Hot and Cold

Years Gone By ; An Unexpected Reunion?

"Hey!"

"Mmf.."

"Hey, I'm hungry! Get up!" An annoyed ball of white fur was pawing at a figure tucked cozily under her covers.

"Kuma.. ? .. Alright, in a second.. -- ! Ow! Okay, okay! I'm up.." The bear had nipped at her ear and was now pacing frantically across the bed. The covers slid off of the figure to reveal a young woman, possibly in her early twenties. Her dark, golden hair was put back onto a loose braid and her dark, indigo eyes were still filled with weariness. Dark circles slightly showed under her eyes - she had been up all night and hours into the morning working on some of her clients' paperwork. With a sleepy yawn, she crawled out of her bed and stretched until she felt her joints pop back into place. Kuma hopped off of the bed and scrambled into the kitchen, the sleepy young woman in tow.

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Madeline started pulling out the ingredients for pancakes, since that was Kuma's favorite -- and hers, of course. Minutes later, she had a small pile of them stacked onto a plate and stooped down to put then on the floor, then proceeded to drizzle maple syrup over them. The little white bear came bounding over and gave her hand an affectionate nuzzle before digging into his breakfast. She chuckled and gave his head a pat before straightening back up and starting to fix her own plate.

"Ah.. ! I've got to be into work soon.." Madeline muttered under her breath and hurried to finish her breakfast. When she was done, she got up and places her dishes in the sink and jogged back to her room to her dressed. Madeline pulled a pair of dark jeans on and then a plain white shirt, followed by a nice, black button up jacket. She sat down on the edge of her bed to pull her socks and red Converse on, then got up and walked to the bathroom and proceeded to brush her hair and teeth. When she was finished, Madeline grabbed her little purse made of hemp and hurried to the door, giving Kumajiro a few scratches behind his ear before heading out to her car. She opened the door ad climbed in, starting it up and backing out of her driveway, then drove off to work.

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Madeline parked her car and hurried out to the small building since she was running a few minutes behind. She opened the door and headed to a room down the hall, sighing in relief when she saw that nobody was there yet. The young woman took a seat in her chair and grabbed the small stack of paper work on the little table beside her and shuffled through it. Nothing very different. She started as her phone started ringing, then she reached over to pick it up and answer it.

"Hello? .. Oui, this is her.. Oh, a new patient? .. Right away? I see.. Alright, bring him in whenever you're ready. Thank you for calling." Madeline hung up the phone with a slightly uneasy look. The caller said the he was from an asylum not very far from here, and that he had a patient that could definitely use the therapy. He had heard about her patients always coming out with significant results and had been trying to send this patient in particular to different psychiatrists, but all had failed to help. This made her nervous of course since she hadn't really dealt with patients too severe, but she would try her best to help the new patient.. whoever he was.

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Nearly an hour later, a knock was heard on the door. Madeline straightened up and grabbed her clipboard, putting on her normal, empathetic smile.

"Come in." She said, taking a quiet, deep breath. She always got nervous around new patients. The door opened to reveal two tall males -- one in a straight jacket and one guiding him along.

"Thank you for taking him on such short notice, Miss Williams." The man that was holding the back of the other's straight jacket released him. "Go and sit, Braginsky." He commanded in a sharp tone. Madeline blinked at the sound of that name. The taller male slunk across the room and took a seat on the small couch facing opposite of her. He seemed to be looking her over, narrowed and dark violet eyes widening a bit in realization.

"If you have any trouble with him, any at all, just give me a call. I'll be in the area for lunch." The man nodded to her and left the room, closing the door on his way out. Words she wanted to say to the doctor were caught in her throat and died as he left. There was now a period of silence and tension so thick, Madeline could swear she could touch it.

"So.. мой подсолнечника.. by some chance, we meet again." Ivan spoke first after a minute or so. He leaned back, but kept his cold gaze trained on her like a cat about to pounce on a mouse. Madeline let out a quiet, nervous laugh and smoothed out the papers on her clipboard. "Oui.. so we do.." She said quietly. Ivan shifted uncomfortably in his straightjacket with a heavy sigh.

"I would be ever so thankful to you if you would remove my bonds, da.. ?" He looked over to her with a placid expression.

"Well.. tell me, what did you do to get into that asylum?" Madeline asked, wishing she had asked the doctor for paperwork on him. Ivan frowned, running his tongue along his teeth for a moment before answering.

"I am a psychopath with occasional homocidial tendencies. I am also told that I have an alcohol problem." He replied, Russian accent thicker than ever. Madeline blinked in surprise once again. What had happened when she had moved away.. ?

"U-um.. I think I'll keep the restraints on.." She said quietly, turning to her clipboard to avoid Ivan's burning stare.

"Hmph. You know I wouldn't hurt you." He grumbled.

Madeline suddenly turned defensive. "No, I do not know that you wouldn't hurt me, if you recall your most recent history with me." Her voice had risen at the end. Ivan noticed this and looked at the floor in what might have been shame or remorse. She felt guilty now for bringing this up and not keeping her temper -- it was her job, after all.

"I'm sorry.. er.. so, what events may have led up to your psychopathic behavior and drinking problems?" Madeline shifted back into her empathetic facade like she would with any other patient.

Ivan turned his attention back up to her, dark violet eyes locked onto her slightly fearful indigo ones. She felt the slightest of shudders when he did so. It felt like looking straight into the abyss of hell itself. A grin pulled at the ashen haired male, canines poking out over his bottom lip enough to make him look like the cat stalking the mouse once again. It was the smile of a madman.

"You."

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Author's note;

Sooo, I suck and did a four-ish year timeskip. Everything during that time will be summarized in the next chapter! ;w;

As always, thank you for reading, and I love you guys! <3

~Canako