Theta turned around, thereby shoving the hand off his shoulder.
"What?" he mumbled as his eyes were drawn to a pair of amber orbs, half hidden behind Koschei's eyelids.

"I said 'Long time no see'," Koschei repeated patiently. Too patiently for Theta's taste. Usually Koschei wouldn't even wait for Theta's reply before giving him a rap on the head for his inattention.
This was something new.

"I…we briefly met yesterday, remember?" Theta asked, a most unsettling uneasiness creeping over him.
The stare Koschei retorted was blank. Then he cocked his head to one side as if listening to some inner voice. He smiled softly while straightening up again.
"Of course," he said. His voice was different, it was almost soothing.
Theta tapped the side of his thigh out of nervousness.
A considered Koschei was even scarier than the usual mad Koschei who'd jump out from under his bed and shout 'Oil of vitriol' before throwing an open bottle into his bed. And if Theta had been paying attention during chemistry class he would have known that oil of vitriol was a common name for sulphuric acid and then he wouldn't have waited to get into the bathroom after his blanket had dissolved and his pyjamas were almost see-through.

"May I have your attention once again, Theta?" Koschei asked.
Theta found his eyes drawn back to Koschei's observant face. He was smiling mildly.
And he was watching him intently. This wasn't a good sign.
"I asked you whether or not you feel a headache coming on," Koschei repeated politely.
An alarm somewhere inside Theta's head went off.

"You drugged me, didn't you?" Theta asked, turning pale, "You gave me something to drink and now you're waiting for me to double over with fume coming from my mouth or my skin peeling off or my eyes to pop…"

"Oh Theta…" Koschei began but Theta cut him off: "And you treat me so nicely because you don't want me to know what's going on but I can tell by the way you're talking to me and trying to appease me."

"Don't fret yourself," Koschei insisted. Theta took a step back.
"There, you're doing it again. What have you done to me? Did you poison me? Oh please don't tell me you've poisoned me again, I like my current body, thank you very much… Oh, for Kasterborous' sake, what's going to happen to me?

"I can assure you that there's no need for you to be worried," Koschei spoke calmly while pulling up a chair. He was about to sit down at his writing desk as Theta nudged him aside panic stricken.

"And what is that?" he asked and pointed an accusing finger at the clipboard resting on Koschei's desk. "What are these columns? What are you taking notes of?"
"Gladly this doesn't concern you," Koschei replied while grabbing the clipboard before Theta could snatch it from his desk, "metaphorically speaking that is. It's all part of an experiment."

"I'm usually also part of your experiments," Theta snapped while tugging at the paper, "What does it say?"
"That you're an imbecile," Koschei growled while pushing aside Theta's fingers.
"At least you're behaving normal again," Theta sighed while glancing over Koschei's shoulders to catch a glimpse of his diagrams.
"What does it predict will happen to me?" Theta nagged on.

"Nothing's going to happen to you," Koschei said but corrected himself, "That is to say until you drive me to a point where I'll stuff you into the Academy's chimney. But I can assure you that nothing is going to happen to you," and there Koschei treated Theta to one of the smug smiles he hated the most, "Because it has already happened."

Theta stared at him sceptically. He folded his arms.
"What happened?"
"Doesn't matter, really," Koschei replied.
"What do you mean it doesn't matter? It matters to me!" Theta grabbed Koschei by the collar before shaking him violently.

Koschei cleared his throat while struggling to detach Theta's fingers from his robe.
"It would have an influence on the results of my research if I told you about the procedure itself," Koschei replied before retrieving a pair of glasses from the recesses of his robes before placing them firmly on his nose.
Theta knew that he was wearing them only for the look of the thing.

"You see Theta, when one is given a sweet but is told that they are receiving an active treatment…"
"It's called the placebo effect," Theta replied a glimmer of hope surfacing in his mind, "So you only wanted to test my reaction on the false information that you've used me for medical research without my consent, right?"

Koschei smiled while patting Theta's back amicably.
"Nearly," he replied, "But no."
Theta felt the dread rising again.
"Then what did you do to me?"

Koschei handed Theta the clipboard. Theta inspected the chart and studied the introduction at the back of the pages. And the method. And the procedure.
He raised his eyes disbelievingly to meet Koschei's gaze.

"You did what?!" he shrieked while leaving through the records again.
"A small sacrifice was needed in ordered to serve science," Koschei tried defending his actions.
"Next time you sacrifice yourself when you try to serve science!" Theta snapped. He hauled the clipboard at Koschei. He caught it in mid-air.

"Koschei, you put me in an induced coma!" Theta whined, "For three weeks!"
"I refer to it as semi-conscious deep sleep, if you don't mind me saying so," Koschei explained.
"I don't mind you saying so," Theta snapped, "I don't even mind if it was to be named after you but I do mind being part of the test series without my knowledge or consent!"

"Just wait until my parents here of this incident," Theta went on while considering his next step.
"Oh, I told your parents all about it. They even agreed to my proposal," Koschei replied smugly, "Oh and I read the mail you've received during the past three weeks and can assure you that nothing worth mentioning has happened. You do lead a very dull life, Theta."

"Koschei, I…" Theta began, struggling to find the correct words that would express his anger, "I just lost three weeks of my life."

Koschei treated him to a scrutinizing glare.
Eventually he shrugged.

"Well, in your case I'd say: no harm done."