forum Private Roleplay with @becfromthedead

Started June 28, 2021 by @Fraust

tune

(Alrighty aha)
Theus nodded weakly and hesitated before coming a little closer, still fidgeting with his sleeves a lot and looking very nervous. "U-Um… they had a lot of kids there, but never more than five or so at any given time. They liked to kill the experiments they were done with and then they put them in the cold room… with as many 'freaks' as there were in the city, they had a pretty steady supply of us, s-so they weren't too worried about losing them." He sniffled and rubbed at his eye, trembling where he stood. "Um… m-my power lets me control people I can see…" He said softly, testing his words carefully. "S-So they took my eye to see if my power could work even if my eye wasn't attached to me. B-But I didn't keep still while they were doing it, so my scar is bigger…" He gently touched his fingertips to the large scar around where his right eye should be. Caelum was watching him with disbelief, covering his mouth with one hand. He couldn't fathom that such a young child had been forced through something so horrible. "Y-You can't take me back to my parents, though… they sold me to the bad people because they said I'm cursed, and because they needed money. We were very poor, and I was a mistake they couldn't afford to keep around…"

"Thank you. We won't take you back to your parents," Cyrus promised, trying to keep a straight face.
Now, he was actually getting a bit choked up as he jotted down a bit of what Theus said. His pen hand was trembling ever so slightly.
"I'm a 'freak' too, and I wasn't wanted by my father either. While I haven't been through exactly what you have, I sort of know how it feels. It's scary. But you have a bunch of people looking after you now, and we really do care."
Cyrus closed his notebook and sighed.
"I've never seen anything quite like this…"

Aurelius started to sit up where he was, but he was a lot worse off than he thought. He nearly passed out at first, and once past that, he found he was out of breath and his chest hurt.
"I don't think I can get up," he whimpered, pressing his head between his knees to ride out some of the dizziness.
Felix scowled to himself. This wasn't good. The poor guy was already anemic, and this was enough to be dangerous, even though the same injury on anyone else likely would've been fine, if painful and a little dizzying.
Another siren blared and drew closer. An ambulance was coming to take away the werewolf girl who was still unconscious.
"Auri, you should probably go with them. You're not doing well at all."

"They liked to get kids of different species and stuff. Lots of different kinds of freaks for them to test on… I-I don't know exactly how they did them, though…" Theus hiccuped, his breathing hitching as he struggled to stay calm. He was still trembling, and his breaths were harsh and erratic. He rubbed at his tears with one tiny fist, looking pale and uneasy. They can't hurt me anymore, even if I tell the police about the bad things they did… Caelum looked down at the boy worriedly.
"Hey, hey… it's alright. You can sit down if you'd like. You're doing great. You don't have to keep going if it's too hard." He assured Theus gently. "What's your name? And how old are you?" Theus hesitated before slowly sliding down a tree trunk to sit on the ground, where he tried to remember the answers to the questions.
"U-Um… my name?" He took a few seconds to remember. It had been a long time since he had been called by his name. His captors hadn't even known it. "It's… Theus. But call me Theo, please… I don't like Theus." He said softly. "Theus was my dad's name. And I'm… um… eight years old, I think…"

"You've told us a lot already," Cyrus said softly, "Thank you for that. I'm very sorry you've been through all this. You may, and probably should leave with the paramedics so you can get your eye checked out and all that."
He offered Theo a little smile.
"I'll definitely come in to check on you at some point," he promised, "You can tell me more then if you want to, but for now, you need to take some time to get better."

At last, the paramedics arrived. They moved quickly, first getting the werewolf girl on a stretcher and hauling her out. One of them sat down next to Aurelius and started asking him questions, but he was slow to answer anything, as that took more energy than he had.
Ultimately, they decided to take him to the hospital too. Felix agreed to go visit him after everything was wrapped up here.

Septima paced a bit. She had done what she could for Aurelius, but it wasn't enough. Even just seeing the emergency vehicles and workers made her on edge, as it made her feel like she failed in some way to protect the others.

Theo nodded weakly and hesitated before forcing himself to his feet, shuffling nervously over to where the paramedics were. They briefly checked him out, and while he seemed overall stable, the number of injuries he had was pretty concerning, and they wanted to bring him to the hospital as well anyways. Caelum insisted that he was only drained of energy and that he didn't need to join, so after a quick checkup, he was allowed to stay. Elio was brought along to deal with his leg injury, and Azel and Ren only had minor injuries that didn't require more in depth attention. Caelum got to his feet to help out where he could, looking very uneasy, but relieved that everything seemed to be over. He noticed Septima pacing and headed over to her. "Hey, you alright?" He asked softly.

