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 Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2017 2:18 pm
Who: Dr. Kyou and Zeke
When: Friday April 28th, 2017; 3pm
Where: Lab 305
Weather: Positively springtime sensational!
Despite his promise to Anya on Monday, it had taken all the way to Friday to get a sure hold of the Doctor. Ever the busy man, Zeke couldn't fault him for his schedule, but it made him all the more keen to get to the Lab as soon as possible to speak on behalf of his Frei about her concerns.
Having spent the previous few days pulling a couple extra hours Zeke was able to leave work just that much earlier in order to make good on his word to Anya. He didn't even stop at home to change, pulling onto the highway still clad in his crisp button up, slacks, and zany tie. He was pleased to coast right along it into Gambino's city limits without any fanfare and only had to stop at two of the few lights between the highway exit and the Lab itself.
Needless to say, as he parked his car in his usual spot and slipped out into the April sunshine, Zeke was in high spirits. Kyou would most certainly have the answers Anastacia sought after and even if they proved to be a simple reiteration of what he had already told her before, at least he had asked. Plus, speaking with Kyou himself would afford Zeke the ability to voice a thought he had regarding the Black Widow the night of her questioning. Striding into the building, the vet flicked his gaze to his lobby desk out of habit, and considered his theory once again.
It could hold water.
Down the hall he went and paused only briefly at the door at very end to swipe his key card through. The door clicked as the deadbolt was retracted and squeaked just a little as Zeke let himself in.
The laboratory that gave the Lab its namesake was the same as it ever was. Five tanks were lit up and humming softly as they incubated developing Freis within. As he passed by Zeke murmured a soft hello to each in turn, making his way around the mire of tubes and cords that littered each base and connected those tanks to various outlets and monitoring equipment. At the back of the laboratory itself was another door, although this one was open wide. Zeke grinned as he saw the lone occupant behind the desk and as he cleared the last stretch of sterile linoleum he made a point to rap his knuckles on the door frame.
"Hey there, boss!" Zeke raised his hand in a wave as he waltzed on in, beaming from ear to ear as per usual. "I'm glad I could finally catch you! Been awhile hasn't it?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2017 9:46 am
It was a fine afternoon. Lazarus had to run some errands for work tonight, so he had to leave home early. Leaving Kyou all by his lonesome. Which is actually fine for the doctor, as he settled down with some snacks and a pot of tea, catching up on the latest science journals.
He was anticipating Zeke, as he asked for the meeting earlier. It had been a while since they had a long thoughtful conversation. Zeke always seemed so busy, zooming everywhere all the time. It made sense he guessed, this was not Zeke's full time gig after all. He still had a clinic to go to and sick animals to tend to. When they meet at the lab, it's usually just a passing moment. A simple 'hi bye' situation. Sometimes they can squeeze in some formalities and discuss about the weather. But nothing too in depth or anything that really matters. So this invitation to talk about Anya is much welcomed by the doctor.
"Hey!" He waved back as Zeke entered, wheeling a little around on his chair to face him up front. "Here have some mini Boston cream pies and tea. The pies are delicious!" He offered the cupcake sized treats sitting neatly in a box. Getting up, he poured the vet a cup of the fragrant jasmine tea.
"Yeah it's been a while." Kyou chuckled as he settled back into his chair. "So... start from the beginning." He said, picking up his cup of jasmine tea for a sip.
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Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2017 2:03 pm
"Mini Boston cream pies? You're speaking my language!"
Normally Zeke would be taking his lunch around this time and not having done so yet today he was pretty hungry. Boston cream pie ranked in the top three of his list of favorite desserts and, well, he didn't want to be rude and decline his boss of all people! Taking a seat in front of Kyou, the vet helped himself to one of the pies and the offered cup of tea.
"Thanks!" He blew on the tea before gingerly taking his first sip. It was hot and good and very aromatic; the best choice of drink for such a lovely spring day such as this one.
"Okay the beginning," Zeke said as he set his cup down. Before he began he cleared his throat. Last thing he wanted to do was hiccup in the middle of some important information. "So Monday was Anya's seventh birthday, which even now makes me feel old as hell saying, heh. When I was on my way to bed she out of the blue pulled me aside, saying that she wanted to ask me something. I said sure, of course, and what everything boils down to - why I'm here, why I asked to speak to you about it - is on her behalf."
As he spoke Zeke straightened in his seat, looking across the desk at the warlock.
"Simply put: Anya's been wondering why she hasn't grown past Frei yet. It's actually something she's been sitting on for awhile now and it all kind of came to a head on Monday. She's kind of feeling like she's the odd man out, even though she knows there's a few others who are about her age or older who haven't grown yet themselves. Basically she's been seeing lots of Raevans she knows, and who are coincidentally younger than her, growing recently and she feels...self-conscious I suppose would be the best word for it. They've grown - one of them all the way to Valsaros even - and she hasn't gotten so much as a stomach yet."
