Laurens van Rensselaer (drschadenfreude) wrote in lightning_war, @ 2008-07-08 16:37:00 |
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Current mood: | annoyed |
Midday Monday 14 September 1942, at St Mungo's Hospital in Londinium...
Laurens van Rensselaer was sitting in his office, ignoring a pile of charts easily three feet high, while he scribbled frantically at his third attempt to rectify Yvon Malfoy’s nativity by comparing it to Portia Parkinson’s progressed charts with Saturday’s transits applied. The last thing he wanted was to be disturbed, so of course it only followed that there was someone milling around in his doorway. “Turpin, if that’s you, I don’t want any tea,” he said sharply. “Not unless there’s laudanum, and if you have Susie’s biscuits, give them back. We’re all tired of hearing about it from her.”
Eliot Gardiner wasn’t quite sure where he was. He’d got turned around leaving the clinic—not difficult when everything still seemed to be slightly off where he expected it to be. “I don’t think I have any biscuits. Did they wander off too?”
“Oh God, it’s you,” said Laurens, recognising the voice instantly. “Again. What’d you blow off this time, your head?” It figured that Eliot would turn up while Malfoy was on medical leave.
Eliot reached up and touched his head just to be certain. “No, still attached. Not working so well, though.”
“I would comment, but that’s too cheap a shot even for me,” said Laurens, shaking his head.
Eliot grinned. He’d finally focussed enough to recognise Laurens. “You should’ve seen it, it was brilliant! I think I’ve discovered a new variant on Confundus. I just hope Dr Allison was taking notes, because I’m not sure what I did.”
“Are you ever?” Laurens asked cheerfully. “It’s usually Redferne who knows what you’re actually doing.”
Eliot couldn’t really argue with that. It was what made them such a good team. “I know, but not this time. He knew what I was planning, but not what actually happened.”
“I’m shocked,” said Laurens, in a tone that implied no such thing—but he felt more sympathetic than he might have at another time, because he also had no idea what had actually happened right under his nose that day.
There were footsteps coming down the hall. He recognised Corinne Allison’s shoes tap-tap-tapping on the floor. Sure enough, she stopped short in his doorway. “Mr Gardiner,” she said, slightly confused. “Did they let you out of the clinic without informing me?”
“I think he let himself out,” said Laurens, who was always willing to state the blatantly obvious, if only because so many people he knew tended always to miss it.
Eliot turned towards her voice. He was getting better at it; it only took two tries to find her. “I got lost. Things still look a bit strange.”
“So you’re still experiencing symptoms and went wandering off on your own anyway?” Corinne asked sceptically. “Or were you looking for Laurens?” Stranger things had happened, though not by much.
“I don’t think he was looking for me. But he found me anyway,” said Laurens. “And good morning to you, too, Magistra. Malfoy’s here with Zabini, in case you were wondering.”
“Yvon’s well enough to leave? That’s good news,” said Corinne, although she’d been certain that Steren would not let him leave the grounds for at least a few days, no matter how well he seemed..
“Malfoy’s so much better he carried Zabini in,” Laurens said, frowning a little.
“Malfoy was injured?” Eliot’s eyes widened. Malfoy was the person at St Mungo’s he knew best, and the only one who could always figure out how to fix what he’d done to himself.
“He nearly died,” said Laurens flatly. “Don’t worry, though, he’s all better now, you don’t have to wonder who’ll bring you back from the brink the next time you kill yourself. It was his turn this time. And he’s taking it about as seriously as you do.”
Eliot ignored the quip about his near-death experiences. It wasn’t like he ever did it on purpose, after all. “Nearly died? But he’s better now?”
“Carried his boyfriend in like they were walking over the threshold,” said Laurens, grinning. “I expect that’ll be next week. Idiots.”
Corinne glared at Laurens in annoyance. “You’d complain he was moping if they hadn’t got back together,” she said sharply.
“Well, he would be moping, wouldn’t he?” Laurens said with a shrug. Really, what was the problem with stating the obvious?
“Of course he…oh, never mind,” said Corinne. Sometimes she remembered arguing with Laurens was pointless. Other times, she had to be reminded. She was now reminded. “Is there any explanation as to how, or is this part of what his brother calls ‘mist people medicine’?”
