Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Yeah, that sounds more like it. Good thing you got out'a there quick," he replied. "Cruel of them anyway."

"Hey, the immigration committee is far less gracious. You get a couple pamphlets, a couple weeks rent-free and a pack of free meal coupons, but other than that you're on your own. A friend of mine walked me through his immigration experience - real welcoming, I tell ya."

He felt her eyes on him and simply smirked her way. "Don't worry, Doc is pretty good with wounds AND he outfits fake limbs. We're nearly there..."

A bead of sweat rolled down the back of Rex's head and he laughed dryly. "Eh-heh, yeah I forget that a lot of words won't make much sense to you unless I explain 'em. I'll try to be better about that."

He looked around and motioned to a particular building across an intersection.

"There! Doc Magi's place."

To be honest, the building probably didn't instill much confidence in the doctor. It was quite the sight. It was an old brick building, graffiti canvasing its surface. Some windows were blacked out, others were aglow with neon signs and still others were bricked over completely. Out front, next to the double-door entrance, was the lone lit window; it was a large storefront window, devoid of text and glass well-polished. The window was floor level but hung out a bit into the sidewalk. Just inside of the window was an old barber's chair with straps on the arms, and behind that was a red velvet curtain concealing the rest of the building's guts. It was disconcerting on purpose and used almost daily, but that detail was one Rex wasn't about to share with Zevi.

"Okay, before we go in know that I'm payin' for everything. Also know that the doc DOES know what he's doin', even if he seems a bit...off," Rex growled lightly to her as he knocked on the door. "Just be polite with him and you should do okay."

Rex was about to laugh until she slumped against him entirely. Oh boy. Before he could do anything about it, the two of them were falling.

"Ahhhh, s**t!!" he gasped, protecting her with his own bulk as they fell.

He held Zevi close and clapped his hand against her cheek, but she wasn't waking. This made him pale a bit - she was really cold, and getting colder. "Doc! DOC MAGNUM! Get out here now, you crazy sonofabitch!" he roared at the building.

He continued to holler, and eventually the oak doors swung wide. A tall, slender partially masked troll appeared in the shadows of the building, all but his mouth covered. His fangs were bared wide in a grin at first, but then he saw the girl. Almost unheard, Doc Magi swept down the steps and picked her up delicately.

"...this is bad. What did you do this to her for?" he asked in his usual whisper.

Rex snarled, twisting himself into a sitting position. Rex sighed, his ears turning downward just slightly in sadness. "Doc. Just do what you do and save her. Please."

Magi said nothing, whisking Zevi away into the building. Only visible once Magi left, a young troll remained in his place. The albino cub watched Rex with uncaring red eyes. She pushed her white hair away from her face and gave him a customary smirk.

"You need work, don't you Rexxard?" the child asked. "Looks like another self-inflicted injury."

Rex bared his teeth at the kid. "Lira, don't you give me that bullshit. Just help me up!"

=

Twenty minutes later, both Rex and Zevi were in an operating suite. They were positioned side by side on separate gurneys. Rex was being worked on by Lira while Magi tended to Zevi. Normally Rex would hoot and holler while his leg was removed and tampered with, but his concern took precedence. His eyes didn't leave Magi or Zevi - he wanted to make sure Magi did his absolute best work, of course.

Once Zevi's vitals were stable, he took a deep breath and sighed it out. What a day.

Rex panicked, of course - he began yelling her name, telling her to calm down. Without warning, Magi's hand met Rex's face. The sharp slap shut Rex up briefly, as intended. When he recovered from his shock, Rex glowered at Magi.

"The ******** was that for, Magnum? Do it again!" he hissed.

Magi didn't even acknowledge Rex, instead keeping his grey eyes on Zevi.

"Forgive the mouthpiece, dear. If he's not yelling he's not happy. Remember, you were dying from bloodloss. You're stable for now - unless you break that needle off in your arm," he said, offering a blue hand for her to take. "Shall we take a closer look at that arm of yours, then?"

