Post by Dimitri Mikhail Zolnerowich on Dec 4, 2009 0:04:02 GMT 1
[This post is copied from Maraud Mischief. Seperate posts by Jule or me are separated by ***]
The kettle whistled and Dimitri smiled. Another week had begun and he loved his job. He was not a workaholic, absolutely not, but it felt so pleasant to be able to help people. More pleasant than spending all your weekends on your own in an empty house, either way. He was just done with his morning rounds on the children's ward and it had left him both feeling accomplished and melancholic.
On one hand, he felt more than great because he could help those children and make them dare to hope again, but on the other hand it was hard on him to see children suffer like that. Grownups were bad enough, but children suffering was something he really couldn't stand seeing.
Taking a few deep breaths, he tried clearing his mind and, in the end, got up to make himself some tea, hoping that would help. He had to focus. He'd soon have a new patient coming in, and a pureblood one at that so who knew how they might react. It had been so long since he'd really been amongst purebloods. Longer than five agonising minutes, that was. Ofcourse, he shouldn't judge the man before he met him, but.. He met purebloods occasionally, but let's be honest.. most purebloods had private physicians or at least didn't seem to get ill at all. Too good to be ill or at least not ill enough to be in St. Mungo's, anyway. He wondered why.
Dimitri was so distracted by his own thoughts, that he forgot to stop pouring the boiling water when his cup was full. Cursing considerably and blinking his eyes against the tears, he managed to scourgify the place, magic the shards on the floor back together and get himself an actual cup of tea (not just hot water over his hand). Wincing a little as he sat down at his desk, he sighed, looking at his hand. That was going to need some attention.
He was just about to do some spells on it, when he heard a knock at the door. Splendid. His new patient couldn't have picked a better time. Hastily wrapping some loose bandage around his hand, Dim cleared his throat and announced a: "Come in."
***
Julius had only come in on a routine physiotherapy appointment, and to collect his prescription, but now he was sat in his chair, watching people come and go, while his brother stood next to him, impatiently tapping his foot.
The reception-witch called out his name and he started to slowly wheel himself out into the aisle, before strong hands gripped the handles on his chair and Tiberius Prince began to steer him towards the desk.
"Hello!" It was of course, Julius who had given the greeting, and the reception-witch gave him a nod and a smile in return. She read off of a blue slip of paper that they normally gave back to him after they had gone through his bloodwork. There had never been a problem before, but now:
It is suggested that Mr. Prince be sent to DZ's C office for-
Her tone was bored, and she cut off before the end. Julius glanced back at his brother, and it was enough to stop the older man becoming impatient. The reception-witch wrote something, sealed it with the blue slip and sent it to god knows where. Tiberius' face darkened.
Julius felt he really should ask,"Is th-" She cut him off with that lazy, nasal drawl of hers,
"Mr. Prince, plese go along the corridor until you reach the door with Counselling 1 on it, thankyou"
"I-" She wasn't listeneing anymore. probably very busy, He felt himself pulled sharply back from the table at they moved out into the corridor leading off from reception.
"I'm sure it's just the room that they have free, brother mine," Julius broke into a small smile of reassurance, and explained ,"why only last week the Physiotherapy room was in use and we had to..."
Had anyone cared to look, they would have seen Two similar looking men, one in a wheelchair and suit, the other in tailored ministry robes, moving towards the office they had been directed to.
Julius, the one with brown hair, was gesticulating with his right and smiling openly as he spoke. As they came to the door, Julius asked,"So this is us then?"
Tiberius interjected once as they reached the door, "Yes...The woman on duty said they would send a memo through. Damned rude not telling the patient why he should have to see a counsellor." THis was interspersed with glares at the witch on the front desk and an offended sniff of disdain.
Tiberius knocked, and both men flattened out creases in their clothes.
At the call to enter, Tiberius leant forward and opened the door, letting go to allow his younger brother to awkwardly wheel himself through the door, smiling at the young man with black hair as he did.
Julius was first to speak, but Tiberius was the one to get down to business.
Smiling at the man, the wheelchair-bound brother offered the counsellor a greeting, "Hello, Mr. -" He squinted at the name plate on the desk through his glasses and gave an embarrassed laugh, "-Mik-Mil- May I call you by your first name? " Julius finished apologetically, glancing at the bandage on the man's hand.
Tiberius was a man who knew his time was important, and didn't think he should have to spend it listening to people query his brother's sanity; He stepped in and closed the door, speaking as soon as his brother had finished.
