A Cognitive Psychology
Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z or any of its characters. I do however, own my OC Dr. Alex Casper, so I will do with him what I like.
Warning: As always, swearing
Chapter Two
A Penny For Your Symptoms
Predictably, Piccolo didn't stay at Alex's house for long. In a whirlwind of furious energy, the Namekian left the small country home in all of six or seven seconds. The Doctor had been in the kitchen at the time, and had dropped a spoon at the racket the other man made upon his exit, leaving curse words and clattering objects in his wake. Alex swallowed, his pity mixing unpleasantly with his frustration.
It had been four days since that incident. He had called the Son house every day, to check on Gohan mainly, but he would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy chatting to Chi-chi. He could tell that she was going to some extra effort to elongate their conversations, and from her topics of conversation, it was evident that she missed her husband terribly. He hadn't the heart yet to ask what happened. He held the phone in hand, ready to make his daily call. She would ask about Piccolo, with a genuine concern that had been absent on their first encounter; apparently Gohan hadn't seen or heard from the Namekian either. Whilst thumbing through his address book, he thought of returning to the hospital; maybe to alleviate his guilt, and curtail some of the boredom. For the umpteenth time that week, he regretted leaving the city and moreso, getting rid of his cell phone.
As he turned the pages, deliberately stalling, he yet again thought of Piccolo. The strange tall green man occupied his thoughts to the extent where he was starting to regret getting involved. He chastised himself, it was his own involvement in Piccolo's life that had most likely resulted in this, and like it or not, it was his responsibility now. His laptop made a whooshing sound and he glanced at it, it might be a reply to one of his emails. He had contacted several consultants, several in both neurophysiology and Neurology, and even one in exobiology in an effort to help.
The Namekian loomed on the porch to the little painted house, wood groaning underneath his weight. Being unaccustomed to making house visits, he hesitated before knocking on the door, not really knowing what to say when or if it opened. It did occur to him that Alex may not appreciate his presence. He wasn't sure if there were many souls on the planet that did, and for the first time in possibly ever, he missed the predictable, reluctant, welcome hostility of Chi-chi. Better the enemy you know.
He didn't have to wait for long, Alex spotted the vibrant skinned man's shadow through the glass in the door and swung it open with a relieved smile.
"Piccolo-"
His words caught in his mouth as he took in the other man. The indigo gi was tattered to the point of questionable decency, the top of it missing entirely and the bottoms torn and burned, exposing a large part of a jade thigh which was equally bruised. Bare green feet looked cut badly although the white claws still looked vicious. Alex thought it both humorous and odd that he was still wearing his damaged turban. Piccolo's tone was borderline murderous.
"Stop staring"
The human doctor closed his mouth and laughed nervously through his nose, before inviting his visitor inside.
"Come in, I have something you can wear"
Piccolo gladly entered, ducking through the door and trying desperately to keep his cheeks a normal colour. He wasn't embarrassed as such, he'd been training and in various states many times before, and it wasn't as if he were shy, exactly. In fact, he didn't know why he felt the way he did, but he did suspect strongly that he was overreacting. Probably because so far he had done nothing but look weak in front of this human fool and it was starting to wear thin.
Alex left Piccolo standing in the hallway and returned with a pair of loose fitting jeans and an oversized shirt. Even though Alex was broad, he was skeptical of it fitting over the other man's musculature but he thought better of saying anything. The Namek took the items, without a thankyou and disappeared into the bedroom he was familiar with, slamming the door. The frame shuddered and Alex rolled his eyes. Still he couldn't deny the relief making his chest tingle.
He waited in the kitchen and was reading through the responses he had received when Piccolo emerged. His voice carried over the laptop as the Namekian walked into the room.
"I take it you can't materialise clothing at the moment?"
Piccolo grumbled a yes, and tugged uncomfortably at the shirt where it pinched around his chest. Alex looked up, and bit his bottom lip to save from any kind of laughter like sound escaping. The shirt hung oddly, too wide at the waist and not really long enough for his arms. The jeans too, came to a stop just above the ankle but otherwise looked loose enough.
"Maybe...tuck in the shirt, it might be more comfortable"
He actually meant it might also look better, but he imagined Piccolo had little interest in such things.
"What?"
