1Daniil had been acting out of it since this morning. He seldom was this adversely affected by other people except it had to do with his mom. And Jason knew his gloom was because of last night's incident. It was bad enough that his greatest fear rested with his worst nightmare.
Thankfully, Mr. Vladimir didn't ask Andrei to take Jason's place yet. He was going to stick around him and try to talk it out after breakfast.
Only the clinking sounds from the stainless cutleries could be heard through the silence in the room as the maidservant set the table for Daniil to have his breakfast. When she was done, she bowed slightly and made to leave.
"Hol'up," Daniil pushed through the serenity in a deep yet smooth voice. The lady paused and turned around to him, burying her head. Jason could easily feel her bated breath from the way her quaky hands fiddled with themselves. It wasn't farfetched she was already frightened to death as it'd take nothing for Daniil to turn breakfast into a blood bath.
"Isn't the fork supposed to be by the left?" pushing his head up to her, he drawled. "Why then did you swap their places?" he asked, already grabbing the knife and getting up while the girl took trembling receding steps.
Jason extended his gaze a little further and noticed the maidservants behind her were already becoming jittery; their chests heaved erratically but none would dare to make the slightest sound.
"Ahh!!" A squeal swung his head back forward. With his fists already clenching the hair at the back of her head firmly, Daniil was holding her head up, and to her neck was the knife held with his other hand.
"Is all you know how to do keep tabs on me and get rewarded handsomely at the end of the day?! Even if that's the case, aren't you supposed to earn your keep? Why do you lousy parasites never do anything right?! Or do you also see me as a pushover? Do you now feel I amount to nothing and decide to do things as you please?" he vented then yelled all of a sudden when she wouldn't speak: "Answer me you riffraff!!!"
"Ahh…" she squealed in response to the additional force he used to drag her hair backward. "I …I'm so…I'm sorry, young master," she pleaded, stuttering in a trembly voice.
Jason didn't move an inch or panic. Not out of apathy towards the girl's life, but something kept telling him Daniil would not go through with it. He could, but he wouldn't; at least not right now. The pain masked with fury in those words as he spoke assured him so. He was just going to stand there and not intervene.
"I'm sorryy…yy…yy," the lady cried.
Daniil on the other hand heaved a sigh, pushed her away, and then sunk back into his seat. Without wasting time, Jason signaled the ladies and they all took to their heels. He too heaved a sigh of relief, thinking the storm was finally over until…
"Daniil!!!" he hollered at the sight of blood. In less than a split second Daniil had plunged the knife into the dining table…through his hand. "What the fuck is wrong with you??!!" Jason scolded nonplussed, hurrying toward him when he pulled out the knife forcefully.
More than the drastic turn the situation took, Daniil's reaction to all of it appalled him. Jason's eyes were already bulging at the outrageous amount of blood that was flowing rapidly out of the deep opening but instead of the affected to groan or writhe in pain, he was busy laughing with his head tilted backward as if Jason was only overreacting.
Jason knew this was painful as hell and sometimes wondered if he could barely feel physical pain as he usually claimed. It wasn't by chance that his father as well as others who knew he truly was called him a monster or a beast. His violent impulse was one reason, but that wasn't all. Daniil was built differently. He responded differently to his emotions, especially pain to the extent that it seemed like he could not feel it. But screw it! That was balderdash in Jason's books. The fact that his mom's suffering could make him miserable strongly convinced him he was just a human born different; he felt pain as well. He always believed his indifference was a charade. But even the ability to conceal the worst of pain was still scary. Now he was staring down at him with pity. Not actually at 'him' but the glint of pain somewhere in his eyes. Unable to even think straight right now, all he did was breathe deeply.
~~~
Jason managed to stop the bleeding and had already put a bandage around his hand.
"Are you sure you don't need to visit a hospital?" he asked, putting the finishing touches before packing the first aid box.
"Why? So I'll give the old geezer one more reason to revile me?" he asked with so much scorn, massaging his bandaged hand and getting up. He knew he'd rather disappear from the earth's surface than let his father call him "weak." Yes, Daniil believed hospitals were for the weak and would never accept to visit any unless the situation was dire. And whenever it came to that, it was usually not by his consent.
He then went on to stand in front of the painting and just stare. Jason did the same, taking the space beside him.
"I'm grateful to him though."
Jason flinched an inch, taken aback by his statement. Daniil could never be grateful to anyone let alone his dad. "Why's that?" he voiced his confusion.
"Because he's reminded me of my purpose here. Although I didn't forget he's made me realize how unnecessary it is to keep goofing around with Ashley."