"We were sent here by the witch at the front desk." It was short and to the point, a bored upper-class drawl that immediately told the listener, that they couldn't compare and shouldn't bother trying. He raised an eyebrow at the bandages, how could someone unable to care for them self, possibly be expected to look after his brother. He resolved to have words with one of St. Mungo's officials, and, yes, they were on first name terms.
Both brothers waited expectantly, Julius sat smoothing his right hand over his right trouser knee, wondering if the counsellor in front of them's hand was quite alright and Tiberius stood gripping onto one of the steering handles of the modified wheelchair, an imposing presence beside his quieter and younger brother, over whom he was fiercely protective.
***
Dim looked at the two men for a moment as they came in, giving himself a moment to observe. It was obvious who his patient was, especially as the file had said 'confined to a wheelchair', but even if that hadn't been the case, it wasn't difficult to see which of the two men would be his patient for the following weeks.
He smiled pleasantly, but in no way mocking, at Julius' attempt to say his name and sat down again, as he'd gotten up when the door opened. "It's Zolnerowich," he smiled a little lopsidedly, "but please call me Dimitri if that's easier for you, this is not the first time my last name is an obstacle." Tiberius' comment surprised him, as he had already been busy talking to Julius. The brother obviously wanted some sort of reaction or reassurance they were in the wrong place. Too bad for Tiberius.
"Ah, yes, well.." He coughed and prayed to God this pureblood would not be trouble. He wasn't so concerned about Julius, but the other one.. "Thank you for escorting your brother here, Mr. Prince. If you would be so kind as to grant us some privacy, it won't take longer than thirty minutes." He really did not want the brother to be here, he was quite sure it would do Julius no good. He would never speak free if there was a family member along in the room.
He'd seen both the men look at his hand and smiled apologetically. He had the feeling it would be better to explain it now, but on the other hand, he wanted Tiberius out of the room as soon as possible.
Well, maybe it was better to just explain it now - who knew what inventive pureblood minds could come up with. Especially since Tiberius didn't seem to like his brother going into councelling. "I just burned my hand, gentlemen, I was about to heal it, but you knocked, so I postphoned it." It was said business-like and close to the way Dim's parents had always wanted him to speak. He didn't know what had come over him, but something in him had said that if he wanted to get through to Tiberius, he might have to act more to his heritage than he'd like.
***
"Ah...Well then you absolutely /must/ call me Julius, Dimitri." He offered another warm smile, but when Dimitri went on, he suddenly discovered how interesting it was that there were little threads in the carpet that he could distinguish from one another, and he focussed on his feet, then the floor, the the platform on the chair that he rested his feet on.
Tiberius raised an eyebrow in amused disbelief. "I beg your pardon?" His bored tones diplayed this, but it was clear that with his perfectly bred hearing and the uncommmonly good acoustics of the room, he had heard every word. He stepped forward a little, his reputation was not intimidating for no good reason, and he was well used to getting what he wanted, when he wanted it.
"Anything you wish to ask Julius you may ask in front of me. I doubt he has not already told me the answer to any question you need ask." He folded his arms and stood nearer his brother, a firm sign of his devotion, and how damned good he was at meddling.
Julius did not contradict his brother, but shuffled in the seat a little, as though trying to get comfortable. "Perhaps-"
"no-no, Julius, Let Mr. Zolnerowich speak." His pronunciation was flawless, and in that moment, he could have convinced anyone that he was russian himself.
When the bandage was explained, Tiberius merely raised an eyebrow as if to say, how careless. But he did not pass comment. While Tiberius was raising his haughty eyebrow, His brother had looked up and reached down to a side pocket on the chair.
"Is it- Is it alright?, If it hurts, I've a calming draught or two..." He said with genuine concern. He was due for his prescription today anyway. The reception witch normally gave him the precription slip though..perhaps it was new administration. Tiberius would know, He made a note to ask him when they returned to the estates.
***
Dimitri mimicked the warm smile which Julius send him easily, nodding a little. He was about to reply and thank Jule for it when Tiberius interupted his thoughts.
"I beg your pardon?" Dimitri was, luckily, able to understand the tone of the exclamation and didn't repeat what he'd just said. He was a foreigner, but at least he still understood bodylanguage and intonation. "Anything you wish to ask Julius you may ask in front of me. I doubt he has not already told me the answer to any question you need ask." Dim let him speak and then witnessed how he patronised his brother. No, no it would not work having Tiberius in the room, not at all. Surely, Tib thought Julius always spoke freely in front of him, but Dimitri very much doubted that was the case.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Prince," he replied with a slight smile. "It's custom that the patient is granted privacy, even from his family. Professional secret, you see." Still smiling politely, he walked over to the door, opening it for Tiberius. "I will make sure to let you know if anything might occur that will make the session take longer or shorter than the time I just indicated."
