An Encounter In the Waiting Room [Corvus]

"Really?" Banner asked the woman at the counter, a bit surprised. Did this not look like an emergency? "Do you see my arm?"

He had his sleeve rolled up, revealing the dark lines that traced the veins in his arm originating from a blackened ring finger. He had a tourniquet of cloth wrapped around his bicep to slow the spread of... whatever this was. All he knew was that he didn't want it reaching his heart.

Banner rolled his eyes and went to sit down in the waiting room. Either this was less of a disaster than he was making it or the hospital was exceptionally busy. Hopefully the first, and he'd be in and out of here quickly. Banner couldn't believe how stupid he'd been to try the ring on. Well, maybe in his defense it wasn't totally stupid. He was having trouble deducing what spell was on this ring. His normal methods of figuring it out-- various amplifying charms, magical meters and resonance devices, a bunch of other cool gadgets he invented-- weren't working, so he resorted to his last option: self experimentation.

Usually jewelry was meant to affect the person wearing it, so trying on the ring would induce whatever spell was on it. This was a wedding ring, which piqued Banner's interest. Either the woman who brought it in had gotten it charmed for some vanity purpose, and her wedding ring was just convenient to use but the spell had gone rotten, or she had something more sinister planned for her husband.

Whatever the case, the investigation would have to wait. Banner's arm was throbbing, and he needed an antidote or a reversal spell or something before he... well, before something happened.

"I'm sorry, I was under the impression that the... person in question had already been declared... " he fell silent as the Healer began to babble on again about procedures and forms as if Corvus hadn't been doing this job six or seven days a week for the last five years. Of course Corvus wasn't going to interrupt, he just marveled at her incompetence in silence, his face managing to remain appropriately polite and hide the exasperation he was feeling. They were already running behind schedule, and if there was one thing that Corvus really, really, really didn't like, it was when things weren't on time. By quarter-past he should have been transporting the body through the special floo fireplace in St Mungo's morgue and into the basement of Capps. One of the embalmers could then begin working on the body so that it was ready for the family viewing and Corvus was meant to have another appointment at half-past...

He took a deep breath and accepted the pile of forms that the Healer was pushing into his hands. "No, I'm not a relative, I'm a..." she was already walking away. He took another deep breath and raised a pale hand to rub against his temple. There was a bar within a block. Just a few minute's walk. It would be so easy to head off and still be back in time to sort out this mess. Just one drink. Just enough to take the edge off. Just one. He rubbed his temple harder and forced himself to walk into the waiting room, selecting a seat at least one apart from any patient and stared hard at the stack of papers in his hand. Forms that had already been filled out before, but apparently they wanted him to fill them again. Thankfully his enchanted quill would make quick work of the majority of these and he could finish up the other bits without too much bother. Fishing the quill out of his pocket, he set it going on the forms. He could easily be doing this in a pub with a nice cold glass of... something...

To distract himself, he raised his head, looking over the waiting room's occupants one by one. This was the Artefact Accidents floor, which made for some interesting people-watching, but as Corvus' grey eyes settled on one of the men sitting opposite him, his blood ran cold. He recognised the man instantly. How could he not? For years that face had taunted him, mocked him, laughed at him. Corvus squirmed in his seat, his gaze automatically dropping to his lap for a few moments until he sneaked another look. Definitely him. "Gallagher."

Oh... he'd said that out loud.

Corvus' eyes widened as he realised his slip and the man looked up. Too late to avoid eye-contact and pretend he hadn't said anything - the man had certainly heard him.

While waiting, Banner examined his hand and arm. The finger was blackest where the ring had sat, and the color spidered out from there, following the veins of his hands. He flipped his hand over; his palm was clear, though, which meant it wasn't going to make his whole hand fall off. But Banner couldn't tell what the black color was. Poison? Perhaps the ring was laced with a concoction around the center, and the woman... forgot to mention it? That didn't seem likely. It was probably blood magic, or a blood curse, or... something to do with blood. He was a bit curious to see what would happen if he slit his finger, though... was his blood coagulating and killing the vein? Or was this a curse that was causing necrosis slowly along the vessel until it reached his heart and ultimately killed him? That would be a very slow and obvious way to kill somebody, though.

