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He didn’t know when he started getting attached.
Maybe around the first time she was gentle with him, when he didn’t deserve it.
he was stressed, angry then, at balan, at her, at the others and how he wind up in a world that broke every possible physics law that’s been studied. and despite their fights, and how unjustifiably he snapped at everyone at that time -especially her “papa” -. she was the last person he expected to sit down and try to comfort him. her words were soft, spoken calmly. he tried his best to ignore her presence, to close himself off and try to get his mind to think of something until she gets bored and leaves him alone. like he usually does. but Lolo is stubborn.
She wasn’t smiling at him warmly, or frowning sympathetically, she looked him in the eyes with the most serious face he never imagined seeing from a person who has trouble taking stuff seriously.
Like his feelings were the most important case.
Pathetic.
She took the hint, saw he wasn’t planning on talking so ended up leaving him alone with a “ I understand you value your space, so I’ll leave you in your own bubble, just know that we care.” and a pat on the shoulder.
Probably wasn’t exactly the start of this, but he vividly remembered wishing she stayed a little longer...
.———————————————.
-SLAM-
slamming the bedroom door and strolling in like she owned the place, heading to the colorful bed at the left corner of the room, putting one hand on the nightstand to balance her figure, the left on her hips, and looking at the mass of limbs piled under the sheets.
”Rise and shine sunshine!!” he groaned loudly in disappointment, mumbling something between the lines of ‘morning people’ and ‘unwelcomed’. making sure she knows he’s not happy.
“ get up. me and Emma decided to be nice today and let you sleep in until we finished our breakfast. Now that we finished we’re going ahead of you to the next stage and you follow us after you’ve eaten your own breakfast and gotten ready. don’t try to get back to sleep and ditch us for Balan is still around and will come at you personally!”
“Yay......”
It’s been like this, every morning. He started wishing she would end up getting sick for at least a day or two, imagine how peaceful it would be.
“...it was mostly Emma’s idea though, which I don’t support.” She whispered the last statement quietly to herself but he’s not that stupid, he knows deep down in that wicked mind of hers she wanted him to hear that. no intentions on hurting him that’s the way she ‘bonds’ with everyone apparently, she made sure he knew that. with his back facing Balan Junior, laying on his right side, face at the wall,
Leo tried to get lolled back to deep slumber knowing the usual, it will be three seconds before she decides to smack him in the head with a pillow. Cruel.
The tactic she uses to wake Emma is much more pleasant, small quiet whispers in the girls ears, honey sweet words, gentle nudges with some small jokes to raise the young blondie’s mood a bit, until she sits up straight and welcomes the day with a smile. he witnessed this in one of the rarest mornings where he woke up earlier then most of the residents in the theatre. if he didn’t know any better he would have seen himself that moment standing at the door of Emmas room politely and watching as the maestro’s assistant did the job assigned to her, to have felt some form of envy. He scoffed in his head
Brain being stuck in the middle between reality and dream land, he suddenly realized it’s been longer then three seconds. trying to make himself believe the unbelievable, to relax and enter his dreams.
Maybe she left his room for some reason?it’s believable when Balan is put in the picture.....
yeah Balan probably called in on her.
Welcoming sleep with the rooms chilly temperature and embracing the warm comfy sheets, his tense body started relaxing. the muffled voices of the creatures outside chanting something being at the back of his mind as his body started pleasantly melting, the ‘timu...timu..timu’ from a puffy Tim hoping in the hallway to its next destination, the breathing near his ears lulling him to sleep, he started feeling his soul detach from his bo-,
wait breathing...?
Snapping his eyes open, his soul being sucked right back in, face going pale. his mind ringing alarm clocks for the danger at hand. but it was too late, for the boy physically felt his eardrums being ripped apart with the next scream and a huge, strong bite at his earlobe.
“ WAKE UP!!”
.———————————————.
