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charisstomaRevelations by Iron Dog
Devin shifted on the crinklie paper covering the exam table, the rustle loud in the quiet room. He was beyond thankful that he hadn’t needed to put on one of the gowns that never properly closed in the back but he still felt uncomfortable to be sitting in an exam roof even if he was fully dressed. He didn’t like hospitals at all and doctors weren’t that far down on his dislike list either. He knew that was mostly a product of his mom dragging him to one anytime he mentioned hearing things that weren’t there and the battery of tests they’d subjected him to over and over again. He’d wised up after a while and stopped mentioning the stuff he heard, but she would still haul him around to different doctors every now and again with a slightly fearful look in her eyes. He’d stood up to her at thirteen and said no more doctors unless he had an injury with bone sticking out or a cut deep enough to see bone. Devin was still a little surprised that she’d agreed and the random doctor visits had stopped. His mother had still looked at him funny every now and again as if she expected him to do... something fearful.
Now here he was, of his own volition, sitting on an exam table and wondering if he was losing his mind.
The door opened and the last person he thought should walk in, did. Great. Beautiful. Just fucking perfect Devin thought. He did not want to be having this conversation with Dr. Mraz. The man was supposed to be an excellent doctor but he also happened to be his long lost father. The last thing he needed was his new found family thinking he was all special in the head. Could his life get any more complicated?
“There’s nothing physically wrong with your hearing, Devin, but I think you knew that already. Have you ever considered alternate explanations for the things you hear?” Dr. Mraz asked as he faced Devin.
“Alternate explanations? Like what?” Devin asked a little warily. “I’m not schizo. My mom had me tested and I have the pretty little piece of paper that says I don’t need to be fitted for one of those nifty coats with the long arms that tie in the back.”
Dr. Mraz chuckled. “No, I meant something a little more... mystical if you will.”
“Uhh, what?”
“There’s more to this world than what people see on the surface. I suppose you could go so far as to say that some of it is on a need-to-know basis and most people aren’t operating on a pay grade that meets the criteria for needing to know certain things. You were in the navy. You know how things like that work. Don’t trouble the enlisted with stuff they can’t do anything about. Leave that to the officers as dealing with those things is in their job description.”
“Uhh, again. What? I’m not following your analogy.”
“Would you agree that there are more things in this world than man and science can explain?”
“Sure. I’ve seen a few freaky things in my time.”
“Would you then further agree that hearing things that nobody else can yet suffer from no hearing problems or defects is something that science can’t currently explain?” Dr. Mraz asked with an intent look at Devin.
“Yeah. I mean, I keep hoping for an explanation for that stuff but so far nothing.”
“I have the answer for you, Devin, but I’m not sure you’re ready to accept that answer.”
“It’s not a tumour is it? The things I’m hearing this time are really, really loud. Louder than anything I’ve heard before and it’s driving me a little crazy,” Devin said as a chill shot down his spine. “I’ve heard of people suddenly developing a tumour and it growing like crazy in just weeks and killing them.”
“No, it’s not a tumour,” Dr. Mraz said as he bit back a smile. “You’re perfectly healthy. What you have is a gift that not many people are given. It can be both a blessing and a curse depending on your view point. Belenus said we should gently ease you into things but given how active your gift is becoming, I don’t think we have the luxury of pissing around and hand-holding you. You also don’t strike me as someone who’d appreciate the hand-holding. You’re much more upfront than that. There are people here at the school that can help you with this gift, teach you how to use it and nurture it to its full potential and I believe it would be in your best interests to meet and learn from them.”
Devin raised an eyebrow at that. He was starting to wonder if his mom had been right about his father being a little off because of all that occult stuff he was supposed to have been into back in the day. He didn’t think the man was dangerous like his mom insisted, but there was something a little weird about the guy at the moment and the way he was looking at Devin.
“I swear I’m not some new age weirdo that smokes peyote and claims to hear colours and see sounds of the Great Spirit talking to them through the coffee maker. I know your mother told you some interesting things about me. While a good bit of it isn’t true, some of it is and it’s probably not the things you’re thinking are true.”
“So you never signed a pact with the devil and traded your immortal soul for powers no human should ever possess?”
