@ElderGodSwimwithGamers group
"We can help him get better," Halm said quietly. "He's not going to be like this forever." Halm closed his eyes a moment, hating to see how broken Cas was.
"We can help him get better," Halm said quietly. "He's not going to be like this forever." Halm closed his eyes a moment, hating to see how broken Cas was.
"W… W-What am I supposed to do without him? I n-need him!" Cas wailed, looking over at Zachary and trying to shake him. "Wake up! You c… you c-can't… please… I need you…"
Halm reached out to stop Cas from waking Zachary up, but it was too late. Zachary slowly opened his eyes. He looked at Cas, his eyes shattered. He did his best to sit up, motion shaky. He opened his mouth to try to say something, but he couldn't.
Cas started crying harder at the sight of Zachary's eyes, clearly completely unsure what to do. "Shh, shh, it's alright…" Nix hugged Cas tighter and buried his face in his hair.
Zachary really shouldn't have been waken up, but it was too late now. Halm carefully helped Zachary up. Zachary tried to reach out for Cas, but his hand was shaking too much. Halm gently took Zachary's hand in his own, helping to guide it to rest on Cas.
Cas hesitated before shuffling over to Zachary and huddling up against him as he struggled to stifle his sobs. "I'm s-sorry…" He whispered with a broken, hopeless tone.
Zachary's motions were like that of a baby; exaggerated, hard to control. He wrapped his arms around Cas as best he could, holding him close. He shook his head. Cas had nothing to be sorry for. Zachary rested his head on Cas's, not able to kiss him any more. He just didn't have the control.
Halm held Nix still, watching with concern. He helped Zachary when he could, but kept his distance now.
Cas kissed Zachary's cheek softly and buried his face in the other's chest while he sobbed. Nix turned his ears back and looked away guiltily.
Zachary managed to at least rub Cas's back, but the motion was a bit shaky. He held Cas close, letting out just little sounds of assurance. He couldn't form words.
Halm wrapped his arms securely around Nix, holding him close. He wanted to help Nix feel better, but how could he? They were the ones who did this…
Cas clung tightly to Zachary, savoring the small amount of affection he was able to get from him at the moment. "I-I love you…" He whispered.
Nix tucked his head under Halm's chin and fell silent.
Zachary managed to let out a soft coo, one hand sliding up to rest on Cas's head. He held Cas tightly to himself, afraid to let go of him.
Cas huddled as close to Zachary as he could, keeping his face buried while he cried. "W-We're gonna fix you, I promise…"
Zachary nuzzled the top of Cas's head, his eyes half closed. He let out a soft sound again, tightening his hold on Cas. He just… He just wanted to tell Cas that everything would be okay, that he could come back from this.
"I love you so much, Zachary… I… I'll make sure you recover from this, okay?"
Zachary nodded his head, going slowly so he wouldn't accidently hurt Cas. He nuzzled Cas gently, letting out another soft sound. He opened his eyes a bit more, gazing gently at Cas.
Cas returned the nuzzles with a quiet hiccup, trembling lightly. "I'm so sorry that this happened, Zachary…"
Zachary let out a small whimper. He didn't want Cas to be sorry. He pulled Cas closer, rubbing his back.
Nix watched the two of them with his ears flattened back against his head, whimpering almost inaudibly. He turned his eyes up to Halm, unsure what to do.
Halm held Nix close, letting out a shaky breath.
"I need to go get him a wheelchair," he said quietly.
"Alright… should I come with?" Nix asked just as softly, swaying his tail a bit. "Or should I stay here?"
"Stay here. Zachary might need your help." Halm kissed Nix's forehead lightly, then pulled away. Zachary looked up at Nix, making sure Cas didn't notice the anger in his eyes. They had done this to him.
Nix nodded and looked over at Zachary, cowering a bit at the glare. "We didn't mean for this to happen. I'm sorry." He mouthed to Zachary.
Zachary scowled, looking away a moment. They hadn't meant not to, either. Still… No matter how much he hated it, Zachary needed Nix and Halm's help. He couldn't ask these things of Cas. Zachary tried to raise his second hand to Cas's head, but he was having a hard time.
"We just wanted to protect him. We made a mistake." Nix sighed and looked away guiltily. Cas leaned into Zachary's touch, exhaling shakily.
Zachary looked back at Nix soon enough to catch his last sentence, letting out a soft breath. This, this was more than a mistake. Zachary leaned his head on Cas's, just wanting it all to be over now.
"You know that we would never intentionally hurt him. We… we thought that it would help. We were angry since they'd hurt him so much." Nix's eyes were stinging with tears at this point, but he was trying his best to hold them back.
Zachary didn't seem to react to Nix's words at first, but eventually he pulled one hand away from Cas's head, reaching out to shakily put it on Nix's leg. He should his head a little. He understood, even if he didn't approve.
Nix breathed a shaky sigh of relief and a couple tears rolled down his pale cheeks. He closed his eyes, rubbing at his tears with one fist. "Believe me when I say that I'm truly sorry that any of this happened, if only for Cas's sake. I know we don't get along, but I'm still sorry."
Zachary nodded slowly. He hesitated a moment, but he gave Nix a sympathetic look. Everyone was just don't there's best to keep Cas safe. That's all anyone wanted.
Nix looked away, curling his tail around himself and not communicating anything else for the time being. He didn't know what else to say. He just had to hope that Halm returned soon.
The following keyboard controls are supported across Notebook.ai. All keyboard controls are disabled when editing a document or notebook page.