Cal ‘Collie’ Thi Lê | 16 | AB- | Male | Visions | Both | Questioning | M: Axel, Aries, TJ, and Ethan (Dir)

It was odd to see Aries stand so weakly. He looked so shaky and unbalanced for once. This was one of the first times seeing Aries like this and Cal felt weak to be unable to help. After all, it felt like it was all Cal’s fault. He had heard from somewhere that it was ‘selfish’ to think you’re responsible for every bad thing, but it really felt like it was this time because of everything that he did. Before the train, on the train, in the train bathroom, it felt like it all led up to this: Aries being broken, bleeding, and a fraction of his former self it seemed. Cal shifted nervously on the heel of his foot to his toe as he fiddled nervously with his sleeves. Maybe it was just the fact that Cal hadn’t seen Aries ever act up like this in front of him before that or it felt like another deja vu trip to his memories of dealing with his childhood friend Sarah’s problems, but whatever it was, Cal couldn’t shake a worried and concerned feeling for his friend. Cal looked down at the ground, no longer focusing on Ariv shambling closer to him as he waited for anyone to do or say anything. Cal was more worried if he had ruined his friend and that this was all something he started.

Cal snapped his head up to look at his shoulder when he felt a small, gentle tap. If Cal had been outside, he might have mistaken the weak contact for a loose acorn or a drop of rain, but it took him to realize what it was. Aries had tapped him. It was such a gentle but weird touch that seemed too adorable not to smile at.

“‘Mnee?’” Cal asked, not able to really process what Aries had said. Cal studied him with confusion but still held a smile. “Like, ‘mhmm knees’ or ‘hmm needs?’ I’m not really sure what you’re trying to say here, bud—” Cal snickered softly as he looked at him with what can best be described as a warm or even loving gaze— “but uhh… thanks?” Cal gently placed a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t be standing around for me! I don’t want you to get yerself more hurt just to make me smile.”

As soon as Axel put his hands around Aries, Cal smiled at the smaller teen. Axel was probably one of the best caretakers in the group, up there with Nabih and Leroy. Cal didn’t mention it or even thank him, but Cal was incredibly thankful that Axel was taking care of Aries and even calling him not a nuisance. A non-nuisance. That was a relief to hear. Even being half his size, Axel was a perfect fit to help Aries.

“Alright, I’ll see you in bed later, right Axel?,” Cal questioned in a soft tone, smirking goofily at the prompt to pet the bird before turning to Aries. “And you! Please get some good sleep, okay? Besides—” Cal chuckled faintly before lightly punching his shoulder in a playful manner— “we have a long day tomorrow and I wanna do a bunch of fun things with you here!” Cal smiled and gave a tiny wave as he turned and trotted back to the bird.

“So uhh… TJ,” George said in a much more hushed voice to not disturb anyone and the bird included. “Is that a yes from Fateflawed? I mean, I might just be an idiot but it looks like a yes right?” The hawk was pecking at Ethan’s hair to sort it into something manageable while sitting on his shoulder. That must be super awesome. Cal didn’t want to take away from Ethan’s fun, but it looked super awesome and Cal wished he were him in that moment. Minus the being short part. “And uhh… I have to ask this but umm…,” Cal bit his lip as he instinctively tried to pick at the skin around his nails, finding the bandages around his fingers instead and reminding himself not to scratch, “can you really understand her? If so, that’s super incredible!!” Cal was absolutely gushing, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. “Can you teach me a little?! I mean, think of just how amazing that is that you even know it! I honestly didn’t think they have a language language… Does it mainly just have basic words and stuff? I’m assuming no articles and verbs might not have a past or future tense? Ahhh, but that’s so cool!! Using your knowledge of the dialect and literal language of one animal can mean the possibility of translating others and even using this to communicate in ways to better develop a connection between animals and humans! Think of all the animals that could be saved if people knew their language or how many more people would want to help animals if they could hear them or if-” Cal paused, blushing a bit at the realization that he had been talking a lot.

“Sorry err- back to the main point! May I pet her? I don’t want to be rude and pet without permission...” Cal chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck. “She looks very soft. I mean… I don’t see you around often unless you’re with the rest of the group or Ethan so do you always hang out with her? You must have to brush her a lot to keep her that fluffy looking. If so, that's completely understandable!” Cal sighed softly, a smile growing widely on his face. “Man, you’re a helluva lot better with animals than anyone else I’ve ever known… Whatever weird super power you have to understand them must be foreshadowing something great. Maybe you’d become the leader of the forest and do a bunch of good things for animals! Like a superhero!!”