Humans fascinated Balan, but no human has as much as his daughter.
one faithful night before the young ones arrived to Wonderworld, when it was only him, Lolo, and the souls stuck in their stages. He was preparing something eatable for his young human daughter, when he noticed her on one of the gigantic tables in the dining room siting patiently on a chair, and throwing her feet in the air. drawing some form of symbols using said limbs. waiting for him to finish dinner. when he cornered her about it while eating, all she said was that she usually wastes her time like this. it amused balan. was it a cultural thing she did back on earth? a religious activity? or perhaps some kind of human instinct? He didn’t know and boy did it kill him.
His daughter always surprised him. but now looking at the child in front of him, Leo would be at the top, almost close to his daughter just by the way he was entering the needed vitamins in his body. the boy was chomping his cereal like his life depended on it, teeth clashing like some kind of machine at the dumpster squishing the trash. he knew Leos morning started bad when he heard the children’s screams through the hallways. They had another fight and it looks like a physical one this time. when his daughter left the room covered in feathers he knew the weapons used thankfully weren’t harmful, which made him let out a heavy breath he didn’t know he was holding.
just a pillow fight.
The boy exited his room way after the girls left, smiling like a sick puppy with a hint of redness in his face. but currently? he looks like someone screamed at him that his dancing was poop, messed his perfect hair, stomped his foot and hopped away.....which sounds like something his dearest young would do.
The fast change in the boys expression is very amusing. from what he’d learned throughout the years he interacted with these creatures, it has to do with this specific age range, something about harmonies...? like his darling counterpart Lance would say in his gruff voice, after tsk-ing, ‘teenagers...’.
Clearing his throat at the violent eater in front of him to grab his attention, gaining a look of sketchiness from Leo, Balan’s mere curiosity urging him to stick his nose where it doesn’t belong “I take it your morning wasn’t the brightest?” the child’s features hardened trying to look intimidating, especially with that pun thrown in the sentence. although the milk and pieces of chomped cereal sliding down his chin weren’t helping whatsoever. “ yeah I wonder whyyyyy” sarcasm. a useless technic people use to show distaste, gaining a smug smile on the maestros already creepily wide smile. He was enjoying his suffering. Something Leo found both Lolo and Balan have in common. Leo ignored Wonderworld’s guardian. Trying to eat in peace. the gigantic table has gotten unpleasantly quiet, only some Tim noises in the hallways from the ones in the theatre that keep Balan company when the children weren’t around, and the clicking of Leo’s spoon that’s now gotten a decrease in its speed. Balan wouldn’t lie and say he’s oblivious to his child’s behavior, it’s not like the young boy sitting in front of him hates his daughter but,,, it’s glass clear he dislikes some of her actions, the boy would usually show displeasure to them but Balan noticed that this displeasure doesn’t last long, which confuses him. Anywhom, those actions cannot be stopped for they are apart of the girl’s personality, but they can be controlled. his daughter knows when the time is appropriate, and for that he’s thankful.
“maybe it’s time we arrange something?” Balan’s serious suggestion gotten the boys immediate attention. the cereal forgotten, that tasteless thing can wait. he looked at balan in the eyes, waiting for him to continue. “Hmmh..” twirling his glowing teal gummy like dreads between his fingers “starting by tomorrow....,maybe we should send someone el-“ “NO!” the clinging of the cereal plates and the thumping from the jug of milk caused by small palms being slammed on the table. realizing his slip up, the teen immediately sat back down coughing in his palms, throwing his legs over each other and looking down at his shoes with his hands crossed in front of him, it was so fast balan would have thought he imagined it. “I-I meant no, no need....uh, sorry.”, the tables gotten quiet, the silence was straight out suffocating. after a couple of seconds that felt like hours Leo opened his mouth “it’s n-not like she will listen anyways......, you know.., stubbornness and all.” Last time Balan heard such an outrageous lie was around his time with his dearest Lancy, way back, when they didn’t have the urge to rip each others faces whenever they meet eye to eye. back then it was the opposite actually. those lies started specifically around him developing an obsession with sneaking in to Wonderworld’s kitchen at night to eat those frozen flavored creams. Ahm!. back to the scene at hand. his daughter is pretty stubborn but when it comes to the people around her, she will do anything without questioning. Balan is sure if he told Lolo about the situation at hand she will be understanding and not take it personally, maybe Leo is just shy...
