A place of peace or death? I search for shelter

[Lancet && Jones]

<sub>James nodded, limping slightly with the weight on his side. The steps seemed more tenuous and troublesome with Will upon his shoulder. He ran his tongue over his fangs. His thoughts lingering for a moment on the virus infecting him. -Such is life- ...

"Short for William or are we a renegade?" He asked, continuing to walk, his footsteps crunching. The scent of wet stone rising from the pavement and the wall. The moon was vanishing behind flourid clouds that bloomed over the dark sky, and only the flickering flames of the streetlights that poured through the rain. It was growing yet colder, the night pressing in.

The Abbey? No. It was too unforgiving. And clearly this boy needed help. Home was somewhere he could help the boy. And Ceridwen would have someone to talk to for once. He couldn't help but feel the girl was often lacking in association.

"I'm Doctor James Lancet." He said, continuing along the path, his footfalls heavier now as he tried to stop himself from staggering into the graves. That would go nowhere. And they had all of Kensal Rise to scale before they were even in sight of Harley Street.</sub>

[silverlynxcat]

Will growled as soon as the word ‘William’ was drawn from the man’s lip, a snort passing his own in clear irritance to the question. “Will” he grated, clearly having great dislike for the other name in question. He had been called William many a time even when stating his name repeatedly. Some people were either stupidly thick or just wanted to make his life even more difficult and grudging.

He continued to move with the doctor, gaining his feet a little more seeing as the doctor looked to be struggling with him, he held back a snort, weren’t vampires supposed to have increased strength? Will had at one point although it had slowly slipped away, his body feeling heavily and boneless as the strength was slowly sapped, unable to be rejuvenated from the boy’s refusal to blood.

“Renegade?” the man questioned, his brow furrowed in puzzlement as he looked to James, barely leaning on the man now, he preferred when they shared what little weight he had, but at the man’s display of difficulty he’d decided to just take the weight himself, despite the fact his body was stiff, cold and ready to fall flat back onto the floor, a pronounced stagger in his strides and shoulders were slumped but his face never broke from the determined expression it was set in, mildly seen through the sheets of rain that began to tumble relentlessly from the heavens.

Will’s body was lashed by the icy drops which in his worn condition chilled him to the very bone, his cheeks seeming void of any colour and lips looked paler too, if not tainted the very faintest little tint of blue as his hair soon plastered to his head, framing his cheeks and clung like string to his wet skin, clothes stuck to his body, starting to detest spring almost as much as winter as his bare feet resounded off the wet stone of the path and stepped uncaringly into puddles which were being refilled, having lay there previously.

"Doctor?" he murmured, stiffening a little, maybe from the nip of the wind or from the word, it was unclear either way, I guess some good did come to me tonight" he mumbled, falling into silence once again, even the suddenly gloomy surroundings remained serene and beautiful as they had been before.

“It’s cold” he suddenly muttered, not really something needed to be pointed out, but he sniffed lightly, a small sniffle which signified he was suffering to a small degree, weary and tired, wet and unwell. It certainly wasn’t the boy’s day, he was just glad and still hoping he may be able to escape the rain for t onight.

[Lancet && Jones]

<sub>"You're right, it is." He said dismissively, opening the gate which creaked awkwardly, grating on the cold wet ground as the hinges slumped. Clearly no one felt the need to repair it. And it had been so for a few years, considering the deep groove that had been carved in the slabs. An ill wind ran from the cemetery and blew James' hair into his eyes untidily, as if now he was leaving he could return to himself. Out of the watchful eyes of his older brother.

"A renegade. A rebel. You know, one who does not conform to laws of society!" He said, excitement sparking in his eyes. He paused for a moment, the gate swinging shut. "Then again I guess all of us are renegades. " He said, shrugging a little.

"Please don't call me Doctor." He said irritably, his frown deepening. "I can't bear it. I must be James." He said, smiling slightly. "And there's always good to be found. Got to open your eyes." He said, shifting his weight slightly. Yes, he was weaker, through the fact he had tried so many cures on himself. He was more human than the average vampire, with Ceridwen's virgin blood to keep him sane and the work to occupy his mind, he couldn't fail.</sub>

[silverlynxcat]

The male’s face contorted into an uncomfortable grimace at the unpleasant sound which pierced the night air, cutting above the sound of the rain droplets lashing down mercilessly on the ground as the metal was dragged and grated against the slap of concrete. His hearing was still incredibly keen so the noise cut through him making him stagger back and nearly fall. His grip tightened on James to keep his balance as he managed to hold himself and began to walk with the male, narrowing his eyes to try and squint through the rain.

He didn’t want to rush the doctor, seeing as it was polite enough the man was actually helping him, but currently the weather seemed against him as it soaked through the meager layer of material, clinging to his firm if not slightly thin body like cat’s claws to a mouse. His lips tinged blue more from the fact that his feet were bare, padding on the cold wet ground and occasionally stepping into puddles which chilled him to the bone. His silver hair hung limp and wet framing his face and clinging to his cheeks while droplets of water strolled down his cheeks and clung to his eyelashes.

