Dr. Santa Claus, MD

[saltysanta]

Featuring: Akechi Goro, Noël Christenbell
What's happening: Noël comes to take a look at Akira's clinic and see what he can do to help; Akechi catches him "delivering presents" the way so many little kids dream they could.
What day: February 28th
CW: None yet!


[It's early evening when Noël arrives at the clinic, with a roughly stitched cross-body tote bag made out of a curtain slung over his shoulder. He takes a moment to paint the hinges with fresh oil, then moves on to a window, peering inside. He doesn't see anyone from where he's standing.....

Well, that's not too surprising; Akira is probably still in bed recovering. Noël pulls out his device, still framed by the window as he starts searching for his screen name. As long as he can message the guy to let him in so he can look around, it doesn't matter if Akira goes right back to bed after.]

Comments

[lowkeycrazy]

You know, for being Santa, I can't help but feel like you embody the jolly spirit of Christmas very much.

[just. an observation.]

[saltysanta]

Now you're sounding like Rudolph. Just because the kids are supposed to be cheerful doesn't mean I have to do it too. I don't need to be some grinning idiot just to do my job.

[lowkeycrazy]

Some of the magic may be lost on the children if you're scowling at them.

[saltysanta]

Probably. But even more of it would be if I acted insincere; most kids can spot that sort of thing a mile away.

[lowkeycrazy]

Not a dream job then, I take it?

[saltysanta]

[He could laugh, if he even had the heart to. A dream job, huh? Having some stranger's power choose and inhabit you without your consent, and force you to uproot your life and throw it away in exchange for a destiny you never asked for--as an unpaid, unacknowledged, not even believed in soldier in a war that never ends, one that nobody even realizes exists. A war against horrible, disturbing monsters almost designed to shake people to the very core, whose hearts know no mercy and whose numbers never cease to grow.

Someday, possibly some day very soon, he's going to die for the sake of a total stranger who denies his very existence. He's going to die like a dog, either abruptly, or a slow, lingering, agonizing death, helpless to save himself or the people around him. He's going to die after watching one of the only friends he has left in the world throw his life away for his sake, because that's his duty--and it's all going to be futile, because if he and Rudolph die, whatever godforsaken kid they wasted their lives on is unquestionably going to die, too.

He could laugh, or cry, or scream. He doesn't do any of them. He responds instead, perhaps a little cold, certainly more than a little distant.]

It could be better. But it could be worse, too. At least it's a living.

[lowkeycrazy]

[...hm... there's definitely something going on there, but he gets the sense he shouldn't press it. So he relents.]

I see. At least here you have more freedom to do what you please.

[saltysanta]

Such as it is anyway. Considering the circumstances, nobody here really seems very free.

[What kind of freedom is it, really, where people live their lives cringing and cowering in fear, afraid to even breathe too deeply? A life where tripping and falling even once could be the first and last mistake you ever make, before you're even old enough to realize what you've done?]

[lowkeycrazy]

You'd be surprised. To some, this is a haven compared to what their previous lives were like.

[He's talking about a friend. Obviously. Heeeee's just looking over here to... put the supplies Noel had made in a particular spot!]

[saltysanta]

I suppose so.

[He's thoughtful at that, at least. Would he and Charles have been happier in Reims? And Pierre? There's so much danger here..... but they wouldn't have had to steal for a living, either. Even Charles might have been able to find some kind of work he could do, even with just the one arm.....]

[lowkeycrazy]

I don't blame you if you find that difficult to believe.

[What could be worse than living in fear and under the constant threat of death? Heh... and yet his life was exactly like that, except he was forced to kill as well.]

[saltysanta]

I believe it. It's just not easy to think about.

[Being worse off at home, after all, is a subject that almost anyone would want to avoid thinking or talking about, if they could. If that was the case for Akechi, too--well, it's no business of his, is it? They hardly know each other.]