(A/N): Part 3 of the 'Little Leo' arc. The one where Leo finds out. I just finished writing the next Part, and it's 22 and a half pages, like the first Part.
Trigger Warnings: Canonical Slur. You know the one. Leonides thinks it to himself- because he was raised by racist, classist purebloods, and doesn't know any better- in the context that he would be even more looked down upon for not being human, than people who are anything less than pureblood. General warning of Cipicia being Cipicia (aka, awful). Uh... brief discussion of a child dying? Theoretically dying, at least. Allusion to rape, I guess? It wasn't rape, I will clarify that here, but Cipicia has no memory of how Leonides was conceived, and knows that she would never have sexual intercourse with a vampire of her own free will. Talk of extramarital affairs, if that bothers you. There's sort of a moment that could be considered victim blame-y, but it's not really meant in that way- I will have details at the end of the chapter, for if you noticed it and want more context.
October 18th, 1967
Soren blinked at him, then shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Then, when that didn't seem to help, he twisted around to glance down the hallway, before he turned back to Leonides. He didn't look nervous, per se- or at least, not any more nervous than before- but he did look unsure.
"I- I'm not... I don't know." Leonides arched an eyebrow at him, doing his best to emulate that most stern, disapproving look that Ms Rochester- Amelia- often used on him. And Soren... crumbled. "I- alright, I- I mean, I- there's not- Healer's are meant to be- to act a certain way. You are- and I hate to have to be the one to tell you this, but- you're a child." He relaxed ever so slightly as the corner of Leonides's lips quirked up. "There are certain things that Healer's aren't meant to tell their patients, when that patient is a child. That's just an unfortunate truth, I'm afraid. I don't know why Prue wanted to talk to your mother in private, but... she didn't get to where she is by doing things for no reason." Leonides considered this.
"If I was dying, they couldn't keep it for me, right?" Soren blinked, and his jaw dropped open. Then, it worked a bit, before he managed to make words happen.
"I- I- what?" Leonides shrugged.
"If I was dying," He repeated more slowly. "Could they lie, and tell me that I was fine?" Soren gaped at him, then seemed to partially sort of... shut down.
"Technically," This was quiet, slow- careful. "There would be no legal repercussions that could deter them from doing so, if they chose to. It would, however, be very wrong morally- and I know that Prue would never allow that." Leonides pursed his lips.
"If she had a choice in the matter." Soren blinked, but before he could say anything, Leonides shrugged again, and let it go. "How long have you been a Healer? Do you like it?" Soren looked like he was having trouble keeping up with whatever thought process his patient was working with.
"I- uh..." He took a second to put himself back together, and despite his clear confusion, he did seem much more comfortable with this new line of questioning. "I'm... technically not a full Healer. I mean, I have a provisional Healer's license- I'm getting hands on training, so to speak. That's why Prue- Healer Dinitia- was hanging over my shoulder." Leonides angled his head towards him.
"But do you enjoy it?" Soren blinked again.
"I... I like helping people? I like the research, and memorising spells, and plants, and how certain things help certain conditions. I just... don't know if I'll ever feel like I can do this sort of thing by myself." Leonides considered this for a second.
"You seem like you're doing alright to me." Soren grimaced.
"I mean the more... social, side of things. For the most part, I know that I know what I'm doing, with the treatments. I just... I'm not sure how to make other people, particularly my patients, believe that. Or to make them feel at ease- like I'll take care of them." Leonides pursed his lips again.
"I believe that you know what you're doing." Soren's face softened slightly.
"You don't have to say that. You questioned whether the herbs in the poultice were all safe- that doesn't exactly bode well for your confidence in me, now does it?" Leonides shrugged.
"I do that to all adults." He said, dismissively. "I'm encouraged to challenge everyone around me, except for the people that my mother doesn't want me to. I challenge that, whenever I can, but I don't do that to people I like- that's not fair to them, when we're all just trying to work together." Soren frowned.
