Jake was bounding through the halls of Strange Academy with giddy glee. He had learned and seen so many new things that day! He loved his coven, they were all so cool! And he adored getting to work with Cassie, she was so nice!! He’d started exploring after their advisor session, stumbling upon some locations that he definitely wanted to revisit. There was one in particular that he had adored - it was a room filled with mirrors, with strange contraptions all about, and objects that fit into his hand so easily but were deceptively heavy. The ground had been strange too, an odd padding covering every surface, such a departure from the stone floors outside. There had been a giant ball, too - just the perfect height for him to sit on it and to bounce with glee. There had been smaller balls nearby, but those ones had been so incredibly heavy, it had been hard to pick them up and when he’d dropped them onto the ground, they thudded rather than bounced. And the crisp scent in the air - he couldn’t identify it, didn’t know what it was - but he was immediately smitten. When sleep evaded him, he would be returning to this strange place.
But for now, he was too excited by all the possibilities to remain just in one spot! So he zipped about through the halls, opening doors and peering inside, gasping with wonder at the incredible sights - and then squealing with delight as he opened one and saw one of his favorite people.
“Frankie!!! Hi, hi, hi!!! It’s me, Jake!!! What are you doing? Can I see? Can I help? I love helping! Please, please, please let me help!!” he begged, barreling his way inside the small room. It was a strange space, too, dimly lit except for a spotlight at the center. It was sparsely decorated, with a metal slab in the dead center, and rolling carts filled with what looked like tools. And on the slab, there was…
Jake’s eyes widened.
“Is that a person? Is he okay??”Frankie had some goggles over his eyes, though unlike others they had a magnifying feature to be able to see his sutures and work better while staying safe. His lab coat was closed, and some blood splatter was on the sleeves and torso as he worked, stopping at the sound of a familiar voice before he looked up to see Jake bounding in.
“ Oh hey, I'm not sure how much you'd be able to help but you can assist a bit if you'd like.”
Frankie grabbed the goggles with one hand, lifting them up and placing them onto his forehead.
“ Uh, Yes that is a person and no. They're dead. Only fo – have, pieces of them though. So I can't exactly perform a full resurrection. Was thinking of maybe detaching the hand and animating that instead to help out.”
Jake gasped.
“A resurrection? That’s so cool! Can you resurrect me? What’s that?” He’d never heard of the term before but it seemed so exciting and he wanted to try! He bounded on up to Frankie’s side, a little bit of blood already having found its way onto his cheek, as he started to pace, circling the slab.
“Do I have to wear a cool outfit like yours too? Do I get second eyes? Or do you have to be born with them? Were you born with them?”Frankie laughed, placing one hand on his hip as he followed Jake with his eyes. “Usually yes, you would have to wear the proper gear to be working on something like this, but given I have no spares there isn't much to do. Really I just try and use it to keep my clothes clean. Some people find the sight of it all unseemly.” He shrugged.
“Oh, and no you don't have to be born with them you just have to buy some or make them yourself. They're quite pricey, but I'm sure Rohan would be able to make you some, or Annika. They're both pretty handy at crafting. And resurrection only works on the dead, youre plenty much alive and I'd like to keep it that way. You're…sweet.” Frankie looked away from Jake, turning back to his work to busy himself.
“Oh. But you look so pretty like this!” Jake gushed.
“Why wouldn’t people like it? The red reminds me of some flowers I saw earlier, and flowers are really pretty, so you’re also pretty then!” he reasoned. Frankie looked so much more vibrant than everyone else, he wasn’t wearing dreary browns and muted greys and dull blacks. The red contrasted sharply to the white of the coat and it caught Jake’s eye, pulling his easily captured attention.
He picked up one of the body parts - a leg, he realized - and gave it a good sniff, before licking it.
“Huh. Is this what all dead people taste like?” he asked. He didn’t know what to think about Frankie telling him he was sweet. The only thing he knew that was sweet had been the candy from the night before, and Jake hadn’t liked that at all. Was Frankie telling him he was like candy? He didn’t like that. He didn’t want to make Frankie feel like that.
“Please don't lick the body parts…or eat them for that matter. I'd caution against the brain the most, but the head’s missing so no use there. But if you do come across it don't lick or eat it.” Frankie held out his arm, placing it onto the leg as he tried to slowly lower it down and away from Jake's mouth. He was an interesting case, seemed to have absolutely no compass of any kind, no knowledge, yet the capability to speak. He recalled the wild magic surging inside of him, and he wondered if perhaps Jake was some manner of undead. It would explain the memory loss he supposed, but if that was to be a side effect of raising the dead…he would need to study it and find a way around it. No use reviving a loved one if they don't even know who they are.
