[x] Help her out
"A truly dependable fellow, aren't you?" Eirin remarks when you tell her that you'll help out. "Come now, we shouldn't waste time standing around." She leads you back to where Reisen is, and taps her on the shoulder. "We're fortunate enough to have some extra manpower today. I'll take care of this. You do your usual work, teaching our eager volunteer here as you go along. Hopefully this will make things go faster." Reisen nods, stops working and goes off to another part of the room. You follow while Eirin smiles and waves, looking pleased with everything.
"Well, I don't think you should do anything too complicated to begin with." Reisen instructs you by a lab bench full of components. She's focused on working as well as she can, but still takes the time to instruct you about the basics. You try to afford her your full and undivided attention. It's the least you can do. "...so try that for a while, I'll be right here if you need any help."
You find yourself grinding things down with a mortar and pestle. It should have been obvious, but before now it hadn't dawned upon you that Eirin had to get her chemicals from somewhere. And apparently they're mostly from pulverized plant and animal extracts. You mash seeds and other things into a fine powder, being careful to grind things up evenly. It's not very hard to do this, but the sheer volume that's expected of you is daunting. As is keeping track of what component goes with what else. Reisen takes care of the already mashed ingredients, mixing the different powders into different jars and labeling them as appropriate. Since you're slow, she also uses a mortar and pestle to make the work faster. You try to emulate her style to improve your own procedure - with limited success. Hers is the technique of someone who has done this countless times.
You feel a bit useless as you move on from this to other tasks. Oh sure, you can prepare base solutions, add the right amount of chemicals, or do any of these simple tasks. A trained monkey probably could. "Wait about five seconds before corking them. You should see it fizzle a bit." A kind and instructive tip by the hardworking Reisen. You're grateful for her patience, but wonder if you're not cramping her style. Watching her work is like watching an Olympic skater glide effortless on the ice. And you're the eyesore of a first-timer stumbling all over the rink and ruining the performance. "You're holding it wrong. Here, let me show you how." She stands behind you, grabbing your hands and positioning them into the most efficient position. You can only barely mumble a 'thanks' and try to keep yourself focused on your work.
Eirin, strangely enough, doesn't pay you any attention. She's wrapped up in her own world, tending to the most delicate steps in this process. From the hurried glances that you manage to steal, you see her halfway across the room, dealing with precision instruments with a combination of confidence and amusement showing on her face. There's no doubt that she enjoys doing this on some level. Hell, you think that even Reisen does. Her conviction seeps into a kind of workman's pride, and she looks upon her work with satisfaction. The sentiment is infectious. The little that you've done is also a source of pride for you. It's silly, but just being able to more or less keep up with what was expected of you is enough to make you feel glad.
So it continues for most of the afternoon. 'Shirou the apprentice' fulfills his duties as best he can. You follow Reisen's lead in everything, entrusting yourself to her. She's a nice tutor, using positive reinforcement to get you through. You wouldn't mind becoming a real apprentice if she was the master. As icing on the cake, she is literally a pleasure to be around while working. She tends to hum while doing her job - agreeable and pleasant melodies. All of this makes the time fly by, and when Eirin indicates that you've done enough, it's a total surprise. The blood-red afternoon light tinges the equipment in odd tones of color. Most of the transparent tubes refract the light as well. As you help clean up, you find the red all around you a bit unsettling. Something about would-be medical equipment colored red that puts you off.
"Well then, we're done quite a bit before I though we'd be finished. Undoubtedly it was due to the good work on your part." She smiles at Reisen. "I hope that your assistant for today didn't give you too much trouble. I know how hectic your job can be Undonge, and having a newcomer can disrupt trained routines."
"We got by just fine. He took things seriously and worked hard. I couldn't have asked for more."
"Isn't that a happy occurrence?" Eirin claps her hands. "Maybe I should recruit you," She looks at you, grinning, "if you've got Undonge's approval, then that means that you're worth keeping. At the very least I'll keep you in mind next time I need an assistant for this sort of work. Thinking about it, you also performed satisfactorily the other day. Maybe I really ought to get you trained as soon as possible." You note that Reisen of all people seems to be nodding in agreement. Is it because you'd make her workload lessen?
"I'll keep it in mind as a career choice." You reply diplomatically. "I was glad to help out, even though I felt I wasn't that much of a help."
"Mm, keep it in mind eh?" Eirin muses. "Well, you do that and we'll see." She turns again to Reisen, looking at her with a pleasant expression. "You've done enough for today. You can have the rest of the day off." Reisen thanks her and begins to walk off. "Do lock the door behind you." Reisen stops at the door, as if pondering Eirin's directive. "Shirou and I will be tending to some delicate affairs on our own here and shouldn't be disturbed. Hang the 'closed' sign and lock the door please." She gives Reisen a subtle look that transmits a 'is that clear?'. And after another moment of strange hesitation Reisen does as she's told. She says goodbye to you both and closes the door behind her, locking it as she goes.
You're left alone with Eirin in the clinic. The afternoon light makes her look strange, her white robe looking as if stained with red. She smiles, speaking in a throaty voice. "Well then, I'm done and we're finally alone. I think it's time to give you your reward now. You've done well to be patient. I'll make sure it's worth it for you." She strides over to you, her steps slow and deliberate. "I think that we should head deeper inside of the clinic for this. It's too uncomfortable to do this here." She grabs your hand with a grin. "Come now, let's get going. I hope you don't have anything planned for later, as this will take a while. I don't think you'll want to stop once we get started."
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Partial update. Just to show that I'm alive. Depending on how long my nap is the next part will come sooner or later.
>>14902 Hey, it works for Komugi and she's a nurse. Well she's as much of a 'nurse' as Eirin is a 'doctor' anyways.