January 10th, ????

G.A.F. 'KhorneAriethous'/N.R.V. | 16/17 | AB/B+ | Male | Pain Adren/High Intel | Both | C Demi(HML)/Pan | Mentions; The Others(Ind. & Dir.)

“Well, thanks. It's appreciated. That's alright, you can keep it. I don't really need it, and it doesn't necessarily hold any great emotional significance to me.”

--

Nabih tried to gauge Leroy’s reaction as he said this, before humming quietly in agreement. “I suppose I can. Though, if you ever change your mind, you can tell me.”

--

Nabih looked over at the door, quietly hoping that everything had calmed down a bit now. He’d heard the door open again earlier, and then heard bird noises. He was worried, Nabih could admit to that. He felt that out of all of them, he should be out there helping. He has his notes, he’s noticed things that some of the others may have not about Aries. But he also felt like that wasn’t exactly going to be helpful right now. What would be helpful would be going out and buying a first-aid kit that’s not expired.

--

He also didn’t want to leave Leroy. Not because he didn’t trust him by himself or anything, but simply because he felt like it. Though, Nabih knew how dangerous a feeling like that could get. But this wasn’t the same as that, he knew that too. So, he looked back at Leroy. “Do you think everything’s calmed down at all?”

*~*~*~*

Gwyar felt a weight, though not much if he was being honest, at his side and an arm that went around his waist. “…okay, Cal! You aren't… nuisance! Y-you… bed, A-Aries. We… s-should… Cal and Ethan… see if… pet the bird.”

--

“He's bleeding…”

--

Ah, that’s right. Gwyar had honestly forgotten about Tyler’s completely amazing sense of smell and all. Curse them. Luckily, Cal was opening his mouth so he didn’t have to answer to the wrath of a tree man. Yet, at least.

--

“…‘mhmm knees’ or ‘hmm needs?’ I’m not… sure… trying to say… but uhh… thanks?” Cal’s hand was on his shoulder. “…standing… me! I don’t… get yerself more hurt… make me smile.”

--

And he tried not to flinch. Tried to tell himself that was just the hearing, that Cal didn’t actually want him hurt. He couldn’t stop himself from tensing, even if he only did slightly. If he didn’t do anything then Cal would repeat what he said, if he’d meant that like that. But Cal didn’t, he just continued talking.

--

“Alright, I’ll see… bed… Axel? And you! Please… good sleep…? Besides-” A light shoulder punch that completely toppled any trying he had, and he’d flinched. The ‘punch’ hadn’t been hard, hadn’t warranted a flinch, but paired with words? Gwyar tried to push the flinch back, tried to tell himself that he was just not hearing everything being said. That the punch was one that friends gave each other, not one that paired with the earlier words that he’d misheard. “we… day tomorrow… do a… fun things… here!”

--

Fun? What kind of fun? Who’s kind of fun? Gwyar was tense, he knew that. He knew he shouldn’t be. That these people weren’t like J and- And he flinched. J. He had to go back. Jacob was going to- He couldn’t- Gwyar couldn’t- Jacob needed him and he’d left him and how dare he- His hands were slowly going into fists, his body tense and breathing rising in speed, but how dare he leave Jacob? How dare he agree to come along? Now Jacob was in danger and all was Gwyar’s fault and he had to go back, he had to. But there weren’t any more trains tonight. He could walk. He deserved to anyway, for leaving him.

--

Cal was still talking to Tyler, probably about petting Fateflawed but he spoke. Tried to speak. He had to leave, and he had to leave now. He had to get back to Jacob. Before he did anything drastic. “‘ave t’ le’, I ‘ave t’ le’.”

--

He could feel himself shaking slightly, his breathing getting worse and his hands balled into tight fists. But all of that didn’t matter. He had to get back to Jacob. He had to leave, had to get to him before anything happened. Before Jacob did anything. So, he looked at the door and tried to turn himself towards the door. Tried to do so without causing a problem for Axel. They’d let him leave, right? Probably. They’d understand that he had to go back, that he had to leave and go back. That he shouldn’t have come in the first place. He went to start walking towards the door and found himself stumbling. This was fine. He’d get back. He had to.

