---- ONE GOOD DEED }, open

[NATALIE GINGA]

Remembering why she had agreed to give blood was really hard right now. Natalie wasn't a naturally giving person -- not when it came to something like blood. Part of it was the fact that she was actually a little squeamish when it came to blood, but another part of it was that Natalie did better with things revolving around the environment. Blood giving, while good, wasn't something she did on a regular basis. It had been her uncle's idea that she give blood today -- he wanted her to appear more "giving", which she didn't understand. Didn't she give a lot of money to charities around the country? Didn't she do a lot for the environment? The only thing Natalie could think of was that April was doing something that was making people take notice. She didn't necessarily consider April a rival per se, but her uncle did. He felt that Natalie ought to be in more papers and tabloids than April. It was kind of a petty competition, although Natalie had to admit it would be nice to have people paying more attention to her than April. What was the girl doing now? Parading around on the arm of some potter or something.

Still, Natalie had allowed her uncle to talk her into this latest display of giving, and she was beginning to regret it. The longer she sat in the waiting room chair, the more nervous she became. Giving blood was a very big deal -- and seeing as how she had never done it before, Natalie didn't know what to expect. She made a mental note that if nothing terrible happened while she gave blood, she would make sure her uncle fell flat on his face the next time she saw him. He wasn't even here with her -- he was wandering around the hospital, chasing after whatever pretty face he had come across today. He had merely met Natalie at the door of the hospital, found her a seat in the waiting room, and told her that the nurse would be with her soon. He hadn't sounded comforting at all -- merely excited, and Natalie knew that when he was excited, it meant trouble was in the works. Sometimes Natalie really wondered whose best interest her uncle was looking out for -- it couldn't honestly be hers. Not if he was letting her give blood because he thought it was a good thing to do.

And where the hell was Seth? Natalie rarely had to do things without her brother -- their uncle almost always got the pair of them involved in the same functions to show that they were still close and that they believed in the same things. Pulling out her cell phone, Natalie rooted out her brother's number and made a quick text directed to him, sending it with a push of a button. As she waited for the reply, Natalie studied her surroundings, smiling at the small girl a few seats away with her grandmother, or mother -- Natalie couldn't really tell which. The girl smiled back, and looked away, which was just as well. Natalie's phone buzzed at her, and she quickly opened it up to read the message from her brother. Natalie snorted at the response. He was claiming to be caught up in traffic and probably wouldn't make their dear uncle's latest picture perfect moment. "Goober. He did that on purpose -- someone must have told him what Uncle Harvey had planned." She sent another text, telling her brother he was cruel to leave her to the wolves, and sat back in her seat contemplating who had spilled the beans to him.

It had probably been a stylist, or maybe her parents had gotten wind of it -- their mother fussed about them enough that usually they would get a phone call asking them about what Harvey had planned. Natalie might have gotten a message from her mother earlier in the day -- her phone had rang a few times, but Natalie had pushed it off to deal with a text from Felix, asking him if he'd be up to going to a local basketball game with her. Almost anything that had to do with Felix took priority over everything else ... Going through her missed calls, Natalie groaned. Sure enough, there was a missed call from her mother. That must have been how Seth had found out about today's event. Natalie would have to remember to double check missed calls after texting people -- even if it was Felix she was texting. Well, it was too late to really worry about it now. She was already here, which meant she would have to give blood. Natalie sighed, hoping that all the rumors she had heard about giving blood were untrue -- she didn't need this to be any more stressful than it already felt.

Natalie glanced up as someone took a seat beside her, looking a bit tired. Normally not one to start a conversation, she couldn't help but see if they knew anything about blood giving. "Hey, do you know what it's like to give blood? This is my first time."

