Remus had no idea what his mood was supposed to be any more or how he was supposed to approach life in general. Was he supposed to seize the day? Because that required far more energy than he had. Was he wasting it with all of this hopeless chasing work stuff? He wanted a job, he wanted a normal life but maybe he just didn't get that any more. His apartment rent was four weeks late, he was on the verge of being evicted and his life was kind of stagnant so honestly, the energy of 'seize the day, for tomorrow you will die' was a lot for him.
So instead, he was slumped in a train seat, half asleep, very aware that people were avoiding sitting by him. He was pale and looked like shit so clearly no one wanted to disturb him. He had nodded off at some point and now he had no idea where he was on the train or what to even do about it.
Or if he even cared.
Where did the train even end? Maybe he could just to go to the end of the line and then go back? Seemed warmer and nicer than his place and who cared if they fined him for no ticket? He had fuck all money for them to get from him.
Yawning, the train came to a stop and he tilted his head out, reading the sign and then lowered his head again. Yep. Definitely missed his stop. Ah well.
Sirius was out of breath when he boarded the train, having had to run to catch it. He love that James and Lily were so happy with each other. He absolutely hated that they'd chosen to move out to this godforsaken place. James had tried to talk Sirius into moving with them, had been ready to buy him a place, but over his dead body was he leaving London for this little corner of nowhere much.
Lovely, sure. Not his scene. Not anyone's scene who wasn't an old grandma, as there was no scene to be found.
Still, he was willing to visit when he could and then the separation was difficult. So he had almost, but not quite, missed his train. He caught his breath slowly, pushing the hair back from his face and looking around. Pretty empty train. He took a seat next to a bloke who looked nice enough, if tired, and gave him a nod. "All right, mate?"
That said he got the tattered copy of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray out of the inside pocket of his leather jacket and leaned back so he could continue reading.
Sirius's hair was long, loosely tied together right now. He was wearing jeans and a black leather jacket over a white shirt with various song lyrics written on it. He wore an earring in his left ear, he had rings on his hands. He wasn't trying hide anything, although it might not be obvious to anyone not in the know.
"Alright, mate." Remus muttered before he really had a look at the guy. He didn't look up for a few, just trying to slowly wake himself up and debate how far on the train he wanted to go. Heard the announcement that it ended at London Euston and he wondered if he stood a chance getting anywhere in London while broke.
Yawning, he lifted his head and finally looked at the guy across from him. Dear God, he was handsome. Tall, dark and handsome. No wonder people sitting nearby stared at him, he stared too. For a second, then he decided to just watch him in the window reflection.
The book, the lyrics on his shirt, the earring. He was giving off some very clear signals and Remus pitied all the girls on the train lusting after him.
Ah, the days when he might have taken the chance and gotten himself rejected - they were long gone. Instead, he was content to admire Sirius in the window as he patted himself down and pulled out a chocolate bar, opening the wrapper as quietly as he could and taking a bite.
It took Sirius a while to notice the bloke next to him watching him, but then he caught his reflection in the window and he flashed a grin, winking at him. Unbeknownst to him, a girl on the other end was trying to figure out if he was looking at her, but he obviously wasn't.
Instead he was now unabashedly looking the bloke over. Hey, he could tell what it meant when he got checked out in a reflection. It was a handsome bloke too, underneath all that tiredness. It was a train, it was going onto ten, of course he looked tired. Still, might be worth a shot. "You doing anything after this, mate? We could go to a pub. You know The Bell?"
That weekend, Sirius was proudly walking hand in hand with Remus. He had a tie-dye rainbow bandana tied in his hair to hold it back, he was with a boyfriend - at least he was using the word in his head - wore a David Bowie shirt under his leather jacket and had jeans on that were tight in a way that had made Remus gulp. He was feeling gay in both senses of the word, and he felt pride in all senses of that word as well.
Yesterday, Remus had been so tired he had slept until noon, but he had appreciated the breakfast Sirius had bought for him at the café downstairs. Then they'd spent the rest of the day listening to records, having deep and also deeply silly conversations, passing around Sirius's guitar to play songs for each other and, finally, after a lot of persuasion from Sirius, they had made love. Safely, of course.
