Carry your tombstone like a backpack

Ekaterina Dmitrievna Kalinina

She took one glance at the man before shaking her head. "You look like you've got more than a handful yourself. Here, it's this way."

The part of the hospital that Ekaterina lead them through was emptier than most, a result of many people having left the island for summer. It filled up more during the fall and spring, she had heard. Fall for being the time of year when the most new students with untrained powers arrived and spring for being the time of year when bored students decided to either cut loose or pull off dangerous stunts. Both. Something like that. The office that she was looking for in particular was a smaller sized one in a quiet corner. Basically the equivalent of having a closet, if said closet was also big enough to accommodate four to five people plus equipment.

Ekaterina Dmitrievna Kalinina

It happened so fast, she hadn't even the time to react. Ekaterina blinked as one of the kittens faced her and in the next moment, the bucket was slipping from her fingers in surprise as it actually leaped at her. Her mind came just a moment too late, following after it with the thought, So this is what a disaster looks like as it unfolds.

The kittens scattered, leaving the one that she had been carrying behind. That was almost a relief, that it hadn't run off to spread its illness elsewhere. And then Aiden was bending down to pick it up as her voice came out, late again with the rest of her reactions, "Wait, not that one!"

Ekaterina Dmitrievna Kalinina

Her eyes followed the cat immediately, even as she belatedly took in the fact that the other doctor had actually made skin contact with it. Ekaterina processed the information and then stuck it into the back of her mind. When it came down to it, she really disliked thinking so but it all came down to numbers and basic logic. Aiden was most likely knowledgeable enough to stay put and not spread something accidentally. That kitten just had no restraints at all. It was an animal. That would have been awkward if it did.

"Only one that I know of," she said, staring at the place where the kitten had disappeared to. "You touched it, right? How do you feel?"

Specifically because she was a disease carrier, Ekaterina was not thinking about the fact that she could actually be in danger.

Ekaterina Dmitrievna Kalinina

"That would be a full hundred percent," Ekaterina informed him, cautiously picking her way to where the kitten had gone to. "I've never had an instance where that has failed. Unfortunately."

With the bucket in hand, she crouched down to eye level with the animal. But the space was too small so she was forced to put the bucket away and make a grab for it instead. Despite being a doctor, however, Ekaterina was rather clumsy with her hands when it came to squirming, sentient beings and ended up yanking on its tail, causing it to yowl furiously.

She cursed, let go, and tried again.

Ekaterina Dmitrievna Kalinina

This was why she didn't like animals. It was already hard enough to deal with people who could understand her. "Statistically speaking? Probably the common cold. I pick up two or three different strains each year. Considering what happened last summer, though, I'm not entirely sure what you might have gotten."

Being a little more than distracted at the moment, Ekaterina's thoughts weren't too focused on the implications of what she was saying. It wasn't like she knew what Aiden's powers were anyways. Since he was a doctor, though, the automatic assumption was that it was something remotely related to medical. Maybe it was a stereotype but it wasn't like she saw many elementalists or other sorts of mages in this profession. There was usually some correlation between powers and fields of study. Usually. Not always.

"Still feeling okay?"