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[ADAM KUROTSUKI]

He actually didn’t want to be here. There was a time when he would’ve rushed to the hospital whenever his parents called him, but at this point in time, there was a part of him that wondered why he bothered with such a bothersome task. After all, he already knew that his brother would be perfectly okay, without him being here. However, given the whole discussion that he had with his parents before that whole art gallery thing happened, and Adam supposed that was when he started to stop caring about the welfare of his brother...and about his relationship with Alexia in particular. Which was why he was preparing to break up with her when this was all said in done. The only problem was that he couldn’t figure out how to force her to understand that their relationship was finally over, and that he didn’t want to see her again. Or was it that he just wanted to see other people? Adam wasn’t completely sure...all he knew was that he was tired of pretending that he was okay with the way that their relationship was heading...and was ready to force her to either choose to make their relationship more permanent than it already was in his eyes. Or to finally put an end to their makeup break up relationship that they had between them. He was in a way done with the way that he made himself just accepted that Alexia didn’t want to be in a serious committed relationship with him. And, was ready to make her understand completely what she wasn’t his only option when it came to dating.

Still, Adam was sitting in the waiting room of the hospital doing his brotherly duty, even though he didn’t feel like it. In his mind he had better things to do than to wait for his parents to inform him of the reason why his brother was brought here this time. There was a part of him that still cared about how his brother was doing...but he just didn’t feel like it was his duty to drop everything that he was doing at the moment, just because his brother was sick. However, his mother had told him that his brother had wanted him here, and that was the reason why he was here at the moment, and not doing something that would further achieve his goals of becoming a politician. It didn’t matter, he just wasn’t sure if he should’ve told his mother that he was going to be busy, because that was what it felt like. Besides, he had another project that he was working on that didn’t quite involve dealing with the explosive argument that would soon be coming when he approached Alexia. Something that he hadn’t told anyone about just yet, but would become clear once it was finalized. Of course, it would lead to him getting into big trouble if someone were to find out his hand in it, but he was making sure that his trail was covered nicely, and that the only ones who knew about it were certain individuals.

He stood up for a brief moment to walk around while he waited for either the doctor who was seeing his brother, or one of his parents to come and get him, and tell his exactly why his brother had wanted to see him this time, and not on any of the other times that he had been brought in. As he was heading back to where he was sitting, he realized that someone had decided to take the seat that he had been sitting in just a few seconds ago. A gesture that he considered more than a bit rude, but quickly decided to avoid pointing that out to the person, seeing as though he had gotten out of the seat. He then started to look around for another empty seat where he wouldn’t have to sit next to anyone. He realized that the only empty seat left was next to some teenage girl. Adam let out a sigh of frustration when he realized that he would have to sit next to a girl that looked somewhat familiar to him but couldn’t figure out where. As he silently cursed the person who had stolen him seat, Adam sat down, and hoped that the girl wouldn’t have to ask him anything stupid. But, as he heard her question, Adam fought the urge to roll his eyes. Who in their right mind didn’t know how it felt to give blood. Even if it was their first time it was an easy task to find out about such a thing over the internet before volunteering to do it. He looked at the girl and made a mental note to figure out if he actually knew her once he was out of her presence. He then smirked coldly. “Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, princess. But, it hurts like hell.” Actually it didn’t hurt all that much, he just wanted to see her reaction to what he told her. Yeah, he knew that it was mean...prehaps a little cruel. But he wanted to have some fun with her.

[NATALIE GINGA]

Natalie frowned at the response. That wasn't quite what she had been expecting to hear. She had actually been expecting the guy to assure her that giving blood wasn't that bad, and that she would be in and out in no time. Instead, the guy was telling her it hurt -- and that didn't make Natalie want to give any blood at all. She didn't like things that hurt. Needles, while a cliche fear, was still a valid one. Just because Natalie didn't have a phobia of them didn't mean she liked them either. Or that she could really stand them. She could handle the usual immunizations, if need be, but anything more than that took a lot more thought.