His thoughts were interrupted by the chairs creek from Leo getting up, oops our dear maestro has taken too long in his thoughts “I think I’m supposed to be out by now helping the girls, t-thanks for considering it though...umm,bye” Leo tried walking to the door of the dining room without looking awkward but failing miserably, he was about to cross the entrance of the room to the empty theatre halls full of plants and hanging frames, when Balan caught a red biting mark on Leo’s left ear.
.———————————————.
“Lolo are you okay?” Emma’s voice snapping him out of his head, he was deep in his thoughts about the way he acted during breakfast to notice the main cause of all his distress was lacking behind, he stopped and turned around to see the face of an exhausted Lolo and a worried Emma, “pfft don’t worry your cute head I’m just-“ then she yawned and it’s like she fell asleep mid-sentence, the blond girl raised her hand to touch the brunettes forehead and check on her temperature, making sure she isn’t coming up with something, when Lolo suddenly flinched and snapped awake
“—FINE!”looking around like a deer in the headlights.
‘Not fond of surprised touches’ Leo kept that in mind......for no particular reason-. Lolo relaxed when seeing that it’s only Emma. she rubbed her eyes sleepily with the back of her hand.“I’m fine...just a bit sleepy.” she smiled warmly at the worried girl besides her, stretched her hands to pat both of Emma’s shoulders “ I’ll probably become wide awake when we find the next statue” she let go and started walking again, a bit forced “c’mon we’re still in the beginning of this adventure!”
An hour later and she didn’t survive.
“Pleaseee let’s head backkkkkk!” She was clinging to the right arm of Leo for dear life, pulling his arms with her backwards trying to slow him down. the boy groaned in annoyance, she’s not acting like a 16 year old. And why is she begging him of that? “ why don’t you tell Emma then?” He never heard his voice in such a monotonous pitch, first time for everything he guessed “ are you nuts? if I say that to Emma she’ll actually do it! bless her innocent soul but we only have two statues mister!”
Leo looked down at the dangling girl in his arm with an unamused expression. after a couple of tries and fails in stopping Leo, she gave up.
by the end of the day she looked like a body with no soul, a walking corpse. Emma freaked out, change of plans! 4 statues are enough, they all deserve some rest. Heading to the Isle Of Tim’s. Arriving there through a portal, the young guide shuffled her way across the Isle to find a place perfect for her promised nap. she sat down far away from everyone, under the shade of one of the rare trees on an inhabitants land. She then crawled to hide her hat behind those trees, away from a Tim’s curious eyes Incase one decided to visit her ‘soon to be’ knocked out body. After making sure her hat is safely hidden from any fluffy tailed creatures, she went back to her former sitting location, fumbling with her jacket in the intend of taking it off, revealing the hidden dark blue shirt with cuffs ending two inches before reaching her elbow. she threw the jacket carelessly, not caring if it fell off the floating island. Lolo isn’t fond of showing skin, including her arms, so she’s thankful she chose a spot far away to be in her own privacy. she undid a button or two and left the red ribbon around her neck, shaking the shirt around for the chilly air to enter through. taking a huge gulp of the refreshing oxygen, the shadows of the trees covering her pleasantly from the sun, making her more drowsy and numb. she drifted her focus at the middle of the isle taking a quick glimpse at Leo and Emma feeding the Tim’s, breeding them and hatching some. the guide doesn’t help when it comes to the Isle Of Tim’s so she took this free time to rest a bit. eyes slowly blinking sleepily, she threw her arms in the air to stretch, tightened her muscles then letting go, flopping on the ground lazily. her muscles felt like jelly and with that she ended up welcoming sleep with an arm over her eyes and another spread out in the grass.
