Scars

[Mothtoto.]

Tomo frowned deepened at the proposal of staying at the clinic while he was recovering. He probably would have gone crazy, sleeping most of the time, and spending his waking hours staring at white walls and eating applesauce. Also, he wasn't really allowed to exercise, so he was getting flabbier by the minute. He stared at the wall opposite him, trying to think of another alternative. Nothing came. He sighed and looked back at the doctor, noticing the smile was finally wiped off his face. He obviously didn't want to have to take care of Tomo anymore. He didn't blame him. Or maybe he felt even sorry for him and didn't want to keep him locked up for more than necessary. But it was probably the former, because according to the doctor, this was necessary.

As he was still looking at the blond doctor, he saw a smile creep onto his face. Does he enjoy the prospect of keeping me here? he thought bitterly. The question was answered by Dr. Robins' next statement. "Well, that would work, but... I don't know you and I'm afraid I'd be too much trouble." He said this to be polite, because he would really rather stay at a stranger's house than here. But, it puzzled him for a second why an American doctor would do something like this. Then it came to him. Of course he wasn't an American doctor with that accent, he was obviously Australian. Plus, he was in Canada... Man, I'm stupid! He wondered what he should say. Should he say no, he'd be fine? Yes, he would be honored? After a moment of thinking, he said, "Well, I'm game if you are!"

[Waddle]

Game? What does that mean? Owen wasn't familiar with the term, but he didn't ask. "You wouldn't be any trouble at all, mate." And, hopefully, Tomo wouldn't be. As long as that person who had shot him didn't come back to finish up the work. Owen pushed that thought aside. "I get off at seven, but we'll have to walk home." He turned to go out the door and paused, half turning back. He couldn't resist.

"As long as you don't mind living by your noisy brother, that is." He made sure his face was completely innocent, the normal goofy grin plastered across his face. He would make sure to note how Tomo reacted. It would probably make no difference, either way, but it would be interesting to see the look on Tomo's face.

[Mothtoto.]

"Well, I wouldn't count on that." Tomo muttered just loud enough to be heard, with a sly grin. He couldn't help a small chuckle, because 'I get off at seven', sounded very much like the two were going on a date. Which he had to assure himself they were doing nothing of the sort. He shuddered slightly, but still smiled. Then he thought about the walk home, "Your apartment better not be far, or you might have to drag me the rest of the way after I pass out. I doubt your strong enough to carry me," he replied.

He made himself comfortable as soon as Dr. Robins started to walk away, preparing for a nice long nap. His eyelids started to droop, when the doctor suddenly spun around to add something else. The small smile slipped off his face as soon as he heard what he had to say. Instead it was replaced with a look that would kill if it could. Owen would be on the floor, no pulse and his chest no longer moving. "Oh, I think I'll manage." In his head he added, You, maybe not... He attempted what he hoped was a smile, but could have been a grimace, he wasn't quite sure.

[Waddle]

"It's not too far," Owen reassured him, hoping it would prove to be true. There was no way he could drag Tomo with the gunshot wound. Without it, Owen might have managed a few yards, but he didn't want to risk ripping the wound open again. That would just be the worst luck. His smile was lost again as he saw the look on Tomo's face at the mention of his brother. Crikey, he's as bad as Old Man Jenkins was about tryin' out his new horses. Owen had many memories of that old man. None of them were good. All of them included Jenkins' herd of fantastic breeding horses, as well as the dogs that were set loose upon any who came within one hundred feet of them.

"Err... Yeah, o' course ya will," he mumbled, then gave a small laugh, and, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't keep the nervous crack out of the laugh. He looked away distractedly, have a small nod and an equally small wave, before shuffling out of the room, pondering over the murderous look.

7:00p.m.

Pushing the door open, Owen poked his head around the corner, as he usually did when he didn't know if the room's contents were asleep or awake. "Psst, wake up," he told Tomo quietly, not sure if he was asleep or awake. "It's seven."

[Mothtoto.]

