The Glass Scientists micro-fanfictions

Me and My Shadow (separation au)

Henry had tried and tried again to try and rid himself of the beast, the foul daemon that plagued him both in body and mind, and, well, technically speaking he had been successful with this. But success rarely came in the form that the poor, weary doctor had hoped that it might.
It was nearing a month since it had happened. In a moment of desperate weakness, the doctor had taken those chemicals that had previously failed him, an action done with no regard for his well being, but rather an all encompassing need for the silence that had been denied him for the years since his outstandingly successful failure. What followed was a pain of such proportions he quickly lost consciousness, collapsing down into an undignified slump on the ground. What met his gradually waking eyes when consciousness was returned to him was a sight he had not expected to ever see. Sat before him was a horribly solid looking Edward Hyde, who had thankfully had the good sense to dress once his own disorientation had lessened, and lessened more so than it had ever done even in moments of lucidity.

Since that fateful night, it had become a common sight to seen the shorter, far more irritating fellow following behind the doctor like a lost puppy. Hyde had spent so long existing as nothing more than a reflection of Jekyll that he could not rightly say he knew how to act like his own entity, needing the reassurance that came from the man he had once been. Jekyll had accepted this tag-along without too much of a fuss, for while Hyde was in his line of sight he could guarantee that he was not getting up to any such mischief and tomfooleries that might reflect poorly on him or the Society itself.

The blond, while notably more human looking than the slightly uncanny beast he had once been, had still not acquired a body temperature above what one might liken to a person suffering from a particularly severe case of hypothermia, and so had taken to trying to steal as much residual body heat from the darker haired fellow. Well, either that or basking in particularly sunny spots he happened to come across, much like a lizard or snake might.

"It is almost as if we were koalas, isn't that wonderful!" a particularly sleepy Hyde declared, having latched himself to Jekyll's back as he walked by, having made some excuse of being far too tired to walk himself, having gone far too long without sleep and was such learning the repercussions of such recklessness.

"Neither you nor myself are marsupials." the doctor replied as simply as anyone could reply to anything. He had begrudgingly accepted his passenger, who was thankfully still at an uncomfortably light weight, knowing full well that if he did not he would have to endure the pitiful complaining that would inevitably follow.

"Not in a literal sense," the smaller declared, letting out a laugh directly into the other's ear, an occurrence that was so commonplace by this stage that it barely prompted a flinch, "But aesthetically you cannot deny it. Well, you could, but that would make you a fool because it was Jasper that had described us as such previously, and that would technically be his area of expertise, and surely you would know better than to argue with one who is far more knowledgeable in an area than you ever could dream of being!" As he rambled, he found himself forgetting the actual point of his statement had been when he had begun it, a common occurrence given how irrationally fast his thoughts flickered about with no sense or reason.

"Well then," the taller replied, tapping his laugh off as it dared to creep into his tone, "If Jasper said it, then it must be true then." Of course he was humouring the other, having not even been fully listening to him, particularly skillful in the art of tuning out the tiny little man when it suited him, a skill that was a necessity when they were one, and had become a habit even once they were two.

"Of course it's true! Did you think I would lie to you?"

"Given your track record of lying to me," Henry began, sounding as if he was musing a particularly important point with this, "Then it is statistically more likely that anything you tell me is a lie, opposed to there being even a single shred of truth to anything you might say."

Edward let out a loud, scandalised gasp, knowing that this was as accurate an observation as there had ever been. It only took a matter of seconds before this gasp became yet another stream of grating laughter, the sort of laughter that lead Henry to wonder if it would be worthwhile simply letting the other drop or if it would come back to, quite literally, bit him later on.

"Don't you dare." Hyde stated preemptively, since he had been the other for far too long he was unfortunately able to make usually rather accurate guesses at what he happened to be thinking at any given time.

"I wasn't thinking anything that you might consider a daring action." Jekyll, who was very much thinking of an action that the other might have thought to consider daring, and both knew this even if the lie might have been perfectly convincing for anyone that had not spent an inordinate amount of time in his mind.

"No, you weren't," the green eyed fiend agreed, "Because you are far too smart for that."

Perhaps this had been intended to contain something slightly complementary in it, but Hyde had a particular way of speaking that made even the kindest statements sound more of a judgemental attack on one's character. This had definitely been intended to be the latter.

Having neared the destination that Henry had been intending to go to, he was all the more aware of how his present predicament, Edward clinging to his back as if his life depended on it, was far from practical.
"Would you be so kind as to hop off now?"

"No." came the reply, Hyde somehow managing to further secure his grip as if to prove that he was not going to be budging any time soon.

(Requested)