A Court Date

Her choice to leave her real name behind seemed to have hinged upon leaving an old life behind, one when she wasn't independent and didn't use her mutation publicly. She had chosen Ghost to signify a new beginning for herself. Now that her father was back in the picture her old life and new life were converging. Would she go back to using her given name, or was that only for the people who belonged in her old life?

"Do you still prefer that I call you Ghost?"

This distraction thing, it was working fairly well. The unicorn shifter had successfully ignored what the doctor was doing for about two minutes. Ghost's question would be good for another two, maybe. He didn't even mind that the icy feeling was returning to his fingertips

"I chose Sebastian around the turn of the century, for approximately the same reason you changed yours. I was leaving an old life behind and the name seemed like it belonged to someone else. I was Roderick Halifax then, 'Rorey'. My current name I chose for its meaning; ancient and peaceful. At the time I was at the time looking for someone and I thought he might understand the message in the name."

Then the doctor interrupted with a distraction of his own. Lucky lady? Sebastian craned his neck again and looked down. Messy flesh was trying to knit itself back together even as the doctor was trying to separate it. It was a gruesomely fascinating process. Already he had mostly freed their fingers and had found Sebastian's ring somewhere in all that mess.

"It's Gho... oww oww oww!" The third oww ended in a hiss of air as Sebastian inhaled sharply. The familiar feeling of cold swept back through his hand, slightly less painful than the searing heat of the knife's blade carving its track between their palm. "I think... the drugs wore off," redundancy through clenched teeth spake the unicorn.

He was a healer, damn it. He should be able to handle pain. A little cut on the hand shouldn't bring tears to his eyes and childish cries to his tongue. Sebastian bit his lip, cutting himself off from making any more sound, until Ghost tugged at their hands a second time. One small indistinct sound escaped despite his efforts to make no noise at all. It didn't matter how many injuries he had healed from before; it still hurt.

>>>”Just hold on.”

He could hear the panic in her voice. Sebastian turned to look at his wife where she lay next to him, her face wet with tears. He felt instantly guilty for his selfish thoughts of his own pain. Of course it would be terrible for her, too. He just wished there was something he could do to make the whole ordeal finish instantly, so he could wipe her tears and make her feel better. If he could take double the pain so she didn't have to feel any of it, he would gladly do it.

Luckily there were drugs enough that neither of them had to feel anything for another few minutes. The second dose of the numbing drugs was a relief. Again the feelings of injury and healing were dulled to nothingness and the doctor continued his work straightaway. It had looked like he had made a good deal of progress before that interruption. Hopefully he would finish before this second dose wore off. Sebastian wasn't going to watch. He just wanted it to be over.

They both went back to their quiet breathing, until the doctor spoke again and Ghost confirmed his earlier answer. Sebastian could almost hear the doctor's eyebrows as they greeted his hairline. Exhibit A, Sebastian's ring. Exhibit B, Ghost's.

The doctor cleared his throat, then spoke again, “Well then, let me offer you both my congratulations.” He seemed sincere, even though he was surprised. Sebastian appreciated that, though he wasn't sure exactly how to respond..

“Thank you.”

To Ghost, the doctor added, “Well, you took this 'hands joined in marriage' thing a little too literally, but I've gotten you half way straightened out now.” He held up their numbed hands so they could see that they were separated finally.

Scabs had already formed in a ring on their palms and fingertips and and were shrinking as healthy skin took the place of damaged skin. This time when the feeling of numbness wore off, there was only a feeling of soreness that quickly faded. Sebastian flexed his fingers as feeling returned slowly but surely. The doctor had done a neat job of the separation, despite the time limits he had been under. The only sign that remained that the two had ever been conjoined was the discoloration where they had traded skin. Ghost's skin, though pale, was still a few shades darker than his own and it showed as a slightly darker oval on his palm, as well as on his fingertips and four small fingerprints on the back of his hands at the knuckles. He'd never had a scar before, but he found he didn't mind being permanently marked by Ghost.

“You did well,” he complimented their surgeon as he admired his handiwork.

The doctor nodded his acknowledgment, “Ready for the other set?” Sebastian nodded.

The second half of the separation surgery went more smoothly than the first. This time they knew approximately how long the drugs would last and the doctor injected more before the first dose ever wore off. He'd be needing to replenish his supplies after today's adventures, but at least it was put to good use; he'd even managed to fix up Ghost's chin and hip where the fabric had stuck to her.

