Bauer stared at the wooden ceiling directly above, often swapping his gaze between it and the gathering of soot on a beam at one end of the house, where a fireplace laid below.
Well, it's about time we get these needles out... This is gonna hurt like a bitch, so he thought, his hands growing restless as his fingers tapped the sides of the table he laid on, playing a rhythmical percussion line. This shit already hurts now that I think about it.
"Have no fear, young man," said Maleagant as he brought forth many concoctions and tinctures, having Bauer consume each one. "We shall get these needles out, and you won't feel a thing."
Thanks gramps, he replied in his mind while a sharp grimace crossed his face thanks to the repulsive flavours. He let out a heavy breath as he closed his eyes, before raising his brows and opening his eyes. I need to learn how to make those things. I don't feel the pain anymore... Wait...
Yes, he may not have felt the pain, but neither did he feel his limbs. He looked to his right and left, finding that neither his arms nor hands responded to his desire to move them. He raised his head and looked at his legs, bent so that his feet laid flat, though those refused to listen as well.
"By now," continued Maleagant, pouring a dark red liquid from a glass bottle onto a tablespoon, "you will have noticed that your body isn't responding to you." He walked over with the spoonful of liquid, holding a hand under his other, more shaky one, before giving the liquid to Bauer. "You will only have to wait a couple of minutes after drinking this liquid, and then we'll take out the needles." He chuckled.
Again, the bitter flavour left a contorted face that boldened all of the creases on Bauer's scarred face, leaving a burning sensation running down his throat, chest, and eventually his stomach.
"Kane," called out Maleagant, looking around for the boy who didn't respond, finding him reaching for a chest resting in the opposite corner of the room. In an instant, his eyes widened as he rushed over—though his rushing over was more like average human walking speed—and said with a loud voice, "Boy! What do you think you're doing?"
Startled, Kane hopped in place, retracting his hand in an instant. His head darted back to find Maleagant, who frowned with his arms crossed.
"Young one," said Maleagant, his voice returning to a calm and hoarse state, "don't you know better than to start digging through other's belongings?"
"I... I'm sorry, sage." Kane averted his gaze to the ground, knowing that he was in the wrong. "I was just curious about the things you kept around."
Maleagant stared at him, frozen in place with a raised brow, before sighing with a smile, shaking his head as he closed his eyes. "Never lose that inquisitive spirit, young one, but don't exercise it by going through things that aren't yours."
Kane nodded.
"Now," continued Maleagant, walking back to the opposite corner of the room, "help me out, will you?"
"Yes, sage," he replied immediately, wasting no time as he followed.
He took a look at Bauer resting on a beige wooden table he could only assume was a dining table, which always struck as odd since he never saw anyone else in Maleagant's home, nor did he think Maleagant had any family. He turned his gaze to the dark wood grain logs that formed the walls, plain and empty. Though what sat on smaller tables just in front of them was far more interesting, like beakers, vials, herbs stored in bottles, tinctures, chests, and all sorts of books laid against tables reserved just for them.
In the corner of the wall laid a doorway, though with no door to use. Kane watched as Maleagant rushed into the room and ran out, bringing out several tools at once and placing them on another table right next to Bauer's head.
"Uh, sage?" called out Kane, his brows standing up as he looked at the pile of many tools, which only kept piling up with each time the old man entered the room. "What are all of these tools for?" We don't seriously need to use all of this shit, right? Fuck man, why am I doing this? Actually... "What did you want me to do?"
"Put all of those tools in the chest across the room," Maleagant's voice called out.
"Oh, okay." He grabbed the tools, struggling to hold them in his skinny arms. Thank fuck I'm not dealing with Bauer's bullshit.
"Oh and one more thing!"
"Yes?" he looked back.
"I'm going to bring some items for sanitizing the wound," the old man reappeared standing at the doorway, holding a transparent bottle of equally transparent liquid as he looked at Kane, "and I want you to clean around Bauer's wounds. Also, I'll need your help with removing the needle's from our friend's arms if you don't mind."
Say you mind, say you mind, say you mind, a voice begged in Kane's head, though his mouth said otherwise. "Okay." Of course, that sparked a fierce debate with the voice in his head as he stored the tools in a chest, knowing that he wasn't exactly mentally prepared, let alone mentally strong enough, to deal with removing things lodged into people.
Bauer also wanted to voice his concerns, though he figured it was probably useless and stupid anyway. But then again, he genuinely doubted that Kane would be able to perform the given tasks properly, and potentially cause him more problems than just needles poking through his arms. If Kane was going to help out, at least he could've been put to sleep before... is what he thought.
"Alright, Bauer," said Kane as he approached the table, looking over Bauer, before standing back and analyzing the wounds, whispering, "I'm gonna be real honest with you, all I know is the difference between jack shit and fuck all about what I'm supposed to do, but," he returned to a regular volume, "I'm sure it'll be fine."
"Well maybe you should consider telling him that?"
"It'll be fine, trust me."
"I hope it will be, because if you can't even clean around a wound then I don't know what to tell you. You might be as dumb as the other laymen."
"Eh," he poured a bit of the transparent solution onto a cotton ball, before pressing it around the coral coloured needle, "at least not so dumb as to actually join Nefandyr."
Bauer hissed in pain as he felt a burn around the wound. He may not have been able to feel his arms, but he sure did as hell feel the burn of the disinfectant, which did strike as odd, but it wasn't unbearable so he didn't mind it much.
"There," said Kane, walking over to the other arm as he added, "that's not too hard."
"That's a relief."
"The fuck is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing, just get it over with. This shit burns."
"Aye, aye, captain."
As requested, Kane quickly went through with disinfecting everything, made certain that he was doing such a simple task properly by the hisses of pain Bauer would let out. Conveniently enough, Maleagant would arrive about a minute after Kane had finished disinfecting, marking the time to start removing the needles.