Septima's mouth drew into a slight scowl.
"Yeah. I'm fine. Completely unhurt. Just trying to see what I can do to help here, but then again, it looks like it's mostly taken care of now," she replied, only mostly lying.
Because really, it was her fault that Aurelius was hurt as badly as he was. She should have, and very well could have stopped him from acting so rashly, but she didn't. Maybe she should've offered to come on the job when he'd first mentioned it, and they wouldn't be here now.

Felix sat down near Ren and Azel, still trying to catch his breath a bit. He felt like his ribcage was having trouble expanding all the way. Again, not enough to get medical attention, especially since he knew what was going on, but it was uncomfortable.
"Glad we were able to get you two out of there," he said softly.

Cyrus also approached them and gave out a couple of business cards.
"Hey, I'm about done here. The team and I are going down into the lab to investigate more thoroughly. But if you guys remember anything new, or learn something new about what happened, please let me know."

Caelum nodded a bit, but didn't seem entirely convinced. "I don't mean physically. I mean how are you feeling. It's hard, right? To watch a friend get hurt? They're taking Eli away for a while too. Hopefully those kids are going to be alright… we'll have to check up on them in the hospital. I don't know about the girl since she's been unconscious, but Theo for sure doesn't have anywhere to go. It's going to be rough trying to find somewhere for them to stay. They're too young to be running around on their own…" He sighed softly, closing his eyes. He looked up when Cyrus approached with the cards and accepted one, thanking him quietly.

Ren and Azel looked up at Felix when he joined them. Ren waved, and Azel simply nodded in acknowledgement. "Yeah, thanks. I guess I probably would've frozen to death after not much longer." Ren laughed, not seeming to understand the weight of the situation.
"And I probably would've been killed by ghouls, so… thanks." Azel said quietly. "You guys helped even though we don't really know each other at all. I guess I'll have to find somewhere to stay."
"I'll probably just go back to Pick. I'm kinda sick of living out on the streets, though, and he'll just assume I'm dead if I don't come back, so…"

Septima shook her head. "Sure it is. I'm not that worried, though. They'll be fine."
She took a card from Cyrus, despite knowing a lot less than anyone else here. She hadn't been involved besides coming to the rescue. Septima really felt like she was always the one coming to the rescue for Aurelius.
"I do wish the best for those kids, though. It looks like they're the only ones coming out of this. A damn shame. They all deserved better, that's for sure."

"Oh, I mean… helping was the least we could do. I'd never leave someone to die, knowing I could help," Felix replied, rubbing the back of his neck.
He thought for a few moments.
"Well, Aurelius and I… we share an apartment, and we don't really have a lot of space, but if you guys need a place to crash for a night or two, we'd be more than happy to let you stay with us. But our lease is up soon, so we might be moving. And if either of you would like to hop in on that, that may be on the table, too. I'm not sure about money, but we'd figure something out."

"Yeah. I'm sure something will work out for them. Honestly, I would take them in myself if we can't find any other accommodations for them. They deserve a better life than the ones they've had." Caelum sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, still pretty out of it if he was being honest.

Azel glanced up, listening closely to Felix. "Mm… I might have to take you up on that. I don't think Ren's old enough to lease an apartment himself, but I'd let him stay." He ruffled Ren's hair a bit. "I'm sure we'll all figure something out eventually, though."

"While I can't take them in myself, I'm willing to do everything to find someone who can," Septima agreed, "Foster care just won't do. After all that trauma, they need stability."

"Yeah, we can talk about a new place later once Aurelius is out of the hospital and all that, but you can stay at our place in the meantime," Felix said, "It's definitely better than being stuck on the streets or something."

"Right. I'm not sure if Elio and I have a stable enough life to support a kid. We don't make a lot of money, and we barely have a set home." Caelum shrugged a bit and sighed, looking around the forest.

"Cool, thanks." Azel stretched and yawned, exposing his sharp teeth. "I'm sure I'll end up more stable soonish. I'll need a steady job with enough income to support an actual home, like my own apartment or something."

"Yeah… I can offer financial support," Septima said, "So if you need help with that bit, I can do it. It's just… I don't think I can offer the emotional support a child needs. And that's fine. I should just. Never have kids. I'm sure Auri and Felix would love to help as well, but seeing as they can hardly take care of themselves, taking care of a child full time would probably lead them both to collapse."

