[Kodai]

Aodh stretched out next to Mynol, swishing his tails expectantly and offering the Darkflame a paw to cling to. The poor little Kuhna seemed to be quite frightened of the X-ray machine still, even though there were several pets around. "It'll be okay, Mynol," Aodh continued to try to soothe him, "Stribog knows what he's doing." At least, the Calamikuhna hoped he did. But the Khimera hadn't given him any reason to doubt his medical skills, so Aodh believed in Stribog.

"Well, Stribog? Can you tell what's the matter?" Aodh tried to look up at the screen of the X-ray machine, but he couldn't interpret the picture that was displayed there.

[Jaykobell]

Stribog unsheathed a frosted claw and used it to point to the details as he would explain. "See the flashing lines and others? This is skeleton," he pointed to a few bones, "and this is, for example, his stomach," he added as he pointed to the small bag-looking organ. "Over here is the side where he has broken ribs," he mentioned as he pointed to the missing portion with the claw. "Right now we can see so much, so let's move the screen around a bit..." Stribog moved the machine around Mynol's body, picking in any detail that would be useful to discover where the Darkflame's pain came from. "Aah... I guess I found the problem," he meowed as he pointed to the screen again. "See this here?" He pointed to what looked like a small fragment of bone.

The Reitcon Kuhna stuck her face to the screen to take a close look, frowning in wonder. "It's a bone. What's wrong with it?" Sure, it looked a little awkward, being where it was, but...

"That bone is one of this kid's broken ribs, girl," the Khimera meowed as he traced something with his claw. "See the bone there? That's the kid's paw. That bone fragment, right under this here bone... shouldn't be there." He turned to Aodh. "You carried him all the way here, right? The bones probably shuffled around while you were carrying him, until they couldn't move anywhere else."

As the Darkflame listened to what the Khimera was saying (even though he couldn't understand the big majority of it), he looked down at Aodh's paw, the one that the Calamikuhna had offered for support. Without thinking twice, the Darkflame grabbed onto Aodh's paw, now seeing this one Calamikuhna has the only thing he could trust, mainly because he had saved him from another feline that would have likely killed him. He held onto the Calami's words with much trust, truly hoping everything would be fine...

[Kodai]

Aodh listened quietly as Stribog explained what exactly was wrong with Mynol. So, his bones had shifted around as he had been carried... Well, there wasn't anything he could do about that. He had needed to move Mynol, and so he had in the only manner that he knew would be effective. Now, though, they had to fix this problem, and Aodh would do anything he could to help.

"Well, that's my fault, for moving him... but we really had to get out of there. As for now... well, there's a way to fix it, right? I'll cover the costs if I have to... I want to help in any way that I can." He looked down at the small Kuhna clinging to his paw, and, overcome with passion, bent down and licked Mynol's forehead.

[Jaykobell]

Stribog turned the machine off and set it aside, sitting down on his haunches as he looked from Mynol to Aodh, and to Mynol again. He could understand the Calami's concern, but from the top of his head, the Khimera couldn't think of anything that the Kuhna could possibly. "The only possible outcome would be to operate him," Stribog finally said, after some quick thinking. "We need to get the bones out of his body before they tear the muscles and damage the other bones. The only way to do it is through surgery... Unless you have enough money to swim in a pool of keystones, I doubt you could pay for an operation of such a level." Most doctors on Evelon would ask for tremendous fees for the smallest operations there are; at least, from what he had seen before. "However, there would be another way, even though it still requires surgery..." He paused. First he would numb the Darkflame's body, and then he would open him up himself by the use of his claws. Not quite the safest technique, but considering the kid couldn't be moved and since Aodh probably didn't have enough funds for an actual operation, it was either taking the risk of an open-air operation or to be indebted for the rest of your life...

Again, Mynol had no idea what was going on, but from Stribog's tone of voice, he could tell something was wrong with him and this whole thing. He clung to Aodh's paw even more, now trying to reach the Calami's shoulder with his claws, refusing to let go of his savior. The touch upon his small forehead frightened Mynol at first, but he refused to move. The touch was similar to the one he used to feel during his early kit days. It felt the same as a mother licking the fur of her newly born kitten, and the feeling was relaxing, and the gentle rubbing made his stress drop. The Darkflame was still very anxious, however, and he kept on clinging to Aodh more and more...

