sticksandbones | no longer you

[Ain somehow manages to flop his weight against both men and cry into them simultaneously, so it's going well. The kitchen floor is dirty and gross and they are crying on it. Whatever chocolate Ezell was melting will have to wait.]

M'sorry... I didn't mean to die. I'm okay, though, I came back...! Look, I have a form again, see? And I could see you in the other one just fine, I just couldn't say anything... I really am fine!

[He said, while crying and being the embodiment of the emotion "e".]

[Wolfwood knows good and damn well that Ain is not fine. None of them are fine. They range from being emotionally damaged to physically so, to both at the same time. They are not okay and maybe won't be for a long time, maybe not again ever, but...Ain does at least make a good point in reminding them that he is alive now. He did come back, just as they all do here when they die.

But as someone who is very well aware and has only just recently had to come to terms with the fact that he will very soon die when he goes home, Wolfwood's relationship with death is....strange. He always assumed he'd die young, but that also came with the knowledge he just didn't know when. One might say it'd be easy to become desensitized to dying once you've done it enough, and seen it enough...

But this is different. He can't really even put it into words.

Anyway, he's been dragged into the hug, but that's fine. Wolfwood will allow it, taking turns resting his head against both Ain and Ezell's, well aware that he just has big tears rolling down his stupid big nose onto the floor between them.]

Yeah, but that don't mean w-we didn't still miss you.

[Wolfwood stresses, bonking his head against Ain's. Bonk bonk bonk.]

[ Ezell picks his head up to smother the side of Ain's face that he can get to in kisses. Wet, messy kisses, but kisses all the same. He knows he doesn't have to remind Ain he's an empath, but... ]

You're... you're not. But th-that's okay. No... no one... expected you t-to be. [ Kiss kiss... ] I love you. We... we love you. We're h-here.

[But :( Ain has to be okay so other people can be okay :( That's how that works—

Despite everything, his long tail starts to wagwagwag when he's kissed and cuddled and loved on. His brain is sad still, but at least he feels loved, and right now that's kind of all that matters. Kiiiind of.]

I love you guys. I-I'm... still really sorry.

[Sniffles.

...and then sneezes.]

Mm. Love you too.

[Wolfwood sure was hoping he wasn't going to have to have this type of reunion. This is WHY he had that talk with Ain before they began their fight, you know, the "don't go out there and die" talk. But he knows it was foolish to even try, so like...whatever.

No sense in dwelling over the could-haves and would-haves now. Ain and Ezell are here, they're alive, and Ain is...sick.

Frowning, Wolfwood lifts a hand and presses his wrist to Ain's forehead, trying to test for fever.]

A'ight, let's get off the floor and somewhere warmer. You're alive, but you ain't gonna be long sneezin' like that.

[ Right, right. They need to be taking care of Ain now that he's back. And sick, apparently! Fuck, Ezell should've started making soup, too! He knew he was missing something. (He did not know Ain was going to be sick, what are you talking about-)

He parts Ain with one last kiss against his cheek and sits up, wiping away his tears and the wetness from his face and eventually standing up. Ezell is sniffling an awful lot from the crying, but he's trying to pull himself together. ]

There's... blankets on the couch in the lobby I was getting together. Keep him by the fireplace, and I'll make him some food while you get him there, okay? [ Said to Wolfwood, while he turns around to tend to the now-melted chocolate. ]

[WOLFWOOD

WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT—

Ezell will probably feel a very Immediate jump in his anxiety which was Already Bad, and then he squirms and breaks away from everyone to go throw himself onto the couch.

He is very fast. And terrified of the flu again THANKS.]

[SORRY AIN...Wolfwood just says things with his mouth sometimes, he definitely did not intend to make your anxiety worse. He blinks with surprise when Ain suddenly pulls away and throws himself bodily at the couch, though his expression will soften when he realizes why. He gestures to Ezell to let him know he heard him as he stands, wiping his own tears away with the shoulder of his undershirt as he makes his way over to the couch, tugging his blazer over him further before grabbing one of the blankets to pull over him too.]

You're gonna be okay. Ezell's gonna make some soup that'll fix you.

[Wolfwood will sit beside him, meanwhile, reaching a hand out to brush down his hair in a few places.]

[ Wolfwood......................................

Ezell will let him calm Ain down while he finishes the hot chocolate, and plunders for things to make a good soup with. There's not a ton to work with, but... he can at least make an easy vegetable soup.