"Is that your way of telling me, to my face, that you don't like me?" Leonides shrugged again.
"It's my way of telling you that my relationship with adults is complicated, and you shouldn't take that to heart." Soren blinked.
"That's... surprisingly mature of you." Leonides shook his head.
"And doing so in the first place was immature of me. I'm telling you that you're doing well, because you are. I believe in you as much as I can believe in someone- I know you're not going to hurt me on purpose, if you can help it." Soren's eyebrows furrowed.
"'If I can help it'? What do you-?" Soren cut himself off, and they both jumped as a loud noise carried from down the hall- the sound of a door bouncing off of a wall.
"Mrs Joannis!" This was clearly Prudence- her voice was raised, but she wasn't quite yelling- and Leonides stiffened, hearing the familiar 'click, click, click, click' of his mother's heels moving swiftly across the floor, something he knew never meant anything good. "Mrs Joannis!" Then, they got closer, and he could hear the fabric of her skirts swishing as she walked, which scratched at the back of his brain like nails on a chalkboard- or a fork against a dinner plate. "Mrs Joannis, please- stop!" Clearly, she wasn't listening- not that Leonides ever expected she would.
And then, a second later, she appeared in the doorway- her hair was still just as neat as ever, but her face was slightly flushed, and he couldn't tell if that was from anger, or mere exertion. Her eyes landed on him immediately- met his, only a fraction later- and what he saw there, terrified him.
He saw anger- fury, even- but at this point, that was practically a given. Beneath that was fear- something that he hadn't seen in her more than a handful of times, and never when she wasn't in the presence of his grandfather, Anthophilius- and that scared him. Even further, below that, was... pain. It surprised him so much to see it there, that his eyes dropped on reflex, to start checking her for wounds- because he couldn't comprehend any other cause for such a thing.
She stood in the doorway, just staring at him- staring him down- and he could see Prudence past her. Prudence was a contrast to his mother- she looked stern, determined, but also desperate, and worried, and ever so slightly angry. He had a second to be concerned that she was angry about him- at him- but then, he saw the way she was eyeing his mother, and he got it. Well, he got that Prudence seemed to be quite annoyed with his mother, rather than him. His mother was still just... staring him down, and he swallowed thickly.
"Um... Prue? What's... going on?" Soren asked quietly- tentatively- and she leaned into the room as much as she could, while blocked by his mother.
"It's... complicated." She told him, and the look on his face made Leonides all the more nervous. He wouldn't say that he was all that great at reading people he didn't know all that well, but he knew that Soren trusted the older Healer- trusted her opinion, and her morality- and the fact that he was clearly worried by the way she was acting, was enough to set off alarm bells in Leonides's head. He started to work on trying to get out of the line of five- and hopefully, to perhaps douse said fire all together.
"Maman-" She flinched, and it made him freeze. Then, slowly, she drew in a long, deep breath through her nose, and stepped into the room- far enough that Prudence could slip past her, and she immediately moved to Soren's side.
"Soren, dear," He jolted slightly, as she called him that. "Did you tell young Mr Joannis here everything he needs to know about the salve?" Soren stared at her for a second, clearly still confused, before he nodded, like the muscles in his neck had rusted stiff.
"I- yes? That's... what you told me to do, so I-" He stopped talking as Prudence turned away, but forgot to close his mouth all the way. Prudence hesitated, then turned back to him.
"Do you think you could fetch us a set of crutches from out in the supply closer, dear?" His eyebrows furrowed.
"But the crutches aren't-" She cut him off, shooing him out of the room- past Leonides's mother, who still nearly blocked the doorway.
"There's a good lad, off you trot." Soren, for his part, did not argue- no matter how much he looked like he wanted to skid to a stop, and ask about three trillion questions. As soon as he was out of the door, Prudence shut it behind him- then, she lifted her wand, and cast some sort of spell that made Leonides's ears briefly feel like they were stuffed with cotton wool, before he managed to shake the sensation off.
