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Joaquin Barton ([info]pahana) wrote in [info]paxletalelogs,
@ 2011-07-27 01:13:00

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Entry tags:jormungandr, pahana

Who: Joaquin and Adam.
What: Joaquin goes to see Adam regarding an injury of sorts.
Where: Apartment #504
When: ...Crap I didn't think about that one. I'll get that up shortly~
Warnings: None?



That night had been strange, to say the least. He'd returned to his apartment only to find his latest work almost completely destroyed, with no apparent cause. That, he'd gotten over. But what he couldn't shake was a burning pain in his hands- not constant, but chronic- that was making painting almost an impossibility. His class was getting more and more difficult to teach, having to take frequent breaks to rub at his hands. It felt like he'd tried everything, every home remedy for pain, everything he could really do beside shelling out the cash to go to a doctor.

Upon learning that one of his neighbours, Adam, was an EMT-P, Joaquin began to consider asking him about it, though being as shy as he was he figured maybe it'd be best to wait and see if his condition improved. It didn't. He now found himself knocking at the other man's door, fidgeting uncomfortably as he waited, massaging his stinging palm with his opposite thumb.


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[info]jormungandr
2011-07-29 12:18 pm UTC (link)
It took a moment for Adam to hear the knocking at the door, let alone answer it. He'd been doing a bit of cleaning on a rare day off, high-end cans covering his ears, blasting Lesbians on Ecstasy directly into his brain. But when at last the music cleared, the final bars of "Tell Me Does She Love the Bass?" fading out into nothingness, he realized what he had been hearing was indeed not part of his own private show. He reached for his mobile, nestled snugly in his pocket, checking for messages from Alex, finding nothing. With furrowed brow he hastily pulled off his headphones, dropping them - and the tiny mp3 player to which they were almost ludicrously connected - to the dark fabric of the sofa as he moved toward the door.

His first glance through the peephole quieted his concerns. He knew that face, and thanked God above it was not the concierge again, come to share news of yet another unpleasant occurrence. He unlocked the door, drawing it wide, trying all the while to remember the man's name.

"Hey-" He began, but quickly cut himself off. Easily he read the concern in the other man's face, the nervous energy he directed toward his clearly pained hand. Black-limned eyes flicked down to where he so delicately touched, unconsciously beginning to assess the situation. "Come in," he said, pulling the door wider still. "I remember you from the power outage. Everything alright?"

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[info]pahana
2011-07-29 05:15 pm UTC (link)
Joaquin startled a little as the door opened, not expecting anyone to actually be home. Or, if he was being honest with himself, he had hoped no one would actually be home. Not that he disliked Adam or anything, but being someone who didn't care too much for social interaction, anything involving the medical field tended to make him anxious. Doctors, nurses and the like were always wanting him to describe things in detail. For a painter, that should have been easy- him, especially. He loved adding tiny details, using minuscule brushes to paint the tiniest of flowers or birds, but to actually convey that same thing in speech? Impossible.

Swallowing hard, Joaquin smiled nervously at Adam as the other man opened the door, attempting to look at least reasonably calm. "Hi," he managed, relaxing slightly when he realized he wasn't unwelcome or going to get shooed away. "Well-- um-- not exactly. Um, that power outage, actually, um... I dunno, I think it's just a coincidence, but um, since that night, my hands, um, they just..." He shrugged, wringing his hands and glancing away as he stepped inside the apartment. "Hurt pretty bad. Um, it's even getting hard to paint. I haven't even really finished anything in a while. But uh- you're a, uh, a paramedic right? I know I should go see a doctor and all, but uh..."

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[info]jormungandr
2011-07-30 12:07 am UTC (link)
Gently Adam shut the door behind them, leaving it unlocked given the man's clearly spooked demeanor, unwilling to in any way seem threatening. Again he peered at his hand, his innate curiosity piqued at the lack of any obvious injury. It was not the first time he had served as impromptu medical advisor for his fellow tenants, and it would surely not be the last; some part of Adam truly loved it, feeling that in this way he served a purpose, aiding his friends and acquaintances in what modest ways he could. "It's alright," he said, a small, reassuring smile quirking at the corner of his lips. "My friends come over a lot for this kind of thing. The door's always open. Mind if I look?"

Gingerly he took Joaquin's hand in his, pale flesh to pale flesh, clasping it only loosely. Immediately he felt a strange heat coursing through him, pulsing like a living flame. He knitted his brow, turning over the hand in his own. "Do you have a history of arthritis?" he asked, his voice sounding distant, distracted. He felt certain he already knew the answer, but training and habit demanded he ask anyway. "I know you're young for that, but sometimes..."