Rex and Lira simply watched, one far less patiently than the other.

Rex heaved a sigh of relief as she cooled off. He'd woken up that way before - it had resulted in emergency surgery for Magnum, performed by a then six-year-old Lira. "That..that's okay, Zevi. We've seen worse."

"Quite." Magi's eyes slid over to Rex with a warning glint, then grew warmer as he turned his gaze back to Zevi. "Glad to see some color back in your cheeks, m'dear. Now we can do something about that arm." Always a one track mind, Magi.

Rex shrugged a bit at her question. "It's hurting, if that's any sign. At least, at the place where flesh meets metal." He looked to Lira. "How bad is it, sweetheart?"

Lira was working at some connections in the upper thigh. She was poking around inside with a tool of some sort. "We need to replace it again, I think. At least the top section. What did you do to it this time?"

Rex laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "I, uh, I fell."

Lira glowered a bit at the leg and tweaked something irritably, causing Rex to hiss in pain. "'Fell'?"

"Tssss...yep. Fell." Another tweak and blood rushed to Rex's face.

"Fell how?"

"Gyah-ah-ah! Easy!"

Lira's tool was stilled, but her eyes remained on the inner workings of the leg. "Rexxard Gene Lencione. Answer me."

Like magic, the blood left Rex's face. "B-buh...I fell..." he coughed, then mumbled, "...from a third story window."

An instantaneous, jerked tweak followed his admission of guilt. Rex's roar could be heard four blocks in every direction.

Restraining a desire to grab Lira and give her a noogie, Rex kept his eyes averted and instead focused on Zevi.

"I don't think all the charms in the world could change my luck. Mostly because I cause 70% of my own problems. I'm here so often because I refuse to stay out of trouble," he mumbled, picking at his nails as he waited on Lira to finish with his leg. He was feeling some movement coming back to it finally. "But the offer is more than appreciated."

Magi moved around Zevi, checking machines and humming a bit to himself. He looked at her, then her arm, then back to her. "I suppose the first question I need to ask you is this: do you intend to grow the limb back magically, or are you looking for a more...cosmetic replacement?" He motioned to Rex's leg. "Not all limbs are weaponized. There are some that have feeling, some that have special abilities, some the change shape, some with their own artificial life...."

"Well, I-"

"He does illegal and immoral things to pay his bills," Lira interrupted. "Don't let him fool you. He's a crook."

Rex bristled a bit. "Hey hey hey! I don't steal from the needy or hurt the innocent. Sure, my line of work might not be the most legit, but-"

"But you still promised me you would stop arms dealing," Lira interrupted again as she closed up his leg, finished tweaking. "Enough excuses, Rexxard."

Rex glowered but said nothing, averting his gaze after only a moment.

"I'll be back - I need to go in the back to get a new thigh piece," the young girl stated, moving away and going behind a curtain.

Magi stared after Lira briefly, a shadow of concern on his lips. This was over as quickly as it began though, as he zeroed in on Zevi's arm. "Ah, now that that's ended, let me see here. Mechanical bits are always popular in city life. You can use them for a myriad of things, make a statement, procure unique work and so on. I recommend it."

Rex nodded at Zevi slightly, smiling halfheartedly. It was a tender subject but it wasn't her fault that it was. Lira had always hated what Rex did. When he came crawling up the stairs of Doc's place six years ago, Lira and Magi had fixed him up. After he was well enough to walk, Lira had made him promise to drop the mob. He'd lied to her and she resented it even now. Rex looked away from Zevi, lost in memories.

Magi grinned ear to ear and winked at Zevi. He motioned to the chair behind the curtain that they'd seen upon approaching Doc's shop.

"Well, there are two ways to go about payment but since Rex is paying for your treatment, you needn't worry about the alternative's particulars." He pulled out a selection of arm styles from a box under a table and began showing them to Zevi. "Simply pick your favorites and I can tell you which does what."