Today, Remus had been awake a bit earlier and that was just as well, because Sirius wanted to take him places. "This is a gay bookstore, but it's so much more. It's like a hub. Like a haven. If you wanna know what's happening, you go there. If you need help, you go there. It's where we meet to organise events and marches and all that too. The owner's Holden O'Shea. He's brilliant, he really is. You'll love him. He's like everyone's gay dad. Or gay uncle. I don't know."
"Sounds like fun, just need to -- wake myself up more and I'll look more eager. My head is cracking." He had some days like this, especially on these meds. He got dizzy, tired and headachey - it was never a fun combo. "Didn't know there was such a thing as a gay bookstore. Would be nice to read more queer stuff, most the stuff I read is the same damn thing these days. Girl and boy, whirlwind love, blah, blah, blah."
Remus yawned and sipped his drink that his lovely boyfriend had purchased him. It was a hot cocoa with extra sugar in it, just to perk him up a little. He had an unfortunate morning where he'd barfed up most of his breakfast, not that he told Sirius, but now everything seemed to have settled. Much nicer.
Holding Sirius' hand, he peered around a little, just interested. "I've never properly seen London before. It's not half as nice as they said it was. Made it sound all fancy like but it's not that different from where I'm from. Same shitty news agents and ASDAs."
"Depends where you go, I reckon. Looks different where I grew up. I like it a lot more out there. Especially in the gaybourhood." Which they were in, even if it was more subtle during the day than at night. He'd seen blokes make out all over the place at night here. And over there. And there.
He shook his head at his own observations, then pointed out the rainbow flag on one house they were approaching. "That's the place right there. Gay's the Word. I buy all my books there these days, I know you've been perusing the collection. He's got porn too."
In case that was of interest. "And the gown store right next to it sells a lot to drag queens. I got stuff from there before, for stage."
"Ah, okay. Looks cool." He tilted his head to the side and wondered if it was safe to be seen going in and out of here. He looked around, feeling as nervous as he always did when he attempted stuff like this. He just didn't want to cause any trouble, he didn't handle being beaten very well. The one time he had his ass kicked for being queer, he almost died - if he bled, it didn't stop, it kept going.
He held Sirius' hand tight, choosing to trust him. He trusted him enough to hold his hand, it seemed too late to back out now just because the place had flags. He walked up to the door and let go of Sirius, opening it and holding it for him. "Huh." There were a lot more queer books than he remembered.
"I'll pick you up. Prolly. Unless rehearsals run super long." Sirius kissed Remus practically between every word, both arms around him, not wanting to let go. They had spent just about every moment together since first meeting, after all, which explained the separation anxiety. Somewhat.
"If you are late, I'm sure we'll find it in our hearts to grant him refuge," Holden said, waiting patiently for the goodbyes to be over so he could start actually giving his new hire an induction.
"Remember to drink enough. And eat properly." This was accompanied with Sirius giving Remus a chocolate bar. Well, it had nuts in it. Essentially nutritional. "Don't miss me too much."
"I'll be fine. Promise. I'll eat, I'll drink, I'll even take rest breaks." With a smile, he hugged Sirius tightly and kissed his cheek before gently pushing him away. "Go to work, I gotta get started." He was going to miss his stable and warm presence but he could handle himself alone for a couple of hours and he wasn't exactly scared or anything. He could see him this afternoon for telly and take out.
"See you soon, have a good day and keep hydrated too. You're shit at that." Remus pointed out as he walked over to Holden and smiled apologetically.
"He's a puppy, it's to be expected." And he was outside now, blowing kisses and declaring his love before checking his watch, realising that he was late, and running off. "A dramatic puppy."
Holden shook his head in amusement, then stepped back so Remus could come closer. "Essentially it's all about inventory, some invoices, sorting delivery, all that. You'll have to do a lot of reading too, I like to actually be able to make recommendations based on experience. It's hard to know what is worth selling until we've read it ourselves."
