SPAZ: Part 38
- The Occurrences in the Blank Room -
In which we look in on Kin-Ti and the Doctor

     Kin-Ti looked at her wrists, more or less wishing the hand cuffs would disappear. They failed to do so.
     The Doctor knelt next to her and took something out of his pocket, “Here we go.” He said holding up a small silver key.
     She raised an eyebrow, “I’m not sure I even want to know why you have a key to one of the SPAZ handcuffs.”
     He smiled. “I’m always prepared for the needs of my ~love~.” The doctor sang.
     “Oh shut up.” Kin-Ti grumbled. She lifted up her hands, “Are you going to unlock these or not?”
     “I will…for a price.” He grinned broadly.
     Tsuchi glared “I can still kill you, you know.” She told him.
     “Aww, come on. You don’t even know what I want.” The Doctor whined.
     “Knowing you it’s something stupid.”
     “Fine.” He began to put the key back in his pocket, “If you don’t want it then-”
     Kin-Ti kicked him in the shin. “Stop being a jerk and unlock the damn handcuffs.”
     The Doctor clutched his bruising leg and hopped up and down, “That wasn’t nice.”
     “I don’t care.” She said.
     He sighed and put his leg down. The Doctor handed the key over to Kin-Ti. Quickly she unlocked her self, rubbing her wrists which had been chaffed by the cold metal.
     “Here, put this on.” The doctor said taking out an ointment for her.
     “Again, I don’t want to know.” The girl said taking it and putting it on her wrist.
     “I’m a doctor, remember. I need to have things like this with me.”
     Again she rolled her eyes, “You’re still a weirdo.”
     The man copied Kin-Ti and rolled his eyes, blowing a lock of long red hair out of his face. Sighing, he sat down cross legged in front of her. “This place is strange,” he, rubbing his head. He was feeling a little strange.
     Tsuchi nodded. “Yeah. It takes a little getting used to. I mean, it’s kind of hard to lean against a wall that you can’t see.” She said, doing just that and sliding to the floor.
     Everything in the room was pure white. You could see no corners, no shadows, nothing. It seemed like there was white stretching out to as far as the eye could see, but if you took a few steps forward you found yourself thudding against a wall. It was well lit in the room, but it was a soft glow and easy for the eyes.
     “Does it always look like this? No color all the time?” The doctor wondered, not sure if he could stand staying in ther for long.
     “No actually. This universe has day and night too for some reason. Every thing gets all starry instead of all this blank. But we didn’t know that when we named the room.” She explained.
     “Really? When does night come?”
     As if a light switch had been flicked, the room turned black with small points of light twinkling around them.
     “Now, apparently.” She said.
     Kin-Ti looked at the doctor. “What?” she asked.
     He was making a very perplexed face. “It sort of feels like we’re floating in space.”
     “I think it’s nice. Peacful.” She told him.
     “I’m feeling sick.” He said wobbling a little.
     “Well don’t throw up or anything, because I’m not going to clean it up.” Kin-Ti said.  
     The doctor looked around then closed his eyes tight. “I’m a little afraid to move.”
     Kin-Ti chuckled. “So there are things that scare you.” She laughed.
     He opened his eyes and looked at her. “A lot of things scare me.”
     “Oh really? Like what?” she said smugly.
     “Well for one, I’m scared of losing you.”
     Kin-Ti blinked, taken by surprise. “That’s really cheesy.” She told him.
     He shrugged. “Maybe. But it’s true.”
     She looked at him for a while, then slapped him in the face. “Don’t be all dramatic like that. We’re not in some stupid shojo manga. People don’t say stuff like that in real life.”
     The doctor smiled, “Is there anything I can way that won’t make you beat me up?” he asked.
     “Maybe if you said you were going to go jump off a cliff and die.” She smiled back.
     “Ow. That hurts me right here.” He said patting his chest.
     “It should. Getting your heart ripped out isn’t supposed to be pleasant.”
     “You really dislike me, don’t you?” he asked tilting his head.
     Kin-Ti put her hands on her cheeks and gasped. “Really? Did you figure that out all by yourself? What was your first clue?”
     The Doctor stuck out his tongue then crawled over and sat next to her, his back leaning against the ‘not really there’ wall. “I don’t see why not. I’m a nice guy.”
     “You’re a creep.” She told him.
     “In what way?” he asked innocently.
     “Well let’s see, we can start with the fact that you’re a stalker. I can’t go any where with out you showing up. You’re also too old for me.”
     “We’re only five years apart.” The doctor protested.
     “Yeah, but you’re and adult. I’m a teenager. There are laws against things like that.”
     “In my world you’re an adult too.” He pointed out
     “Doesn’t mean you’re less of a creep.”
