[CON] let your heart win.

[connor crayze sykes]

Connor caught her eye, the way she was waiting, and took a bite of his burger. He forced a smile. "Good," He insisted softly. As soon as she looked away he spit it into his napkin, eyeing Deacon in brief challenge. He poked warily at his food, tongue running over his lip piercing slowly. After a moment he reached for the water pitcher that was set on the table, trying to keep it steady as he filled his glass before taking a sip.

He hated that just sitting here with Deacon and his little girl was enough force to have him needing to eat. He hoped she didn't ask any questions, that pushing his food around like it was interesting would be enough to satisfy her.

[deacon reid rudman]

Deacon tore his burger apart, taking a bite out of it. But as was their dinner tradition, Bandit found some part of her food to make into an airplane or a car or some nonexistent animal. "Bandit. Stop playing with your food." He told her, but she shook her head defiantly. He narrowed his eyes at her only to have her narrow her's in return. He reached over, taking it out of her hand. She pouted then started to cry quietly, pushing away her food.

"You don't have to eat. You can cry until you make yourself sick. And then you're going to eat it anyways." He told her, putting another fry in her mouth. She gave up crying after a moment to dissect her hamburger, peeling the cheese and pickles off to eat it alone. Deacon just looked down at his plate, eating his fries quietly.

"Want more." Bandit told him, pushing his tray towards him. He stuck her spoon in her pudding, sitting it down in front of her. She scooped a bit onto the spoon, then held it out to Connor. "Nummy."

[connor crayze sykes]

Connor watched her throw her fit as her father scolded her for playing with her food. When she finally began to eat again, he looked away, tearing a fry in half then setting it back on his plate absently. He didn't want to be here, completely self conscious right now. Even so, when she offered him her pudding, he shook his head. "Y-you eat it, then," He insisted softly, coughing into an arm until he was left breathless. He cleared his throat huskily, gently guiding her hand to her own mouth with a smile. He eyed the bathroom in the corner and got up, sliding past the little red head to get out. But only moments on his feet and he was dizzy, stumbling and falling to his knees so he wouldn't run into anything else. He drew in a slow breath, body trembling as he tried to clear the spots blotching his vision.

[deacon reid rudman]

Deacon watched him get up, then rose to his own feet as the boy fell. He walked over to him, gently helping him up and to the nearest chair. "You okay?" He asked quietly, standing up straight so he wasn't touching the boy anymore. He slid his hands back into his pockets, glancing back towards Bandit. "You wouldn't be so dizzy if you'd actually eat, like my pudding covered monster." He reached up to rub at his nose, his green eyes wandering towards the boy once again. As attractive as he was, the age gap between the two was enough of a cock block for Deacon. Not to mention everyone assumed he was straight. And he was content to let them think that way.

[connor crayze sykes]

It could be considered almost amazing at how rapidly Connor tensed with the helpful touch from the older male. He drew in a frightened breath, swallowing fearfully as he sat down. Blue eyes reflected that same terror before he drop his head into his hands to try and clear it. He closed his eyes, listening to him speak. "N-not eating.." He mumbled in stubborn response, coughing. But he was already out of breath.

[deacon reid rudman]

Deacon sighed, shaking his head. He knew what he was about to do was probably testing his limits. But if he had to spend the entire night on paperwork and had one ticked off patient, he guessed it was worth it. "I'm gonna give you two options. You either go and finish eating your food, or I'm admitting you and they're going to put you on a bunch of IVs, and force feed you through a tube. Your choice." He shrugged, watching the boy. He wasn't going to let this boy torture himself. Not if he had anything to say about it. "Trust me. Those doctors are a lot more mean than I am."

[connor crayze sykes]

Connor raised his head angrily. "I s-said I'm not eating," He growled warily. "So piss off, y-yeah?" He shifted his weight, agitated and hurt. But he wouldn't say anything about it, far too ashamed to admit to his problems. He crossed his arms, jaw moving so his teeth grinded slowly together.

