@ElderGodSwimwithGamers group
(Iris, I love it XD)
(And I really feel that…)
"I see." They'd have to find a way to work around that. "It'll be difficult at first, no doubt about it."
(Iris, I love it XD)
(And I really feel that…)
"I see." They'd have to find a way to work around that. "It'll be difficult at first, no doubt about it."
"Yeah, especially since he's not going to want us to go in with him for obvious reasons. We'll have to Cas-Proof the bathroom and take out anything sharp…"
"Right. There shouldn't be anything dangerous in there, but with Cas's track record…" Halm trailed off. Everything seemed like a threat now.
Nix nodded a bit. "We just have to be super careful. Anything like a razor, or nail clippers, or scissors, or… hell, even dental floss he could hurt himself with."
Halm let out a long breath.
"He really could hurt himself with anything…" he said quietly.
"Yeah. I mean, he was doing it with his nails earlier. There's no way to get rid of every possible thing he could hurt himself with. He's bitten himself before, he's burned himself with pencil erasers… we'll never be able to get rid of everything."
Halm let out a long breath, closing his eyes a moment to process.
"Thankfully I'll know the moment he starts… We'll just have to do our best to not let him."
"Mhmm… he's a mess, and he's delicate. We have to be incredibly gentle with him."
"Of course." Halm opened his eyes after a moment, scratching Nix's head again.
Nix purred softly and huddled close. "Mmmm… this is nice…"
Halm smiled a little, continuing to pet Nix.
"I'm glad you enjoy it." He held Nix close, sighing softly. Gloria pop her head up, intent of saying something about Cas's self harm tendencies, but Halm gently pushed her back down with one finger.
Nix noticed Gloria popping up and pulled her out of Halm's pocket. "What were you going to say?" He asked, holding her in front of his face.
Gloria dusted herself off as best she could.
"I was going to ask to be let out of that bloody pocket," she said indignantly. "It might be a good idea to help Cas find something to replace his urge to self harm. If we can get him to associate those same feelings with another action, like snapping a rubber band against or doodling on his arm, then it could drastically reduce the amount of times he does self harm." Halm listened quietly to what Gloria said, arms going down to Nix's waist.
"Well, do we have something like that around here?" Nix asked Halm. "I've never seen Cas doing much drawing. He's not a very artsy person. But the rubber band thing could work as long as you wouldn't be too annoyed by the noise. I think the drawing thing could theoretically still work… the scratching feeling might be enough for him."
Halm nodded.
"I have some markers that would work. I don't think we should trust him with pens though. And I have some wider rubber bands. Again, if they're too thin he might end up actually hurting himself with them." He held one hand out, asking for Gloria back.
"We can go get them around now."
Nix nodded a bit and carefully set Gloria in Halm's hand, flicking his tail a bit. "We definitely don't want to give him a way to actually hurt himself… it might be safest to go with the markers for now, but that might not be enough for him, so it could be a good idea to give him a wide band as well."
Halm, predictably, set Gloria back in his pocket, which came with muffled protests that Halm proceeded to ignore. He missed to Nix's words.
"I'll go find some," he said, standing and setting Nix gently to the side.
Nix nodded a bit and trailed after Halm, sticking close to him as they walked. "What's the best way to introduce this stuff to Cas without him feeling insulted…?" He hummed thoughtfully to himself.
Halm made his way to the kitchen, where he seemed to store everything.
"I'm not sure," he admitted. "We'll have to be gentle, and careful. We don't want him to reject it."
"Mhmm… wouldn't want him to get offended or anything. Do you think it would be better for Zachary to introduce the idea to him?" Nix asked.
"I don't know. On one hand, he might listen to Zachary better. On the other, if Zachary screws it up Cas might end up pissed at him too." Halm pulled out a wide tipped marker and wide rubber band.
"True… we really need him to have at least one person he likes." Nix sighed. "I guess we'll go give it a go?"
Halm nodded.
"Hopefully he won't outright reject it." Halm made his way carefully back to the bedroom, knocking before entering.
"Cas," he said softly.
Cas looked up when they entered, still clinging to Zachary. "What do you want?" He asked softly. "We… have something to propose to you, Cas." Nix replied. "What is it?"
Zachary looked up when Halm and Nix walked in, holding Cas a bit closer. Halm stepped a little closer, showing the items in his hands.
"We're… Really worried whenever you… Hurt yourself. We thought these might help."
Cas hesitated before accepting the marker and the rubber band so that he could look at them more closely. "What do I do with them?" He asked. "Well, whenever you feel like you want to self harm, you're supposed to either draw on your arm or snap the rubber band against your wrist instead." Nix explained. Cas hesitated for a few seconds before nodding. "…Okay…"
"I understand you won't remember to do this instead every time, and that's okay," Halm said gently. "We just want to give you another option." Zachary sighed softly. He was a bit relieved they were doing this.
Cas nodded a bit and slipped the rubber band onto his left wrist. "Okay…" He huddled up against Zachary again, clutching the marker in one hand. It was red, which would probably help the action to feel more substantial to him.
Halm nodded a little, able to tell they had done everything they could for now. Zachary looked down at Cas, gently rubbing his back. He looked up at Halm and Nix, mouthing his thanks. Halm nodded, slipping his hand into Nix's to head back out.
Nix nodded as well and followed Halm back out of the room. "Well… that went better than expected." He said softly once they were out of earshot.
Cas sighed quietly as he buried his face in Zachary's shoulder. "Mmmm… I'm such a mess…"
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