Obviously she hadn't thought giving blood through -- not that she had really thought about it before it had been handed to her as something she would do today. Natalie blamed her uncle for this. Couldn't he have found a better way for Natalie to give her time? What about volunteering at a shelter of some sort? It was much easier to plaster a smile on her face as she handed out food to people, or played with animals. But blood giving? The very idea just seemed troublesome, and it was only made more so by the fact that Natalie was now being told that giving blood hurt. What on earth had her uncle been thinking? Or had he even been thinking at all? And why had Natalie listened to him in the first place? She should have said no and insisted he find something else for her to do that would put her in a good light. What if people took pictures of her later that didn't make her look as good as she wanted?

"Like, a lot?" questioned Natalie after another moment. She had to shake her thoughts away, but now that the guy had confirmed her worst fears, she couldn't help but worry just how much pain she was going to be in. "Isn't there anything I can do to make it hurt less? Medicine or something?" In the back of her mind she was appalled at being called princess, but the notion that she was about to embark on a quest filled with pain seemed more pressing than a silly name. Not that she had completely forgotten -- there could easily be a chance the guy was mocking her, which was cruel in its own way. Actually, just confirming her suspicions so bluntly like that was cruel all around. Couldn't the guy have broken things down nicely? Or slowly? And was he really an expert on blood giving? What did Natalie really know about him. He could be pulling her leg or something.

That thought comforted her a tiny bit. Part of her knew he wasn't kidding around, but just in case... It was always better to be safe than sorry, wasn't it? "I take it you've given blood before, then? How many times?" It would be a good idea for Natalie to learn more about giving blood, and whether or not she ought to trust the fellow beside her. Just because it hurt him, did that really mean it would hurt her? Or had he really given blood before? He could just be one of those typical male jerks trying to scare a girl... Natalie would be livid if that was the case. Partially relieved, of course, but livid that she had bought into his words. So, really, it was a good idea for her to be absolutely sure of the facts -- and keep her composure until she was sure. After all, as an actress, didn't she need to be prepared to play any part at any minute? She couldn't flip out just because one person was telling her giving blood hurt.

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[ADAM KUROTSUKI]

There was a part of Adam that wondered if this girl was naïve or just plain stupid to believe what some random stranger told her. He would rather be trying to figure out exactly why he was still in this blasted hospital, even though he didn’t want to be. However, now that he thought about it, the more fun that he could have with this girl the better. Still...for some reason he couldn’t shake the fact that he had probably seen her somewhere before. But, he quickly shook the thought out of his head. Mainly because he knew that he would remember if he actually had met her before. Of course, there was the rare chance that he was wrong and that he had seen her somewhere before. It really didn’t matter. But, still the more fun he could have while teasing this girl the better. It was his parents’ faults for bothering him when he had more important things to do. He would blame his brother, but there was still something in the back of his mind that told him that it wasn’t his brother’s fault that he was sick. However, he also knew that most people had a slight fear of needles, and wondered if that was the case with this girl.

“Would you like me to lie and say not really? Or, simply tell you the truth?” As he gave his response to the girl’s question, Adam looked around to see if he could spot any sign of either his parents or the doctor that was attending his brother. When he didn’t spot either of them, he let out a frustrated sigh. Sure, he could spend all day messing with this girl; but he really didn’t feel like spending the rest of his day around sick people and people too stupid to just ask a nurse what they wanted to find out. Really, all this person would have to do was get up, and ask one of the nurse’s here the same questions that she had asked him. It really wasn’t his job to respond to questions of someone too stupid to ask someone more knowledgeable about what they wanted to find out about. At her question about if there was something that could make it hurt less, Adam gave a slight shrug even as he was thinking How the fuck should I know? Go ask someone who actually knows. Seriously what was wrong with this girl. “Sorry, Princess, but my knowledge only comes from giving blood. Not, from whether medicine exists that would help with your dilemma. So, if there is anything that can help with the pain I truly don’t know. And, that’s just because I have had no problem when it comes to the whole giving blood thing. Maybe because you’re a girl...” He stopped halfway through his sentence not wanting to insult the girl any further than he probably did already.

