She looked up at Benjamin as he closed out of the web pages she’d opened, and then glanced down at the papers that lay disheveled in front of her. It was a solid minute before Benjamin had noticed the quiet scribbling of the pen in her hand, on the sheet of paper which contained the details for the project that he was working on. In a blank portion of the page, she had drawn a rudimentary floor plan of what looked to be some sort of stone house or castle. Thick, shaded-in walls formed the outer-perimeter, with a thick, black column – likely a fireplace – in the center of…

The caffeine helped Ben focus, and the warm drink helped him to relax. Mara, who now sat sulking atop a filing cabinet next to the window, stared down at Ben with wide, motionless eyes. She was angry, though had clearly abdicated. And Benjamin, content, took pleasure in this moment of tranquility, as he continued about his work. Again, he noted that Mara, while still certainly being her usual self, was much more well behaved than she often was. He made particular effort to avoid looking in her direction, or to give her occasional growls and hisses any attention. At one point, he could sense her becoming agitated again, and anticipated…

“The reason that I ask, Benjamin, is Because it is very rare for a new medication to begin showing signs of success so quickly. Usually – and you’ve been through this before,” he paused to make eye contact with Ben, who quickly shot his own gaze back to the doctor’s face, giving an awkward smile and a singular head nod. The warrior, who now stood in front of the door, again hissed as it lowered itself into a crouched position. Benjamin could see the glint of it’s eye through one of the holes in the enormous, fiercesome mask, which now motionlessly studied him. “–usually there’s a bit more of a…

When the doctor stood and walked to the door, opening it for Benjamin to leave, it became apparent to Ben that the warrior had dissipated. The doctor then walked back over to the computer cart, in the opposite corner of the room. “Yeah, Tuesday should be fine.” The doctor leaned over the desk, scribbling with his pen, “Ok, here is…another…month-long script. By my calculation, you should be down to your last dose by…oh, today actually.” He tore the piece of paper from his notepad and turned to hand it to Benjamin, with a knowing, cheeky grin. Ben reached for the paper. From somewhere behind him, he could hear a faint…

The pharmacist assistant was frustratedly rifling through the bags on the shelves. From somewhere else in the store, Benjamin could hear another sound. “Argh!–THUMP–AGH!–THUMP–THUMP–THUMP.” The clumper was clearly storming its way, with long, heavy strides, towards the part of the store in which the burly fists were currently clamouring. Though Benjamin wasn’t standing right there to witness it, he could envision the altercation perfectly. “New towels, you need to buy!” taunted one of the fists, while the other let out a hearty eastern-European laugh. Ben heard a loud slap – the two comrades had just high-fived. The clumper had stopped screaming momentarily, though it was clear from the weight of…