[CON] you're the closest to heaven..

[deacon reid rudman]

Deacon looked around, thinking before he started to the one place he was sure his brother would be. He made his way back to the coffee shop, looking around for the blue eyed boy. Perseus started waving annoyingly from the corner, and Deacon rolled his eyes, walking over. "You sure do spend a lot of time with Derek." Perseus said, and Deacon hurled a coffee creamer at him.

"For someone so smart, you're fucking dumb. How do fish work?" Deacon asked.

"They go 'glub glub' and taste REALLY good when moma fries them." Perseus said, smiling up at them.

[derek chandler ralston]

Derek followed him in, eyes straying to the other side of the shop. Connor was still there, head on the table, unmoving, clearly asleep.
Derek's eyes refocused on Perce and he scowled at the comment. "I bet you taste really good too," He huffed, teeth flashing with a warning smile.

[deacon reid rudman]

"You eat people!?" Perseus asked, clearly appaled. Deacon leaned over the table, getting in his brother's face.

"I'll make sure he eats you for breakfast if you don't tell me about fish." Deacon breathed, clearly serious.

"What do you need to know? It's a fish. As basic as you get."

"How do they breathe?"

"Easy. Their gills pull oxygen from the water. But it's not like.. our oxygen. Or we'd have walking fish."

"And where's it go?"

"The blood, probably. Cause they don't have lungs. But your blood carries oxygen on those.. cells. They're like little trains. Bringing it where it's needed. Red blood cells. Not white. White bloo-"

"Okay, okay. I got it. Thanks." Deacon fished in his pocket, throwing a few dollars at his brother.

"You make me feel like a hoe." Perseus said, wrinkling his nose.

[derek chandler ralston]

"Maybe you shouldn't act like one," Derek jeered, but his voice was friendlier. A chair scraped the floor and derek watched Connor stumble unsteadily out the door, collapsing before shakily getting back to his feet and heading for the dorms. He made it halfway before he fell again, and the door closed, cutting off Derek's vision. Again he looked towards the other two. I guess we figure out how to make some gills.."

[deacon reid rudman]

Perseus smirked, making a kissy face at Derek. Deacon drew his fist back, about to punch his brother in the face. "Don't hate cause you're straight." Perseus said, and Deacon slapped him upside the head. "What are you making gills for anyways? Gonna turn Derek into a fish so he can sneak up on unsuspecting- nnh." Perseus whined as Deacon clamped a hand over his mouth. He squeaked as his brother licked him, wiping it on his pants.

"No, freak-"

"Accident." Perseus retorted.

"-we're trying to find a way to keep two patients alive." Deacon finished, gritting his teeth.

"Sorry, my help stopped when you paid me. I only come once." Perseus said, getting up and walking out.

[derek chandler ralston]

Derek sighed, watching him go. "Come on, Deacon..it's getting late. If we work all night we'll be worth shit in the morning when they need us. I'll do some more research tomorrow, okay..?" He patted his shoulder.

[deacon reid rudman]

"I'm not gonna be worth a shit anyways.." He mumbled, looking over at the now empty table. He remembered Connor there earlier, but he hadn't seen him when they'd came in. He walked slowly out of the coffee shop, holding open the door for Derek. "Sleep well, okay? I'm gonna see where my brother ran off to and get him to draw me a fish."

[derek chandler ralston]

"You're not worth shit, Deacon." He smiled faintly. "I'll see you tomorrow. Call me if you need anything." He turned and started towards the dorms, not noticing Connor curled outside the coffee shop panting.

[deacon reid rudman]

"I will. Thanks." He said quietly. He looked over at Connor, feeling sick again from even looking at him. He started towards the library, figuring getting a book on a fish would be easier than listening to his brother's big mouth. And maybe, no one would find him there. He could be left alone for a little while before he though the might go to sleep.

[derek chandler ralston]

Derek headed to his dorm and crawled into bed, curling up tightly beneath his blankets.

As Deacon passed, Connor raised his head, tears falling down his cheeks. "I'm sorry.." He whispered, probably too quietly to be heard. But it was worth a try. He swallowed, trying to calm his sickened body.

