metalogs | Recovery

Entry tags:

Recovery

Who: Hunter

badbutsadboy and his CR
What: Hunter recovering
When: After he gets out of the hospital
Where: Jason's Safehouse
Content Warnings: N/A for now

[He's only in the hospital a few days. Vascular injuries are bad but the artery wasn't completely severed, the muscle was only nicked, and the rest was mostly a flesh wound. It was a low speed, small caliber handgun of some kind.]

[Hunter spends a lot of his recovery sleeping on the pull out couch where he can be checked on. At some point, he plans to ask Nico if Will can heal him (though he wouldn't be shocked if Nico brought him around soon on his own) but Flapjack chases away everyone so he can sleep first.]

[So he spends a lot of time just knocked the hell out on pain meds, until one day he feels like he's rested enough.]

[And then he's left at a crossroads. Huvrye wanted him to stay with someone and he knows he meant an adult. But...]

[But he's still feeling so unsure about it. Even with adults rushing him to a hospital, even with them staying by his side while injured.]

[So whenever he gets a visitor they find him sitting up on the couch, in sweats and fuzzy socks, his arm in its sling packed with ice packs. He sits, staring forward at the TV, expression troubled, lost in thought.]

[The TV is off.]

[Flapjack is squished next to his thigh on the couch and the fingers of his good hand gently pet his fathers.]

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[It was either forks or chopsticks, and Huvrye had had enough trouble with chopsticks the first time around that he wasn't about to ask Hunter to try it while one-handed and on painkillers. At least there's spoons there too.]

[He smiles a bit. Hunter's cogent enough to eat, and he likes the food. They're doing well so far.]

You're doing better than me - I can make coffee and that's about it. We only had mess hall food when we needed to eat, and it was pretty bland.

[Food for homunculi is functional, not fun. The variety in flavors here had been mind-blowing once Mark had taught him how to get food delivered.]

[He points at his bowl with his fork.]

This is pho, and evidently it's from someplace called Vietnam? But there's a few places in the city that make it if you want to get it again. I still have the Guild credit card for a little while, so I don't mind getting you food.

[He hadn't been able to house Hunter, or protect him, or help heal him, and he hasn't managed to track down the people who attacked Hunter yet. Let him do something to help.]

You don't have to. Jason's been making sure I always have something to eat.

[He still feels strange when people put themselves out for him.]

[And so far, he has an entire gaggle of people that have been caring for him nonstop. Saving his life, keeping him company at the hospital, feeding and housing and clothing him. Even helping him keep the wound clean.]

[He's never been...really taken care of his entire life. It's hard to feel like he deserves so much of it. Consecutively.]

[Huvrye had refused to leave the hospital or even sleep until Hunter was well enough to be released. The arguments with nurses had been interesting, to say the least.]

I know I don't have to. I want to.

Plus, you have to eat every day, right? It's got to be nice to have some variety in there.

[The hovering is... a lot.]

[Not a bad "a lot." Just...strange. Just like Jason's clear dedication is strange. Just like the Owl Lady coming and going with silly stories about her exploits just so that he has a friendly voice there is strange.]

[His brain has firmly slotted adults and "friends my age" into two separate and distinct categories. Even with the ones he trusted back home, like Darius, he'd have been genuinely surprised to see them caring for him so gently.]

[It's hard because he doesn't trust it. Teenagers immediately grabbing onto him and declaring "friend!" hadn't come with any thorns so far. But adults who seemed to care...]

[Growing up, that'd had edges. That had been false.]

[But Huvrye... he's at least like him. It makes sense, doesn't it? If he met a child Grimwalker, he'd be protective too.]

I can go a few days without it, but it's usually best to eat every day.

And I can go for about a week without food, as long as I'm not burning aura or healing anything nasty.

[This is a completely normal conversation to be having.]

So yeah, if you want to try anything new or want something nice, let me know. I'll grab you something and tell Jason so he doesn't have to worry about cooking. [A beat.] You know, Mark gave me a book about the best meals in the city - there's probably something really good in there.

