one in the hand , - - - [avery]

[KNOX CAESAR KETILL]

As a child, Knox had very few accidents as a whole. There were two major ones of which he still had very specific memories, though. First, there was the near-drowning. That had left no physical marks on him, except maybe on his lungs. He didn’t know about that; only a doctor would, and even that seemed unlikely. The incident had, however, caused a few mental scars, he supposed. He had nightmares about the event occasionally. He generally stayed away from water. He still wasn’t going to try swimming anytime soon, and larger bodies of water than about the size of a bathtub or hot tub unnerved him. Larger bodies than those were ones in which he could drown. He didn’t have the swimming skills to risk his life again. The other incident had not threatened his life, unlike the almost-drowning. That had just left a long scar on his forearm, still visible today. He knew from experience that glass was sharp. Reaching through a window was stupid and dangerous. He had no plans of ever doing it again unless a life was at stake or something along those lines.

A life had not been at stake for the cut on his hand, which had slid right across the pre-existing one as he’d been trying to make himself a sandwich. A door had slammed shut. The sound had startled him—the knife had slid—blood had spilled from the resulting cut, accompanied by sharp pain that surprised him. Why did hands have to be so sensitive? He’d wrapped his hand in a towel to soak up the blood that poured forth and headed to the medical wing. He hadn’t been there in quite a while. He couldn’t remember the last time he had, to be honest. The only reason he’d gone there was because it was closer, and he honestly didn’t know where the first-aid kit was at his own home, which probably wasn’t a smart move anyway. He still felt terrible for leaving his sandwich things on the counter. He hated making a mess. He hated messes anyway. He would rather clean one than cause one, which was why he’d nearly turned back once. But he needed to get the cut check out first. He didn’t want that to get infect. That would just end poorly. And he’d clean up the mess later. Hopefully anyone who encountered it would understand, considering there were probably drops of blood left behind.

He glanced down at the towel he’d wrapped around his hand. It was starting to visibly soak with blood. Just how much blood was in a person’s hand anyway? He flexed his fingers and regretted it. Ow. Why did that hurt so much? Maybe the muscles tugged on the cut or something. He didn’t know for sure, but it still hurt. He should have been more careful. He shouldn’t be so damn jumpy. Why had he reacted the way he had, anyway? There was nothing scary or frightening about a door shutting. Surprising, yes, but not scary. Not dangerous. Not threatening. He’d overreacted and he really should not have. His head hung. Now he was taking time out of someone’s day because he’d been stupid. Of course, taking care of hurt people was the doctor’s job, but the point still stood. Maybe there was someone with a far worse injury there? He’d feel even worse then.

As soon as he found the door, the earth elemental turn to one side and shouldered it open, not wanting to use the hurt hand or the one holding the towel to it for fear he’d get some sort of bacteria or blood on the door handle. He took a moment to look around, not sure where the doctor was, and ended up waiting a bit awkwardly next to the door. It wasn’t bad, but then he didn’t know where the band-aids were. At least, he didn’t think it was bad. Maybe it was bleeding so much because he’d carved into a major vein or artery or something. Idiocy on his part. He unwrapped and rewrapped the towel, careful not to splash or spill anymore blood around, then shoved his sleeve up a bit more. The end was a little stained, but that was okay. Then, thinking there was no point in just waiting until he bled to death or reached some other dramatic conclusion, he called hesitantly, “Uh, he-hello?”

[/color] His voice didn’t reach nearly as much volume as he wished, but that was hardly abnormal.[/size][/justify][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[AVERY JUNNOSUKE KAEL]

Avery was never the most coordinate of people. He was clumsy, quite frankly, and always managed to hurt himself at the worst timing. Like today for instance--just walking along happily on his break, taking a stroll in the courtyard. Nothing out of the ordinary, just enjoying the day and the pleasant chatter and laughter of passing students. That is, until a football came flying out of nowhere. In an attempt to dodge it, Avery thought that he'd be okay if he just ducked and stayed in fetal position. To his relief, the football landed two feet away from him and he was safe from harm. At least he thought so. As Avery got up from his position, he managed to get his annoying coat caught on his footing and he face planted right in the middle of the courtyard. Where everyone was staring. And laughing. Thankfully there were a few students who asked if he were okay and brought him to his office. Being embarrassed was an understatement, but Avery couldn't help but laugh at himself as the students tried patching his face up. Eventually it just turned into fun and games, because by the end of it his whole head was covered in gauze. Oh, kids these days.

Pawing at the air to make sure he wasn't going to run into anything, Avery made his way to his desk. At least he think he was. Avery knew the place like it was the back of his hand, but then again...he was pretty much blind right. Man, they tied up this gauze pretty tight. Avery then began to paw at his face, trying to find an opening, and when his finger got caught in a gap, he cried out in success. Ripping it, the gauze began to unravel until Avery was actually able to see again. Not to self: never let high school kids patch you up. Even if they insist they took a first aid class before; Do. Not. Believe. Them. THE CAKE IS A LIE.

