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Post by Dr. Gene Menelaus on Jul 8, 2010 21:51:29 GMT -5
This was not a good idea. This was, in fact, a very bad idea.
Dr. Menelaus lost nearly all of his nerve at the sight of the basement doors. His knees turned to jelly. What must lie behind them? The 'teachers,' and 'staff,' here, either dead or alive. Perhaps the Shadow Man and other demonic creatures, or a portal to hell itself. He purposely hadn't wanted to know the details.
But now... as a doctor, his conscience was bothering him. If the former staff of the Orphanage really were alive beyond this entrance, he thought they should have some medical treatment. Their end would be awful, of course. He could do nothing about the...fate intended for them. But, just as he tended the worst of the student bullies, he wished to see to the wounds of the adults.
And he'd come down here to...to ask. Someone. Providing he could get the question out. Menelaus dug the handkerchief from his coat pocket with trembling fingers. He pressed it to his lips, fighting the bout of nausea that clenched at his throat and stomach. He couldn't possibly do this. Perhaps he would track down Lily, or Edward in a less dangerous location and put the question to them. At least then he need not worry about facing the creature beyond these doors.
He turned, with the precise intention of running away. As usual; he meant well, but his courage had failed him yet again.
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Post by YUKI MORII on Jul 10, 2010 11:16:43 GMT -5
Morii Yuki was seated on the edge of his bed, face in his hands. He rubbed over the skin of his cheeks, his jaw, his chin. Feeling for... something. Yuki dropped his hands as if he'd been burned, eyes snapping wide. Tentatively he reached up with a finger, leaving the other hand in his lap, and brushed over the little hairs that'd sprouted on his chin.
He released a yell of anguish, suddenly standing rather than sitting.
No no no no no...
Yuki couldn't grow, wouldn't grow. He would not become an adult, simply would not. Adults were monsters. Liars, self-centered, cruel. He crouched down by his bed and reached beneath the mattress. From there he pulled out a little shoe box, took off the lid and removed a silver blade. The boy then hurriedly rubbed soap over his chin, borough out a little cracked mirror and went to shaving off the small hairs.
Why wouldn't his body just stop? Become frozen in time? It wasn't fair. It really wasn't fair. Yuki's hand gave a slight tremble and the silver blade cut into his jaw.
Eyes went wide as he saw crimson blossom on his pale skin. Yuki dropped the blade and eagerly brushed his fingers over the blood, spreading over the skin. Had he gone mad? Had the years of abuse finally gotten to him? It was quite possible.
Bloody fingers rubbed over where the hair had previously been sticking out of his chin, and he smiled when he found the skin smooth, hairless. Yuki quickly put the contents back into the box and pushed it under his mattress, then made his way to the door.
In minutes he was hurrying down the stairs. He wished he could take them two at a time, but had heard too many stories of people breaking their necks, backs, or other important body parts. Bloody fingers gripped the railing tight, then let go as he hurried over the landing. Soon enough he would burst through the basement doors and down the last flight of stairs.
However, the sight of the adult brought him up short.
Ebony eyes went wide, and a droplet of blood rolled to his chin before dripping onto the floor, just before his feet. The boy stared at the blond male, looking a mess with his skin a little dirty, blood staining his jaw and fingers, his hair sticking out in every direction imaginable. There was a slightly crazed look in his eyes, an expression that was soon replaced by disdain.
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Post by Dr. Gene Menelaus on Jul 10, 2010 22:47:16 GMT -5
The doctor turned his back to flee from imagined horrors, and instead found himself face to face with a visage of bloody madness. He took a step back out of habit, though his widened eyes never left Yuri's darker ones. For a moment, his own gaze held up a mirror of instability against the young man's. Then he turned his head away, violently. He couldn't lose his mask of composure like this. He slowly looked again, to see if this was a child, a spirit, or something conjured up by his own fear.
This time he saw a boy. Contemptuous (but he was used to that,) and injured. A worried crease went through the doctor's forehead. He didn't exactly relax, but his horror faded down to a nervous demeanor.
"Did...you..." He swallowed. His mouth opened and closed several times, rather fish like. "Are you in need of a doctor?"
His eyes went first to the chin, then the bloody fingers...they reminded him of something. He clutched his own gloved hands tightly in front of him for a moment, then slowly allowed them to return to his sides.
His brow furrowed a little more. On second look, this wild-looking boy was familiar. Of course. There was only one child of far eastern origin here. He knew little of him, just that he was...important, in some way. He was not going to inquire. Some things here were better off left unsaid, unasked.
