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Do no harm is a difficult axiom to maintain in the presence of Scott Goldsmith.
Remarkably, Legundo keeps a hold of himself. Scott’s – to be frank – punchability is different from Avid’s back at that mockery of a clinic. Avid had been acting in ignorance, which is certainly dangerous, but it paled in comparison to the malice that radiated off of Scott, however well he hid it.
Scott knows what he’s doing, even if he feigns the ignorance that Avid actually had. His unflappable confidence is uncomfortably good at setting those who know what he is on edge, Legundo chief among them.
Regardless, Legundo keeps Scott talking. He does want to know more about the apparent elder vampire. Scott approached him close enough to town that Legundo doesn’t feel in immediate danger, but the way Scott chased after him to get him talking does not inspire confidence. By now, Legundo’s garlic has worn off, and he would rather not take his chances.
Besides, Legundo is not in the presence of Scott alone.
Legundo has been maintaining eye contact with Scott for a while now, but Pyro’s transformation into a bat was on the good side of Legundo’s vision. He would tilt his head up to check the tree branch above him, but something prevents him. He shouldn’t risk it. Not after what Pyro said about someone doing terrible things to him earlier today. Legundo keeps his eye on Scott.
Scott, who looks bemused by Legundo’s insistence on staying human, the idea that Scott is luckier for remembering the good and not the bad in his centuries of life.
How on Earth can he stand there and act so removed? Legundo already hated the thought of forcing the world to endure his presence for eternity, but if Scott is the model case, he’s even more repulsed.
Scott looks ready to keep the topic of their near-argument going, but a strange look crosses his face. His eyes flash. “You’re not very fond of me, are you, Doctor?”
Legundo huffs. “Not especially.”
Scott’s smile is uncomfortable to look at. It’s genuine, but not in a way that even remotely suggests kindness. “Tell me why, won’t you?”
“You remind me of some very terrible people,” Legundo answers, then stops. The sentence escaped him. Christ, if he’s slipping up this easily in the conversation, maybe he should get more sleep. Not that Oakhurst makes that an easy task.
He can’t lose composure, especially not in front of Scott. Or Pyro, for that matter, as he’d rather stay a rock for his patients.
“Well, that doesn’t seem very fair,” Scott pouts. “Comparisons like that are rude. Anyone in particular? Let me know.”
“Myself.” Like Legundo would admit that to-
…Wait.
Did… Did he say that out loud?
A flash of amusement. Scott’s stare burns. Now that Legundo’s thinking about it, Scott has not stopped staring since… since they started talking, really. “Elaborate.”
Legundo doesn’t want to. His mouth is dry. It’s open, why is it open- “Mostly, you remind me of officers from my time as a soldier, but the way you force others into hunger reminds me of what they ordered me to-” He bites his tongue. “What’s happening? What did you do?”
“I’m not doing anything,” Scott argues pleasantly.
Legundo takes a step back. He has to get back to town. Oakhurst is so close. He doesn’t know what Scott’s doing, he doesn’t know what’s happening to him, but he’s not going to linger and find out.
“Don’t leave,” Scott says in admonishment, and Legundo stops trying to leave. “We’re just having a conversation, Doctor. Nothing to be scared of.”
Legundo strains against his still muscles. “What is this?”
“You’re the one trying to back out of a perfectly normal chat. That’s very disrespectful. I thought you all were supposed to be the civilized ones.”
Is Pyro still here? They can’t stay as a bat forever. Legundo hopes they’ve left. They shouldn’t watch this. Not with how terrified they already are of Scott. His patient shouldn’t have to see whatever happens now.
“Scott, whatever you’re doing, you don’t have to. Just let it be.” Legundo desperately tries to keep his voice measured. “Whatever point you’re trying to prove, you can do it without toying with my mind.”
Scott hums, ignoring him. “You’re very good at hiding your reaction, you know. But I can hear your heartbeat. Tell me how you’re feeling.”
Legundo clenches his jaw, but through gritted teeth, it escapes, “Scared.”
Scott’s smile creeps a little wider. “I thought so. Show me.”
The mental walls crumble in an instant, and all at once Legundo is shaking.
The fear Legundo was fighting off now digs into his spine and lungs and chokes him. His knees fail to support him, and he stumbles to the ground. He can’t leave, but he curls in on himself, shifting away from Scott as much as he’s able. Legundo holds his hands around his neck protectively, never taking his eye off Scott, lip trembling unnaturally.
Scott leans over him before crouching primly. Too close. He’s too close. “Aw. You don’t have to worry about your neck, dear. I’m not going to hurt you. We’re just talking. That’s all.”