His hands moved as he talked but stilled as those words came to a close. Much like Anya had done that night, the vet laced his fingers together and gave them a squeeze as he looked Kyou in the eyes.
"She was wondering if maybe you had any idea as to why that could be."
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Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 10:07 am
Kyou was delighted that Zeke found the desserts up to his liking. Still holding his cup of jasmine tea, he settled comfortably in his chair as he listened attentively to Zeke's concerns. Only taking the occasional sip of his tea in between the vet's break in words.
Of course, of course he might have an idea as to why Anya had not grown yet. His thoughts immediately trailed to the curse he had set upon her before she was even born. He was fairly sure that Zeke know about the curse as well, but he wondered if he still remembered.
"Do you remember what I told you when I first offered her guardianship to you?" Gently he set down the tea cup as he spoke, steepling his fingers after that, his facial expression a little less cheery from before. "That she has a curse on her to prevent the powers pertaining to her essence from ever awakening? Perhaps the curse is inhibiting her growth." This was certainly a side effect that he did not expect. "Certainly this could just all be conjecture, as there is no proof to back up my theory. But it is something that must be put into consideration."
However, he also see the problem for Zeke in this situation. Zeke can never tell the Frei that she had a curse on her, there is no way to know how she will react to something like this. Zeke needed some sort of respond from this discussion to relay to Anya. "Or, did you perhaps think that Cesc just grew faster than normal?" Knowing quite sure that Zeke is referring to the stag in his statement. "And that Anya's growth is just 'normal'? Like there are Frei that came out faster than others from the tanks, and some seem to take forever to emerge." He thought it was an apt example. "There are still a lot of Frei out there that are older than Anya. So I think she shouldn't worry too much."
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Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 5:24 pm
Kyou posed the question as Zeke took a bite of his mini pie, which prompted the man to nod instead of instantly reply. How could he forget? Alex had come to him out of the blue with cryptic, hesitant words that culminated in his becoming a Guardian to a Raevan. But not just any Raevan. A special Raevan. An enigma amongst her peers due to the circumstances that surrounded her conception, let alone her birth.
"You know it's funny you mention that, ah," Zeke wiped at his mouth when he got the bite down before returning that hand to its other in order to move both as he spoke anew. "That was actually something I thought about myself after she left to go to bed. I stayed up for maybe an hour afterward just kind of...thinking on it, you know? And it makes sense."
Here the vet sighed and gave a slight shake of his head.
"You know I still haven't told her about it? Any of it?" He looked at Kyou as if the man would repulse him for what he was saying; for holding off for so long and only now seeming to consider that this of all times was the time to do so. "I always intended to. Just...been waiting for the right time, you know?"
Said 'time' never had seemed to appear. Sure there had been potential moments throughout Anya's seven years but nothing quite so damning that screamed 'now is the time for this talk'. In truth Anastacia had never seemed particularly interested in her heritage, which he found a little odd then and now, even if it was something of a comfort given what she didn't know about herself. For Anya, she was a Raevan and that was that. No need for anything more, straight to the point and the truth, if not the entire truth. He assumed it was sort of like how he could call himself a human without having to go into specifics about his ancestry. Logical, but only scratching the surface. Well, that was his Anya - straight as an arrow, that one.
Kyou continued on and Zeke considered his words. The vet chewed on his bottom lip at one point and sucked on his lip ring the next, nodding slowly and almost in time with the beat of what the good doctor was saying.
"That is true, Cesc did seem to grow awfully fast. Like it almost feels like one minute he was suddenly a Sigel and then I turned around and I'm finding out the kid got legs!" He chuckled at that. "As for Anya, I did tell her that Raevan growths aren't exactly the same for everyone. On one hand you have a fast grower like Cesc, on the other you have someone slower like Iorek or herself, without drawing the curse into consideration, that is."
He took another sip of tea with the encroaching feeling of cotton mouth coming on.
"So she knows that's the case. She's friends with Iorek, actually, so she knows that she's not entirely the odd one out of the bunch. Still, I can understand her feelings on the matter even then. It sucks feeling like you're not on the same level as your friends even if that's not really the case."
Zeke gave Kyou a small smile, feeling a little better hearing this from him even if it was exactly what he had already told the Widow previously. At the very least that part of what the doctor said would give her some peace of mind, or so he hoped. Sipping on his tea, Zeke started to consider just how best to breach the topic of her heritage to her, now that he and Kyou both shared a hypothesis regarding her curse. It was officially on the playing field now; a possibility that could and maybe would keep her trapped in limbo if it turned out to be the source of her woes. It wasn't exactly something one just blurted out or treated as an afterthought in the best of times and after seven years...
He sighed again.
No matter how he put it, no matter how many apologies and 'please understand's he used, she would be upset. Hell, he'd be surprised if she wasn't! He'd been keeping the tale of the Fel Virus from her for so long that to just whip it out and lay it on the table as a fact of her life now was going to be...complicated, and that was just putting it nicely. This would be damning news, especially when it could surely be the thing that was keeping her from growing alongside her peers.
