Norm was (not supposed to be) sitting up on the side of the hospital bed, looking moody (as usual) and bored. It was his opinion that they should have just let him go home by now, and he could promise to take it easy. Apparently, it just didn't work like that around here.

He sighed softly to himself, blinking fuzzily at the floor. He'd lost his glasses in the - the,... well, the nurse had told him he'd been attacked, but he couldn't remember it at all. She'd also told him that someone had helped him after said attack. Norm only barely remembered that, but if he saw the guy again, he'd be sure to thank him for his help.

He ran a hand back through his hair - it bristled back against his fingers, but was fairly soft from not having been treated with gel in the recent past. God,... I just want to go home, and forget this ever happened,... how long do they have to monitor me for anyway? I feel fine...

Alan sort of made it his business to poke his nose in on cases that seemed to involve the supernatural. Being somewhat supernatural himself--okay, perhaps a bit more than somewhat--he was naturally curious about the parts of the Innish world that he hadn't seen yet.

Thus, he's peeking in on Norm, white-blond (okay, it's white) pulled back into its usual ponytail, bright shirt and tie, etc, etc.

"Hey there."

It's really rather hard to resist that warm smile, for some odd reason...

"Nh?" Norm looked up swiftly, blinking at the door. He could easily make out the person-shape there, but couldn't see the smile - though for some reason he got the impression that the person was smiing. Norm had already managed to order a new pair of glasses, but it would take a few days more before he actually got them, which was more than a little inconvenient.

"Oh. Hi," he said, after a pause. His tone was uncertain, like he'd just been about to do something he shouldn't and had been caught. He squinted at Alan, though it didn't really help him to see any better. "Who are you?"

"Alan Gardinier. I'm a doctor, but please don't tell anyone I was sticking my head in here. I do that too much for the senior doctors to be quite comfortable; they think I'm spying."

Which, of course, he's not. Who would he be spying for, anyway?

"And you're Norman... or do you like to go by Norm?"

"Mmkay, I won't tell," Norman said simply. He stiffly swung his legs back onto the bed. He'd been entertaining the thought of taking himself for a walk, but now that there was a doctor here, well.... Nope. Bad idea.

"Uh,... whichever sounds good to you, I guess," he replied, frowning. "What do I call you - just Dr. Gardinier?... What're you here for, by the way?"

"Oh, god, no. Dr. Gardinier's only for when I'm being official. Call me Alan. I just wanted to clear up the rumours. Gossip has it that you were mauled by a large animal, attacked by some guy with spiked gloves, or attacked by a demon. So, I was curious."

Guess which one interests him the most.

He flushed, slightly.

"Sorry, I really shouldn't do this to people. I'll go, if you like."

The idea of there being rumours about himself going around in the hospital was rather unsettling to Norman. But now that there was someone here asking for the true story, he had a chance to set the record straight. I'd like to meet the idiot who thought up that lie about a demon...

He thought about it for a moment, then cleared his throat.
"Well, actually, I don't remember very much," he said evenly. "But it wasn't an animal. And it sure as hell was no demon. I don't know what the guy had, that he could do this to me-" he gestured vaguely to his shoulders, and legs "-but - who came up with the idea of a demon? That's insane."

"Well... it looks like he had claws. Maybe that's where it came from." Because, you know, animals don't have paws shaped like human hands, and the pattern of the punctures is consistent with that shape...

He also sort of kind of murmured to himself, "Not that insane."

"Anyway, so you're sure it was some weird human with crazy things on his hands?"

"Sure I'm sure. I was there, wasn't I?" Norman said coldly. It seemed to Norman that Alan was determined to make up stories to hide the simple truth. He, Norman, had eben attacked by some human guy with some kind of weapon that resembled claws. Nothing more to it than that.

Funny that Norman should think that Alan's the one making up stories.

Funny indeed. I wonder what Norman would say to a description of Alan's father...

