[DEREK] but til i awake...

[deacon reid rudman]

"Suck a dick.." Deacon breathed, chewing on his lip from behind his mask. "Guess not having any sunlight will to that." He shrugged. But something told him that this wasn't a lack of sun. He'd probably been poisoned for a long period of time. He turned the boy over, looking for any sign of wings before he started looking everywhere else. "Did they send a file on him? I can't just mutilate a body with a kid in here and not know if he's gonna pop like a pinata."

[derek chandler ralston]

Derek flipped through files. "Ah, here." He handed one over, glancing up when a nurse walked in. Nodding toward Connor, he watched her heft the kid up and start towards the door, but not before Connor looked Deacon in the eyes. "Thought y-you were different. But no, y-you're like all of them, huh? I-I'll remember that with my dy-ying breath, a-and it'll be soon."
The kid sounded scarily determined as he was pulled from the room and Derek eyed the coroner thoughtfully. "Bond with him?"

[deacon reid rudman]

Deacon took the file from him, reading over it slowly. He didn't bother looking back at Connor, not sure he could control himself if he saw the boy. He drew his eyebrows together as Derek spoke. 'I'm straight, he's a kid, I don't like guys..' He thought, realizing his lip was bleeding again. "No. I don't know him from Adam." He mumbled, taking the pen from Derek to underline something before he handed it back. "The last person to die from alternate waterbreathing.." He tapped the pen on the table before he realized it was Derek's and handed it back. "Died exactly the same way. Their body depended on water instead of air. And it turned toxic." He pulled his mask down, wiping the blood from his mouth as he walked to the computer.

[derek chandler ralston]

Derek's eyes narrowed as he watched Deacon, and he smirked. "And yet you're bothered by it," He murmured, taking his pen back. He turned, leaning against the slab. "Why don't you go talk to him? Don't need a guilty conscious if the kid succeeds huh?" He turned back to the body, pulling gloves on and feeling around the neck and throat of the guy.

[deacon reid rudman]

Deacon looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. "I'm far from bothered by him making a fool of himself. He reminds me of myself. If Perseus hadn't cut me down from that balcony ten years ago, I wouldn't be here." He said flatly, grabbing his pen from his desk. He wanted to go see him, but he wouldn't admit it. And he doubted he would actually do it. He wrote down a few notes, then walked back, wiping the blood from his lip. "Check for swelling in his chest."

[derek chandler ralston]

Derek shrugged indifferently. It wasn't his choice to make. "Just saying. That guilt? It never goes away." There was a finality to the words. If he hadn't been so set on going to do what he had eleven years ago, his parents wouldn't have been off in the twin towers. He wouldn't be here in the hell hole. There was no judgement however. Deacon would go if her wanted. Fingers pressed along the guy's chest slowly, feeling for any abnormal signs.

[deacon reid rudman]

"I know it never goes away, Derek.." He breathed, pulling up his mask again. The more Derek pushed on his chest, the more his cheeks bulged. He reached over, grabbing Derek's hand so he would stop. Drowning didn't make sense if he could breathe underwater. Even less sense if he was depending on it. "I don't know about you, but I really don't wanna see what's in his mouth.." He mumbled, walking around the table.

[derek chandler ralston]

Derek looked at him with surprisingly gentle, knowing eyes. It was hard when one person's right was another's wrong. So he would leave him alone. He bit his lip as Deacon covered his hand, and drew it back before eyeing the body. "Ugh," He mumbled, setting his clipboard down. With the different things wrong with their testing system, he could only hope it wasn't alive and wouldn't bite his hand off or something. Holding the nose with one hand, he pulled down on the chin to open the mouth.

[deacon reid rudman]

Deacon didn't realize he was holding his breath until he finally let it out once the body's mouth was opened. "I don't get paid enough for this. You know they don't care if he died or not. They didn't even attempt CPR." He muttered, tapping his finger on the table. Nothing here was making sense. So he did what he didn't want to do. He waited a few moments to see if anything was going to happen, then reached his hand into it's mouth, squeezing his eyes shut. "I hate this. Mother fuck.."

[derek chandler ralston]

Derek nodded slowly. "Yeah..I know.." Deacon hadn't witnessed one thing though, the torture chamber. Sometimes Derek was still pitted against other down there, tested like an animal, beaten if he didn't listen. It was miserable. But he was more staff than patient now, thankfully. He watched Deacon reach into the mouth, keeping it pried open for him and reaching with one hand to press slowly on the chest again.

[deacon reid rudman]

"Ew.." Deacon drew his hand back, fishing around with the one that wasn't covered in regurgitated water for a light. He finally found one, and turned it on, peering into the dead man's mouth. "There's nothing here. I stuck- ew." He shook his head, putting the light aside. He felt slowly over the chest, then sighed. Looked like they were going to have to go fishing for whatever was stuck in his throat.

[derek chandler ralston]

Derek frowned when he came up with nothing, chewing carefully on his lip with an elongated tooth. "Yuck." He mumbled absently. "Think whatever it is had to do with his dying or no?" He fished around in their tools for something hooked that they might be able to use, then handed it over and tilted the dead man's head back to open his wind pipe more.

[deacon reid rudman]

Deacon shrugged. "I'm just.. ruling things out in my head. It wasn't an allergic reaction because his throat isn't closed. He couldn't have drowned. Not logically. But this isn't logic to begin with. He could have choked.." He bit his lip again, tilting his head to the side as he thought. "Aren't they just going to cremate him anyways?" He asked, looking over at Derek.

[derek chandler ralston]

"Maybe." Derek mumbled, hoping so. That's what they were told, he could only hope they didn't do anything more...morbid. "But if he choked, we wouldn't have to be researching his cause of death, because it wouldn't be something they were worried about going wrong in testing...unless whatever he choked on was inside of him to begin with." He shrugged.

[deacon reid rudman]

"I'd tell you 'good point' but uh.." He tapped his finger on the table, then groaned. "They need us to validate their tests." He wanted to just unhinge his jaw, but decided against it. He used the hook to search his throat, but there wasn't anything in there. A million thoughts ran through his mind, all of them about what could have gone wrong. "Maybe their lungs aren't fully formed?" He asked, remembering Connor's wings.