Starglow Basin Morfeo

Stars were visible from horizon to horizon, with the milky way splitting the sky in a stream of sparkling mist. The heat of the day lifted, and the cool seeped in like heavy liquid. Flowers closed their petals, pried open only by hungry kangaroo mice hoping to find an insect within. The waxing gibbous moon softened the red sand to a shade of silver. 

Haruto returned to the basin carrying a bundle wrapped with yellowing striped maple leaves. He'd spent the afternoon and evening rummaging through the nearest prairies for herbs, and had found himself concocting not one batch of herbs, but two. It had been difficult to wrap them up, given how dry leaves were becoming nowadays- but the one benefit of the striped maple was the sheer size of the leaves. Even when drying out, they were still massive, and somewhat floppy- pliable enough to be folded without cracking and falling apart. 

He set the bundle down when he reached the scent markings, and paused to sniff again. He had wondered once or twice throughout the afternoon if he might be picking up on the scent of some malady, not a medicine, but he felt more certain now that he had sniffed it twice. He pulled the bundle apart gently, unwrapping the two leaves and sorting the collection into two piles. 

There was now a blue pill and a red pill. 

A choice.

You actually showed. Idiot.

Tierra had curled up nearby, waiting for him but mostly expecting him to get some sense and leave for good. Worried about it too. What he’d offered had been on her mind all day. At this point, it was a practice in self discipline not to jump his piles immediately.

Her eyes kept going to them though. She couldn’t keep the impatience from her voice as she spoke. What is it?

And, of course, what did he want for it? She didn’t have a lot to offer. But, eyeing them hungrily, she knew she’d give whatever it took. Just so long as these made it all go away, even if just for a little while. All she wanted was to escape.

She emerged from the darkness, a moving shadow at first, her pelt so dull and dark that it seemed to absorb the moonlight. It was harder to tell if she felt any better or worse when he couldn't see how deep the shadows were beneath her eyes, and how sharp her jawline might be. Disguised in darkness, she looked somewhat improved; the redness in the whites of her eyes was lost, but the hunger was more apparent than before. Especially now that he came with medicines. 

He blinked at her when she commented, but withheld a reply. He'd returned- and so had she, to the same spot, at the time when he'd specified. There was a chance she was simply on patrol, but the neediness of her gaze implied that she'd come like a fish to a lure. 

He pulled the two leaves closer to himself. He didn't want her to try and snatch them, devour recklessly. 

I need to know what you've had. He stated. Drug-to-drug interaction. Some things don't go well together. An honest enough reason, he felt. She would know, then, that he had no intentions of causing an overdose. If you don't know exactly what it is...Then the best description you can give- of the plant, if you've seen it, and how it makes you feel. He didn't want to shame her for a lack of knowledge, and would accept whatever she had.

More questions. She tried to contain her irritability but her words had a bite to them anyway. She wasn’t here for an interrogation but he clearly was. And, once again, she found herself in a situation where she held none of the cards.

We… I had the green. It makes everything clearer. And makes you feel like you can do anything. Even talking about it, the longing slipped into her voice. It’s been weeks. I’m done with it. She couldn’t anymore, not without him. She already couldn’t handle the nightmares, the way he was torn apart in her dreams.

But I can trade. Maybe he was interested in the rush. There weren’t many things that she’d tried that could match it, and she’d been fucked up more times than she could count. The corners of Tierra’s mouth twitched up in a weak smirk, though her attention was still glued to his bundles. Some of ours for whatever you’ve got in there. Unless there’s something else you wanted?

He blinked as he took in the information, running the description past a variety of drugs that were within his knowledge base. Something green- well, that could mean a lot of things. To be called The Green, however, meant that the drug had a street name- and wasn't specific at all to the family of plant which would make it nearly impossible to narrow down, aside from the fact that it seemed significant enough in value to have been called- out of all plants- The Green. 

Clarity was not something he would have put a bet on. He'd thought she'd been taking some form of opioid, but that didn't fit the bill, now. It was more in the nature of a fungi to provide some amount of clarity, as well as the sense of being everything and everywhere- but fungi weren't typically green, unless she was microdosing with some kind of blue-green algae...He wasn't sure that was even possible, not without horrendous repercussions. 

She was at the end of her withdrawal, though if weeks had passed, it spoke something of her level of addiction. Some of The Green's effects might be permanent, he supposed; he continued to mull over his thought until she offered a trade- an introduction. 

Trade. He agreed, licking his lips. He needed to see what The Green was. He wanted to know its source, its use, its potency. 

To her, he would push one leaf and not the other. If you're trying to get it out of your system, this will help. He said. It'll scrub impurities from your system, bind to toxins and remove them. You need to have food in your belly when you take it. Eat, take it, and get some sleep. You'll wake up when it starts working. He arched a brow, hoping she might understand that it would be a rough, ugly night. He glanced to the other leaf, piled with sprigs, roots and seeds, and shook his head. You'll wish you could sleep through it but...It'll be cleaner and safer if you're completely awake. He admitted.

Oh, no, that was not the deal. I don’t need anything out of my system, she replied tersely, not liking where this was going. She’d assumed he’d be able to help her but it sounded like he was offering the opposite. She wasn’t about to stick her neck out for that.

I need to forget. I need to sleep without nightmares every time I even try. She flicked her tail, staring at him. If you don’t have anything actually worthwhile then no deal.

He could deal with Soto if he wanted. She wasn’t wasting her time, and offering a trade that wasn’t actually hers to offer officially, unless she knew it came with relief. She could deal with the repercussions if it meant she could sleep without dreams or without thoughts or without.. anything.