But as he always felt, then and definitely, certainly now, Anastacia had the right to know. Anya deserved to know, no matter the consequence. And dammit it was high time she found out.
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Posted: Sun May 14, 2017 7:56 am
Kyou couldn't help but sigh softly. Perhaps Anya has a competitive edge after all. It seemed like Zeke had already told Anya what he just told the young man. Which means this conversation had not progressed at all. Still, he tried to rack his brain to offer some sort of suggestion, some sort of a beginning to a solution to this predicament.
Then he considered the possibilities surrounding the curse. In his studies of the Raevans, most of them grew when they had gained something through some event, or enlightenment. Such as the development of a new power, gaining the ability to control the power, or even just a self realization of who or what they really are. Spiritual acceptance is one of the ways to growth as well, surprisingly.
Golden eyes looked at Zeke as he considered his next words. When he handed Anya to the young vet, he did told him to keep the curse a secret from the Frei. He wonder... if Anya is mature enough to know about the curse now...? Zeke did mention that he haven't told her yet, which means he wanted to, eventually.
"Do you think Anya is mature enough to handle the truth about her origin?" Kyou asked tentatively, trying to gauge Zeke's reaction. "If so, perhaps it is time for her to know about it. Perhaps she will find something to gain from this which might help with her growth." He seemed to ponder quietly for a moment before continuing. "However, do thread this carefully." He cautioned.
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Posted: Sun May 14, 2017 1:58 pm
"Well if we're talking maturity as a matter of age, I think seven is probably old enough."
The vet chuckled and sipped his tea, mulling over what Kyou put forth. After a moment he set the cup down, looking back into those gold eyes with his brown ones.
"But I know that's not what you mean. Do I think she's mature enough to handle it? I do. Anya's been through a lot and come out on the other side stronger than ever each time. This is just another one of those things. I think...no, I know she'll be upset but that's to be expected. I mean, wouldn't you be too if you found out something about yourself after x-amount of years and you had no idea?"
He considered his next words. Kyou asked for caution and Zeke could understand why from his point of view but he hardly figured Anya would do anything drastic outside of slamming her door in his face and throwing a massive - but justified - fit. But that storm would pass, the anger would ebb, and from this knowledge maybe she'd gain...something. Maybe learning of her origins would truly be the key to undoing the final lock to her growth.
"Like I said, I always meant to tell her. But I was always looking for a right time and place for it." He rolled his shoulders in a shrug, resting his hands on the desk and giving the other man a smile. "Now's as best a time as any, yeah? And you're right, maybe if she knows about it she'll be able to gain some knowledge about herself. Maybe that's what's holding her back from becoming a Sigel. Can't really develop if you don't have all the pieces in play to do so."
He polished off the tea and cake, dabbing his mouth on a provided napkin before beaming at his boss again.
"Thanks for this Kyou, I really appreciate it. I know we kind of ran in a circle there for a bit but I'm glad for your insight into this. I think...I think I know what to do now. No, actually, I know exactly what I'm going to do now!"
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Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 11:55 pm
Kyou smiled to observe the changes in Zeke's face and tone of voice as he gained confidence and in the end, conviction, through their discussion. It was kind of a huge roundabout wasn't it? Well, perhaps for Zeke it was. However, Kyou was glad that Zeke came to him to discuss about this. What other way will he know how the Raevans were doing under their guardian's care? The guardians themselves have to tell him.
"I'm glad." He said, beaming. Zeke looked so much more confident now. There is still some lingering doubt in his heart about the whole situation. But he chose to believe in Zeke, since he knows Anya best. "If you can, can you let me know how the discussion with her turn out in the end?" He prayed that nothing too drastic would happen, however he have to be prepared for every possible situation when it comes to issues related to the virus fel essence.
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Posted: Wed May 24, 2017 3:08 pm
"Of course I can! I wouldn't leave you out of the loop!"
Before the doctor had even asked Zeke had already planned on letting him know how things would turn out. The fact he had Kyou's support in this - even if it was hesitant, cautious support - was a blessing, truly, and made Zeke feel all the better in doing what he had been planning on doing forever now. In fact, it set into his mind the feeling that now was DEFINITELY the right time and that there would be no backing down. Before there had been excuses, paltry reasons, and that ilk but now was the awaited time.
Anya was going to find out about her origins and the curse that may or may not be keeping her from growing into a Sigel.
"Alright. I think I better get on home before I start to make her worry about what's taking me so long." Standing, Zeke stuck out his hand to Kyou and gave him the biggest, most excited grin he had in him. "Thanks again for hearing me out on this, Kyou, I really freakin' appreciate it. And the moment things settle down I'll give you a call, okay?"
After shaking the other man's hand the vet zipped off to the door, stopping halfway out of it to turn and give Kyou a jolly wave.
"And thanks for the tea and cake! They were awesome!!"
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