forum Private Roleplay with @becfromthedead

Started June 28, 2021 by @Fraust

tune

(Everyone simps for Caelum, he's hot adghkl)
"Thanks." Caelum smiled softly. "I try my best. You seem pretty cool as well." He turned his attention to Theo and Septima's conversation. Theo still looked pretty uneasy.

"I guess so… I haven't met anybody else with posts other than the other kids who were being experimented on, though. We were different, and that's why they wanted us." He swallowed nervously, struggling to make eye contact. "And they're the only adults I really knew. I don't remember much of my parents, to be honest… I don't think either of them looked much like me. They didn't have these, anyway." He poked one of his horns. "I dunno how that works, though. No one ever explained it to me." (His mom had an affair, obviously). "I just… want it all to stop. I don't wanna be stuck in places like this anymore…"

Felix sank back against the wall, trying to collect himself a little. He listened intently to the others' conversation.
Septima bit her lip. It sounded like his parents might not be his actual parents- at least, not both of them. Yet, she didn't want to have to explain that. She pushed past that, as it was too much to unpack.
"Well, this should be the last time. You get out of this hospital, you should be able to go to some place you can finally call home, and you won't have to deal with things like this anymore."
She turned to look at Felix with pleading eyes. She was so bad with kids. So bad. It was taking every ounce of caution she had to make sure she said the right thing.

Theo nibbled nervously at his knuckles, drawing his legs up to his chest. "They said they have to still bring me in every once in a while to make sure I'm 'doing okay', though…" He said quietly. "I don't wanna come back… I don't like it here. They poke me and put things in me like the other people." He looked down at the IV in my arm. He'd already tried to pull it out a few times, but the doctors always stopped him and told him that he 'needed it'. He glanced up at Felix as well when Septima looked at him. "I'm sorry… I shouldn't be bothering you guys with this. Y-You've done a lot to help me and it's not your fault I'm like this…"

"They won't hook you back up to all the tubes and machines when they check up on you later, though," Felix promised, "They'll just look at your injuries to make sure they're healing alright. And if it makes you feel better, they probably won't even have you in the actual hospital. Just one of the doctors' offices, which are a lot less scary. Besides, we're more than happy to help. You're not bothering us, we want to be here."
Septima nodded and gestured towards Felix. "Yeah, what he said. At worst, they might take a test or two, but it won't be as bad as this."

"Mmmm… I-I don't wanna come back, though…" Theo looked back down, seeming nervous. "They already did all this stuff, so I should be okay now, right? I shouldn't have to come back. I don't want… don't want to…" He hiccuped and rubbed at his eye again, tugging at his IV with the other hand.
"Theo, you really shouldn't mess with that…" Caelum insisted. "You gotta leave the IV in. It's helping you get better." Theo reluctantly pulled his hand away, although he was clearly upset about it.
"It's itchy… I don't like it. I want it off."

"Yeah, no, IVs are a bitch," Septima murmured.
Felix nudged her, as a firm warning against the foul language around a kid, of all people.
"Anyway… but he's right, you do have to leave it in. They're using it to give hydration and medicine. There's probably pain medicine in it, which would be why you're not hurting too badly right now."
"They'll take it out soon," Felix said, "And once they do, they won't have to put it back in, even when you come back to visit later."

Theo sighed softly, scratching around where the IV was. The skin around it was pretty red, so it was clear that it was irritating him. "I want them to take it out now… they fixed me, didn't they? It… it shouldn't hurt anymore." He winced a bit as he bumped the needle, pulling his hand away. He didn't like how it tugged on his skin.
"It'll be alright, Theo. They'll take it out soon and we'll find a nice place for you to stay, okay?" Caelum smiled gently to reassure him.

Felix looked over the label on the IV bag.
"Yeah. Those are definitely pain meds. Theo, if you take it out now, you'll start feeling way worse. Trust me. They helped you so you could start getting better, but you have to keep taking your medicine and doing what the doctors ask so you can be fixed all the way."
"It's basically like putting a bandage over a cut," Septima added, "It helps protect it so it can heal, but it doesn't make you get better right away."

Theo drew his arms closer to himself, clearly upset. He really didn't want to have this needle stuck in his arm anymore, but he didn't want to cause any trouble, and supposedly it was helping him. He tugged on the sleeves of his hospital gown a little, trying to make it more comfortable. The material of it was pretty scratchy and he didn't like it either. Caelum sighed softly. "You should try and get some rest, Theo." Theo glanced up and hesitantly nodded before slowly curling up on the hospital bed.

"Right," Septima agreed, "See you soon, kiddo. Feel better."
Felix managed a slight smile, but he already had one foot out the door. He slipped out into the hallway ahead of the others.
"Did you want to go see Elio and the other kid?" he asked.

"Bye…" Theo curled up a bit tighter and closed his eyes, trying to relax so he could get some rest like Caelum said. He was tired and uncomfortable and didn't really want to deal with being awake anymore.
"Yeah, we should probably check on them. I'm sure Elio's fine, but we can check up on him anyway. He gets hurt all the time." Caelum shrugged a bit and kept walking. "Do we know if the girl is awake yet?"