“Of course not,” Laurens grumbled, rolling his eyes. “But Yang and Wilkes are trying to grow Zabini’s leg back again, if you want to say hi to them later, and maybe he’ll tell you what he won’t tell me.”
“And I you think I’d tell you?” Corinne teased. “I’ve learned the hard way about sharing information, thank you,” she said more seriously.
“You’re taking this awfully well, considering you went up there originally to meet his family and comfort his poor bruised and rejected ego, and instead he stole the bridegroom back,” Laurens teased back.
“I’m very happy for them,” said Corinne, smiling tightly in anticipation of having to repeat that at least a thousand times, “and I was there to support him as a friend.” That was what she’d told herself at the time, which made it close enough to the truth.
“Oh good,” said Laurens, wondering if she’d practised in front of a mirror, and if Rosier would be any better at giving that speech. On one hand, she was fifteen; on the other hand, she was a Slytherin, which gave her an inborn advantage Corinne, who probably bled red-and-gold, sorely lacked. “So, Eliot. Were you trying to discover a new variation on Confundus, or are you too confounded to remember?”
“What?” Eliot hadn’t been paying much attention to the conversation, having been distracted by the way their voices were almost back to coming from where he expected them. “Oh, no, if I’d been doing that, I’d have better notes. I was trying to make a better duelling mirror. The hexes were supposed to go off one at a time.”
“I love that word, ‘supposed’,” Laurens mused. “It’s almost as good as ‘assumed’…”
“Neither of which you ever do, of course,” Corinne said lightly.
“Well, you can’t learn anything if you aren’t willing to make some mistakes along the way,” Eliot said.
“That’s certainly true,” Laurens had to agree. “I’m just not sure why the world needs a better duelling mirror. If by better, you mean more dangerous. Considering the number of stupid adolescents who manage to nearly kill themselves with the ones they already have. Be sure to tell Malfoy about your project when you see him next, I’m sure he’ll be delighted to hear you’re doing more to keep him busy.”
“The idea was that we’d be able to trigger them remotely, so we could run tests without so much risks to ourselves,” Eliot said, and smiled at Corinne. “Much as we do enjoy your company.”
“Oh,” said Laurens. “Doesn’t that rather defeat the purpose of a duelling mirror? Do I even want to know what purpose you had in mind for it?”
“Only if you want to use it for duelling,” Eliot said. “I know it may come as a surprise to you, but we do actually do research that doesn’t result in a trip here.”
“I wouldn’t know,” said Laurens. “This is the only place I ever see the two of you. Usually you.” He grinned at Corinne. “I’ve seen more of Eliot here than I have in the whole time I was married to his sister.”
Corinne smiled, but she was looking at Eliot. “After a Christmas or two with Laurens, I might consider building a machine to throw curses at me, too.” Having a crush on Laurens didn’t mean she was blind to how frustrating he could be around holidays.
Laurens gave her a look of quiet disbelief, but did not mention that she’d certainly had worse Christmases with the Travers family. That would also have been too cheap a shot even for him. At least when it wasn’t important. Which this was not.
Eliot shrugged. “My sister wouldn’t let me work on anything in the house.” His tone implied she’d been unfair; after all, he’d never blown anything up that he couldn’t fix.
“I bet she still won’t,” said Laurens. “Either of them.”
“Well, I do have a lab now,” Eliot said, grinning.
Laurens shrugged. “Hence, the frequency of your appearances here.”
“Admit it, we keep you entertained,” Eliot said cheerfully. “Are they still running bets on what we’ll do next?”
“I don’t know,” said Laurens. “Malfoy runs most of the betting pools. Now that he’s back in the bosom of his family, will he still need the supplemental income?” He considered this for a minute. “Oh, what am I saying? He’s keeping Alessio.”
“He’d keep them going even if he weren’t,” said Corinne, who felt almost obligated to defend Alessio, except that Yvon had said almost the same thing yesterday morning. Born with servants. Well, it explained a lot about Alessio. “What do you think the book on ‘exploding duelling mirror’ was?”
“It didn’t actually explode,” Eliot objected. At least he hoped it hadn’t; that would set his research back for days, at least.
“I bet he didn’t even think of that one,” said Laurens. “I sure wish I had though.”
“Does he let you in on those? You have inside information, after all,” Corinne asked, smiling.
