I hardly thought it possible...
At his friends inquiries, a small smile tugs at the corner of his mouth, a mischievous glint in his eye. He didnât intend to answer any of the questions being directed at him, and he expected David knew as much. It never suited him to lay out all of his cards on the table. Keeping the majority of it to himself provided an element of mystery that he quite enjoyed watching people attempt to figure out. He told his friend more than most, but it was certainly more fun to keep a few things secret for a bit longer. âWell, youâll just have to trust me and my methods,â he told him with a note of amusement in his voice, avoiding having to actually answer any questions. âYour only job,â he continued, lowering his voice as they walked up to the edge of the lake. âIs to be you, doctor Dawson.â With a wink, he turned away and scanned the water, immediately spotting what he was searching for. Mermaids, splashing about like the dull and self obsessed creatures they were.
In an instant, Basil shifted his demeanor, a bright and convincing smile on his face. âAfternoon!â he called to one of them, pouring every bit of cheeriness he could manage into his tone. âMight I have a word?â After hesitating, two of them swam over to the edge, and Basil crouched down to better talk to them. It took only a brief second to read them. Sibling hatred, perfect material to work with. âMyâŚyou are truly beautiful,â he pretended to appear awestruck. âFar more so than any others. I suppose she is rather beautiful as well,â he gestured to the mermaid he had deduced to be her sister, watching as her face began to contort into anger. âBut not in comparison to you, my dear,â he effectively finished, watching as she grinned. âExcuse me?â the other one interjected, and Basil glanced at her with a look of annoyance. âPlease,â he rolled his eyes. âYouâre an abomination. Its nearly painful to look at you, let alone listen to you. Its hardly a wonder you drive away everyone around you. Pitiful creature,â he shook his head. âNothing like your sister.â She huffed and dove into the water, splashing him with a fair amount of water as she went, leaving him rather soaked. Sighing, he turned back to the other mermaid, who looked as if he had just given her all she had ever wanted. Time to put the next part of his plan into action. âForgive me,â he smiled apologetically. âI forgot to introduce myself. Call me Basil, and this,â he gestured to Dawson. âIs my dear friend, David. Weâre doctors, and it would be a great honor if we might study a sample of blood belonging to someone as breathtakingly gorgeous as yourself,â as expected, she nodded eagerly, prattling on about how flattered she was. âSplendid,â he cut her off, reaching into his bag and pulling out a sterile needle. Nonchalantly, he held it out to David. âCare to do the honors, doctor?â
Of course. Of course Basil had decided to be mysterious rather than explain his plans. Basil's love of the dramatic was only matched by his devotion to whatever case or experiment he was working on - something that made him brilliant and completely impossible to work with. Did he just..."Did you just say Doctor Dawson? I'm hardly a qualified medical practitioner and my work at the health clinic doesn't mean I can work do any serious work, you can't possibly be thinking..." There was no point in finishing this argument. It was clear the other boy wasn't listening as he scanned the mermaids that could be seen, possibly picking up his targets and identifying what he needed in order to use his 'methods.' Sure enough, with a few words he had two of them swimming over to him and falling under his spell.Â
David always had mixed feelings when he watched this. On the one hand, he couldn't help but admire the actor that Basil was. No one would guess that a moment before he had been deep in plans, constantly working to keep himself interested and learning. But at the same time, David was always more aware of the effect that Basil's acting had. He couldn't help but watch with sympathy as the second mermaid swam away; she probably wouldn't forget Basil's words any time soon and she was one of the few that David would have no chance to go back and make amends to. With a sigh he kept carefully hidden, he watched the rest of the proceedings. His surprise was harder to keep hidden when Basil handed him the needle. He'd drawn blood occasionally before, but not often enough that he trusted himself to do it on someone who thought he was a full doctor. Still, he couldn't let Basil down. Kneeling, he smiled comfortingly at the mermaid. "This might hurt a little, I'm not sure how much this will affect you. Could you trace one of your veins for me?" With a flirtatious smile, she drew one nail along her arm, highlighting the area he would focus on. "Excellent. Now, I'm going to wrap this around your arm so there isn't as much bleeding after it's finished all right?" In a steady tone, he discussed everything he was doing so she wouldn't be surprised in the least. Somewhat miraculously, she barely flinched as he inserted the needle, allowing him to draw the blood without any injury to herself. "There, it's done. You were a fantastic patient, thank you for making it so easy to work with you." With a slight raised eyebrow he looked at Basil, unsure of their next move.Â