‘These Tim’s never get full do they’.
emptying all his pockets from the colorful drops, he let out a big yawn. this was the most boring part, dealing with these creatures. he started to feel the tingles of sleep start to spawn in his muscles, he looked to the left checking on his friend who’s helping him with these fluffy creatures, she looked like she’s having the time of her life. Emma liked this part of the adventure the most. if she could she would have stayed here forever, playing with those soft fluff balls, meeting the new borns, and just hear them all chant with no stop
“TIMA, TIMA,TIMAA!”
Looking down at the impatient fella at her feet, who was shaking their body left and right and flapping their tiny wings, desperate for more drops. she giggled at their antics, throwing to them more drops just because they’re cute.
That simply confirmed Emma will be taking long.
Turning his body and heading to the small land he saw their sleepy friend go to, dodging the mini balan hat that’s seen in countless locations on this island. he stood at the small land in the corner, there for one of the inhabitants portal to their stage, who apparently has some kind of obsession with checkers. He found Lolo on the side, under the shade of some trees. heading to the sleeping figure, when he got close, standing besides the unconscious body, it clicked that he didn’t know why he came here. he hasn’t the heart to wake her up. then what brought him here? he just felt like being around her. looking down at her calm features, slow, steady breathing, a small smile on her face indicating she’s dreaming, it struck him like a knife, a painful feeling. the sense of longing.
he felt so far away yet so close, yearning.
He wanted her attention.
He wants her attention.
he wants her attention even while she’s resting...
Now he’s the cruel one. He tried to walk away, what is he even thinking! he only came here to check on her like he did with Emma, there’s nothing weird to that, and now that she’s fine he can go help Emma hatch those eggs..., pfft wanted attention? he hates the attention of others. but he couldn’t get himself to walk away. He looked down at her peaceful face, tilting his head down, squeezing his eyes shut and knitting his brows in thought, he took the decision of staying, he felt like he’s making a fool of himself but at the moment he didn’t care about pride. he kneeled down slowly to not startle her and sat down on the left side to the laying girl, being consumed with her presence sounds much better then cracking eggs. he let out a shaky breath looking at the sky. Ugh he feels like an attention seeking kid.
Goodness he’s never been this attached to someone.
And maybe.....maybe that’s okay.
“Wow, that was a show.“ he flinched at her voice but didn’t turn around. she was a light sleeper, it’s not much of a surprise, “ did I disturb you?” He asked without even looking down at her face, just straight ahead at the sky. “I won’t say disturb, but the war in your head was pr-e-tty loud” ending her sentence with a sleepy giggle and then a grouchy yawn. “let me guess” she looked at him like she’s about to expose his darkest secrets “- you’re bored but you feel guilty for leaving Emma to do all the work,ay??” She smiled at him in victory and oh how he wished he could laugh at her face and tell her about how wrong she is. But he stayed silent and she took that as her answer. She yawned again, combing her fingers through her bangs pushing them back “Well I’m sorry to break it to ya, but I’m a bit exhausted so-” another tired yawn “-I won’t be much of a satisfying company~” she turned around in her left side, facing him and closed her eyes wanting to doze off again, until noticing the boy didn’t move. opening one eye to look at him in confusion, she realized throughout that small chitchat he was quiet, wouldn’t even look at her and show her his face, he just kept looking up at the sky.
Looking down in thought, now that she’s thinking about it, she had noticed today when he joined her and Emma to collect the statues, he wasn’t himself, he was awfully quiet. now that they’re alone maybe she should rip the bandaid. she opened both of her eyes tilting her head up with a serious expression, although didn’t bother getting up from her laying possession. “is this about this morning?”
Silence greeted her, but she waited patiently. concern eating her from the inside. maybe this morning was too much, she does have a problem with acting before thinking, she’s been scolding herself for years about that. this silence from Leo hasn’t been seen in a while. It reminded her of when he entered the theatre for the first time, it worried her. Feeling the grass under her tug, she looked down seeing the boy’s palms has seized the green little plants and squeezed hard, ripping a couple from the ground, she looked back up when she heard his voice “can i-..” he stopped immediately for he didn’t hear himself there, too cracked and high pitched to be his. clearing his throat fast he continued “can I uh, lay down....besides you....., i-if you’re okay with that of course.” blinking up at him, he still won’t look at her.