“Are you kidding?” Laurens frowned. Not that he would have admitted to having inside information if he had…but he didn’t. “Not for a long time. I’m beginning to think he hasn’t forgiven me yet for sacking him.”
“No-one’s forgiven you for sacking him yet,” Corinne fired back, her voice suddenly bluntly serious.
“I see,” said Laurens, his eyes wide. Malfoy’s angels were always quick to defend him, but this was unusual even for her. “But I think he likes his new job.”
“Oh, he does,” said Corinne. “And not just because of his charming repeat customers,” she added, glancing at Eliot.
“Hah,” said Laurens. “Zitek flirts with him, you know.”
“Not really my type,” Eliot said, with a wink at Corinne.
“Too blond?” she asked, with a smile.
“Zitek flirts with everyone,” said Király Ilóna, sweeping past them with an armful of charts. “If he didn’t, we’d check to make sure he was breathing.” She shook her head. “These are the charts you asked for,” she said, and dumped them on Laurens’ desk, almost right into his lap. “If Yang comes looking for them, I am going to tell him you told me to get them.”
“He could probably manage even if he wasn’t,” Corinne said resignedly. She was almost curious. It was so unlike Laurens to ask for more paperwork.
“Oh, I see you’ve met Vilém,” said Király, raising an eyebrow.
“Briefly, and I live with Susie,” Corinne said with a shrug.
Király laughed. “Have fun with those charts,” she told Laurens. “I’ll see you after lunch, Corinne.”
“Probably not,” said Laurens. “We’re going to need her at our case conference. They brought the Weasley kid back in,” he informed Corinne.
“I hope nothing’s seriously wrong. He shouldn’t have been sent home in the first place!” Corinne said in annoyance. “I can’t believe he went to school!”
Laurens shrugged. “It’s nothing new,” he said. “He has a new guardian, though.”
“Good,” Corinne said firmly. Almost anyone would have been an improvement.
“We’re having a conference this afternoon. I invited Malfoy, over Maddie’s objections. There’s nothing wrong with his mouth.” Laurens shrugged. “All I want is the information he’s got, I’m not asking him to run an array, like I caught him doing this morning.”
“Running an array would be stupidly dangerous so soon after an illness,” Corinne said matter-of-factly, and then she frowned. “Which means of course he was.”
Laurens nodded.
Eliot grinned. “Sounds like something I would do.”
“Are you in love?” Laurens asked him bluntly. “Because that was why.”
Eliot shook his head. “No, I just can’t leave a problem alone.”
“Neither can he, but he’s marrying his.” Laurens shrugged. “Apparently he and Luna were talking about it out in the hallway. It’ll be in the Prophet tomorrow you know.”
“You make it sound so romantic,” Corinne said with a well-practiced eyeroll.
Laurens shrugged again. He didn’t like Alessio. This was not a secret.
Corinne turned to Eliot. “Since you aren’t in the clinic anyway, would you like me to make sure you’re okay before you leave?”
“Are you sure he can see straight? Wouldn’t want him walking into another mirror,” Laurens said wryly. “I’d take a look at the astral connection. I don’t think his etheric and astral bodies are correctly aligned. He keeps expecting sound to come from about three feet away from the origin, and in random directions.”
Eliot grinned. “I think everything’s back to normal now.” He held up his hand and looked at it, just to be sure. “But yes, I’d be delighted,” he told Corinne.
Laurens gave him a sceptical look, then shook his head. “You kids have fun,” he said. At least Gardiner wasn’t a fifteen-year-old apprentice who’d just lost an unwanted fiancé. Even if he was a patient, he was usually Malfoy’s patient. “Close the door on your way out, I don’t want Turpin back in here. I already know that Malfoy and Zabini act like third-years.”
Eliot meandered out of Laurens’ office and looked up and down the hall. “Hmm. I don’t remember exactly how I got here.”
“That’s reassuring,” Corinne said with a laugh. “Don’t worry, I know where we’re going.” She followed him out.
“I suggest keeping him here for observation,” Laurens muttered under his breath, and grabbed his cane as he got up to shut the door himself. Pain or no pain, it was going to hurt worse if he had to listen to Turpin again. Or someone was.
corinne_camille, factbusters (Eliot Gardiner) and drschadenfreude