Maybe it was something lame like he was allergic to the metal. Or maybe it was a medical charm to treat high blood pressure or atherosclerosis, a low grade spell that kept the vessels clear, and it had gone rotten. Though why the woman wouldn't tell him that, he couldn't guess. All she had told him was that it was her husband's wedding ring and the charm had worn off, but she couldn't remember what the charm was. It felt sketchy at the time, and Banner now realized why. Whatever. He'd just give her the ring back and tell her to get out. It wasn't like he had to blackmail her and make her pay for his medical expenses from it. Free health care, and all that good British stuff.

Banner raised his head as he heard his name called. He walked over to the counter again.

"Yeah, that's me," he said to the woman, who only looked at him funny.

"Gallagher," he repeated. "You just called my name."

The woman shook her head and told him to sit back down, please. Banner frowned. "I just heard my name." The woman informed him, politely, that his name had not been called and if he'd sit down again someone would be with him shortly.

Banner narrowed his eyes, and the woman quickly looked down and busied herself with the papers before her on the desk. Alright, he defintely wasn't hearing things. His name was definitely called. He looked around the room, until his eyes came upon another pair.

They looked at each other for a second longer than was comfortable, and then Banner spoke up. "Do you have a problem here?" he asked, unnerved he was being stared at.

Corvus cringed as Banner jumped to his feet, the other man assuming that his name had been called by the Healer at the desk. He slouched a little in his seat, wishing that he could sink right through the chair and disappear completely. He felt like he was twelve again; a small Slytherin boy trying to keep his head down and focus on his studies... and Banner, taller and broader than him... had he been a fifth or sixth year then? Corvus couldn't remember exactly. What he remembered was the way that his gut twisted when he walked into the Common Room and saw him sitting there. The way that Banner never let him get past him and into his dorm without some kind of verbal abuse or shove first. The way the other older Slytherins laughed...

He'd been so afraid. Banner had never seriously hurt him, but Corvus had always worried that this was the time he ended up getting his face pummeled. Banner had had a control over the younger boy that he was certainly unaware of. Even when it had stopped, that sensation of dread never left Corvus. It was joined by a sense that Banner was ignoring him to work up to something far worse... lulling him into a sense of security. And then, finally, it was replaced by the realisation that Banner had moved on to fresh victims and didn't care about him anymore and for some odd reason Corvus felt a sense of loss and unworthiness. It confused the hell out of him. He'd been miserable whilst he'd had Banner's attention and miserable when he didn't.

He was staring again. And now Banner looked up, fixing him in the eye with a gaze that made Corvus visibly shudder. He didn't even remember him. Didn't recognise him. Apparently Corvus was that forgettable.

"I, er, recognise you from school." He responded quickly, not wanting to inadvertently anger the man who was obviously stressed and in pain. "Banner Gallagher isn't it? I'm Corvus Capp." He was starting to doubt that even his name would ring any bells. Banner had had an impact on Corvus' life... but seemingly Corvus was still a nobody. A Nothing. Worthless.

Banner cocked a brow. Recognized him from school? Banner had graduated a decade ago. He'd been out of school for so long, he barely remembered it. It hadn't really been that memorable. Banner wasn't a nice kid back then, he knew that now. He hated to admit it, but he was a bully. Picking on little kids, getting into fights, laughing at another's expense... he was a downright jerk. It was no wonder why he didn't have any friends.

Banner took a moment to sum up this guy. Pale like a ghost, looked pretty small, skinny, young, too... Oh, crap. Did he pick on this kid back then? Corvus Capp... the name didn't ring a bell. But Corvus apparently remembered him., which wasn't good.

Another wave of pain shot up his arm, and Banner gasped again. Dammit, he really didn't have time for this. He looked back over at the receptionist, who didn't appear to keen on helping him out anymore. It felt like he'd be waiting for a bit longer. He looked back over at Corvus. Did he really want to bother talking to this kid? It would take his mind off his arm, at least. But Banner didn't know if wanted to deal with this right now, with his past. He felt guilt from it, and guilt wasn't an emotion he was good at handling. Guilt meant he did something wrong, and Banner wasn't a man who liked doing stuff wrong.

