Chained in the Lab

In the Lab

Zauriel

Zauriel woke up the morning after Henry's visit to the crackle of his intercom. He yawned, stretched his arms, and shambled across the room to hit the little green button.

"You awake, Z?" came the muffled voice of a young woman.

"Ellie! Morning, yeah, just woke up. Lovely to hear your voice," Zauriel enthused.

"Oh, no, I woke you up, didn't I?"

"No, no, I was just, ah, reading. In bed. But I'm done with my chapter, and my sleeping, so, hey, am I needed in the lab?"

"Well, it's time for us to check your vitals this week. But, um, if you'd rather keep reading, I can do it later today."

"Nah, nah, I'd appreciate the chance to stretch my legs. I'll be right down. The usual place?"

"Yes. I'll be waiting."

Zauriel went to the door and tapped the exit code into the electronic keypad above the latch. He wondered what the lock was for since he knew the combination. It wasn't like he was going to go anywhere, anyway. His contractor was here, so here he stayed.

Eh, maybe it was a human thing.

At first, he'd had escorts everywhere he went, but that quickly became too tedious for anyone to bother with. The only places he ever went to were Dr. Taylor's lab, the medical lab, and the gymnasium. So Dr. Taylor had, albeit reluctantly, agreed that he could go to those places without a guard and given him the combination to the door lock. It was implied that the scientist could just as easily change the lock code and rescind the whole arrangement if Zauriel decided to wander where he wasn't permitted.

Zar wasn't inclined to test his boundaries right yet. It was only a year, and then he'd be free to go wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted. For the moment, he went to the smaller infirmary to find Ellie waiting with the usual tray of medical equipment. He hugged her from behind just to hear her startled, delighted squeak and bounced up onto the examination table.

"So have you met the new guard, Z?" Ellie asked while she prepared a syringe to take a sample of Zauriel's blood.

Zauriel smiled. Ellie was by far the friendliest of Dr. Taylor's lab assistants. She was also the most skilled with a syringe; he barely felt the blood draws when it was her turn to do them.

"I have. Henry, he's called," Zauriel added. "Lovely man."

Zauriel smiled, thinking of the new guard. Just from that brief meeting, Zar knew Henry was strong, kind, and protective. Just how Zar liked them. Plus, he was from Underhill so he'd have someone to talk to that understood what the world beyond the human realm was like. That alone made it worth pursuing a friendship with the man.

"Did you and he, you know," Ellie shrugged and blushed. She was still easily embarrassed about Zauriel's nutrition requirements.

"I fed, yes," Zauriel said with a smirk. He liked to tease the shy ones. Just a little bit. "He's quite responsive."

"That's, uh, that's... nice?" Ellie shook her head. "Are you trying to distract me?"

Maybe a little. He didn't mind most of the experiments and tests. Blood draws and weighing and measuring every bit of him they could think of were fine. But he never could get used to the blood pressure cuff. It wasn't painful, it didn't take too long, it wasn't at all invasive and yet of all the tests he hated it the most. Really, it was the only one he hated and he could not explain why.

He shrugged. "Guilty?"

Ellie looked at the cuff. "Oh, yeah. Wait here, I have an idea."

He tilted his head and watched as she rummaged through the medical equipment closet. Ellie was a cute little thing; not really his type but pleasing to watch nonetheless. And she was eternally friendly and cheerful and that was nice among her more cold, serious peers. Her lab coat tended to hang past her knees and the sleeves fell over her hands, adding to the impression of youthful innocence. He knew from glancing through employee records in a fit of boredom that Ellie was in fact nearing thirty years of age with an impressive resume behind her. That hadn't done anything to quell his protective urges, though. Oh, well. Her presence did soothe his longing for his younger brothers and sisters, so that was good. Coming to the human Realm was a dream, and he was enjoying his contract year despite the minor disappointments, but there were moments of homesickness. How could there not be?

Ellie returned with a smaller device. Zar studied it. There was a plastic box with the same type of cuff as the normal one, but much smaller.

"It's a wrist cuff. We're mainly checking your blood pressure for variance, so it's okay to use this one instead. It might not be quite as accurate, but it's consistent. I've made a note of the change, and Dr. Taylor approved it, assuming you prefer this. I thought since you don't mind wearing manacles all the time, maybe it's the pressure on your bicep that's causing discomfort? Your blood pressure spikes under stress just like a human's, so, we're not getting good data anyways and I guess we could just not do that test, but it's the best one to make sure we're not causing you undue permanent stress on your heart and, um..."

Zar laughed and rested a hand on her shoulder. "It's fine. It's not like the blood pressure cuff hurts, or anything. I just don't like it. But thank you, for finding an alternative. Let's try it out and see how it works, hey?"

Ellie nodded and wrapped the smaller device around his wrist. "You have to keep still, and rest your arm at heart height."

"No problem." Zauriel adjusted his posture until she was satisfied, and watched as she hit the little button. The device hissed and tightened, but somehow not in as irritating a way as the other. Before too long it released.

"Well, these numbers are a lot better, by human standards. We don't have a ton of data on procubi, but it's a lot closer to what we had at the start, so I think that's good. Maybe?" Ellie looked over her clipboard at him.

"It's much better, yes. Thank you, Ellie, for suggesting it."

"I'm just glad it worked out. We're not trying to hurt you or make you uncomfortable. We just want to learn about you."

"I know." He leaned forward and hugged her gently. "I'm fine, Ellie. You are all doing your best, and I appreciate it. I know how important Dr. Taylor's research is, and I'm happy to be part of it. Really. I am."

"I'm glad. Sometimes I worry that you feel like a lab rat."

"Nah. I'm definitely a cute little mouse."

Ellie laughed and turned to the tray. "Oh. Dr. Taylor said some of your mineral levels were off. That's why we've upped the blood tests, to monitor. We're going to adjust your vitamins. I have a theory that it's a difference in water content from your realm since you don't take supplements there, do you?"

"We don't, actually. I think the water theory is a good one. Maybe I can think of a way to summon a sample for you to examine."

"That'd be great! I'll write up a project report for Dr. Taylor. And you can cosign on it!"

They spent the rest of the session chatting about potential projects until Dr. Taylor leaned into the infirmary.

"Ah, Zauriel, if you're done here, could I see you in my office? Unless you and Ms. Price are busy? It can wait."

"No, Dr. Taylor, we're done. Just discussing possible mineral variations in water supply between realms," Ellie said.

"Fascinating. I'd love to hear both of your thoughts on it sometime." Dr. Taylor nodded to them both and left as abruptly as he'd arrived.

"I'll go start that project report," Ellie said.

"Sure. I'll see you later. Drop by anytime if you have questions." Zar patted Ellie's shoulder and wandered out to find his contractor.

It was odd. Dr. Taylor rarely wanted to speak to him in private.