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[but_civilization]

[Here is a very squinty look as Combeferre looks out, er... tries to look out at the network, anyway.]


It having been a long several weeks, this may not be the best of times to ask some medically related questions, but I have been getting my headaches...migraines, you call them, in the future, with more frequency since my spectacles were, ah, destroyed in the corridors a while ago by what I think was meant to be a ghost of my...

[What exactly IS Marius to him, right now? Combeferre had never liked the man so much as he had been completely baffled by him, a bafflement that had lead to his giving Marius a cooler reception than he probably deserved, and he had wanted to like the man for a while, even here. That was, up until Eponine, and, while he will not say that Marius should have returned Eponine's love (particularly as that would leave him minus a girlfriend), he does believe that the younger man still ought to be worked harder to be kind to her, and he certainly was annoyed enough with ghost Marius to attack him, anyway. And then, he'd been just plain angry, and, well, it is a complicated situation, he supposes.]

Well, a ghost from my past, I think it suffices to say, and that has really nothing to do with my question. I've been having problems without my spectacles of any rate, and I have been wondering about...is there some way to create a new pair here, or to do the laser procedure I've found mentioned in some of the medical books I have been looking over, lately?

There IS still the method of waiting and seeing if a jump is kind to me, but if it cannot happen, I would be curious if there is anything else that might help me as well.

Comments

action, because girlfrand

[jondrette]

[Once the link is closed, Eponine moseys over to Combeferre and promptly takes a seat in his lap. Running her fingers through his blonde hair, she blinks up at him, and could almost look innocent if it weren't for the fact that, well, she was far from it.]

I like you without your spectacles.

Always action for you!

[but_civilization]

Do you?

[Combeferre is grinning, then tugging her a little closer for a leisurely sort of kiss.]

Then I should certainly take that into consideration.

[jondrette]

[She giggles, putting an arm around his shoulders as she kisses him back.]

But if you cannot see, then I suppose we shall have to accept it.

What is a laser?

[but_civilization]

[Combeferre IS doing rather a lot of squinting at her, after, looking sort of like he's walked into the dark and then lit up a lantern. And if he's making sure he's kissing Eponine and not the air around her, well, that's kind of all right, isn't it? Or, perhaps not.]

They are a sort of very powerful beam of light. They might do things like act as weapons, but smaller have been used in medicine. To avoid using a scalpel or a knife, which may be a bit more dangerous to a patient. It can be done rather safely, so I've read.

[jondrette]

[he's silly. A complete dork, just the way, apparently, she likes them. She places her lips on his eyelids, kissing him there as if that would heal his eyesight.]

How terrible! A light or a knife! Anywhere near such beautiful eyes as yours! It would be a shame if something went awry.

[but_civilization]

[Oh, if that would, he would quite happily take that sort of a treatment over anything else. As it is, he's sighing quite contentedly as he tugs Eponine closer.]

I WOULD, of course, need to be sure that it is safe, and that someone I trusted was doing such a thing. Anything else would seem quite...well, I should never be able to simply do it without careful consideration.

[jondrette]

[Her kisses, unfortunately, were not magic.]

To think that a light could fix eyes! [Her arms are solidly around his neck now and she moves just slightly, so she's less sitting on his lap so much as straddling him, her skirts up around her ankles and knees. Scandalous, right?]

I shall hold your hand as it is done.

[but_civilization]

[That was rather a pity, actually. Magic kisses seem like such a good idea, after all.]

And more than simply eyes, at that. They can cut through a great deal many things. If it can happen here, I would very much like that, yes.

[Video]

[vivelavenir]

You are still very seriously considering the laser method?

Re: [Video]

[but_civilization]

Enough to learn whether it is a possibility, at least. In terms of it's actually happening...

Well, I cannot be certain until I know for certain the level of precision needed, among other things.

[Video]

[vivelavenir]

You worry me.

Considerably and Often.

[Which is rich, coming from him, he's aware. That may just be the point.]

[Video] (The eyebrow is coming out!)

[but_civilization]

Do I indeed?

[There is a look of mock askance there, and Combeferre is raising his, now grown back to full prominence since he decided engineering was not the place for him to create accidental explosions in after all, eyebrow.]

And what of the times when you have worried me, hmm?

(Don't make him have to use the stare!)

[vivelavenir]

And what time are those, might I ask?

[And before he can answer, moving right along at a clip-]

That is to say, you cause a dreadful lot of fretting, what with your vendetta against microwaves and your hiding in bushes and your affinity for having your eyes gouged.

(Not that!)

[but_civilization]

There are plenty of those, of course, unless you do not remember those times when you yourself were missing in the bowels of this very ship, or trapped with Courfeyrac in another, delightful as the gown that you procured on that occasion was.

[He's pausing now, to look a little smug about the entire thing.]

I do not call it an affinity just yet, you know. I cannot tell yet if I enjoy it.

[So there. And it's very hard not to stick his tongue out, for the record.]

(Don't tempt him!)

[vivelavenir]

[Turning a shade, as is still his habit. But, being very comfortable with Combeferre as he now was, he did in a rare moment keep his chin tilted up and eyes trained on the other man.]

