Dayshift 52: Doctor's Office 1 (Dr. Yumeno) [fourth shift]

[thisboyprince.livejournal.com]

From his first session through lunch, Daedalus had kept to himself in his office, attention on his computer. It wasn’t just the patients who had questions, but the question was whether or not answers were forthcoming. He had his curiosities and even his doubts, to be sure, but now that he had come to see how the wheel turned here, but did he care? What didn’t affect his standing didn’t precisely affect him. He didn’t think prestige was as important an element as it was elsewhere.

As he typed, he thought, and as he thought, he watched the clock. Unless the second and final patient of the day failed to meet his expectations, Daedalus thought the day was going to end rather uneventfully. From the looks of things, there was nothing surprising in this latest patient’s file.

As the appointed time for the nurse to bring in her charge neared, he wrapped up his business and sat back from the computer.

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[livesbyinstinct.livejournal.com]

It seemed there had been a very good reason why the nurse hadn’t bothered to tell Kiba where they were going until they had almost reached the office door. The teen barely had time to give a stifled shout of protest before he was ushered through the doorway and into the room. He spun around, intending to give the nurse a piece of his mind, only to find the door had all ready been shut behind him, leaving him alone with whatever the person's name was and an ever-deepening scowl.

Well, screw her.

Therapy? Seriously? Really, guys? Really? How much more moronic could this place get?

Kiba snorted. He didn’t freakin’ need therapy—especially from an androgynous dumbass who could probably pass for a chick on a good day if he wasn’t such a flat-chested excuse for an ironing board.

Damn bastards. They were just toying with them all. The nurses, the cooks, everyone—even this so-called doctor was probably just another one of Landel’s pawns, paid to play psychologist for a while. He didn't care what this guy had to say, he wasn't going to believe a single word of it. He wasn't going to give in to one of Landel's stupid games. If he had to play, he'd play, but he'd play by his own rules, not the institute's.

Scowl turning into a sneer, he leaned against the door, not bothering to sit down. He folded his arms across his chest, staring at his supposed therapist (or whatever the hell he was; Kiba didn't give a damn), fighting the urge to roll his eyes.

“So, who the freakin’ hell are you?”

[thisboyprince.livejournal.com]

Expressing amusement over the performance would have been wrong (and would’ve interrupted the opening act too soon), so he watched from where he sat, withholding his laugh. There were more effective prisons than his innocuous little office. And certainly better jailers, too. Really, the nurses should have been taking a little more responsibility with how they dealt with their patients before passing them off like unwanted goods--there were far more everyday staff than there were doctors like him, after all.

Well, he couldn’t criticize too much. One did what they could to get an unruly patient where they were meant to be, he supposed. Manipulation had to be a key factor.

Now here they were.

Since remaining behind his desk would also be rather rude, Daedalus got up with a sigh and crossed to the other side so at least he would be standing. Now that that changed the power dynamic overly much. "Daedalus Yumeno," he answered without fail, coming to rest against the edge of the desk. "And you?"

[livesbyinstinct.livejournal.com]

If Kiba even had the capacity to pronounce the doctor’s first name, he wasn't about to try. It was too much effort, and he wasn’t going to waste it on some idiot with a diploma. Kiba's mind was one that lived and died by first impressions, and so far, Daedalus’ name was more than enough of one for Kiba to immediately label the man as an annoying, stuck up, and pretentious prick.

And he highly doubted that would change.

Putting more of his weight against the door, Kiba shrugged, his sarcastic tone giving a living voice to his sneer. “Oh, I don’t know, doc. You tell me.”

[thisboyprince.livejournal.com]

Had he been susceptible to doubt, and the aggression and the scorn were still too common fare to be surprising. Daedalus was unfazed by the rhetorical barb, his even-handed tone never changing.

"I can’t do that," he answered, as if it were easily a matter of having just met. "That’s for you to tell." He didn’t give names to these patients--they picked their identity as they saw fit. They were far from that point, though; this was still the very beginning. On the same beat, he made a gesture with his hand and continued by saying, "I’ll take it that this meeting came as an unwelcome surprise, so let me say right now that the door is unlocked. I’m not about to hold anyone against their will. If you want to go back to the activity shift, you can."

[livesbyinstinct.livejournal.com]

And Kiba almost did.

There was a slight, half-jerking twitch that started in his legs and died in his shoulders, a ghost of a movement made by someone just seconds away from turning around and walking away, but the seconds passed, and Kiba stayed put.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to leave. He did, and he was sorely tempted to take Yumeno up on his offer, even if all that awaited him back in the game room was more dull entertainment that would eventually end in boredom, but the more stubborn part of him refused to do so, to give in to Yumeno’s invitation and take the easy way out. It felt too much like running away, and Kiba didn’t run. He took it as a challenge, albeit an unsaid one, and he intended to face it head-on. His back straightened, and he dug his shoes into the floor with a renewed sense of determination that was only matched by his growing annoyance and irritation. He wasn’t going to back down.

"Then what the hell do they pay you for?” he said, not allowing his eyes to stray from Yumeno’s face, not even wanting to give up the man his name, which was more of a childish knee-jerk reaction than anything else. And silly, and Kiba knew it. "You’re the one with all the files n’ crap.”

