Seductive Nightmare

Trip to the Darkness

Mandi's hands were clasped tightly around her teacup, and she tried to force the shaky feeling out of them. The matcha tea had definitely been a mistake on her part, but she wanted to be a gracious hostess. She was still in disbelief over the fact that she had called a random Japanese doctor, and that he was here in her machiya, interviewing her so to speak. "After dark as well," she thought.

Yes, that had been bizarre, hadn't it? Apparently Dr. Tamio was so photosensitive that he could only come out and speak to her when the sun had disappeared beneath the horizon. She'd heard of people with that sort of condition but only in movies. "I feel sorry for him. Having a disease like that must be horrible. I can't imagine! " There were many odd variables to this whole situation right now, but she dismissed most of them due to the grief and a sense of urgency for aid of some kind. "I'm stranded, and I have nowhere else to go or any other options! " At least, that is what she told herself to calm her rattling hands. She prayed he hadn't noticed how white her knuckles were as she gripped her teacup for dear life.

Even though his appearance was certainly not like any doctor she had ever met or seen, she could not deny that he was indeed handsome. He was wearing some sort of long split black trench coat that buttoned down to his mid thigh, grey pinstripe pants, and a long sleeved high collared white dress shirt with the cuffs just barely visible at his wrists. "Add sunglasses and he could be channeling Neo from the Matrix. Wannabe punk emo doctor."  He looked rather androgynous, and he beat her own pale complexion in spades. His voice, too, was odd. It was almost as if he was deliberately speaking in a higher voice than his normal range. His delicate and soothing way of speaking made her feel drowsy but not in a bad way as if one were listening to a history teacher's pedantic spiel. His eyes were something else entirely, smudged with black eyeliner. She couldn't look into his queer colored turquoise eyes for long without feeling unsettled. "Is it his age or his eyes that are spooking you the most, Mandi?" He looked incredibly young to be a doctor with  any sort of experience under his belt, too.

Enmu knew immediately how timid she was like a bird yearning to take flight after spotting a snake even a safe distance away. "She won't though; she's far too helpless and more scared of her situation than she is of me," he thought as he sipped the matcha tea she hastily had made. He offered her a warm smile to settle her nerves. He was fully outfitted in his glamor to hide his oni markings, but this girl had a rather natural intuition telling her that something wasn't quite right about him. Over the years, he acquired the skill to read the thoughts that a human was currently thinking, and her inner monologue to placate herself was highly amusing. He knew what she would say before she typically spoke it, but he nodded his head in surprise and false sincerity at her plight which even he as an oni had to admit was rather grim. Miss Mandi was definitely in need of help. Such a pity for her that her knight in shining armor was a soulless monster. He smiled again at that thought, and she looked up at him interpreting it as warmth.

"So," she began, "how long have you been a doctor, Tamio-sama? I hope that is the polite ending; I'm still trying to learn." She cast her shy blue gaze down towards her tea again.

"Long enough to know what I am doing, Miss White. And please, don't worry about honorifics. How about we make a deal? I'll call you Mandi if you call me just Enmu. I understand completely that our customs are strange to you at best, and I want you to feel more comfortable around me." She looked back up at him, her cheeks alight with a pink blush.

"Okay, just Enmu," she offered him a timid smile after her meager joke and he closed his eyes, tilted his head and chuckled at her effort. "He must think I'm so pathetic, and he's right."

"I like your sense of humor, Mandi!" he consoled. "Please, tell me a little about yourself and then we will talk about the specifics about my sleep study. You may ask me anything at any time." While he certainly would call his actions 'playing with his food' he was genuinely interested in her sleep habits and symptoms. He always had a fondness for the tortured human mind.