Legundo has never let himself look this scared. He didn’t want to do this. Not here, and especially not in front of Scott. Never.
It hurts with how much he’s trying to resist whatever Scott’s doing to him. He can’t stop looking at Scott. He wants to look away.
Keep it together. Keep it together. Legundo may be shaking like a leaf, his knees against his chest like a child, but he keeps his mouth shut. His jaw aches.
Scott tsks at the defiance. “Don’t raise your voice, but let me hear how scared you are.”
And Legundo whimpers.
Legundo’s tone is smaller than he’d ever let it be. “Please. Don’t make me, stop giving me orders, Scott-”
“What’s the issue? You were a soldier, right?” Scott interrupts. “Call me sir.”
“Sir-” Legundo’s voice breaks. “Sir, please stop. Leave me alone, just leave me alone…”
“Relax,” Scott intones. Legundo’s shoulders drop, hands falling from his neck and to the ground. “That’s enough. Just wanted you to be honest with yourself. There’s nothing wrong with honesty, Doctor. Or with showing a little respect to someone who’s done you no wrong.”
Anger floods him, especially with the thought of Pyro potentially still being within earshot. To suggest such a thing. At least Legundo can still narrow his gaze. “You-”
“Shhh,” Scott shushes, and Legundo’s mouth shuts. “None of that. Let’s have a look at you.”
Scott reaches a hand forward, and Legundo’s still forcibly relaxed, but he squirms, tries to lean away.
A tut from Scott. “Let me do this.” And Legundo has to.
Claws against the back of his head. Scott tugs Legundo’s collar down and traces his thumb against Legundo’s neck. He examines Legundo without breaking eye contact, just using his hand.
The pinpricks on Legundo’s neck sting as Scott finds them.
“Ah,” Scott utters. “There’s Owen. So clean. Surprising with how little he knows, honestly. He treats you well.”
Legundo’s body is trapped between forced fear and forced calm. He feels profoundly on edge but without any outlet for it.
Scott rubs his thumb against the bite mark. “He talks about you a lot, you know. You’re his favorite. He wants so badly for you to be one of us.”
The hand on his neck is ice cold and has never known labor.
Scott continues, “I don’t see why you wouldn’t want this, honestly. I gave you my reasons. Eternal life to heal people. You could make up for whatever they ordered you to do. After so many centuries, you’ll forget about it entirely.”
Legundo feels his throat bob.
Scott smiles serenely. “Well, don’t let me stop you from saying what’s on your mind.”
“Don’t,” Legundo gets out. At least he’s not beckoned to add a sir. That command seems to have been a one-time modifier.
“Don’t what?” Scott knows what he’s asking. He must.
“Don’t turn me.”
Scott scoffs in offense. “What an impolite assumption. I said I wasn’t going to hurt you, Doctor. I’m not even going to drink from you. I have self control.”
Apparently, Legundo has enough control over his face that his look of utter incredulity gets across.
“I mean it!” Scott insists. “How unbecoming that would be! I wouldn’t want to break Owen’s favorite toy. I don’t see you as a toy, mind you, but you should hear the way he speaks about you. So fond. You’ve truly endeared yourself to him.”
Legundo doesn’t want to hear this. Not from Scott.
“Do you trust him, Doctor?”
Legundo doesn’t answer.
Scott harrumphs. “And here I thought you’d understand that I only want to speak with you. That’s what I get for assuming you’ve learned manners. Tell me if you trust him.”
“I want to,” Legundo spits out.
“Aw, you’ll hurt his feelings if you can’t say you trust him,” Scott chides.
“I trusted him to not turn me.”
“I wonder if you still have faith in that. He’s getting a little antsy.”
“Don’t talk about him,” Legundo manages to get in.
Scott finally removes his claws from Legundo’s neck. He props his hands on his knees, cocking his head. “Oh, so you’re giving orders now, huh? Thought you were scared of those.”
Shiver. Crawling. “You’re making me-”
Scott holds up a finger. “Quiet now.”
Legundo’s teeth snap when they’re forced back together.
“If you were a good listener, I wouldn’t have to do this. That’s your own fault.” Scott lifts his hands again to smooth Legundo’s collar. “Tell me what they ordered you to do, Doctor. Why you forced people into hunger.” He makes playful air quotes.
Scraping, his jaw cracks with effort. Ripped from his throat. Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t tell him- “Poisoned an enemy town’s supplies. Bloodless victory. They gave me a medal.”
“Hm, okay. And you hated them for it. Can’t take a compliment to this day, I see.” Scott pats Legundo’s shoulders, then returns his hands to himself. “Ungrateful like all the rest. You’d fit right in with most of my fledglings if you received the gift.”