He hesitated for a moment, then went to stand in front of Corvus. He cocked his head to the side, summing up the boy another time as if to rack his brain for a memory of him. Nothing. Banner sat down in the empty chair next to Corvus, and looked over the boy one last time.

"Ehm... Banner, yeah, hi," he offered his good hand in greeting.

He really didn't remember him. Not at all. Corvus watched as the other man got up to stand in front of him, a wave of the old fear and insecurity rushing over Corvus just as it had done all those years before. It was stupid and pathetic - it wasn't like Banner was going to act the same way, they were both adults now. Besides, they were standing in the middle of a busy waiting room. What was Banner going to do? Start a fight? Despite his logical analysis of the situation, Corvus found himself holding his breath until Banner sat down again. He wasn't sure whether to feel relieved that Banner was talking to him or if he'd have preferred to be ignored. Now Banner had sat down, he was probably expecting conversation.

Corvus shook Banner's hand, his eyes drifting to the man's other arm. Black poisonous-looking veins ran out from the man's hand. This was the artefact accidents ward, which meant it was probably some cursed object. A bracelet? No... the point that seemed the most intense was the finger. "Cursed ring?" he finally said, keeping his voice calm, even though ideas were brewing within. How long he'd wanted revenge. How long he'd wanted to make Banner feel some measure of the misery that Corvus had. "Interesting," he murmured, as if half-talking to himself, "The poison pattern looks almost the same as the body that I arranged a funeral for a couple of weeks ago. I'm sure that was a cursed ring... they tried all sorts of counter-curses, but to no avail, the curse slowly engulfed her body. Five days of agony, they said.. and no pain reduction spell worked..." he cut himself off, letting his eyes widen in mock horror, "Oh! Sorry, that's probably the last thing you want to hear! I'm sure that was a completely different ring and a completely different curse."

Banner cocked his brow. Did he hear that right? A woman died from the same symptoms from a cursed ring only a few weeks ago? That was certainly not what he wanted to hear. He looked down at the spindly web of black radiating from his finger. Shit. His blood ran cold... he didn't want to die, which, as he thought about it, was such a curious thing to ever have to admit. When would a man ever be in a situation where he would say he wanted to die, as if it were just the convenience he needed? Perhaps in the case of a terminal illness, was all Banner could come up with. Or severe financial problem, too... just to drop all worries and just disappear out of the world like that. And what would be the consequence?

Well, there was hell, if you subscribed to that, which Banner wasn't sure he did. But Banner liked living. There was so much more to being alive than dead. Fear bubbled up inside him as he looked at his arm. But then he looked back at Corvus, and narrowed his eyes as a thought crossed his mind: why would Corvus tell him all that? That was an oddly menacing thing to tell someone while waiting in a hospital waiting room, that you know someone with the same problem who died from it just a week or two ago.

"Ehm... yeah," Banner said, not sure how to reply when affronted with his own mortality. "I would hope so."

Banner kept looking at Corvus strangely. Something wasn't quite right with his posture. It was as if he were ready to spring up and run, or reach for his wand. He was... tense.

"Are you waiting for someone to come out 'ere?" he guessed. "Someone hurt?"

There was something so delicious about watching Banner squirm. All those times that Banner's words and actions had filled Corvus with fear and self-loathing... he was enjoying turning the tables. And Banner was so obviously scared, his eyes darting to his arm, eyes reflecting the fears of a man faced with his own impending doom. It went a little way to relaxing Corvus and undoing some of the tension. Banner was fallible. Human. Had his weaknesses just like everyone else. Not an untouchable god that liked to play chaos with others' lives.

"No, I am waiting for a client. A dead client." A slow, creepy smile passed over Corvus' face. Oh he couldn't keep this up forever, but right now he was going to rattle Banner with everything he had. "I'm a funeral director, but there's been some mix-up with the declaration of death... apparently the person in question is still registered with the hospital as a living patient." He rolled his eyes, sighing once more at the staff's incompetence. "They won't hand the body over to me until they have that sorted out."