[deacon reid rudman]

'Sorry's your middle fucking name..' Deacon thought, glancing back at him. "Sorry for what?" He asked, putting his hands into his pockets. "I'm the one who's sorry. I'm sorry I ever tried to help. Neither of us would have to tiptoe around each other like a married couple." He said, digging the toe of his shoe into the dirt. He didn't want them to be okay. Being okay meant they had to be friendly. And he was disliking the boy more and more as the moments passed. "Can I ask what you want from me? I have a daughter to look for and two people to save. I just wanna know what you think's so fucking important about me all of a sudden."

[connor crayze sykes]

Connor coughed, hadn't expected him to turn around. He raised his head, blood trickling from his nose. "For tr-rying to kill myself i-in your morgue.." He admitted, blue eyes guilty, feeble and sick. Bandit was missing...?
"F-for the record, y-y-you've been important s-since I got here.." He coughed again.
"I-..you're the o-only one of the staff willing to l-look anyone's way.. m-more respect, to you.." He swallowed, gripping at his abdomen. "And..'m s-sorry I took it for granted..."
He looked back down at the grass, figuring Deacon wouldn't care what he had just said and leave.. He seemed to have ruined every last sliver of trust, respect, that the coroner might have had for him.

[deacon reid rudman]

"Some of us are still human. The rest of them? I'm not so sure about. And also for the record, I don't give everyone a second glance. Just the people I wrongfully think deserve it." He mumbled bitterly. He'd give anything to be cold hearted. He fished around in his pockets, finally finding one of Bandit's pink tissues in his pocket. He dropped it in Connor's lap. "Day before yesterday, I might have cared. Yesterday, I still might have cared. But today, and every day after, I'm done giving a fuck. You make your own happiness. I spent ten years with a woman I didn't love. My brother thinks his brother's straight. It's easy to live a lie, Sykes. It's really fucking easy. But happiness is hard to come by. If you wanna die, fucking die. No one will care anymore than if I dropped dead. But don't ever think that at some point, someone didn't care. Cause I did. Now get up, stop being a bitch, and find your happy. And go get that nose fixed." He said, holding out his hand to the boy.

[connor crayze sykes]

Connor's jaw trembled as he gazed at him. The words hurt, but he knew he deserved every single one of them. He wiped blood from his nose, figuring it would stop on its own. It always did, wasn't a first random nose bleed. A shaking hand reached to take Deacon's and he swallowed, pulling himself unsteadily to his feet. Then arms wrapped around Deacon in a hug. "Pl-lease...think about giving m-me another chance. I-..I screwed up.. Y-you aren't the only one allowed to make mistakes.. please." He swallowed, just wanted somebody he could even call a friend. "I'd do anything..." The words were meant a plea, unaware that if the staff had their way, it would seem otherwise. He let go, tears falling down his cheeks as he headed unsteadily back to the dorms, nearly tripping twice.

[deacon reid rudman]

Deacon rubbed the boy's back gently, hugging him loosely with one arm. He couldn't bring himself to be as affectionate as he'd been the night before. Everything had blown up in his face. He'd more or less proven he was gay, and this was what he got in return- stabbed in the back. "I'll think about it." He said quietly. He watched him go, chewing on his lip before he finally called out to him again. "It's not gonna be what you think, Sykes.. I'm not-.. Last night was a screw up. That's it. I let those baby blues get the best of me and it was wrong." He took a few steps closer so he wouldn't have to be so loud to be heard. "I thought for a whole second that.. what I was doing was going to go right, that I wasn't making the worst mistake of my life. And today I realized that.. sometimes, when you think people are out of reach, they're just being dangled in front of you to get a rise." 'You're a joke..' He thought, looking over the boy's face with cold green eyes. "I'm your doctor. Maybe.. One day, I'll be your friend. And just maybe, one day you'll mean half as much as my one real friend, and Bandit might call you uncle. But that's it. I'm not crossing that line anymore. You stay on your side, I'll stay on mine. But I don't ever want anything more than your friendship. And if you think -ever- that we're going to be more than that, you remember- you're a kid, and i'm the adult. That's as far as we go."