Tomo assumed a smug smile at the doctor's apparent discomfort. He felt a small tug of guilt, but pushed it away. He brought it up, and he knew I wouldn't like it, he thought to reassure himself. He returned Dr. Robins' wave and smile, and set himself to the task of flossing his teeth.

7:00 P.M.

Tomo's eyes immediately flew open at the sound of Owen's unmistakable accent. "Does it look like I'm asleep?" he asked sardonically, angry because he actually was asleep a few seconds before, but lightly, so he was easily woken. "And why would I-" he started, but suddenly remembered that's when Owen got off and would be leaving with Tomo to his apartment. "Oh, right. I remember." He flung the thin blankets away from his body and heaved himself to a sitting position on the side of the bed. He was suddenly enveloped in a great wave of pain. He clutched at the newly sewn stitches on his chest, breathing heavily and face all scrunched up in excruciation. After some deep breathing, it slowly ebbed away, but not all the way. He got up cautiously, wobbling precariously. It was exactly like the time he had gone sailing with a "friend" from school for a few days, and couldn't walk on land properly for the next week. Except this time his legs were shaky from being in bed for such a terribly long time.

He made his way to Owen, ready to just walk out of there, when he felt a cool breeze on his hind end. Like a slap on the face, he realized he was in a hospital gown. He looked around the room for some of his own clothes. He was surprised when he actually saw his suit case from the hotel sitting right beside his bed. He wondered why in the world it was there, when he saw a note sitting on top of it. He picked up, and after skimming through it, picked up that the hotel had sent it from his room, and had him checked out from his room there. They also said they were sorry for his getting shot. Yeah right, he thought bitterly. After opening it, he pulled out his favorite jeans, some boxers, a belt, a loose shirt, and a pair of sandals. The sandals just because they were the only pair he could find. He slipped into the bathroom, pulled on his pants and such, but found he couldn't raise up his arms far enough to put on his shirt.

After some colorful language, he slipped on his sandals and went out to the doctor with a bare chest. He stood in front of the other man and held out his shirt helplessly, and gave an embarrassed shrug.

[Waddle]

"Not really..." Owen stepped forward to help when he saw the pain strike across Tomo's face, but stopped. He probably wouldn't appreciate you helping him every time he turns around, he thought, still uncertain as to how he should act around Tomo. It would probably annoy him for some stranger to be offering to help every second, or it might not. Owen decided to play it simple, and by that time, Tomo had recovered and stood up. Owen waited as Tomo disappeared into the bathroom, cocking his head a little as vivid curses reached his ears. Interesting. He didn't know what some of the words meant, but he intended to find out before all this was over. He waved to the nurse who came to stand outside the door into the room, pushing a wheelchair. She gave him a curious look, and Owen made a clear, throat-slitting gesture with his hand, then a shooing gesture, as if he were scattering birds. She took the hint and quickly disappeared with the chair.

Owen turned back in time to see Tomo coming out without his shirt. A chuckle escaped him as he took the offered shirt and helped to put it on. At least he's got the sense to ask, well, gesture, or whatever, for help instead of kill himself trying to do everything on his own. He tugged the shirt down the rest of the way around Tomo's waist and took a step back to examine his handiwork. He only then realized how tall Tomo was, a foot, at least, taller than himself. He stared, a whistle hissing through his teeth. "Crikey, you're tall, mate," he pointed out. Was it normal for Canadians to be so tall? Wait, Tomo wasn't Canadian. He was.. Russian? Were Russians that tall? Owen just shook his head and stepped out of the doorway and made a gesture for Tomo to go ahead and step out.

[Mothtoto.]

Tomo stood awkwardly as the shirt was pulled over his head and adjusted to his body. It hung loosely from his body, but that was better in his present condition. Weird, I knew it was loose, but not this loose! he thought with as a questioning look on his face. But of course! I haven't been working out, and I don't believe I've my old appetite as of late! he answered back to himself, this time with a small smile. He also noticed his belt and the waist of his pants were loser. At least my shoes still fit...