After all, it wasn’t his fault that she seemed like a complete idiot when it came to this. One would think that if a person had volunteered to give blood then they would check to see if there would be any side affects to it. But, then again she didn’t seem like the intelligent type. But, still he had to ask himself why he didn’t consider it beyond cruel that he was mocking the girl by making her believe that giving blood hurt. Only because he knew that up until recently he wasn’t that cruel of person. Even so, he found the idea of her squirming in her seat to be more delightful than waiting to find out exactly why he was summoned here. Was he wrong to take such delight in such a thing? Maybe so. But, he just didn’t seem to care all that much. He then shook his head at her question at how many times he had given blood. Once again he found himself growing tired with her questions, simply for the same reasons that he had thought of but hadn’t brought up to her just yet.

“To answer your question. Twice. However, you are the one who seems to think that I had a problem with doing so. For you see, unlike most people I had a reason for accomplishing such a task. Because, unlike most of the people here their relatives are probably all healthy and have never had a problem in their entire life.” He stops speaking and gestures to most of the people that were in the hospital. “However, seeing as though I do not know you, I do not see any reason to tell you my reasons. So, Princess there’s something that tells me that I should know that pretty face of yours. But, cannot recall whether or not that is the case. I’m Adam Kurotsuki, by the way. And, you are?”

[NATALIE GINGA]

Natalie thought about it for a moment, and then replied, “Well, honestly, I’d rather you lie to me. A believable lie, of course, and not a sarcastic one; it would make me feel better, at least for a short time.” Eventually she would discover the lie was a lie, but at least then she would have had something to be angry about, and then she wouldn’t have noticed the pain. Because, in all honesty, Natalie knew that pain would be involved. Anything that involved needles had to be painful – she couldn’t think of a single thing, aside from fake needles used on a set, that didn’t cause pain with needles involved. And the fact that she didn’t normally go around getting shots, or having blood drawn, made it harder to try and justify doing this good deed right now.

She was definitely picking out the next charitable thing she did. Petting animals in an animal shelter, holding a hammer while helping build a new home – those would have been first on her list instead of this. What had Harvey been thinking? Or had he been thinking at all? Sometimes it really did suck to have her uncle as her agent. She couldn’t just fire him – her mother would have her head on a stick, and Natalie couldn’t stand it when her mother was upset. The woman was downright scary when in such a mood.

“But I suppose the wise thing would be to say no, I don’t want you to lie to me. Nice gentlemen lie, though. In a good way – like softening the blow. You could at least assure me it won’t hurt as much as I’m imagining it might hurt. That might help a little now.” Keeping up a friendly banter was certainly smoothing Natalie’s mood a little. She didn’t feel as stressed, although the stress was still there. She doubted it was going to go away anytime soon. Hospitals could make even the sanest person go mad.

Her mood changed slightly as the guy seemed to indicate that she couldn’t handle the pain because she was a girl. Natalie shot him a narrowed look, debating just how much offense to take to that. Normally she didn’t mind when men coddled her a little, but this wasn’t coddling… this was someone taking a swipe at her weakness to needles and blood giving because she was a girl. It wasn’t a good feeling to have someone hint such a thing at her. Natalie knew she would never win any awards in being brave and fearless when it came to things like this, but she didn’t like being called weak just because she was the opposite sex as someone.

“An aversion to needles doesn’t make me any weaker than you,” she stated coldly. “I simply don’t give blood very often. It’s my first time.” Although he was fairly good looking, Natalie was thinking less of him because of that comment. She wasn’t sure how he had meant it, but it was very easy to take such words the wrong way. Apparently not all men could be naturally born gentlemen.