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Post by YUKI MORII on Jul 10, 2010 23:21:27 GMT -5
His lips were pressed tight, and his dark eyes remained fixed on the adult. Once some of the shock wore off, he recognized the man as St. Anne's doctor. Yuki felt a flame of anger lick at his insides. This man had never laid a finger on himself or any of the children, however, he'd never protected them from the other adults either.
Yuki's fists were now clenched at his side and his teeth were pressing into his own lower lip. He hated this man. But did he hate him more or less than those who had brought him mental and physical harm?
He never figured it out, the doctor's words bringing him out of his thoughts, "A doctor? No. Why would I need a doctor?" The cut on his jaw was forgotten in his excitement and then the shock at nearly running into Dr. Gene Menelaus.
Yuki absently shook some messy, ebony hair out of his eyes, wanting to heep his full attention on this trecherious human.
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Post by Dr. Gene Menelaus on Jul 10, 2010 23:30:11 GMT -5
Something in Yuki's manner kept the doctor on edge. The boy seemed focused on him, in a way he could only think of as... predatory.
Gene swallowed and clenched his hands together nearly hard enough to cut off the circulation in his fingers. His heartbeat was a liquid warning in his ears. If not for that bloody cut, he would have tried to cut and run. His mind kept screaming all sorts of warnings, and he couldn't ignore them. Yet, his instincts as a doctor were a little stronger than his cowardice.
"Surely you..." He swallowed, and tried again. "You've hurt yourself. Your chin...your hands, perhaps." Each time he spoke, his nervous gaze darted toward the small wound and bloodstains. "If you follow me to my office, I could clean and bandage them for you."
He pursed his lips together, wondering what else this boy wanted of him, if not his medical skills. Not the most pleasant of thoughts.
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Post by YUKI MORII on Jul 10, 2010 23:46:55 GMT -5
The boy studied the doctor, studied him hard. Maybe he if concentrated enough, he could see through Dr Menelaus' skin and into his soul. Was he trying to lure Yuki to his office to hurt him? Would he dare? Yuki realized he didn't know much about the doctor.
His head tilted to one side, his demeanor almost feral.
The adult wasn't becoming transparent, no matter how intently he stared. Yuki gave it up, his brow pulling together, showing his disappointment. Perhaps the doctor's contents were something he really didn't want to see.
Perhaps...
Finally the boy nodded, "Lead the way, doctor." Yuki wasn't the strongest boy, looking underfed due to his genes as well as his lack of appetite. He wasn't afraid. Nothing the doctor did could hurt him worse than what had already been done to him. This was in sense a test for the doctor. Would he dare hurt Yuki? He suppoed they would see within a few minutes.
A voice at the back of his conscience whispered obseneties and Yuki shook his head, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He didn't understand. A breath left his lips in a hiss. Maybe he would take the oportunity to punish the good doctor.
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Post by Dr. Gene Menelaus on Jul 10, 2010 23:59:20 GMT -5
Dr. Menelaus shrank from that intense gaze. He felt his composure wither under the boy's scrutiny. Why did he stare so? Was it hatred of adults, all adults? Other children here felt so, and yet few of them directed their...malevolence his way. Perhaps he seemed harmless to others, an object of scorn rather than hatred. Or a tool, something they could use. Few of them despised him quite as deeply as he hated himself.
"Of course, yes..." He shot a final glance at Yuki. Worry and fear warred in his eyes, and in his thoughts. He did not wish to be alone with this boy in his office. However, he always wished to give these children proper medical care. They needed it far less these days, now that many of the cruel adults were dead and others kept prisoner.
His lips tightened in a spasm of guilt, and his voice sounded rougher when he spoke "...this way."
He led the way from the basement, albeit unsteadily. Hair crawled along the back of his neck. He couldn't shake the feeling that Yuki was staring through him... or that he was bringing a monster from its layer and into his own.
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Post by YUKI MORII on Jul 11, 2010 1:03:41 GMT -5
Yuki's hands clenched and unclenched at his sides as he walked along behind the doctor. His gaze tried to be everywhere at once, jumping from left to right, up to down, very much like a caged animal. His heart pounded against his chest in fear and excitement, and he felt something warm uncoil in his stomach. This was close to the feeling he had right before a session of torture with one of the staff. But it wasn't quite the same...
He watched the blonde's back as they walked, eyes flicking over the gold strands. Yuki resisted the urge to tangle his fingers in that hair, twist the strands around his fist as he slammed the doctor against the nearest wall and...