“Hardly. Your mother always did have a flair for the dramatic,” Dr. Mraz said with a smile. “I’d like you to meet and speak to Sheila. I think after that, you’ll be able to take in the things around here easier.”
Dr. Mraz opened the door and called for Sheila to come into the exam room. The older nurse who’d shown him into the exam room entered and smiled at him. Devin nodded at her and wondered what meeting and speaking with the nurse had to do with anything.
“If you wouldn’t mind, Sheila, Devin needs to be brought up to speed with the type of school we have here and I thought the fastest way to do that would be by showing him your nature.”
“Are you sure that’s wise, Dr. Mraz? It could be quiet shocking if one has never seen or even believed such a thing could be reality,” Sheila asked with a concerned look at Devin.
“He’ll be fine. Besides, if he passes out, he’s in the perfect place for treatment.”
Sheila laughed. “True enough.”
One moment Devin was looking at a pretty older lady with dark brown hair in a serviceable nurses’ uniform and the next he was watching a chocolate-coloured cat step gracefully out of the heap of clothes on the floor. Devin’s eyes were wide as he stared at the cat that sauntered over to where he sat on the exam table. The cat leapt onto the table beside him, sat and stared at him with her head tilted slightly to the side as if to say, “Well, what do you think of them apples?”
“What... what the hell? How did you do that? Holy shit, that is the best damn magic trick I’ve ever seen.”
“No trick, Devin, although that was basic familiar magic. Sheila is a familiar; one who can be either cat or human-looking depending on needs or circumstances. She’s not mine though. I don’t believe in mixing business with my personal life. The relationship between a familiar and a magic-user is complex and I don’t want the added stress of that in my workplace. The cats you see around campus are the same as Sheila. They are all familiars who are either paired up with a magic-user or are in the process of being paired up. This is a school that trains and develops those with magic abilities, teaching them control and responsibility for the gifts they have.”
“All the cats on campus are like... her?” Devin asked as the colour suddenly drained from his face.
“Yes. Why? What’s wrong, Devin?” Dr. Mraz asked in concern.
“I... I think I might’ve fucked a cat,” Devin said in a hoarse voice.
Devin shifted on the crinklie paper covering the exam table, the rustle loud in the quiet room. He was beyond thankful that he hadn’t needed to put on one of the gowns that never properly closed in the back but he still felt uncomfortable to be sitting in an exam roof even if he was fully dressed. He didn’t like hospitals at all and doctors weren’t that far down on his dislike list either. He knew that was mostly a product of his mom dragging him to one anytime he mentioned hearing things that weren’t there and the battery of tests they’d subjected him to over and over again. He’d wised up after a while and stopped mentioning the stuff he heard, but she would still haul him around to different doctors every now and again with a slightly fearful look in her eyes. He’d stood up to her at thirteen and said no more doctors unless he had an injury with bone sticking out or a cut deep enough to see bone. Devin was still a little surprised that she’d agreed and the random doctor visits had stopped. His mother had still looked at him funny every now and again as if she expected him to do... something fearful.
Now here he was, of his own volition, sitting on an exam table and wondering if he was losing his mind.
The door opened and the last person he thought should walk in, did. Great. Beautiful. Just fucking perfect Devin thought. He did not want to be having this conversation with Dr. Mraz. The man was supposed to be an excellent doctor but he also happened to be his long lost father. The last thing he needed was his new found family thinking he was all special in the head. Could his life get any more complicated?
“There’s nothing physically wrong with your hearing, Devin, but I think you knew that already. Have you ever considered alternate explanations for the things you hear?” Dr. Mraz asked as he faced Devin.
“Alternate explanations? Like what?” Devin asked a little warily. “I’m not schizo. My mom had me tested and I have the pretty little piece of paper that says I don’t need to be fitted for one of those nifty coats with the long arms that tie in the back.”
Dr. Mraz chuckled. “No, I meant something a little more... mystical if you will.”
“Uhh, what?”
“There’s more to this world than what people see on the surface. I suppose you could go so far as to say that some of it is on a need-to-know basis and most people aren’t operating on a pay grade that meets the criteria for needing to know certain things. You were in the navy. You know how things like that work. Don’t trouble the enlisted with stuff they can’t do anything about. Leave that to the officers as dealing with those things is in their job description.”