"Thank you, Captain Obvious!" he said sarcastically, but with a goodhearted chuckle. He gave the smaller man a noogie, and finished the show with a hard clap on the shoulder. He was in a surprisingly good mood, and happily walked out the door as soon as Owen stepped out the door. He walked as far as the next three doors, but soon had to pause and catch his breath. He also decided to stop and wait for Mr Slowpoke to catch up. He leaned against the wall, looking at the fellow patients, doctors and nurses. The patients were mainly elderly and looked on the brink of death. The nurses mostly woman who looked tired and worn from their long shifts. And the doctors were men and women ranging from their twenties to their sixties.

[Waddle]

Owen just grinned at the suddenly much happier man after he was given a noogie and a clap on the shoulder. Closing the door after Tomo had gone through, he had to say his good-byes and clock out before following Tomo. "Sorry 'bout that, mate," he said as he came up beside him. "House ain't too far away, just make sure that you do rest if you need to." He set off at an easy walk, watching Tomo from the corner of his eye, noting and judging any hesitation or flaw or limp in his step. The man seemed considerably happier, which was good. Owen didn't want to take home a badger that would snap if he said or did one little thing wrong.

He also looks a little on the rich side... Doesn't he? He couldn't tell, but just the way Tomo walked seemed to have an air of authority and confidence and maybe even arrogance about him. Hope he's not a spoiled brat. Owen was pretty good with handling other people and being tolerant - he could keep his tongue between his teeth and his thoughts in his head, at least - but that was only when he didn't have them in his house. Ah, well, you're committed now, there's not much you can do about it. He finally had to say something to break the silence. "You're Russian, right?"

[Mothtoto.]

Tomo picked back up his steady pace as soon as Owen caught up with him. He wondered at first why everyone was doing a double take as he passed them. Maybe they're not used to tall people around here... Or maybe they're wondering why I'm leaving with Dr. Robins. Or it could be that I look like shit, the voice in his head countered back and forth. But the truth was it was all of those things combined that did it. His walking was pretty regular, except with a slight hesitation every time he lifted his right leg.

After a moment of silence, Owen asked him a question. It was a simple question, one with an obvious answer. He could have answered it with a simple "yes", but instead he said "Where do you get these ideas? I'm Mexican!" He guffawed loudly, but quickly regretted it from the pain in his chest and shoulder. He rubbed it slowly and looked at it curiously. "Man, I gotta stop doing that!" he shook his head sadly, but he was quickly distracted again by the nurse who had just walked past. Well, more her butt. He whistled lowly and said with a smirk, "That is one fine badonka-" but he didn't get to finish because because he ran straight into the glass door leading outside of that hellhole. What meds do they give out around here??

[Waddle]

Unable to stop a wince at the sarcasm, Owen grumbled something inaudible without knowing what it was himself. Sheesh, he doesn't have to be so snappy... Well, maybe not snappy, more... strikey? That's not a word, is it? Well, not snappy, more like a snake, but either way, he doesn't have to be so snappy and/or strikey. His outlook on the next half month of living with Tomo was going down very quickly. But he quickly bucked up, thinking that the two just needed to get to know each other some. They weren't even on first-name-terms. Owen might call Tomo by the nickname he had overheard the Russian.. Mexican.. whatever give to a nurse one day, and Owen wasn't one for formalities if he could avoid them, especially in his head.

"What the hell is a-" Then Tomo ran into the glass door. Owen burst out laughing as he gently pulled Tomo off the door, checking to make sure the wound hadn't reopened by a simple touch of his fingertips on the stitching. Owen turned a glare on the janitor who stood, leaning on a mop, a couple yards away, watching and chuckling. They made eye contact and Owen exclaimed, "Will you STOP cleaning this door so perfectly?! If you spend half the time that you do cleaning this door on cleaning the rest of this place, it would be a whole lot better!" The janitor only smiled with self-satisfaction. Owen shoved open the glass door and ran his hand along the smooth surface intentionally to get back at the janitor, whose name he did not remember. He would probably pay for it later, as well as the face print that Tomo had left on the door. Ah well.

