Boo

Ch. 21

Stood in front of Emile was a boy that he had never seen before. He was a therapist, so usually that wasn't too strange.

It was strange, though, when Ms. Ågren was the one who had brought him in.

"His name is Remus." She told him, as the boy messed around the books on Emile's shelves. "He's new."

"He's...?" Emile's brow furrowed when she nodded. "A little young, isn't he?"

"It's good to start out young, Picani." She said, glancing at him. "It doesn't weigh down on your conscience as much."

"I suppose that's true." Emile murmured, frowning.

"Look at him," She nodded in his direction, "not a care in the world. He has no idea what's coming."

"You haven't told him?" Emile asked.

"He found a briefcase full of money lying in an alley way thanks to Jakobsen's carelessness. Incidentally, I didn't feel like I needed to. He's a smart kid. He probably figured it out."

"Ow!"

They both glanced at Remus, who hissed whilst he held his hand. He turned, frowning at them. "Your little plant hurt."

Emile glanced at the plant in question. "...that's a cactus."

"Cactuses have flowers?" Remus tilted his head.

"Cacti, dear." Ms. Ågren corrected.

Remus paused, before snorting. "Cockti." He muttered under his breath, turning back to touch the cactus again.

Emile rose a brow, looking at Ms. Ågren, who cleared her throat awkwardly.

"He's your responsibility now, Dr. Picani. I expect you to take him under your wing." She blew a piece of hair out of her eyes.

"Do I have a choice?" Emile asked sheepishly.

"Sure." She shrugged. "Either you watch over the boy, or I take my gun and put a bullet through your skull. The choice is yours."

"...C-Can't you have someone else do it?" Emile stammered desperately. "I'm a very busy man--"

"And I'm a very busy woman, Picani. A busy woman whose patience is wearing thin." She crossed her arm, fixing her chilly glare on him. "I wasn't joking. You either get the boy, or you get the bullet."

Emile gulped, going pale.

He turned to Remus, plastering a smile on his face. "T-Tell me about yourself, son!"

Remus looked away from the cactus he was about to shove in his mouth, putting it back on the shelf. "Who are you, again?" He asked, blinking at him.

Emile stared dumbly for a moment, before giving Remus a genuine smile. "I'm Dr. Emile Picani."

"Oooh, a doctor? Listen, doc, I've had this problem recently." Remus turned to face him fully. "These creepy old men keep grabbing onto my thick coc--"

"You're a minor." Ms. Ågren said simply.

Remus' mouth snapped shut.

---

Remus burst into Emile's office.

"Picani! Picani!" He exclaimed, eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. "You will not believe what just happened!"

Emile glanced at his patient, who stared in terror.

He cleared his throat. "We were basically done here anyways." He smiled at his patient, and they quickly left the room. "Remus, what have we said about knocking?" He sighed, straightening out his papers.

"It was the coolest thing!" Remus chirped, collapsing onto Emile's fainting couch. "He was--And then she--Oh my god!"

Emile chuckled, tilting his head. "What's got you so excited?"

"I was out with Ms. Ågren and Jasper, right?" He began excitedly.

Emile felt his smile dim a bit, but he nodded anyways. "Right."

"And I was messing with Jasper, as I usually do!" Remus gestured animatedly with his hands. "When all of a sudden we hear these pounding footsteps, right?! And all of a sudden, this guy with a gun comes into her office!"

Emile felt a frown plant itself on his face, brow furrowing. "A gun?"

"Yeah!" Remus continued, blissfully oblivious to Emile's sudden distress. "And he started saying shit like 'I'm gonna take you down Anne!' And Ms. Ågren just stared at him, but Jasper started saying shit about how she was invincible!"

Emile nodded, unable to bring his spirits up. "Then what happened?"

"Well then Jasper pushed me towards the guy and said that he should take me instead!" Remus said, and Emile felt himself grow pale. "And then Ms. Ågren gave him the most terrifying look and pulled out her own gun!"

He giggled, covering his face with his hands. "Oh my god, it was so cool!" He squealed. "And then, before the guy could say anything, she shot him in both of the legs!" Remus said.

"Oh, wow. That's...nice." Emile murmured, standing up from his
desk, file in hand.

"And Jasper went so pale!" Remus grinned. "Ms. Ågren shot him this look that totally--What's wrong?" Remus stopped, a confused frown on his face.

Emile shook his head, placing the file on his shelf. "I'm fine, just a bit...worried, I suppose."

"Worried?" Remus asked, sitting up. "About what?"

"About you, obviously." Emile huffed. "To have guns pointed at you at such a young age..."

"Emile, I'm fine." Remus scoffed. "I didn't get hurt, did I?"

"No, but that doesn't guarantee that you'll always make it out fine." Emile ground out, glancing back to Remus.

"I'll be fine, Emile. You don't need to worry about me." Remus rolled his eyes. "If I die, then the world moves on without me. If I live, I can continue supporting my friends and my family."

"Don't talk like that." Emile grumbled, leaning against his desk and grabbing his mug. "You're too young to die."

Remus grunted, but didn't bother giving him a verbal reply.

Emile sighed. "What is that woman thinking...?" He murmured under his breath.

---

"Emile," Remus began lowly, pushing the door to the office open, "I'm making my choice tonight."

Emile smiled sadly. "You've finally made up your mind?"

Remus didn't reply, just placed an envelope on Emile's desk and left.

Emile opened the envelope, finding loads of money inside.

At the time, Emile was confused.

And to think, he called himself a therapist.

A/N:

THIS IS LATE SORRYYYY