They say it gets easier, skin gets thicker, emotions grow number.  In the end the hourglass spills its last grain of sand as the final breath exhales or the beat of one’s heart stills its thrum. Lest one is afflicted with eternal damnation, the mortal life has an inevitable end. They can’t all be saved. Time ticked on in its normalcy ever still and she would have to do the same. Every now and then, Ekosha wondered if it was the aspect of life, needing to humble her even though there were far worse things she’d endured.  It was not uncommon to have her older patients pass without the company of family. Be it they had long gone, or there were reasons that which they had no means to share. So, she provided the company, listening to their stories even if some were rather far-fetched, but who was she to correct them in their remaining days? These tales could eventually become an icebreaker should she ever find the time to part ways from her office. Resources were lacking as of late which meant her hours were extended trying to divide and go without where she could though she dared not privy her staff as she could see the evidence of wear and burn-out within the dark circles staining their eyes.  She was still nowhere near to absolving whatever ailed Matthias either. “Shit— that doesn't work either...” she murmured under her breath. The sound of paper crumbling was dampened by the early evening crowd of a tavern nearby.  There were several  cups of coffee that could have easily been considered a rather unhealthy amount along with stacks upon stacks of papers that she hardly dented. “Another coffee please--!” Eko unconsciously held up her emptied mug as she proceeded to her note-taking. Crinkling up yet another ball of paper and adding it to the pile that had formed next to another tower of papers.

Jahi

After all which had transpired as of late, the city and estate alike had begun to feel rather suffocating. Serving only as constant reminders to the falacies so often portrayed to faces both known and foreign when housed within these walls. This sense of knowing only leading the hound further astray. Spurning him from the supposed comforts of home to escape that creeping dread, the inability to allow oneself to relish in luxuries kept.

Perhaps in time these ever twisting notions would pass - they had before - but for now they weighed heavily and a part of him craved to drown those whispers into silence. 

Even if only for a little while. 

Maybe that would be enough as known paths were taken toward the embrace of an all too familiar tavern. One with the swinging sign of a phoenix adorning its door and the ever welcoming illumination flickering within. Plans already forming to take his usual seat near the counter, to talk freely with the hyena so often behind it. At least until a mug was raised, dare he say shoved in his direction with the insistence of another to take its place.

Confusion laced his gaze as swiftly one regarded the ever growing collection upon her table. Still stained glasses cluttering near ever available space alongside the spattering of papers she so carelessly crumbled and scattered about. And while Augustus knew it rude to poke about in another’s business - it had never stopped him before. Attentions quick to flicker over pages resting atop her stacks, if she wished for privacy she shouldn’t have come here of all places. Besides, who brought what appeared to be work to a place meant to let loose? Unwind.

In those moments a mind was made. 

No matter what lay gleaned from those towers, fingers came to rest atop her own and press a mug back to the wooden surface below. “That stuffs just going to make you jittery and unfocused,” already the smell of it was overwhelming. He could hardly pick up anything beneath its stench, “Just how many of these have you had?” Lyrics fallings as if he of all creatures would cut her away from indulgence though her chosen elixir hardly piqued the goat’s interests. It was not what he wished to imbibe in this night, “You’ve made quite the mess over here.”

Formulas were either not adding up or possessed no solid safe conclusion. Charcoal and graphite scribbled out any failed possibility or potential solutions before parchment was crumpled and tossed to the growing pile that had carelessly gone unnoticed by the prime suspect. Small indentions of evident teeth marks ruined the very pencil in her hand as she chewed anxiously at the tool if it wasn’t being used to scratch an invisible itch within alabaster locks or messily – and almost indecipherable – writing on parchment. Blindly she went to take another sip of the emptied ceramic mug that once was filled with hazelnut-scented coffee only to be met with an emptied beverage. So unconsciously as she had been doing since – how long had it been now? She raised her emptied mug as if it were an emptied tankard seeking another refill as she meticulously continued on about her work she’d brought with her after hours. That stuffs going to make you jittery and unfocused. A voice came, though her cognitive functioning caught it delayed. She hadn’t noticed that her arm no longer tired from the strain of holding the cup in the air. “I-I’m most certainly focused and I am not jittery!” She whiplashed in a distracted retort following another crinkling of paper and knocking it away from her sights. There followed a repetitive tapping hum of her pencil beating against the table she sat at, as glacial gaze stared almost zombie-like at the one of two book she had with her. One was assumed something of the sciences with documented formula’s and another in relation to botany with odd and ended named plants inscribed upon the exposed pages. Her frustration was evident and the amount of caffeine indulged upon too shown itself through the anxious fidgeting. Those dark impressions beneath her staffs features had too found itself upon her pallid freckled features too. Just how many of these have you had? Ekosha exhaled an agitated albeit weary sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose with a freed hand. “Does it even matter if I’m paying—” Her attention finally turned full swing before she stopped herself abruptly, biting the inside of her cheek. The physician withdrew her hand from the mug she undoubtedly hung on to, and finally assessed her position. Her cheeks warmed to scarlet as humility found its way to knot her chest. “Sorry... Too many I guess.” she relented, also extinguishing her pencil in a hapless clatter before it settled lonesome on the table. You’ve made quite the mess over here. Eko didn’t question the patron. Perhaps this was a regular spot for him to leisure and she just happened upon it. Her eyes averted to the window panes to see the shift in the sun had nearly grown absent. Panic joined humility frantically as she noticed the several piles of crumbled and abandoned papers that nearly flooded the space. “Oh shit—sorry! Sorry I-I’ll clean this now!” Her voice rushed and her heart began to race at an unusual rate between the mix of excessive coffee and the alarm behind her voice. “I didn’t realize the time – I’ll be out of your hair in a moment.”