"Well, I guess that clears that up..." He slipped further into the room, despite the fact that the reason he was ostensibly here was because he wanted to clear up which rumour was closest to fact.

He's testing his instincts, seeing if he can sense what attacked Norm by the feelings Alan gets when he gets closer.

"Guess you're about ready to get out of here, huh."

He blinked a few times. He wasn't terribly good at reading emotions from people's faces, but ti was so frustrating to try and carry on a conversation when he was wondering if the other person might be making fn of him.

The tension that had appeared in his face with the mention of the demon had disappeared immediately with the change of subject,
"Man,... I hope so. I can't wait to get outta here. I mean, it's nice to rest, and all, but I'm going stir-crazy."

"I hear that a lot," he smiled and shrugged. "Nobody likes to stick around in the hospital. At least there's TV."

Out of habit, Alan picked up Norm's chart and rapidly read through it.

"Looks like they'll let you out soon; I don't see any complications arising."

"I don't watch TV," Norm shrugged. He didn't find it at all interesting - not even the news.

I do get to go home soon? Awesome.
"Thank goodness. Can't wait to get home," he smiled, giving a happy sigh.

"That must make it really boring in here. You read, maybe? But if you're getting out, the I guess there's no real point to getting into something to pass the time, and then leaving it behind, or something."

Oh, and there's a rather uneasy feeling that he's getting from Norman, and it's not coming from Norman himself.

If he ever meets Verkur, he'll recognize him. (Small comfort that'd be.)

He shifted, lifted himself up on his forearms.
"Yeah,... I think I'm going to end up sitting here until they tell me I can go. I'll just be patient, now that I know I don't have to stay much longer," Norm smirked. "I'm going to be so glad to be home, after this..."

He puts a great deal of importance in his home - it's a smallish apartment, but it's his, and he feels safer there than anywhere else.

"There's no place like home, huh? Yeah, I guess I know the feeling." It's wonderful to go home after a hard day at work and be able to relax and not have to think about the dying and injured children for a while.

Except he does anyway, sometimes. But he tries to keep work at work, or else he'd be much too depressed.

"Mm." He gave a tiny nod. "Hey, Alan? What are you a doctor of? Like, do you only do the general stuff, or are you specialized, or what?"

He squinted at Alan again, trying to focus. The doctor seemed to have white hair,... which was bugging Norm just a bit, because long white hair seemed like a rather odd style for a doctor to have. Unless it was a wig. Or bleached. But even then, it was still weird, and Norm didn't like weird things.

"I'm a pediatrician, technically, but I stick my nose in everywhere. Only thing a long horsey nose is good for, you know?"

Yep. White hair, blue eyes... He almost looks albino, but that's not right. He's not quite pale enough, and his eyes are the wrong colour. Also, he has less sensitivity to sunlight than you'd expect from an albino.

Pediatrician? So he works with kids...

"Heh. Yeah, guess so," Norm nodded, after a pause. "So - uh,... how long have you been working here?"

If I'd met him before, I'd have remembered him, he reasoned with himself, trying to calm a sudden uneasiness that was creeping up on him. He doesn't sound old enough, anyway. It's nothing to worry about.

"About five years, but that includes residency. I'm still pretty green, as my seniors and superiors constantly remind me."

Still pretty green, but he has a feel for the kids that not a lot of doctors have. And the kids love him. (They'll accept shots from him, for heaven's sake.)

"Only five, huh?" he sounded surprised, and almost relieved. "Well, that's not bad. Do you like your job?"

Only five. I'd have been,... fifteen. He doesn't know me.
...
Why does it matter...?

"Most of the time, yes. I love children, you see, and they seem to love me, so it works out pretty well."

By the way, he hasn't stopped smiling since this encounter began. It's like a permanent fixture on his face, except for whenever he's in deadly peril. Which has only really happened once.

"Cool." Norm said simply.