[As far as Huvrye's concerned, he's just making conversation and making sure Hunter eats, especially since it turns out Hunter does need to eat regularly. Makes sense, if he's a human. And speaking of eating:]

It's better when it's warm.

[He gestures to Hunter's bowl with his fork. Hunter needs the meal, and it really is better while it's still hot; they can talk more when they're done.]

[Letting it get cold instead of enjoying it seems ungrateful so he focuses on eating for a little bit.]

[He really is hungry. It's like after finally feeling less sedated, and having less of the nausea that comes with taking a few medicines at once his body has known it needs fuel to heal, so he's been eating almost nonstop.]

[He pretty much demolishes the pho, even if it's a little awkward to eat it one handed. When he's finally finished he goes back to talking again.]

Thank you. That was really good.

[The enthusiasm is obvious. He really does like the food in this world.]

[It makes sense kind of. In a weird way, it's all infinitely more natural for him. It's all made for an infinite variety of human palates.]

[There's silence while they eat, but it's a good kind of silence - the comfortable kind that comes from good food and hungry people, not the awkward kind that needs filling. Huvrye finishes his pho first - okay, it is easier to eat this with two hands, he really needs to plan the next meal better - but waits until Hunter speaks up to say anything.]

No problem. I'm glad you liked it.

[If Hunter enjoyed it that much, then Huvrye is definitely going to need to bring him food again tomorrow - something new and easier to eat. Sounds like he's going to get some use out of that food book after all.]

If you want to head back to the couch, I can carry the drinks.

[The couch has to be more comfortable than the table, and Hunter should still be resting.]

Okay.

[He gets up, just as wobbly as before, but he uses his good arm to support himself by putting it on surfaces on the way back over to the couch. Then he sits there again. Without the food, without something to do, he goes back to looking like he's not quite sure what to do with himself.]

[His life has never really been at rest. Endless training and studying and trials and missions, then fighting against Belos. Even when he arrived here and had a magical buy-anything card, alongside experiencing a few new things, he'd been preparing to run away from the guilds, learning all he could about this world to try to survive in it.]

[But apparently he hadn't prepared and learned enough.]

[And now he's stuck here, sitting still. Not used to the luxury of laying in bed all day after a life of waking up before dawn.]

[Huvrye leaves the flan where it is - on the table for later - grabs both coffees, and follows Hunter to the couch. He sets the drinks down on the coffee table, making sure Hunter is settled in, and - yeesh, the couch might be more comfortable, but he definitely looked happier at the table. He takes a seat on the couch himself - far enough away not to crowd Hunter, but close enough to talk.]

What's on your mind?

I don't...

I don't know what to do right now?

[He's able to articulate it. He knows what the feeling is. And he figures Huvrye might understand better than most.]

Back when I was at the castle, when I didn't have missions, I was training and studying. Then I was part of the Rebellion. And when I got here, I knew I didn't want to stay in a guild, so I was preparing for being on my own.

But now I'm here. And I'm not supposed to overexert myself and the medicine means I can't really walk around outside.

[It really isn't the best idea for him to currently take a walk or engage in anything strenuous until he's off the pain meds.]

I'm not used to not knowing what I'm supposed to be doing.

And I don't know what I'm supposed to do after this.

[After he gets better. He knows no one wants him to go back out there, but where is he supposed to go then? What's he supposed to do? He still doesn't want to join a guild or go to the school.]

[It makes sense, in an awful sort of way. Hunter and Huvrye were both built to be working breeds, and that's not the sort of thing that goes away with a change of scenery.]

It's hard to turn it off, isn't it.

[Huvrye certainly hasn't been able to. He's definitely rested more in Central City than he ever had in Lasardhi; he's also been bored out of his mind far more frequently and resorted to making his own fun, as it were. What would he do if he were injured, laid up, and on painkillers for the foreseeable future?]

[Climb the walls, probably. Not helpful, but true nonetheless.]