Natalie didn’t like the way she was being addressed. The guy seemed to be taking a perverse pleasure in her discomfort sitting in the waiting room. What was his problem? She never felt strange around a guy before, but this one simply made her feel uncomfortable. Angry might be another feeling to add in, but Natalie had a hard time deciding why she ought to be angered by him… veiled insults, perhaps? The fact that he seemed to think blood giving was sacred, and that his reasons for doing so were top secret? Natalie had heard enough about other people giving blood to know that normally people gushed about it being such a good thing, and it making them feel better – but this guy didn’t seem willing to share such things.

So when he asked her name after introducing himself, Natalie couldn’t help but say in return, “Natalie.” She purposefully didn’t include her last name, deciding that she didn’t want this guy to recognize who she was based on that. For once in her life, Natalie didn’t really want the guy to know who she was period. There was something about him that just rubbed her the wrong way… “And I didn’t realize that blood giving was a secretive venture. Is there something wrong with your blood that you don’t feel the need to share why you’re giving it?”

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[ADAM KUROTSUKI]

At her answer, Adam couldn’t help but shake his head, at the fact that this person would rather be lied to than told the truth. “It’s not my job to sugarcoat things for you, princess. If you wanted somebody to do that, then you should’ve brought your mommy or daddy along with you. I’m sure they would’ve been willing to hold your hand and tell you all the lies you want.” Despite the fact that he had been lying to her since he had sat down next to her, Adam didn’t have a moment of regret in making her believe that giving blood would hurt like hell. If he remembered correctly, it only made you slightly dizzy afterwards. But, it was really her fault for not checking the facts, and having to ask a complete stranger about the whole thing. However, the more he talked to her, the more he decided that she wasn’t his type anyway. He needed someone to make Alexia extremely jealous and this girl probably wouldn’t be able to do the job.

Why would he want to date someone too stupid to just walk up to a nurse, instead of bugging some random person about something that they probably would know nothing about? And, what exactly was taking his parents and that doctor so long? Any longer, and there was a huge chance that he would get up and leave without finding out exactly why they called him. Didn’t they realize that he was probably a busy person? It was times like these when he started to regret wanting to know why his brother was in the hospital. But, still. Even though he didn’t want to be here, he might’ve still showed up. However, that did not mean that he wanted to deal with people who probably never even looked up details about giving blood before even agreeing to the task. What kind of person was this girl anyway?

“Well, it’s nice to know that you finally figured out that I’m not a nice guy. But, not a gentleman...that hurts. I’ve been called a lot of things over the years but being told I’m not a gentleman.” After speaking those words he but his hand over his heart pretending that he had been hurt by the fact that she didn’t think that he was a gentleman. When truth of the matter was, at the moment he wasn’t sure that he was one anymore. Weeks ago, he probably would’ve lied to this person, and told her anything that she wanted to hear. But now, he just wanted to play with her and see just how long it would take before she got angry with him. “Fine it’ll hurt worse than you are probably imagining that it will. Oh wait, what wasn’t what you wanted me to say was it?” He could just imagine his mother scolding him and saying that it wasn’t nice for him to be teasing this poor girl. However, when he got tired of this little charade, Adam was certain that he would probably tell her the truth. Unless, he decided to allow her to continue to think that giving blood would cause her lots of pain. This may not be very nice, or something I would normally do. But, it’s fun.

She was lucky though. If he was really mean, then he would tell her that she would end up having to stay at the Hospital for a couple of days after giving blood. But, at her narrowed looked, Adam stopped himself. “Poor baby, did I hurt your feelings by suggesting that you’re weaker than I am. It is hardly my fault that somebody, can’t accept the fact that most people are stronger than others. And, I’ve known people who have given for the first time with more knowledge than you. And, even with an aversion to needles were able to do it without batting an eye. I really don’t know what to think of you.” Yes, he had meant his words in a mean teasing way, and that fact that she hadn’t picked up on the fact that she was starting to annoy him with her questions was starting to annoy him even more. Some people just couldn’t figure out when to stop bothering others. And, some people don’t understand that most people don’t like to be wasting their time in a Hospital.