Alex stood, closing the laptop in case Piccolo had somehow learned how to read whilst living in the forest, and walked over. The other man's lack of fear, trepidation or anything else he expected from a human made him scowl, and for some reason, his skin crawled. Alex grabbed the shirt at the bottom and easily tucked it into Piccolo's jeans, as a mother would with a child and the Namek could only grab the Doctor's shoulders in unsteady disbelief. It lasted only an instant, but it took Piccolo a lot longer to recover from the audacity. Alex smiled, not quite eye level with the surly warrior. For the first time, the Namekian noted that the man's hair was so dark it looked a little blue.
"There, isn't that better"
Piccolo honestly had no opinion on the matter, except for the fact that he absolutely hated Alex being this close. He started to walk away from Piccolo, back to the kitchen worktop, apparently not expecting an answer. He grabbed a couple of cups and flicked the kettle on, thinking about how narrow the Namekian's waist was in comparison to his own.
"I'd like it if you stayed for tea, at least. Or maybe some soup, actually"
He started to open the cupboards to look for something nutritious.
"No- uh, thank you"
The polite words made Alex turn around with raised eyebrows. He was wearing glasses, and Piccolo had clearly only just noticed them as he was staring at where they had fallen down his nose.
"I insist, and anyway, we need to talk about what symptoms you might be having"
He wanted to add, because I'm a Doctor and this is my area so just sit the fuck down.
Piccolo opened his mouth to protest, but he hesitated. The feeling of needing help was unbearable but so was the weakness. His crossed arms pulled at the white cotton and he closed his eyes in resignation.
"Fine"
Alex gestured to the chair, ignoring the tone of the other man's voice.
"Just tell me everything you've experienced that might be out of the ordinary"
And where you've been for four days, and why you look like you've been to war.
Even with willing cooperation, Piccolo struggled to actually say the words. Like all of his long dead enemies would spring out from the shadows once they realised how vulnerable he now felt.
"I can't use any of my Namekian powers, like materialising clothes, inanimate objects. My Chi is erratic, dangerous even and I...I can't fly, or power up"
I can't do anything.
He didn't mention the headache, the constant thrum of taunting horridness drilling its way deep into his skull where he kept his pride. Alex nodded at his comments, scribbling them down in incoherent writing.
"Sorry, Chi? Is that like the magic energy you used to conjure?"
Piccolo wrinkled his nose at the description.
"Yes..kind of. Although I wasn't able to do much of that when we met"
Alex offered a sympathetic smile. So not much has changed then has it? Old friend.
"Any pain? Discomfort?"
Piccolo inhaled, and Alex watched him move his tongue against his right canine. He hadn't ever thought about it before, but it was a habit he had definitely had when they were kids. A tell, usually when he was about to lie.
"None"
Alex nodded, he wanted to feel glad about being right but he wasn't. In fact, he wasn't glad about any of this. A memory of them wrestling on the forest floor, trying to stuff red, dry leaves into each other's ears and laughing came to mind.
"Okay, well. I know you're not going to like this, but if you want this to improve...and I assume you do, you're going to have to stay here for a while"
Piccolo didn't like it, and although his drawn features said as much, he didn't respond, he just looked down at the table as if his will alone would make it combust. Alex took that as an agreement.
"We'll fix this"
Apparently his own habit of making false promises had also gone absolutely nowhere. Just like he had told the young Namekian in the forest that he would never leave. Piccolo apparently didn't remember this, or see the irony, so he opened the laptop and started typing furiously.
Chi-chi had hovered over the phone for half an hour before realising that perhaps their new neighbour had other things to do that day. She contemplated calling herself, her worry for Piccolo now creeping back into her mind from where she had shoved it. Goten's young voice didn't help in the slightest.
"Have they found Mr. Piccolo yet?"
She didn't know who 'they' were, since it was only Gohan and Alex who had actually been looking. Both had covered a decent amount of the forest, waterfall and surrounding area with no luck, leaving her eldest son more and more despondent. The familiar feeling of resentment that she associated with the Namekian Demon had burned, but she kept it from appearing on her face, for Goten's sake.
