hello, i'm here, i'm living in the wall (i am the eighth wonder) (o/o)

(lmao)

"I see." Was the only response she could think of. She did not mind if this doctor was a bit of a dandy; so was she, sort of. She liked people of her same gender. Which was, well, enough for condemnation from most people.

Anna would not, however, condemn anyone for who they chose to love or to sleep with. She herself has been repressing her attraction to women for a while, but that didn't mean others had to. It was just wrong when she did it. "I take it that bothers you?" Anna asked.

She shook her head. "No. It does not matter to me what he chooses to do, so long as both he and his partners are both, ah, consenting to what is going on." she replied, clearing her throat for a moment and continuing to walk with Anna.

"I don't think he really gets that far." Anna laughed through her teeth, and led them to a door. She opened it, and once more Jekyll appeared in all his melodramatic glory. "Oh Anna, darling, it's been too long!" he leaned against the doorknob, slipped, and regained his composure. "We saw each other just this morning, fool." she groaned, watching the foolish display with some amusement, some distaste.

Elanor blinked as she looked between the two, processing what Jekyll was saying. She didn't speak, just tucked her arms across her waist as she waited for Anna to say something more about what was going on.

"My friend, Henry Jekyll. World renowned scientist, one of the finest minds in a century, now wasting away to nothing." Anna introduced.

"Oh, you're too cruel Anna!" Henry gasped, but then turned his attention to Elanor. "And who is the lovely lady?" he said, Anna frowned. "We both know you don't have the courage it takes to love a woman, Henry. Stay in your lane, now." she said, but it was mostly teasing. She had the understanding that if you were to like one sex, the other was completely off-limits, at least that was how it worked for her. But also, her friend was a good man, he wouldn't cross a boundary that a partner wouldn't be trying to cross as well. "I'm having a dinner party tonight, with some of my old friends. Care to join me?"

"As dry and boring as that would be, I have work." Anna replied. "But if you'd be willing to take on Elanor as your apprentice, I know your last one ended badly, but you could at least teach her how to navigate a legal world."

Elanor cocked her head faintly. Apprentice? Anna had not mentioned that until now. Legal world? Apprentice? Did England accept women as lawyers? Or barristers? Or…whatever Henry Jekyll was? She didn't know what to say.

Henry turned to Elanor once more. "Oh Anna, the poor thing looks confused as a newborn lamb! Do you ever explain your ideas to people before enacting them?" he snarked. Anna rolled her eyes. "Fine. Elanor, I said I was going to get you a job, but it doesn't look like you've been formally trained for anything but maybe the front lines of battle, wherever they let women do that. You certainly looked like you'd just fought a war when you came to me. So, in order to get training, I'm handing you off to doctor Jekyll in order to get you some decent training. He's a lawyer, scholar, and doctor of medicine and I'd trust him with my life. Make sense?" she asked.

Elanor nodded slightly. "Not battle. Dueling." she replied. She had also attended college; she was well-educated, but she knew she could not say that. Not when college wasn't something women were often able to attend. "But yes, that makes sense. Thank you, Anna."

Anna flushed red at that, she didn't like being wrong especially in front of people who, in other circumstances, she would find attractive, which was a thought she quickly pushed out of her mind. "Right. Okay. Dueling. Well, haveagooddayI'llseeyoulater!" Anna quickly moved off the front steps, but Jekyll pulled her back. "Say goodbye to your patient, doctor Saville. Didn't I teach you manners when you worked under me?" he teased.

Elanor stifled a laugh at the way Anna quickly got awkward, smiling a little bit. "I, ah, would also like my sword back. I left it at your house, Anna." she said, smiling again and glancing between Jekyll and Anna.

Anna nodded. "I'll be right back." she ran off, presumably to get the sword. Henry chuckled. "Come inside, I'll make you a cup of tea and we can discuss anything you have in mind for… this whole… situation." he shrugged.

Elanor cleared her throat, nodding slightly as she moved to follow Henry inside. This situation felt a bit odd to her, but Anna trusted him. She still wasn't sure if she did, but she could defend herself if she needed to.