By the time they were finished at the infirmary, it was already dinner time. Rather than finish moving boxes or try to remove the scraps of clothing that had gotten stuck into the carpeting, they rummaged through the closets to find something suitable for each of them to wear for the evening. Ghost's pants would actually have fit him if they'd had a hole for the tail, but Sebastian felt bad cutting holes in her work outfits. He would have been all for wearing a skirt until they could stop at a clothing store, but Ghost suggested that they check the 'lost and found / donations' box first.

It was really more of a walk in closet than a 'box', but there were some interesting selections in there. There was everything from a large sized uniform with a Mondragon Labs logo and a generous coating of cat hair to a Metallica t-shirt with slits cut in the back for wings. They couldn't find any pants that were already slitted for a tail, but Sebastian didn't feel too badly about adopting a pair that looked to be about his size and altering them himself with a scissors, needle, and thread found in a drawer in the kitchen.

Sebastian's stomach was growling most unbecomingly by the time they finally got to a restaurant. His vegetarian meal disappeared faster than was advisable and his stomach was not happy with him for the next half hour or so. By the time they reached the dance hall, though, he had quite forgotten about it in the joy of swinging his new wife around the dance floor.

Ghost was so quiet that Sebastian thought she might have fallen asleep in the passenger seat. He wouldn't have blamed her in the least; it had been an exhausting day. First a wedding, then mutation mishap and resulting surgery, and as if that hadn't been enough excitement they had danced the rest of the night away. If they weren't tired in every sense of the word, they would have to have some sort of endless energy mutation or something.

Without fanfare, Sebastian pulled the old car into a parking space on the street in front of the clinic.

"Maya?" He asked softly, so he wouldn't startle her if she was indeed sleeping. "We're home." One of their homes, at least.

From that big breath she had taken, it sounded like she had dozed off. Sebastian couldn't help but smile at the way she rubbed her cheek where she had been leaning against the car door; the gesture was somewhat childlike, but anyone could be a little childlike sometimes, especially when they first woke up. Sebastian, especially, had that happen some mornings. He had been in the habit of sleeping as a child for quite some time; now he'd have to get used to sleeping as an adult again so he could keep his biological clock somewhat in synch with Ghost's.

To answer Ghost's question, "We're two weeks closer to opening day, so we've made a hundred little changes here and there. There are pictures and potted plants, a little table for magazines in the waiting room, a new railing on the back staircase, and other small things like that. Nothing too drastic, though." He'd bought a real bed, too. Had he had that last time she'd been here or had he still been sleeping on the mattress? He couldn't remember.

Ghost stumble glided out past the big heavy car door and Sebastian slung her overnight bag over his shoulder before slamming the driver's side door shut. This time Ghost offered him her arm, and he gladly accepted it. He could have scooped her up and carried her over the veranda, but honestly, he figured they had had enough carrying time earlier in the day.

At the door he took out his keys to unlock the door, but as he gripped the metal between his fingers, the keys slid out of his grasp.

"I must be more tired than I thought," he admitted as he stooped to pick them up. Again he almost dropped them, and in the end he had to pinch them rather tightly between his fingers to get enough leverage to twist the key in the lock. It was odd, but it was only a small oddity in generally odd day so the small incident didn't really stand out.

They went up the stairs together and finally arrived at the door to the apartment.

"Garrett left the extra key, so there is one for you now as well." It was on the kitchen table, if he remembered correctly in his tired state. "I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted."

Sebastian blushed and fumbled with the keys again, but didn't drop them this time. He hadn't meant to imply anything by his professions of exhaustion other than the fact that he was about to fall asleep standing up. He blushed momentarily , but by the time he had managed to get the door open he was recovered from his embarrassment.

“Come inside,” he insisted, gently steering Ghost through the door. Just as gently he shut the door behind them. That wasn't really a conversation that needed to be out in the hallway.

With his hand still on her shoulder he tried to peer into her downcast eyes.

“I know we jumped into this marriage rather quickly. Now that the legal things are taken care of, we can take things at our own pace. There is no need to rush anything now.” Sebastian used his free hand to her chin up a little more; he wanted to be able to see her eyes and make sure she was okay with everything.

“When you are ready, and not before, okay?” He could wait. He had all the time in the world to wait.

Sebastian raised one eyebrow at her. He hadn't expected that answer, nor did he quite believe what she was implying by it. Hand still on her chin, he turned her face first to the right and then to the left, scrutinizing it with his cool blue eyes as if he could read her intentions in her face.

“Hmm,” he intoned with an expression that would have been serious if the corners of his mouth hadn't been ever so slightly upturned. “Then you'll have to prove it.”