“Ok, James it is” he murmured, loud enough to be heard over the sound of the rain pummelling the ground around them, it was astounding how quick the weather had changed all of a sudden, this unpredictable British weather astounded the American somewhat as he trailed along beside the doctor.

“No one ever follows all the rules” he replied, “And I’m not a firm believe there’s always good to be found, or there’s always a silver lining or a light at the end of the tunnel” he replied. “And if I didn’t have my eyes open I would have died long long ago, I pick up whatever opportunities I get, not all of them end up well” he didn’t like talking about hope, everywhere has good etc etc and so on.

[Lancet && Jones]

<sub>James laughed. A laugh that seemed a little too old for his face. And as was becoming increasingly the norm he looked a good decade older than he really was in the moonlight, accenting every crease in his supposedly youthful visage.

"Clearly you've never been to a Harley Street Directorate meeting." He said, rolling his eyes, the sheer memory of the soporific fools that droned continuously about the Ebola virus or consumption and foolish ways to stop it almost showing through his tainted irises. "Those frigid fools toe the line so strongly they have blisters." He said distastefully. It was the second worst thing about being a man of medicine. So many meetings with old, boring, greying people obsessed with miasma and how it causes Cholorae to spread. Miasma was nothing to do with it. Foolish old-fashioned men.

"You must be chilled to the core, lad." He said, leaning against the closed gate, pulling his thick overcoat from his shoulders, beneath which he still wore the smartest of blazers, purposeful enough to keep the rain from his back. It was not far from Kensal Green to Marylebone. "Here, get yourself warm, it won't do you well to chill." He said, digging in the inner pockets of his blazer and producing a smoothed, silver hip flask, that appeared to have had an engraving in it at some point, but whatever it had been was smoothed out by excessive use.

"And if you don't believe in Earthly good, you might be on your way to becoming a religious man, believing in devils and demons. So much falsification I tell you. There's not a scientist alive who knows there is no such creator." He rolled his eyes, taking another satisfying swig before plunging the hip flask back into his blazer. "Everything has a conscience. Everything knows what it's doing, good or bad. And even the darkest of criminals feels remorse." The rain was not as heavy now, but still enough to plaster his fringe to his forehead, and lash his hair back so he looked more rakish than ever.

"I wont bombard you with theorems or belief. You make your own way in the world." He said, nodding curtly.</sub>

[silverlynxcat]

The shivering young male who looked more and more vulnerable and helpless the wetter and colder he got looked at the man. The laugh indeed did not seem to settle with the sharp lines of age on his face. The man did not seem old, his voice was still strong and demanded to be listened too, his whole appearance was that of someone to be respected and he held wisdom of course. Wisdom that Will could not fathom nor understand.
Most of what the man was to say did not bring any sort of understanding to him. Even though Will had become accustom to the accent spoken in this part of the big big world, it was still much different speak to what he was accustom too, his own accent was bold in his voice as James' was in his.
"Harley Street Dirctorett meeting?" the mere repetition was slightly jumbled and mispronounced, not only from chattering teeth but also from the fact he had never heard of half the words. Meeting and Street of course, but what the hell was a dircorry-wotsit?
He shook his head lightly, droplets falling from hsi silver tendrils of hair which hung limp around his face and clung like vines to his wet skin.
His linen shirt clinging to his body and was nearly see-through by this point.

"You must be chilled to the core, lad."

Will wasn't sure exactly who it was who needed the help if the man had only just noticed him freezing on his shoulder as they limped their way through the streets like a couple of drunks. The male was hesitant about taking the offered garment but his body was too cold and pleaded for some relief. He dawned the caught around his frailer body, huddling into the material where the man's body heat still clung. It gave him some comfort against the rain but he was still wet and cold and was eager to reach the shelter the man offered him.
"I don't believe in any religion or god" he replied bluntly, shaking his head as he leant back against him, his body stiff and feet sore. If he was lucky he'd only end up with blisters. If he was to receive a miracle, he wouldn't even need to suffer those.
"But not everything knows what it's doing" he frowned, clearly taking some interest as he actually replied. "What about trees and plants? They're alive but they don't have any control over themselves, they don't choose where to grow, how to spread out or what kind of tree they'll be" he pointed out. It probably wasn't really a good idea to debate such a thing with a man of science and medicine, he was sure to stand no chance.

[Lancet && Jones]

<sub>James' smile widened a fraction.
"The Harley Street Directorate is the company of every doctor on Harley Street. the majority of them aged old scientists with on obsession for small shiney trinkets." He said, rolling his eyes. "No bedside manner, no concern for what people might be thinking..." He hissed slightly through his teeth, rising again to help the young man walk. The rain had successfully soaked through his trouser legs now and was winding round his toes in his brogues. Which was discomforting to say the least, making his socks even more unbearably itchy than they were anyway.