"Yeah, I know how all that is," Felix sighed, "I left my father's house before I was financially ready, but I- I had to leave, you know? I was miserable there. And my older brother wasn't really any help. We could've rented out a place together, but honestly he was almost as shitty as my dad."
He gave a smile and a soft laugh.
"But things are fine now. Haven't talked to the guy in like two years, and I couldn't be happier."

"Well, money isn't necessarily the problem… we're just busy and on the go a lot, and he and I bicker a ton, which is fine, but it would stress out a kid. Especially those kids, since they've been through a lot. He and I aren't in a relationship or anything either, and it probably wouldn't be easy to get paperwork approved. Neither of us is really a good fit for a kid at the moment."

"Right, yeah… my siblings and I were rejects, pretty much. Odd little fox children. Mistakes." Azel shrugged a bit. "No one really wanted us, and I ran off at fifteen years old to take care of myself. I pretty much just live in the forest. I'm in my fox form a lot of the time." He sighed softly, and Ren glanced up.
"I was born in the streets, and my mother abandoned me there. I never knew my dad, and I don't remember my mom. Pick ended up picking me up and I've been living with him ever since. He makes me do a lot of things I don't really like, though…"

"I see," Septima replied, "Well, if that's the case, I'm sure we will find somewhere stable for them to live that's not any of us, and if not, then we can work out something with shared custody and responsibility. So even if you guys alone aren't enough, there's other people in the agreement that can help. I don't mind the occasional babysitting, but I know I couldn't raise a kid myself."

Felix shifted uncomfortably. God, that was so much worse. He felt petty for complaining about his father, especially when he felt like their strained relationship was his own fault.
"Oh… jeez… I'm so sorry," Felix replied, "My deal is nothing like that. I probably brought it all on myself anyway."

"Right. We can at least follow the process and help them find a good home to stay in, right? I want to make sure that have a better life from here on out." Caelum sighed and toyed with his hair a bit, still looking very tired.
"No, no, don't be sorry… it's fine." Azel smiled wryly. "I don't mind. I'm glad to be on my own now. I never really thought much of it. My situation isn't all that uncommon for people like me." He shrugged, and Ren nodded.
"Yeah, it's pretty normal. And Pick takes good care of me most of the time. He helps me find food and shelter and stuff, so that's good."

"Yeah, exactly," Septima said with a nod and a half-smile, "Hey, wanna head out? The cops said we could clear out. Besides, you look damn exhausted. I was probably going to swing by the hospital in a while, but I don't know if they're taking visitors at the moment."

Felix's gaze shifted downward. It wasn't exactly making him feel better. Their lives were definitely far worse, and here, he had the nerve to bring up his own little petty problems.
"Sure, but you two had a pretty rough start there. I can't say the same. Elves definitely have it easier, that's for sure…" he sighed, "I was couch surfing at one point in my life, sure, but I've always had a roof over my head and something to eat."

"Yeah, I should probably go… using my powers so much drains me a lot, and I should probably take a break. There's not much I can do at the moment with everyone in the hospital, either. Maybe I could take a quick nap…" Caelum dragged himself to his feet, looking very unsteady.

"That doesn't mean your problems are insignificant, you know. We grew up different— who the hell cares? You're allowed to talk about your life and your issues too." Azel insisted.

"Yeah, probably a good idea," Septima agreed, "I've got a car, I should be able to take everyone home if they need a ride. And I'll probably go check in at work. I was headed there when- well… I sorted out everything with my boss before I came out here, so it's fine, but still. There were a couple of things I wanted to get done today."

Felix shrugged a bit. "Perhaps. Guess it doesn't really matter, as long as I use what I have to help others when I can."
He tugged a bit at his shirt, clearly uncomfortable still.
"I'm probably gonna head home soon, take a shower. You two can come and do the same."

"Sounds good. Elio and I don't live all that far from here, so I should be alright to walk. We should meet up again at some point. Do you have a phone number?" Caelum asked, leaning against a tree to help himself keep his balance.

"Alright. That's fine with me." Azel got to his feet and stretched, yawning. Ren did the same, keeping close to Azel as he glanced around. They seemed to trust each other well enough even though they hadn't known each other for very long.

"Okay, well, that sounds good to me," Septima said, before giving Caelum her number. "See you later, then?"

Felix smiled a bit and started walking back out to the edge of the park.
"Alright, let's go, then?"

Caelum nodded a bit and accepted the number.
"See you later." He waved and headed off through the trees, limping. Azel and Ren got to their feet to follow Felix out of the forest.
(Time skip?)