The dinner announcement came as something utterly unexpected. Rather than Harrington's excited tones, the calm accented voice of the General drifted through the intercom speakers
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In retrospect, it was very foolish of him. To assume that they would be granted any piece before night fell over them all once again. He should have seen it coming. The institute was picking up the pace with whatever it was they were doing. Incidents were happening more frequently and with more severe effects. Maybe they were stepping forward, having decided to take a more direct approach to their initiative. Or maybe they were trying to remind them all of their helplessness. Whatever the reasons, things were getting worse. Klavier had been a fool to assume he would be given a chance to sit down and thoroughly think it over.
It happened within moments, catching both men off guard completely. One moment, both he and Damon were being escorted into their room as always. The next, the guards were tackling Damon down to the ground. It was similar to how police held down an assailant as they prepared to handcuff them and take them away. Only it wasn't handcuffs that they were producing.
There was no time to think. There was only time to react. Klavier leaped forward immediately, reaching both hands out to grab the people holding Damon down and pry them away. He had no idea what he could do against trained soldiers, honestly, but he'd be damned if he was going to just stand there and watch. ...But his hands never managed to grab hold of anyone before one of the accompanying soldiers grabbed a wrist and twisted both arms behind his back with a practiced ease and pulled him away to allow more room. Within a blink of the eye, both had been subdued. Maybe that would have been embarrassing if it hadn't been terrifying and rage-inducing.
They slipped the needle into Damon almost as quickly. Klavier half expected them to start dragging him away for experimentation or whatever they were thinking. But instead, they got up off of him and released Klavier before simply leaving the room. ...All done so easily. Like it was routine. Bastards...
Damon glanced over at him before pulled himself up and sitting himself on his desk, a tiny stream of blood dribbling down his arm as evidence of what had just happened. What had they just...?!
And his roommate's reaction to all this? A bitter, smartass remark. Which was amazing. Had their places been switched, Klavier would probably be beside himself. And yet Damon had at least maintained enough composure to make a joke. ...Somehow, this helped Klavier from losing his own composure completely and panicking. But that didn't mean he was quite at Damon's level yet. He stared at Damon's face for a heartbeat, frowning and gritting his teeth as he tried to contain himself, before glancing down at the blood on his arm. He then quickly grabbed one of his dinner napkins and walked over to him, holding it out for Damon to take.
"Are... Are you alright?!" It was a stupid question. Of course he wasn't alright. But what he meant to ask was whether or not Damon was feeling any effects from... whatever they had injected him with. He was a little too shaken and worried to put together a big complicated sentence right now though.
So, second question: why him? Did he just draw the short straw or was there an actual logic to this? He'd like to know who else got forcibly volunteered. It better not be Elena. Or Stefan. Since his brother had decided to join Elena in bed last night instead of feeding, skipping out on one more night would be...problematic. Most importantly, it would be problematic for Damon.
Dammit, he couldn't believe that'd just happened. It was a little pathetic and a lot insulting.
Damon's attention returned to Klavier only when the man started forward. There was a beat, but he took the napkin. What should've healed a minute ago was only just starting to stop bleeding. If he was supposed to find Klavier's concern and outrage on his behalf somewhat heartwarming, that didn't happen. He pursed his lips and glanced up out of the corner of his eye as he tugged his sleeve back down.
"Never better. Don't worry." He slid off the desk, bumping the chair into it with a bang as he did. "I'll let you know if I'm about to keel over so you can step out of the way." He paused. "You? I hope you didn't sprain anything there."
To anyone who wanted to believe that was a genuine remark, it might've just scraped by as such. With his back turned, it was hard to see the smile playing on his lips as he discarded most of his uniform on the bed, leaving just his pants and shirt, untucked. He sat down on the edge of the mattress. Like last night, compensation had been raised, and also like last night, Damon took that at face value about as much as he took anything at face value. Which was to say, not at all.
But he was still interested in what their version of compensation consisted of. And what the damn drug was supposed to do. Blame it on morbid curiosity. There were plenty of things he didn't appreciate and being in the dark was one of them.
It happened within moments, catching both men off guard completely. One moment, both he and Damon were being escorted into their room as always. The next, the guards were tackling Damon down to the ground. It was similar to how police held down an assailant as they prepared to handcuff them and take them away. Only it wasn't handcuffs that they were producing.
There was no time to think. There was only time to react. Klavier leaped forward immediately, reaching both hands out to grab the people holding Damon down and pry them away. He had no idea what he could do against trained soldiers, honestly, but he'd be damned if he was going to just stand there and watch. ...But his hands never managed to grab hold of anyone before one of the accompanying soldiers grabbed a wrist and twisted both arms behind his back with a practiced ease and pulled him away to allow more room. Within a blink of the eye, both had been subdued. Maybe that would have been embarrassing if it hadn't been terrifying and rage-inducing.
They slipped the needle into Damon almost as quickly. Klavier half expected them to start dragging him away for experimentation or whatever they were thinking. But instead, they got up off of him and released Klavier before simply leaving the room. ...All done so easily. Like it was routine. Bastards...
Damon glanced over at him before pulled himself up and sitting himself on his desk, a tiny stream of blood dribbling down his arm as evidence of what had just happened. What had they just...?!
And his roommate's reaction to all this? A bitter, smartass remark. Which was amazing. Had their places been switched, Klavier would probably be beside himself. And yet Damon had at least maintained enough composure to make a joke. ...Somehow, this helped Klavier from losing his own composure completely and panicking. But that didn't mean he was quite at Damon's level yet. He stared at Damon's face for a heartbeat, frowning and gritting his teeth as he tried to contain himself, before glancing down at the blood on his arm. He then quickly grabbed one of his dinner napkins and walked over to him, holding it out for Damon to take.
"Are... Are you alright?!" It was a stupid question. Of course he wasn't alright. But what he meant to ask was whether or not Damon was feeling any effects from... whatever they had injected him with. He was a little too shaken and worried to put together a big complicated sentence right now though.
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Dammit, he couldn't believe that'd just happened. It was a little pathetic and a lot insulting.
Damon's attention returned to Klavier only when the man started forward. There was a beat, but he took the napkin. What should've healed a minute ago was only just starting to stop bleeding. If he was supposed to find Klavier's concern and outrage on his behalf somewhat heartwarming, that didn't happen. He pursed his lips and glanced up out of the corner of his eye as he tugged his sleeve back down.
"Never better. Don't worry." He slid off the desk, bumping the chair into it with a bang as he did. "I'll let you know if I'm about to keel over so you can step out of the way." He paused. "You? I hope you didn't sprain anything there."
To anyone who wanted to believe that was a genuine remark, it might've just scraped by as such. With his back turned, it was hard to see the smile playing on his lips as he discarded most of his uniform on the bed, leaving just his pants and shirt, untucked. He sat down on the edge of the mattress. Like last night, compensation had been raised, and also like last night, Damon took that at face value about as much as he took anything at face value. Which was to say, not at all.
But he was still interested in what their version of compensation consisted of. And what the damn drug was supposed to do. Blame it on morbid curiosity. There were plenty of things he didn't appreciate and being in the dark was one of them.
Figuratively speaking.
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