Personally, he couldn't care less what Tiberius thought of him, but professionally, it was quite a different story. Julius needed help, help he could provide, and if this meddling brother prevented him from doing his job.. well.. Dim didn't know what he'd do, but he'd certainly (try to) do something.
He politely declined Julius' offer. "Oh, no, thank you Julius, I'll manage." Dim smiled at Jule briefly and then focused on Tiberius again, waiting for him to leave.
***
Dimitri seemed nice, thought Jule as he waited for his brother to finish. He hoped Tiberius wouldn't be too rude.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Prince," Jule thought that Dimitri was terribly brave, and very polite. Tiberius thought he was an arrogant young upstart."It's custom that the patient is granted privacy, even from his family. Professional secret, you see." Tiberius completely ignored the dark-haired counsellor, except for when he opened the door. at which point he gave a firm ,"Hmph!". "I will make sure to let you know if anything might occur that will make the session take longer or shorter than the time I just indicated."
Tiberius turned to his brother, and spoke, completely disregarding Dimitri. Ther was still a firm hard edge to his voice, but when he spoke to his brother, there was no scorn, only a little softness, as though asking a child whether they wanted to go home before ever reaching the zoo. "Julius? Would you like me to stay?" The Head of the Prince family put a hand on his brother's wheelchair's arm.
Julius was put on the spot now. He didn't want to upset Tiberius, or make him feel left out, but he didn't want to go agaainst protocol for the counsellor, who was obviously just trying to help him. He rubbed his good hand over his good leg and shuffled again. "uh...Well... perhaps we should do as Mr. Zawlno- as Dimitri says?" It was not a statement, it was a question. When asked for his thoughts on the matter, he had consulted Tiberius to see if his thoughts were acceptable.it was the way it always had been. Tiberius had been able to pick up Vespasian Prince's subtle and unsubtle hints and by way of affirming or rejecting Julius' statements posed as questions, Julius had been able to escape punishment lightly.
Tiberius paused for a moment, giving his brother a look that actually contained emotion, a rare thing for Tiberius, and gave Dimitri a curt nod before putting a hand on his brothers chair, still not on his arm, because even his own brother was scared of breaking Jule, like he was some fragile doll and crouching to speak to him, "I will be just outside. If you should need me..." He trailed off, sure that his brother would want some reassurance that he wasn't being left to the mercy of this clumsy counsellor.
" Thank you." said the younger brother, smiling just as reassuringly for he knew that while Tiberius thought it was Julius who feared being left alone, it was really the paragon of pureblood breeding who feared and worried for him most. He turned to smile nervously at Dim as Tiberius left, not thanking the russian for holding open the door because it was right that he, a wealthy, high class pureblood, should be catered for and served by those lower in status. It was not arrogance. It was the lessons of life as he was taught them. Entitlement and responsibility.
Julius inched his chair forward a little.
"Oh, no, thank you Julius, I'll manage." Julius was sure that it must have really hurt if it needed that much bandage, so he politely asked again,"Are sure? It's alright, I've plenty in my pocket..." He gestured at the pocket on the side of his chair. plenty was an understatement.
***
Dimitri was, luckily, used to difficult patients and their families. The only new element here was that Tiberius was very, very pureblood in his behaviour. Dim had had worse - families who would not accept a familymember's disease or patients who were simply distructive or deaf to his words. Dimitri knew that if he spoke to Tiberius on the level of a pureblood, he should be able to get through to him.
The counsellor watched the brief exchange of words between the two brothers, still holding the door open. For a moment, he was afraid Julius would bend to his brother's will, but smiled hardly noticable when Tiberius listened to his brother. It surprised him a little, for somehow Dimitri had expected Tiberius to get his way one way or another.
He nodded the elder brother goodbye as he left, closing the door behind him.
Dimitri turned to Julius. "No, no, thank you. I'll give it some attention in a minute, of that does not offend you," he said with a smile, testing the water a little. He had already established that Julius wasn't the pureblooded snob his brother was, but who knew to what extent his upbringing had influenced him, after all. Subtly, Dimitri ignord his patient's other offer by asking: "Is there anything I can get you? Tea? Coffee? Anything else?" He smiled a little, going at an easy pace to Jule could get used to the atmosphere and the situation. In a few moments, though, he would ofcourse put the man's world upside down..