“uh?..sure....”. What’s up with him??
Slowly, Leo laid down on his back, both palms on his stomach fidgeting, they’re both the same height although him not glancing at her resulted in him laying lower a couple of inches.
He STILL won’t look at her.
‘What if your actions this morning made him uncomfortable..?’
It felt like all the organs in her body toppled down, and an empty hallow yet painful feeling formed in her stomach. the start of old, unwanted memories trying to resurface. Fearing the danger of those thoughts she ignored them. busying her hands and acting on impulse both her palms went flying to Leos shirt taking him in surprise, then retreated them fast in a way to flip the boy to his side forcibly, facing her and trying desperately to make him look at her in the eyes. she may never forgive herself if what she’s thinking about turns out true.
even now both of them laying face to face (Er- face to hair) a few inches away from each other, he cowardly looked away, down, up, anywhere else then her face.
you know he never questioned where those tiny balan hats come from..
Leo was being closed off again. Exactly how he was when he first entered Wonderworld and after the accident at Haoyu’s stage. and Lolo started fearing the worse. stretching her right arm,she lightly touched the space between his jawline and ear, slowly like she may break him if more pressure was applied, tilting his head up so he’d look at her in the eyes, when he did his face turned a couple of shades, they were so so close, he started feeling a bit dizzy, and the butterflies in his stomach went wild. He got consumed by her scent, her aroma was full of comfort, freshly baked muffins with the hint of caffeine and warm melted chocolate. Leo cringed internally, he’s now acting like a creep. but smelling her welcoming scent, oh he could sleep like this.
Her fingers and their feather light touches on his face not helping at all, oh goodness is this how Emma feels when the attention is on her, or is this just a problem with him.
“Leo..” and with that he felt his heart physical burst out. “I’ll ask you again, is this about the way I woke you up this morning?”
he didn’t know what she was saying, all that’s in his head is how close she is.
close! close! close!
her fingers caressing his jawline, her brown eyes giving him the attention he shamed himself for moments ago, his heart was hammering in his chest loudly he’s scared she’ll hear it.
BA-DUM.
BA-DUM.
BA-DUM.
......
...
.
“ Leo...” studying his face, she let out a breath of relief, he’s now looking at her in the eyes. they looked unfocused, drunk and half-lidded, pupils blown wide open. his features aren’t worrisome. at least whatever is bothering him isn’t what her mind is forcing her to believe. She didn’t notice her body had became tense until now, trying to relax herself. Breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out, ‘that was your panicky mind thinking’. But still, she should really learn boundaries.
glancing up at the boy, she caught red bite marks on his left ear.
Oof.
if anyone woke her up the way she woke Leo up, she would have broken whatever bond she had with that person at the spot. even if that’s her ptsd speaking, people have different experiences with touch, she should have been more careful. Maybe....”Leo,how abou-“ looking back down she found Leo dozing off, he has buried his face in her hand, that’s currently resting at the side of his cheeks close to his lips. head leaning in and with their bodies not laying the same horizontally, his head was close to laying flat on her collarbone.
“Hmm..”muttering in his sleep as a response to his name, he looked so calm. Her features softened,and she let out a sigh. she’ll join him in dream land, and later she’ll be discussing this with Balan. both Leo and the memories she thought she forgot. she’d like to sit with her baba and talk about it, it will be better for her health. not to mention that she’s not keen on dealing with a panic attack in the middle of the night like last night, she doesn’t want it to effect her relationships and day to day life like it did today. She failed today as a guide because of that, but that’s fine, for she has tomorrow to redeem herself. Feeling the beginning of sleep kick in, she wrapped her arms around the blond head, bringing the boy closer and burying his face in her neck. The chirping of the Tim’s calming her more and the shadow of the broken clock in the sky moving over their heads once in a while making her body lazily melt. tangling their legs together until she felt comfortable she drifted off to sleep again, this time with someone she cares for between her arms, and a deep slumber that she won’t be waken up from anytime soon.