"I can handle all of that. Just show me what to do and I'll do it. It's nice, you know, job again and all that." Remus smiled excitedly as he looked around and wondered if this was a win. If he was finally going to be his life picking up and getting better. "I've never had to read for a job before - had to do plenty for my degree though. I read so many long, boring papers and books."
And it was all for nothing in the end but hey, first person in his family with a bachelors so he couldn't complain.
"I thought drag was like... sexy dancing and stuff." Remus mused aloud as he watched Aziraphale doing magic tricks in his frock, pausing only to sip tea and occasionally interjecting with some very elaborate and weird story that he had been building since he started. This was very different. Very new. Very-- strange.
"Well, he does dancing but that isn't sexy. He's not a sexy drag queen, he's more -- he is what he is. And we love him for it." Felix informed Remus before he clapped as the rabbit came out of the hat and eagerly came closer. "Can I hold it?! Lemme! Please, ma'am."
"Of course you can." Aziraphale handed over the rabbit and Felix happily cradled it in his arms, grinning at Holden. "Do be careful though, she startles easily. Now, onwards, to the next magical kingdom. The land of..." Pause for suspense. "... Illusion!"
Some of the gays in the back cheered, clearly endeared by Aziraphale's weird show and some of the younger kids clapped. Well, it was definitely a positive affair. No one was unhappy.
No one was unhappy, apart from one tall, thin, black-glad figure in the corner who rolled his eyes so obviously that it was clear even with the sunglasses he was wearing, rubbing his face with a sigh. "Does anyone have a drink? Something strong."
"It's two pm, Crowley. Get over it, he's doing great." Holden laughed, petting the rabbit in Felix's arms and looking at Remus. "That's hi-- her boyfriend. He's not a fan of the magic show."
Which was a shame, because while Aziraphale was not the best at magic, he was certainly most entertaining.
"Oh, well, I mean, it's very fun." Remus informed Crowley with an almost childish smile before he turned back. Aziraphale was very talented, in his own unique way, he did card tricks, he made some balloon animals for the crowd and Sirius soon found himself holding a balloon dog. It was all very sweet.
And then Aziraphale did do some singing. From Mary Poppins. And hell yeah, it was a bop.
Felix gave a standing ovation by the end, still holding the rabbit. "You go, girl!"
"Thank you, thank you. You made an old woman very happy."
Remus laughed, wondering how old the guy was. He may have acted like an older woman but he didn't look that old, maybe like 40 at most? "He's pretty good, yeah, I like it."
"She's a riot, isn't she?" Sirius grinned, wrapping both arms around Remus and nuzzling him with the balloon dog, which made some of Remus's hair stand up. Fun stuff. He laughed and watched as Crowley pushed away from the wall to take Aziraphale's hand in his instead. He pushed a button on the stereo and then they were dancing to Good-Old Fashioned Lover Boy.
It was sweet, really, because no matter how embarrassed Crowley might be by some of the antics, he was always there to dance at the end. "See? Romance is not dead."
"Romance for the elderly, I see. Just be careful you don't dislocate a hip!" Sirius nodded wisely and a few blokes laughed, but it was all in good fun. This was a wholesome performance.
"The news is all shit, so you don't want to bother with any of that," Hartley declared after sitting down, having just gone out to buy a newspaper. Waste of money, that. "Unless you want to do a crossword."
Did Harry do crosswords? Probably not. Didn't seem like something he'd enjoy. Of course, these days he was hard pressed thinking of anything Harry enjoyed, other than snarky comments and making people feel uncomfortable.
Hartley set the paper aside, then leaned forward to adjust Harry's pillows for him, wanting to avoid him getting sore. He knew better than to ask how he was feeling, although sometimes he still did. A good way to get out those snarky comments. "Apparently Sirius is coming by later. Holden said. And supposedly Aziraphale raised a good chunk for my research." There was something to get into later. Pretend he wasn't close to hitting another wall with it.
