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"I can top off the ibuprofen some, but I'm not sure if it's safe to give you anything new until later," Tohru replied, grabbing for the medicine from his bag, "You can try this, though. It won't hurt you at all. Two more should do it."
He heard his name, muffled, from the hallway.
"Mind if I go check on them out there? I'll try not to bring you into it. You're just uh… resting, like everyone else."
"Okay… and sure, you can do whatever you want…" Kas coughed weakly and accepted the pulls, carefully swallowing each of them and wincing at the taste. He could only hope that they would kick in and help the pain lessen somewhat.
"Okay, I'll see you in a bit," Tohru promised, "Call for me if you need anything."
With that, Tohru moved into the hall to check on Lilac.
"Hey, everything alright?" he asked softly, "I heard you calling out."
"Thanks, Lis." Levi said, still on the floor. "I feel like I should get to know everyone. I only know Tohru a bit. And I'm Mori's uncle, but I haven't seen him in years, I feel really bad, I shouldn't of moved away. If I hadn't I would have been there for him and I wouldn't of fucked up my own life so much." He laughed, though not in humour. "Sorry for getting deep."
(sorry for disappearing)
(Hey, good to see you back! Honestly I haven't been super active lately either)
"Yeah, I aagree. I'd like to get to know everyone here a bit better too."
She tilted her head as Levi voiced his regrets.
"Aw, that's alright. I don't mind you talking about that kind of stuff. Besides, who could've predicted well… literally any of this? I kind of worry about my family sometimes too. And it feels awful that I was never there to protect them, and I don't know if any of them are alive. But I'm sure you also had your reasons for moving, and you really can't blame yourself with these circumstances. You're here for Mori now, you know? Just do what you couldn't do before. He doesn't blame you, and I think he'd really appreciate it. If there's anything that kid needs right now, it's love and companionship. He'll be glad to get it from you."
"I'm not quite the same. I know they're dead. Mori's parents died before this even began and I didn't go to get him. As for my parents, we never got along anyway."
He pulled himself up on the wall so he and Lis could sit next to each other. "I moved away so I wouldn't have to live with my parents anymore. My sister, Mori's mother, said I could live with them, but they had a young child in the house and it just didn't feel right. I moved a whole state away, staying at various peoples houses. I would visit Mori all the time. But one day, without any warning, I got the message that they had died. Mori's parents. I just shutdown. I don't even remember the weeks afterwards. I didn't go to the funeral. I didn't go see my parents, despite their begging. I didn't go get Mori. I just stayed home screaming and crying and eventually-" He looked away, trying to block tears from his eyes.
"Oh," Lis replied, her gaze growing sad, "I had no idea. But… that's not your fault. None of it's your fault, I promise. It was a lot to face, and anyone who blames you for not being able to face it right away… well, they'd be wrong. What happened after all that, if you don't mind me asking? You sounded like you were going to say something else."
Lilac nodded. “I was just making sure you guys were okay. Bean would have done it but…she’s asleep,” the young girl sighed as she walked over to Tohru and sat down. “This whole thing has been exhausting.”
"It doesn't matter really," Levi said, picking at the seams of his jacket sleeves. "My online friend, Ace, broke down my door, almost literally, and dragged me off with him. He ended up getting me a job, in the army with him. I was a scout. A group from our regiment and I were out on training when the official outbreak notice was called. It was my first time out with them."
(I don't know how the american army works, I'm from New Zealand ;n;)
(To be fair, most Americans don't really know the ins and outs of it either lol. I definitely don't)
(I could probably do at least some of the ins and outs of the new zealand military)
(also my dad has the number of stripes and stars on the uniform of each rank (american) memorised and will criticise movies for getting it wrong)
(Oh yeah, I don't know shit about the military despite having family members who are/were military)
Tohru nodded slightly
"Yeah, it is. Lis already went through and checked on everyone this morning, so you don't need to worry," he reassured Lilac.
He leaned back against the wall.
"Oh, I see," Lis replied, "It's good someone tried to get you back on your feet, but-"
She stopped briefly.
"Military… seems like a big change, is all."
She shook her head.
"I'd just gotten a job too," she said, "Local aquarium. I was living the dream, man. It was so, so hard to get a job after college. I'd been working retail for years after I graduated, and then I finally got the opportunity to use my degree. But uh… this all happened."
"It was a big change, but I really needed it. I wouldn't be here, let alone alive, without the guys I met." Levi said, smiling faintly.
He laughed lightly. "Man, I loved the aquarium in my hometown, it was awesome. I probably would've tried to get a job there if I didn't move out."
"You went to college? I never got to go, I guess the military was like that for me, meeting new people, learning new things. What did you study? How was it?" He sat up and grabbed her arm, absolutely intrigued.
"Oh, well…" Lis sighed, "I majored in marine biology. I really did like it a lot. Made a lot of friends, but I guess it doesn't really matter now because they're all gone. Even my roommate through and after college- my best friend, at that- she disappeared too. She went to visit family around the time this all started, and I was never able to get to her. But that's enough about all that. You wanted to know about my job, right? I mostly worked in animal care and education in the aquarium. I led a lot of tours in my time there. Loved working with kids the best."
Tohru nodded slightly
"Yeah, it is. Lis already went through and checked on everyone this morning, so you don't need to worry," he reassured Lilac.
He leaned back against the wall.
Lilac nodded again. “I can’t help worrying though…” she laughed a little. “I was always the anxious one in my family. Even when I was little,” she added as she sighed. She leaned against the wall and thought about everything that happened.
Mori sat up and yawned, wincing a bit. He still felt pretty awful, and he wanted to be around other people. He forced himself to his feet and started wandering around, looking unsteady and uncomfortable. "Mmmmm… hello…?" He called out. "Anybody here…?"
(Figured I'd let him pop in since Kas isn't going to be doing much until people notice they're gone lol)
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(hey, im back, sorry I disappeared so long, I had to turn my chromebook in for the summer)
(also can someone dumb down whats happened for me at some point-?)
(Honestly, it's been really slow go since you left? They're still in the abandoned hospital lol. Mostly character development/relationship development stuff, I think.)
(Let's see, only 10 pages of new stuff since you last posted. Kas is having a small gender crisis, Lis is now Levi's ~wingman~, and people are really just trying to recover from their injuries and all that)
Luka stirred awake from his sleep and stood up before walking around. He wanted to find Kas and check on him. He had been worried sick about the other boy and it was showing on his face.
(alright thanks, im just gonna have Aspen be napping though, since last I remember she was pretty tired)
Aspen was resting in a sitting position on the stairs, her elbow on her knee, and her cheek cupped in her own palm, her breathing slowed as she dreamt of various multicolored butterflies.
Bean noticed her siblings gone and went looking for Aspen. Once she found the other girl, she sat next to her. She stayed quiet so she wouldn’t wake her. Meanwhile, Luka continued looking for Kas until he finally found him. “There you are!” he moved near him.
Kas groaned softly at the noise and glanced up, relaxing a little when he noticed it was just Luka. "Oh… hi. Sorry for disappearing." They laughed weakly. "I've been talking to Tohru and my leg was hurting."