***
Julius watched his brother go before looking at the young counsellor in front of him. "well..If you're sure.." He placed his hand back in his lap and it twitched a little on his leg as he looked around the small office. Plain brown eyes with faint smile lines at their corners focussed on Dimitri. "oh please do! I wouldn't want you to sit there suffering." He was honest, and reached forward with his hand to touch the desk in a gesture of concern for someone he barely knew.
"Oh! uh....Tea would be lovely if you have any, please." He glanced back at the door that his brother had left through for a little too long, nervousness rising in him like a swarm of wasps. He could always make his tea just a little extra bit relaxing...
The brown-haired wizard thought of the numerous vials and flasks of calming draught in his room , and of the not inconsiderable number in his wheelchair side-pocket. How many had he had so far....6...or perhaps eight...He couldn't remember if he'd taken one before and after breakfast, or with it. Nor could he remember if he had had one with his lunch.
***
Dimitri smiled at his new patient shortly, then sat down first and carefully undid the bandage. It didn't look too bad, but it was obvious it was going to blister if he did nothing about it. Taking his wand from a drawer, he preformed a number of healing and cooling spells, sitting up and paying attention to Jule as soon as he was done, hand quite better. Dimitri was no healer, but he was certainly good enough.
Now his hand was all fixed again, he went about making tea. While pouring it into the cups, he noticed Julius' nervous expression and smiled at him a little. "Don't worry, I'm not as scary as I look." The tone was obviously a joking one and the only reason for Dimitri attempting to joke was to lighten the mood. It seemed his new patient relied heavily on his brother and he had a feeling at least part of the nervousness was due to the fact Tiberius wasn't here.
Putting the tea in front of Jule so he could easily reach for it, Dim got down to business. "So.. Do you have any idea why you're here?" He wondered if Jule was aware of his problem or not. If he was, this was going to be a whole lot easier.
***
Julius watched the younger wizard go about healing himself, wincing as the injury was uncovered. "Ouch...THat looks rather painful.." Plain brown eyes watched the russain with concern.
He glanced up at Dimitri, and gave a small laugh. Dimitri was right, he was just going to help. And, should he need him, Tiberius was just outside, ready...ready to help.
At the question, he reached up to scratch his chin a little before wheeling slightly forward and picking up the tea with a slight shake of the head. He gave another nervous laugh, worried, but not too concerned or they would have rushed him through, not left him waiting next to the man with a foot where he should have an ear in the reception.
"a-Apparently there was something to do with my blood work?" He asked, the ravenclaw in him wanting to get the 'answer' right. With his left leg pressed against the side of the chair, he placed the cup of tea between his knees carefully, but with practiced ease, and leant slightly over to his right to reach for a vial of Calming draught from the side pocket.
Drawing the vial out, he uncorked it nonchalantly with one hand,"It wasn't serious was it?
***
It didn't take Dimitri very long to heal his hand properly. Sure, a healer could've done a better job than he, but it was only his own hand and it was good enough for him. The faint scarring would fade in time and at least the pain was gone. He smiled at Jule to reassure him. "It's not so bad." It wasn't, compared with the physical punishment he had gotten used to as a child. His parents had both been excellent healers, but when you know how to heal a body, you know how to damage and harm it, as well.
Despite the earlier burn, Dimitri picked up his tea without hesitation and smiled to himself a little as the warmth tingled through his fingers. Patiently, he waited for Julius to answer and it amused him slightly that the Ravenclaw answered his question with a question.
"Yes, there was, actually. Are you aware of what the problem with your bloodwork was?" Julius had avoided answering him straight away the first time by echoeing a question, but Dimitri was used to evasive moves from patients. He had people worse than Jule in his care, after all. He watched Julius' movements carefully, ready to step in as soon as that vial would get too near his patient's tea cup.
"It wasn't serious was it?"
This was the moment were Dimitri stepped in. Two questions had been answered by questions to obviously either way Jule had no idea, or he was trying to seem that way. Whichever it was, Dim was going to have to just tell him to get through to him.
"Depends. To be honest, it has everything to do with what is probably in that vial, Julius." Dim didn't sound sarcastic, he was smiling sympathetically actually, in an attempt to calm and reassure his patient. He had a feeling it would work, Julius didn't seem as addicted to him as the bloodworks suggested. Then again, impressions can be deceiving.
"A large amount of calming draught was detected in your blood." It was a short statement, but Dimitri first wanted to wait for a first reaction before continuing.