Cal ‘Collie’ Thi Lê | 16 | AB- | Male | Visions | Both | Questioning | M: Axel, Aries, TJ, and Ethan (Dir)

There was an immeasurable sense of joy when Fateflawed moved onto his shoulder. I mean, there was a hawk on his shoulder. How incredible was that? The closest Cal ever got to this was when Kendra adopted a bird and placed it on Cal’s shoulder.

Hel, the bird Kendra adopted, was a brightly colored bird with a yellow head and a small red circle on her cheek. Kendra did not trust her cat not to eat the poor thing, so she tended to bring Hel around in a large bird cage. Hel appreciated the adventure at least. Hel was a little brat, but her sassy attitude quickly earned Cal’s love and a lot of Cal’s attention whenever Kendra brought Hel anywhere.

One time, back when all of his old friends were still alive, together, and mostly healthy, Rosa, Kendra, Sarah, and Cal all showed up to their abandoned building hideout to talk and hang out. That day, not only had Kendra brought Hel, Rosa brought snacks, and Sarah brought nail polish, but the rest of the boys, Matt, Peppy, Ben, and Jackson, hadn’t shown up. There was some small talk among them before Sarah suddenly gasped loudly, stood up in a jolt, and declared that they should have a ‘girl’s (plus Cal)’ night. The idea caught on instantly. Soon enough, Kendra brought Hel out of her cage and Rosa pulled bags upon bags and piles upon piles of chips out of her Mary Poppins-style bag. While Cal set up several movies for them to watch, Sarah began painting everyone’s nails with a giddy expression. All of them, Hel and Cal included, got their nails painted that night by Sarah and she never seemed more happy in her entire life. Sadly, the night took a tragic turn when Hel was sitting on Cal’s shoulder and suddenly pooped on his nice leather jacket that he always wore. It took Cal an hour to wash out the stain. At least Cal had his nails painted black for a few days.

For the love of all things good in the world, I need to fucking focus. How distracted can I possibly get??

Now that Cal thought about it, how distracted could he possibly get? Cal always seemed to get distracted by every little thing, but do normal people do this? On a scale of one to ten, where would he fall on the concentration meter? Surprisingly enough, Cal did tend to focus on very minor details for seemingly hours at a time. Would his occasional super focusing ability balance with his hyperactive mind? Probably not because he was already off topic yet again.

When Fateflawed landed on his shoulder, he was absolutely enamored with the sight, petting her and combing his fingers through her soft feathers and smiling like a child as he tuned the rest of the world out. Nothing else mattered to him other than petting this brilliant bird at that moment.

January 10th, ????

G.A.F. 'KhorneAriethous'/N.R.V. | 16/17 | AB/B+ | Male | Pain Adren/High Intel | Both | C Demi(HML)/Pan | Mentions; The Others(Ind. & Dir.)

“I'm sure it has, and surely, the others would get us if they needed us. We can check on them later to make sure though.”

--

Nabih hesitated for a second, and then nodded. Thinking it over. “True, true… If no one else, Axel and maybe TJ are mature enough to corel them all.” He smiled lightly, easing into a joke. “Hopefully into bed and not into arson, when it comes to TJ. Let’s hope the room doesn’t get lit on fire tonight for our choice, hm?”

--

Nabih thought for a moment, allowing his mind to drift, though not to the dark corners of the ever pressing questions, concerns, and self-pity. No, he let it drift to the lighter questions. Of why he was okay with simply sitting here, with Leroy, instead of helping the ones in the hallway.

--

One answer was that he didn’t want to make anything worse. Like he did on the train. But that was edging into the dark territory that he didn’t want to think of at the moment. The other answers varied from wanting to help Leroy and make sure that he was okay. And to the simple fact that this moment, despite what had caused it, was enjoyable. Peaceful.

--

He glanced at the taller boy, wondering if only for a moment if he thought the same. Before clearing his throat and speaking, as if the thought had to be hidden immediately. And maybe it did. “So, since we’ve decided upon not leaving. Anything in mind to do instead? I could make a sudoku puzzle, we could chat- I mean, either way, you have practically chosen my company.” And he had chosen Leroy’s… Reasons weren’t too important right now though, Nabih decided. Friends did this all the time anyways. Real and fake ones. Right? Probably…

*~*~*~*

“H-hold on, Aries!” An arm gently grabbing his, Gwyar froze. If only for a second. Not because of the arm, not really. But because Axel was trying to stop him from getting back to Jacob. Jacob, who needed him. Jacob, who deserved better than him. Jacob, who still loved him. Jacob, who was struggling now because Gwyar had left him. He had to leave. Regardless of the fact that Axel didn’t know where he was trying to go, he shouldn’t be questioning him. He had to get to Jacob.