"I wanna see how shit it is, don't keep the misery to yourself." Harry hauled himself up as much as he could, learning forward a little when the coughing started so he didn't choke. The bloody mucus was choking the hell out of him and his chest was on fire. Well, whatever, death wasn't pretty. "They keep saying the world is ending with all the shit happening. I fucking hope so."
With a tired smirk, he held his hand out for the paper.
"Still gonna cure AIDS? You're cute." He didn't think Hartley had much of a chance but he admired the fact that he still cared, that he still had the energy to try. "Did Aziraphale have to raise it, I mean, he could just write a check. That guy has more money than anyone I know." And he knew a lot of rich people.
"It can be cured. At the very least, it can be treated. We're not that far from finding better treatment options." Hartley handed Harry a tissue for the coughing, then bent down to get the newspaper, offering it out to him as he wished. "Bitch is still in charge, union is losing everywhere, got some wars, all kinds of fun things happening."
He leaned back to watch Harry, careful not to look as concerned as he was. Didn't do any good, crying over it. He wanted to be there for him. He also wanted to be back in the lab, do some work. He wanted to stop time and hold Harry and beg him not to leave him. He couldn't lose him. Lose his world.
"Aziraphale probably donated most of the money. I think he says he'll match donations and then he adds at least two zeroes." It was insane.
As this is a repeated attempt at contacting you, my message may be curt. As can be seen in my attached research paper and everything I've previously sent to you, I've taken strides towards an effective treatment of AIDS.
With the cocktail and sonic waves to illicit self-healing in the cells, the issue within the RNA should be able to be combatted. However, as can also be found in the papers attached, certain limitations arise from my relative inexperience, lack of time and some outdated equipment. Your research is unique worldwide in how it would tie into mine, as I'm sure will be readily apparent to you.
This matter is of personal urgency to me. My beloved is currently dying of AIDS. He is my world.
I appreciate the urgency of your situation, however I have many appointments scheduled in the next few weeks and they would be very difficult to rearrange.
I have read over the papers and while it is a promising venture, I am unsure if you have really considered application beyond one on one treatment. As it stands, this is a lot of research to save one person, not lots of people. Understandable, given your circumstances.
The other problem I am presented with is that the trial period will be long and require many double blind studies and animal trials before it would be a treatment on offer. I am not a specialist in pharmaceuticals and my field of research has little interest in your proposal.
Currently, the advise is to use AZT, which has some benefits in helping those with HIV avoid transition into AIDS and perhaps this drug will help your boyfriend too.
I'm wondering whether everyone in the medical community has a template they share to send to me. I appreciate that you at least left out the covert homophobia. Equally dismissive, less hateful.
A successful one-on-one treatment is a lot more than we currently have for anyone in the latter stages of AIDS. You are of course correct about the trial period, but we have one willing human volunteer. I am positive that you have the know-how to realise that AZT, at this stage, would kill my partner. Painfully so. He would rather put his trust in me and my methods. I do not wish to let him down.
I will do this no matter what. If you'd rather gather more pointless accolades at conferences full of other cowards instead of remembering your oath, I hope you enjoy the canapés they serve. For next years keynote speech, when I'm bereaved, I'd love to make the journey. I suggest the title 'Hippocratic or hypocritic: Doctors without spines'.
Have good conferences. I'll go watch my world bleed out.
"I went to see Starlight Express yesterday. It's -- dreadful." Stephen explained as they got the equipment ready for the big event. They were going to trial their equipment for the first time and Hartley was anxious, as expected, and Stephen had no idea how to make that better. So he made small talk.
His boyfriend was in the other room, apparently he was 'down for testing' so it looked like they might try their first trial therapy today. A lot of firsts. Exciting and somewhat dangerous.
"I like cars more than trains." Stephen continued as he finished his wiring of the gloves for Hartley.
"You've very steady hands," Hartley complimented, "I used to work with some idiots who couldn't keep their hands still." He supposed it made sense, a surgeon needed steady hands, much like an engineer. He was looking the wire work over, trying to see if there was even the slightest improvement possible.