His ears fanned, and he regarded her with one eye, clicking his teeth together though his lips remained shut. It irked him when he offered a fix that might have tangible results, only for it to be refused. It wasn't uncommon, and he wasn't surprised that she felt that she knew better. She'd flown too close to the sun and felt its burn, but at the same time she had caught a glimpse of what it was like to soar. Surviving the ordeal could leave one with a feeling of invincibility, but gliding could only keep one aloft for so long. 

He wanted The Green, and she now demanded a higher price for it. He continued to watch her with one dark eye for a moment before his gaze dropped to the platter of herbs he'd reserved. 

He flicked his muzzle toward the other, the one he had offered her. 

If you're truly 'done with it,' then take that tonight. You won't be asleep long enough to dream. Not much, anyway. It would spare her one night of nightmares, if nothing else. You'll shit out more than you think you've got in you, puke so hard your eyes feel like they'll pop out. Then you'll be hungry and thirsty, you'll need to eat and drink but once you do, you'll feel better. It's a cleanse, He said. A reset. Then- He looked down to the nest of herbs at his feet. Tomorrow night I'll hook you up for one night of dream-free sleep. If you're satisfied, then you keep up your end of the trade. Fair?

She could play him, of course- stand him up...And if she did, the return of her nightmares might be the one to collect the debt.

You’re joking. She laughed humorlessly, then shook her head. Fuck no. I’m not shitting myself just so you can… what? Test out some weird thing that doesn’t even help anything? Pass.

It wasn’t worth it. She didn’t know him, didn’t trust him, and wasn’t messing with anything that wasn’t going to immediately make things better. If she needed to, well… there was always things here that would help. Desperation for escape was starting to win out over avoidance.

If you want to make a different case, then take it up with the bosses. But I already said what I wanted. I don’t haggle. And if he changed his mind, could she trust anything he gave her? There was a chance he’d slip her the wrong shit just to trick her into taking it.

Yeah, no. @Soto or @Osiel could deal with this dude. She lifted her muzzle and called for them, deciding she didn’t care if he wanted to talk to them or not. He’d shown up twice now, ignored her warnings, then disappointed her. This needed to be someone else’s problem.

His lips parted where they met in a light grimace, and he shook his head, ears flattening. Medicine was not something he joked about, though he had met wolves before who had practically begged to be slipped something that might punish their bowels enough to knock them down a few pegs. She refused to take the cleanse, so he sighed and pulled the leaf back toward his paws. She was surprisingly averse to taking a new drug, for someone who had a taste for them. You're missing out. This practically scrubs your soul clean. He'd taken it himself, when he'd needed to clear his own system. It was therapeutic even when he didn't have other medicines in his system, and beneficial if he had been experimenting. 

His expression lifted slightly when she mentioned 'bosses.' It implied that she was employed, but aside from being a guardian who sent a bunch of mixed messages, he couldn't tell what her job was. He flicked an ear forward as she called, attentive to the nuances that would give him something to call out if he ever felt the need to address them himself. 

He nodded. I haven't offered you any less than what was promised. He said. I've actually brought you more; the cleanse will make the treatment much more effective but, He shrugged. If you want to risk drug-to-drug interaction and just get fucked up on opiates, then that's your choice. If your bosses have never mentioned that risk, then they're probably missing out on some factors that could give you a cleaner high. There was a chance, after all, that his knowledge of botany might improve their methods.

Tierra liked him less the more he talked. It wasn’t exactly his fault, either. He came off like a know it all in her mind, and she read a superiority in the way he spoke that wasn’t necessarily there. Given the way the last month had gone, it wasn’t going to take much for her to take poorly to someone.

Can’t believe I thought this guy was too good for this place. She scoffed impatiently, then sat down where she was to wait for someone’s arrival. Hopefully they wouldn’t take too long and leave her here to keep him occupied.

That sounds like a good opener for them. Let them know how much they’re missing, then let me know how that goes for you. She smirked, figuring it’d go about as poorly as she pictured. Or better yet, tell them when they get here so I can watch. It was a relief, deciding she didn’t need anything from him. Now she didn’t have to care about what happened next, or worry about pissing him off.

She didn't seem to handle his advice well- unsurprising, considering most wolves who needed his help enjoyed it very little until there was some form of relief. Part of being a doctor was dealing news that the patient didn't want to hear. Part of it was convincing them to go against their instincts. Part of it was telling them to do something that might put them in a worse state than what they were currently in in order to heal- and amid the many other parts of his chosen duty that rubbed patients the wrong way, the thanks were few and far between. 

He wouldn't expect her to be gracious, if she reconsidered his advice and it worked; there was always the possibility that something might go wrong, or worse- that there would be no change, no evidence that the struggle was worth it. He took an oath to first, do no harm. Harm, unfortunately, was subjective. 

His experience made him confident, to the point of being cock-sure. But if he'd learned anything, it was that some patients put more faith in a doctor who could look them straight in the eye and tell them what was best. By nature, he would have made a shit pediatrician- though speaking to adults as though they were children was a weakness of his. 

As you wish, He agreed casually, but he couldn't let it rest there. Though- I can't tell them what they're missing until I know what their process is, so you'll have to sit through a bit of interrogation, and that is only if they'll discuss the herb with me at all. If it's something you're trying to keep secret- well- He paused. It wasn't a secret anymore. He watched for a reaction, wondering if he might get some leverage out of this situation. She'd spilled the beans on the greens- how would her bosses feel about her blabbing to some passerby? 

He shrugged. I guess you'll just get to watch and see how it all shakes out. He said with a shimmy of his shoulders.