"You didn't chose to be male did you?" He said, pointing out. "You didn't chose to be born across the Atlantic. Nor did you elect to have pale skin and silver hair. It is something chosen for us. Animals and plants are made of the same fundamental blocks of life. At the very core we are unbearably similar." He said. There were so many theories in the air about what life was. How we came to be humans, five fingers on each hand, two hands, two eyes, walking upright. And the controversy was insane.

"You make sue no man of God ever tries to tell you what to do." He said suddenly, frowning slightly. "They are all talk and no trousers, if you'll excuse the coarse phrase."</sub>

[silverlynxcat]

A brief nod signalled the male had been listening to the man's description of these 'age old scientists' but by the way he spoke he knew the man's view was biased. And he didn't show much interest in these 'scientists' anyway. Will knew nothing of science or how formulae or other such nonsense worked. He didn't like being cooked up working on letters and sums and other ridiculous potions. He wondered why people had to constantly solve every little thing mother nature gifted them it was pointless in his eyes.

"Well no, I didn't choose to be born at all did I?" he replied, "But aren't you contradicting yourself, Mr.Lancet?" he questioned. "Everything doesn't have a consciousness nor can make decisions on its own therefore not knowing between good or bad" he proved at least, he had been paying attention and at least he wasn't an idiot and had some common sense to debate and have a decent conversation.

"Are we almost there sir?" he asked hopefully, he thought he was starting to lose the feeling in his already direly cold feet, and they'd numbed slightly, he couldn't feel the stones which pricked his feet or the cold ripples of puddles lapping at his heels.

[Lancet && Jones]

<sub>He paused, a distinct conflicting frown on his face as he considered the young male's words. He tended to contradict himself a lot. Not that he would ever admit to such a thing. But James had a tendency to do as he pleased a great deal of the time, sound important, blunder in, make a chance pass at the fair-faced ladies in the room, fail, drink a good deal of whiskey, shout about important theories he had personally discovered only to be evicted forcefully for his lewd behaviour. And in missing such social occasions he had taken to contradicting himself. It was his only outlet of self-importance.

"You catch on pretty quick for a street boy. Where did you learn?" He asked. No doubt it was one of these fancy, pompous American colleges that prised themselves on turning out the most respectable students rather than the ones who would do well. If it was they'd struck gold with this boy. Only they didn't know it, apparently. Either that or by a great deal of luck the boy had come from Oxbridge roots. Which was doubtful. His accent was far too strong for him to have been an Oxford or Cambridge graduate.

Again his mind wandered, reminiscing his own days among the dreaming spires of good old Oxford university. And how he had wasted so much of his inheritance on wine, women and song. And more wine. And a good deal more women. It seemed a thousand years away from where he was now. It was under a decade.

"Yes..." He said, frowning to himself as the young man's inquisition reached his ears. "Yes yes, it's not far now, few streets left to go. Hell knows it's a pest of a way in this confounded rain..." He grumbled, returning to his guise of 'miserable old man', though he was neither.</sub>

[silverlynxcat]

The male was silent as the older man's face turned to that of a thoughtful expression and knew if her were to speak now to the man it would most likely go unheard and only succeed in drawing the man needlessly from his musings which would probably not be so very well taken. So he left the man to his contradicting thoughts and wistful memories as he continued to trudge, pondering what treatment he may receive. Already he'd seen a warmth and smile be revealed from this man, so he didn't believe he'd be treated harshly although he knew most certainly not like a guest of honour.
Maybe he'd be given a scrap of food and shelter for the night and thrust out tomorrow morning. Even then, the boy would be grateful, for it would be the most hospitality anyone had shown him in quite a while. He smiled a little as he glanced up at the sky briefly, as it was James' voice which plucked him from his own musings.

"Learn?" the male repeated quizzically, unsure at first what the man had meant, it took a second before he realised he meant an education, a school. A smile of amusement perked helplessly on his lips. "No where, I never went to any type of school" he replied. "What I knew I learnt from my older sister. The basics, the alphabet, to count, to spell, I worked on from there by myself" he replied.
"But other than that, I have never even breeched the grounds of a school let alone been taught in one" he explained, starting to regain some feeling in his legs he no longer draped himself so heavily on the man's shoulders, he was walking more by himself,

They drifted into silence again as the man seemed to reach back into the pool of memories which was only accessible by James and James alone, so Will was respectfully silent in his time of reminiscence, thinking it only fair for the man's kindness of helping him when he'd merely been a rather pathetic, bad mannered little urchin, But he seemed to be much more appreciative towards the male, even gaining a notable amount of respect in the process, although it probably meant little to the doctor.

The boy's eagerness perked and smile spread on his lips, weary yet eager none the less as the man told of their destination being close, he sighed with relief, happy he'd finally be able to get out of the rain and cold, maybe even warm his feet which he could barely feel at all anymore.
"Thank you" he sighed. He wasn't even there yet and still, he felt like the man had saved his life.

[Lancet && Jones]

_{[Migrate to the Harley Street board??]}

[silverlynxcat]

Sure =3