"What-" His eyes darted to his mother, and when she didn't scold him for speaking out of turn, he tried again. "What's going on?" Prudence turned to face him, and when she did, he thought she looked noticeably more tired than before- like she had aged a few years, in front of his very eyes. She sighed heavily, and shook her head as she moved to stand by his bedside- idly, Leonides noticed that his mother seemed almost... apprehensive, about this fact.
"Leonides," Prudence started, and while she didn't lean down to get on his level, he felt like maybe she wanted to, as she seemed to be searching his face for something- but he didn't have the foggiest idea what she might be looking for. "There's no good way to tell you this, but-" He cut her off, eyes widening of their own accord.
"I knew it!" He cried, and for a split second, his mother and Prudence shared a look that was entirely shock and confusion. "I'm dying, aren't I?!" Prudence blinked, and then, on the other side of it, her face softened.
"No, Leonides... you're not dying." His eyebrows furrowed.
"But then... why are you both acting so... odd?" Once again, she sighed- and his mother was back to looking much like she had before- angry, scared, and... hurt.
"When I cast that final diagnostic charm on you, I noticed something unusual- which is why I wanted to speak to your mother privately. She informed me that some of it was normal- or, to be expected, anyway- but the other thing was... decidedly not expected." Leonides stared at her, then tilted his head to one side, as if a different perspective might help him determine what she was talking about.
"What? What did you find?" She hesitated again, and he rolled his eyes at her- he figured that he was already in trouble for climbing the tree, so he might as well throw his hat into the ring here, too. His mother didn't immediately scold him for it, but it was hard to tell whether that was because she was waiting until later to punish him for it, or because she was just as fed up with Prudence's humming and hawing as he was.
"Leonides, you... aren't entirely human." His heart felt like it stopped.
"...what?" He managed to croak out, a few seconds later, and his eyes darted to his mother, but she was steadily avoiding his gaze- of course she was. Even if he didn't take the Joannis side of the family into account, the Meliflua side- her side- weren't exactly fond of anyone that wasn't... well, human. Pureblood, particularly, but at least half bloods, blood traitors, mudbloods and muggles were all still human- unlike him, apparently.
"There is a part of you- half, I would estimate- that is distinctly... vampiric." If he had been standing, he likely would have lost his footing. As it was, it felt like the world was crumbling around him, and even from the relative safety of his hospital bed, he had almost a sense of vertigo. Like he was at the edge of a long fall- a fall from grace, perhaps?
"...excuse me?" She looked as though she would have quite liked to apologise to him.
"I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but-" He knew that this time, it was nothing so harmless as the fact that he was a child. "-as I told your mother-" He glanced to her, and the anger was gone- or at least, not at the forefront- overridden by that pain from earlier. "-it is not... unheard of, for a male vampire to- er," Now it was Prue's turn to glance back at his mother, but when she didn't receive any guidance, she pushed forward on her own. "To father a child, with a human woman. It is also not unheard of, for that woman- the mother- to be completely unaware of what that man is, when the child is... conceived." What was that supposed to-?
"As I told you before," His mother said, archly. "Whatever he was or was not-" She looked like she wanted to argue the designation of 'man' even. "-he still would not be my husband. Any... interactions, that may have occurred outside of the bounds of my marriage, would not have been of my own free will." Prudence looked like she didn't entirely believe this, but also like she didn't want to doubt it.
She shouldn't have felt bad about doubting it- he doubted it, too. Mainly because he knew that his mother and father had both been... seeking 'company', 'outside of the bounds of their marriage' for years. He did doubt that she would be careless enough to let a child result from one of those... 'interactions', but apparently, she had- and he was the proof of it. It was kind of funny to him, given the multiple arguments he had overheard, where his mother had been trying to impress the importance of, 'not begetting a bastard' on his father- his father.
