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SB was sick.
Jumper didn’t know why, when, or how he got sick, but it was pretty much an objective fact at this point amongst Team Bing. He was sick. And that meant someone had to take care of him. Even though he was their captive, they were still Lifestealers at the end; they’ll care for each other and support each other despite some of the screwed up stuff they do to each other. Team Bing delegated the task to Jumper, since Pentar and Yungy would probably kill him instead, and Zam was not confident that she wouldn’t kill him.
Seriously, Jumper had half a mind to suggest to the Admins that they should have a mandatory first aid course for the Lifestealers because if she had a nickel for every time she had to take care of a Lifestealer while they were sick, she’d have seven. Which isn’t a lot but why did it happen so many times.
(Somewhere on Nice Life, Jimmy sneezed.)
Ignoring that, Jumper made her way to the basement of their base, carrying a tray of food, into a room tucked into the corner where SB was held. They usually had at least one member of their team standing guard by the door, which was how they realised so quickly that SB was sick. Jumper knocked on the door gently, letting out a soft “I’m coming in.” before pushing open the door.
As she looked inside, she saw SB sleeping on the provided bed. The door to the bathroom was ajar and Jumper grimaced at the vomit on the floor. She’s going to force Pentar to clean that up, no questions asked. A fan was pointed at SB, though it was probably not doing much to help his illness. And looking at SB… the penguin hybrid was wearing a sleeveless top, exposing the feathers on his arms and the pulsating, gruesome, purple scars that snaked around his arms, stopping just at his wrists. The worst part about the scars, in Jumper’s opinion, was that it moved slightly, curling and shifting around his arms.
Letting out a shuddering breath, Jumper set down the tray on a table next to the bed, and shook SB gently to wake him up. The penguin hybrid groaned, turning onto the side that faced Jumper. He blearily opened his eyes, and Jumper frowned as she saw his hazy eyes with a twinge of- purple?
What was up with SB and having purple?
“…Pearl?” SB muttered. Jumper tilted her head to the side, rabbit ears flopping slightly, confusion making itself known on her face.
“Who’s that?” That was partly a lie. Jumper was pretty sure that “Pearl” was PearlescentMoon, who she saw a few times but never interacted with. She knew they looked kind of similar, but Jumper was a rabbit hybrid, and PearlescentMoon was a lunar moth hybrid for Xelqua’s sake.
“…oh,” SB mumbled, turning to lay back on his bed. He spread his arms and legs wide, into a position reminiscent of a star, staring up at the ceiling. Jumper sighed, tapping on his shoulder. He turned to face her, blinking. “Jumper? ‘M hungry, ‘s there food?” he questioned.
Jumper nodded, grabbing the stew and a spoon that was on the tray, and gestured for SB to sit up, which he complied with. “Yeah! That’s the reason I’m here. C’mon, eat up.” Jumper passed the stew and spoon to the now sitting SB, who reached out with grabby hands for the bowl. He grabbed the bowl tightly, slowly scooping out the stew with the spoon slowly. Soup dripped down his chin, so Jumper grabbed a tissue and cleaned it up.
Jumper reached a hand up to touch SB’s forehead, and she hissed at the heat. SB blinked at her. “Jump’r?” SB asked, soup dribbling down his mouth.
Jumper groaned, dabbing the tissue at SB’s mouth. “Don’t speak with your mouth full, SB,” Jumper reminded him. He nodded, swallowing another spoonful of stew. “Okay, I’m going to get a wet towel. Don’t do anything dumb. Not that you could, in your state.” The penguin hybrid nodded, sipping at the stew.
Jumper grabbed a cloth that was on the tray, heading to the toilet. She very pointedly avoided the vomit on the ground, heading to the sink, muttering, “Why am I even doing this I am so making Zam and Pentar and Yungy deal with SB. I’m literally his enemy, and now I’m just his caretaker!” Once the cloth was soaked, Jumper grumbled a tad more, and made her way back to SB, who had finished drinking the stew.
“Lay down,” she ordered, and SB complied, lying back down on the bed and staring intensely at Jumper. She folded the cloth into a rectangle, and placed it on his forehead. She looked at the tray, at the untouched medicine, and noticed that it wasn’t even fever medicine. Oh Xelqua, what was her team even doing.
“S’rry…” SB slurred unexpectedly. Jumper furrowed her brows. What did he even have anything to be sorry for?
“What for? You did nothing wrong.”
“I ‘lways make things w’rse though.”
Ah, self-deprecating thoughts. Of course.
The rabbit hybrid sighed, ruffling SB’s hair. “You can’t control getting sick though. I wouldn’t consider that your fault. Also, you really need a haircut.”
SB giggled, but still responded despondently, “Sh’ldn’t ‘ve got’en sick though. ‘S my fault f’r that.”
“It isn’t.”
“Still.”
Jumper groaned. She hates dealing with sick people, and this is only supporting that fact. She had an idea though, something that could potentially convince him to stop with the thoughts. And maybe also answer the curiosity in her. “Where did you get your scars on your arms? And why are your eyes kind of purple?”
SB seemed to take a moment to process the questions, raising his arms in the process. “Uhh… I ‘on’t know. They pulled it off, I s’ppose. Long time ago. My eyes ‘re purple?”
Jumper felt something uncomfortable settle in her gut. “How… how long ago?” she forced the question out, dread slowly building in her. She didn’t know what could’ve possibly occurred for someone to pull out his feathers, nor why it didn’t heal.
“‘Bout… eight years I think. Doesn’t hurt ‘nymore,” SB giggled.
Jumper’s blood ran cold.
She tried to force a question out of her throat, “Who would do this?”, “Why would they do this?”, “Are you okay?”, but they couldn’t seem to escape. Despite that, SB seemed to have read her mind, adding on, “Ask Mini ‘bout it. He knows more, prolly.”
“M-Mini? As in, MiniMuka?” Jumper asked, trying her best to stay calm.
SB nodded, then mumbled, “‘M sleepy, Jumper. Wanna sleep.”
Jumper let out a shaky breath, a weak smile on her face. “Of- of course! Try to get better, y-yeah?” The penguin hybrid nodded, closing his eyes.
Jumper quickly stood up and left the room, closing the door quietly. She shivered as the information she had just heard replayed in her mind. Whoever did that to him was cruel, it was unjust, and just disturbing altogether. She stared at her hands, which were shaking slightly, her mind reeling through all the possible explanations, yet none made sense. She brought her hands to her hair, tugging in slightly. She needed to stop thinking about it.
Despite that, it was the only thing she could think about the entire day.