"I don't know darling, but you know he can look after himself"
He grinned, boyish and so trusting. She wished she could believe it herself. She had no doubt that he could look after himself, but he was also just a boy who had grown up in the wild, who might now be lost in the jungle. Her maternal instincts swelled, she had never told Goku, but it's this soft pity that had provoked forgiveness in her for the Demon's kidnapping of her son. He probably hadn't really known any better. And he hadn't known love, or kindness, or any of the other things that help you tell right from wrong.
She still wanted to wallop him with a frying pan though.
Gohan came blundering downstairs, with the same question in mind and she halted him with a firm hand.
"He hasn't called yet, but I already told you - you're taking a day off today, you need to rest and study"
The teenager pulled a sulky expression and although she felt sorry, she also had their welfare to look out for. Pursing her lips, she realised that actually Piccolo training Goten had helped a lot with the little boy's incessant energy; the training would have to continue without him. Chi-chi walked up to her bedroom to put on something more appropriate, with a cocky grin on her face. Maybe he can learn a thing or two from a real fighter. Just holding her fighting gi made her smile, the strength and memory of it something to hold on to.
For the second time that day, she dismissed the creeping thought of making a visit to her neighbour, and for the second time that day, she felt guilty anyway.
Piccolo had gone to the porch for the rest of the day, and Alex had to remind himself that being indoors was probably not the Namekian's first preference. He had been trying to meditate, for hours, but with only partial success. Whenever he neared that pleasant emptiness it would turn on its head, and instead he plunged backwards back to his position on the porch, as if his mind couldn't maintain the focus. Or as if it was desperate to get back to the present. Whatever the reason, it was making him irritable. In a rare show of empathy, he made a mental note not to take out his sour temper on his human companion, who so far had done nothing but try to help. Alex reminded him so much of Gohan, and he smirked, wondering if his mother had been as trying as Chi-chi. The thought made him frown, he didn't actually know much of anything about the other man. He had made no effort to know as children, and certainly avoided any kind of lengthy discussion now. For some reason, it made him feel bad, so he automatically put it down to the new thing he blamed for everything he didn't want to deal with: 'brain damage'.
Alex walked onto the porch, noting that Piccolo looked interesting with his turban, tattered and not at all in synchrony with the rest of his clothes. Handing over a glass of water, he sat down next to the Namek, who muttered in response.
"Thanks"
The mellow brown of the oak platform looked striking against his jade skin, and Alex had to deliberately draw his eyes away.
"If you give me your hat, I can try and get it repaired for you"
"It isn't a hat"
Piccolo pulled the turban from his head and tossed it towards his human host. It landed like a ball of concrete and Alex yelped as his hands almost dropped it, fearing for his wooden porch. His biceps pulled painfully as he tried to pretend it wasn't heavy and Piccolo admired the effort, a smile tracing his lips. Alex couldn't help but smile back, laughing.
"Dick"
A week passed in a roller coaster of quiet and chaos; Alex had called Chi-chi to advise the latest development, and heard Gohan's happiness in the background. Gohan had visited twice, but both times had been told by his mother not to engage in any training, much to Piccolo's chagrin. Actually Alex had told Chi-chi to make up some reason, since he wasn't sure if there might be another accident with the lack of Chi control. Eight conversations about visiting a specialist had occurred, with eight refusals, two arguments and one smashed glass. On the third night, Piccolo had first started a house fire and then raised every object in the house three inches without even realising it. Alex was now considering the use of sedatives, if only to protect his archaeological finds found at last year's visit to the continent, from what he now called 'Namekian voodoo'.
On the eighth day, Piccolo revealed that he was suffering from bad headaches, and so commenced the ninth conversation about visiting a specialist. Usually the Namek would have skulked off to the forest for the day, doing what exactly Alex had no idea, though he figured it had something to do with fighting. He hadn't, and by noon he had started asking questions, not that he wasn't grateful for the company and break from research. He had been working towards a speciality in orthopaedics before all this, and delving into neurology was actually starting to, ironically, give him a headache.
"You sticking around today?"
Piccolo looked up from his lotus position on the sofa, clad in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt Alex had bought from an overpriced store in the village.
"I can leave…"
Alex interrupted quickly.
"No, I just...wondered why"
The Namekian had started to relax a little, and openly admitted the reason, realising that perhaps being honest would accelerate the end to this situation.
"My head hurts, considerably"
Actually it didn't just hurt, it pounded relentlessly. The last time he had ventured into the forest with this pain, he had blacked out, waking up half submerged in the river. Although he would omit that part.
