John Watson does not resemble a hedgehog. (what_son) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-04-24 17:21:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, john watson, victor frankenstein |
Who: John Watson and Victor Frankenstein.
When:4/22
Where: The clinic.
What: Meeting
Warnings/Ratings: Low
Status: Complete
It was a particularly uninspiring day, Victor thought. Sure, the weather was nice and people around him seemed to be in good moods, but he hadn’t really ever been poetic enough at heart to find the cheer in that. Which seemed unfortunate, so his whole reason for coming to California was in hopes that it would lighten his moods.
The only thing that could ever lighten Victor’s moods was work, and his work was tedious at best. He had to start, it felt, from the bottom again, which was pointless to him but not pointless to the people giving him his grants and access. In a last ditch attempt to try and save what was left of his day, he decided to see if he hadn’t missed Henry. Maybe the two could do another trip to Ikea. Victor had always liked Ikea.
Getting to the clinic, he learned he still had some time to wait before his friend was freed from his prison of common colds and hypochondriacs. Victor took a seat in the front room, flipping through a gardening magazine to pass the time.
The hypochondriacs were the best. Sort of. They were good practice for honing the skills of persuasion and politeness all at the same time. Watson was keeping a tally on how many he got on the back sheet of paper in his ever present clipboard.
He worked the clinic a lot. He liked it alright -- it made the day pass by pretty quickly usually, and it allowed him to be social with people who weren’t necessarily worried about dying most of the time.
Exiting an exam room, he dropped a file in the slot on the door and moved toward the reception area to see what’s next. “Oh,” he said to the man who looked spectacularly patient with a magazine (John Watson appreciated patience), “are you waiting?”
Victor blinked momentarily and glanced up. He looked around him before deciding that, yes, it was himself being addressed. He looked back at the man speaking.
“Yes, though not for a check up. Just passing the time until Dr. Jekyll’s allowed to go free for the day.”
“Oh,” said John, because he was really just an eloquent fellow when they got down to the brass tacks of it. And then, because he was feeling particularly conversational (and not yet ready to go diagnose another cold), he rose his eyebrows and went on. “Oh! You’re Victor, then? I believe we’ve spoken online. How are those housewarming plans coming along?”
“Ah,” he said, recognition clicking in, “yes, I am. So you’d be John. A pleasure, I’m sure.” Victor smiled, if only because it was polite. “I’ve more or less pushed them to the sidelines. Henry seemed like he enjoyed the idea, but his, uh, brother’s been around lately. It sort of spoils his moods so best wait till it’s all died down a bit.”
“Oh,” said John again, but this time it was said an empathetic sort of air. “I understand completely. I know I’d avoid that sort of thing were my sister in town.” Harry always had been a bit too easy with the booze, and he didn’t expect much had changed in the last few years.
He shrugged then, just a slight lift of his shoulders. “I’m sure you’ll get your day. And -- right. John Watson. Pleased to meet you in the formal sense.” John managed, at all times, to be British in the mild mannered sense.
That had always sort of fascinated Victor. Why British people always felt the need to be British. But psychology wasn’t even his strong point, so he tried not to bother too much with it.
“Yes, well, I don’t mind the postponement. I have work now to keep me occupied so I don’t need to come up with things like parties to keep me entertained.”
It wasn’t so much that he felt the need to be, but more that it’d been ingrained into him growing up. It was a bit like holding doors open for old people, but on a much wider scale. A scale that involved dry humor and driving on a different side of the road. Or something.
“Of course,” said John, nodding for no real reason. This guy really did remind him of Sherlock, a bit though, except seemed a bit better at being polite in social situations. It was odd. He paused. “Er -- did you want me to check on the status of Dr. Jekyll for you?”
“That would be fantastic, actually. I’m not sure if I can feign interest in climbing ivy any longer than strictly necessary.” Victor held up the gardening magazine and waved it about a bit. “But I don’t want to interrupt anything you might have been doing.”
John laughed at that, squinting a little at the magazine. He was shocked anyone could feign interest in it for any period of time. Then again, he lived in a weird little flat with two male roommates who did science experiments in the kitchen. Maybe he just wasn’t a plant sort of fellow. “Oh, it’s no problem. Even doctors like pretending they’re more busy than they are; colds and STDs can wait a few minutes longer. I’ll just pop in and see what he’s up to.” He grinned, looking younger than his actual years. “Again, it was a pleasure meeting you.”
“No, no, the pleasure was entirely mine.” It wasn’t a lie. Victor found John to have a sort of strangely endearing quality about him that he generally didn’t find in most people. Maybe it was because John seemed practical, and people these days just tended to lack that. “Thank you.”
To that, John gave a smile, raising his eyebrows just so before turning to go into one of the other exam rooms where he’d seen Victor’s friend last.