Key's Arrival

Key stared out of the car window as the vehicle made its way up the driveway toward the Institute. He didn't know whether to be intimidated or merely awed by what he saw. It was nothing like the hopsital he had left only days ago. Nothing like the busy, squared, clinical building where he could hear the passing of cars outside on the highway. This place looked old and quiet and far away from anyone else.

Key turned to look back at the doctor sitting next to him with an expression of uncertainty. "Dr. Jameson, I don't think...."

"It's going to be fine, Key." Jameson never bothered to look at him. He merely tapped the back of the driver's seat to get him to stop. "Go ahead and get out. I'll be right behind you."

Key looked out the window one last time before pulling at the door lever and pushing to open it. Standing outside, dwarfed by the size of the place, he felt only more nervous. Dr. Jameson put a hand gently against his back and pushed him forward toward the stairs up ahead.

"New kid!" A grinning red-headed face leaned out of a window, waving. A moment later and it disappeared, slamming the window closed. "DAVID! NEW KID!"

After a brief and rather undignified flurry of door-slammings and yells, Michael herded a rather flustered and recently-showered Hospital Manager out the front door.

"You must be Key Lareby," David said, although most of it was lost by Michael's much louder greetings.

"Hi! Are you Key? Welcome to the middle of Nowhere. I'm Michael and that's David. He's in charge. I'm just bonkers. Probably. We're not sure yet."

Key looked positively overwhelmed at Michael's boisterous welcome. He even took a step back, his eyes wide, until he felt the slight push forward from behind.

"I'm...yes...." He looked from Michael to David, trying to smile. "I'm Key."

He held out his hand, trying to push himself past his tendency to be shy. They seemed friendly enough, the one a little flustered, perhaps, and the other quite enthusiastic. But friendly, nevertheless.

"Thank you. For accepting my, um...application."

"Application?" Michael laughed at him. "You applied to come here?" After a moment he seemed to decide that maybe this was a possibility after all, and looked curious. "You're not crazy?"

"Michael!" David looked alarmed, then softened. "Sometimes I think I should diagnose you with Tourette's. Be nice to him." He offered a hand, friendly. "I'm David Crowe, the manager."

"No, my hospital applied for me to come...." He trailed off and flushed deeply as he looked at Michael, but he took David's hand and shook it gently. "Thank you, Mr. Crowe." His voice was soft, not quite a whisper, but certainly lower than most speaking tones.

He turned to speak to the man who'd accompanied him, but as he raised his head and said the doctor's name, he realized that the man had already gotten back into the car. Shocked, he started to call out, but the driver was already pulling off. Key waited, let it sink in that he'd been left, and sighed.

"I guess they already sent my paperwork and belongings ahead, then." He glanced up at David, momentarily worried. "They did, didn't they?"

"Yes, I believe so." David smiled. "We received one box, and all the paperwork is in order. If more boxes are on their way, I'm sure they'll arrive in a day or two."

"Can I help carry your things?" Michael offered, all grins and far too much energy. "Which room are we going to put him in?"

"You have your choice of rooms," David answered, although he directed the information at Key. "There's a nice room on the first floor next to Michael's--it'll be warmer in winter because it's near the kitchen, but the light on the second floor is better. It's entirely up to you."

"Oh...." Key thought about the room assignment for a moment, which completely distracted him from anything else. He glanced at Michael and couldn't help but find himself smiling in return. The young man's energy was infectuous. "The first floor is fine. I'm not really picky."

He adjusted the bag on his shoulder and glanced at Michael again. "It's just the one. And it's not heavy," he said softly. "You don't have to go through any trouble. I don't have a lot of things."

"It's no trouble for me," Michael told him, grinning, and took the bag from him despite any objections. "I snore a little in my sleep, but I don't think the walls are that thin."

"I was going to start making dinner," David interrupted, before Michael could start another barrage of talking. "Michael can show you around, if you don't mind his company. I'm sure you'll meet Dr. Falstrom before long."

Key relinquished his bag with only the slightest sound of object, but he realized quickly that it wasn't going to make a different. He smiled and thanked Michael shyly. As he began walking away with Michael, he turned and said, "Thank you again, Mr. Crowe. I'll try to...behave."

Which, given his shy behavior might have sounded a strange thing to say, but given Dr. Jameson's hurry to leave him behind, Key couldn't help but wonder how long it would take before he did something wrong.

