Light On The Mayo
by The Great Red Dragon

Chapter 5

…625, at first, could only stare in awe at the scene. It might've been obvious and nothing special to any other beholder, but the Experiment's act of self-inflicting pain was something completely new to him. He was no stranger to the concept of getting hurt by accident, but the prospect and sight of somebody doing this strong harm to their body in free will, and so intently, made him stare.
…But the Experiment's face was bleeding…he couldn't be enjoying it; it had to be hurting him.
625 picked up his pace then. Hurriedly, he moved back over to the Experiment. He had no idea what his (the Experiment) intentions may be, but maybe he could be reasoned with.

"Hey!", he said aloud, hoping the Experiment wasn't in another 'trance'.

He didn't respond; 625 doubted he was napping.

"Hey, man; wake up!", 625 urged him, touching his shoulder.
"Stop hurting yourself!"

The Experiment paid no attention to him; 625 knew he couldn't hear him. He had no idea what caused these 'blackouts' or lapses of consciousness in the newbie Experiment, but he had a hunch that it had something to do with his levels of stress and anxiety…he doubted the Experiment had ever been put through this type of thing before.
But he was really hurting himself, and 625 didn't like it.

Bang!
Bang!
Bang!

"Stop it!", 625 said loudly again.

In an attempt to stop him, he placed his palm in front of him, against the pole.
But that didn't stop the Experiment.
Bang!
Once again, he slammed his head forward, smashing 625's hand between his forehead and the metal pole.

"YOWCH!", 625 exclaimed loudly and painfully, tearing his hand back.
"WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!"

The Experiment, as suspected, gave no answer, but continued to bang his head while 625 danced around in pain, holding his hand protectively against the creases of his belly, moaning loudly.
He threw the Experiment a nasty glare. It was instinctive anger; first-second aggression…but then, he looked down at his aching, throbbing hand, and saw the trace of the Experiment's blood between the lines of his palm.
…Didn't the Experiment know any better?
Obviously not; he was hurting himself very badly, and apparently not knowing it himself.
He wasn't responding to touch or voice…was there anything else to do?
Determinedly, he shook the stitches of pain from his hand and strode back to the Experiment.

"Hey! Stop it!", he ordered.

The Experiment continued banging his head.

"Stop!"

No response.
625 grabbed the Experiment by the fur on the back of his head and slapped him across the face;
"I SAID STOP IT!"

The audible smack was heard and echoed lengthily down the chamber…it was able to, on account that the ongoing banging had ceased instantaneously.
The Experiment had frozen, his face still resting where 625 had hit him, and his expression non-moving. His mouth was slightly open, and his eyelids had opened at 625's 'assault'. He looked completely paralyzed, speechless, and in shock about what had just happened…both before and after 625 had shown up for the second time.
Then, some motion started in his face. His mouth began to move up and down, as though he were trying to say something. He didn't seem able to process any words, minus a few choking sounds. His repeated attempts brought him nothing, even though he tried hard…and 625 waited, not knowing what to do, and feeling doubts about what he had done.
Then…something else happened.
The Experiment stopped in mid-mouth motion, as if his jaw had suddenly stopped working. He closed his mouth slowly, and bit his lip…his eyes narrowed into slits…and his tears began to brim again. His mouth opened enough to emit an uncontrolled sob, and he lowered his head shamefully.

"…Oh no…", 625 said in a loose moan.
"Come on, please don't cry, man; I didn't mean to hurt you…"

Now, he was in even more an unidentifiable position. He logically figured that the Experiment was crying because he had hit him, but if he hadn't he would've beaten himself to death…logically, he blamed himself for the Experiment's tears, but did he also blame himself for the blood on his forehead?
…Even if he wasn't, he knew that he had done something wrong to begin with (he wasn't sure what, though), and he should try and make up for that.

"…Look, I'm gonna be right back, okay?", he said to the crying Experiment.
"I'll be just a second, so don't do…anything else to yourself, okay?..."

As he expected, there was no answer given, but that didn't matter.
625 stood up and hurried out of the chamber, throwing a glance over his shoulder before he rounded the corner. From there, he made his way into the bathroom and grabbed the first-aid kit he had used earlier. Holding it awkwardly but carefully (it was half of his size), he lugged it back into the main chamber, where he was glad to find that the Experiment had not moved.
He kneeled back down at his side and set down the case to open it. From there, he pulled out a white fabricated cloth, and turned to the Experiment; his head was still turned down.

"…Uh, buddy?", 625 addressed him carefully.
"Would…would you let me clean up your face?"

The Experiment said nothing; he didn't even move his head.
625 reached out carefully and cautiously towards his face, with a certain wareness that ruled uncertainty for the Experiment (if he crazy enough to be a head banger, he might bite). Carefully, he touched his furry chin with his finger, and slowly coaxed his face upwards. The Experiment did what the finger indicated for him, but he kept his eyes low and on the floor.