He had already worked out the adjustments for his hearing aids. One of the risks was him losing his hearing, temporarily or not, but if he could help Harry? He didn't care.
"Some people I knew auditioned for that. Starlight Express. Felix got pretty far, apparently, but his partner made him stop. Too dangerous, apparently." Well, it sounded pretty damn dangerous.
"It's akin to skating around in the dark with a box on your head and a lot of ramps." Stephen summarised before he nodded his head at the compliment. He finished up the wiring and presented it to Hartley. "Thank you. Engineering is nothing, honestly, you should see some surgeries I've had to do. No scratching your head or sudden moves, goes on for 12 hours - it's an experience."
Stephen set the gloves aside and got up, checking over the specs on the machine and making sure that everything was ready.
"I finished reading the medical files of Osborn and his father. Whatever his father had, he gave it to his son. So while AIDS, in theory, has a treatment, I'm unsure about what comes next." He didn't much like the odds that Harry had of his blood turning toxic.
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So instead, he was slumped in a train seat, half asleep, very aware that people were avoiding sitting by him. He was pale and looked like shit so clearly no one wanted to disturb him. He had nodded off at some point and now he had no idea where he was on the train or what to even do about it.
Or if he even cared.
Where did the train even end? Maybe he could just to go to the end of the line and then go back? Seemed warmer and nicer than his place and who cared if they fined him for no ticket? He had fuck all money for them to get from him.
Yawning, the train came to a stop and he tilted his head out, reading the sign and then lowered his head again. Yep. Definitely missed his stop. Ah well.
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Lovely, sure. Not his scene. Not anyone's scene who wasn't an old grandma, as there was no scene to be found.
Still, he was willing to visit when he could and then the separation was difficult. So he had almost, but not quite, missed his train. He caught his breath slowly, pushing the hair back from his face and looking around. Pretty empty train. He took a seat next to a bloke who looked nice enough, if tired, and gave him a nod. "All right, mate?"
That said he got the tattered copy of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray out of the inside pocket of his leather jacket and leaned back so he could continue reading.
Sirius's hair was long, loosely tied together right now. He was wearing jeans and a black leather jacket over a white shirt with various song lyrics written on it. He wore an earring in his left ear, he had rings on his hands. He wasn't trying hide anything, although it might not be obvious to anyone not in the know.
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Yawning, he lifted his head and finally looked at the guy across from him. Dear God, he was handsome. Tall, dark and handsome. No wonder people sitting nearby stared at him, he stared too. For a second, then he decided to just watch him in the window reflection.
The book, the lyrics on his shirt, the earring. He was giving off some very clear signals and Remus pitied all the girls on the train lusting after him.
Ah, the days when he might have taken the chance and gotten himself rejected - they were long gone. Instead, he was content to admire Sirius in the window as he patted himself down and pulled out a chocolate bar, opening the wrapper as quietly as he could and taking a bite.
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Instead he was now unabashedly looking the bloke over. Hey, he could tell what it meant when he got checked out in a reflection. It was a handsome bloke too, underneath all that tiredness. It was a train, it was going onto ten, of course he looked tired. Still, might be worth a shot. "You doing anything after this, mate? We could go to a pub. You know The Bell?"
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Yesterday, Remus had been so tired he had slept until noon, but he had appreciated the breakfast Sirius had bought for him at the café downstairs. Then they'd spent the rest of the day listening to records, having deep and also deeply silly conversations, passing around Sirius's guitar to play songs for each other and, finally, after a lot of persuasion from Sirius, they had made love. Safely, of course.
Today, Remus had been awake a bit earlier and that was just as well, because Sirius wanted to take him places. "This is a gay bookstore, but it's so much more. It's like a hub. Like a haven. If you wanna know what's happening, you go there. If you need help, you go there. It's where we meet to organise events and marches and all that too. The owner's Holden O'Shea. He's brilliant, he really is. You'll love him. He's like everyone's gay dad. Or gay uncle. I don't know."