Walking over to the mirror to see what kind of damage was done, Avery scrunched his face at what he saw. He had a few cuts and a bruise on his left cheek and temple. "Stupid coat...wouldn't have happened...stupid football..." Avery grumbled to himself, opening up his first aid kit to treat himself. This wasn't the first time this happened, but it was definitely the first time where it was noticeable. It had always been a scraped knee or elbow; somewhere hidden and where he didn't have to explain. But this. This was embarrassing and inevitable. Avery took another look at his face rubbing his cheeks as he pouted. "My beautiful face...better not scar..." and Avery continued to grumble at his clumsiness as he put some bandages on his face. Avery didn't hear the door opening, which was unusual because that thing creaked like an old wood floor. Instead, he continued to talk to himself, finally finishing first aid on himself. Avery sighed and turned away from the mirror, still horrified at the thought of any scars, and took off his long, white coat because he noticed grass stains and traces of blood. As if that wasn't scary.

Stopping for a brief moment, Avery could sense another presence in the room. His suspicions were confirmed when a timid voice called out and he poked his head out from the corner. "Sorry, didn't hear you come in," Avery apologized, walking closer to the student. He looked unfamiliar, and the way he called out so timidly, Avery would say he was an earth. But hey, that was just a guess. Avery flashed a smile. "What brings you here tod--oh God there's blood." Avery rushed over to the student, gingerly taking the bloody hand in his. "Why didn't you say anything sooner?" He then led the student by the uninjured hand to the closest bed, frowning slightly as he slowly unraveled the wound. "I'm Dr. Kael, by the way." Avery glanced up briefly to flash a smile, then continued. "If you play nice I might let you call me Avery," he said, his tone somewhat suggestive. Ah, his shameless flirting had no limits.

[KNOX CAESAR KETILL]

Knox had very little experience with romance, partially because he generally kept any and all interests he had a secret because he wasn’t supposed to be interested in the first place, according to some people. No one usually ever found out such things because he didn’t want them to. He didn’t count it lying just because you weren’t telling the whole truth. That, and he generally wasn’t interested in people. He knew to avoid pain when he could, which usually made it easier for him because he did his best not to get interested in people who had no chance of ever being interested in him. Easy, right? Right. The other thing was that when people were interested in him, Knox generally didn’t notice. He didn’t pick up on flirting. He didn’t pick up on advances. He took them as normal conversation, though he always found the tone a bit odd. The mass of compliment wasn’t always the most comfortable thing for him either, so he assumed that he reacted poorly considering the intention behind that. Why did flirting include compliments anyway? He didn’t understand the process at all.

Generally, it was easier to dislike things one didn’t understand. That was why people disliked being afraid—they didn’t understand why they were afraid in the first place sometimes. It was why people didn’t like those smarter than them—they didn’t understand the intelligence. Knox had never really felt that wrath. He was intelligent, yes, but he wasn’t about to show off about it. He wasn’t sociable enough for that. Besides, he was no genius. He was just good at learning. There was a point where he stopped, where it became hard, just like for everyone else. If he’d intended to something huge and big, he might have succeeded, but huge and big things usually required math and he didn’t do well with numbers. Nor did he like them.

Maybe that was why he had no idea how much time he was waiting before he opened his mouth, though he knew the medical specialist reacted almost immediately after he called out. He blushed but smiled timidly, trying not to give the wrong impression. He didn’t want the doctor to think he’d gotten into a fight or something. The wound on his hand wouldn’t hint at that most likely anyway, unless someone had pulled a knife on him. Considering the type of people who studied at the academy, the knife situation was unlikely and unnecessary. They could do a million other things to beat each other up. They could whip each other with water, if they had the experience, or burn each other, or throw rocks, or electrocute one another. Knox wasn’t generally one for fighting, so he didn’t know what fights looked like. He was glad he’d managed to avoid the problems with the alliances, mostly because he stuck to himself.

He let the doctor take his hand, blushing. He should have spoken up sooner, but he didn’t want to bother anyone. Maybe he’d been seeing someone else and interrupted that to see him? He hoped not and felt even worse for the possibility. Although… he studied the doctor’s face, distracted for a minute. He looked like he wasn’t in the most wonderful condition either. The earth elemental wanted to ask if everything was all right, but he was being tugged somewhere by his unhurt hand, and the wounds on the doctor’s face didn’t look too extreme, like they had happened a little while ago. At the same time, they looked fresh, which made him wonder, but he didn’t want to be nosy. Instead of commenting on that, he chose to answer the question, still standing in front of him as if he hadn’t noticed there was a bed behind him. “I didn’t… didn’t wa-want to b-bother…”

[/color] His voice was soft, as embarrassed as was proved by the fact that he was still blushing—he could feel the heat in his cheeks.

