((collab b/t me and ya boy Eggy B))<br/><br/>Herb picking had gone well, and the rest of the previous night was spent mostly organizing things around Stefan’s office. The interior of the Stalker base was quite a bit more lively in the daytime, and the arrival of a large group of strangers would certainly be a reason for Stefan to prepare some extra supplies. There was a standard checkup that he tended to do for newcomers, locating mutations and pinpointing exactly what it was they did, in order to help create an effective treatment for them. If a new face wasn’t mutated at all, then it saved him work. At the moment, he was out of the office, still in his own quarters of the barracks area.<br/><br/>Sasha, given free reign over the room, was doing as she often did when her owner wasn’t around. Plodding along near the ceiling on a path of shelves, keeping a watchful eye and acting as a faithful, if somewhat ineffective guardian. At the very least, she could pounce on any strangers who wandered in to greet them. The rat curled up in the corner of the room’s uppermost portion, her red eyes poking out from an otherwise completely white curl of fuzz.<br/><br/>Mikhail lightly turned the door handle to Stefan’s office. He didn’t mean to be intruding; if it had been locked, Mikhail would have just waited. Considering he lacked a normal circadian rhythm, he was up, and ready to do work. He eased the door open, taking hold of the frame firmly as he stepped through the threshold. They had gotten quite a lot done the night before, but some things were not as organized as they could have been. The guilt of destroying the medical supplies a day ago still stirred within him, so without much delay, he got started.<br/><br/>It was a simple sorting job, he supposed. One of which Mikhail could do well, in fact. He felt around for what he was looking for—an unsorted herb from last night, or something similar to that, felt it around in his hands, and placed it into its corresponding spot.<br/><br/>Sasha took notice of the entrance immediately. She’d met Mikhail the day before, so she had some familiarity with him, and abstained from leaping onto his face from above. Instead, she uncurled and waddled along to a line of strategically angled shelves, climbing down onto the surface of one of the desks that lined the workstation area of the office. She wasn’t very quiet about it either, thumping with each impact of her bulky body onto each lower surface. An exercise wheel had been on Stefan’s to-find list, but unfortunately, everything that was found was far too small.<br/><br/>When she was level with Mikhail’s sorting, she finished her approach and stood up on her hind legs, nose twitching intensely as she sniffed at him. She didn’t make any vocalizations, but her sniffing was just loud enough to pick up by ear now that she was closer.<br/><br/>Mikhail stopped his sorting when he heard the giant rat banging around on the shelves above. His eyebrows furrowed, and without much thought, he asked to the air, “Stefan?” Albeit, it came out a lot more quietly than he intended to, most likely a force of habit from spending so much time in the wilderness. Stealth was imperative out there, after all.<br/><br/>He stood stock-still as he received no reply, and as the thumping got closer. His hand idly drifted to the shelf he had been placing things in, wondering if there was anything sharp in there he could use for self-defense. Unfortunately, all he could feel was the crunch of dried herbs. The only thing that kept him from bolting was the fact that he knew he was in the base, and therefore, he figured for the most part he would be “safe”.<br/><br/>When the sniffling occurred, Mikhail suddenly realized who it was. “Ahh, Sasha!” he said with a breathy and relieved laugh. He sort of felt out to her to give her a pat, though he wasn’t exactly sure where she was in relation to him. “You gave me a good scare there.”<br/><br/>At first, Sasha was a good half a foot off of Mikhail’s aim, but she scooted herself over to meet his hand when it took more than a second to actually get to her. She enjoyed the pats, remaining still and content until the door opened again. At that point, she moved her head up, resting her chin on Mikhail’s hand to see who else was coming in.<br/><br/>Stefan entered, his longcoat looped over a forearm. While he still had his hat and mask on, they stuck out a bit without the rest of the billowing leather outfit. “Good morning. Mikhail, Sasha.” He hung the coat up on a rack built into the wall next to the door, rolling his shoulders with a grunt. “Any patients in today?” He asked, not really expecting to have to do vigorous work early on. He had no idea what was happening outside yet, either.<br/><br/>Mikhail gave Sasha a satisfying scratch behind the ear once he felt her soft fur under his palm. He enjoyed her much more than her smaller brethren that frequented the Underbelly. When her head left his hand, he looked towards the door, more out of a force of habit than anything else. He felt much better with Sasha at his side.<br/><br/>“Ah, good morning, Stefan,” Mikhail said, signifying a greeting with a small dip of his head. He closed the drawer that he had been storing things in and turned himself towards the doctor. “Um, no. No patients. I wasn’t aware that you served patients in here. What would I have done if someone came in here, bleeding from a head wound?” he asked jokingly. He did have a science background, but was no surgeon. In addition, he was sure he wouldn’t exactly be deft with his hands when it came to stitches.<br/><br/>“Oh, you know. Disinfecting, stitching. Euthanasia if they’re too far gone.” Stefan was only mostly joking with that last bit. “But I don’t treat them in here, oh no. Sasha’s a good pet, but she’s hardly sanitary. And there’s not nearly enough room for a surgical table, or anything of that sort. Those are in the next couple rooms over.” He walked over to the table, giving Sasha a few pets of his own, before he removed his hat and placed it on her head. It was quite oversized, but she stood up and straightened it out a little, so that it hung over her shoulders.<br/><br/>“If all goes well, we’ll be seeing a group that was out on a job come back in today. If anyone is hurt, I’ll need some help. There were quite a few men sent out there.” Stefan hoped that they had all come back. The loss of an ally was always hard on the base’s morale, especially ones that were well-liked. “And we’ll need to check out anything they might have brought back. You never know when a piece of loot might be giving off radiation.”