[Kodai]

The Calamikuhna thought for a moment. He didn't have any KS on him right now, and it would take a while to wire money from the House to here. Not to mention that BJ kept a tight budget, and no matter how much he begged, he probably would be unable to convince her to let him use the money. No, they'd have to go with whatever second option Stribog was thinking of.

"I... I guess I can't pay for it now. We'll have to go with your other way..." he said finally, looking down at the Darkflame clinging to him. "If there's anything I need to do, just tell me." Aodh went back to licking Mynol's forehead, noticing that the action seemed to be calming to him. "It'll be all right... I'll make sure of it."

[Jaykobell]

"Surgeons that don't ask for your arms and legs for a fee are pretty hard to find..." His tails flicked thoughtfully when the words came out, and he tilted his head. A hint of anxiousness and melancholy crossed his pink eyes, but it had gone as quickly as it had come. Quickly the Khimera shook his head and looked back at the injured Darkflame. "The other thing we could do is doing the operation right here, in the open... I would numb the kid and open him up, and I would collect the bones. But since this isn't an operation room, we have no instruments for this, and there could be risks by doing an open operation... but I wouldn't charge you anything." After all, since he knew the risks such a dirty-prepared operation would have, it would be ripping the Calamikuhna of his money. If the Darkflame got an infection out of the operation, the money would be needed for medication or other such things. "But it's up to you."

Mynol kept on clinging to Aodh, ignoring the other pets that were in the room. The rhythmic licking of Aodh's tongue on his forehead made him relax more and more, but his level of anxiety wouldn't drop to a stable level. Still, Aodh's presence brought much comfort to him, and the tongue rubbing his fur would bring back sweet memories, those from before he had been taken away from the Panzer.

[Kodai]

"Well, we don't really have much of a choice, do we? We need to get those bone shards out of him so they don't hurt him any more than they already have. And if that's the way that it needs to get done, then... that's the way it needs to get done. Like I said, I'll help you in any way I can." It seemed that Aodh had made up his mind about this and really was willing to do anything he needed to in order to help this Darkflame that he had saved from the attacks of the Panzer. Why, though? Why was he willing to go so far? Was he just being a good Samaritan? Or was there something... more? Whatever the case, he was prepared, and he continued to offer comfort to Mynol. If he couldn't do anything else, at least he could offer that much to the Darkflame.

[Jaykobell]

Stribog watched as Aodh continued to offer comfort to Mynol. Obviously the Calami was ready to help with this, no matter the cost. "Operation-wise, I don't know what you could do... but since we have no means of putting the kid to sleep, we have to numb him and open him while he's awake. Judging from his previous reactions... he's probably very squeamish. If you could let him cling to you like this, it would help greatly. The more relaxed he'll be, the easier the operation will be. If he wiggles or tries to run away, it will only hurt him more. What you're doing right now is keeping him at bay, which is what we need." Operating while the patient is moving isn't easy. If Aodh could keep on keeping Mynol on a stable level of anxiety, then the operation wouldn't be too hard, even though they were rather limited for this operation.

[Kodai]

Relieved that he could at least do that much, Aodh nodded and wrapped a paw protectively around Mynol's shoulders. "All right... I'll try to explain it to him as best as I can." Leaning down, the giant Calamikuhna gave Mynol another lick on the forehead and began trying to explain.

"Mynol... We have to operate on you, okay? That means that we have to make your body numb -- unable to feel anything -- and then... Well, then we have to cut you open. But you won't be able to feel it, so it should be okay. And once we do that, Stribog can make you feel better. You won't hurt any more. So, try not to be scared, okay? I'll be right here for you..."

[Jaykobell]

"We'll begin as soon as you're ready," Stribog added as he let the Calamikuhna manage the Darkflame. Aodh seemed to be used to the little one, and so the Khimera figured it'd be better for him to stay out of it. The calmer his patient would be, the easier the operation would be.

When Aodh stopped licking him to speak, Mynol's eyes widened as he listened to Aodh's incomprehensible words. The only words Mynol could understand vaguely were 'body', 'cut', and 'hurt.' Quickly Mynol let go of the Calamikuhna and looked around, a look of complete confusion written all over his features. He turned back to Aodh and stared at him, completely confused. What was going to happen here? Was he going to suffer again? This was the only meaning he could decipher from the whole thing Aodh had told him, and so panic started to set in once again. Was the Calami, the one who had saved him, really going to let others hurt him again...?