He nodded at the introduction, taking the name in quickly, but a bit confused with the last statement. Play nice? They weren’t playing anything. Did he just mean that Knox should behave? He wasn’t an ill-behaved person, regardless whether that was believable from the cut on his hand. He was nice, when he opened his mouth. His parents and nannies had raised him to be polite, civil, no matter what the situation. And since the doctor had introduced himself, he had to reciprocate with his name, which he also managed to mangle with a stutter: “I-I’m Kno-Knox.”[/color] He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to behave one way or another. He was starting to get nervous again, to be honest. He was always nervous, though, which was frustrating. He couldn’t stop his nerves from dancing around in his head, making his heart thud nervously and something playing with his breath, making it difficult. So what was he to do? Explain himself. He’d probably ask anyway. Though Knox didn’t really want to talk. “I just… c-cut myself whi-while m-making a, uhm, a sa-sandwich.”[/color]

It was a stupid mistake. It was embarrassing that he’d reacted the way he had. His eyes fell to his shoes, still embarrassed as the towel revealed the gash on his hand. It still hurt.[/size][/justify][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[AVERY JUNNOSUKE KAEL]

Glancing at the student, Avery couldn't help but smile. He was obviously very shy, and the way he was blushing, Avery could tell it was a pretty bad case of it. Nonetheless, he thought of it as adorable, but Avery knew from experience he had to refrain himself from his flirty antics. He was the very opposite of being shy; he was rather shameless, to put simply. No matter who it was, Avery would start up a conversation like there was no tomorrow. Didn't know a thing about the other person? That was okay, because Avery's specialty was strangers. He liked strangers; he didn't know a thing about them, and they didn't know a thing about him either. Which came in handy since Avery was ashamed of his past. The less people who knew the better, and thankfully, it was just a few people. Mostly the teachers at the Academy currently who were classmates of his when he was a student. Avery had changed tremendously since the time he was a teenager. That was all that mattered, right? No need to go into details. Especially when it was the reason his life turned into turmoil in the first place.

Avery could feel the student's gaze on him and shifted slightly. Please don't ask, please don't ask... It was embarrassing enough. Maybe he could come up with some complex story of why he had these wounds all over his face. Avery was walking the halls and he tried to stop a fight between a fire and a water? Nah, too messy. He knew if that story spread, it'd eventually get to the teachers and he'd have to give out names, which he didn't have. Patting the student on the shoulder lightly, he offered a gentle smile. "No such thing. Now sit down so I can fix your wounds," he ordered, but his tone playful. This wasn't the first time Avery had dealt with overly shy patients. It generally ended up with awkward silences, either due to not knowing how to respond to Avery's antics, or they didn't pick up on it at all and are oblivious to it. At those times Avery himself feels embarrassed--he was a very friendly and outgoing person, but he just felt flustered when he encountered introverts. They just knew how to mess with his mind.

He could tell it was one of those moments where the person who was receiving the flirting didn't understand. Avery laughed a bit inside. Oh, how adorable. "Knox. Cool name," he said, smiling. The boy was obviously very nervous and instinctively, Avery put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You know what, just call me Avery." It was the least Avery could do at the moment to make Knox feel comfortable. The nurse wasn't good with these kinds of things--hell, he was better at making the atmosphere rather awkward because of his flamboyant personality, but hey. At least he was trying. Avery blinked as Knox explained himself and he bit his lips trying to stop himself from laughing."Was it at least a good sandwich?" he asked jokingly, his tone light and playful. The last thing he wanted to do was offend Knox unknowingly (Avery tended to do that with people) so he was extra careful with his words and tone.

Knox's eyes dropped to the ground in obvious embarrassment and Avery, sighing in defeat, used one last trick card to ease him. Patting him on the shoulder, Avery pointed to his face. "You know how I got these?" he asked, a smirk on his face to hide his own embarrassment. "I face planted in the middle of the courtyard," Avery explained proudly. "People were laughing hysterically, and let me tell you, it hurt like hell." He smiled again at Knox and then continued. "Birds of the same feather, flock together," he said in a sing-song voice, laughing as he shook his head. "Now that we got that over with, how 'bout we finally patch you up?" Avery got up from his stool and to his desk, where he pulled out a first aid kit. Returning to Knox, he fully examined his hand again. "Thankfully the cut isn't too deep, but it's gonna take a while for it to heal." Avery led Knox to the sink, where he let the warm water run."This is gonna hurt a bit, so brace yourself. You can hold me if you want." The last part slipped before he could stop himself and he laughed softly to himself, before gently cleaning the wounded hand.

[KNOX CAESAR KETILL]

Knox was not easily offended. As soft spoken as he was, he understood that many people said things without taking into account that they could possibly be insulting. He had a relatively thick skin in the department, but not when it came to people who were just cruel or frightening. Physical was worse than emotional in some cases, but perhaps he only thought that because he was so not used to actually experiencing deep emotional distress. Sure, he got nervous easily. Sure, he tended to avoid people because they frightened him in large groups. Sure, he hated trying to make a speech in front of a class and usually failed miserably at doing so. But that wasn’t proper distress. The most he’d freaked out in a while was usually over losing a friend or someone finding out one of his more closely-guarded secrets. Those things truly frightened him, and when he thought about emotional distress, he usually thought of moments in which he couldn’t breathe through the fear. As for other emotions, he wasn’t sure if he ever had emotional distress. He had never been truly in love, or so exasperatingly jealous that he wanted to claw someone’s eyes out. He had never been so angry that he wanted to hurt someone or throw something, except occasionally at himself, and he internalized that. Sadness… he wasn’t sure if he’d ever had that. True sadness, full of desperation and tears that couldn’t be prevented, was foreign to him. He didn’t want to feel that sort of pain.

Of course, most people didn’t really want to feel any sort of pain. Pain was a generally negative thing, and the majority of people avoided it, as well as causing it. Sadists, masochists, and sadomasochists were a different category. He ignored the idea that some people said everyone had a little bit of one of those three in themselves. He didn’t believe it. Some people just didn’t like the idea of pain. Was that hard to accept or something? He didn’t think so.