“But you won’t force it on me?” Apparently, Legundo is allowed to speak at will again. Until Scott decides he can’t.
Scott smiles wider. “Exactly. Maybe you can listen.”
“I don’t understand,” Legundo whispers, and he hates how vulnerable he sounds.
“Hm?”
Legundo can’t look away from Scott. “Why not hurt me? It’s not just for Owen.”
Scott sighs. “Well, sure, he’s not the only reason. I did want to get to know you, honest. You think I’d ask about your past otherwise? I really don’t care what damage you humans get up to in your little lives. Like I keep saying, I want to have a conversation. You’re the one who made it difficult by refusing to engage.”
There is a pause while Scott leans in even closer, crimson eyes enrapturing Legundo.
“But also? You compared me to officers, in addition to the person that I now see you hate the most. So I wanted to prove to you that I am something entirely my own, Doctor.”
The stare is unbroken.
Scott smiles politely, fangs controlled. “Just something to keep in mind. Thanks for the chat, even if you’re a poor conversation partner.”
And Scott rises to his feet, looking away from Legundo, letting him go.
Legundo gasps as control over himself is thrust upon him. He crouches over as the orders loosen and dissipate entirely. He can breathe. He can move. His heart is beating.
Of his own volition, he snaps his head up to Scott, but…
Scott’s gone. Or, probably not gone, but invisible. Out of sight. There’s no sign of a bat, either.
Legundo’s stomach twists, he feels a tightness in his face, blurry vision-
No. Don’t. Don’t let him see. Don’t react.
Legundo rises to his feet, forcing the walls in his mind back up. It’s a skill he prides himself on.
Scott is still here. Legundo will not give him something to stay for.
He falls into a familiar rhythmic step back into the walls of Oakhurst, refusing to let himself call it a march.
-
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There is a bat outside Legundo’s open window.
Right. Time to help. Legundo has many patients at this point, and he will not turn any of them away, regardless of the growing unrest permeating the area they’re all contained in. Protect as many as you can.
Legundo peers up from the spot on his desk. “How can I help?”
“I can’t be here long.” It’s Pyro. Their bat’s fur matches their former hair color, and if Legundo looks closer, the bat’s little eyes match Pyro’s uniquely inverted ones.
“I know.” Now more than ever, he knows. Legundo drops his eye back to his work and moves a hand to hide his lips. If anyone’s watching, it’ll look like Legundo is none the wiser.
“About earlier, when I was in the tree… I had to leave. If Sire saw me-”
“I don’t blame you. It’s okay.” No one should risk themselves for him. In no world is he worth it.
It sounds like Pyro shivers. “No, that’s… I just came to tell you that I hope you understand now how inevitable this is. You should accept the gift willingly. It’s much easier that way.”
“I won’t accept it. It’s not inevitable, Pyro. I can still help you. Help all of you get away from him.”
Pyro argues, “How can you believe that after what… what I watched him be capable of?”
Legundo swallows. Calm down. He is calm. “Did you know he could do that?”
“No. No, it’s something he neglected to mention.”
“Right…”
Pyro eventually squeaks, “I’ve managed to gain some information about it. Only humans are susceptible, and only after prolonged unbroken eye contact. If you were to turn, he wouldn’t be able to-”
Legundo shakes his head briskly. “I can’t, Pyro. You… You heard what I am. Someone like me should never have eternity.”
There’s something hollow in Pyro’s tone. “If you’re a monster already, why not embrace it?”
“Because I can never be that man again. I’ll do as much good as I can, and then I’ll die. Do no harm. Do no more harm.”
Pyro seems like they want to argue, but from Legundo’s peripheral vision – next time Pyro should hide on his blind side – he notes that their ears keep swivelling. “I… I can’t stay. Just think about what I said.”
“Go. Don’t worry about me.” Legundo idly turns a page. “You were trying to watch and see if we’d found the next piece of the cure, understand?”
“I do. Stay alive, Doctor.”
Legundo wishes he could offer Pyro a kind look, but it’s safer to keep his attention away. “Be safe, Pyro.”
Wingflaps. Legundo is alone again, as far as he knows.
Christ. It’ll benefit no one in town to have a paranoid doctor. Legundo runs a hand down his face.
They will all have to tread carefully from now on. He’ll inform the town of this ability, certainly.
It’s… it’s a good thing to know that Scott is capable of this.
It’s a good thing. Useful. Legundo is useful.
That idea should be enough to quiet his racing heart. He wills it to, but the heart doesn’t listen.
…The one time his body refuses to follow orders. Morbid laughter spills from Legundo at the thought.