--

“Y-you can't leave…right…You're h-hurt!…g-get you to bed…?”

--

Gwyar looked at him. Sure, he was hurt. What did that matter though? What did that matter when Jacob was struggling, when Jacob needed him, when Jacob may- When he may- He couldn’t- Gwyar couldn’t- He had to get to Jacob.

--

Axel tugged at him, he moved slightly- A first time occurrence, in all honesty. He wasn’t steady right now, that was clear. But that couldn’t matter right now, because Jacob was in danger. Because he’d left him. Because he’d failed him.

--

“Y-you…sleep, A-Aries…go out t-tomorrow…o-okay? Later.”

--

Axel was practically pleading with him now, he could tell that much. And as much as he didn’t want to let Axel down… As much as he didn’t want to let Jacob down… He stood there, frozen. Hesitating. Because no matter which way he went, he’d be leaving people who he shouldn’t be leaving. Leaving people that may need him. Leaving people that he cared about, that he didn’t want to hurt. That he didn’t want to suffer.

--

Jacob needed him more though, right? Because Axel had everyone else here too, Jacob only had him. But Axel was pleading and surely that meant that Gwyar was needed here. But Jacob… But… He let out a sharp and quick breath, if only to stop any other noise from escaping his throat. His hands stayed balled into fists at his sides, an almost pained desperation in his eyes despite his efforts.

--

“…sit down. You are injured.”

--

That was TJ. And those weren’t questions. Right, the forest gremlin’s wrath… If the so-called wrath could even be called wrath. Was he mad though? Gwyar looked over at him. He didn’t look mad… Or concerned, in complete honesty. Maybe bored? Not bothered though… That still wasn’t a question. That had been a statement. An order. People that gave orders always had reasons, and always had punishments waiting for if the orders were not followed… Punishment would cause an even longer delay. Right? Better for him to just… Listen. Like always.

--

Gwyar shifted. His head dipped, listening was always better. He couldn’t disappoint anyone if he listened. Like J said. And so, he slowly sat down against the wall, keeping his eyes downcast. This was fine. He could get to Jacob soon. He just had to wait. He just had to allow whatever they were wanting in order to pass off any concern. So that he could leave, so that he could get back.

January 10th, ???

Leroy Hall/Ethan Brimstone/Axel Founte

16/B-/O/A/Male/Trans male/Water/Aura Sensing/Quicker Healing/Both/Pansexual/Gay/Asexual Panromantic

"True, true... If no one else, Axel and maybe TJ are mature enough to corel them all. Hopefully to bed and not into arson, when it comes to TJ. Let's hope the room doesn't get lit on fire tonight for our choice, hm?"

Leroy allowed a small smile in response. "A genuine concern." He agreed, tone light. He allowed a moment of silence and, without really realizing it, he found himself examining the boy next to him. The warm olive skin, curly black hair, and those bright emerald eyes. He was… beautiful.

The second that the thought crossed his mind, Leroy immediately shoved it away, cheeks flushing slightly. What kind of thought was that?! Nabih was just a friend, nothing more. Sure, he was smart, kind, capable, and, yes, relatively good-looking, but that didn't mean anything! Besides, even if Leroy did (he definitely didn't) end up like Nabih (for some weird, confusing reason that wouldn't make any sense at all because it wasn't true, so why would it?), Nabih definitely wouldn't like Leroy back. No one could because Leroy was just… Leroy. No one liked Leroy for anything but protection, so it wouldn't matter anyway.

“So, since we’ve decided upon not leaving. Anything in mind to do instead? I could make a sudoku puzzle, we could chat- I mean, either way, you have practically chosen my company.”

Leroy’s mind was immediately redirected to Nabih when the other boy spoke. Again, his cheeks reddened ever so slightly. He was right, of course, Leroy had indeed chosen Nabih’s company. Honestly, he didn’t regret it either. He just hoped his friend didn’t either.

“Well, I don’t mind whatever we do,” Leroy replied truthfully, trying very hard not to stare at the person next to him. He wasn’t really sure what was happening, he hadn’t felt this… awkward and… intentionally vulnerable? Was that the correct emotion? Maybe not. Either way, he hadn’t felt this way before, and, honestly, it kind of scared him. Leroy liked understanding everything before he went into it. Interfering in a situation incorrectly could be a vital mistake. Emotions, in Leroy’s mind, weren’t any different. You had to understand them completely before acting on them, which was complicated because you still had to feel them first. Not ideal. “It’s really just whatever you’d like to do, as you said, I’ve just chosen your company.” He tried for a playful smile, hoping it didn’t come out as disingenuous, nervous, or, god forbid, flirtatious.

