To Soothe The Itch (Roman)

[Cassandra Coven]

Timestamp: 15th of Spring, 511 AV Location: Roman's Clinic-Home Cassandra walked with trepidation as she made her way through the labyrinthine alleyways of the seedier part of the Merchants ring. Her eyes would dart to every movement she perceived no matter how small: from a cat rummaging in the rubbish bin of a tavern in search of a meal, to the slight fluttering of wet knickers against the wind in the clotheslines above her. She would stop at intersections and peer at both sides before proceeding, making sure that there was no one in them, or if there were, that they took no interest in her. Every now and then, she would look back to where she came from just to reassure herself that she was not being followed. Such was her paranoia when walking through the back streets of this part of the city. It was midday. She was sure the place would be infinitely more dangerous when the sun had vanished. For the greater part of an hour, the dark-haired woman had been looking for the address of a doctor one of her coworkers had recommended to her. The rash on her arm had begun to itch once more and the sensation now was more maddening than ever – so much so that even washing it with cool water did not soothe the itch. She had opted to walk to find the clinic to save coin from paying a ravosala driver to take her to the place directly, though she regretted that decision as soon as she entered the maze-like streets due to the forbidding atmosphere of the shadowed passageways. Not that she had run into anyone who accosted her – or run into anyone at all for that matter – but she fervently hoped the directions given to her were accurate. A woman walking alone in such places, no matter what time of day it was, was always a target. As so Cassandra made her way slowly, one hand always drifting close to the dagger hilt hidden under the waistband of her skirt, ready to pull out the weapon in case someone jumped her. Such a thing never happened of course, and she soon found herself in the street where the doctor’s clinic home was located. “…forty paces after you turn right from the intersection,” she muttered as she followed the instructions given to her to the letter, absently scratching her arm. “It will be the door on the left…” She paused, stopping in front of the said door, and looked up. The place was a one-room structure, its façade old and unkempt as if the occupant had never bothered to clean up the face of his home. It was old, as evidenced by the establishments beside it, which seemed to have been built much later than it had, taking up the space above it for a wider second story. This told Cassandra two things: one, if the doctor owned the place, then his family must have lived in Ravok for a long time; and two, he was a very wealthy man despite being established in the city. The woman prayed he was an able doctor despite all that. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door.

[Roman]

As soon as Roman heard somebody knocking on his door he immediately looked up from the small pile of herbs he was grinding to dust, fear gripping his heart in his cold grip for a short while the memories of the time that the ebonstryfe knocked on his door flashed through his mind. "Don't think about that." He muttered to himself as he shook his head, as if he was trying to shake the thought out of his mind. Dropping the heavy stone he was using as a pestle to grind those herbs besides the bowl and quickly checked if he still had his dagger hung around his waist before going to answer the door. More or less half a chime after Cassandra knocked on the door Roman finally answered it, the giant of a man almost having to duck to get through the door. When he saw the mostly healthy woman standing in front of his door he frowned. Why would she come to a doctor? Still it wasn't as if his business was good and maybe she just came to buy some medicine for somebody else or maybe the person who was sick couldn't come here. He stepped aside and motioned the woman to come inside. "Please come inside, its not that safe to just keep standing outside in these parts."

[Cassandra Coven]

The door creaked open to reveal one of the tallest men Cassandra had ever seen. Long and gangly, the man's frame seemed vaguely familiar to her. Images of being kicked in the face flashed through her mind, events from a season ago when someone almost as tall and lanky had nailed her jaw with a boot when she tried to help him up. That man had been wearing a mask however and the dark-haired woman could not tell if that person and this man before here were one and the same. She decided to give the benefit of the doubt and craned her neck up to look the man in the eye, offering a smile at him. "Good day, sir," she began in a sweet and friendly tone. "I was told a doctor lived in here. I hope I'm not mistaken. Are you him?" The man invited her inside before answering, and his polite tone easily lured Cassandra in. She did not even consider for a moment that he could be one of the unsavory elements she had been trying to avoid out in the streets. Peering at the interior of the room, she noted the mortar and pestle on the table, realizing that the man had been in the middle of grinding something when she had knocked. Certainly that could be an activity doctors did, right? Or an alchemist at least, she thought. No...herbalist! Satisfied that she deduced the man's identity correctly, Cassandra went straight to business, bringing up the purpose of her visit. "I was hoping to have a rash I have examine," she explained, pulling up one of the sleeves of her blouse with a gloved hand to reveal the red and slightly puffy skin of her left arm, just above the inside of the elbow. "I...I don't know where I got it but I never had it before I arrived in this city - I've only been here for less than a year. It won't go away." She looked up at the tall man, concern on her face. "I hope I'm not allergic to anything in this city..."