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[info]pahana
2011-07-30 07:33 am UTC (link)
Joaquin was relieved, but still couldn't help but feel like he was intruding a little as he glanced around Adam's apartment. He'd only really spoken to the man once, and that was when they met. So much for his promise to actually socialize with his neighbours this time around. "You're sure? If you're busy it's um, fine, I can come back later or just-- uh, y'know, actually man up and see a doctor..." He smiled. "Oh, uh, sure." Holding out his hands, Joaquin peered down at them, puzzled as to where the pain was coming from.

The heat flared up in his hand as Adam touched it gently, unable to surpress a small sound in the back of his throat. It was a strange sensation, a sort of burning that he couldn't explain. "Not at all," he shrugged. "I thought maybe that was it, um, so I called home and asked my parents to see if maybe they had it and... y'know? But no. And... I've never felt anything like this before. Um... I know it sounds really, really weird, but uh, it's like... they're burning. Like, they feel... hot, not really sore. Sometimes just kinda warm, but uh, it's really strange." Talking about it made him feel crazy. He'd never heard of anyone feeling like this before, and on top of it he didn't even know what had triggered it.

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[info]jormungandr
2011-07-30 03:24 pm UTC (link)
The apartment in question was a tidy sort of place, kept clean and relatively ordered in spite of Adam's difficult and often mutable schedule. The prevailing color scheme was one of dark hues, shades that would have seemed oppressive elsewhere; here, though, they seemed to fit, to create a close and comfortable kind of environment well suited to its sole inhabitant. Black, dark purple, bloody red: All of them blended somehow, complementing one another in an inexplicably pleasing sort of way. And in the center of it stood Adam, black head bowed over his neighbor's slender hand, brows knitted together as he took in this new information.

"You said this has been going on since the outage?" he asked, forcing the overt concern from his voice. He eased his grip somewhat at that plaintive little sound, unwilling to cause any undue pain in his attempt to understand. He wondered if Viola might be available to look as well; though she was still a student, her schooling had covered a wider array of symptoms and diagnoses than his own, whose focus had largely been on emergent care. While he was certain she would at least attempt to help, he sincerely hoped it would not come to that - or to Joaquin's hospitalization, God forbid. "Did you eat or drink anything that night you think you might be allergic to?" Gently Adam pushed the pad of his thumb into Joaquin's skin, focusing for now on the place that had seemed to cause such pain. "I know you touched Alex when she... was hurt. Does this feel like an electrical burn, maybe like what she felt?"

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[info]pahana
2011-07-31 08:44 am UTC (link)
Joaquin found himself worrying that his own apartment was too messy as he glanced around at Adam's neat (but not uncomfortably tidy) apartment, trying to distract himself from his real worry: what was wrong with him? He was fairly sure now that he'd need to see a doctor, which was a lot more money than he cared to spend at the moment, and the idea of having something that maybe wasn't an easy fix was even more concerning. If he didn't have his hands, what did he have? Certainly not a very long painting career, and thinking about it made his heart pound.

"Yeah. I guess that's um, a long time, isn't it?" Frowning, Joaquin flexed his fingers, then glanced up at Adam to try and gauge his reaction. To say he felt foolish for not doing something sooner was an understatement- now that he thought about it, it had been quite a while since this started. Maybe he'd make an appointment soon. Tomorrow... Maybe the day after that. "No, not that I can think of. I've uh, pretty much been living off the same dull stuff for a while now." He smiled gently, but it faded fast as Adam's thumb pressed against his skin. "No- not really. It feels more like... Well, fire. It's so weird."

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[info]jormungandr
2011-07-31 08:16 pm UTC (link)
So soon into the conversation, it seemed Adam had exhausted all their initial possibilities. Truly he was at a loss, as troubled by that simple fact - 'failing', rather, he silently corrected - as by the fact that he had no way of quieting his neighbor's concerns. Adam assumed he had his reasons, unspoken as they might be, for not immediately seeking a physician's assistance, but at this juncture it seemed there was no other option to suggest.

"I'd find a PA or a prompt care you can go to," he said, ruefully shaking his head. "Don't bother with the ER. This won't technically be considered an emergency, so they'd charge you both arms and a leg." He let go the man's hand, the soft pads of his fingers rubbing together, feeling the radiant heat lingering upon his own flesh. "I have some aloe with lidocaine." He turned away, padding down the short corridor toward the kitchen beyond. "It'll help with the pain, at least temporarily," he called. A rattling of bottles and cans sounded the refrigerator door opening; it closed with a muffled thump. "The good thing is you can use as much as you like," he said, shuffling back into the living room. A short, squat tube of blue ointment rested in his pale hand. He held it out, its chill plastic casing brushing Joaquin's hand. "You can have it. I wish I could do more for you."

That done, Adam took a slight step back, a soft smile quirking upward the corner of his mouth. "Don't feel like I'm rushing you out," he said. "You're welcome to sit down, relax a bit. You know, I don't think I ever got your name."