His tongue slipped out to lick at dry lips. What was the matter with him? Yuki felt his cheeks warm and he reached up in annoyance, rubbing at the skin, trying to ease the tingle.
Without hesitation Yuki followed the adult into his office. He looked around, trying to memorize everything. It had become a habit, one he wouldn't shake anytime soon. The boy had become so accustomed to being abused, that he'd learned to make note of every item, every possible exit when entering a room.
Should this make him sad? Probably. But it was just the way things were. Yuki knew he would waste his time if he spent his every moment lamenting. In stead he focused his energy on getting sweet sweet revenge.
The boy seated himself on the edge of the desk without waiting for the doctor to instruct him where to sit. Dark eyes then settled on he blonde, his expression both defiant and disdainful.
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Post by Dr. Gene Menelaus on Jul 11, 2010 23:23:28 GMT -5
Against his instincts, Gene led the boy to his office. His fingers hesitated on the knob for a moment before he opened it. The comfortable, slightly cluttered office was his haven among hells here. He spent most of his hours within it, immersed in working or other past times. The oppressive rule--first of the adults, then of the Shadow Man, couldn't spoil this place for him.
Not that all of his memories here were sweet ones. On the contrary, he also indulged his own fits of madness here on occasion. He had just the tools and discreet methods of cleanup for it afterward. No trace remained except the most intimate kind--traceries of scars on his own skin, which was always covered. Even his always-gloved fingers bore marks of his guilt fits.
For all of these reasons, he felt uncomfortable allowing this boy inside. This seemed no innocent child with a wound to be tended. And yet, what else could he be? If he was cruel and contemptuous after living here, the doctor could certainly understand why. He had no right to judge Yuki.
He swung the door open almost too quickly and ushered the youth inside, then just as reluctantly closed it. When the boy settled himself insolently across Gene's beloved work desk, the doctor had the same unsettling thought from before. He had indeed lured a beast into his layer.
An injured one. The doctor clung to that thought as he scattered nervously about, gathering a cleansing solve and a bandage for Yuki's cut jaw. He'd deal with the hands when he saw them closer up.
Gene swallowed hard as he slowly approached the boy. "If you hold still, this...shouldn't hurt overmuch." He held out the cloth, while trying to keep his hand from trembling. He couldn't quite keep the discomfort out of his eyes. Proximity, touch, was always difficult for him. Less so in some medical situations, but he couldn't shake his nerves for professionalism this time.
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Post by YUKI MORII on Jul 11, 2010 23:47:01 GMT -5
The boy watched closely as the doctor made his way around the room, getting whatever it was that he needed the help Yuki. His lids lowered a little over his eyes, and he relaxed his frame a little. This made Yuki appear almost lazy, and even a little vulnerable. Would the doctor fall for the trick and harm Yuki? He would just have to see.
His little facade however fell apart when hearing the doctor's words. Yuki's entire frame tensed, and a hint of fear flickered over his dark eyes. Hurt? The doctor was going to hurt him...
How close would Yuki allow the blonde to come? How brave was he really? He remained tensed, his frame stiff, and allowed the doctor to come as close as he dared. Yuki then tilted his chin up a little, both in defiance, as well as giving the doctor a good angle to clean his wound.
A small voice in the back of his head whispered, telling him that the only reason he'd come to this office was so that the doctor could prevent a scar from forming on his smooth face. Yuki wanted to keep his youth, wanted to keep his skin smooth and unmarred. His body displayed enough scars as it was. He did not need one more.
Was this true? Was that truly the reason he'd followed the doctor? Dark eyes bore into the man before him, yet again trying to read into his soul.
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Post by Dr. Gene Menelaus on Jul 12, 2010 0:43:03 GMT -5
Gene stopped dead at the fear in Yuki's eyes. He hadn't expected it. His own gaze went opaque, intense with some unreadable emotion. Self-hatred couldn't begin to describe it. He almost couldn't draw breath under the weight of it...
...then a moment later, his solicitous mask dropped back into place. He thrust those emotions back down where he could contemplate them later, and in private. He refused to worry a child with his instability, even one like Yuki. It was a private matter.
As if nothing had happened, he slowly and carefully applied the salve to the boy's chin. He fastened the bandage after that. He kept his eyes on his work and his hands as steady as possible.
"Ah...yes, there. You should let me look at it again tomorrow..." He shot an awkward glance down at the bloody hands. "Are you hurt elsewhere?"