Henry wasn’t intending on hurting the poor girl, much less using her for any experiments. For now, that is. She needed a friend right now, and besides, experiments are better when they trust you. That way, you get the satisfaction of a willing participant. However, he had his eyes set on Anna, and her transformation abilities. He also wasn’t speaking for a solid minute as he led Elanor inside the house, and decided to change that. “Well, do be a dear and sit down, I’ll make you something warm to drink.” he said.

Elanor was quiet, eventually sitting down when he told her to. She was a bit relieved to be off her feet, if she was honest. Her side was throbbing, just a little. She didn't think it was a problem, but she still was glad to be off her feet.

"So, Anna said you came in looking like you'd fought a war? Care to elaborate on that?" Jekyll asked, warming up the stove some more so he could warm up the kettle and preparing the tea leaves.

"I had– have? –a stab wound." she replied, tucking back a loose strand of hair. "She took care of it, and it will heal." or at least, she hoped it did. The only other option was it…not healing, which would be a disaster.

"Would you let me see it? Don't worry, I won't touch anything you don't want me to." he said softly, he'd been this woman once- scared of any strange man who wanted to operate on him, albeit this was in an asylum and several decades ago. He still sympathized, though.

Her hand automatically went to where the wound was hidden beneath her clothing, and tried to think of how she could show the wound without also showing her entire upper half. Sure, Anna had said that he was a dandy and didn't like women, but still. She didn't want to show him any more than the wound.

Henry shrugged. "Well, if you're not up to it, I can understand. Just know, I can help. Anna's no surgeon, if she botched something I'll want to know. I don't want you dying on me, understand?" he asked.

"I…" she was wearing two layers on the bottom, maybe that would be the easiest way? She grabbed the hem of the top layer, carefully working it up until the bandages– but no more –were showing. "There." She still looked vaguely embarrassed.

Henry looked at nothing more than the wound and bandages, and he sucked in air through his teeth. The bandages were bloody and looked like they'd need replacing soon. As well as, he'd need to fix up the stitching. "Well… she made it slightly more likely you'll live, at least for a day or two more?" he said, almost optimistically.

She frowned. "What do you mean?" She asked, glancing down at the bandages, then over at him again, looking a bit concerned. What did he mean? The wound hurt, sure, but it was better. Right?

"Look, I said before that Anna is no surgeon. She mostly takes care of diseases, births, that sort of thing. She's more of a midwife than a doctor, but don't tell her I ever said that." he admitted. "I'm afraid I'll need to do work on this, but I promise I won't touch anything you don't want me to." he held his hands up.

She took a deep breath, considering his words. "I want to talk to her about it first." She replied, letting go of the hem and letting it fall back down again for now. "Surely you can understand that." She was hesitant to just take him at his word; if Anna backed him up, then it would be fine.

Just that moment, Anna burst in the door with the sword. "I," she panted for a second, "I have your sword." she smiled triumphantly, handing it to Elanor.

Elanor smiled, taking her sword back. "Thank you, Anna." she replied, looking between Jekyll and Anna slowly, unsure if she should bring up the wound or if Jekyll would.

"Elanor is wounded. But your fixing it… Anna, you should have come to me for this, you've barely studied how to stitch wounds, much less big ones like this!" Henry said softly. "May I attend to Elanor? She needs help, you know that." Anna looked away, but nodded as she did so. "Yes. I'm sorry," she said, almost… ashamed? Like Henry was practically her dad, even.

Elanor cleared her throat faintly, a little embarrassed at having caused such a fuss, but knowing she couldn't really help it. After all, it wasn't her fault she had been– no, wait, it was her fault. Sort of. It was mostly Claudius's fault though. Prick. She was glad he was dead, though she still mourned Laertes. He hadn't needed to die.

"Ah, yes. Well, Elanor? Do I have your consent, then? To operate, I mean." he said, looking her dead in the eyes. "I won't do anything without your permission, not even put you under."