Waiting Room

Where Dr. Stone's patients wait for their sessions.

Adelaide sat down in the waiting room, picking a magazine from the stack and opening it to a random page. Her sensible clothing had been replaced with a suit, depicting her station as a respected doctor, such as she was... Her usually braided hair was up in a loose bun and her gloves hands appeared more for fashion sense than need. As did the thick fashionable overcoat.

Beside her, Quin shuffled his feet nervously. Half worried about seeing a therapist and half worried about not seeing a therapist, not to mention scared stiff as to what awaited them behind the closed door... He pulled his blue and white cap from his head and nervously ran a hand through his blonde hair. Deep breaths slowly helped him calm and he opened the comic book he had purchases yesterday.

Steven entered the waiting room wearing a black pinstriped suit, having temporarily ditched his preferred mode of dress. While it wasn't a lab coat his aura seemed to give off the feel that he was a doctor. His shoulder-length raven hair was somewhat combed back out of his face. Blue eyes scanned the waiting room, locking onto Adelaide who appeared to be reading a magazine, and Quin reading a comic.

He approached the reception desk and in a low tone murmured, "Todd, family of three, to see Dr. Stone. Our case was previously handled by Dr. Rush." Without waiting to be told to sit in the waiting room, Steven did precisely that... painted eyes and all.

"Addy" the doctor sighed in greeting, picking up a magazine with one hand and ruffling Quin's head of blond hair with the other. As per his usual, Steven - or Sidney as he was to be known - was wearing his usual leather gloves that appeared to indicate he might drive a motorcycle. "Sorry I was a little late."

Without even looking up from her magazine, Adelaide nodded. "Traffic, dear?" she queried, kicking Quin, whose mouth had fallen open with Steven's appearance.

"Whoa-ouch!" Quin jumped as he was kicked and decided it would be best to keep silent. The ruffling of the hair, caused him to scoot a little further away from either adult. He wondered briefly why the facial make-up remained although the man appeared to have cleaned up besides that... and he had to admit, the gloves had a classic look.

He nodded. "Dreadful. Everything came to a dead stop... you'd think it was Gotham rush hour all over again!" the doctor quietly exclaimed his complaint. An eyebrow twitched at the new word from the teenager.

Whoaouch... hmm... A look of incomprehension stayed upon the man's face.

When Quin attempted to scoot from either of them, 'Sidney' placed a firm hand on the boy's shoulder. "Sit still," he requested. "This won't take long, son." A slight tightening of grip seemed as if in reassurance, although brief.

He flipped his own magazine - about golf - to a random page and hoped the article within might have at least a shred of interest to it. There were other magazines, of course, but that one would suffice for now.

Adelaide looked up from the article about home insulation. Checking the clock on the wall, she smiled.
"Cocktail hour..." she murmured, despite the fact it wasn't.

Quin just about squealed in a mixture of shock and surprise when Sidney put on a full fatherly tone and placed his hand on his shoulder. At first the "not taking long" sent shock-waves of horror down his spine. But then he remembered where they were and relaxed slightly.

"Weakening roofs..." Adelaide murmured, showing Sidney that more people were using cheeper insulation and thus upgrading the heating... and not the roof itself.

At Adelaide's comment, Steven looked to the clock. "Sure enough," he replied with a smirk of sorts. "A Bloody Mary after our session here, perhaps?" Sidney/Steven tried hard not to snicker at the myth-turned-children's dare-turned-beverage.

Sidney couldn't help but find the boy's antics somewhat amusing. However, despite it being so, he gave the teenager a swift, somewhat light nudge in the hip with his knee.

"Candy?" he offered the teen, reaching into a pocket to pull out an assortment of candies that seemed to have come straight from a store dealing with anything and everything involving the genre of horror: eye-shaped gumballs (two, of course, of different-colored irises), bone-shaped licorice, gummy spiders... out of the small mix of candies available, there was only one that looked anywhere near 'normal'.

Hand still extended for Quin to select a candy, Sidney turned his head to regard Adelaide's words and the article which she was reading. A look of mild concern flickered across his face. "Suppose we should look into that ourselves. It'd be a chaotic mess should we experience a severe ice storm..." he stated with a nod.

