damned_institute | Day 31: Intercom, Evening

Haku was led to his room, nodding as his nurse chattered, only paying attention when she suddenly stopped. He looked curiously into his room, and frowned at the state Artemis seemed to be in. His nurse hesitated and it was only a desire to NOT be sedated himself that kept him from going in to help.

Chris didn't know the first thing about medicine after all. His nurse frowned and glance at Miss Hedgerow, wondering if she shouldn't take Haku elsewhere. A shame, he thought, since he'd probably be able to do more than these two for him... and there was food he recognized and actually wanted to eat as well..

Artemis' nurse turned around when the door opened. "Oh, please come in Chris. Sean just came down with a little food poisoning during his therapy session--nothing to worry about." She nodded to Haku's nurse to indicate that there was nothing seriously wrong with her charge.

"I'm going to leave your dinner, just in case you feel like eating, okay?"

Artemis really didn't even want to look at it, but let her leave it all the same. Haku might want it, and perhaps if he made his roommate eat two portions, Zabuza wouldn't string him up by his thumbs... yet.

His nurse left the room and Artemis tried to find Haku. However, there were two of him, and which one was the drug-induced image was unclear. So he stared in Haku's general direction with a vacant expression.

Haku made the appropriate worried sounds and expressions until his nurse left with the other. Then he turned and frowned at Artemis.

"Unless your doctor was feeding you, which I doubt, this looks like regular, run of the mill poisoning." He stepped a bit closer and sounded honestly concerned now. "If I get too close or touch you, are you going to vomit all over me?" Haku had had worse, but he wanted to be prepared.

Artemis shook his head, which sent another throb of pain into his skull.

"No, it was a lie to get me out of the office. He must have poisoned me, or drugged me. I can't remember which. But the symptoms came on suddenly, that much I remember. The rest..." Artemis closed his eyes and tried to think. "The rest is a blank."

Haku stepped forward. "Keep your eys shut," he said. "Or else you'll just make yourself worse." He bent down and placed cold hands on the familiar points of his roommate's neck. If this was poison, it wouldn't work. If it was simple drugs, he would be fine... or at least better.

"You seem to have a knack for winning people over," he said.

He gave a short laugh, "I would argue the point, but you're probably right. I probably said something that made him panic or--"

Artemis hadn't considered the possibility that perhaps Disraeli had done something to him. Something that had to be covered up. And what kind of a doctor could have done this to him? No one that was normal, or sane for that matter.

"...Haku, do I look the same to you?" He kept his eyes shut as he spoke, trying to relax.

"The same? In what way do you mean?" Haku moved his hands to the points on Artemis' upper arms. "You have the same number of limbs, fingers, and no new wounds I can see." He thought for a moment.

"Did you want me to examine you? Do you think that your doctor may have done something to you?" He sounded slightly worried now.

"I don't know... the thought crossed my mind. I've been too impaired to examine myself. I just came to on the floor of his office, and I wouldn't have been there without a very good reason. I was running from him. I must have been."

Otherwise why would he have been on the floor behind the couch? If he'd felt ill, he would have sat down, not moved away from a place where he could rest. "He may have done something to me that isn't physically apparent, though..."

He swallowed hard. If that had happened... Psychological things didn't bother him as much, since whatever it was, he'd forgotten it. However, if he had been brainwashed or injected with something that would rear its ugly head later, that concerned him.

Haku frowned and pressed on the last two points on Artemis' collarbone. "If something did happen, I will watch for any signs." He smiled slightly and drew back. "Feeling better physically at least?"

Artemis sighed in relief as his head stopped pounding in his eardrums. He still felt slightly dizzy, but he could at least see straight.

"Much better," he assessed, smiling. "I can see you. Though seeing two of you wasn't horrific, it was rather unsettling.

"It's amazing, though, how skilled you are with this type of thing. This is the second day in a row," He gave Haku an apologetic smile. "You must be getting tired of it."

Haku smiled and shook his head. "It's nice to be able to help," he said. "And I've had extensive training in the human body and it's workings." He moved to sit on his bed.

"Don't move too much or too fast and the after effects should dissappate on their own. Do you mind if I eat?"

"Please do," Artemis said. "Otherwise I'll have to lie to Momochi-san again, and I'd rather tell him the truth this time." He laughed, but it sounded a bit strained at the end.

He dragged himself up into a sitting position and moved his pillow so he could lean back comfortably. "How was your day?"

Haku smiled and sat down to eat. It was nice to have food he knew he would enjoy for a change. "I'm sure that would make Zabuza-san very happy as well.

"And my day was evidently less interesting than yours. Perhaps you should tell me about yours first?"