[Roman]

Roman smiled down at her when she greeted him. "Also a good day to you and don't worry you are correct about me being a doctor." He said in a polite but goodhearted tone as he pulled the door closed behind her. When he saw her looking at the table he let out an embarrassed chuckle. "Please don't mind the little mess on the table, you where interrupting me when I was making some extra painkillers. You can never have enough for those in my opinion." He grabbed the bowl and clean stone he was using as a mortar and pestle and relocated them well enough out of the way of his patient. As soon as she began to talk however he was all ears though. "Well if its only on one place of the body it most likely isn't an allergy, you would be scratching all over your body if that was the case." His mind absentmindedly noted the strangeness of wearing gloves this time of the year, but then again it could just be some kind of fashion statement he never heard about and even if it was something else it wasn't his business anyway. "And if you only got it recently it probably isn't a skin condition." He muttered to himself as he walked to her and leaned a bit closer so he could examine the rash better. Frowning when he saw the bright red scratchmarks on the place of the itch he straightened himself and walked the place he stored his salves and other things. "I do have to know though, did you got anything unusual on the place of the itch before it started?" He pulled out a little pot of salve and walked back towards her. "Otherwise its probably a fungus and this would help against that, if it is a fungus the itching would at least ease as soon as we smear this on it."

OOC: I gotta say though, seth said whatever a doctor could do wouldn't work so this salve won't do anything at all. so don't bite my nose off

[Cassandra Coven]

Cassandra listened attentively, the man's explanations, while novel, made complete sense to her and she found herself nodding at his every word. She would not have thought of such things by herself. He obviously knew what he was talking about! His question for her left her frowning slightly however, as she tried to remember if she came into contact with anything out of the ordinary. She can't even remember when she got the rash. "I've never put anything unusual on it, if that's what you're asking." She laughed nervously, not really sure what, or how much, information she should divulge. "I, um, recently started...ahh... well, tried is the right word here actually...that is, um, smoking." She blushed as if embarrassed but in truth she was remembering Keating's reaction to finding out that she had been smoking the drugs she was supposed to distribute for the dark man. "I've had the rash long before trying it though," she admitted as she took the jar of salve from the doctor, cupping her hands over it. "Thank you. Um...there's one other thing." At this point, Cassandra seemed even more uncomfortable that before, wringing her hands so much that she was forced to put the small jar on the nearby table. A fair amount of color had worked their way into her cheeks as well. "Would you...um...well...you know how when two people who like each other get together, and, well... do certain things they like... I mean - no! I'm not implying each other!...that is... well... do you have anything to prevent something from forming when...when...when two people engage in certain activities?" She said the last part in a rush, ending in a small hiccup as she tried not to trip all over her words. Her face was a deeper shade of pink now.

[Roman]