Was there an undercurrent of wryness in those words?

Yes, there was.

Adelaide chuckled softly. "Perhaps." she smiled, turning the page. She was glad that Quin appeared to behaving himself... children appeared to be such trouble. But apparently given the right amount of attention and food, Quin was tolerable.

Quin sat up straight with the nudge, his life flashing before his eyes. "OKAY FINE!" he shouted, just as he was offered the candy. The sight of the odd sweets turned his stomach, and he decided at that moment never again to purchase halloween candy of any sort. "Thanks..." he murmured, taking a few more harmless looking 'bones' and 'spiders'. The eyes looked way to realistic... and sine the man worked in a morgue...well he wasn't about to take any chances.

Adelaide, startled by Quin's outburst, nearly froze the receptionist as her heart leapt into her throat. The only sign of her panic however was the seat beneath the trio suddenly freezing, much to Quin's horror.

Chuckling at Steven's words, she showed him the next page with the article about the decline of villain activity... oh if only, she mused, delighted.
"Nice to see heros working..." she murmured, a sharp although gloved nail tapping the picture of an unnamed hero.

Startled by the shout from Quin, 'Sidney' did little else of mundane notice but start, blink a couple of times, and shift a slight distance away from the boy. The effects of being a super were far more interesting: in response to the sudden fight-or-flight impulse, Steven's poison-barbed fingertips broke through the leather of his gloves. They would leave unnoticeable pinpricks once retracted, but they were a dark blood red in color. The only good thing was that his fingers were curled, making anyone but those closest to him unable to see what had happened. Slowly, finding nothing at the moment to poison, the barbs returned to their mostly-hidden position.

A noise escaped Steven at Quin's thanks. It would've been a full-out 'you're welcome' if he hadn't been distracted by a thought. After a moment, he returned the candy that hadn't been selected to his pocket. The therapist might not be too impressed with the fact that Halloween was obviously his favorite holiday... to an almost obsessive degree. Though, if his painted eyes wouldn't show that 'Sidney' didn't think anything would.

The seat they were all sitting on was suddenly freezing!

Steven furtively glanced at Adelaide, attempting to ignore the awkward sensation. She must've gotten startled as well, he deduced, as it hadn't been nearly that cold even upon initially sitting. Standing up might be considered odd... but then wasn't that why they were there? He decided to continue ignoring it for the moment.

He leaned around Quin and toward Adelaide to examine the article. A decline in villain activity? Blue eyes glanced around the room as if to say 'where is this inactivity?'. Steven didn't recognize the hero either, but the article's point was clear: Villainous activity was on the decline. "So it is... though, makes me wonder what heroes must do in their spare time without villains to chase after," he replied, musing aloud. "Would be a shame if they became too complacent..."

With an amused sort of smirk, Steven shifted his attention in part to the magazine he'd picked up. The headline made him blink, and then snicker. "Addy, look at this: Mutated Zombie Squirrel Wreaks Havoc At Golf Tourney ... Wonder how they determined if it was living or undead if it's still on the loose?"

"And no, if you find it you can't keep it for a pet, Quin. No matter how cool it is," he chuckled as though such requests were made regularly. However, given the kid's reaction to the previous nudge, Steven made no form of physical contact.

Noticing that the seat was frozen and that both Sidney and Quin seemed slightly uncomfortable, the former far more than the latter, Adelaide returned it to its usual temperature and shot Quin a icy glare to be certain there were no future outbursts.

Blood nearly freezing Quin looked for the bathroom. He had to get away from the two adults...even for a moment.
"Um... I have to go to the bathroom." he murmured. Adelaide blinked at him, obviously not getting the point. What? he pondered, didn't she go? Or maybe it was just confusion from him asking her. He shot the other adult a pleading glance.

Adelaide nodded in agreement with Sidney, wondering who had written the obvious work of hyperbole. "Sue for libel..." she murmured, her eyes lighting up behind her glasses. No doubt that would be an interesting case... Icy Villain Sues Paper for False Article of Villain Decline... hmm maybe not. Zombie squirrel? she glanced at the article Steven had pointed out.