As Caelum asked, Galen exited a room down the hall; he had been in Bee's room to make sure she was doing alright. He made eye contact with Caelum and glanced over the rest of the group, pausing a bit.
"You're the ones who rescued those kids, yeah?" he asked.
Felix nodded slightly.
"Great. Just left the girl's room. She wanted to meet you guys to thank you," Galen added.
"That answers our question, then, doesn't it?" Septima said, glancing over at Caelum, "There first, then swing by Elio before we leave?"

"Yeah, that sounds good to me." Caelum smiled gently. "Elio can wait. He's a big boy, after all. And I'd love to formally meet the girl… she was unconscious when we found her, right?" He asked, more rhetorically than anything. He headed towards Bee's room and quietly opened the door, poking his head in to check on her.

Galen gave the group a nod and a wave, then went on his way.

Bee startled a little bit at first. She glanced at Caelum up and down, then saw a few people standing behind him.
"You're not the doc- oh, wait… You wouldn't happen to be the people who rescued me, would you? Um… uh, come in if you want."
She looked down a bit.
"Thank you for everything… I don't know what might have happened. I'm just- I'm glad to get out of there."
Tears welled up a bit in Bee's eyes.

"Yeah, we're the ones who got you out of there… are you feeling better?" Caelum asked softly, leading the group into Bee's room. "It was no trouble, honestly. We were glad to get you out of that awful place. Theo is doing well too, even if he's a bit stressed out." He leaned against the wall, keeping a small smile on his face so the girl would feel more safe and comfortable. "He'll be just fine. Are you two friends?"

Bee shook her head.
"I never got to interact with the other kids," she whispered, "I didn't even know his name, but I've seen him before. I'm just- I'm glad I wasn't the only survivor…"
A couple of tears streamed down her face.
"I don't feel that hurt. Just tired. But I'm never going to be the same again. I have to face some awful transformation every month now, and I'm- I'm so scared. And my parents. They can't find my parents! I don't know what to do!"
The girl seemed less agitated about being hooked up to all this equipment, and much more bothered by the gravity of her situation. Unlike Theo, she had been with her parents before. Other changelings. Parents who loved her dearly. But suddenly they had disappeared without a trace, and she was seized by some of the ghouls in the park and dragged to the lab, along with her brother, who didn't make it over the course of the experiments.
Septima gritted her teeth a bit and stepped back. This was out of her realm of expertise for sure.
Felix cleared his throat. "They're doing what they can to find your parents. And they're doing what they can to make sure you're taken care of in the meantime."
Bee gave a slight nod, wiping the tears from her face.
"I know, but-"
She broke off into choked-up crying.
Felix moved closer and offered her a hug, which she slowly accepted. She wrapped her arms around Felix's waist and he gently cradled the back of her head.
"Th-thank you for saving who you could," Bee said through her tears.

Caelum listened closely as Bee spoke, his heart aching with sympathy for the girl. He headed over to her bedside alongside Felix to try and help comfort her. "It's going to be alright. You went through something truly horrible, but it's over now, alright? We're not going to let you fall back into those monsters' hands. They're still looking for your parents, but in the case that we can't track them down, we're going to arrange a nice place for you to stay, okay?" He smiled weakly to attempt to reassure Bee. She'd really been through something awful, as had Theo, and there was only so much he could do. The best he could do for now was encourage the children and try to give them some hope for the future.
Azel and Ren watched from the doorway. Azel was keeping quiet, and doing his best to keep Ren from causing any trouble by keeping him by his side. Ren was young and stupid, and no matter how much he tried to help, he would probably just make it worse, and Azel knew that.

Bee nodded.
"I know- I know, but…" She sniffled a bit, rubbing a teary cheek on Felix's sweatshirt.
"We're definitely here to help. We're not part of the investigation, really, so we'll have plenty of time to visit you here until you get out, or visit wherever you end up after," he promised.
"We took care of the guys that were hurting you," Septima said, leaning against the wall.
Bee tilted her head. "But… there are definitely more people like them out there."
Septima sighed, unsure how to answer that. She couldn't blatantly lie and say there weren't.

Caelum nodded along in agreement as Felix spoke. He sighed softly, leaning up against the wall. "Yeah, there's bad people in the world. But we're going to do all we can to keep you guys safe. You won't have to go through something like that again, okay?" He smiled gently. "We're going to make sure you guys are well taken care of, too. I'm sure we'll be able to get some aftercare therapy. Physical therapy too, if you need it… I think the doctor said Theo might."

"I'm- I'm not that hurt," Bee protested, "I'm just… I'm a monster now, I guess. And I don't know how to control it. A-and because I already had transformative powers, we don't know what awful things are going to happen."
Felix furrowed his brow. "Well, he's not a changeling like you are, but we do know a certain werewolf who might be able to help."
"Yes, that investigator," Bee replied, "I know, he visited already. I have my doubts, but help from a regular werewolf is better than no help at all."

"Yeah, I'm sure he could help out. He seems really invested in you guys' situation." Caelum sighed softly and glanced up as Ren and Azel came over to visit as well. Azel kept close to Ren to ensure he didn't do anything especially stupid. "I'm a changeling of sorts as well, but I'm not sure exactly how to help…" Azel mumbled, looking away as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I'll try to help however I can, anyway. Even if it's not much, I hope it makes things a little better."