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Post by YUKI MORII on Jul 12, 2010 1:33:32 GMT -5
Sharp eyes caught the doctor's hesitation and then...there was an emotion he could not read or understand. And within a moment it was gone. His brow pulled together as he puzzled over this. An adult with a conscience? Was that even possible? Yuki had never considered such a thing, was not sure if his mind could conceive this to even be a possibility.
He nearly trembled with how taunt he was keeping himself as he allowed the doctor to work on his jaw. The cut wasn't deep, and with the doctor's care, he shouldn't scar. And if he did, it would fade in time.
Time.
His heart felt ice cold at the thought of time passing, himself growing up and leaveing the orphanage. Yuki pushed all thoughts and feelings in relation to this problem, before he showed any more emotion. He did not want the doctor to think him vulnerable.
At the blonde's question he looked down at his hands. The blood had dried, flaking off his skin in some places, "No...I think only my jaw." Dark eyes slipped back up to the doctor's face, and they narrowed a little. The blonde wanted him to come back? Yuki's stomach filled with suspicion, and he bit into his lower lip, nearly hard enough to cut the soft rosy flesh.
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Post by Dr. Gene Menelaus on Jul 12, 2010 1:56:59 GMT -5
Gene relaxed just slightly. He no longer felt like a cornered thing under Yuki's gaze. He even managed a smile--more of a spasm of the lips. It was meant to reassure, if his nervous manner could in any way accomplish that. The boy seemed upset about his wound, perhaps? He could be reading it wrong, or making that assumption as a doctor. He'd prefer that to imagining darker reasons for the boy's tense demeanor.
"Ah... it probably won't leave a scar, if properly treated. Is there--" He stopped mid-sentence, a little flustered. He was about to ask a question he'd never, ever asked during the rule of the other adults. He'd been too afraid, ashamed, and powerless to do more than inquire. Even if everything was different now.
Instead of finishing, he crossed the room to a basin and soaked a cloth towel in the water there. He handed it to Yuki without meeting his eyes. "I--it's for your hands."
He flicked a quick glance at the boy, wondering the unasked question--just how had Yuki come by that injury? Was it a fight? Or an accident, self harm... he hoped not, hypocritical as that was. He frowned a little at the intense look on the boy's face. He wondered if that was normal for him. For some reason, he found those stares disconcerting. As if the boy meant to drag secrets and intentions out of him with his eyes alone.
He flushed and took a step or two back. "Is there anything else you need?"
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Post by YUKI MORII on Jul 12, 2010 2:22:42 GMT -5
The boy saw the slight movement of the doctor's mouth and his jaw clamped down. With a silent gasp he quickly eased the tension and reached up to feel at his lip. His teeth had left a dent, and the tender skin would more than likely swell.
Within moments he felt his lip pulsing, and he held in a sigh. His own fault. Yuki wasn't even sure himself...why he had reacted to the doctor's attempted smile in such a way. He puzzle over it later.
'Ah... it probably won't leave a scar, if properly treated. Is there--'
Yuki felt something in him ease, but the blonde's unfinished sentence brought a hint of curiosity to his eyes. Brows were pulled together as he watched the other male walk to the basin, his ears catching the sound of water dripping from the cloth. Moments later the doctor was handing it to him and Yuki hesitated.
The boy then took the cloth and wiped at his hands. Dried blood was nowhere near as pretty as when it was crimson, fresh. He rubbed at the skin of his fingers, then picked at some of the dried blood behind his fingernails. There was no way in telling whether that blood was his own or belonged to someone else...
He heard the doctor step away and his eyes snapped up. The action had caught the attention of the predator in him. Was there anything else he needed?
Nothing.
Everything...
Yuki set the towel on the desk, then pushed off the edge and placed both feet on the floor. He was tempted, so very tempted. "Need...?"
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Post by Dr. Gene Menelaus on Jul 12, 2010 23:14:20 GMT -5
"Oh..."
The doctor took another slow step back. Something about Yuki's reaction confused and unsettled him further. Was it the simple question or the body language? He couldn't decide. His brow gathered in confusion and he held the boy's gaze for a moment--unsteadily. At last his eyes settled on that bitten lip and a flicker of worry passed through them.
He'd said something wrong, obviously, though he couldn't quite figure out what. Silence drew out between them. Gene flushed again, unsure of what else to say. He wanted to reassure the boy rather than upset him. Quite honestly, part of him wanted to flee, but that was no different than usual. He felt pinned there by the strange intensity of the moment.
At last he took a deep shuddering breath. All right. Yuki's question. He could get through this and deal with his nervousness afterward.
"Need...yes." Gene cleared his throat. His body was poised on a nervous edge, tense from the shoulders down. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"
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