She thought about muttering the squirrel probably played better than those he had attacked... but instead only whispered. "Slightly beneath par..."

Quin's mouth promptly fell open at the man's comment and he nearly stuttered out a WHAT! Thankfully, an ice cold hand against his arm chilled the words and he just nodded. As if he wanted a zombie crazed rodent anyway... although it might be neat, he thought. After all, who else in his class would have one.

Will poked his head out of the door, "Um. I'm ready for whoever's next."

Blue orbs glanced in the boy’s direction at the statement, and almost laughed at the response Quin received. Steven couldn’t help it – he just found it highly amusing. When the boy looked to him, ‘Sidney’ also blinked, though not for the same reasons as Adelaide. Sure, he went, but... why was the kid asking him? Was he afraid one or the other would freak out if he tried to make a beeline for the restroom? Not an entirely unfounded assumption there, in a manner of speaking, he supposed...

A smirk tugged at the right half of Steven’s mouth as his attention was diverted to Adelaide. His own eyes brightened at the thought, though he wasn’t exactly very well versed in law... his general disregard of it one of a few reasons why he held villain status. It’d be interesting to contemplate the result of such a scenario, and the headline that would follow. Catching her whispered comment, Sidney snickered at the humor and proceeded to tear out the article in a half-heartedly discreet manner to keep for his bulletin boards of interesting news clippings. Finding a spot for it would be tricky, but he’d handled worse conundrums before.

Inwardly, Steven smiled at Quin’s initial reaction to the Zombie Squirrel article. Outwardly, his brief grin ranked about a seven on the Creepiness Scale... perhaps an 8.5 at a stretch. The man had seen Adelaide’s subtle intervention, which made the situation all the more amusing to him. It was a short-lived amusement however, for an unfamiliar voice completely diverted his attention.

“That’d be us...” Stephen said and stood. Once more, his hand sought Quin’s shoulder. “If you can’t hold it, go ahead. But let’s not keep the good doctor waiting like last time, hm?” he remarked somewhat quietly, raising one eyebrow and widening the eye beneath it. The eye that wasn’t widened seemed to be narrowed, set in a much more serious expression than the other as if attempting to detect a lie. It was a very odd countenance... as if there were two faces providing two different expressions rather than one. In an even quieter, ominous tone only for Quin and Adelaide’s ears he added, “You won’t want me to come looking for you...”

Allowing Quin to either stay or go, the man returned his gaze to the doctor’s head sticking out of the door. “My son may be a few minutes, but we-“ ‘Sidney’ gestured to Adelaide, “-can get started if that would be easier...” Steven replied.

Adelaide barely suppressed a grin as Steven ripped out the article. Quin, however, looked less than amused. Suddenly he no longer had any desire to go to the bathroom... maybe for the rest of his life. Okay, he reasoned, many not that long... but he was tempted.

The plain villainous Quin saw creep over Steven's face was enough within itself to beyond a shadow of a doubt, give him goose flesh...

Putting the article away, Adelaide rose along with Steven, carefully pushing her collar up slightly to cover her already covered white neck. Her gloved fingers pushed her glasses up against her nose and she was terribly glad Steven's optical implants gave her blue eyes instead of her natural white. The eye-glasses were a simple crutch, so to speak, as she was used to wearing them and now that they were no longer necessary had traded sunglasses for more fashionable lens. They did add to her appearance as a doctor as well... not that she noticed.

Quin swallowed and suddenly had to go to the bathroom, despite his early recantings. ANYTHING, to get a moment away from Steven and Adelaide. And a note to self- MAKE IT A QUICK MOMENT- he wasn't about to even picture the thought of the man coming after him.
"It'll -o-only be a moment." he stammered, shaking slightly. Fastest bathroom moment ever... he added silently, backing away toward the bathroom door.

To clear up any possible confusion, Adelaide gently laid her gloved hand against Steven's arm. Oddly the touch, even despite the layers of cloth sent a icy shiver down her spine.