As for the pain in his hand, he didn’t particularly enjoy it. It hurt, and that was unpleasant. He took no pleasure in it. That was enough for him. The smile the doctor offered him was enough to have him relax a little, and he saw no trouble in obeying, though part of him—a small part that liked to complain—pointed out the other could surely be a bit more professional and sound more like an actual doctor. Or nurse. Why were the medical professionals at schools so frequently called nurses? It was odd. He sank onto the hospital bed, looking around curiously. The place didn’t smell as badly as some hospitals did, which he supposed was a good thing. He should keep positive at a time like this, right? Admittedly, it wasn’t a terrible situation. He just had a cut on his hand. He wasn’t about to slip into a coma, and, thankfully, neither was the man who was supposed to be helping him out. He didn’t think the man would hurt him in any way. He’d have gotten fired if he hurt the students. So it was better for both of them that he didn’t, and Knox felt there was no point to becoming a medical aid if one preferred causing pain to healing it. If he’d wanted to hurt people, he could have joined some branch of the military, though they weren’t supposed to torture, for which the boy was glad.

He didn’t have the same feeling when the man pointed out that his name wasn’t entirely normal, but he dropped it and didn’t comment. The quiet was one he didn’t mind so much. Why should he complain? He hadn’t chosen it. He couldn’t feel offended, therefore. He wasn’t offended at all the physical contact either, but he was starting to wonder why the hand kept returning to his shoulder. Did he have something on his shoulder? He craned his neck, but saw nothing. His gaze flickered back around, catching the words with a nod of his head that was quick and curt, not wasting any extra time or energy on the process. It was a simple enough gesture. Simplicity was a good thing. Simplicity kept things from being complicated. Math could be quite complicated. It wasn’t simplicity when you had one thing that a meant a thousand different ones in different contexts, when you were trying not to find a value, but the values around it, because the value itself didn’t truly exist. Why did you want to know what was around the value if the value didn’t exist? He found it confusing and nonsensical and wanted no part of it. So he stayed away from mathematics, math-based physics, and other forms of science that required a proper understanding of math past more basic algebraic levels. He didn’t really need the more complicated things anyway, at least not in daily life.

“I did-didn’t eat th-the-the s-sandwich,” he mumbled quietly, not meeting his eyes as he stared at the wound. He hadn’t much wanted to talk about the situation. It just seemed a bad idea, or at least an embarrassing one, but admitting that he’d cut himself making a sandwich was bad enough. Who did that? No one who didn’t jump at the slightest sound like a mouse or something. He sighed, but felt he needed to explain a little more, and added weakly, “I… I c-came here… b-because I cut-cut m-my-myself. I left a mess.” That part sucked to admit, too, because he hated whoever was cleaning it up while he was sitting here having his hand looked at. His hand was his business. It was the doctor’s, too, which was why he’d come here. The thing was, the doctor’s wounds weren’t any of Knox’s business, which was why he hadn’t asked about them. When the man shared the information, he was a little shocked at first, but tried to understand the sense among the words and tone. The man sounded proud of his accident. Why was he proud that he’d fallen? Knox would have been mortified. He hated being laughed at. He wouldn’t have been able to laugh at himself like that, but then he’d also barely been able to share how he’d cut his hand.

He knew it had to be cleaned, because he didn’t know what sort of things from his sandwich had been on the knife at the time, or what of that could cause an infection of some sort. He winced when the water slid over his skin and hit the wound, holding still. Out of instinct, his free hand curled around the fabric of the doctor’s sleeve and held on to that so he could bite through the pain in a metaphorical sense. The comment made him blush and almost retract his hand, but he held it when something touched on the wound that was particularly unpleasant. He felt as though he should say something, and his lips parted with the thought, but he knew no words to force past. He closed his mouth again, staring at the edge of the sink and the four shoes he could see past it. He took another deep breath. He could feel the strain on the fabric in his hand from Avery’s sleeve, but he also knew he wasn’t strong enough to rip it, thankfully.

[AVERY JUNNOSUKE KAEL]

In this line of work, of course he met people just like Knox who were shy, tense, and nervous. Avery dealt with them the best he could, but even then (with his cheerful and bright and slightly flirtatious nature) it wouldn't help, but he was determined nonetheless to be able to get them break out of his shell for a little bit. And thing was, the reason why he tried to push so hard was because Avery had a bad habit of losing confidence fast. If someone unsuccessfully responded to his outgoing personality, well, it was like a blow to the ego. And Avery had a lot of that--even though he flat out denies it. It was also hard to deal with the bitter aftertaste of the awkward silence that would follow--ugh, he could not stand those and he'd fidget nonstop due to him being uncomfortable. They'd most likely be happy for the silence, but Avery didn't do well when he was quiet for a long period of time. It did...weird things to him and it would mentally drain him, and that is something no one wanted to deal with. Thankfully, only a few select people had to deal with that (mostly his co-workers) but he'd pray for the day a student saw that. They'd mostly likely not want to come back to Avery's office.