"Aside from the therapy session?" He thought a moment. "I'm not going with the Captain tonight. An acquaintance of mine offered to let me work with his group to see if I could feel as though I contribute more. Hopefully I'll be able to end these feelings of inadequacy soon." He frowned, picking up his rice and beginning to eat slowly.

"And afterwards--" Was the Reid Garwin incident. Artemis stopped, remembering it with his fork halfway to his mouth. The pompous, arrogant...! "I had the misfortune of meeting someone who apparently has read about my life." He ate the bite of rice with every intent of biting the end of the fork off as well.

"Good." Haku was sincere. Artemis needed to find his place and gain a moer stable mindset. "I wish you the best of luck."

He smiled slightly and took a sip of tea. "You're going t ochip your teeth," he said casually. "But, really, were you so surprised? The amount of people here who seem to be famous and, or, fictional makes me think we all are someone elses story."

Artemis' expression became slightly pained. "Yes, I was surprised, because my life is my reality and someone else's entertainment. No one could possibly understand or convey in words how complex a human being is, or the extent of their emotions.

"And on top of that, he was calling me a 'rip off' of Harry Potter--a fake, a copy. And he spoke in such a course, casual tone, completely insensitive to how gentle some psyches are when it comes to threatening their reality."

He casually brushed his fingers against the bandages on his face, from where the nurse had swiped him. "But I'm real. Just as real as you are. I've suffered and struggled as much as the next person, so why does he have the right to tell me I'm a fake?"

"Of course you're real," Haku said. "You're real, your life is real, everything about you, you have really experianced and gone through. Just because some other person claims to have read a book about someone with your name and description doesn't mean it's not really you. Nor does it mean that you're a fake."

He shrugged and smiled. "What important is what you do with this new information."

He sighed, "That's what I'm concerned about."

Artemis paused, trying to formulate how to say this in his head. He wasn't concerned over how Haku would react, but he had to make certain that he expressed himself clearly and concisely.

"You know the type of person I am now, Haku. Probably better than anyone else. I don't have to put on false pretenses in front of you, and no one can see what goes on in here. But I wasn't like this before. I was selfish, and lacked any form of compassion. I was a cesspool of every stereotypical thought concerning twisted businessmen. As long as I got what I wanted, it didn't matter who else was trampled or hurt. Sometimes even killed.

"I'm scared... that this information will leak to the rest of the Institute. My past is not something I am keen on defending or discussing." Mostly because there was no defense. The 'I Regret Everything' card was cliche and inaccurate. He didn't regret anything--he just regretted the methods he used and the lack of feeling behind it.

"I know. I care too much about the opinions of other people. It's difficult to stop such a habit, though."

Haku turned in his chair and frowned. "Artemis, what you've done in the past is a part of who you are now. Ignoring it doesn't make it go away and while embracing it is out of the question, you shouldn't have to defend what you did. It's somehting that you did, and it's over and done with."

He smiled. "I've got my own past. I've done things I'm not proud of, but I'm not ashamed to admit to any of it. It's past, and it helped to make me who I am today.

"And I'm happy with who I am now."

Artemis sighed, "I know, I know... But it's like my shadow: it follows me and takes my shape. And no amount of running will free me of it.

"I want to be happy with who I am now, but currently I'm only happy at my supposedly innate way of making friends. I still harbor that fear that one day someone will find out and they'll twist my arm."

He laughed and shook his head, "I believe you're turning into my therapist. But I suppose if you are currently happy with who you are, I couldn't have been stuck with a better one."

Haku laughed softly, taking a moment to finish his meal before speaking.

"Well," he began. "I don't know if I'm qualified to be a therapist of any kind." He tilted his head. "What would make you feel better?" His expression turned teasing. "Should I tell you all the sordid details of my dark and mysterious past in case you come across my book?"

Artemis considered this for a moment. "Even if you didn't tell me, and I came across something I thought was horrific and, as you said, sordid... I don't think I would mind." So why would anyone else care, since they knew who Artemis was? He was concerned about the people who didn't know him and would try to blackmail him.

But if that happened, he had an army of people to fall back on. One person couldn't turn a whole institute against him.

He smiled, "I already know that you're a wonderful, caring person Haku. Albeit with a bit of a scary side, but genuinely compassionate towards those you care for. I respect and admire that..."

Haku laughed softly behind one hand and stood up, moving to sit on his bed. "Again, the kind words. You're too nice Artemis."

He tilted his head. "I don't know if I would be interesting enough for someone to read about really..."

"Everyone's life is interesting enough to read about, in my opinion. People are fascinating. Also," Artemis smirked. "If you throwing that scalpel at me is any indication, your life is plenty interesting.

"And, of course, you have me for a friend, which at least doubles the interesting factor. If not triples it," He grinned teasingly.

"Shall I throw one at you again? You seemed to rather enjoy that," Haku teased right back. "And really, that's not terribly impressive where I'm from."

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