[dear admins, this is 3857 words, do we get to claim points? *bounces*]
The kettle whistled and Dimitri smiled. Another week had begun and he loved his job. He was not a workaholic, absolutely not, but it felt so pleasant to be able to help people. More pleasant than spending all your weekends on your own in an empty house, either way. He was just done with his morning rounds on the children's ward and it had left him both feeling accomplished and melancholic.
On one hand, he felt more than great because he could help those children and make them dare to hope again, but on the other hand it was hard on him to see children suffer like that. Grownups were bad enough, but children suffering was something he really couldn't stand seeing.
Taking a few deep breaths, he tried clearing his mind and, in the end, got up to make himself some tea, hoping that would help. He had to focus. He'd soon have a new patient coming in, and a pureblood one at that so who knew how they might react. It had been so long since he'd really been amongst purebloods. Longer than five agonising minutes, that was. Ofcourse, he shouldn't judge the man before he met him, but.. He met purebloods occasionally, but let's be honest.. most purebloods had private physicians or at least didn't seem to get ill at all. Too good to be ill or at least not ill enough to be in St. Mungo's, anyway. He wondered why.
Dimitri was so distracted by his own thoughts, that he forgot to stop pouring the boiling water when his cup was full. Cursing considerably and blinking his eyes against the tears, he managed to scourgify the place, magic the shards on the floor back together and get himself an actual cup of tea (not just hot water over his hand). Wincing a little as he sat down at his desk, he sighed, looking at his hand. That was going to need some attention.
He was just about to do some spells on it, when he heard a knock at the door. Splendid. His new patient couldn't have picked a better time. Hastily wrapping some loose bandage around his hand, Dim cleared his throat and announced a: "Come in."
***
Julius had only come in on a routine physiotherapy appointment, and to collect his prescription, but now he was sat in his chair, watching people come and go, while his brother stood next to him, impatiently tapping his foot.
The reception-witch called out his name and he started to slowly wheel himself out into the aisle, before strong hands gripped the handles on his chair and Tiberius Prince began to steer him towards the desk.
"Hello!" It was of course, Julius who had given the greeting, and the reception-witch gave him a nod and a smile in return. She read off of a blue slip of paper that they normally gave back to him after they had gone through his bloodwork. There had never been a problem before, but now:
It is suggested that Mr. Prince be sent to DZ's C office for-
Her tone was bored, and she cut off before the end. Julius glanced back at his brother, and it was enough to stop the older man becoming impatient. The reception-witch wrote something, sealed it with the blue slip and sent it to god knows where. Tiberius' face darkened.
Julius felt he really should ask,"Is th-" She cut him off with that lazy, nasal drawl of hers,
"Mr. Prince, plese go along the corridor until you reach the door with Counselling 1 on it, thankyou"
"I-" She wasn't listeneing anymore. probably very busy, He felt himself pulled sharply back from the table at they moved out into the corridor leading off from reception.
"I'm sure it's just the room that they have free, brother mine," Julius broke into a small smile of reassurance, and explained ,"why only last week the Physiotherapy room was in use and we had to..."
Had anyone cared to look, they would have seen Two similar looking men, one in a wheelchair and suit, the other in tailored ministry robes, moving towards the office they had been directed to.
Julius, the one with brown hair, was gesticulating with his right and smiling openly as he spoke. As they came to the door, Julius asked,"So this is us then?"
Tiberius interjected once as they reached the door, "Yes...The woman on duty said they would send a memo through. Damned rude not telling the patient why he should have to see a counsellor." THis was interspersed with glares at the witch on the front desk and an offended sniff of disdain.
Tiberius knocked, and both men flattened out creases in their clothes.
At the call to enter, Tiberius leant forward and opened the door, letting go to allow his younger brother to awkwardly wheel himself through the door, smiling at the young man with black hair as he did.
Julius was first to speak, but Tiberius was the one to get down to business.
Smiling at the man, the wheelchair-bound brother offered the counsellor a greeting, "Hello, Mr. -" He squinted at the name plate on the desk through his glasses and gave an embarrassed laugh, "-Mik-Mil- May I call you by your first name? " Julius finished apologetically, glancing at the bandage on the man's hand.
Tiberius was a man who knew his time was important, and didn't think he should have to spend it listening to people query his brother's sanity; He stepped in and closed the door, speaking as soon as his brother had finished.