Every now and then Avery would glance at Knox, somewhat fascinated. In all honesty, he couldn't understand shy people. It wasn't a bad thing, but he wondered how they got like that. Did they inherit their personality from one of their parents by spending too much time with them? Or was there some trauma that made them like that? Or maybe they were just...born like that? Times like these, Avery wished he studied psychology or something. Don't get him wrong, he loved his job here, being the Academy's nurse, but how the mind worked was always an interesting topic for him. And plus, with all the different personalities of the students here at the Academy, well, he found psychology rather helpful and it taught him how to act around them. If Avery was his usual self around the students, the following would happen: they would get extremely annoyed (thunders), they would lose their temper (fires), they would play along or find him hilarious (waters), they wouldn't know how to react or be oblivious (earths), or it'd just be a whole bi-polar mix of it (winds). Sometimes Avery wished he had a handbook or something. It'd be a lot more helpful--or maybe just have all the students wear badges indicating which element they were in. So Avery would know what to do and how to act.

Knox's quiet demeanor slightly made Avery uneasy. It was always the quiet ones to be careful of, because Avery felt like they'd crumble in his hands or break down in the middle of his office without him knowing what to do but comfort them. Ugh, Avery was a mess inside right now, so he just opted to keep a small smile on his face. Smiles were nice, right? Anyways, Avery kept himself quiet as he listened with deep care as Knox spoke again. His voice was so soft and fragile, Avery was just about ready to jump up and hug the poor guy. "Right, duh!" he said, laughing at his own stupidity. Why would Knox eat the sandwich in the first place? It was probably covered in blood. Avery glanced up at Knox, feeling the embarrassment radiating from the student, so he offered a smile. "No need to be embarrassed!" he chirped cheerfully. "I've seen and heard much worse." He leaned in closer to Knox, smirking slightly as if he was telling a big secret. "There was once a fire who came in because she thought it'd be cool to jump down from a fifteen foot tall tree." He shook his head, laughing. Oh, kids these days.

Avery smiled as he saw the blush creep up on Knox's cheeks. "Ah, how adorable," he let slip and he shook his head in amusement. Avery felt Knox gripping onto his sleeve, though he made no comment. It reminded him of a child, holding onto his hand. After a moment, a shut off the water and patted the hand Knox was gripping his sleeve. "The worst part is over, I promise!" He grabbed a nearby towel and gently patted the wound to let it dry, and nodded his head towards the bed to let Knox know to wait for Avery there. "I'll be right back!" And Avery scurried off into the corner of the room to get some gauze from the medical cabinet. As he rummaged through. he decided to make conversation. "Is this the first time you've been to the medical wing?" he called out, poking his head around the corner. "I don't think I've seen you before, and I always remember the cute ones~" Okay, maybe that was too much, but Avery couldn't help it. The shy ones were always the ones that tugged his heartstrings (and not in the pedo way!).

[KNOX CAESAR KETILL]

The debate frequently called “nature versus nurture” was one that fascinated Knox, though he didn’t bother to keep up on it. Were people born the way they ended up, or were they raised to be that way? Was it perhaps both? The influence would make sense to him. He doubted that a person’s personality was set from the get-go, but he also questioned that only the way one grew up could affect how one turned. After all, there were people who grew up exactly as serial killers did, but who didn’t end up as serial killers themselves. While an extreme example, it was one that always made him stop and pause. It was impossible that it was solely “nurture.” Could it be solely “nature?” He doubted that, too, because he didn’t think any two people were alike. Nature was inherently made up of chemicals in the brain, the way neurons fired off and whatever else was going on between one’s ears. The processes, he felt, could be the same, but people never were. So what was the deal? There had to be some balance between the two, but which way did that balance tip? What was more influential than the other? Maybe they were equally influential. After all, nature controlled how one reacted to the way he or she was nurtured. A serial killer’s nature allowed the growth of sadism from his childhood that was absent in an otherwise normal person with a similar early life.

Was it his nature that demanded his stutter? Was it the way his parents and nannies and tutors had raised him that made him paranoid? He knew very well that he wasn’t a trusting person. He wouldn’t deny it if asked. But he wouldn’t share either. When he shared, it meant he trusted someone. He didn’t trust just anyone. The people he honestly trusted were probably easy to count on just the one hand, and they were usually people he had known for a little while. He didn’t like going through the list. Despite the fact that he rarely sought out company, even he found it a bit depressing to think about just how few people he actually liked and trusted enough to share his secrets with—when it came to secrets. Did he have many? Not necessarily. They were secrets nonetheless, and secrets typically weren’t meant to be shared. Secrets, though, could lead to trouble. They had for Romeo and Juliet. If you must keep your relationship a secret, you probably shouldn’t be in the relationship in the first place. Was this true? If so, he shouldn’t ever enter a relationship he actually wanted because he felt that anyone he’d be attracted to would have to be kept a secret. Secrets. While not necessarily numerable, they could still be consuming if they hid a majority of someone’s identity. While sexuality didn’t necessarily count for that majority, it was still a part of him he kept secret—except for those few people whom he trusted enough to share it.