"There we go…", 625 stated slowly, and he raised the white cloth detly.

The Experiment didn't flinch as he dabbed the cut on his forehead lightly and gently, as not to hurt him. He rubbed the fresh-trickled rivers of blood even more carefully, as they were centered around the Experiment's eyes.
When he had cleaned his face as best as he could, pulled out a squirt-bottle of alcohol-spray.

"This may sting a little", he warned the Experiment, who gave him no reply, but also made no attempt to stop him.

625 tensed and spritzed some of the stinging solution onto the Experiments; perhaps he would move then.
But that wasn't the case. The Experiment didn't so much as blink an eye, which 625 regarded as no simple feat (he had applied the same stuff to his cut foot, and had then stuffed three sandwiches in his mouth to keep from screaming in pain).
Once again, he dabbed the injury with the cloth, and then unearthed a small butterfly-bandage from the kit, along with a large roll of tape.
He looked up at the Experiment, who still refused to show his eyes.

"I'm gonna put this on you, okay?", he said.
"It's…just a big band-aid."

Working even more careful than before, he gently set the bandage over the wound, which had thankfully stopped bleeding. Then, he strapped forth a length of tape, measured it to the Experiment's head, and began to wrap it around his forehead to hold the bandage in place.
He encircled his head several times (careful to avoid the Experiment's second set of arms), always accompanied by the sharp shripping noise of loosening tape.
625 was inexperienced in applying bandages, but he was personally satisfied with the end result; at least his 'patient' didn't look like a mummy.

"There ya go!", he exclaimed finally, throwing all of the bandages and the tape back into the case, and showing a smile to the Experiment.
"Whaddaya think, huh?"

His response was non-existent and glum. The Experiment simply lowered his head, in the manner that the procedure was done, and he could resume with his stationary head-hanging, now additioned with a white headband-like thing that made him resemble a karate student.
625's face fell, as did his spirit. Once again, he felt as if he had done something wrong, and let the Experiment down again. He had failed in mending whatever he was attempting to mend…perhaps it was something that hurt the Experiment more than it hurt him.

"…Hey", 625 said quietly to him, reaching his hand out.
"Hey…I'm…I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry that I just walked away, a while ago…it was…I was wrong and inconsiderate, and I never meant to hurt you…or for you to hurt yourself…but – see, what I mean is…"

He stopped then, realizing that his words were rambling and without much sense; they didn't matter if they weren't able to reach the Experiment, who was in more emotional pain than he had ever experienced.
625 reached a soft hand, hesitated for a moment, and placed it gently on the Experiment's bony shoulder. The Experiment didn't move, but 625 felt a shudder run through him as his hand made contact with his fur…but he seemed to fall back into his limp ease a second later.
625 took a breath, and prepared himself for all the true emotional words he could gather.

"…Look…", he began slowly.
"…I know that what I say can't mean much to you, and I know, because it's my fault to begin with…I'm a coward, because I'm afraid to let you go, because what Gantu might say to me. I know he won't actually hurt me, but I'm scared of him nonetheless…and I'm so sorry about that, believe me…but if you want anything…anything to eat, or to drink, or if you want a magazine or something, just ask…I mean, I wanna make sure that you're comfortable…at least as much as you can be, before…before…"

He fell short on that last sentence. Not just because he realized that there was no pleasant end to the phrase, but also because the Experiment had finally 'responded' to him…with a small, unalterable sob, and traces of tears returning to his eyes.

"Oh!", 625 explained, retracting his hand quickly.
"Please, man!-…please don't cry! Whatever I said, I take it back, and whatever you want…anything; just name it!...but please, please, please don't cry again…!"

The Experiment sniffed quietly, and slowly placed his knees together, in his uncomfortable position. Then, he looked up at 625, with low eyes that called themselves unworthy, and requested quietly;
"…I need to use the bathroom, please…"

(A/N: I think the inner plot of the story is beginning to unfold…this is more of a story of emotional evolution than anything else, and I think that 625 is gonna portray some feelings that we aren't quite used to seeing. Hope I can get the chapter up faster than this on…perhaps at the same pace, but probably not very much faster, to be honest…sorry.

Mona – y'know, I have actually considered calling the Experiment 'Dalai'…I think it fits him quite well, but that would mess up the previous Dalai Lama reference and the title of chapter two. I'm really considering it, though…
I don't think that I meant for 625 to have a disdain for Lilo and Stitch's 'rescue program'; he was just running his mouth a bit. That's nothing to take literally, don't worry.

Pink Charity – s'okay if you're a bit lazy; aren't we all just a bit idle at times? There's no shame in it, believe me.

I'd like to thank everybody else who's reviewing my fic here for your precious time that you take to read this and give me your input: thanks a lot!
See y'all soon!...I hope…)