#;past

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‘How long has the patient been here? How’s he doing so far?’

          .....

‘He’s healing just fine but... I don’t know how he’ll be once he wakes up.’

                    ....

‘How anyone could do that to a young Faunus, a young boy.. is beyond me. I hope he’ll be alright.’

The pain never seemed to go away. The nurses and doctors could keep doing what they could, but it just wasn’t able to numb the feeling of them. Maybe it was the haze his young mind had been reduced to, but he could still feel them pressed up against his back as he lay there in the hospital bed.

“....” Every time he closed his eyes. EVERY time. 

Cardin’s face would crumble and he could feel tears form and roll down his cheeks, too tired and in too much pain to even whimper. Why him? What did he do wrong to deserve this? Why... Why his wings, of all things? Thoughts would periodically travel to his family. His dad, his older brother... What would they say?

What would his mother say, if she were still there?

Today was the first day Cardin was awake enough. They were going to try and get him to eat some actual food this time, like it was going to work. The hospital food was gross from the start, and even if he did like it, the smell of anything right now was just too nauseating to deal with.

"Try a bit of food first and see how you feel... Okay?” The nurse urged gently, “You have a visitor coming.. You’ll need your strength.”

“Of course,” she said, grinning. “But patience is a virtue.”

“Patience is over-rated,” he went on, burying his chin and mouth in the crook of her neck. He was warm, and so was she.

“I have errands. Good things are worth waiting for.”

"Good things are always good, why wait? We’re here today, and might be gone tomorrow.”

“Deep for a dull hunter,” she teased as she pulled away from him. He let her slide away, feeling the soft cotton blouse flow through his fingers.

“Even I can be sharp, sometimes. Impressed?”

“Not very,” she said, backing towards the bedroom door and throwing him a coy smile.

“Playing hard to get after I’ve been gone for so long? Why the cruelty?”

when new trainees are accepted and become part of the service, there are always rumours. about their origin, about who recruited them, about why. nobody ever just accepts someone into the ranks without question. jun understands that occasionally this is because people want to know someone first before just accepting them into their midst, but he also remembers from his own early days how horrible all the whispers had made him feel.

so when the grapevine brings word to him of a newly accepted trainee having been plucked right off the streets, his interest is sparked. despite having left the underground world behind him, to come across someone with an alike experience feels a little bit like finding an old friend - without the part where they are well-acquainted.

the possibility of being able to greet a kindred spirit is enough for jun to walk through the headquarters in search of this new addition. male, is all he’s entirely sure of. name, age, looks, everything else is a bit of a mystery to him.

but when he comes across the trainee, he doesn’t require anyone to tell him who it is. there, a little end away, stands a young man with that same stance and that same flicker of his eyes. the year-long training program of the service has brushed only a little bit of the origins out from the younger male’s posture and jun still clearly recognises the vibe.

it’s funny, really, when he thinks about it.

not feeling any hesitation and just a simple set of curiosity and kin, jun closes the distance between him and the younger male. “afternoon.” he nods once, lifting a hand to automatically straighten his suit jacket a bit better. he’s clad in full business suit still after his recently ended briefing.

not wasting any more time, the next words from his lips are to the point. “so, what was it? seoul based mob or just one of the local gangs?”

almost the very beginning, 2011

He seems to freeze for a moment, his mouth dropped open slightly as he blinks, wondering how to respond. 

This is what he’s been waiting for, this opportunity to vent everything, all of his frustrations, all his regrets, all the secret animosity that’s always lurking inside him. He thinks of all the other trainees at Royal, though, and how innocent—in a fairly loose usage of the word, most likely—and kind they are. He thinks of how heartbroken they would be to hear him say these things, and he knows he can’t say it aloud.

Instead he shrugs, giving a generic answer instead of the honest one. “I don’t know. It depends on the company and the situation, I guess.”