His eyes darted back down to Banner's arm. It did actually look bad. The death-by-ring story had been completely fabricated, but Corvus had seen enough causes of death to have racked up a few fatalities-by-cursed-objects in his time. The way that Banner's veins were pulsating like that, the blackness still spreading despite the makeshift tourniquet, was not healthy. Death aside, he could end up losing his arm if he wasn't seen to. And Corvus' professional opinion could get Banner seen to. All he'd have to do was wander up to the desk and tell them the same story he'd just told Banner - urge them to see to the man before it became too late. It wouldn't cost him anything.

Damn it, why did he want to help this man? This man who had been so cruel to him? He wanted to watch him suffer, didn't he? Watch him squirm? As much as he enjoyed the brief moment of fear he'd caused Banner, actually Corvus had an intrinsic need to... to what? Help would be the wrong term. Serve was perhaps a better description. "Just a moment," he murmured, mind made up.

Getting to his feet, he adopted the right expression of a mix of disbelief and horror and swept up to the desk again. "Why isn't this man being seen immediately?" He asked sharply, normal timidness replaced by a professional indignance. "If left untreated that curse will certainly be fatal. I've had bodies with similar poison patterns on my slab on multiple occasions... do you really want his blood on your hands?" The Healer behind the desk looked surprised at Corvus' insistence. He was normally so quiet in the time he spent in St Mungos. Shy and demure. Surely for him to be so riled up it had to be serious... she tried to nod and shake her head at the same time, mumbling something before heading off to try and find a Mediwizard who could squeeze Banner in.

With a small smirk, Corvus turned away from the desk and crossed back across the room, sinking into the seat next to Banner with a self-satisfied smile. "You owe me a non-alcoholic, non-caffeinated drink."

"Oh," Banner said, a little surprised. A funeral director? That was a job Banner had never come across before. Must have been grim work, Banner thought, dealing with death everyday. Of course, one would probably grow numb to it eventually. Perhaps it was a bit emotional working with the dead the first few times, but then a dead person just becomes another dead body. The person aspect isn't really there anymore, it's just a corpse.

All this talk of death was making Banner rather uncomfortable, and there was still something about Corvus that was bothering him. The boy was... eerie. That's the word he wanted. He'd been a bit unnerved at first at the casual mention that Banner could die, and now that he'd learned Corvus was a funeral director... well, it took a certain character to ever want that job. It was just odd all around.

Banner cocked a brow as Corvus got up to talk to the Healer at the desk. He listened in surprise as Corvus tried to bump up Banner's position in the triage.

"Well, lad," Banner said when Corvus returned to his seat. "That was a good show." He paused. "I take it you exaggerated a bit though?" He didn't want to say it outright, but Banner was hoping that really had just been a show, and all that fatal talk was just to enhance the urgency."It really isn't that bad," he laughed, though the nervousness was audible.

Non-alcoholic, non-caffeinated? What else was worth drinking? "So a glass of water, like?"

Corvus' lips quirked into a small smile again at Banner's nervous laugh. He could continue playing the game if he wanted. Make Banner squirm up until the moment he was called out by a Healer. But Corvus' desire for payback was ebbing away. It had lost its entertainment value quickly. "Mmh yeah, exaggerated slightly." He murmured in a soft voice, not wanting to give the game away to any staff that might be listening. His eyes glanced down to Banner's arm, wondering how the man got himself into this situation. Stolen ring? Or perhaps a cursed gift. Maybe someone wanted payback on Banner even more than Corvus did.

He rolled his eyes at the mention of water. "There are other options, surprisingly enough," he muttered, "just none of them particularly appetising," he added unhappily. He'd really much prefer a proper drink. "There's a bar not far from here that does infused vodka in a variety of Bertie Botts Beans flavours, if that's your sort of thing." Why he was bringing this up, he didn't know. Just to torture himself, he supposed.

"But anyway. What are you doing with yourself these days? And how did you come across a cursed ring?"