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Remus yawned and sipped his drink that his lovely boyfriend had purchased him. It was a hot cocoa with extra sugar in it, just to perk him up a little. He had an unfortunate morning where he'd barfed up most of his breakfast, not that he told Sirius, but now everything seemed to have settled. Much nicer.
Holding Sirius' hand, he peered around a little, just interested. "I've never properly seen London before. It's not half as nice as they said it was. Made it sound all fancy like but it's not that different from where I'm from. Same shitty news agents and ASDAs."
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He shook his head at his own observations, then pointed out the rainbow flag on one house they were approaching. "That's the place right there. Gay's the Word. I buy all my books there these days, I know you've been perusing the collection. He's got porn too."
In case that was of interest. "And the gown store right next to it sells a lot to drag queens. I got stuff from there before, for stage."
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He held Sirius' hand tight, choosing to trust him. He trusted him enough to hold his hand, it seemed too late to back out now just because the place had flags. He walked up to the door and let go of Sirius, opening it and holding it for him. "Huh." There were a lot more queer books than he remembered.
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"If you are late, I'm sure we'll find it in our hearts to grant him refuge," Holden said, waiting patiently for the goodbyes to be over so he could start actually giving his new hire an induction.
"Remember to drink enough. And eat properly." This was accompanied with Sirius giving Remus a chocolate bar. Well, it had nuts in it. Essentially nutritional. "Don't miss me too much."
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"See you soon, have a good day and keep hydrated too. You're shit at that." Remus pointed out as he walked over to Holden and smiled apologetically.
"Sorry, he's bad at goodbyes."
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Holden shook his head in amusement, then stepped back so Remus could come closer. "Essentially it's all about inventory, some invoices, sorting delivery, all that. You'll have to do a lot of reading too, I like to actually be able to make recommendations based on experience. It's hard to know what is worth selling until we've read it ourselves."
Which made it a great job, in his opinion.
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And it was all for nothing in the end but hey, first person in his family with a bachelors so he couldn't complain.
"What's my first task, boss?"
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"Well, he does dancing but that isn't sexy. He's not a sexy drag queen, he's more -- he is what he is. And we love him for it." Felix informed Remus before he clapped as the rabbit came out of the hat and eagerly came closer. "Can I hold it?! Lemme! Please, ma'am."
"Of course you can." Aziraphale handed over the rabbit and Felix happily cradled it in his arms, grinning at Holden. "Do be careful though, she startles easily. Now, onwards, to the next magical kingdom. The land of..." Pause for suspense. "... Illusion!"
Some of the gays in the back cheered, clearly endeared by Aziraphale's weird show and some of the younger kids clapped. Well, it was definitely a positive affair. No one was unhappy.
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"It's two pm, Crowley. Get over it, he's doing great." Holden laughed, petting the rabbit in Felix's arms and looking at Remus. "That's hi-- her boyfriend. He's not a fan of the magic show."
Which was a shame, because while Aziraphale was not the best at magic, he was certainly most entertaining.
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And then Aziraphale did do some singing. From Mary Poppins. And hell yeah, it was a bop.
Felix gave a standing ovation by the end, still holding the rabbit. "You go, girl!"
"Thank you, thank you. You made an old woman very happy."
Remus laughed, wondering how old the guy was. He may have acted like an older woman but he didn't look that old, maybe like 40 at most? "He's pretty good, yeah, I like it."
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It was sweet, really, because no matter how embarrassed Crowley might be by some of the antics, he was always there to dance at the end. "See? Romance is not dead."
"Romance for the elderly, I see. Just be careful you don't dislocate a hip!" Sirius nodded wisely and a few blokes laughed, but it was all in good fun. This was a wholesome performance.
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Did Harry do crosswords? Probably not. Didn't seem like something he'd enjoy. Of course, these days he was hard pressed thinking of anything Harry enjoyed, other than snarky comments and making people feel uncomfortable.