His father, who, apparently... was not his father. Certain things sprung to mind, that perhaps made more sense, now- it had been remarked upon, a few times, that his resemblance to his father- to Sebastien Joannis, he supposed he should say- was minimal to nonexistent. Those claims had been heartily dismissed, since they had come from some of the more reliably jealous gossips of pureblood society- but whether they had simply been trying to stir up scandal, or they had legitimately suspected something, he didn't think he would ever know for sure.
He remembered what his mother had told him, about her father- his grandfather, Anthophilius Meliflua- being pleased, when he was born, that he had 'come out blond', rather than brunette, like most of the Joannis family- particularly his father- Sebastien Joannis- and his other grandfather- well. He supposed if his father wasn't his father, then his father's father wasn't his grandfather, either. Either way, it felt like Daimen Joannis had lost whatever bet he and Anthophilius had made when his parents- his mother, and Sebastien- had gotten married. And then Mia had been born-
Mia. If he was- was she-? Or were they not-? There was no way his mother would have accepted it if Mia were his father's illegitimate- Sebastien's, illegitimate child, and there was no real way to hide that from her. So, either Mia was... like him, or they weren't... they were only half- somehow, this was what upset him the most.
It didn't bother him all that much that his father wasn't his father, but his sister... his sister, he cared about more than anything- so, even if it made something inside him ache like yet another broken bone, he hoped that she wasn't... that she was Sebastien's, in exactly the way that he wasn't- because he held no illusions that things weren't about to change for him, because of this. He didn't know what would happen, but he knew that breaking the rules, and climbing a tree, were the least of his problems now.
"Right, yes, of course." Prudence said, and his mother glared at her, until she continued. "It is also not out of the realm of possibility that the male vampire could... use their abilities, to manipulate a woman to do their bidding, no matter how unwilling they may be to do so- and then erase their memory of the event entirely." Which was a very convenient way of absolving his mother of any involvement she may have had. Whether she had been willing, and simply unaware, or aware and unwilling, or unaware, and unwilling, it didn't matter. Only the male vampire- his father- his real father- would know the answer.
The way his mother looked at him- that fear in her eyes, underlined by pain... it made him feel ashamed. Like he had wronged her- and he supposed, in a way, that was true. She had thought he was one thing, when in fact, he was another entirely- but that was just as much of a surprise to him, as it was to her.
"What... what does that mean?" Prue opened her mouth, but he continued before she could say anything. "For me- and for our family?" She paused to reconsider her answer, before she said,
"Well... first things first, I would suggest further testing- there's a small department dedicated to the care and study of non-wizard part-humans- which is a ridiculous term, if you ask me. The Ministry tries to use one term to apply to all types, but ends up not fitting half of them. Vampires, for example, are neither always 'non-wizard'- in fact, more often than not, they are magical folk- and again, the term 'non-wizard' could be rather literally applied to regular witches, but that's beside the point- nor are they 'part-human'. They used to be human, and are currently humanoid, but they are no longer part of the human species- nothing wrong with that, but utterly inaccurate-" My mother cut her rant short- but not short enough for her opinion on the matter to not be entirely clear.
"No testing." She snapped, and Prudence gaped at her for a second.
"They aren't harmful in any way-" She cut her off again.
"No testing." Prudence hesitated.
"...I won't try to convince you to change your mind on the matter, but I will warn you that not getting tested means we won't have really any information to go on, to try to anticipate his needs, or certain developmental issues he may have. It means he will always be working at a disadvantage-" Seeing the look on his mother's face, she cut herself off, this time. "My next recommendation is on the matter of feeding. Without the testing, it will be hard to know how much blood he'll need to drink to be able to-"
"I have to drink blood?!" He near yelped, feeling his stomach rise into his throat at the thought- very nearly gagging. Prudence simply blinked at him, then nodded.
"Yes, of course. You are part vampire, after all- vampires drink blood. The earlier you start, the better your control will be- honestly, it's a good thing we caught this when we did-" He interrupted her.
