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It began with a few small coughs, which formed into wheezing, sneezing, and near endless suffering.
They hadn’t even had him back for more than a week by that point. They had surely not gotten used to the changes either- Yet here they are; Watching the now flesh covered. practically no different from a normal human child sans for the almost bunny-like kangaroo ears in a limp rest, from an average child. Perhaps a bit under-weight, the doctor who unfortunately got bribed into taking this small little friend as a patient had a few unkind words about their current house conditions and wouldn’t stop mentioning that feature.
Gungaroo- Roo; caught the flu.
The first week was spent with Crowrang and Hyenard practically guarding the poor kid; preventing the others’ from potentially harming his already fragile ego. Crowrang in specific given the only reason they got their kid back was him.
Second had Boarski drive off for a few days and unprompted redoing of a large portion of Roo’s room to be ever so slightly more suitable for a more delicate figure, though the plushies and colorful decor felt a little uncharacteristic for the both of them. Axl gave a hand in it, Not hushing for a bit about how helpful the ‘old hags’ were when it came to their questions.
The third had Stonekong- For as little as the man seemed to want to acknowledge what happened- had stepped out to pick up a different type of medication, having come to the conclusion the liquid version wasn’t working as well and perhaps; Though a lot of that conclusion came from Snipe’s many struggles in convincing Roo to just take it. While out he picked up vitamins and some new healthier food options. Tunion and Hyenard learned to make some soups- apparently both Garlic and Onion are good for fevers; unless they upset your stomach.
Supposedly the clam Warfly brought along did well- he was able to consume it with little issues; Even if Roo found them painfully bland- Far better than the taste of that ‘bubble gum hell juice’ as he called it.
Axl began styling Roo’s hair; in the almost the same style he has his own in
And then land tonight; the others were out for work related reasons or simply had been recharging by that point- Red would’ve been out too himself had it not been for some unfinished paperwork; And admittedly bills.
A lot has changed over the month; Axl went on outings alone more often; much to Red’s paranoia- not in ‘He’ll get hurt!” way but a desire to keep him safe, The others have been outright refusing upgrades in order to keep better tabs on Roo; plus refused extra outings to not risk him getting worse- Something the doctor mentioned could happen given his conditions, He’s grown tired of the professors griping when it came to the kid though admittedly feels it rude to cut rope now while work was still in processes; certainly was on the verge of it with the more recent talks about dumping the kid elsewhere given he’s not useful.
Though, that is besides the point; Merhaps he’s a bit lost in thought. A storm has certainly built itself a home outside and made sure everyone knew how noisy of a neighbor it could be. Made keeping tabs on his thoughts more annoying; Rain bringing a more somber poetic feel; not that most take him for that type. The loud crackles of thunder surely didn’t make his mood better
Shutting the personal system down, having by then finished his work and not wanting to risk losing anything in case of an outage- as if one is a risk, He leaned back- exhausted. Which became him turning in for the night.
And then; listening out for the quiet but so very noticeable sounds of a certain child slinking across the halls- the give away being the fuzzy-yet-too-long comforter dragging behind him; that or it was the equally too long tail this time? No matter; Red waited for in real cue.
In this case it was soft tapping at his door; The sound of it clicking it- and failed sneaky steps toward the recharge bedding.
Red made a sound, acknowledging his guest- who in turn halted the approach for just a bit; then dropping the slow steps to rush over; a confession of fear spewing through harsh coughs and a near vocal plea of some smidge of pity.
The kid was small- so it’s not like moving over would kill Red- Surprised that despite his time out Roo still found himself scared of thunder- Memories of the first time they discovered that playing over as. Roo found a comfy position, wrapping himself up tight in his blanket- placing an unaccounted for pillow just a little distance from Red’s arm; Not saying much else for the remaining five minutes he had been awake. Going from slight jumps anytime something loud echoed to just soft breaths; shifting from a near perfect fetal position to coiling loosely around Red.
Within the first month of him being there- calling it home- warming up to the others they had spotted this weakness; a mental one unlike the disadvantage he has with Crowrang- Red having wondered if that’s why Roo actively tried to warm up to him- sides the point; The training rooms were nearly as sound proof as they are now, Tonion’s consistent hours of running a few modded tests left the poor thing certainly freaked out and in a much too familiar vain to now he found himself scampering off to Red.
Couldn’t’ve been more than eight at the time; mentally at the very least.
Pity the fear stuck around for as long as it did.
Red didn’t stay up much longer than that himself- though spent the rest of his time amused by just how little has really changed.