"We were sent here by the witch at the front desk." It was short and to the point, a bored upper-class drawl that immediately told the listener, that they couldn't compare and shouldn't bother trying. He raised an eyebrow at the bandages, how could someone unable to care for them self, possibly be expected to look after his brother. He resolved to have words with one of St. Mungo's officials, and, yes, they were on first name terms.
Both brothers waited expectantly, Julius sat smoothing his right hand over his right trouser knee, wondering if the counsellor in front of them's hand was quite alright and Tiberius stood gripping onto one of the steering handles of the modified wheelchair, an imposing presence beside his quieter and younger brother, over whom he was fiercely protective.
***
Dim looked at the two men for a moment as they came in, giving himself a moment to observe. It was obvious who his patient was, especially as the file had said 'confined to a wheelchair', but even if that hadn't been the case, it wasn't difficult to see which of the two men would be his patient for the following weeks.
He smiled pleasantly, but in no way mocking, at Julius' attempt to say his name and sat down again, as he'd gotten up when the door opened. "It's Zolnerowich," he smiled a little lopsidedly, "but please call me Dimitri if that's easier for you, this is not the first time my last name is an obstacle." Tiberius' comment surprised him, as he had already been busy talking to Julius. The brother obviously wanted some sort of reaction or reassurance they were in the wrong place. Too bad for Tiberius.
"Ah, yes, well.." He coughed and prayed to God this pureblood would not be trouble. He wasn't so concerned about Julius, but the other one.. "Thank you for escorting your brother here, Mr. Prince. If you would be so kind as to grant us some privacy, it won't take longer than thirty minutes." He really did not want the brother to be here, he was quite sure it would do Julius no good. He would never speak free if there was a family member along in the room.
He'd seen both the men look at his hand and smiled apologetically. He had the feeling it would be better to explain it now, but on the other hand, he wanted Tiberius out of the room as soon as possible.
Well, maybe it was better to just explain it now - who knew what inventive pureblood minds could come up with. Especially since Tiberius didn't seem to like his brother going into councelling. "I just burned my hand, gentlemen, I was about to heal it, but you knocked, so I postphoned it." It was said business-like and close to the way Dim's parents had always wanted him to speak. He didn't know what had come over him, but something in him had said that if he wanted to get through to Tiberius, he might have to act more to his heritage than he'd like.
***
"Ah...Well then you absolutely /must/ call me Julius, Dimitri." He offered another warm smile, but when Dimitri went on, he suddenly discovered how interesting it was that there were little threads in the carpet that he could distinguish from one another, and he focussed on his feet, then the floor, the the platform on the chair that he rested his feet on.
Tiberius raised an eyebrow in amused disbelief. "I beg your pardon?" His bored tones diplayed this, but it was clear that with his perfectly bred hearing and the uncommmonly good acoustics of the room, he had heard every word. He stepped forward a little, his reputation was not intimidating for no good reason, and he was well used to getting what he wanted, when he wanted it.
"Anything you wish to ask Julius you may ask in front of me. I doubt he has not already told me the answer to any question you need ask." He folded his arms and stood nearer his brother, a firm sign of his devotion, and how damned good he was at meddling.
Julius did not contradict his brother, but shuffled in the seat a little, as though trying to get comfortable. "Perhaps-"
"no-no, Julius, Let Mr. Zolnerowich speak." His pronunciation was flawless, and in that moment, he could have convinced anyone that he was russian himself.
When the bandage was explained, Tiberius merely raised an eyebrow as if to say, how careless. But he did not pass comment. While Tiberius was raising his haughty eyebrow, His brother had looked up and reached down to a side pocket on the chair.
"Is it- Is it alright?, If it hurts, I've a calming draught or two..." He said with genuine concern. He was due for his prescription today anyway. The reception witch normally gave him the precription slip though..perhaps it was new administration. Tiberius would know, He made a note to ask him when they returned to the estates.
***
Dimitri mimicked the warm smile which Julius send him easily, nodding a little. He was about to reply and thank Jule for it when Tiberius interupted his thoughts.
"I beg your pardon?" Dimitri was, luckily, able to understand the tone of the exclamation and didn't repeat what he'd just said. He was a foreigner, but at least he still understood bodylanguage and intonation. "Anything you wish to ask Julius you may ask in front of me. I doubt he has not already told me the answer to any question you need ask." Dim let him speak and then witnessed how he patronised his brother. No, no it would not work having Tiberius in the room, not at all. Surely, Tib thought Julius always spoke freely in front of him, but Dimitri very much doubted that was the case.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Prince," he replied with a slight smile. "It's custom that the patient is granted privacy, even from his family. Professional secret, you see." Still smiling politely, he walked over to the door, opening it for Tiberius. "I will make sure to let you know if anything might occur that will make the session take longer or shorter than the time I just indicated."