“Why?” Jake asked simply, as he let Frankie guide the leg away from his mouth. Eating it would have been silly. He knew that he wouldn’t get much out of that. But licking it seemed harmless and safe - and it gave him so much information when he used his tongue! It was quickly becoming one of his favorite senses, taste - and not licking things to learn about them made as much sense as refusing to open his eyes and look at things, or refusing to touch them or smell them.
“Is it bad to lick things? I’ve been licking a lot of things. I licked some stuff Connie made earlier - she even gave me some of it as a present afterwards, she was so nice!! Wanna see? I have it in my pocket, because I didn’t know where to put it - and I got a gift from Nicky. Two gifts!!”“Mostly because there's chemicals used in preparing bodies that are harmful to you and others. We also aren't aware how they died and that also could pose a health risk to you if you licked the wrong thing. As a general rule of thumb, you shouldn't put anything in your mouth unless its meant to be there, like food or drinks. Even if it seems extremely tempting.”
Frankie understood that was how newborns helped to process information. But typically they had parents to minimize the amount of dangers that that would present. “Say, do you mind if I ask you a few questions while I work?”
Jake frowned, considering what Frankie had said. It was dangerous to put things in his mouth? Food and drinks were the only things meant to be there? That didn’t seem right. There had to be other things that were okay to go in his mouth. It seemed wasteful for it to just be food and drink - something he had no interest at all in. Why even have a mouth? And then, his expression brightened up. Talking! Of course! Words were the other thing to put in mouths! He giggled a bit at his own shortsightedness, before nodding.
“Okay! No more things in my mouth!” he agreed.
But Frankie didn’t say anything else about touching, so he was happily picking up the different body parts, fiddling with them as he tried to understand them. Joints were
very fun. He liked how bendy they were! More body parts ought to be bendy, he decided.
“Yeah, you can ask me questions!! What do you want to know? I don’t know a lot of things but I can try!”Frankie didn't mind Jake touching things. He'd long since decided the piece he cared about most was the wrist and hand he was currently holding. The rest would be preserved for later use. He held the hand up, goggles back in place, as he began to ask his questions, inspecting the hand all the while.
“How much do you remember? You seem to have some gaps of memory, I'm curious where they start.”
Jake had been about to list off everything he remembered, when Frankie clarified he just wanted to know where his memories started. That was easy at least!
“Yesterday, when we were in that big hall with the key fish. That’s when I woke up!” He had shifted his task with the body parts, having moved on from playing with joints to instead trying to stack them to form a tower.
When he…woke up? That was certainly one way to put it. But even then. “Wanna play a game? It's called Doctor. You'll be my patient and I'll be your doctor.”
His eyes lit up. He loved games! He nodded eagerly, abandoning the small tower of body parts. His torso and arms and face were now thoroughly covered in blood and guts.
“That sounds so fun!!”Frankie pointed towards another slab, one unoccupied by a corpse. “I'll grab a few things, go ahead and sit over there”.
“Okay!!” Jake preened, as he hopped up onto the slab, his legs swinging as he waited.
Frankie grabbed a few tools out of his bag. Mainly a tongue suppressor, stethoscope, and small rubber hammer for reflexes. There were a few other devices as well that got carted over next to Jake. He put on the stethoscope first. “This might be a little cold, so fair warning.” Frankie blew hot air onto the metallic end before sliding it under Jake's shirt and listening for a heartbeat. It was there, no doubt about that. He moved it to his back, checking the lungs as he continued to instruct Jake on what to do. Breathing normally, taking in a slow long deep breath and holding it before giving him a slow long exhale. Everything seemed to check out. If he was an undead, he was a perfect replica of a living being…minus the memory issues. Perhaps he just had amnesia then? A miss-spell that caused a head injury or something along those lines.
“Did you find anything?” Jake asked, curious, as Frankie put a strange, cold device on his chest. It made him nervous for a moment, how close the other boy was to touching him - but it was just a game, they were only playing doctor, it would be fine. The chill didn’t hurt, although he didn’t like it, either. Bad things were cold. He trusted Frankie, though, so the device couldn’t actually be bad.
“Can I help?” he then added.
“Are you looking for something?”Frankie shook his head. Taking the ear buds out as he placed them into Jake's ears. “You're helping by following the instructions. Watch.” He took the metal disc and placed it over his heart, allowing Jake to hear its thrum for a few beats before pulling it away. “The device let's me hear your heart and lungs, shows me how healthy they are and if there's anything in them that shouldn't be. You're in good health.” Frankie grabbed the next device, testing Jake's reflexes.
Jake was very still for a moment, as he listened intently to the sound of Frankie’s heart beating. He’d never heard anything quite like it before - simultaneously soft and reassuring, a rhythmic lull that caused a bit of tension in his body to leave. He frowned, his eyes glistening a bit as the sound was taken away from him, as he couldn’t hear Frankie anymore.
“Does everyone sound as nice as you?” he asked.
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