Now Jason was getting more dazed. He'd known Daniil to be someone who could never let go of anything he wanted for anything or anyone. "So you're leaving Ashley?"
"Was I ever with her? You only made absurd assumptions." He paused briefly, then continued, "And besides, getting entangled would only give my father more weaknesses to exploit."
"So why were you playing around with her in the first place?" Now he sounded really curious.
"Because I wanted to get rid of the disdain she had in her eyes whenever she saw me. I wanted her to acknowledge my worth and flock around me like the other girls. It wounded my pride to know she was able to resist me and somehow found myself fooling around with her."
"Your hand…" Jason accented, grabbing his injured hand when he noticed the bloody circle that gradually encroached on the topmost part of the bandage, widening by the second. Turned out he was clenching his fist so strongly that the wound started to bleed again. Clearly, he was upset. Why though?
"Why did you even do this to your hand?" raising his voice a bit, he asked with concern, holding his hand up to pore over it again.
"I told you before, didn't I?" he dismissed, pulling his hand away from his hold quite aggressively.
Daniil had said he felt the urge to slit the maidservant's throat but held back because he suddenly remembered his mom. But the urge to cut through something still consumed him, making him hurt himself instead. Slitting her throat? Daniil was capable of doing that and more. Something just didn't feel right; he loved himself too much to hurt himself in place of another. His words; his actions; everything pointed towards a deep-seated rage he was still bottling up. Something else angered him and Jason could only guess it was his mom. He still needed to confirm.
"Is it your mom?" he finally asked and then he punched the table before them real hard. Yeah, he was damn right.
"I wish I could take her away from him. I wish I could pull a trigger and blow off the monster's skull. I wish…I wish…," he vented then sucked in air through gritted teeth. Mind you, he was referring to his father when he talked about blowing up "the monster's" skull. Jason could tell from his tone that he felt defeated… vulnerable… worthless… and pathetic right now. Everything became crystal clear. He now understood that his self-inflicted injury served as a punishment.
He breathed deeply, not sure of how to liven things up especially since Daniil abhorred being pitied. He decided to switch topics instead.
"You think your dad knows of Knox yet?"
"Why not?" he returned wittily.
"And he chooses to remain silent?"
"Vladimir is just waiting for me to fall into my own trap, Jason. But I bet you, I'd rather die than give him that satisfaction."
His sharp response proved he already knew his father's antics too well but wasn't even bothered the slightest by any of it. It was quite an irony how much he knew the same man he harbored an immense hatred for.
"I'll leave you to rest." There was no need to drag the conversation. He was going to leave for now and come back much later to inspect the wound again.
"Jason?" he called again, stopping him on the way to the door. He turned around and found him staring up at the painting. "Get me the clip."
"What clip?" He asked, maintaining his distance.
"The clip that proves Yoshida's guilty."
He listed his head a little to the side with narrowed eyelids, looking skeptical for a second. "I thought you were giving up on Ashley."
"I know you called me by my name, gawked at me with pity, and scolded me earlier. But it's fine, I'll let it go. Right now, I'm giving you an order." He slid his hands into his pockets and turned around leisurely to face him. "I'm sure you also don't intend to question my orders," he completed, straight-faced.
Jason knew better than to defy his orders. At the same time, Daniil's lasering eyes that could burn anything in sight right now never left him feeling fazed. Whatever he did was out of reverence and never fear. Boldly staring directly into his eyes, he finally said, "I'll get you the clip."
Daniil nodded with a reserved closed-lip smile and redirected his attention to the painting.
Jason huffed silently, wearing a knowing smile as he turned around to resume his steps. If he really wanted to back off as he claimed, why then would he still ask for the clip? He'd simply shove the matter aside and let it go. However, that wasn't the case. Ashley still bothered him, and that was a fact he'd try to deny till whenever. He also could not turn a blind eye to the fact that someone dared to mess with what was his. Yes, Jason knew him too well to tell he was already being protective without even knowing. When he was young, he usually took it upon himself to avenge his mother when she was wronged. And even at such a young age, he did it gruesomely. "Two eyes for one eye" was his own principle. And now, he was going to give Sakura a taste of her own medicine. Asking them that night to make sure they brought back the name of whoever hurt his 'DATE' was already full proof of that. No doubt, his reason for wanting to stay out of Ashley's business was logical but something was already preventing him from doing so. And of course, if he threaded this path, he'd end up giving his father many more edges over him. Daniil wasn't dumb to remain oblivious to this. He knew it'd get more painful from here on out but right now, it wasn't him dishing out orders but his true feelings.
A few paces to the door, he muttered incoherently, "Ty vlyublen, Boss. (You're in love, boss.)"