[thisboyprince.livejournal.com]

Daedalus didn’t have expectations--or rather, he didn’t put them forward--and so while the boy debated whether to stay or to go, again, Daedalus did nothing but wait it out. He rested his hands on the desk near his sides and leaned in, his posture turning a degree more easy while Kiba’s became obstinate.

He met and held the other’s gaze, but not for means of confrontation. The patient was taking stock of him, studying his position and manner, and he was welcome to do so. In a matter of perspective, the boy had more to lose than Daedalus if he misjudged, whereas Daedalus could take his time. "That doesn’t mean so much to me," he said in regards to the files and what knowledge in general was attributed to the staff. "Files are just files. I’m here in the capacity to find out more about you and help you, but I don’t think anything will come out of merely reading a record."

[livesbyinstinct.livejournal.com]

He scowled. "Maybe because your records are full of shit.”

Not that he knew what was in them, but he could guess what was: a multitude of shallow lies that only someone overly stupid and gullible would ever believe. He wasn’t Conor. Never was and never would be. He was an Inuzuka, and nothing could ever tear that sense of identity away from him. Who did these people think they were fooling, anyway? With the night hours how they were, he wished the institute would just cut the crap and stop trying to pretend the place was something it wasn’t.

His eyes wandered around the room then, not sure what to make of the utter plainness of it. There was nothing to hold his interest, save for a few photographs he couldn’t quite make out, and he quickly found himself staring at Yumeno again, gritting his teeth. “It’s Kiba,” he said finally, despite his initial unwillingness, though it still irritated him to do so. His subsequent glare dared the other man to tell him he was wrong. "Inuzuka Kiba.”

[thisboyprince.livejournal.com]

"So I’ve been told," was his slow, ponderous--and for the more apt listener, also his resigned--reply.

Daedalus would confess, though, that the difference between the physical record and the patient record was not that great of a quandary. Mystifying for those of lesser means, perhaps, the young doctor hadn’t spent this much time at Landel’s Institute to still be unaccustomed to the people and the idiosyncrasies that dwelt within. This boy was certainly not the type he would have been treating under any normal circumstances, but he thought he could handle the bull-headed temperament just as well. Such a personality meant unnecessary resistance, yet hot-headedness was not so far removed from simple-mindedness. Faced with Daedalus’ calm, it remained to be seen whether the patient would find further fuel to ignite his temper as time wore on.

As the other reluctantly confessed his identity, he kept his demeanor neutral. Like he’d said, the name was nothing Daedalus hadn’t found in the file. "Then," he started, "it’s a pleasure to meet you." One didn’t need great powers of perception to tell that the sentiment would be one-sided. "At least, I think so. But I‘m sure you want to know why we‘re meeting in the first place? In the simplest terms, these are sessions where we can talk about various sorts of things. My main function is to ultimately see you released."

[livesbyinstinct.livejournal.com]

Kiba very nearly laughed. "How the hell is talking going to get me released? You think talking is going to get my head set on straight, or something? It doesn't solve much of anything, in my experience. Ain't going to get me released either."

At least, not where he wanted to be. He didn't know what sort of world he unwittingly had been pulled into, but he didn't like it any more than he trusted the people in it. They had kidnapped his friends, taken Akamaru from him. Why should he even begin to trust? It was obvious the institute didn't want to help them either. All they wanted to do is make their patients dance to the their own twisted music.

"The only way I'm going to get out is if I break out," he said, a motion of which his mind contended he was perfectly capable of, despite obvious obstacles and blocks on his abilities. "And I could do it," he said, his confidence rising over whatever nagging doubts had managed to invaded his system, "if I felt like it. I've climbed over plenty of walls. This one here ain't gonna stop me."

[thisboyprince.livejournal.com]

The patient had let fly more than enough to keep the average doctor busy for quite some time. Denial, combativeness, escape… At first Daedalus gave a wry smile at the snub to the profession. He himself was not like to jump to its defence--this was not his place either, playing nursemaid to the mind. His skills were worth more. But the key was in the boy’s own words: since it was unlikely he’d encountered similar situations before, evaluating them through preconceived notions was a deficient way of thinking.

His smile didn’t completely disappear once the boy declared his intentions to break out of the hospital Daedalus was expected to serve responsibly, but it changed color to something partly amused and partly resigned, as though Kiba had unwittingly done something he shouldn’t have. Certainly if he’d said as much in front of one of the others, anyway; even a wholly empty comment would warrant some suspicion from a doctor if he or she had any sense of liability. Daedalus didn’t care terribly if this one went ahead and succeeded at what he claimed one day, but did the boy really not think Daedalus had the means to make an escape that much harder? Or was he so confident he felt he didn't need to worry?

"Well, you’d be the first," he eventually responded. He then brought a gloved knuckle to his lip before starting out slowly again. To be honest, this patient had gone further than the rest in making his feelings transparent, which deserved a kind of credit. "Naturally, I’m obligated to disagree…" As if the line of thought had escaped him, Daedalus trailed off, pausing to give Kiba another look. Finally: "I’d just be careful of who you talk like that to," he advised simply around another smile. "The day staff could make your life harder if they heard that."