Tristan was expecting Pierre to reject at least the anaesthetic at this point, if not the surgery altogether. The kid seemed so eager to oppose, and so mistrusting. And so he was all the more relieved when the approval came. He returned the smile, his own not as guarded. "Good."

He took some disinfectant, put some on a cloth, and took the syringe. Then he approached his patient again and knelt down. He quickly wiped the area where he intended to put the needle, put the cloth away, and looked up at Pierre's face. "Might hurt just a little," he warned. Then he looked down. He tried to grab a bit of flesh between his fingers but failed to get a good grip. And so he carefully put the needle in the thigh as it was, taking care not to go too deep.

"There we go," he said when he had injected the substance and pulled back the needle. He rose. "I hope that wasn't too bad? It will take a few minutes before the area goes numb."