remastered outfit that I have never owned. Polished black, beautiful dress shoes, complete with bronze buckles and heels.

Very fine.

Mrs. Reed stops to open one of the unnecessarily large doors and I wait. She gestures me in, and I thank her politely for her escort. Dr. Oswald is smoking a pipe and my entrance seems to distract him from something more important.

"Walter! Ah!" Yes, he sounds pleased to see me. Second-rate pleased. As though the fish people sat before him had given him something more exciting than me. "Come, come, lad!"

I come. I sit in the chair that he pats.

"I hope you don't mind," says he, placing his pipe twixt his teeth, "but I had Merylee take your safe to the workshop while you were freshening up. Your friends were telling me the most wondrous things about what I might find inside, and I couldn't resist. We'll have the contents in no time at all."