When he heard her first name, the small nagging part of him that said he should recognize it returned, but he brushed it aside. He certainly hadn’t dated anyone named Natalie before, which was a good thing. It also meant that he would have the name of the person that he hoped to avoid in the near future. “Well Nat-Nat.” The way he said that however, it sounded more like he was saying gnat, he then narrowed his eyes in her direction. “I believe I have already stated that my reasons for giving blood is none of your business. And, for your information there is nothing wrong with my blood, I just don’t like people asking questions that are none of their concern. Or, people who are too stupid to find out information beforehand before actually deciding to do something like giving blood. Because that means said person, will just keep bugging me until I either get up and leave, or decide to ignore her completely.” He knew that was out of line, but maybe she would get the point and stop with the questions. If not then he would just ignore them.

[NATALIE GINGA]

Natalie could feel herself narrowing her eyes at the tone of voice the guy was now using on her. She hadn't expected this lack of civility. What had started as a simple conversation (of sorts), and a simple question, had now turned into something else entirely. The way he was speaking reminded Natalie of herself when she was dealing with someone she really didn't like. But what wasn't there to like about her? Natalie couldn't think of anything, so she could only assume the guy was this way with everyone. She couldn't imagine that he had any friends being like that, but perhaps his friends were used to him being a complete and total jerk.

Her eyes narrowed further as he mocked her. Yes, he was definitely not a nice guy. His looks were completely wasted on his personality. Natalie almost wished Felix was here; he would be sure to stand up for her rather than let her be talked to in this manner. But at the same time, perhaps it was a good thing that Felix wasn't here. Natalie wasn't sure if she would be able to keep her tongue in check, and if she couldn't, she didn't want Felix to think badly of her just because she didn't like a few bad comments about herself. She was barely able to keep from cursing whenever she read a critic's less than nice comments about something she did as an actress. Natalie was a bit old fashioned in wanting to seem sweet and kind in front of the guy she liked.

"I'm starting to see that you don't possess much of a decent bone in your body. Perhaps you should mention that to he nurses when you give blood -- they might be able to run a cat-scan on you or something to double check how that brain of yours is working. Obviously something's off in it for you to be a complete jerk. I was only making simple conversation. If I was bothering you, you could have said you preferred silence. That would have been the polite thing to do." Of course, Natalie didn't think the guy knew how to be polite. Really, this type of behavior was simply wrong for a place like the hospital. Yes, it was a dreary sort of place, but that was no reason for the guy to be so mean to others. His bad experience or feelings toward the place didn't give him the right to bring others down as well.

She was trying to come up with something more to say -- something other than a slap across the face (which she was sorely tempted to do) -- but nothing came to mind. It was as though his comments had deprived her of words, perhaps because she honestly hadn't expected him to be such a jerk. A nicer person would probably try to inquire about his state of mind, and if something was wrong -- but not Natalie. She was only nice when she had to be, and right now she wasn't planning on being nice. Lucky for her, her mother's words of wisdom had come to mind, and Natalie wasn't doing anything that might draw attention to herself. She had always been told to keep her tongue still if she couldn't say something nice, and while Natalie didn't often pay heed to that, it seemed her mind was doing so today. Or, perhaps it was the amount of anger she felt welling up inside her at the comments being shot her way. Who in their right mind could sit around and listen to such things?

It seemed fated had decided to take pity on her, because Natalie glanced away from the vile man beside her as her name was called. It seemed that it was finally time for her to go and give some blood. She glanced at the nurse, and then back at the man, still wishing she could come up with something snappy to say. She began to gather her things, rising slowly, her mind still a-whirl. "I don't know what your problem is with the hospital, but humoring a person shouldn't be that hard -- be sure to ask the doctors for something to get common decency back. You certainly need it." And then she turned on her heel to follow the nurse out of the waiting room, determined to tell Harvey that never again would she be giving blood -- not if she had to deal with people like that.

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