"But I don't want to drink blood That sounds- awful!" She gave him a dry look- a look that was patient, but told him that she was only that way because he was her patient.
"You'll get used to it- it's in your nature to do so-" He shook his head furiously.
"But- can't I- can't I do anything to change my nature? Isn't there anything I can do about this?" Couldn't he go back to the way things were? By the apologetic look she gave him, he knew that wasn't likely.
"I'm sorry, dear, but... no. To be fair, you haven't changed- the only difference, is that now you know what you are. How you choose to approach it, is up to you." She glanced back to his mother. "Up to the both of you." His mother averted her gaze. "You don't have to tell anyone if you don't want to, you won't be putting them in any danger, if you manage his condition correctly-" His mother's eyes swung back, and Leonides saw the outrage in them. Once again, that fear and pain was back, even if they were drowned out by the anger.
"'Tell anyone'? No. No one can ever know about this- it would ruin us. Our entire family- the entire line. Two of the most ancient, unadulterated magical bloodlines, reduced to worse than nothing, by a foul, bloodsucking-" Prudence interrupted her.
"Please consider how your choice of words might impact your son, Mrs Joannis." Her son, who just so happens to be half 'foul, bloodsucking-'. His mother's eyes darted to him, then immediately away again, like she couldn't bear to look at him for more than a second.
"It's... alright." He said, and Prudence looked pained. "I'm aware of the impact it would have on my family if this got out- the impact it will have anyway, even without that." He lowered his eyes, not having it in him to watch his mother's disappointment for any longer.
"It... should be easy enough to hide, as long as he's kept well fed- St Mungo's is more than willing to assist you on that front, to supply you, or to help you find a supplier-" His mother's eyes flicked to her, and she lifted her chin, almost defiantly.
"We don't need your help." She snapped haughtily, and Prudence leveled her with a suitably unimpressed look.
"There is no sense in turning down assistance, simply because your pride demands it. Your son needs a very unique kind of care-" His mother cut her off with a sharp look.
"We can manage, on our own." Prudence pursed her lips.
"Maybe you can- but can he?" His mother's eyes flicked to him, and he was surprised by the pain there, before she turned her gaze back to the Healer, and the pain became anger once more.
"None of your concern." It was practically a growl, and Prudence seemed a little taken aback.
"Mrs Joannis- it is entirely my concern-" She cut her off, stepping towards her.
"We're done here- let your boy Healer back in." Prudence paused, clearly thrown off by this, before she frowned.
"Mrs Joannis, we still have a lot to discuss-" She didn't even bother to cut her off again. She just turned to the door and opened it- and Soren very nearly tumbled inside, seeing as he had very clearly been leaning against the door, trying to listen through it. Presumably to no avail, given his obvious shock at suddenly being admitted.
"Woah! Okay- oh, hello!" He greeted Leonides's mother politely, then seemed to notice the look on her face and sobered, swallowing thickly. His eyes darted to Prudence, took in her expression, and then finally to Leonides. It was only then that his eyebrows furrowed, and he asked, "What's wrong?" Leonides stayed silently, pressing his lips together, and avoided his eyes. "Leonides-?" His mother cut Soren off.
"Give him the crutches, Healer- Healer." She drew up a little short, as she realised she didn't know his surname, but also didn't want to lower herself to the personal touch of using his first name. Soren blinked, and looked to Prudence- who was watching the whole thing with a decidedly disapproving air- then back to Leonides's mother.
"I'll give him the crutches when Healer Dinitia tells me to give him the crutches- or when he asks for them himself." To his credit, he stared her down, no matter how nervous he clearly was- and before his mother could antagonise either one of them any further, Leonides intervened.
"...I would quite like the crutches, Soren." For the barest of seconds, he thought Soren would resist- but after that moment of hesitation, Soren moved to his bedside, crutches in hand.