Personally, he couldn't care less what Tiberius thought of him, but professionally, it was quite a different story. Julius needed help, help he could provide, and if this meddling brother prevented him from doing his job.. well.. Dim didn't know what he'd do, but he'd certainly (try to) do something.
He politely declined Julius' offer. "Oh, no, thank you Julius, I'll manage." Dim smiled at Jule briefly and then focused on Tiberius again, waiting for him to leave.
***
Dimitri seemed nice, thought Jule as he waited for his brother to finish. He hoped Tiberius wouldn't be too rude.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Prince," Jule thought that Dimitri was terribly brave, and very polite. Tiberius thought he was an arrogant young upstart."It's custom that the patient is granted privacy, even from his family. Professional secret, you see." Tiberius completely ignored the dark-haired counsellor, except for when he opened the door. at which point he gave a firm ,"Hmph!". "I will make sure to let you know if anything might occur that will make the session take longer or shorter than the time I just indicated."
Tiberius turned to his brother, and spoke, completely disregarding Dimitri. Ther was still a firm hard edge to his voice, but when he spoke to his brother, there was no scorn, only a little softness, as though asking a child whether they wanted to go home before ever reaching the zoo. "Julius? Would you like me to stay?" The Head of the Prince family put a hand on his brother's wheelchair's arm.
Julius was put on the spot now. He didn't want to upset Tiberius, or make him feel left out, but he didn't want to go agaainst protocol for the counsellor, who was obviously just trying to help him. He rubbed his good hand over his good leg and shuffled again. "uh...Well... perhaps we should do as Mr. Zawlno- as Dimitri says?" It was not a statement, it was a question. When asked for his thoughts on the matter, he had consulted Tiberius to see if his thoughts were acceptable.it was the way it always had been. Tiberius had been able to pick up Vespasian Prince's subtle and unsubtle hints and by way of affirming or rejecting Julius' statements posed as questions, Julius had been able to escape punishment lightly.
Tiberius paused for a moment, giving his brother a look that actually contained emotion, a rare thing for Tiberius, and gave Dimitri a curt nod before putting a hand on his brothers chair, still not on his arm, because even his own brother was scared of breaking Jule, like he was some fragile doll and crouching to speak to him, "I will be just outside. If you should need me..." He trailed off, sure that his brother would want some reassurance that he wasn't being left to the mercy of this clumsy counsellor.
" Thank you." said the younger brother, smiling just as reassuringly for he knew that while Tiberius thought it was Julius who feared being left alone, it was really the paragon of pureblood breeding who feared and worried for him most. He turned to smile nervously at Dim as Tiberius left, not thanking the russian for holding open the door because it was right that he, a wealthy, high class pureblood, should be catered for and served by those lower in status. It was not arrogance. It was the lessons of life as he was taught them. Entitlement and responsibility.
Julius inched his chair forward a little.
"Oh, no, thank you Julius, I'll manage." Julius was sure that it must have really hurt if it needed that much bandage, so he politely asked again,"Are sure? It's alright, I've plenty in my pocket..." He gestured at the pocket on the side of his chair. plenty was an understatement.
***
Dimitri was, luckily, used to difficult patients and their families. The only new element here was that Tiberius was very, very pureblood in his behaviour. Dim had had worse - families who would not accept a familymember's disease or patients who were simply distructive or deaf to his words. Dimitri knew that if he spoke to Tiberius on the level of a pureblood, he should be able to get through to him.
The counsellor watched the brief exchange of words between the two brothers, still holding the door open. For a moment, he was afraid Julius would bend to his brother's will, but smiled hardly noticable when Tiberius listened to his brother. It surprised him a little, for somehow Dimitri had expected Tiberius to get his way one way or another.
He nodded the elder brother goodbye as he left, closing the door behind him.
Dimitri turned to Julius. "No, no, thank you. I'll give it some attention in a minute, of that does not offend you," he said with a smile, testing the water a little. He had already established that Julius wasn't the pureblooded snob his brother was, but who knew to what extent his upbringing had influenced him, after all. Subtly, Dimitri ignord his patient's other offer by asking: "Is there anything I can get you? Tea? Coffee? Anything else?" He smiled a little, going at an easy pace to Jule could get used to the atmosphere and the situation. In a few moments, though, he would ofcourse put the man's world upside down..