It's probably better to wait until you're off painkillers to try to plan your next move. You've got time - I don't think Jason's going to make you leave.

[Anytime soon, or at all. They're all in agreement that Hunter can't go back to living on the streets.]

[He turns a question over in his head, then tries it out.]

Forget what you're supposed to do - what do you want to do? Not in the future - right now.

I...I don't know?

[His first instinct is to say he wants to hang out with one of his friends but he knows that this is just as much because they tend to push the overall direction of any activity as much as he just likes them. They think to bring something to watch or think to bring games. They think of activities for him.]

[But they can't stay here 24/7. They have school. Homework. Families. Nico has a boyfriend.]

[And he knows he has to try developing this on his own. Figure out his own sense of direction. Figure out what he likes and what he wants.]

[But he doesn't know where to start. It doesn't help that he's been too fuzzy to do much reading. Back home, he'd been able to sit down with books that he just read for pleasure instead of studying, normal teen books his uncle never would've approved of, like the adventure series Ruler's Reach and the Demon Valley High books.]

[But he's been too out of it, he's just fallen into wikiholes about animals and been aimlessly flicking back and forth between streaming services, barely able to focus on much for long.]

[He flops over on his side - on the uninjured shoulder. It puts his head closer to Huvrye, but it isn't clear if he wants to be comforted at all.]

[It's mostly dramatic. He's allowed to be dramatic.]

[Flapjack ruins it a little by landing on the side of his head nad preening his hair.]

I don't know how to want things.

[Not yet. Someday he'll figure it out. Someday he'll know enough about himself to say he wants to go to school, and play flyer derby, and to learn about carving palismen and wild magic.]

[That hasn't gelled in his head yet, though. He still has to survive in this world, get back to his world, and stop the Child.]

[That is a very dramatic teenager. Huvrye doesn't move to touch him - Hunter didn't initiate, and much as he'd like to comfort the kid, he also knows Hunter doesn't trust him quite like that yet - but he does sling an arm over the top of the sofa, letting it rest along the top edge. It'll be easy enough to drop his hand onto Hunter's shoulder if Hunter wants it, but for now, it's there.]

[He can't help but smile at the whole thing, though, especially when Flapjack lands on Hunter's head and starts preening him. What a good bird.]

[And then Hunter says that, and...oh.]

[He opens his mouth to ask you don't know how, or you've never been allowed to? thinks for a moment, and closes it again. Huvrye knows there's a difference - he'd been right in the middle of it himself in Lasardhi - but it's probably not going to help Hunter right now. Time for a different tack.]

Okay then, what do you like? It doesn't have to be activities - just anything that comes to mind.

[Hunter stays there, on his side.]

[And he tries. Because he knows this is just... a weird mood he's in because he hates not being sure what's going to happen next.]

I like reading, but I can't focus right now.

[He thinks of things that maybe he'd like the on TV or something. It's hard because his go-tos like a quiet interest in wild magic, don't really factor in here. He's had to develop new interests.]

[At least there are some definitely interesting human subjects.]

I like learning about human science. Apparently, they built ships that let them go up into the stars somehow? All the way to their moon.

And I like Earth animals.

[He pulls a face.]

Except for giraffes. They're freaks.

[It's a common demon realm prejudice against the exiled demons.]

[Reading, science, and animals except for giraffes. He's got questions about the giraffe thing, but aside from that, those all sound like doable interests, even if he's a little out of it because of the pain medication.]

[(He wonders, for just a second, if Hunter would be capable of learning alchemy, and immediately squashes the thought. Huvrye's no teacher, and most of what he knows is combat-focused. Even if Hunter could learn it - doubtful, since Huvrye's the only one here with an aura - what would Huvrye even have to teach him? No, that train of thought is better off derailed.)]

[He nods towards the TV.]

You know, humans have all sorts of channels dedicated to one specific thing. I bet we could find a nature channel if we tried. You don't have to focus on it - it just might be nice to have on when nothing else is happening.

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Recovery

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