"Right, so- how you use these. If I can, I'll have you stand up, at the side of the bed- on your uninjured leg only, mind- so I can adjust the height properly for you." Leonides scooted to the edge of the mattress and slid himself off of it, using his hands braced on the bed to support him on his left leg only, and Soren came over to him, bringing one of the crutches alongside Leonides.
He set it so the tip was on the ground, and held it out to Leonides so he could get an accurate measure of things. Then he pulled out his wand, and tapped the crutch- which began to shrink. It shrunk until the arm rest was about an inch or two lower than his armpit, and the hand grip was level with the top of his hips- then, Soren held it to the other crutch, and repeated the action until it matched the first.
"Now," He said, offering the crutches to Leonides, who gingerly accepted them. "Put those under your arms- that's right. Bend your elbows a little- a little less than that- yes, just like that. It's important that you support your weight with your hands, rather than your armpit- if you don't, it can affect blood flow, or damage nerves... those sorts of nasty things. When you need to take a step, you put them about a foot in front of you, and begin like you were going to use your right leg, but instead, you put your weight on the crutches. Then, you use your other leg like normal. Does that make sense?" Leonides nodded- because it did, and because he could tell that his mother was getting impatient. "Always look forward, not at your feet-" Her patience ran out.
"He knows how to walk, he's not an imbecile!" The 'like you' was silent, but didn't go unheard. "He's seven years old, not seven months. He will learn- he always does." Was there such a concept as 'backhanded faith'? Soren looked like he was about to start arguing- but Leonides knew that wouldn't ever end well, so he did his best to get in between them.
"Thank you for your help," He tried to make it clear to Soren that he didn't just mean with the crutches. "But I would prefer to do it on my own." So Soren didn't suffer for trying to help him. The Healer's stared at him- Soren looking both worried and slightly confused, and Prudence just looked incredibly saddened.
Leonides took this opportunity to demonstrate that he was able to use the crutches, taking a few strides away from the bed- and toward his mother. Soren, for his part, looked begrudgingly impressed- not because he didn't want to show Leonides that he was impressed, but likely because he didn't want to encourage him to do anything like this again in the future. His mother, however, looked both smug- smug that she was right- and slightly disdainful- like she had expected him to cast aside the crutches, and somehow walk perfectly fine on his own two feet.
"See? He is perfectly capable of doing it himself." It felt as though she meant more than just being able to walk on crutches. "Now- we are taking our leave." Soren blinked, and Prudence jolted- her face immediately contorting. To horror, and rage, and disgust.
"What?! You can't just- Mrs Joannis, you are being ridic-" She arched an eyebrow at the Healer, in a way that made Leonides want to hide. He knew what that look meant- it meant danger.
"Healer Dinitia," She said, syrupy sweet even as her eyes narrowed at the older woman. "Are you trying to tell me that I cannot take my son away from here?" Is he your prisoner, now?" Prudence blanched, and looked more enraged than he had seen her look the entire time.
"Is he yours?" She countered, but that only seemed to incense his mother more. "I only want what is best for your son-" She cut her off.
"And I only want what is best for my family." Leonides wasn't entirely sure how the two differed, but he knew that they did. "If you want to avoid an early retirement, I suggest you let this go." Prudence continued to glare at her, but slowly, the fight started to leave her eyes. And entered Soren's, instead.
"I can't say that I have any idea what is going on, but-" She cut him off.
"Then you should keep your nose out of it, boy." He narrowed his eyes at her.
"My name," He said, matching her frostiness. "Is Healer Townsend. And if you want to flex your bureaucratic muscles and have the big bosses fire me- fine. Go right ahead. Hell, it'll be easy- I'm not even fully licensed yet. I don't care what you want- I'm here for my patient, and my patient only. If Leonides wants to stay, I'll support him in that. And if he wants to leave... I'll support him in that, too." He turned his head, taking a break from staring her down, to give Leonides as reassuring a look as possible.
"He is not the one in charge here-" He cut his mother off, knowing that there was only one way out of this that ended with the innocent Healer's possibly getting out of this unscathed. And honestly... he was tired.