It might be a good or a bad thing that Norm can't see the expression on Alan's face. Good, because then he could be reassured that he wasn't being mocked, or saying anything particularly stupid. Bad because he might find someone who never stopped smiling, to be weird.

I thought Alan was already considered weird, due to his white hair and his relative youth. (Relative to anyone normal with white hair, that is.)

"What do you do, when you're not stuck in hospitals?"

Slightly insensitive joke, but hey, Alan's used to people with amazingly tough skins.

"I'm not often stuck in a hospital," he said, nettled. Norm equated being in a hospital with having accidents, which meant he was clumsy, which meant... other things. "What do I do...? Uh, I work. And when not doing that, I make things. Mess around with glass and metal, make suncatchers and things to keep myself busy."

"Sorry. Bad joke."

He grinned.

"Suncatchers, huh... Ever make them on commission?"

"No. I just make them for fun," Norm shook his head. "Besides, no one would want them. They always turn out kind of misshapen and jagged. No one's gonna hang one of my suncatchers in their window. Well, except me. They're a good way to dim the light."

"I don't think the kids would mind if they were kind of misshapen. If you could manage to make sure that they didn't have sharp edges, that'd be good, though..."

Yes, he's offering to buy some suncatchers for the pediatric ward. He considers the windows too plain, and some of the children would like the sparkly things.

"Wwwelll..." Norm made a face. He liked the idea of making suncatchers for the kids, but...

"No, I'm afraid not..." he shook his head, actually sounding regretful. "If you'd want something pretty, - and not sharp - you ought to go to a souvenir shop or something. Trust me, my pieces aren't kid-safe."

"... oh, well, maybe with some more practice, you could...?"

Alan's still rather curious about this guy. And he doesn't really believe that it was only a human that did all that stuff to Norman.

"Um,... maybe?" Norm said, with a shrug and an apologetic smirk. "Might be a while..."

He bit his lip.

"...I can make these sort of glass mobiles, too,... they're not as big, but at least with those I can be sure there won't be any sharp bits,... and they'd be out of reach anyway..."

"That would be wonderful. I know they try to make the children's ward less dreary than the rest of the place, but it's still very hospital like and I'd like to do something about that."

"Heh. Yeah, I bet it is," he said, with wry smirk. "Anyway, I'll get to work on those once I get home - and once I get my new glasses. It wouldn't be very smart of me to mess around with glass-cutters and solder when I can't see what I'm doing."

"Oh, heavens, wait until you have new glasses. I wouldn't want to see you back in here for burns, after all. I don't imagine that would make you very happy either."

"You'd be imagining correctly, then. I don't want to have to come back in here for a looooong while,... 'Course, the burns you can get off a soldering iron aren't too bad. I mean, they can be serious, but they're small, unless you're really out to burn yourself or something," he shrugged. There was an odd tone in his voice - he was trying to give the impression that he wasn't speaking from personal experience.

Well, accidents happen, and Alan has seen his share of children injured when trying out dangerous--and not so dangerous--hobbies, so he wouldn't have been too concerned anyway.

"The worst burns I've ever had are sunburns. And those can get very nasty, though I've been pretty fortunate, so far."

Accident? Keep right on thinking that, Alan...

"Mm-hm? I don't sunburn easily,... don't not sunburn easily, either. I just stay out of the sun," Norm shrugged.

"I don't. I should, but I don't." He chuckled. "I know better than to court skin cancer, but I do it anyway. The children find it amusing when I'm pink and white, at least."

"Pink and wh-... oh, you mean the sunburn. Yeah," Norm smiled faintly. "What, you do it 'cause it makes the kids laugh?"

"Oh good heavens no. I do it because I never remember to put on sunscreen then go out jogging all day."

Or biking on trails, or rock climbing. Alan likes outdoors sports because they keep him fit, and because when he's active, he can't think about the depressing things that are part of any doctor's life.

(Of course, there are good things too. But the bad stuff sometimes is overwhelming.)