The Glass Scientists micro-fanfictions

Unideal

Well, that will be difficult to explain.

The doctor could not quite say that the silence that was usually occupied in the buzzing of the presence of his lesser and worse self was a reassurance or if it was just further expressing how absolutely unideal his situation was.

What was this horribly unideal situation, you may ask? Why, our poor Dr. Jekyll had just awoken from a fitful slumber of which he felt no better rested for it, his mind fuzzy and memories addled, and while all of these were inconveniences he had experienced on perhaps far too many times in the past, what was worrying him most of all was the horribly excruciating would taking up a worryingly large portion of the back of his hand, still weeping a thin trail of blood, the stains on the bedsheets and surrounds, and even his clothes suggesting that it had been worse than it was now.

"What in the blue blazes did you do?" the wounded man hissed out through gritted teeth, the damn thing beginning to sting up something serious.

The injury looked like a stab wound, but surely Hyde was not so idiotic and reckless that he would allow himself to get stabbed, was he? Would he? Truth be told, Henry wouldn't put it past him, though by gods did he wish that this level of absolute stupidity was something that he hadn't come to expect.

...

Thankfully he had taken precautions in the past – not wanting to make the same mistake twice, and having to explain why he was sneaking through the building, bleeding and hiding, though this was far worse than the mere scraps that had littered his body in the past – and had taken a small but well stocked medicinal pack into his room, and so it was mere moments before he was able to traverse the halls with a faux smile plastered so skilfully to his face, a façade of pleasantries hiding the immense discomfort that he was in, the throbbing of his hand demanding its presence known from under the gloves that hid the bandaging.

"Master Hyde?!"

It would be no under-exaggeration to say that he felt his heart skip several beats.

"Oh! Henry!" Rachel exclaimed, rounding the corner at such a speed that she near collided with the man. This said, his smile, in all its falsities, never wavered.

"Good morning, Rachel, what has you dashing about at such an hour?" Admittedly it was a wee bit later than called for such phrasings, however due to the fact he had only awoken a handful of moments ago, so it was a perfectly legitimate statement in his eyes.

"You haven't seen Edward this morning, have you?" The clear panic in her tone was worrying to say the least.

"No, I'm afraid I can't say I have. Whatever is the matter?" So talented was he when it came to feigning perfect innocence, could one truly know if even he was aware in the perfectly crisp lies that ran from his silver tongue.

"Well, I just ran into Grifin, quite literally mind you, you can see less and less of him as every day goes by. Did you know that? That he's taken to experimenting on himself now too? Oh, of course you do! Silly me, I –"

"Rachel, you're rambling." Jekyll cut her off before she got too caught up in her off-topic ramblings, which only served to further show just how emotionally agitated she was.

"Yes, quite. Well, as I said, I ran into Griffin and he told me that he saw Mr. Hyde sneaking up to your office and he was bleeding!" As she spoke, her eyes stretched so wide that it gave her a similar appearance to both a startled owl and a pair of dinner plates – he wasn't quite sure of which comparison he thought was the better fit – and she had paused for a dramatic effect, "So now I have to find him so that I can patch him up! I can't have him running about hurt, and he certainly can't look after himself! Especially not injured!"

It wasn't until she had said this that he was even aware that she was lugging around an excessively large box of medical supplies, more than likely sharing the occupants of his own smaller and more practical one.

"I wouldn't discredit him so soon, he is more competent than you give him credit for you know?" said he, the perfect level of expertly crafted concern in his voice as he said this.

"Do you know him?"

"Fair point."

"Now, if you don't know where he is, he could be anywhere! I don't have the time to lollygag with you all day when we have a bleeding child on the premises!"

With this said, she was off as suddenly as she had come, scurrying off in search of a man that the doctor was quite sure that she would be unable to find. Letting the smile falter just that little bit, he turned heel and was away in the opposite direction, so briefly pondering what precisely he-as-Hyde had done to warrant being stabbed in the hand of all places.

"I am not a child." Even unseen, simply a voice in the back of his mind, there was no doubt that Edward was pouting in the most childish way imaginable.