     “Kin-Ti” he said softly. He turned so his whole body was facing her. She remained looking away. “Why do you really hate me so much? I’ve never done anything to harm you, and you know I never could.” he said as clearly as he could. it was getting hard for him to think straight.
     She opened her mouth to speak, but words failed her. When she thought about it, she wasn’t’ really sure herself.
     “Jenny says it’s because you’re not used to people liking you. It’s something new and it scares you. Is that it?” he asked, not sure really where he was going with this.
     Tsuchi realized that they were having their first real serious discussion. She didn’t like it when situations got heavy like this, but what he said made her think. Was that it? Was she just scared of all this affection and being cruel to the doctor was her way of running away? What did that mean about her? What did it mean about her feelings for him?
     “Look, doc.” She said, finally turning to face him, “I am a women, and being a women means I don’t know what the hell I want. Now I know you have…feelings for me, but I’m not sure how I feel about you. Which means if you really do care about me then you’re going to have to wait and sit through all the insults and torment.”
     Again the doctor made a perplexed face. He closed his eyes and tried to keep himself from getting dizzy. “For how long?” he asked
     “What?”
     “How long do I have to wait? How long before I can actually come close to you with out you trying to kill me.” He opened his eyes and looked straight at her. Kin-Ti saw something that looked like anger in his eyes.
     “I don’t know.” She said truthfully.
     The doctor clenched his teeth. Then he did something Tsuchi wasn’t expecting. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close to him. She tried to pull away, but found she couldn’t.
     “What are you-?”
     “Be quiet.” He shot at her. He was trying to think, but everything was getting fuzzy.
     Kin-Ti blinked. In all the time she had known the doctor he had never ordered her to do something. He’d never forced her into and embrace like this. Sure he’d come up from behind and surprise her, but he’d always let go when she pulled away. This was different, it was…scary.
     “Doctor…” she said softly, looking up at him.
     He hugged her tighter, a little to tight. She realized just how big he was compared to her, and just how stronger he was. “Let me go, you’re squeezing my rib cage.”
     “No, no I wont. Not this time. I always have to let you go. I never get to hold you. I never-” he broke off. Suddenly he pushed Kin-Ti away from him, something like terror written over his face.
     He looked down and away. “I’m sorry. This room it’s…making me sick.”
     Tsuchi blinked again. Now she was very confused. She wasn’t sure what had just happen. She didn’t like being touched like that but…maybe it was her own fault. Kin-Ti tried to put her self in the doctor’s shoes. To love some one so completely and having them reject you at every moment must be hard, maybe even painful.
     And if she thought about it the Doctor had only ever tried to help her. After all, he had used all his life savings to buy her and Nasha out of the slave market, he had placed his life on the line a number of times to get her out of trouble, he had even allowed his beloved hospital to be burned down just to help her escape from the soldiers who’d been after her.
     Maybe she could return the favor, just this once.
     Are you sure about this girl? she asked herself, He didn’t ask for your help. You’re not obliged to do anything for him. Even as she thought it she knew she was wrong. And plus, he was sick now. She couldn’t just let him suffer alone, she wasn’t that much of a cold hearted bitch.
     She looked up. The doctor had moved a little ways away from her. His legs were pressed up against his chest and he had his head resting down on his knees. His long red hair drapped over him like a curtain. She couldn’t see his face.
     That sight alone scared Kin-Ti. She’d never seen him sick before. He always seemed to strong for that. After all, he had lived through all her abuse.
     She moved close next to him, placing a light hand on his shoulder. “Doctor?”
     He didn’t move.
     “If you’re feeling sick…uh, then maybe you have some medicine?”
     No response.
     She huffed. Here she was trying to help and he was ignoring her.
     “Doctor, how bad are you feeling?”
     There was a pause then: “Very”
     “Well…it’s probably because you’re not used to the whole switching universe thing. This is your third universe today. And it’s late, you’re tiered.”
     “I see.” He said, still not looking up.
     “Well then, get some sleep. You’ll feel better.”
     Finally the Doctor looked up. “I’m sorry, Kin-Ti. I didn’t mean to do that to you before. I know you don’t like me touching you.”
     Kin-Ti rubbed his back, “It’s okay, you’re not yourself right now. Just get some sleep. Okay?”
     “I can’t, this room is to strange for me.”
     Kin-Ti hesitated, then she grabbed the doctors arm and put it around her shoulders. The Doctor looked at her in surprise.
     “Kin-Ti, what-”
     “Shush. This is hard enough as it is with out you talking.” She told him, leaning against his side.
     Doctor was at first confused, but at this point almost everything was confusing for him. His head spun and he couldn’t think clearly. But he knew Kin-Ti was being nice to him, and that was good enough.