"Sorry 'bout that, mate, the janitor's not all there in the head, and likes to clean the door until it's impossible to see and watch people slam into it," He babbled as he guided Tomo around a man sitting in a wheelchair and to the stairs. He thought back to three days previous, when he had been late to work. He had been almost running up the steps to that very door and had run right into it, shattering the glass. It would come out of his paycheck, whenever he got it. He would never forget the victorious look on the janitor's face. Or the look on everyone else's faces. The latter memory made him chuckle quietly to himself.

[Mothtoto.]

After taking note to remember Owen laughed at him, Tomo grabbed Dr. Robins' arm gratefully and heaved himself up. He gave a small intake of breath when the doctor poked his stitches, but fortunately they didn't reopen. He murmured a small "Thank God!" and then made sure to glare at the Janitor extra hard and not say anything to him. He made a small movement like he was about go kick the mop out from under the Janitor, but was distracted yet again. He pointed at the door and burst out laughing. He was laughing because it had a life-sized imprint of himself, plus the Janitor would have to clean it up.

He suddenly stopped his hysterical laughter as he walked out the door. A thought had struck him: What if Nurse Hotbutt saw me?! but he just shrugged, What do I care what she thinks? She's probably ugly, anyways... It was a good excuse, anyways. After Owen had guided him around an old man in a wheel chair and stopped babbling, he said "Cranky little jerk, isn't he?" He said little, but the truth was the Janitor was almost as tall as him. As they started going down the stairs he gripped Owen's shirt. If I'm was going down, then so is he! See how he likes it... He actually liked the doctor, but this was payback for laughing at him if he fell. But if he didn't it would just seem like he was afraid to fall. He heard Dr. Robins give a small laugh when they were almost at the bottom, but just kept on walking until they were at the end of all the stairs. "Where to next, doc?" he turned around to face the doctor, and placed his hands on his hips.

[Waddle]

Owen turned and looked at Tomo, thinking he looked quite silly with his hands on his hips like that. Keeping that thought to himself, he smiled and replied, "Er, this way, I reckon." He started walking. He needed to find the time to explore this town, because he wasn't sure where his apartment was, though he usually found it easily by just letting his feet take him there. It was hard to explain, and it didn't make much sense, but if he tried to think of where he lived, and, say, directions to the place, he couldn't. He just had to let his feet do the walking and his brain not do the thinking. Maybe he could take the time to explore by air. That would be interesting. He glanced up at the sky, wondering if any rainclouds would move in that might disrupt such a plan, but everything looked clear.

"Pretty nice weather they got 'round here, as far as I can tell," he said to no one in particular, the words coming out of his mouth just as they came to his head.

[Mothtoto.]

Tomo shrugged at the doctor's uncertainty. It didn't seem like he knew where his apartment was, but at least they couldn't get too lost in such a small town. Or, at least, that's what he thought. But he was oh so wrong. You could easily get lost in back alleys, small forests, and apartment complexes. But, of course he didn't know this, so he just followed the doctor and decided it was best to trust his motives and direction. He ran his fingers along the tall chain link fence they were walking alongside, wondering how long they were going to have to go. He thought about asking Owen, but decided against it because he would definitely not know. He kept his hand outstretched and running along the fence until it ended.

"If you walk around looking into the sky you're surely going to fall, Doctor," he told Owen shortly after he noticed him staring into the sky. "And if you stare at the sun you'll go blind," he added in his smooth Russian accent. He noticed they had reached a series of apartment complexes, and wondered which one they would be staying at, but remembered not to ask just in the nick of time. "Well, I really don't give a damn about the weather! And it doesn't give a damn about me!" he replied, but not harshly. He gave a tiny cackle and kept walking behind the doctor. He ambled slowly behind the other man, kicking up dust with his shuffling pace. After about a minute or so he broke down, "Are we almost there? Do you even know where we're going?" He stopped walking to take a rest, leaning against a mailbox. This was a mistake. The wood post couldn't hold his weight and snapped in half. It sent him reeling into the middle of the street, where he tripped on a cat that he had spooked with the loud noise. After recovering his balance, he sat down on the sidewalk's edge, breathing heavily. "Okay, I know I haven't been able to work out in a while, but I couldn't have gotten very fat on applesauce, water, and chicken broth." He picked up a splintered piece of wood and tossed it into the air. When he caught it he realized it was wet and a bit rotten. "Good gracious, what a piece of junk!" he murmured and tossed the piece of wood at Owen.

