jumpthegun | WtL Mailbox

[ Royce doesn't bother with a fork, just grabs a piece of fruit from his bowl and pops it in his mouth. He agrees with Alfie, though, gesturing vaguely at him. ]

People have been here for four years, Alfie. I dunno how long you've ever been in a holding cell...

No, listen, I'm not gonna try to convince you to settle down and make a new life here, mate. We're all going to get enough of that from the rest.

Neither am I.

We all have things we're looking to get back to. For now, this place is... it's fine. [ After everything, he's just glad for a bit of a rest. ]

[John relaxes just slightly at that reassurance. It would have been too much to be getting that sort of thing from everyone else and people from Norfinbury.]

Yeah. Got my weight up here. And my eye back. [Which is something, certainly.]

You can still see his ribs.

[ Says Alfie, nodding at Royce.]

As you're so fond of telling everybody, yes. [ Royce says dryly, taking a piece of apple from Alfie's bowl as punishment. ] Can see yours, too.

Bucky and Sherlock are still thinner than I'd like, but they're doing better. [And Sherlock has always had issues eating enough, as far as John's concerned.] Stephen's doing all right.

Yeah? Good. Are you giving check-ups?

[ Heurgh. Royce sinks down in his seat a bit at check ups. Like he's five. ]

Yeah. I have a clinic attached to the house and office hours. Had a run of people turn up when I first offered. People here and there since. Those three haven't come in for anything formal for a while, but I've been keeping an eye on them. I can do the pair of you for a physical, if you'd like, but I'm sure you know what's wrong for the mo.

Yeah, I'd like one, if you've got the time in the next few days. I'll pay you for it, of course.

[He's sure Watson will turn that down, but.]

I don't need one. I'm malnourished and the MN poisoning is still wearing off. Doesn't take a doctor to figure that out. [ Royce grouches. ]

[John shrugs.]

As you like. I'm not planning on forcing anyone into it.

I can do you whenever you'd like, Alfie. I'm around in the mornings for it, mostly. And it's a free clinic. You'd be the first one paying if you did.

Wouldn't be a bad idea just to check, mate.

[He says, quietly, to Royce.]

[ Guhhh. Royce doesn't want to. ]

Maybe. [ Royce concedes, annoyed. ] Never had one before and I'm fine.

[While John might not be in the business of twisting arms, it's nice when other people do it for him.]

Physicals are more to set a baseline for where you are and have something to compare against. And it's a way to talk about things that might affect you in the future. I usually start with a medical history for you and your family, and then move on to checking your vital organs, reflexes, things like that.

[Alfie winces, because a family medical history for Royce? That's not going to happen.]

Should be enough to make sure we haven't got any big problems from our time in Norfinbury, shouldn't it?

Not going to get much that's useful from me if you're looking for family medical history. [ He's just saying. ]

[John has the good grace to wince as he spears another piece of fruit.]

If people don't know it, I just skip that part. But, yeah. It should identify and extra issues that Norfinbury might have caused.

That'd be a help.

[He pauses, and then adds:]

Thank you for coming, and for the fruit. This is fucking delicious, mate.

[He spears another apple slice and holds it up in a little mini-toast. He doesn't regret saying the things he had earlier, but he still sounds perfectly sincere in this.]

[ Man, he made both of them wince. He considers that almost an achievement. ]

Mm. [ Royce grunts in agreement. He's been picking at his fruit, as well. ] Forgotten what it tasted like, almost.

Yeah. [John's still annoyed, agitated, but he's calmed somewhat.] There are fruit trees all around here. Free to pick from. Season change suddenly, though. So you'll want to keep an eye on where we are in it. There's no proper calendar, but Ienzo's working on something that goes by the seasons. We're in the middle of summer right now. When Sherlock and I turned up, there was three feet of snow all around. It his whatever counts for the first day of spring, though, and- [He snaps his fingers.] Just like that. Everything was in full bloom, the snow was gone, temperatures warmed up.

[God. Snow. Alfie can't help but frown at that. Yes, snow is a natural thing that happens in places other than Norfinbury, but still.]

You might not see much of me, when winter comes.

[He tries for a joking tone, but he actually kind of means it. He'll want to hole up.]

[ Royce maybe presses a little closer to Alfie at the mention of snow. ]

I don't want anything to do with snow. [ Scowl. ] Calendar might be nice to have, though.

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