He turned to Michael and said, "Have you been here long? You seem to like it."

"About a week now. It's nice. Gonna get cold in the winter, I guess, but right now it's all green and pretty. The doctors are nice. Don't worry." Michael grinned at him, pushing open the door to an empty room--clean and comfortable, with a stack of sheets and blankets set on the bed, waiting to be made up. "How's it look? Cozy, huh?"

Key poked his head inside and glanced around. It was a simple room, but nice, and much more inviting than his room at the hospital had been. In fact, it almost looked like something out of a real home. "Yes. It's very nice."

He stepped inside to get a feel for the place. There was plenty of room. His belongings wouldn't take up any space at all here. Thinking of that, he turned back to Michael. "Oh! I'm sorry. Just...put that wherever you want to." He smiled sheepishly. "Didn't mean to make you stand there with it."

Michael shrugged, grinning. "It's not exactly heavy. You like the room, huh? If you ever do get cold, I'm just next door." Michael winked, shameless, but he was really just teasing.

Key turned to look at Michael. "What do you mea--. Oh...." He quickly flushed even brighter than he had downstairs when they'd first met. He averted his eyes, looking at the floor, and mumbled,"Well, thanks."

He stood there for a moment, a little uncertain. "What...do you do here when you're, well, free?"

Michael shrugged. "Read, watch tv, play chess with myself. You're the third patient here, so I've been pretty lonely. Deirdren's not very friendly, and the doctors are friendly, but they don't like to get too familiar. We can go outside sometimes, too, as long as we don't go out of sight."

Key nodded and then smiled a little, walking closer to Michael. "I could play chess with you. I'm not very good, but at least you wouldn't be by yourself."

"I'd like that." Michael grinned big, then leaned in as if to impart a secret. "You know, if we get really lucky, we might even be able to dig up a game of Candyland."

It took Key a second or two for what Michael had said to sink in, but when he did, he couldn't help but laugh. "Wow. It's been a long time since I heard anyone mention that game." Grinning, he pushed his long bangs back behind his ear. He looked at Michael a little more openly, feeling relaxed for the first time in a while. "So...are we supposed to meet Mr. Crowe somewhere, or should I just look around?"

"If he really wants us, he can find us. Unless you're hungry. We can look around, though. What would you like to see? The house, the lake? Might be a good idea to sneak out while we still can, before it gets late and we get pulled in on curfew." Michael didn't stop grinning, openly flirtatious and just all-around cheerful.

Key brightened at the mention of the outdoors. "Oh, could we seek the lake? It's been a long time since I got to be...outside. My other hospital was in the middle of a city, so it was all...concrete, more or less." He really couldn't remember the last time he'd spent much time outdoors, near the trees and in the fresh air.

"Of course. C'mon." Michael grabbed his hand, heading for the back door. "Besides, we might as well enjoy the weather while it's still nice. I hear the winter's going to suck. The door's supposed to lock, but it really"--he stopped, turning the knob and putting his shoulder into it: after a shove and some jiggling, the lock slipped and the door opened--"doesn't."

Key's eyes were wide, half due to Michael's strong-arming of the door, and half due to the fact that he was holding Key's hand. The young man blushed straight to the roots of his platinum-blonde hair and tried not to stammer as he said, "I guess they don't know you can do that...."

"David probably has a clue as to how I've been getting out, but he's a big softy, and if the doctor's noticed, he either doesn't care or he's planning some sort of horrible revenge for me." Michael headed down to the lake, just barely containing the urge to run, and stripped off his shirt. "Do you swim?"

Key looked down at the water, following Michael slowly and keeping his eyes turned slightly away. "Not much, no." He'd learned how to swim, but he didn't have much experience with it. "The other doctor...it sounds like you don't much care for him."

Michael stopped with his shirt half off, frowning. "I don't not like him." He pulled the shirt the rest of the way off and gave Key a disappointed look. "You're not coming in?"

Key looked at him a moment, biting his lip. "Umm...." He looked out at the water. It was beautiful, to say the least. It wasn't that he was afraid of water, not really, but.... "How deep is it?" He tugged on the edge of his tunic, half wanting to take it off and join Michael, and also half afraid to do so. "I mean, there's nothing in it, right? Animals and such?"