Because of this secret, flirting made Knox a little nervous when he managed to pick up on, or was told someone was flirting with him. If it happened to be a female, he typically thought about how it would be best to turn her down. Those were the very rare times (either people didn’t flirt with him, or he just never picked up on it; he favored the former) he considered using his friend as an excuse. He wouldn’t outright lie, simply because he didn’t particularly enjoy lying nor did he consider it a good idea, but he was tempted to excuse himself by saying his parents had someone planned for him and he didn’t wish to anger them. The words had never left his lips. If the person was male, he tended to be twice as uncomfortable simply because he was frightened that someone had found him out, and that his parents would find out as a result. He didn’t want to imagine their reactions. He didn’t want to think about who else might possibly know. For him, as a whole, it was best when he didn’t realize that someone was flirting with him at all, simply because it kept him at a state of relaxation slightly deeper than the one he usually managed around strangers. Relaxation was not something he was good at, at least not when he was around people.

A handbook, he agreed unknowingly, would be an extremely useful thing at times, but even a handbook couldn’t possibly explain everything there was in the world. No handbook would be large enough. No person could be smart or patient enough to write it. So why wish for the impossible? People would just amble through their lives in confusion whether it existed or not.

It was confusion that dominated him as he watched the doctor move through his motions, behaving in a manner he couldn’t place anywhere in memory. He seemed so… chipper. At least the man wasn’t excessively morose or upset about something. That would have made him all the more nervous about his own wound, perhaps added a smidge of guilt for being a bother when the other had more important business needing attention. But no—he was paying attention to Knox and his wound, which he wouldn’t normally appreciate, but he did manage to appreciate the attitude, though he couldn’t mimic it in a million years. He smiled a little in amusement when the jumping fire came up, feeling a little pleased a the choice of element despite himself. The alliances were a bit ridiculous, but they were so deeply ingrained he couldn’t have prevented the stroke of pleasure at hearing one of the people he normally feared getting themselves hurt through mere stupidity. Of course, it also instilled an immediate guilt for that happiness, but he pushed it away quickly.

Relax. He could do that, right?

Apparently not. He flushed scarlet again when the doctor commented on his childish behavior—it was anything but adorable, in his opinion (more like pathetic)—and patted his hand a moment later. The hand dropped immediately. He didn’t let himself wince as the towel patted at the cut, keeping his gaze downward, catching the nod just seconds before his gaze escaped. He headed back to the bed and sat, still feeling the embarrassment rushing through his system. He didn’t consider himself cute at all, which made the following compliment a little awkward to him. “Cute” was a term to be applied to children and small animals and maybe even to some teenage girls, if they behaved appropriately, but he didn’t feel it was fair to call a teenage boy that. It was sort of in the same vein as calling women “beautiful” and men “handsome.” He didn’t even know why the difference had the potential to be bothersome, but it was, and that alone bothered him, which made the situation all the more ridiculous. “N-No,”

[/color] he called back, finally, trying to come up with something additional to say because he felt it was called for. “I… I think I would ha-have remembered… you-you, too…”[/color] Was that an okay thing to say? He didn’t know. He never knew. The hand that wasn’t wounded lifted and rubbed at his forehead. He was just making a fool of himself left and right.[/size][/justify][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[AVERY JUNNOSUKE KAEL]

Out of all the patients Avery ever had, he could say Knox was the one that was the most painfully shy. Not that the nurse minded, rather it was sort of endearing, but there were times where not even Avery's confidence and outgoing personality would save this somewhat awkward atmosphere. And that got Avery thinking--was the atmosphere really awkward, or was that just him? Because he didn't understand the shy, quiet types, so why should he label the whole atmosphere as uncomfortable when maybe they didn't think that way? The whole concept was confusing, but Avery wondered what it was like for the other party. They obviously prefer the silence and talking to the minimum, so maybe this was actually...comfortable? He sighed internally. All this thinking was making his brain hurt; no more of this elaborate, intricate thinking! Though in a way, Avery guessed he could understand being shy...he was, sort of, in his Academy days. But that was by choice, and he really wasn't shy. Rather, he secluded himself from the rest and was rarely social because of some things happening in his life--and that's where he finally understood, kind of. Environment always shapes a person's life, no matter how positive or negative. Avery looked on at Knox with fascination now, though he quickly dropped his gaze when he realized that would only make the situation a bit more weird. And so he settled with going back to his days at the Academy, how different he was compared to now. Avery was still guarded nonetheless, but the person he was right now would've been the same person he cringed at ten years ago. Oh, how times have changed. And for the better.

"And he smiles~!" Avery exclaimed, probably more excited than he should be. Back when he was at the Academy, he could definitely share the feelings Knox had right now. Stupid stories of anyone from the enemy alliance hurting themselves was like music to the ears, especially because Avery had been bullied in his high school days. Now that he was older though, he grew a lot more tolerant than he would've ever thought. Besides, he was a doctor nurse now--no need to get petty feelings over things that happened in the past. Plus, the stories kind of endeared him now, like how people can be so stupidly adorable just to fit it. "And relax, I won't bite~"

The corners of Avery's lips tugged into an endearing smile when Knox blushed again. Avery just couldn't help himself from saying it --it was programmed into him and it just fell out like word vomit. Knox reminded him of a child, but not in that negative way. But the pure innocence--that's what it was! It was hard to find in the world nowadays. And he hadn't meant 'adorable' in a bad way either, but he could understand how it could be taken the wrong way. Calling a grown-up, teenage boy adorable? But then again, if Avery was called adorable even at his age, he'd be beaming with happiness. But then again, even the smallest of things made him happy. This wasn't a reliable thing to go on.