And yet I might argue that I had not known of peril in these instances, as you- for I did not go out of my way to dabble in explosives, lasers, or protective stalking, hm? Merely, I got a bit lost...

[Squinting a little, and maybe giving a huff of air through his nose at that tone.]

You are already enjoying it. You've something of science's mad mark upon you.

(He COULD just pull out a second eyebrow if you do it)

[but_civilization]

I did not go out of my WAY for the explosions, I will have you know. They simply happened around me.

[The sad thing is how literal that statement is. It's as though equipment simply decides to go haywire around Combeferre. ]

If you will cast blame within the realm of science on me, do cast it from a different perspective, one which I must be forced to admit to.

And where DOES "a bit" apply on the lost scale, hmm?

[There is a smile playing at Combeferre's lips, though he's biting them to keep from showing it.]

Might there be some progression of such things? Shall we create some sort of a scale, do you suppose? It may actually be useful if we were to rate these things, hmm?

Science's mad mark? [There is a sniff at the words.] Who is to say that it is so mad as that, and not, instead, perfectly wonderful? Perhaps it is the mark of poetry's fancy that has taken you instead,and showed you things you cannot understand, hmm?

[video]

[daringwaistcoats]

Laser procedures?

[Bahorel might look a little more fascinated by that than he likely should be allowed to be.]

[video]

[but_civilization]

Ah,yes.

[Combeferre is taking Bahorel's expression as an invitation to discuss this at length. The look on his face is probably one that has encouraged others to back away in horror at other times.]

It really is quite remarkable. They use the laser, a very finely tuned one, as though it were a blade used in surgery. It can be so finely developed that it is much safer for the patient in a great deal many cases. It also means that there is nothing invasive performed because actual cuts, if any from a blade are needed, are naturally smaller.

Without perforating the surface, one can direct the laser to do its work instead. Neat, efficient, and perhaps worth attempting. It can do any number of amazing things, I've learned.

[video]

[daringwaistcoats]

[It was fascinating enough, at least at first, and the words would be out of his mouth before he has a moment to think upon it first, that an object set to motion has trouble stopping when it finds itself tipped toward a downward slope.]

Quite frankly, I don't see how taking a blade to the eye is in any way a good thing, no matter how small--

[... aaaand hoo boy, there would be the moment of recognition in Bahorel's eyes, even as he nearly cuts off the last word, but, alas, it's too late to turn back now. W E L P, Bahorel would buckle in, then, and try not to look too disturbed at the mental image.]

Re: [video]

[but_civilization]

[Ah yes, the torrent of science is flowing rather freely now, as Combeferre explains, or tries to explain, at least, the way the lasers function. There IS a moment where he finds himself very caught up in the explanation of their potential in battle, and how they can zero in on a target.

And that, then, is another sort of metaphor for the medical purposes involved in all of this. If one considers a disease, or weakness as an enemy, well..]

Yes, the idea of an actual knife is quite unpleasant. It has been DONE, though it is not the best of ways to approach things like that now. Although the cornea MUST actually be peeled back in the cases I have read. I am not certain exactly how that is managed, but it SEEMS as if it is fine after a few days, and drops to put in the eyes.

[That look of recognition is almost comical, really. Combeferre is prepared to use it for all that it is worth too. Sorry, Bahorel, but you are trapped in this.]

[video]

[daringwaistcoats]

[A relieved Bahorel would be quick to jump on that reprieve, then, that Combeferre might have found ways to prevent his interrupting, whether actively or inadvertently, and that his own rules of etiquette might have kept him silent to this point.]

You are an unlucky fellow, then, to have to contemplate such a solution! Though perhaps there is a simpler one -- in finding someone who might know how to make new spectacles?

[video]

[but_civilization]

I am not sure if I am so unlucky as that, you know. I can certainly think of another who would easily win at that particular contest.

[And there is a grin as Combeferre's thoughts turn to Bossuet for a moment.]

I do like your idea better, if it might be done. I do not wish to be blinded by some idiot after all. We are in a future where so many things are possible, and if nothing else, I'd rather like to learn the extent of such things. If they might make them here, I think it would suit well enough.

[video]

[daringwaistcoats]

[Oh, thank god. He'd managed to get Combeferre off that train of science babble, p h e w . And snorting a little at that.]

It is good that our eagle has such sharp eyes, then.

[A small hat-tip to his memory in that cheeky wink.]

Perhaps there is an eye-doctor to be found in Medbay?

[videoo]

[forpoland]

These lasers, you trust they would work?

[And not cause irreparable damage that is.]

Perhaps seeking a second pair of spectacles would not be amiss.

Re: [videoo]

[but_civilization]

Ah, that I do not trust, entirely.

[Combeferre can admit to that much anyway, though the process fascinates him rather a lot.]

Which IS why I would sooner learn about it than putting my trust in just anyone to wield a laser at my face. Still, it does have some possibilities for the success of medicine if it would work. So many other things have changed as well, and for the better.

Although, I do admit that if another pair came through for me at the jump, or might be made here, they would serve just as well.