Tolly held him close with a soft sigh. "But… but Cas, they're hurting you." That was really what bothered him so much about this, the fact that it hurt Cas so bad every time his shop got busted apart. "They shouldn't get to get away with that, it's not fair."
“Life’s not fair all the time, love.” Murmured, tilting his head up and nuzzling Tolly's cheek. “But sometimes it gives you some relief points.” He smiled softly up at Tolly and pressed a kiss to his Jaw “they can try to hurt me and destroy this place but until they kill me, this,” he waved to the room and to the salvaged jars “will never end.”
Tolly stooped over a little so Cas could nuzzle him, leaning into the kiss even as he whined. "You shouldn't have to endure something like this, though. There are resources, there are supposed to be things that'll protect you and…. and I'm worried that one day they're gonna do something that you can't recover from."
“They won’t go that far…I think.” He nudged into Tolly’s chest before turning in his hold. “I’ll be okay Tolly, don’t worry about me.” He reached up and pressed a light kiss to Tolly’s lips before pulling away and continuing to clean
"I always worry about you," Tolly argued quietly, kissing him back and letting his hands drop so Cas could move around more easily. "But… I guess I get it. I know I wouldn't want to worry you if something like this were happening to me." He grabbed a broom.
“But is worry about you either way,” he sighed softly and stopped cleaning “I’ll see what I can do, maybe talk to the counselors or something.” He suggested, not feeling hopeful that they would help but hoping it takeaway reassured Tolly
Tolly smiled weakly, seeming to relax a little at Cas' reassurance despite how half hearted it was. "Thank you, sweetpea. I think the counselors are a good start, even if I'd like you to get help that's a little more… heavy duty."
“If more help is needed then I’ll talk to the local officers.” He said, glancing up as he saw someone come in. He walked over with a small smile “Hey, uhm is there something I can help you with?”
Tolly smiled and pecked him o the cheek. "Thank you, Cas," He murmured, getting back to sweeping away the glass shards as the customer walked in.
The customer stared in horror at the state of shop. “What happened?” The girl whispered.
“Mishaps and misfortune.” Cas replied with a sad smile
She nodded sadly “I’m so sorry, I can come back when you reopen.”
“If you came here now it must be important.” Cas reassured, waving her over to where they had gathered the good ingredients.
“Only if you’re sure.”
Tolly watched the exchange with interest, though he didn't interfere. The lady obviously just needed some help, and Cas was probably the only guy who could give it to her. It was best to stay out of their way.
“So what can I help you with?” Cas asked
“Memory loss.” The girl said quickly before shyly pulling her hood over her head “I-I mean I want to lose a memory.
Cas went rigid “loss of a memory?”
The girl nodded and hugged herself “y-yeah…”
Tolly hummed, giving her a curious look. Just by looking at her body language he could tell what sort of memory she wanted to lose, so he set down the broom and wandered over to Cas' side. "I'm sure Cas can help you out with that, miss. He's an amazing potioneer."
“So I’ve heard.” She nodded and glanced around “he did this, didn’t he?”
Cas looked up at her “you know who did this?”
She nodded with a heavy sigh “yeah, he was bragging about it this morning.”
Cas looked back at tolly before reaching over the counter and taking her hand “did he hurt you?” He asked softly, starting to connect some pieces
Tolly watched the conversation go by, pieces already snapped together into a hazy picture of what had happened. He didn't know who this 'he' was, but he knew what he'd done. Had a vague idea of the kind of person he was. "Are you okay?"
She nodded “yeah, just a few bruises here and there.” She mumbled “I just don’t want to know about him anymore. Anything he’s done or what he plans to do or anything at all.” She glanced at the two “I want nothing to with him.”
Tolly nodded, reaching forward to take her hand gently. "We understand completely. Why don't you sit down by the entrance while we pick out ingredients?"
She nodded and sat by the door where not much debris was. Meanwhile, Cas had pulled out a few vials and a mortar and pestle. “We shouldn’t do this.” He said softly to Tolly, glancing up in worry “this won’t help her, not the proper way.”
Tolly bit his lip, shooting her a worried glance. "I… I disagree. Knowing that guy– having to be around him– it's not gonna be good for her. She's obviously thought the decision over, if you don't give her a safe way to forget she's not just going to give up. She's gonna turn to something more dangerous to do the job."
“Yeah but this is essentially just as dangerous. What if it erases more than what we intend?” He looked over at her, desperately wanting to help. “Plus what happens when he figures things out? She’ll just seek her out and harm her over again.”
"It's not more dangerous, Cas. You haven't seen the kind of shit they advertise. You… You haven't seen what it does to the people who are desperate enough to try it." Tolly shook his head as if he was trying to dislodge that train of thought. "This is safer. She feels comfortable here, she trusts you. Are you really just going to turn her away?"
"No of course not but what's going to happen when he figures out his girlfriend purposely forgot him? you think he's going to let her go? you think thats going to stop him from coming after her again?" he paused for a second and turned away from Tolly. "I won't have her hurt again." he glanced up at the girl and sighed softly
"Then we can take her in Cas, but you can't leave her with those memories of him. You just can't. She'll melt her brain out trying to forget him, and then we'll all hate ourselves." He gave the girl a glance too, offering her a wave and a soft smile before he turned back to his boyfriend. "She needs your help, Cas. Promise you'll give it to her?"
“I wasn’t thinking of leave her,” He shut his eyes for a moment to think before walking around Tolly to the girl. He crouched down beside her and spoke softly “we’re going to help you okay? But I am not giving you what you want.”
Tolly watched nervously, hoping the girl wouldn't just bolt out of the shop. She was probably a little heartbroken by Cas' offer, but… she seemed smart. Surely she'd stick around long enough to hear him out.