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[info]pahana
2011-08-02 10:11 pm UTC (link)
"I was afraid you'd say that," Joaquin smiled weakly, the worry still evident in his face despite his attempt to look cheerful. He'd known coming in that he was probably just delaying the inevitable, but he'd given it a try anyway, hoping to avoid . He wiggled his fingers as Adam let go of his hand, then curled them into a fist for a moment before letting his hand drop to his side. The burning didn't feel quite as intense as it had earlier, and he wondered if maybe he could get some work done today.

"Thanks-- I will. I'll um, make an appointment somewhere, see what happens. Hopefully this'll just um, fix itself or a doctor can figure it out. I mean I'm kinda screwed if I don't have my hands, right?" Laughing it off wasn't quite working, but part of him still wanted to believe things were going to be fine. As Adam returned from the kitchen he found himself stumbling over his words even more as he tried to convince the man he was fine. "Oh-- um, you don't have to, uh, are you sure?" He took the small tube into his hand and looked it over, then glanced up at Adam. "I mean this stuff's probably um, expensive. I shouldn't just take it." He smiled at him again, more genuine this time. "I could uh-- make it up to you somehow?"

"God-- I'm sorry. I'm Joaquin. You're Adam, right?"

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[info]jormungandr
2011-08-03 12:44 am UTC (link)
"I am," he said. "Pleased to actually meet you. Formally, I suppose."

Adam suspected from the man's equivocation that he would likely not seek professional help. All the same, it was not difficult to hold his tongue, withholding any sort of criticism or overt chiding; it was not in his nature to chastise when he did not know the whole of the situation, being fully ignorant of his newfound acquaintance's financial standing or comfort zones. So he let it lie, moving on to what points he could address, those things which might further their meeting rather than serve to quickly end it.

He shook his head at the mention of repayment. "Don't mention it. It's cheap," he said, "and better yet I get it free from work. I've got some Aquaphor and A&D ointment in the bathroom, too, if you'd rather have that. Everybody's got their preferences." His smile quirked soft once more. "So what did you say you do?"

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[info]pahana
2011-08-03 01:02 am UTC (link)
Joaquin was actually sort-of considering going to a doctor now, but he'd take his time with it. When it came to things he didn't want to do, like seeking medical attention, he tended to wait to see if things got better first. Just another week, then I'll go. He had no overwhelming fear of doctors or needles or the like to excuse his behaviour, just a general sort of discomfort with the whole idea of it. Tucking the small tube Adam had handed him into the pocket of his sweater, he hoped that would be enough to soothe his mysterious injuries.

"You're sure? I could always um, buy you lunch or something. Thanks a ton, though. This'll be just fine." Adam's generosity had caught Joaquin by surprise, and he felt guilty not repaying him for both giving his hands a look-over and the ointment he'd given him. "Me? I'm, um, a painter. I teach lessons in town here, too."

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[info]jormungandr
2011-08-09 08:11 pm UTC (link)
"A painter," Adam mused. One dark brow arched in pleasant surprise. "Very cool. I'd been thinking lately, out of all the neighbors I've met, I don't think any of them have been..." He shrugged, taking a moment to weigh his words, unwilling to seem judgmental when his only intent was objective observation. "Creative types. All of us seem to have 'practical' lines of work. Which is fine, don't get me wrong." He shuffled back toward his seat, languidly lowering himself down to the couch's cushions. "But an artist or musician neighbor or two never hurt anybody."

As much as Adam disliked the idea of his neighbor feeling indebted to him - he had done so little, after all, and none of it had put him out to speak of - he did enjoy the thought of a day out with a new, prospective friend. He was curious as to the other man's work, how one made a living in something so intangible. "Lunch, though," he said. "One day we ought to do that. I can pick up my own tab. But it's nice to get out now and then, when my shifts allow it."

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[info]pahana
2011-08-09 11:39 pm UTC (link)
Joaquin nodded, but shrugged. "I don't um, mind being around more practical people, really. A lot of creative types are... uh. Well, they're pretentious." Art school had given him enough pretentious artists to make him tired of being surrounded by them, for the most part. Sometimes he was okay if they weren't in the same field as him, but other painters tended to annoy him when they got too full of themselves. Of course, being too polite to say anything to their faces didn't exactly make them stop, either. "I'm sure there are more around, though. Hopefully the good kind." He smiled.

"Yeah, um, that would be nice. I kinda go out for food a lot, but uh... Usually I don't have company, so it'd be a nice change." Joaquin chuckled, fully aware of how much of a loner he'd become since moving here. He wasn't too fond of that fact, but laughing at it seemed a lot less embarrassing than moping about it. "My schedule's pretty open, uh, if you ever wanna go."