"I want to go home." He said, and Soren stared at him for a minute- clearly evaluating him- before slowly, he nodded.
"Alright. Let's... get you on your way, then. Prue," He said, turning to the other Healer. "Is there anything you need to do while I sign him out?" Prue blinked, then hesitated.
"I... there are some pamphlets I would like to give Leonides, as well as some reading recommendations." Soren's eyebrows furrowed, but he didn't question it- instead, moving to grab Leonides's chart from where it still hung off the end of the bed.
"We do not need-" His mother started to snap, but Prudence cut her off.
"Hospital policy, I'm afraid. It's out of my hands. You know, I could get fired for not supplying my patient with the proper information." His mother's jaw clicked shut, and he watched it clench with a careful eye.
Prudence clicked her fingers, and an array of pamphlets appeared in her hand- along with a generous piece of parchment. With these items in hand, she approached him, and held out the literature for him to take- when he did, she patted the back of his hand lightly, and said, "There's a good lad." To which he flushed, just a little bit. Then, she got to work on the parchment- her reading list.
"If you don't mind, I need to ask you some questions." Soren said quietly, and he turned to look at him.
"...what sort of questions?" He asked tentatively, to which Soren shrugged.
"Just normal, end of visit type questions. The quality of your care, etc. Are you... okay with that?" Leonides considered this for a second- considered how much his mother would be irritated by this- then nodded.
"Sure. I... guess?" Soren raised his finger to the parchment, and began.
"How are you feeling?" Leonides hesitated, unsure of how to answer that.
"Um... good?" Soren eyed him, over the top of the clipboard.
"Are you in any pain?" He winced, then shrugged.
"I... some? I mean, from the knee down, my leg is numb, but the rest of my body is still... quite sore." Soren frowned, then he and Prudence shared a look.
"We can-" Leonides cut him off.
"It's not- I can handle it. I just... thought I should be honest. You can't lie on an official document, right?" Soren shot him a slightly bewildered look, and he couldn't help but crack a smile. "That was a joke- my leg is broken, not my funny bone." For his trouble, he earned himself a reluctantly amused look.
"On a scale of one to ten, one being the lowest, ten being the highest, how would you rate the pain you were in when you arrived?" He took a second to consider this.
"I... I don't know... a six?" Soren froze- had he said the wrong thing? "Maybe a seven? Is six and a half an option?" He was still for a second, before he seemed to recover, and carefully marked something down.
"Six... point... five..." He murmured, before moving on to the next question.
"And on that same scale, how would you rate your pain now?" He evaluated the way his body felt.
"Uh... maybe a two? It was a little worse earlier, if that helps." It seemed like it did, because he certainly wrote down more than just a number.
"And... are you satisfied with your care?" He didn't have to consider this one.
"Yes. Very, very satisfied." The corner of Soren's lips quirked up. "...you did good, Soren." He jolted slightly, then froze. His eyes lifted, and locked with Leonides's, and his face softened.
"Le-"
"Well. It's 'you did well', not 'good'- and he didn't do that, either. Mark that down on your chart, boy-" Soren cut her off, leveling her with a look that was sort of darkly amused- almost smug, in fact.
"I'm sorry you feel that way, ma'am- but this chart is only for patients, so if you have a complaint about my conduct, you can leave it in writing at the front desk." She huffed angrily, and turned away- crossing her arms over her chest. "Anyway. Next question- do you feel confident that you know how to properly keep up your course of treatment? How you're supposed to use the salve, and everything?" Leonides nodded.
"Yes- you told me everything I need to know." Soren echoed his nod, and noted that down. Then, he flicked his index finger in a sort of prolonged flourish, and when he returned the clipboard to the end of the bed, Leonides saw that at the bottom of the page, he had etched his signature. Then, he saw his eyes dart down to the pamphlets Leonides still had clutched in his hand- before he quickly shoved them into his pocket. He couldn't tell whether Soren had actually been able to read anything- a frown had grown on his face, but didn't look shocked or disgusted, so he supposed that he hadn't gotten a good look at them.