---

"Aries. Stop, sit down. You are injured."

Ethan let out a soft sigh of relief when Aries listened, sliding down the wall at TJ’s order. Axel also looked relieved. The two smaller boys made eye contact for a moment and E nodded in understanding, offering a small smile to Aries before turning to Cal and lightly tapping on the wall. It was probably best to let Axel handly Aries for the most part, but keep TJ close in case something like that happened again. However, it was obvious that Cal was struggling, so it might be better to comfort him as well, get everyone to bed. Ethan was getting tired himself.

“Hey, Cal, he’s gonna be okay. You know that, right? I don’t know why he’s trying to leave, honestly, he didn’t say.” The mute glanced to where Axel was kneeling in front of Aries, slightly concerned still. “But, I’m sure he’ll be fine. He’s still bandaged, and Axel’s working on getting him to bed, so it’ll be okay. How’s Fateflawed, though? I think she likes you.” Ethan offered a genuine smile. “She’s very pretty, don’t you think? I’ve never seen a bird so close before, especially not one like her.”

---

Axel shot a quick, grateful glance towards TJ when Aries listened to him. At least Axel wouldn’t be fighting him to keep him from leaving anymore. That was good. Really good, actually.

Quietly, the sickly boy followed Aries and knelt in front of him, taking both of the boy’s hands in his own gentle ones. “H-hey, Aries. Can you look at me?” With the utmost tenderness, Axel reached over and carefully cupped Aries cheek with his hand, gently lifting his head and smiling a sad, kind smile. “I-I know it’s hard. I-I’m sorry, but I p-promise you right now, I-It’s going to be o-okay in the end. W-we have each other, o-okay. I’m not going to leave you, I-I know the others won’t either. I-If nothing else, I p-promise I’ll stick by y-your side no matter what. N-no acceptions.” This time, Axel made sure his voice was gentle but firm. There was no question in it, but it was soft enough that only Aries could hear him properly.

Gently brushing his thumb over Aries’s cheek, Axel looked at his friend with a mixture of concern and affection. “L-let’s get you to b-bed now, you need r-rest.” Standing and lightly tugging Aries’s arm, Axel hoped to get Aries to his room and safely in bed without another incident. Well, that was the goal, anyway.

Cal ‘Collie’ Thi Lê | 16 | AB- | Male | Visions | Both | Questioning | M: Axel, Aries, TJ, and Ethan (Dir)

Cal tended to zone out a lot in conversations. This was one of Cal’s unlikeable flaws that Cal hated immensely but could do nothing against. Despite being capable enough to focus on completing hundreds of math problems in minutes, Cal lacked the brain capacity to hold a single conversation without constantly changing the subject and going on long rambles or zoning out entirely.

This was one of those moments.

Could you blame him though? He had a hawk on him. Sure, she was piercing into his skin and it hurt like hell since Cal did not have a single bit of protection on his body to withstand her talons, but it was a memorable and amazing thing to have a hawk anywhere near him even despite the pain.

Luckily enough, Ethan was one of his best buddies so Cal always had someone to talk to in case he zoned out without rudely asking, “Umm… excuse me but I wasn’t paying any attention to this conversation that is obviously and clearly important because I was blocking out all of your voices to focus on a speck of dust that was much much more entertaining and eye catching than you. Mind repeating all of what you just said?” Yeaaah… that would not be a good look. Cal did that once by accident and he swore he would never let that happen again. Never again.

Thankfully, Morse code was a thing so Cal wouldn’t have to resort to those measures and seem like a constant and total dick. It took Cal a minute to translate Ethan’s most recent words, mainly due to the fact that translating Morse code is incredibly hard to do in your head. Cal smiled a bit as he finally finished though, mostly just proud of himself for translating that much.

January 10th, ????

G.A.F. 'KhorneAriethous'/N.R.V. | 16/17 | AB/B+ | Male | Pain Adren/High Intel | Both | C Demi(HML)/Pan | Mentions; The Others(Ind. & Dir.)

“Well, I don’t mind whatever we do. It’s really just whatever you’d like to do, as you said, I’ve just chosen your company.”

