Bluebell had duties in med school: Study hard, memorize the name of each muscle, respect the cadavers, study hard, get addicted to caffeine, learn the -ectomies and the -otomies, study, study, study.

Bluebell had duties during his residency: Listen to the chief resident, remain calm even when your patient is inconsolable; for the first time, truly understand vulnerability. Help people. Be kind, be kind even when you think some of the staff want to eat you alive, be kind even when the exhaustion has sunk deep into your bones and no amount of coffee with shitty sugar packets can exorcize it.

Bluebell’s duties with Quill were to pick up the pieces.

The sound of glass shattering alerted him- someone had broken in through the back door. He concealed himself in the stairwell, keeping the shotgun close. His finger ready to curl around the trigger. He didn’t need to see the intruder to know that he was armed as well.

Footsteps grew louder as the intruder moved down the hall. Bluebell knew he couldn’t just wait for him to round the corner.

“Are you with Connell?” He stepped out, gun pointed at a man with a snow leopard aspect. When he saw the man’s pistol he was glad he hadn’t tried a surprise attack.

The man didn’t say anything. Bluebell hoped he didn’t notice how his hand trembled around the shotgun’s fore-end. Julia had run to the garage, Cat was upstairs, and he didn’t know where Phoebe was hiding. Kirk had probably taken off down the road. It was just the two of them and a stalemate.

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3.19.23
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Sorry for the late update! Kata's host, Neocities, was down last night and then I was out hiking today. Wish I could have updated earlier, but I had a great time out!
Important announcement that Katabasis will NOT be updating next week. I'll be out of town. See you on... oh... April 1st!