[Kodai]

Aah, darn it. From the confused look on Mynol's face, he had misunderstood Aodh's words and was now more anxious than ever. But how to get him to understand? He had tried to explain it as simply as he could... Maybe words wouldn't work here. Maybe he needed to use actions to explain what he meant.

"Stribog... Since he can't understand with words... maybe we should try demonstrating instead? You could numb me and show him what you want to do with him on me," Aodh suggested, looking back at the icy Khimera. "I think it's the only way we can really get through to him. If we show him that it won't hurt, he'll be more likely to cooperate."

[Jaykobell]

Stribog watched as Mynol got even more anxious about the whole thing. When Aodh said the Darkflame couldn't understand words, it became clear that they would be stuck. How could they proceed if they didn't have the small Kuhna's consent?

... But then Aodh proposed something. Something quite unusual. He proposed for the operation to be demonstrated on himself so the Darkflame could see that it wouldn't hurt him in anyway. Aodh was basically offering himself as a test subject.

The Khimera blinked when he heard of such a solution, but when Stribog processed it in his mind, he concluded it could actually work. The numbing would keep Aodh from feeling the cuts on his body, and so Mynol could see that it wouldn't hurt him if it didn't hurt Aodh. "Well... That's a bit... farfetched... but I guess it could work. Obviously that kid needs actions rather than words..." He recognized the courage Aodh had to do such a thing. It's not anyone that would have come with such a plan only for the sake of showing someone that they had nothing to fear. He admired the Calamikuhna's determination to help that small Darkflame.

[Kodai]

Aodh nodded at Stribog, and then turned back to Mynol. He doubted the Darkflame would understand his next words, but he'd say them anyway.

"Mynol... We're going to show you what we want to do with you. It might look like it hurts, but it shouldn't. So don't panic, okay? Everything will be fine." With that, Aodh stretched out onto his side and waited for Stribog to begin the process by numbing him. He was curious as to how the Khimera would actually do this, but he figured he would see how soon enough. Aodh only hoped that Mynol wouldn't take this the wrong way now and be even more scared... Hopefully he would understand.

[Jaykobell]

Once Aodh had taken a good position, Stribog stepped around the Darkflame Kuhna to get closer to his text experiment. "It might sting a bit, but it doesn't last long," he warned the Calami before starting the procedure.

Stribog then blew softly on Aodh's leg, spreading an icy-cold breath over Aodh's leg, blowing progressively while trying to control the temperature. Freezing the muscles with a very low temperature wouldn't be the best of ways, and so the Khimera focused on slowly freezing the muscles, which would gradually numb them. Considering the Khimera didn't want to hurt the Calami (since he wasn't the actual patient), Stribog blew over Aodh's leg a little bit more than usual, only so he would be sure that Aodh's leg was indeed numb. He prodded the muscles and when they felt frozen enough, he unsheathed a claw so he could cut through the skin.

Meanwhile, Mynol watched Stribog freeze Aodh's leg. The Darkflame hadn't understood Aodh's words well enough to fathom what was going on, but when he noticed that Aodh wasn't reacting (or not reacting too much), he started to wonder if this was going to be what Stribog wanted to do on him. What else could it be, since he hadn't heard them talking about anything else...? Even though he couldn't understand words, he could understand that they hadn't been doing anything but checking on him. So... this was to be related to him, right?

When he saw Stribog's claw, however, his brain turned on the 'PANIC!' switch. Immediately (and without thinking twice), Mynol bounced for Stribog's paw and sunk his tiny teeth into it, pulling it away from Aodh's leg (or at least trying to).

Stribog winced from feeling the tiny teeth sinking into his paw, but he said nothing and didn't struggle against the desperately protective Darkflame.

[Kodai]

Everything seemed to be going along just fine until Mynol ran at Stribog and bit into his paw, causing the Khimera to pause in his demonstration. Having his leg numbed meant that Aodh couldn't move very well, and so he only shifted up with his upper half, turning to look at the Darkflame.
"Mynol! Mynol! It's all right! He's not going to hurt me!" he called, trying to get the small Kuhna off Stribog's paw so that the demonstration could continue. "It's all right! Please, let go of him and let him do his job! It's all right, Mynol!" He couldn't do much more than that, so he slumped back to the ground and waited for whatever the Darkflame would do next. Hopefully he could understand 'let go'...