.———————————————.
“Are you sure about that dear?” Absolutely positive, it was fun while it lasted but she won’t trade that for Leo’s comfort. “yeah I think both of them would appreciate a cute Tim waking them up rather then me”. She ended her statement with a chuckle “although you could do it?” raising her eyebrows in a teasing manner. She knew as much as balan loves the children, he still doesn’t want to invade every single second in their life, he’d control his excitement in seeing them and won’t forgive himself if he allowed it to distress, distract or disturb them. He’d wish for them to have their own time once in a while without his /sometimes/ chokingly energetic presence. Leo has made it clear that he treasures his alone time or any time balan isn’t stuck to him like glue. He let out a somewhat nervous chuckle “Very sweet of you to propose that but I’d rather not startle them in the early morning with my energy.” The young girl chortled at the image of a frightened Leo and Emma in the early daylight, Balan joining in with his own cackle caused by his daughters laughter. When it ceased down Balan spoke his mind “ you know you could change your ways in waking Leo up. I don’t think quitting from the task altogether is a needed answer “ Balan gave his young assistant a quizzical look, tilting his head with it. His daughter stared down in nervousness making the wet towel on her forehead fall on her lap, Thankfully not inside her bowl of food. a sweet smile stayed in her face “I can’t change my ways balan.... his reactions make my day! It’s a bit selfish but I really love messing with him.“ the guides smile twitched a little “...but I don’t want my actions to develop something negative....” her frown clear as day now “—so I’ll gladly decrease them. I don’t want Leo to leave Wonderworld with a bad memory.”
The maestro has never felt so proud.
A sneeze erupted from the girl, it’s blow making her a bit dizzy. “Ughhh..” He whispered a bless you which gave him a small gurgling thanks from his daughter “can it happen?” she wiped her nose with the tissues of her nightstand, as the maestro raised his grassy green eyebrows. “I don’t quite understand what you’re hinting at little angel.” After wiping her noise and clearing her throat she explained “Is it possible for a visitor to leave Wonderworld unhealed or with a worse condition then when they entered?” That made Balan put his hand on his chin. His expression showing that he’s diving in his memories. “hmm......from my experience, some patients may take longer to heal then the others.” He looked down in thought trying to remember the dozens of humans he healed and if he stumbled on any interesting cases. “...Sometimes to the point that the healed ones would leave and that one patient who hasn’t would stay and continue their journey with the new group” the girl was giving balan her full attention. How Wonderworld works always fascinated her “sooo, no one can leave Wonderworld until they’re fully healed?” The maestro smiled in accomplishment “yeah!, stripped from all toxic energies. So you don’t have to worry about Leo leaving with bad memories..., for there won’t be any memories...” The maestro whispered the last part under his breath. It wasn’t heard by Lolo for she doesn’t need to know that now. He coughed under his breath dramatically “Now now young lady drink up your soup, it’s not going to finish itself!” What a way to ruin her mood. looking down at the bowl of the loathed liquid, she visually grimaced “you know I hate soup and from all the heathy dishes out there, you chose it.” She looked up from the plate in hand to give the smug maestro an unamused expression “How dare you.”
“Soup is one of the best dishes served to an ill individual, Be thankful!” The maestro’s statement made the assistant groan, she put the dish on her nightstand and flopped in her pillow, taking the small cold towel and laying it back on her forehead, then spreading her arms in the comfy sheets, looking up and glaring at the ceiling “when I find out who prayed for my sickness I’m slaying them.”
