Work Text:
Logan stepped into the secluded area with some hesitation. She’d been looking for the Witch Doctor just about everywhere in town after being unable to locate him inside his home, or in his garden. It had taken her much too long to come to the obvious conclusion that there was only one place he could be if he wasn’t at the bath house.
Within a hidden path, south of his home, was an area by a small river, surrounded by thick, old trees. It was a copse, a little hollow, like her namesake. There was a lonely lamp by the end of the path, but no other real light source. With the late evening sky, she could just barely make out the shape of his back as he stood by the river, his shoulders rigid even in what he thought was his own company.
She gave the best dog in the world, Noxe, a good few pats. Her poor companion had been trying to lead her in this direction to begin with, but she’d not picked up on his help.
With her buddy close behind, and a bag of moon cloves in her pocket, she stepped forward, making sure to make extra noise. Despite this, the tired man didn't seem to notice her.
As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t exactly say she knew the guy particularly well, even so, she did know from experience that he was usually overly aware of his surroundings when traversing the woods. Likely because he, unlike the police, rangers, and well, herself, refused to fight the creatures to be found.
Maybe he just wasn’t expecting any danger or company in this specific hiding spot of his, but the lack of awareness concerned her. Myer had mentioned he was acting outside of his schedule lately, apparently being even more secluded than usual. He’d been unable to figure out why that was.
Logan feared she might be the reason, but hadn’t wanted to ask outright. Sure, the guy had walked around town at least a little bit when she’d just arrived, but after her work with the townspeople had grown, and she’d started healing areas in the valley…
She huffed, taking another hard step closer, only for him to remain standing in the exact same position. Logan crossed her arms, pushing her scarf back as she did so, then she cleared her throat, only to be met with the same still, silence.
Logan frowned, her concern growing. “Matheo?”
Silence.
The earlier hesitation and fear of disturbing the man fell back, as the priority of checking in on him pushed forward.
She stepped next to him, and did something she rarely allowed herself to do, touch the man physically. Confidently she placed her hand firmly on his shoulder.
Her hand was encased in thick wool, still she felt him startle harshly under her palm.
He turned towards her with swiftness, and she was barely able to spot the shift in expression. From a downturned, almost sorrowful expression, to one of surprise, and then his regular furrow browed, annoyance
He clearly wanted to sound angry as he scolded her, but the old emotion still affected his voice, as if something was restricting his throat before he yelled past it. “What- What are you doing here!”
She let go of his shoulder, and moved the very same hand to stroke Noxe's back behind her. Loud noise usually didn’t affect her furred friend, but for some reason Matheo's moods seemed to always affect him. For some reason Matheo being upset would upset him. To this, Logan could relate.
Matheo noted her dog's slight distress, and seemed to force himself to calm down. He took a deep breath, and rubbed at the bridge of his nose.
Logan swallowed. “I’m really sorry, Matheo. We just came to check in on you, and then you weren’t responding when I called out. I promise I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
He huffed. “Uncomfortable. I’m perfectly fine, I was just… Thinking. I was deep in thought, that’s all”
She nodded, “Right. Well, Myer asked me to come check in on you, apparently you missed your delivery day? Nobody's seen you around, so he asked me if I wouldn’t mind figuring it out”
“Of course he did,” He bowed his head, his muttered words barely heard. “Of all people, why does it have to be you”
She tried to ignore the words he probably had not intended for her to hear. Maybe.
He looked up from the ground, looking slightly uncertain as he thought about something. He met her eyes then with a slight grimace. “What…What day is it?” Then his gaze lowered to the ground again, his voice hesitant then“Did I really miss it?”
She couldn’t help herself, without thinking, her hand landed just slightly beneath his shoulder, cradling half-way around his arm. “It’s Thursday, Matheo. Are you sure you’re alright?” her voice was softer than she’d intended to, but she couldn’t help that either. How long had he been avoiding everyone?
To her surprise, he didn’t push her away, instead he sighed, his voice resigned. “Darn it, I really did miss the day” He blinked several times, turning towards her, away from the darkness. The light from the lamp behind her finally hit him and he looked even worse, his undereyes practically purple. He was pale too, his dark beard making for even more of a contrast and just slightly too unkept to be typical.
She hissed. That was a lot considering the man's always kept-together appearance. “...Matheo”
He shook his head. “I was busy, Chemist. Distracted by something else, so I just, I completely forgot”
She frowned then. “What in the world could take up so much of your attention?”