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[info]jormungandr
2011-08-11 01:44 am UTC (link)
Adam smiled at the other man's comment, but had little else to say; he was pleased to find Joaquin seemed more grounded than most artists, as Adam himself had noticed the self aggrandizing nature of many creative types. But that ugly feature, he knew, could rear its ugly head in a multitude of personalities: His first thought was James Nash, as physical and brutish as he was pretentious. His brow furrowed as he wondered what had caused his old friend (nemesis?) to cross his mind, but with no small amount of force he put the memory behind him.

"Yeah, definitely." Adam reached behind him, pulling out a narrow drawer set inside the end table. Inside lay pen and paper, rarely used but always close at hand. Quickly he scrawled his full name and mobile number on a wrinkled bit of paper, tearing it from the stack. He tossed the pad and pen back into the drawer, handing the single sheet over to his newly made friend. "I'm on days for a while now. Text me or message me on the forum if you feel like going out. I might be out with Alex-" Here he paused, a soft and somehow distant smile crossing his lips. "But it wouldn't hurt for her to meet a few new people too."

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[info]pahana
2011-08-11 07:29 am UTC (link)
Joaquin looked over the piece of paper Adam handed him, smiling. After being in Pax for a few months he'd been feeling more than a little isolated- making friends after this long was such a nice relief. He folded the paper neatly into a small square before tucking it into his pocket, fully intending on actually getting up the guts to text the man in the near future. Look ma, I can too be social!

"Yeah, um, I'll text you when I get back to my place just so you know who it is and then you'll have my number too." He hadn't really gotten into the habit of carrying his phone with him- it always ended up lying on his desk or on the floor, which was certainly not a good place for it when he should've been expecting calls from important people. "That'd um, be fine with me! I'm uh... Trying to get out of my shell, I guess." He chuckled.

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[info]jormungandr
2011-08-12 01:01 am UTC (link)
"I hear you," Adam said, his smile quirking the slightest bit broader. "I'm not the biggest extrovert in the building by any means. It makes it tough to get to know people, especially with so many coming and going all the time." He shrugged. "But we'll get through it, right? Alex is a quiet one, too, so I think you'll be just fine around her. And we're two more people than you knew before."

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[info]pahana
2011-08-14 11:00 pm UTC (link)
Joaquin nodded in complete understanding. "Yeah-- I mean... I used to be all over the place, so... um, at least it made sense to not know a lot of people, but now I'm staying in one place and..." He laughed nervously, running a hand through his hair. "It's a lot tougher to just kinda not know anyone, you know? That sounds great, though, um, especially being that we're all sort of quieter. Less pressure to keep up, I guess?" Smiling, he shrugged. "With more talkative types it's like... you can't just have a bit of a lull, sometimes. You know?"

Clearing his throat, Joaquin shifted his weight between his feet and glanced over his shoulder toward the door. "Well- maybe I should get going. I don't want to um, eat up a ton of your time or anything... but thanks, uh, for everything, and I'll definitely text you sometime soon."

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[info]jormungandr
2011-08-15 01:13 am UTC (link)
Adam understood the sentiment very well. Over the years he had found his best, closest friends to be those around whom he could be quiet, to simply be instead of entertain. It was a comfortable kind of silence friends of that ilk shared, refreshing after days of constant chaos and noise. It was good to hear Joaquin seemed so inclined; it renewed Adam's interest in seeking him out, strengthened his resolve to see to it they kept in contact.

"No problem," Adam said, rising from the sofa to see his new acquaintance out. "Text me any time, seriously. I'm looking forward to it."

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[info]pahana
2011-08-18 04:30 am UTC (link)
"Oh, I will. Um, sometime soon, I promise." Joaquin told himself he couldn't just... put this off like he tended to do with phone numbers, which usually led to him losing them and finding them months later when he really, really couldn't put off cleaning any longer. Then he'd find a ton of old numbers and realized he'd missed out on quite a lot. Sigh.

"Thanks again, though." He smiled at Adam before turning toward the door, "I'll um, I'll keep in touch. And... I'm right next door, anyway, so... I'm usually just home painting, feel free to stop by."

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[info]jormungandr
2011-08-19 12:06 am UTC (link)
"I'll take you up on it," Adam said, leaning against the door, which now stood wide. He found himself seriously considering the prospect, glad of having found a potential friend among the building's growing throng. "I'd love to see your work some time." He flashed a smile, soft but bright. "Have a good night, Joaquin. Rest up and heal, OK?"

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[info]pahana
2011-08-19 09:41 am UTC (link)
"Oh, um, well if you'd like to see... Just, uh, seriously come knock on my door sometime. I've always got something on the go or at the very least I'll have something just... finished and sitting there." Joaquin smiled back at Adam, taking a step into the hallway toward his apartment. "You too- and I will, thanks. See you!" He gave Adam a quick wave before heading into his own apartment, feeling a lot better than he had before.

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