The glamoured man gave her an unpleased glance for abandoning the meal. she responded with a short “later” without glancing away from the ceiling, indicating her nonexistent appetite for the soup “Harsh words my little angel, but what makes you think that?” Her glare hardened, face red from the heat her body is radiating caused by the sickness. she whispered “too sudden. someone is behind it.” chuckling softly at his daughters way in thinking, he got up from his seat on the bed, taking his hat he left on her desk and turned off the lights. He reminded her to make sure the soup doesn’t become cold, turning the small night light on, he strolled to the door. Putting his hat on and releasing the green dreads on his shoulders. he creaked the door open, wanting to check on the other two kids and make sure they’re tucked in. He was halted by his daughter’s uncertain voice calling out to him. Turning around he found her deep in thought, obviously something was bothering her.
she let out a shaky breath, then opened her mouth “I had a panic attack last night....”
It was quiet for a few minutes.
Slowly, painstakingly slowly, he let go of the doorknob. walking back to the bed, sitting at the end of it delicately and looking at Lolo’s tired features “want to talk about it?” She shuddered just by the thought of it “No n-“ her voice cracked “...no, I just...” another inhale, it took her a while to collect herself, but Balan was patient. “I don’t like sharing my shame to you Balan...” she mumbled laying on her side, giving Balan her back. It made the maestro let out a sigh “you shouldn’t shame yourself on something that wasn’t in your control..., it wasn’t your fault-“
“That still doesn’t change how I feel.” another shaky inhale, her voice cracked again “I still feel it.” It was quite for a moment, both of them lost in their thoughts. it was moments like these Balan wished he was around when it happened. he thanks god for the child is now under his wing. his little one is currently safe in Wonderworld from any harm. but the damage was done, And long lasting scars were born. His hate for her biological parents and how utterly useless they were during the accident has become a natural feeling now. He still couldn’t believe a parent has the ability to abandon what’s claimed to be their ‘happiness’ during danger. it disgusted him. It’s true what they say; every child deserves a parent, but not every parent deserves a child.
Lolo curled in her blanket hugging her body protectively. She suddenly felt exposed. She started shaking
“I-t hurts” voice so broken, so pained “I just want it t-to stop-“ she started choking in her tears, trying to repress them, “ I can’t s-stooop them.....they w-on’t leave me alone....” putting one hand over her mouth and squeezing, biting her fist and wheezing in mild fear for what’s in her heart. She didn’t know exactly what triggered her last night but she knew she had a nightmare. One that can’t be remembered but the effect was still there, she’s scared of dealing with it again tonight. she hated how her brain isn’t normal anymore. the way it responds to anything at anytime and flips her health both mentally and physically with just a second. she hated it, hated the visions, the paranoia, the panic attacks, her fear in suddenly dying from low oxygen caused by them, she’s not normal anymore. She can’t think normally, she can’t react normally, she can’t act normally.
She’s not herself.
She’s been tainted.
The girl shook hysterically, taking the fist away from her mouth, she opened up, allowing all the pain, agony, restless nights and screams to leave her, crying and crying. balan scooted closer, opened his arms in an invitation, giving her the choice to accept or decline for touch in this case is unwise. She sat up leaping in his arms, wrapping her own around his torso, pushing her tearful face in his suit, balan responding quickly, closing himself around the girl like a cage. strongly, but protectively lovingly.
“MAKE IT STOP!!”
“MAKE IT STOP!!”
“MAKE IT STOOOOPPPP!!!”
She cried, wheeped, Sobbed as loud as she could.
Balan whispering sweet nothings in her ears, full of parental love and affection, rhythmic pats on her back, and kisses on her head. shushing her through it all, telling her that he’ll be there for her, that he’ll help her defeat those demons. and whenever they fail again he’ll be there to conceal her. 10 minutes of expressing her turmoil, Her cries drastically decreasing Into small whimpers, and then nothing at all. He reached at the nightstand taking the bowl of soup in hand, slowly leaning her exhausted body due to both sickness and her mental breakdown, resting it on his shoulder while she sat besides him. he started feeding her the somewhat warm liquid, slowly. Each spoon given with care.
Oh how he wished he was there.