[Waddle]

Owen looked in front of him as Tomo mentioned falling down just in time to avoid a fault in the sidewalk that would have tripped him up. He grinned back at Tomo. "Guess you're right. Oh, and call me Owen." He paused and listened to the man speak again, then laughed. "I like weather, it's fun to," he hesitated, almost about to say 'fly in', decided against it and said, "just watch. Mother Nature's an amazing thing." Relieved he hadn't said something involving flying, and annoyed because he almost had, he stopped as Tomo leaned against the mailbox. "Oh, we're close, I can feel it in my feet," he replied with a sly smile.

The smile fell as the mailbox broke and Tomo was sent tumbling. The cat raced between Owen's legs, fur standing up on his back and tail fluffed out to three times its normal size. Owen ran forward and knelt down beside him, once again making sure that the bullet wound hadn't reopened. "Easy there, you need to be more careful, mate!" he exclaimed, worried. He caught the wooden shrapnel and examined it quickly. It was rotted and looked as if termites had taken a liking to it. He tossed the thing back in the yard and looked at the house. It appeared deserted. The windows were shuttered, the door looked like it hadn't been opened in ages and the lawn was overrun with weeds. It sent a shiver down his spine for some reason, and he shook his head to get rid of the spooky images of the place. He sat down on the sidewalk as well, trying to find something to say, and was unable to. Then he remembered when Tomo ran into the door and asked, "What the hell is a 'badonka'?"

[Mothtoto.]

Tomo smiled over at the other man, but a small giggle escaped from his lips. He really didn't want to explain what a 'badonka' was, so he decided it high time to humor the doctor. Well, Owen, as he now wanted to be called. He straightened his face, putting on a mask of pure seriousness. "You know, if you make half a good a friend as you do a doctor... I figure I'll be in pretty good shape," he said firmly. He not only humored the man, but, hopefully, changed the subject. Tomo looked into Owen's eyes for a moment before heaving himself into a standing position.

After turning around slowly to face the house that the mailbox was property of, he noticed how it was in such a state of ruins. Well, not exactly ruins, more like boarded up and overrun with vermin and weeds. He took a step onto the sidewalk and slipped his hands into his pockets. He slowly started to whistle the tune of Mr. Rogers, but stopped as soon as it clicked in his brain. He cleared his throat and started walking in the wrong direction, though he didn't know it at the time. He stopped in his tracks, waiting for Owen to catch up. Looking to his left, he saw his own reflection staring hungrily back at him. At first he wondered why there was a mirror beside him, and how it got there. But then he realized, like a slap in the face, that he was looking into one of the windows of the large, empty house settled to the west. He smirked at his stupidity, but the face that stared back at him he found somehow demented. He closed his eyelids, to feel alone, and safe, but the image lingered in front of his eyes. His eyes flew open as he picked up a rock from the gravel sitting beside the sidewalk. He threw it up once, and caught it in the flat of his palm. He fingered it slowly then tightened his features and threw it as hard as he could at the window. It hit straight where the face of his reflection had been. The glass shattered, making a large hole in the middle. Cracks weaved themselves outward, away from the hole. He thought of it as a metaphor. I am the black hole, and everyone else are the cracks, slowly distancing themselves from my reach, he thought darkly.

But then all the negative thoughts went away as he saw the cheery doctor from the corner of his eye. He seemed to like Tomo okay. And even if like was too strong a word, then he at least tolerated his presence. But he thought on it a bit more, and realized that, like he said before, they would be friends. Tomo would make sure of that.