“Uhh, again. What? I’m not following your analogy.”
“Would you agree that there are more things in this world than man and science can explain?”
“Sure. I’ve seen a few freaky things in my time.”
“Would you then further agree that hearing things that nobody else can yet suffer from no hearing problems or defects is something that science can’t currently explain?” Dr. Mraz asked with an intent look at Devin.
“Yeah. I mean, I keep hoping for an explanation for that stuff but so far nothing.”
“I have the answer for you, Devin, but I’m not sure you’re ready to accept that answer.”
“It’s not a tumour is it? The things I’m hearing this time are really, really loud. Louder than anything I’ve heard before and it’s driving me a little crazy,” Devin said as a chill shot down his spine. “I’ve heard of people suddenly developing a tumour and it growing like crazy in just weeks and killing them.”
“No, it’s not a tumour,” Dr. Mraz said as he bit back a smile. “You’re perfectly healthy. What you have is a gift that not many people are given. It can be both a blessing and a curse depending on your view point. Belenus said we should gently ease you into things but given how active your gift is becoming, I don’t think we have the luxury of pissing around and hand-holding you. You also don’t strike me as someone who’d appreciate the hand-holding. You’re much more upfront than that. There are people here at the school that can help you with this gift, teach you how to use it and nurture it to its full potential and I believe it would be in your best interests to meet and learn from them.”
Devin raised an eyebrow at that. He was starting to wonder if his mom had been right about his father being a little off because of all that occult stuff he was supposed to have been into back in the day. He didn’t think the man was dangerous like his mom insisted, but there was something a little weird about the guy at the moment and the way he was looking at Devin.
“I swear I’m not some new age weirdo that smokes peyote and claims to hear colours and see sounds of the Great Spirit talking to them through the coffee maker. I know your mother told you some interesting things about me. While a good bit of it isn’t true, some of it is and it’s probably not the things you’re thinking are true.”
“So you never signed a pact with the devil and traded your immortal soul for powers no human should ever possess?”
“Hardly. Your mother always did have a flair for the dramatic,” Dr. Mraz said with a smile. “I’d like you to meet and speak to Sheila. I think after that, you’ll be able to take in the things around here easier.”
Dr. Mraz opened the door and called for Sheila to come into the exam room. The older nurse who’d shown him into the exam room entered and smiled at him. Devin nodded at her and wondered what meeting and speaking with the nurse had to do with anything.
“If you wouldn’t mind, Sheila, Devin needs to be brought up to speed with the type of school we have here and I thought the fastest way to do that would be by showing him your nature.”
“Are you sure that’s wise, Dr. Mraz? It could be quiet shocking if one has never seen or even believed such a thing could be reality,” Sheila asked with a concerned look at Devin.
“He’ll be fine. Besides, if he passes out, he’s in the perfect place for treatment.”
Sheila laughed. “True enough.”
One moment Devin was looking at a pretty older lady with dark brown hair in a serviceable nurses’ uniform and the next he was watching a chocolate-coloured cat step gracefully out of the heap of clothes on the floor. Devin’s eyes were wide as he stared at the cat that sauntered over to where he sat on the exam table. The cat leapt onto the table beside him, sat and stared at him with her head tilted slightly to the side as if to say, “Well, what do you think of them apples?”
“What... what the hell? How did you do that? Holy shit, that is the best damn magic trick I’ve ever seen.”
“No trick, Devin, although that was basic familiar magic. Sheila is a familiar; one who can be either cat or human-looking depending on needs or circumstances. She’s not mine though. I don’t believe in mixing business with my personal life. The relationship between a familiar and a magic-user is complex and I don’t want the added stress of that in my workplace. The cats you see around campus are the same as Sheila. They are all familiars who are either paired up with a magic-user or are in the process of being paired up. This is a school that trains and develops those with magic abilities, teaching them control and responsibility for the gifts they have.”
“All the cats on campus are like... her?” Devin asked as the colour suddenly drained from his face.
“Yes. Why? What’s wrong, Devin?” Dr. Mraz asked in concern.
“I... I think I might’ve fucked a cat,” Devin said in a hoarse voice.
