There's a small faery bobbing in the air in front of the door to Dr. Gardinier's office. He's not visible to most people - though some very young children stare, and some gifted adults pretend they don't see. His ginger hair is definitely on the shaggy side, and unkempt. His eyes are half-closed and have dark hollows underneath, making him look exhausted.
His wings are actually dirty, which never happens. The rest of him may have been rolled in mud, but he'd never let his wings get the least speck of dirt on them if he could help it. His clothes, however, are scruffy as usual.

Wick's been gone, but he couldn't stay away. Being shipped to another continent couldn't keep him away, though he wished it would. His unfortunate bond with his human had been like a constant ache that he couldn't ignore, and had drawn him back. Now he's almost there, and the pain is dissipating,... he could go straight back to Dave, but instead, he's come to say hello to Alan.
...
What? He's allowed to come visit his friend if he wants to.

Alan is doing paperwork. He loves paperwork. Paperwork is one of his favorite things ever to do. He lives to do paperwork. He adores it, it's the reason he comes to work in the morning, and the reason he stays late at night...

Actually, the only bit of that that is true is that he's doing it. And occasionally, he does stay late to finish up a particularly tangled bit of it.

However, he despises it. He can hardly wait until he has a secretary to do it for him, except that probably won't ever happen, unless he goes off into independent practice, which he won't do.

Anyway.

He's finishing up paperwork, and longing for distraction.

Alan is going to be getting that distraction.

Knock, knock.

"H'lo? You in there?" Wick's voice carries amazingly well, for such a little guy.

"Come in."

Alan puts paperwork aside with a broad smile.

Yay, Wick! He likes Wick, although the little guy is a bit odd and a bit annoying, occasionally.

Not that annoying, though. Anyway, he's not paperwork.

If Wick were paperwork, he would be the kind that is written in invisible ink and has a tendency to be misplaced even if you know you left it right here on this desk.
Anyway.

Wick slips inside, hovering just this side of the door, and gives a small wave, smiling drowsily.
"Hi. How're ya doing?"

"Oh, I've been all right..." Pause.

Alan looks him over and frowns.

"Goodness, what happened to you?"

"Hmmm,... a lot of things," Wick shrugs, giving a half-smirk. "Been on a... a trip of sorts. I just stopped by to say hi before I go, uh, home."

He flutters over to Alan's desk, and ambles slowly across it once he lands, looking down at the papers beneath his feet. "Whatcha doing?"

Alan makes a face. "Working. I hate this part; I'd much rather be talking to the children and making them better."

Not always through use of medicines, either...

"I'd also much rather talk to you than do this. Who knows?" He grins. "Maybe if I pretend it's not there long enough, it will go away."

Wick grins back - and suddenly the desk is bare and there isn't a paper in sight. The key words there being 'in sight'. They've disappeared, but only for the duration of Wick's visit. He won't be staying long. He's not exactly looking forward to returning to Dave - he's quite certain the human won't be pleased to have him back, but that can't be helped.

"Sometimes that can happen," he says, shrugging a shoulder. "You know. If you ignore things long enough. So,... 're there any nice kids around here, or are they all brats like me?"

Alan laughs as the papers disappear off his desk, though he asks a tinge worriedly, "That's not permanent, is it?"

But then he shrugs and dismisses it as Wick asks about the children. That makes him smile.

"Oh, some brats, I guess, but mostly they're good kids." And off he goes, describing some of the kids that have been most interesting.

Wick nods, listening patiently while Alan talks. It's difficult to tell whether he's actualy listening, or just so tired that he appears attentive and cant muster the energy to interrupt.

"Mm,... maybe I'll go see some of 'em sometime," he smirks, "The littler ones. No offense or anything, but I bet it sucks to be stuck here all th' time."

Alan smiles.

"I think they would love that. There aren't enough people who care enough to visit these children."

Their families still have to live, you know, and when a condition isn't immediately perilous, people tend to let people stay in the hospital alone. Hospitals aren't pleasant places, really, no matter how much people try to pretend otherwise.

"Eh heh. Well, I might drop by. If I remember."
He gives a small shrug (what could anything he does be but small?).

"I will try to remember. Can't promise anything. But it might be fun..."

Alan grins.

"I'm sure it would be. The children would love you, I think."

He's so much like one of them, after all.

Wick snickers, but not in the way that means he's about to do/has just done somethng bad.

"That'd be a first," he says, and rolls his eyes. His wings flicker along as if they've a mind of their own, and he glances over his shoulder to eye them. "Well,... I just meant to stop in for a minute or so,... I ought to be going, I've been away more'n long enough."

"Oh..." Funny, Alan sounds a bit disappointed. "Well, all right. Don't disappear for so long, eh? I worried."

Yes, he really did.

Considering that last time he saw Wick, the little guy was in really bad shape, it's not all that surprising.

"I won't. If I can help it," he smirks. He gives a small wave, and then he's gone.
Oh, and Alan's papers are back where they're supposed to be.