#interaction ― felix & ashton ( 01 )
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eatabug · 28 days ago
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who : ashton ryder ( @ashryder ) where : beau & tadhg's room / afterglow compound hospital
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❝ well, i would say it is a pleasure to see you again, mr. ryder, but i truly do wish it could have been under different circumstances. ❞ there is an almost unnervingly saccharine smile plastered to his lips as felix addresses the younger man, the first words uttered to announce his presence in the room. it is pure chance that he happened to stumble upon him here, in the hospital wing of the compound of all places. the doctor had wanted to observe the progression of symptoms in the worst of their patients firsthand, and this, the very first room he'd been directed to. he doesn't address the individual sitting in between ashton and the bed, instead keeping his gaze locked on the blond as he enters the room further.
❝ this is a friend of yours, i presume? ❞ felix asks. under normal circumstances, such casual pleasantries would be of little interest to him, but there is value in this small talk. they're starting human trials on the antidote soon ; the doctor is looking for viable candidates. ashton ryder has always been a particular fascination of his and, it should be noted, a thorn in his side. his disdain for the vision here at afterglow has lost them so many opportunities for advancements in the field of medically beneficial mutation. well, it seems only fitting his loved ones might reap the consequences of such a refusal. imagine what his healing capabilities could mean for those suffering if only he could manifest it in a marketable way.
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❝ at the market when the swarm hit, no doubt. ❞ felix steps closer, one hand resting on the foot of the hospital bed where a young man rests fitfully. he shifts his gaze now, observing him instead, even as he continues to speak to ashton. ❝ tell me, i heard rumor you were there, too. is it true? i can't imagine anyone would have made it out of such a horrific event unscathed. ❞
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eatabug · 18 days ago
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❝ oh, don't i feel special? the cat who got the cream. ❞ there's a polite smile still plastered to his lips so securely that he can feel the ache of it in his zygomatic muscles, perhaps a wildly inappropriate expression given the circumstances he finds himself in. of course, felix has always been excellent at putting on a mask, hasn't he? carefully crafted, carefully curated, he has worn the very same for decades now. to keep it on now feels like no greater effort than any other, and it offers the added benefit of making the younger man's callous attitude appear unprovoked to any passersby who might happen to overhear the conversation. ❝ and anyhow, you should know as well as any, mr. ryder, that to be calm in a scenario such as this would feel like negligence to the highest degree. ❞
as if to further prove his point, for a moment, dr. estrada disregards ashton in favor of examining the injuries of the young man on the bed. partially peeled back bandages are removed in full to expose the extent of the rashes beneath and cotton buds are used to collect samples of the secretions coming from the blistered flesh ― not because the lab truly needs them, no, but there's something about hearing the man's half-conscious groans and whimpers of pain each time the swabs make contact with his skin, watching the way ashton reacts to each sound felix conjures.
❝ no, no, of course it isn't, ❞ felix responds, sardonic, as dark eyes flicker briefly behind his glasses, shifting toward the blond before he inserts a swab into a glass tube and seals it shut. the doctor is not ignorant to the costs of such a mutation on its host and, in fact, still has a file in a locked drawer in his desk detailing the specifics. to be frank, those side effects are of very little matter to felix. ryder might be a flawed specimen, but a little bit of tinkering in the lab and felix suspects they'd be able to eliminate the more unfortunate caveats eventually. ❝ do you believe your friend here might be inclined to agree? i imagine he'd benefit greatly from a touch of accelerated healing right now. in fact, there are many i'd expect feel the same. ❞
felix replaces the bandages on the patient's face before removing his gloves and turning his attention entirely to ashton. there's something aggressive in his gaze, felix thinks ; he's not concerned, of course, knowing full well that the former eaa specialist is too smart to do anything rash here and now. he's safe, at least for the moment. he reaches for his cane before coming around the bed until he's only a few feet away from ashton, his polite smile gone in favor of a more stern visage. ❝ mr. ryder, as i'm sure i do not need to remind you, your words carry no jurisdiction here. and unless i am mistaken, you do not have the authority to provide or refuse consent for any of the patients here, and therefore i have no motivation to oblige your request ❞ a devious sort of glint flashes in his gaze, the faintest upward twitch of lips returning. ❝ am i mistaken? ❞
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"Not like you're calm either," perhaps a low dig at the circumstances Felix was facing right now. Ashton was usually nothing but polite, to the people that deserves it. There was nothing polite between the two men, no hello, how are you, simple straight to pinch a nerve. "Oh I definitively haven't forgotten the notion, just not for you." As if the years of avoiding Afterglow hasn't felt like it was all for nothing, breaking the streak as Ashton willingly brought himself back to the lion's den to be here for a friend. Surely if it all goes wrong he could simply break the man physically as he once broke him psychologically, but that wouldn't help in any situation. Ashton had left the EAA on good standing, one of the reasons he so easily made it back in here, and he had no intentions of changing that.
Still having to sit here and listen to stinging words thrown at him as he helplessly watched Felix come close to Beau was not on his agenda. He'd rather any other doctor than Felix handled his best friend. His steely gaze followed closely on every move Felix made, wincing at the sight of the revealed skin, even if he knew how it looked, red, rashed, blistery, similar to how his arms and waist were, he knew how badly they hurt, feeling for Beau as his pain was translated audibly. Every time fabric even brushes skin, there would be a flare of hot pain that shoots up and that Ashton has to bite back his tongue to stop from hissing at the pain.