--

Nabih looked at Leroy, and gave a slight smile. Of course, out of any option… Sudoku it was. At the moment though, he didn’t really want to make one from scratch in his notebook. So the app would have to do. Taking out his phone and opening the Sudoku app, Nabih tried not to grin like a maniac. Lest he’d give away his choice for how to spend the time.

--

He glanced at Leroy, the taller honestly seemed rather uncomfortable. Or, well, more so awkward. Uncertain. Concerned. Red. Wait, red? That was certainly strange. Nabih hummed to himself in thought for a moment, settling on writing it down in his notebook later. For now though… He choose a medium difficulty Sudoku puzzle.

-

“Since I’m the one choosing then… Sudoku is basically the best thing ever. It can fix everything, in my opinion. After all, if someone can solve Sudoku, then they can come up with solutions to other things too.” Nabih was only slightly joking as he spoke, a small grin on his face. Maybe the puzzle itself couldn’t fix everything, but solving one meant that someone was capable of thinking of solutions. Solving them could raise confidence in the fact that they could solve things. Which meant that they’d would, in turn, be better at solving problems they had. So, in a way, Soduko could solve everything.

*~*~*~*

Gwyar could feel gentle hands taking his calloused one in them, could see Axel out of his peripheral vision in front of him. He didn’t understand why, after he’d just tried leaving them, Axel would still be kind. Sure, he had to get to J. Had to make sure that he was okay. That he wasn’t- That he wasn’t going to do anything. Axel didn’t know about that though. Didn’t know about any of that. So wouldn’t being upset make more sense? Didn’t he deserve the frustration with that in mind? Well, that was obviously a yes. But that only made the fact that Axel wasn’t upset more confusing.

--

“H-hey, Aries…look at me?”

--

Here the frustration and disappointment came. Surely, surely, Axel just wanted Gwyar to look at him to further show he was being honest with his anger and disapproval. Apparently he’d been too slow to do as he was told, as a hand moved from one of his own to cupping one of his cheeks. And he tried with all of his might not to flinch at the pure care the hold held, because that had to be fake. Right? The hand lifted his head to look at him, and he tried to focus his sight on Axel. The smaller boy’s face was kind and sad, a similar smile on his features. And Gwyar didn’t know what to do.

--

“I-I know it’s hard. I-…I p-promise you…I-It’s going to be o-okay… W-we have…o-okay. I’m not…leave you…others won’t either. I-If…I’ll stick by y-your side…N-no exceptions.”

--

Gwyar couldn’t help that his eyes stung, but he could stop himself from shaking his head. That would only cause his dizziness to be worse, would only cause Axel concern, would only cause everything to be worse. Would only delay him getting back to J. Back to who needed him most.

--

Axel’s thumb brushed his cheek, and this time he did flinch. If only barely. He didn’t deserve this kindness, this affection, this concern. Not when J was struggling. Not when he was perfectly fine. Axel looked concerned and kind, and Gwyar deserved none of that look. Not now and probably not ever. Not when he had tried to leave them. Not when he had left J.

--

“…you to b-bed…need r-rest.”

--

Gwyar stared at the shorter as Axel stood and tried tugging his arm. The idea of standing wasn’t very enticing, and with how shaky he’d already been… But he couldn’t get back to J if he didn’t go through with all of this. He had to stand, even if the thought only was causing him to get dizzy. He had to. He was fine, he could stand. He wasn’t going to let J get hurt because of some stupid, pathetic head injury.

--

Another tug caused his head to feel tingly, and he was confused for a second. But then the feeling passed, and the dizziness was practically gone. He was still confused, but the sound of Axel’s voice not seeming underwater caused him to look at the shorter.

--

“I-it’s not too far, A-Aries, and I’ll help you!”

--

Gwyar doubted that Axel would actually be able to do much in terms of helping, but the fact that he was trying. He didn’t understand how Axel could show him this much kindness. But he did know that he had to go with this if he wanted any chance to get to J. So, he tried and pushed himself up with his free arm. He used the wall behind him to stay steady with his standing, and despite how much he wanted to try and dash out the door… He could see that someone had locked said door, and that he wouldn’t be able to unlock and run in time to actually get any progress. He’d fall before he’d opened the closest way out. So he had to stay for now, stay and wait for when he’d be able to get back to J. The whole situation made him feel like he’d been defeated, but he knew when admitting defeat was best. And this was one of those times, so he’d wait.