He'll be a minute with that, of course, so he'll end up bringing it out in about five minutes, along with the hot chocolate, with peppermint bits and marshmallows in it. ]

[Ain is burritoed under like 3 different blankets up to his ears, knees pulled to his chest. A very sad and pathetic little bug, whose dragon tail is spilling outside the confines of the burrito and coiled up on the floor. Funnily enough all of his wings are crammed up in there too, which is making the blankets glow a bit as they regain their light.

He is also quite lumpy due to this.]

Noooo... I'm gonna die of the flu again... [You. Didn't die of the flu last time?] Why do human illnesses always suck? You guys are so fragile. [Sniffle, sneeze, sniffle.] A stiff breeze will blow on you and you have every disease...

[Also yes to answer Wolfwood's earlier question, Ain is running very hot. He was already owed a flu from when he was alive but it was delayed, so oops.]

Beats me. Being a human person sucks ass though, you're right.

[Wolfwood sighs, brushing Ain's hair back a little even though the blankets are undoubtedly going to mess it up again.]

Anyway, you ain't gonna die. You might feel a little worse for a couple days, and all sniffly and achey, but it'll pass. We can prolly get you some meds for it too if you need.

[Wraps his tail gently around heem...]

[ Ezell's face is still all puffy from crying, but he's at least looking better when he eventually comes out with the vege soup and hot chocolate. He sets them both on the table and moves close to help Ain sit up so he can eat. ]

Nooo... I nearly died last time I had the flu...

[You didn't! You did not! A.B.A tells lies!!

Anyway, Ain will be good and eat... he holds the bowl in his lap and balances it on his tail, which is sort of arced upwards off the floor much like a periscoping snake and coiled around the ceramic. He should not have been trusted with this, it's making him extremely lazy since he basically has a third arm now.

Nibbles soup.]

You guys are gonna get sick and die...

[No,]

We ain't gonna get sick and die, babe.

[Good, though. Food and hydration are the things Ain needs right now, and Wolfwood is certain that- while they won't REMOVE his anxiety- it will help him feel better.]

The flu makes you feel like you're dyin', but you ain't gonna. That's two different things.

It's... Ain, your immune system is good enough to fight off whatever disease you get, I promise. It's okay. Ours too - I tend to fight off illnesses very, very fast. You don't have to worry about anything like that, okay? Just focus on getting better.

[Little sniffle...]

I don't have an immune system. If I had an immune system, I would be immune.

[That is NOT how that works—]

...that ain't how it works. You ain't immune to shit if you have an immune system. Your body just learns to fight shit off by bein' exposed to it...but you ain't fully immune to every disease or nothin'.

Wolfwood is right, Ain. [ Gonna just... plop next to him. Rub his back... ] You'll be okay, I promise.

[Shoving his spoon in his mouth like >:/]

Then why do they call it an immune system?

[Take THAT, humans! You're stupid!!!]

[...]

Ezell, you wanna answer this one? I stopped school in fuckin', middle grade, and my head hurts.

[This man did NOT graduate.]

[ Gnosis could probably answer this better than him.... but... ]

Sure. "Immune" does not mean absolute or total protection over something, or at least its base word does not mean that. So long as something provides partial protection over something, that is still being "immune". Especially if something fights off the rest, and builds resistance from being introduced to the harmful thing. That's immunity. Hence, "immune system".

[Slurps his soup broth off the side of the bowl with one sassy little eyebrow quirked. Oh no.]

But you're not immune to it. So it needs to be renamed to something less stupid. I still don't have that system though, I didn't buy it.

[He's genuinely thinking about this like a stereo system. A phone system. You know.]

I...

[????]

It ain't like we got it by choice. Also, if you had no immune system at all, just a stiff breeze would prolly kill you. Just sayin'.

Exactly. There's always going to be something to help fight off diseases, it's not something you "get".

[...........]

Humans are so weird. You get these systems shoved into you and they don't even work right.

[Munching, eating... luckily he eats fast despite the conversation, and he's quick to move onto the hot chocolate, which at this point is more like room-temperature chocolate. That's fine though, because Ain is running hot and doesn't really notice.]

So all humans get the system when they're born? Is it free? Is it surgery??

[Maybe distract him with something else because he's going to ask more questions. You don't want him to ask these questions.]

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