Hartley set the paper aside, then leaned forward to adjust Harry's pillows for him, wanting to avoid him getting sore. He knew better than to ask how he was feeling, although sometimes he still did. A good way to get out those snarky comments. "Apparently Sirius is coming by later. Holden said. And supposedly Aziraphale raised a good chunk for my research." There was something to get into later. Pretend he wasn't close to hitting another wall with it.
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With a tired smirk, he held his hand out for the paper.
"Still gonna cure AIDS? You're cute." He didn't think Hartley had much of a chance but he admired the fact that he still cared, that he still had the energy to try. "Did Aziraphale have to raise it, I mean, he could just write a check. That guy has more money than anyone I know." And he knew a lot of rich people.
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He leaned back to watch Harry, careful not to look as concerned as he was. Didn't do any good, crying over it. He wanted to be there for him. He also wanted to be back in the lab, do some work. He wanted to stop time and hold Harry and beg him not to leave him. He couldn't lose him. Lose his world.
"Aziraphale probably donated most of the money. I think he says he'll match donations and then he adds at least two zeroes." It was insane.
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to Stephen Strange
As this is a repeated attempt at contacting you, my message may be curt. As can be seen in my attached research paper and everything I've previously sent to you, I've taken strides towards an effective treatment of AIDS.
With the cocktail and sonic waves to illicit self-healing in the cells, the issue within the RNA should be able to be combatted. However, as can also be found in the papers attached, certain limitations arise from my relative inexperience, lack of time and some outdated equipment. Your research is unique worldwide in how it would tie into mine, as I'm sure will be readily apparent to you.
This matter is of personal urgency to me. My beloved is currently dying of AIDS. He is my world.
Please allow me to at least try to save him.
Urgently,
Hartley Rathaway
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I appreciate the urgency of your situation, however I have many appointments scheduled in the next few weeks and they would be very difficult to rearrange.
I have read over the papers and while it is a promising venture, I am unsure if you have really considered application beyond one on one treatment. As it stands, this is a lot of research to save one person, not lots of people. Understandable, given your circumstances.
The other problem I am presented with is that the trial period will be long and require many double blind studies and animal trials before it would be a treatment on offer. I am not a specialist in pharmaceuticals and my field of research has little interest in your proposal.
Currently, the advise is to use AZT, which has some benefits in helping those with HIV avoid transition into AIDS and perhaps this drug will help your boyfriend too.
All the best.
Dr Stephen Strange.
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I'm wondering whether everyone in the medical community has a template they share to send to me. I appreciate that you at least left out the covert homophobia. Equally dismissive, less hateful.
A successful one-on-one treatment is a lot more than we currently have for anyone in the latter stages of AIDS. You are of course correct about the trial period, but we have one willing human volunteer. I am positive that you have the know-how to realise that AZT, at this stage, would kill my partner. Painfully so. He would rather put his trust in me and my methods. I do not wish to let him down.
I will do this no matter what. If you'd rather gather more pointless accolades at conferences full of other cowards instead of remembering your oath, I hope you enjoy the canapés they serve. For next years keynote speech, when I'm bereaved, I'd love to make the journey. I suggest the title 'Hippocratic or hypocritic: Doctors without spines'.
Have good conferences. I'll go watch my world bleed out.
Hartley Rathaway
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His boyfriend was in the other room, apparently he was 'down for testing' so it looked like they might try their first trial therapy today. A lot of firsts. Exciting and somewhat dangerous.
"I like cars more than trains." Stephen continued as he finished his wiring of the gloves for Hartley.
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He had already worked out the adjustments for his hearing aids. One of the risks was him losing his hearing, temporarily or not, but if he could help Harry? He didn't care.
"Some people I knew auditioned for that. Starlight Express. Felix got pretty far, apparently, but his partner made him stop. Too dangerous, apparently." Well, it sounded pretty damn dangerous.
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Stephen set the gloves aside and got up, checking over the specs on the machine and making sure that everything was ready.
"I finished reading the medical files of Osborn and his father. Whatever his father had, he gave it to his son. So while AIDS, in theory, has a treatment, I'm unsure about what comes next." He didn't much like the odds that Harry had of his blood turning toxic.
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