His chin rose. “That’s nothing for you to be concerned about!”
She bit her lip “...Matheo”
“NO! Don’t make assumptions! I am a professional Witch Doctor, and I will do my duty”
She let go of the man, holding up both her hands, before taking a step back. “That’s not what I’m saying, not at all…”
“Just because I missed a day or two. Or three. That doesn’t mean I cannot handle things on my own!”
He stepped towards her, his head turned down so he could keep his sharp stare into her eyes. She had to force herself not to move backwards despite him towering over her, so close to spewing some venom or another with that hot tempered tongue of his.
“I know my methods are old, but they can be improved before the sickness spreads further!” His eyes widened, looking not dissimilar to two large timber fruits at that moment. “I--I’m not saying anything!”
Her mouth widened at his admission, and she stared coldly at him back.
He held up a single finger. “I’m not breaking my promise as a healer”
She crossed her arms, saying nothing, but looking at him just the same. She’d never been disappointed in the man, only ever upset at their lack of connection because of his dislike of her, but in that moment she was close.
“So you will put others at risk for what, your ego?”
“That is not what’s happening, and nobody is at risk! Okay, fine, I’ll explain.”
He leaned down, his voice almost a whisper. His breath was warm, and the air was cold.
Something colder was the fear she felt at the next words that fell from his mouth.
“I’ve discovered there might be a new disease on the island”
He swallowed, then clasped his hands together at his front. He looked almost relieved to finally tell someone, to finally tell her. “When I checked some of the animals and vegetation in the fields I noticed some strange rashes. I made notes about it, I was about to do further experiments, but then a bear appeared, and I fled.”
He looked skywards, his lips pushing together for a moment before he continued. “As you might expect, I lost my notes…again. If I manage to get my notes, I can try to prevent this potential new disease as I planned…”
He stopped, turned away from her so she could just barely hear him growl at himself.
Personally, she noted nothing of the sort when traversing the woods, but Matheo had a different eye for the wild life and animals, a different level of awareness and familiarity that only came from living and learning from generations of witch doctors.
Her jaw clenched as she felt the anger inside her, the recklessness at keeping something like this to oneself. But, how many times might he have experienced this very thing, how long had he been alone with these problems?
And this problem in particular. Matheo was a stubborn man, he pretended to be all confident, but the way he mentioned the disease existed "potentially" either spoke of his wish for secrecy, or an insecurity of sorts. He did not seem like a person that had previously doubted his own instincts.
She crossed her arms, stared at the same rigid back. There were many things she could do, but there was only one action that felt right.
Logan cleared her throat. “Where was this bear?”
He looked back at her, and he looked surprised, his eyes practically pleading that she was offering what he thought she was.
“I was, uh, it happened around the Glaze Iceberg area. You…” He turned his body fully towards her then, he sounded like he was in disbelief “You want to help me look for my notes?”
She only raised an eyebrow. “No, Matheo, I’m just so curious”
He huffed. “Hmm, well. I suppose I do need you for this…” He raised his chin, and this time she just couldn’t take him seriously. Alone in this small hollow of the woods, standing tall, pretending to be proud, he was taking her helping hand. “But don’t you dare take this matter any further! I still don’t trust people from The Capital, and I especially don’t trust you!”
His eyes were suddenly so bright, almost Sunflower yellow, his mustache and hair the darkest color of a Black Lotus with the shade surrounding him. But his mouth was all pouty, his shoulders practically relaxed since he finally allowed himself to open up about his troubles, and then the realization that he'd be able to work on a solution again.
She smiled at him, unashamedly smug.
“Now go!” He didn’t seem to appreciate it. “You can talk to me again when you’ve found my notes, but don’t you dare peek at what’s inside!” Noxe’s tail wiggled wildly beside her, and she felt that knot of worry in her stomach untangle. He was back to normal, his stupid, angry little defences up and working.
She only nodded politely “Of course. I know you’ll figure it out, but if there's anything at all you want help with, you know where to find me”
She ignored his surprised expression as she turned away from him, then walked to the path from where she came. She passed the lonely lamp, and whistled so that Noxe would remember to follow.
The bag of moon cloves were still in her pocket, but she saw no reason not to deliver them with his notes instead. Icing on the cake.
“I’ll be back soon, Matheo! Don’t miss me too much!”
She held back a laugh at the loud groan behind her.
‘Glaze Iceberg,’ she thought, ‘here I come.’