"I see." He sighed, knowing that the next part would be difficult. "Can you please just listen to me and agree to the scan?"
Piccolo frowned, there was less animosity in it now, in fact it had an air of quiet fatigue. For the first time, Piccolo used the other man's name.
"Alex, you're constant patronising is beginning to wear thin"
That hurt. The Doctor rubbed his hands together nervously, and guiltily, looking down.
"You're right, i'm sorry. It's...a habit, from being a Doctor I guess and-"
He stopped himself before continuing. Because I care about you.
He knew well that Piccolo wasn't an idiot, and from the stories shared between Gohan, Chi-chi, himself and Goten, quite the opposite. It occurred to him then that the Namekian had probably tolerated this for quite a while, for what reason he wasn't sure. Gohan had reminded Alex several times that he had the wisdom of an ancient Namek, a God even, and not to jump to conclusions. Chi-chi, however, had been quick to remind Gohan that he was also a wild child who grew up in the woods who had no manners or education. He supposed he had settled on the most convenient and uncomplicated assumption, the one that would get Piccolo medical help the quickest, with the least resistance. The one where he was the one who knew what to do and Piccolo didn't.
Piccolo's physical strength, regardless of his mind, was overwhelming, and he had skill, experience, memories, culture, and probably a hundred other things that he hadn't even considered whilst trying to control the unpredictable man. The word manipulative came to mind. He sat down in the armchair opposite his house guest, leaning forward and resting elbows on his knees.
"Look," he hesitated, "It's been a week and i'm worried. I don't know if you grasp the seriousness of your condition, or if you're just choosing to ignore it, or why you'd do that. I don't know what a Namekian is, or Chi, and I'm scared to death of your voodoo"
Piccolo smirked at the last word, digesting the longest sentence he'd heard in a long time. He allowed his human friend to continue. The word friend popping into his mind of its own accord.
"I'm a Doctor, that's what I know, and I'm used to people looking to me for the answer. And you're not"
His voice started to go off tangent, and he realised that he was scared, scared for Piccolo, and worried that the only thing he had to offer wasn't needed, or that the Namekian knew it wouldn't help. Piccolo uncrossed his arms, uncharacteristically leaning back on the sofa. He wondered if it was their acquaintance all those years ago, or the man's kindness, or the way his eyes were a deep blue that occupied his thoughts more than they should, he licked his lips. Being honest he was used to, being upfront he was not.
"I know you're trying to help. Humans - they don't have a good track record of doing that...for people like me"
Alex swallowed, keeping quiet.
"If I go with you to a hospital, and submit to...what do you think they'd do with me?"
The dark haired man looked down at his own hands, knowing the answer. He wanted to say, I wouldn't let that happen. Except he wasn't strong, wasn't one of these grand heroes with magic powers he had heard so much about recently. He wouldn't be able to stop them.
"I know exactly what they'd want to do with you"
He also knew that they had few options. Gohan had already asked Bulma for help, but she hadn't the right medical equipment for such a procedure, though she had offered to build something. It might be ready in a month. Alex had said thank you, and meant it, but knew that a month was a long time. The brain injury would continue to be untreated.
"I know you're concerned, and with good reason." He thought of Red Ribbon industries, and knew already their involvement with the creation of Cell, numerous Androids, bioweapons, and unethical experimentation. "But, you should know what might happen if we don't do something"
Piccolo raised a brow, waiting for the explanation. The words came slow and if he were perfectly honest, he had prefered being unaware.
"Well...you might need to face the possibility of not getting any of your abilities back. You might lose your memory, forget where you are, the headaches will continue. You could lose your balance, be clumsy, unable to focus. And a whole host of things related to your species that I can't predict"
Piccolo said nothing, and Alex swore at himself internally for being insensitive, the feeling bursting forth into a blush on rosy cheeks.
"Don't beat yourself up, this is the first time you've not treated me like a child"
Alex's face visibly paled. He had forgotten, Piccolo could read his thoughts when they were young, had he been able to all this time? The Namek smirked, not hearing them, but knowing the thoughts anyway.
"I don't need to be able to read your thoughts to know what you're thinking. Yet another thing that I've lost"
Another reason why I'm becoming an empty shell.