[deacon reid rudman]

"If you wanna do it the hard way then.." Deacon mumbled. He wasn't going to do anything if the boy would make a choice. But the way things were looking, he would have to make up his mind for him. He pulled his phone from his pocket, ready to call the front desk. "You can go ahead and make your choice. You have two seconds before I press call." He told him, shifting his weight to his other foot. His patience was starting to wear thin with all these people who could help themselves but refused to.

[connor crayze sykes]

Connor shifted his weight, eyeing Deacon, then his daughter, and finally the food on the table. He shrugged indifferently. "I'm f-fucked either way pretty boy," He muttered flatly, eyes sparking in challenge. "You wouldn't want to eat e-either if you were so sick, huh?! Fuck. Call." He rubbed at his nose. "Why try s-saving a life that doesn't wanna be saved?" He struggled shakily to his feet, ready to attempt to make a run for it if he had the chance. Either way, force fed or not, Deacon was about to see exactly how thin he was.

[deacon reid rudman]

Deacon rose an eyebrow at the comment. He wasn't sure how to take it, so he decided taking it with a grain of salt would be best. The kid was sick. "Flattery isn't going to give you any more rope to hang yourself." He said, shrugging his shoulders. "And I'm bothering because I don't want to see you on that table down there. Whatever happened to you isn't important enough to die for. And if I have to keep you on fluids, that's what I'm going to do." He pressed the call button, talking to someone at the front desk for a moment before he put his phone back in his pocket. He walked over to Bandit, dragging her chair over to them so he could wipe her hands and face. "How can someone so little get pudding from hell to breakfast?" He asked her.

[connor crayze sykes]

Connor rubbed blearily at his face, swaying a bit as he tried to keep from toppling over. "Maybe I-I want to end up on that table," He mumbled under his breath. "I-it would be the only dr-ream ever come true." He bit his lip, watching Deacon return to the little girl. He gazed at her brokenly, sitting back down before his legs gave out first. He crossed his arms again, eyes burning. It only upset him more, made him angry for being so weak.

[deacon reid rudman]

"If you wanna end up on that table, you'd better find a better way of doing it than how you are now." Deacon muttered, carefully wiping off his wiggling daughter's fingers. He helped her down, walking back to push her chair under the table again. She tugged on his jeans pocket, taking his pen out of his pocket. She plopped down on the floor, clicking it as quickly as he finger would let her.

Deacon looked over as a couple of nurses came, and leaned down to pick Bandit up. She wiggled until he let her down again, then toddled over to Connor, laying her head in his lap. "No bye bye." She told him.

[connor crayze sykes]

Connor looked up uneasily as they came in, jumping as the red head put her head in his lap. He swallowed, gazing down at her helplessly. It would be like leaving Christy, getting taken away when he got to see her so little already... He bit down on his lip, hated what he was about to do. He patted her head and gently lifted it, scooting his chair to the table to pull his food close with a scowl. He lifted his burger to his lips, flipping Deacon off in the process of taking a bite, swallowing back a gag.

[deacon reid rudman]

Deacon shrugged his shoulders, not really concerned with the immature action. All he cared about was the fact the boy was eating again. "Stop being immature and start being an example. There's kids younger than you around here." He said, stooping to pick up his daughter. She smiled and waved at the nurses, then looked back at Connor. "Time to go. Tell him bye." He told her.

"Bye bye." She said, waving her little hand at him before she blew him a kiss.

"If you need me, I sleep like, two halls down from you. Don't hesitate to come visit." He mumbled, knowing better than to expect the kid go to a grown man's room, let a lone a grown man's room that he shares with a child. And it's not bigger than a patient's room. He started slowly out the door, letting Bandit wave to her favorite people.

[connor crayze sykes]

Connor spit out his food as soon as they started to leave, gagging. But when a nurse approached, he growled in agotation and swallowed down several mouthfuls before shoving past them angrily. He stormed from the dining hall towards the dorms, stumbling most of the way. Considering there had yet to be any true testing done, nothing had been separated out, rooms had yet to be perminant. At least for him. If something went wrong, he could very well be moved. He slammed down door, sitting heavily on the bed before he got up again and moved for the bathroom, fingers finding his throat as he leaned over the toilet to throw up.