"Well, now that the questions are finished..." Soren said, then propped his hands on his hips. "It is standard practice, for patients under the age of twelve to be given a sweet at the end of their visit-" Prudence's eyes shot to him, and then slowly, lowered back to the list she was working on. Clearly, she knew this wasn't true, but she certainly wasn't going to mention it- especially not where his mother could hear it. "-both for morale, and to keep their sugars in check." His mother scowled.
"He's not allowed to have sweets-" Soren interrupted her.
"Not even on Healer's orders? It's important for his health, you know." As his mother rolled his eyes, Soren took the opportunity to wink at Leonides, while she couldn't see it.
"Fine- if you must. But only one- I refuse to have to deal with a child that already tends towards the hyperactive, also high on sugar." Soren nodded very graciously, and offered Leonides yet another butterscotch, from his pocket. Leonides, of course, shoved it into his mouth just like earlier- before she could change her mind.
"Thank you- I feel much better, now." Soren was able to give him a proper grin now, but Leonides own smile fell most of the way as he heard his mother sigh angrily.
"I do have things to get back to, you know- and he has missed all of his afternoon lessons already, as well. Are we finished here?" Prudence's lips pursed.
"Almost. Just one... more... there. Done. A comprehensive list of-" His mother snatched the parchment of the older Healer's hands, as she could only blink in shock.
"Good. Now- farewell. Leonides!" He came to attention, and when she flung a hand toward the doorway, he took a step closer to that exit- before he paused, and turned to look at Soren and Prudence.
"Thank you. I- thank you." Then, he followed his mother out of the room, and into the hallway. Idly, he glanced around, searching for the strange, hateful man he had seen earlier- but the man never appeared. Instead, when he turned to look at his mother once they had reached the Arrival Hall, he saw that Soren and Prudence had followed them- and then Soren opened his mouth.
"If anything else happens- or if your pain gets any worse- please feel free to come back, and-" His mother dug her fingers into his shoulder, and they disapparated.
(A/N): Cipicia: 'He's not allowed to have sweets, he's too hyperactive as it is.'
Cipicia: 'No matter how much I've tried to beat it out of him.'
Prudence: 'That's because he's a supernatural creature, you crazy bitch!'
also
Leonides: 'If I was dying, could they keep it from me?'
Soren: '...what the fuck?'
Leonides: 'If I was dying, could they lie, and tell me I was fine?'
Soren: 'Well... this certainly wasn't in the Healer's Handbook.'
also
Cipicia: 'If you want to avoid an early retirement, I suggest you let this go.'
Prudence: *reluctantly backs down*
Soren: *does whatever the opposite of 'backing down' is*
also
Soren: 'Are you satisfied with your care?'
Leonides: 'Yes, Baymax, I am satisfied with my care.'
also
Soren: 'Are you satisfied with your care?'
Leonides: 'Yes. Very, very satisfied... you did good, Soren.'
Soren: *touched*
Cipicia: *ruins the moment*
Soren: 'If you have a complaint, you can leave it in writing at the front desk.'
Soren: 'The box leads directly into a shredder.'
So the 'victim blame-y' part. If you noticed, Cipicia says: "Any... interactions, that may have occurred outside of the bounds of my marriage, would not have been of my own free will." and Leo thinks, 'Prudence looked like she didn't entirely believe this, but also like she didn't want to doubt it.' He then goes on to think about the fact that Cipicia and Sebastien have not exactly been entirely discreet about their dalliances outside of their marriage. Basically, Cipicia says, 'I would NEVER cheat on my husband', and Prudence is trying hard not to say, 'Honey, we all know that's not true. I know what you purebloods get up to in your spare time.' but she also doesn't want to discount the fact that Cipicia very well could have been raped by some mysterious male vampire. Again, it wasn't rape, I just want to make that absolutely clear.