***
Julius watched his brother go before looking at the young counsellor in front of him. "well..If you're sure.." He placed his hand back in his lap and it twitched a little on his leg as he looked around the small office. Plain brown eyes with faint smile lines at their corners focussed on Dimitri. "oh please do! I wouldn't want you to sit there suffering." He was honest, and reached forward with his hand to touch the desk in a gesture of concern for someone he barely knew.
"Oh! uh....Tea would be lovely if you have any, please." He glanced back at the door that his brother had left through for a little too long, nervousness rising in him like a swarm of wasps. He could always make his tea just a little extra bit relaxing...
The brown-haired wizard thought of the numerous vials and flasks of calming draught in his room , and of the not inconsiderable number in his wheelchair side-pocket. How many had he had so far....6...or perhaps eight...He couldn't remember if he'd taken one before and after breakfast, or with it. Nor could he remember if he had had one with his lunch.
***
Dimitri smiled at his new patient shortly, then sat down first and carefully undid the bandage. It didn't look too bad, but it was obvious it was going to blister if he did nothing about it. Taking his wand from a drawer, he preformed a number of healing and cooling spells, sitting up and paying attention to Jule as soon as he was done, hand quite better. Dimitri was no healer, but he was certainly good enough.
Now his hand was all fixed again, he went about making tea. While pouring it into the cups, he noticed Julius' nervous expression and smiled at him a little. "Don't worry, I'm not as scary as I look." The tone was obviously a joking one and the only reason for Dimitri attempting to joke was to lighten the mood. It seemed his new patient relied heavily on his brother and he had a feeling at least part of the nervousness was due to the fact Tiberius wasn't here.
Putting the tea in front of Jule so he could easily reach for it, Dim got down to business. "So.. Do you have any idea why you're here?" He wondered if Jule was aware of his problem or not. If he was, this was going to be a whole lot easier.
***
Julius watched the younger wizard go about healing himself, wincing as the injury was uncovered. "Ouch...THat looks rather painful.." Plain brown eyes watched the russain with concern.
He glanced up at Dimitri, and gave a small laugh. Dimitri was right, he was just going to help. And, should he need him, Tiberius was just outside, ready...ready to help.
At the question, he reached up to scratch his chin a little before wheeling slightly forward and picking up the tea with a slight shake of the head. He gave another nervous laugh, worried, but not too concerned or they would have rushed him through, not left him waiting next to the man with a foot where he should have an ear in the reception.
"a-Apparently there was something to do with my blood work?" He asked, the ravenclaw in him wanting to get the 'answer' right. With his left leg pressed against the side of the chair, he placed the cup of tea between his knees carefully, but with practiced ease, and leant slightly over to his right to reach for a vial of Calming draught from the side pocket.
Drawing the vial out, he uncorked it nonchalantly with one hand,"It wasn't serious was it?
***
It didn't take Dimitri very long to heal his hand properly. Sure, a healer could've done a better job than he, but it was only his own hand and it was good enough for him. The faint scarring would fade in time and at least the pain was gone. He smiled at Jule to reassure him. "It's not so bad." It wasn't, compared with the physical punishment he had gotten used to as a child. His parents had both been excellent healers, but when you know how to heal a body, you know how to damage and harm it, as well.
Despite the earlier burn, Dimitri picked up his tea without hesitation and smiled to himself a little as the warmth tingled through his fingers. Patiently, he waited for Julius to answer and it amused him slightly that the Ravenclaw answered his question with a question.
"Yes, there was, actually. Are you aware of what the problem with your bloodwork was?" Julius had avoided answering him straight away the first time by echoeing a question, but Dimitri was used to evasive moves from patients. He had people worse than Jule in his care, after all. He watched Julius' movements carefully, ready to step in as soon as that vial would get too near his patient's tea cup.
"It wasn't serious was it?"
This was the moment were Dimitri stepped in. Two questions had been answered by questions to obviously either way Jule had no idea, or he was trying to seem that way. Whichever it was, Dim was going to have to just tell him to get through to him.
"Depends. To be honest, it has everything to do with what is probably in that vial, Julius." Dim didn't sound sarcastic, he was smiling sympathetically actually, in an attempt to calm and reassure his patient. He had a feeling it would work, Julius didn't seem as addicted to him as the bloodworks suggested. Then again, impressions can be deceiving.
"A large amount of calming draught was detected in your blood." It was a short statement, but Dimitri first wanted to wait for a first reaction before continuing.
[dear admins, this is 3857 words, do we get to claim points? *bounces*]