Jahi

Whoever this was hardly seemed to notice the ways an arm lowered against the table. The warmth of another’s hand partially atop her own pressing the drained mug from view if only to keep it from being shaken in his face anew with further demands for a refill. Instead this stranger remained fixated, fretting over all that lay strewn before - and around - her in chaotic disarray. Never bothering to lift her eyes from each scribbling mark upon those pages even when it came to addressing another. Or in this case, attempting to convince a goat to believe the lies which laced her breath.

At this Augustus could not stop the short bout of laughter from slipping free to tangle with lyrics, “Not the way I see it. You are jittery.” That final phrase a quiet murmur as sights glued upon her. Any who beheld her would witness the seemingly constant quiver of her hand as it scrawled illegible notes upon the margins. With merely a glance one could take in the gaunt sunken plague of exhaustion which haunted her visage, twisting features which may have once been inviting.

Yet it is not she alone that focus drifts to but the steady tap tap of a pencil. Ears flicking in mild annoyance, the urge to snatch it from her grasps a notion which continued to fester within his cerebrum the longer the sound ticked on. However, while hands may forcefully still that rose tinted stare had trouble drifting from it. Difficulty banishing it from his thoughts until finally it would cease with another crumbling of paper she so carelessly cast aside.

Fiero wasn’t going to be happy about this.

Though surely either he or another of his staff knew of this if they had continuously served her this horrid drink. His own tongue would click. Whatever amusement held toward her situation steadily waning beneath the a venomous snap of her tongue. She had started this by waving her drink around. He didn’t work here and never would. The Phoenix would only serve as a locale frequented, a place to sink coin and drown the whispering thoughts that crept along the edges of a mind.

But all changed in the very instant she chose to tear herself from her fretting to witness the one who spoke. The very harshness of her phrases swiftly quieting, an apology leaping to take its place as her visage burned upon heated flesh. Too many apologies as her eyes rapidly flickered to take in all around her at long last it seemed. The rapid kick drum of her heart a reverberation in his ears, rather alarming in fact in the ways it hammered sparking a single phrase to fill the air.

“Relax,” his tone insistent as fingers released the once snared mug, “I don’t recall saying you had to leave, do you?” While he still held plans of moving to the counters up front - within swifter reach of stronger drink - for now he finds a place here. Without seeking invitation he temporarily settles across from the now frazzled and frantic woman, “Besides you might want to sit back down before you pass out.” Furred ears swiveling as a hand gestured brazenly toward the breadth of her chest, “Beating pretty fast in there.”

The sound of rattling paper sounded as the tired physician practically dove into the litter she created. Where she originally sat had a thin sheet of frost forming save for the impression of her petite outline. She made no hesitant effort to draw the bin of trash nearest to the table she sat and began to frantically discard the used parchment. At the same time, she was grumbling under her breath that to argue that she was not jittery despite the obvious cues. Who was he to tell her how much caffeine was too much caffeine?! No, no that wasn’t right she would try to find reason with herself while also struggling to keep her wits about her and absolve the mess she’d created. He didn’t know the context behind any of it but then why bother? Oh—she nearly missed one. Relax, Her movements slowed but only just as another crumpled paper fell into the waste. I don’t recall saying you had to leave, do you? That question sounded far more difficult than it actually was. One of the servers came and revoked Ekosha of the waste bin but not without cleaning the remaining mess. Eko offered an apologetic smile with a hapless chuckle though they seemed otherwise unimpressed. “I don’t understand the question.” she found herself speaking before she could correlate her thoughts. “What?” Right hand found the center of her chest; Besides you might want to sit back down before you pass out. The strangers words fell just as the rising throb of her chest began to ache. “Haa—” an uncomfortable groan exhaled in response as the stranger leisurely took a seat across from her. Beating pretty fast in there. “No, no it’s fine, I’m fine.” She forced an obvious uncomfortable smile. “Just… trying to get some work done,” The temperature around her had dropped drastically. She was frustrated and now she was at another standstill. Their last run-in, Matt had told her she’d probably done all that she could. Eko disagreed. It was made clear she wasn’t doing enough to absolve whatever it was that plagued him. Her icy gaze turned towards the windows several tables over to see that the sun had long since set and she cursed under her breath, how long before she needed to open the clinic again?

Jahi