Because there it was again, the blatant guilt Felix armed in his words at him that Ashton hasn't forgotten despite the years. That he had something beneficial to the entire population and not sacrificing himself for that was simply selfish. Ash had given enough of himself to Afterglow, that's on them for not being able to figure it out after these years with what they had and what they've done to him and everyone else in their 'care'. "It's not as good as you think it is," Felix makes it sound like some immunity shield that lets him do what he does, and forgets that he still feels all the same pain, doubly so, with pain just as accelerated as the healing. Ash doesn't show it but he certainly was still in pain, he didn't even know if this was something his body could repair as easy as a superficial cut or burn.
Ash had mixed feelings about the news on clinical trials, on one hand they were closer to combating the toxins, on another hand all he can think of is the way test subjects will have to suffer through it, considering the high pressure of this, Ashton was almost certain little care will be given to chosen patients' wellbeing as long as they produced results. "Good for your team then," blues locked on as if warning him if he was thinking of using either patients in this room as a test subject. He wasn't sure if anyone else would understand why he was so adamant and resistant to it despite it sounding like amazing news, "you're not testing on him. On either of them" Ashton had been in Beau's position before, too out of it to make a decision, no one to help him say no, simply saying yes at the promise it'll help everyone else and stop the pain - it doesn't.
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eatabug · 27 days ago
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if it were under different circumstances, felix thinks he might have gotten a little thrill from the way the younger man so visibly bristled at the sound of his voice alone ; as it stands, every nerve in his body feels frayed beyond repair from the constant pressing stress of this goddamn antidote, as if every shred, every fiber of peace in his entire being has been scraped clean. ❝ oh, calm down, would you please? ❞ but that's not entirely true either, is it? the doctor is not surprised by the implications hiding within the biting retort, and the corners of his lips flicker upward almost imperceptibly. ❝ i know you think poorly of me, mr. ryder, but i only meant to be polite. it seems you've forgotten the notion. ❞ it isn't as if he'd entered this room with the intent to antagonize him, after all ; it was simply a coincidence, a rare stroke of luck that their paths happened to cross here.
a thoughtful hum is all that escapes the doctor when ashton points out exactly how much of the population had been present at the market when the cicadas emerged. as if he doesn't know. felix is getting multiple updates an hour with the number of people impacted by the crisis. they're running out of beds. he knows the goddamn statistics, alright? he does not allow himself to get flustered by the gnawing truth and instead hones his focus on the young man in the bed as ashton speaks to him. ❝ of course you were, ❞ felix says dryly, propping his cane against the base of a nearby monitor so he can pull on a pair of gloves. he approaches the bedside and sets his gaze on the gauze draped loosely over the patient's cheek. when he pulls it back to expose the ravaged skin beneath, the young man writhes and whimpers on the sheets, but he does not wake. the benefit of sedatives. ❝ quite the hero, aren't you, mr. ryder? i'm sure the people are incredibly grateful. shame they don't have quite the same ... benefits you have that they might've been able to stay and help as well. ❞
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felix only lifts his gaze when ashton rises from his seat, blinking in curiosity as he looks up toward the taller man. ❝ staring at them? is that what you think i'm doing? ❞ the doctor chuckles and shakes his head. ❝ no, we'll be starting clinical trials by day's end. ❞ he knows he need not elaborate for ashton to know precisely what that means. he's looking for patients to test the antidote on. felix has always been particular about test subjects, hand-selecting them whenever the opportunity allowed. ❝ my team has already made significant strides in breaking down the toxin. ❞
Ashton honestly hadn't planned to stay too long, just long enough to keep them all company for a bit, making sure his worries were alleviated before he headed back out to do what he can for the growing tensions right outside the compound. But honestly, as he finally stopped and sat down, the adrenaline was also dying off and his own uncomfortable pain was more noticeable again. Just a little while more of a break before he left. And perhaps he instantly regretted it the moment he heard a chilling voice he had been trying to avoid and forget.
He flinched and froze immediately, even without looking to see his face, Ash knew. He's heard his voice too many times. It suddenly felt like he was back here in the hospital bed and Felix came for him and promised him false promises. Ashton refused to meet his gaze despite feeling the other's boring into him as the presence step closer into the room. "Don't really wish for it to be under the different circumstances you're hoping for either, Felix." Ashton's words sharpened to a biting and dispassionate tone he hasn't used in a long while, most of Burnington don't hear this side of him, but hey when in Rome right, and he was back on EAA home ground.
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He refused to answer the question posed, flashing Ziggy an apologetic gaze before his blues darken to flicker up to face the other man. He didn't deserve an answer, a sore one at that referring to his best friend the once Felix reached Beau's bed. While if it was any other doctor, perhaps Ashton might've felt bad for the overdrive everyone was in at the hospital, but he wasn't sure if he could bring himself to care considering that face and voice had only been associated with pain and lies. "Like most people were in town," a fact spat out, the market had been at its peak period in the day when it all happened. Ashton's gut twisted at the way Felix observed Beau so closely now. "Well, people can get lucky, no? I was helping people get out." His sweater had hid the rashes on his arms and waist, fingers inconspicuously holding onto the ends of his sleeves, as Ashton finally stands up, not letting the pain show on his face, to face the other man head on, "what are you doing here Felix. Don't you have bigger problems to deal with than stare at the patients?"
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