Roman let out a small disappointed sigh when she said that she never put anything unusual on it. It was to be suspected though, he already figured it out that she had that itch already for a long time so it wasn't that strange to see that she would forget something strange that splashed on her arm. Still he gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry if you don't know if something like that anymore, I'm used to trying to figure out whatever is bothering my patients even when they try to keep what they did to get it under tight wraps, at least you try to remember what has caused it." He raised his eyebrow at her when she mentioned that she had tried to start smoking. "Well I doubt it can be caused by smoking, so if you are already addicted to it you don't have to worry and just as you said if you had the rash long before you started." When she suddenly began to blush and nervously wring her hands to the extent she had to put his jar on the table or it would fall to the ground, before stammering out her question, picking up speed as if she was saying something forbidden. He blinked once as he let her question sink in before waving towards the one of the chairs on the side of the table and sitting down on the chair himself. "Well sit down, I do know a few methods of preventing pregnancy." He said in a gentile tone, trying to calm down his patients nerves a bit. "First of is something called a condom," Roman began to explain in all seriousness. "This is a sheath of leather, snakeskin, animal intestines and I heard there are also people who use linen, soaked in a mixture of vinegar and lemon juice, though anything else that is lightly acidic will probably do though, just make sure it isn't irritating. This sheath is pulled over the penis before intercourse. You can get those at the leather worker if you ask for them. These have the advantage that they also protect against diseases that are spread through various fluids that you come in contact with during sexual contact. Of course there are also various plants and herbs that can be used to drive out the unborn child up until a few weeks after those certain activities." Those last two words held a slightly amused undertone in them, though it wasn't meant maliciously. "Unfortunately I do not have any of those plants at the moment, but since it is spring I am able to harvest those plants and I can give them to you in a few days." He leaned over the table, a very serious expression on his face, though it looked a bit comical on his still young face. "I do have to recommend that you at least use a few of them together especially the sheath one with one or two herbal treatments, there is always a real chance that it doesn't work, so if you use more then one you at least have a few buffers if one fails." He leaned back in his chair crossing his arms at the same time. "Those are most of the methods of pregnancy that I think are easy enough to get in this city." He gave her a small smile. "On another note, I forgot to tell you, if that salve," he pointed towards the small jar of salve he gave her. "Doesn't work on your itch, just bring it back and I'll refund you for that and begin to look for other causes. So do you have any other questions?"

OOC: for the mod, I got most of the information from this site

[Cassandra Coven]

"I'm not addicted," Cassandra muttered under her breath guiltily as she took a seat. "And I'm not pregnant. Certainly not." The doctor's next words as he enumerated her options left the dark-haired woman silent, her mouth hanging slightly open as images of what the man said formed in her mind. Snakeskin? Intestines? Vinegar? And those would go in...there? Her face paled as she felt scandalized at the thought of allowing such foreign materials enter her body. The idea was too much like sleeping with dead animals - and dead animals, at that! - but she allowed the tall man to finish. "Those... ahh... those sound rather extreme, doctor," she said when she found her voice again. Embarrassed to hear it come out a little hoarse, she cleared her throat. "Is there something you can give me that I can just take ora... I mean, in-ingest?" She flushed at the slip. Talking about intercourse with a stranger was uncomfortable, even if that stranger was a doctor, but Cassandra knew she had to act responsibly. Perhaps the plants he mentioned would be her solution. "Can you tell me more about these herbs?" When the man offered her a refund in case the salve did not work, she smiled at him gratefully. He was a nice man, she thought. "Thank you, Doctor...um... I never did catch your name, sir. I'm Cassandra, by the way. I work at the Silver Sliver. Do stop by there sometime, I'll treat you to a drink." The invitation was more than just a friendly offer, of course. Even outside her serving girl outfit, Cassandra could not help but try to attract more patrons to the tavern. Such a thing would boost the business of the establishment she worked for after all. "There's one last thing, truthfully... I suffered a wound before in a rather, um, sensitive place. I don't think it's infected or anything, I mean there's no... well... there's no s-smell. Or anything like that! The wound has closed but it... it hurts a bit when I... ahh... when I pee." She flushed once more, redder than ever. It was, perhaps, the most embarrassing moment in her life. But she had more to say. She already started speaking about it so it was better to just let it all out now once and for all. "It didn't hurt before when I still had the salve this other doctor gave to me, but I ran out of it about a week ago and I noticed there's a slight burning sensation now when-whenever I go to the bathroom. I didn't want to go back to that other doctor to get more medicine. He...he p-probed me. I...I hope I don't have to go through that h-here." Medical NotesCassandra probably has UTI.

[Roman]