He smiled to himself as he continued rummaging through his cabinet--which he should really organize--as Knox called back to him in his adorable stutter. Ah, if only he could sweep up Knox in a glass bowl and keep him. "Well, it's a good thing to know I'd be memorable~" Avery said, his cheeky grin on his face again as he walked back with gauze in hand. Plopping down on the stool across from Knox, Avery gently took the injured hand in his and began wrapping the wound. What to say now? Ugh, even though the nurse was a confident person, he lost that pretty fast.

[KNOX CAESAR KETILL]

Knox figured Avery for either a wind or a water, maybe even an earth like himself, solely because he couldn’t imagine him as a fire or a thunder. He didn’t feel that most fires or thunders would be particularly good at dealing with the the students and doctoring their wounds. They had always seemed like the kind to hold grudges even after graduation. Admittedly, he couldn’t think of any graduated fires or thunders off the top of his head, but that was sort of okay. He didn’t usually get along very well with them anyway, so he wasn’t too worried about his unbalanced relationships. He had too few to care anyway. He didn’t care about the normal social things he’d heard about, succinctly summarized in one song. “High School Never Ends” did not make being interested in teenage troubles sound like a good thing by any means. It sounded like a drag in the song, especially since, according to it, people were rather obsessed with things that he had very little interest in. Clothes didn’t have to look good—for him, that was last on the list. First came comfort, then warmth. But then, he also avoided shopping unless it became completely necessary.

Necessity was a mighty questionable thing, to be honest. What was truly a necessary action? Was it something that allowed life, or were the restrictions lower than that? Maybe even the things that preserved life weren’t necessary. It all depended on what one considered important. To some, life just wasn’t that important. To some, the world could end because humans were horrible to it anyway. Knox conceded to the fact, acknowledging pollution and litter and such, but he honestly could do more to be green in the world than he actually did. He recycled, sure, but that wasn’t much of an effort. He wasn’t the sort to go out and pick up trash off the roadside. He worried more about his own hide in those cases. That was probably selfish of him, but he didn’t think there was really any more that he would be willing to do. He didn’t have the courage for a lot of things that the world wanted for the clean-up environmentalist crews. Was that weird?

Whether he was weird or not was a question he left to himself and tried not to worry about too much. He probably was. He knew some people who thought it was weird that he was so shy. They thought his stutter was weird. They thought his mannerisms were weird. But then, he also thought they were a bit odd. He didn’t see how someone could enjoy math, for example. He found it tedious and boring. Where was the interest in it? There was no beauty to numbers, not like there was beauty in language. Numbers could certainly sound nice, when spoken aloud, but that was more along the lines of language than actual mathematics. While he acknowledged that both were necessary to modern life, he much preferred one to the other and such obvious when he was asked. In a way, he admired Avery for his job solely because he didn’t think he’d have the patience for the mathematics important to learning various sections to medicine. He just… wouldn’t have been able to do it. And then, of course, too much blood made him a bit queasy. He didn’t have the stomach to work in medicine.

He also didn’t think Avery would bite him because it would have been highly inappropriate and only demanded more band-aids if he broke the skin. The idea made him very uncomfortable as it stood anyway.

No complaints escaped him as the gauze wound around his hand in the silence that followed. Prodded by his earlier thought process, he asked quietly, “Wh-what element are-are y-you?”

[/color] Of course, the damned stutter was back, but he’d still managed the question. He wasn’t the sort to start conversations, but he had a hunch that Avery wouldn’t appreciate the silence. Talkative people were like that, in his experience: they couldn’t stand the quiet. He suspected it was because they were far more hesitant and uncomfortable with themselves than they let on. Of course, that was more along the lines of a fifty-fifty chance, but it was still an interesting thought. People were often very different to strangers than they were to those possessing various degrees of friendship. He wasn’t sure if he had an extreme flip of personality, but he knew he stuttered more around strangers than he did around those with whom he was comfortable. Talking to people he knew and liked was just easier. It was less nerve-wracking.[/size][/justify][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[AVERY JUNNOSUKE KAEL]

Due to Avery's personality, it was easy for people to guess what element he was in. He was rather stereotypical like that--but he couldn't see it any other way, though he was always fascinated in the other element's powers. All he could do was squirt water and have minimal control of it because he chose not to be at the Academy for college. It held a lot of terrifying memories of him and he just couldn't stand being in that environment anymore. He wanted to change himself--get away from the drugs, the alcohol, the partying; all the things that had once served as comfort to the nurse. But not anymore. He wasn't going to let those kinds of things consume him again. He had transformed 180 degrees from his Academy days, and Avery liked it that way. He was stronger, sure of himself, though he never was quite able to open up. Strange, right? This was the exact same person who'd snuggle up and flirt constantly to unsuspecting people--on rare occasions strangers, because he was just that comfortable with himself. The person he was now, anyways. Avery could barely think about himself in the past without cringing.