Alex didn't need to have that ability either, to see his companion's face fall like a glass from the edge of a table. He stood and moved to sit next to Piccolo on the striped sofa, making the Namek turn his head to the left. Placing an awkward arm around the other man, he could feel the heat rising through the thin fabric, feel Piccolo tense. The rigidity came as no surprise to Alex and he said nothing. Piccolo just let it happen.
He tried not to think about it later.
That evening, after they had parted company to recover from the intense conversation, Alex had asked Piccolo to dinner. Not that he wasn't welcome to join him every day, but he assumed the Namek would make a hasty escape to the forest as soon as possible. He had hung the washing out to dry, swept the porch, weeded the garden despite the intended wildness, read extensively the texts sent by his colleagues, anything to give the Namekian his much valued space. He had given Piccolo his spare room to use, but he was currently outside practicing Kata.
His dish drying pace slowed as he watched through the kitchen window. The pale mint tiles reminded him of his mother, and he thought of her as he stood doing domestic duties whilst he looked outside, as she had done to look over her children. He thought of their similarities, she had been a scholar before retiring to the countryside, had completed her Masters in cybernetics and finished her Phd in electrical engineering whilst raising him, he had started his own further studies last year and yet here he was, washing dishes in the countryside. His qualifications didn't matter here, and for the first time since he left the city, he was glad. His father had a different look on life, an agricultural farmer who valued hard work far above any letters at the end of his name. Luckily, he also valued a difference of opinion and his father worked himself half to death to pay for medical school.
Piccolo's movements were smooth, exacting and meaningful, every millimetre calculated, every breath controlled. Bare feet moved through the air with prowess, and Alex couldn't help but look intently at his toes, long legs, slim waist. He looked down at the sink, feeling suddenly caught, before looking back. Piccolo continued unaware, or more likely quite aware but not caring, slicing through air molecules with as much ease as he moved through steel, and Alex again couldn't help but watch. He never had much interest in martial arts, now all of a sudden he was anxious to know more.
He dried the last dish and wanted to make a start on dinner, but first decided to change. Not to wear anything special, but his parents had raised him to look presentable for dinner. Can't argue with that programming.
Piccolo returned from outside, and headed to the shower. He had learned the hard way at the Son household to be clean for dinner. On his way to the bathroom, he caught a glimpse of Alex in his bedroom, and was looking before he thought it might be rude to. The other man was holding something, a book of some sort, and a couple of seconds went by. Piccolo continued on, realising that he was invading on some kind of privacy. The scene lay heavy in his eyes as he showered, sure that he'd felt some sort of sadness, or nostalgia perhaps, emanating from the other man.
A knock on the door caught his attention as he stood in the hot spray. He missed the waterfall intensely. Alex answered it, his voice heightening in surprise, and Piccolo's long ears twitched. The words weren't clear, but the tone was strange so he leaned out of the water to listen.
"Sorry...I'd totally forgotten"
"It's fine, really"
"No...I. An old friend had an accident and...I'm his Doctor so..."
Piccolo frowned, that sounded a lot like a lie.
"Oh I'm terribly sorry"
"It's fine, why don't you...come in for a drink at least"
Piccolo turned off the water, patting himself dry and dressing as fast as possible without his supernatural abilities. In his haste he hadn't considered why he even wanted to leave the bathroom to find out who it was and he hesitated at the door. A foreign laugh, full of mirth and sweetness, travelled down the corridor.
He ventured out, coming upon Alex and the visitor in the living room. He was handing the young woman a glass of wine, and had evidently had poured one for Piccolo too. The Namekian looked at it puzzled, but took the glass.
"Piccolo, this is Mizuki"
Mizuki looked up at Piccolo from her seat on the sofa, kind curiosity undisguised on her pleasant face.
"Oh hi, pleased to meet you. Alex said you'd had an accident"
He had forgotten about the human need to discuss what had already happened, over and over. He grunted, fingers gripping on the glass. Alex interrupted, seeing Piccolo's strange expression, and with the head injury, not sure what he would say.
"Sorry Piccolo, I forgot that I had made a date for tonight, with everything that's been happening"
For some reason, one that Piccolo would not even be able to contemplate later, he felt his mood darken.
Until next time.
W.