Roman kept a straight face when his patient went pale and with no doubt was very uncomfortable about the information he just imparted. Though he had to use all his willpower not to let out a small chuckle at her rather hilarious face. He was happy that he could contain that chuckle to, laughing at your patients about serious issues like this isn't a good way to let them come back later. Roman nodded at her question, polity ignoring the small slip up she made earlier clearly seeing she was embarrassed about it. "Of course I can," A small smile came on his face, feeling a bit of joy at the fact that anybody even considered using birth control instead of just abandoning the baby or believing some superstitions. "You can roughly divide those herbal treatments in two main groups, one that deals with preventing the pregnancy and one that aborts the unborn child in the first few weeks of its development though the last one is rather harsh on the woman's body so don't take it unless you are certain that you are pregnant." He looked right at her before continuing his lecture. "Of course if you or your partner have quite a bit of other partners with who they are sexually active with it would be safer to still use the condom. There are quite a bit of rather serious diseases that can be transferred through fluids in which you come in contact during intercourse. so I would ask you as a doctor to get over whatever issues you have against them if that is the case." Roman let out a small cough, a slight blush spreading over his face. "Besides, those made out of linen aren't that uncomfortable to use if that was what you where wondering." He threw that comment in there, hoping that it would at least make her concider using one, he didn't want to see her in a few weeks with syphilis or something worse. "Well I didn't give my name, so you wouldn't have heard it either way." He said smiling as he leaned over for a quick handshake. "My name is roman, nice to meet you." He got a thoughtful expression on his face as he sank back into his chair, [b]"Now that you mention it though I did see you a few times when I ate in the silver sliver." He stopped his social chatter when she brought up another issue, letting him wonder how a simple tavern girl could get in a situation to get a wound there off all places! "Well I can put your issues to rest on that case, there are indeed times when I have to probe you, but this isn't one of those cases." He said in the same gentile tone he used the entire visit. "In fact if my thoughts are right, I already know what you have. Though I need an urine sample to confirm those suspicions." He stood up from his chair and walked towards his cabinet, pulling out a small glass jar before walking back and setting it in front of her. "If you do not have to go, I have water for you to drink. You can use those curtains to give you some privacy."

OOC: I hope those curtains won't have to cost extra. But say otherwise if they do.

[Cassandra Coven]

"That's...that's okay. Thank you." Cassandra gingerly took the jar and went to where Roman had pointed. The heavy curtains serve as a partition for a squarish enclosure that served as the room's toilet, two large pails of water stood to one side, a dipper floating on the waterline of one of them. A wooden bench was set on another side, a dish of soap set upon it, while the walls had hooks evenly spaced upon it, implements for hanging one's clothes on. In the middle of the enclosure was a square drain about a foot on each side with thin metal bars spaced evenly between it to prevent the occupant from accidentally slipping their foot in and possibly lose their footwear in the chute below it. All in all, it looked like every other commoner's toilet found in Ravok. Taking one last look at the main room to make sure that the doctor was still sitting on his table and would not come peeking in while she was in the middle of her business, Cassandra closed the curtains once she had entered the enclosure and did as she was told. The familiar sensation of discomfort assailed her, though it was not enough to actually make her wince in pain. She did not know exactly how much of a sample the doctor needed so she filled the jar halfway before finishing up. After washing her hands, she returned to the doctor's side. "Here you go," she said, carefully placing the jar on the table so that the contents would not spill. "It...it's not contagious, is it?" Her question was prompted by Roman's words earlier, about having multiple partners. She had only been with Keating of course but she just realized now that she had no idea if he had with others. The thought made her worry that her discomfort might have come from him.

[Roman]

]Roman patiently waited as Cassandra went and do her business, feeling a bit offended that she would think he would peek, he was a doctor for rhyso'ls sake. You didn't become one if you weren't able to behave as a professional. Well at least it was supposed to be like that. When Cassandra finished and placed the jar of urine in front of him roman gave her a nod. "Thank you very much, lets see if I was right." He grabbed the little jar and walked towards one of the windows, making sure that he didn't spill any on the way, and held it against the light, letting out a approving hum as he saw the urine had a slight cloud in it. "Well It seems my suspicions where correct, it seems that you have a slight infection on your bladder and don't worry, it isn't contagious. It happens when dirt or something else that doesn't belong in the urine tract gets in there. Most of the time it is caused either by inexperienced intercourse,or when the person has poor hygiene." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Of course getting cut there is also a probable cause." he once again motioned for her to sit back down as he walked towards the toilet to dispose of the sample before sitting back down in front of her. Setting the now empty glass jar in front of him. "This isn't that hard to cure, you just need to get the infection out of the bladder. So I would advice drinking a lot of water it might be a little uncomfortable to go to the toilet so much, but it will flush out the infection. Also eat quite a bit of fruit if you can. It speeds up the process." he folded his arms and leaned back into his chair. "So are there any other problems or are we done?"