The way he kept himself guarded was the only thing that hadn't changed. Was Avery proud of it? No. But could he change that so easily? He had a past he was ashamed of. His unconventional family were the ones that pushed him over the edge in the first place. What was he going to tell people, anyways? My dad left when I was 14 and my mom became a masochistic whore who won't even look at me. Avery frowned at that thought, though he was sure to duck his head for the shadows to hide it. Most people only saw one side of Avery--the chipper, friendly, affectionate nurse who had no care in life, and he liked to keep it that way. No matter how disturbing it was to acknowledge the fact that he had two faces. Even to Hiro, his best friend.

The fact that Knox stayed silent after the nurse's "biting" comment made him a little panicked inside. Was that too much? Was the earth just about ready to run away screaming? Avery began rushing, being more aggressive than he should be as he tried to search for the supplies as fast as possible, poking his head around the corner every so often to make sure Knox was still sitting there. For all Avery knew, Knox just ninja'd the nurse and left without making any sound.

It wouldn't be the first it happened.

"A fire," Avery replied nonchalantly, trying to keep his face straight with seriousness. He kind of did wonder what the reaction from Knox would be--hopefully he had no fears of fires because that would be awkward as hell, and he'd also have to calm him down--as if the cut in his hand wasn't enough. "Nah, I'm just messin' with you~" he said after a few moments of silence, a grin spreading across his face. "I'm a water!" And he made a peace sign with his fingers, finally done wrapping the wound. "All finished~!" Avery grabbed another roll of gauze with some ointment for the cut, putting them into a small bag. "It's important to change your gauze every so often so you don't get an infection." He held out the supplies, smirking slightly as he said his next comment. "Though you can visit me anytime~!"

[KNOX CAESAR KETILL]

Family. Family had several different meanings. There was the type of family to which one was related by blood, that is to say one’s parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and so forth. They were the ones who were the clearest, unless there was a question of paternity or something like that. But there was also the family that one formed with one’s friends, others one loved and felt protective of in one way or another. The woman his parents wanted him to marry was one such person. He loved her in a way that was purely platonic, as if she were his sister rather than his potential wife. She was family to him already, even if the law and blood disagreed. The law was an interesting take on family, because you could make people to whom you weren’t blood-related family. You could marry or adopt someone. He was sure there was some sort of law to make someone your sibling, even if that only meant your parents had to adopt them (he knew his parents would never adopt her, nor would her parents adopt him). Poof. Family. But it was so much more complicated than that. There was so much more to family than people who didn’t think they had family seemed to understand. Love was more accepting than anything else on Earth, except nothingness and the concept of everything.

Everything. In ancient times, the Greeks had believed everything was made of the four elements: fire, water, air, and earth. Where did lightning fit in there? Was sounded counted as a manipulation of air? He wasn’t sure. History wasn’t his strongest point. Sure, he knew bits and pieces, but the details could escape him easily when he hadn’t recently studied them. And yet, he felt as though the Greeks had been partially right. There was heat (also known as energy), there were solids, liquids, and gasses in the human body. And elementals had somehow learned how to control the elements. They were as much a part of the elements as the elements were a part of them. Maybe the alliances had formed out of that, out of wanting to be near people who were like them. Maybe that was why Knox was curious about Avery’s.

At the answer, Knox froze. Mostly, it was from some sort of fear that the years at the academy and the alliances had programmed into him. It was not a prejudice of which he was proud, but it was ingrained in him and therefore difficult to avoid. But there was also surprise. He didn’t understand. Element was based off personality, wasn’t it? This man’s personality did not seem in line with that of the other fire elementals he had met. It didn’t work. His eyes, wide and confused, studied his face. The relief was visible in his face the minute Avery continued, and he relaxed just as noticeably. Water made much more sense. Water actually fit. Knox liked it when things made sense, and that was starting to. The teasing nature, the cheerful expressions and behavior… they were definitely more befitting a water than a fire. He didn’t really appreciate the initial response (he wasn’t fond of lies), but he was glad the truth had almost immediately followed. He nodded slowly, after a moment, then felt obligated to provide his own, and offered, “Earth.” He even managed a slight smile. He liked his element, though he didn’t often use it outside of class.

His gaze drifted back to his hand. He’d watched the wrapping, keeping it in mind in case he’d need to do it himself some day, and so the unwrapping would be easier, though he hadn’t expected to actually do the former anytime soon, and he looked back up in surprise at the confirmation that he would have to. “How-how often?”

[/color] he asked in confusion, but accepted the gauze and ointment out of instinct, watching him and trying to decipher his expression. He wasn’t as intuitive as he possibly could be. Maybe it was because he wasn’t impulsive. The two seemed to go hand-in-hand more often than not. He was more cautious, more likely to plan what he wished to say before he actually said it, and sometimes when he wasn’t going to say anything at all. It was a bit pointless, planning to say something that would never leave his lips, but it was useful sometimes in his writing. Writing which wouldn’t be very pleasant with the gauze around his hand, considering he typed with both hands and doing so with one always felt unnatural. He frowned a little at the thought, but the distraction posed by the invitation to return was a good one, and he smiled sweetly. “I… I m-might,”[/color] he offered softly, trying not to make too much of a commitment in case he ended up not having the time or the nerves to come back for something other than an injury.[/size][/justify][/blockquote]

finished ,[/blockquote]