Bive peered into the hospital room, seeing crippled gradient lay on bed past the thin sheet separating him from the outside world. his eyes as wide as dinner plates, seemingly traumatized as Dr.Retro was running some tests.
This is not how she expected her weekend to go.
She gulped and stepped back from the crack of the door, nervously and guiltily fumbling with her hairy hands, watching as split stepped up with a homemade cake in her hands, 'We're sorry' was scribbled on its surface with icing, she smiled reassuringly to bive. The rest of the group waiting outside the door too.
Unfortunately reddy had to go back, but hey, at least pilby and prototype were there, but both of them confused about the current situation as pest spoke to them about it.
"So..infected is a werewolf? And he was the one harassing you guys for months?" Prototype gave a weirded expression and tilted his head
"Basically I guess? 彼は全然似てないけど (He looks nothing like it though..)"
Pilby just stared in distress and disbelief, feeling tears well up in their eyes as they gripped on one their bandaged arm. "I...I didn't know..well...not until..."
"No time to cry caterpillar. For now we'll just apologize to the gradient then go see infected."
"Where is he anyways?" Prototype pointed out
"Mach said Dr.Retro took him once he'd calm down enough. And she'll let us meet after we talk to unpleasant first. 残念ながら(Unfortunately)"
Prototype looked at the slightly creaked door as the other either kept it to themselves or murmured to each other to at least try to keep their mind from being weighed down by all the new information suddenly thrown at them.
Prototype looked down and scanned the letter in his arm, it was given by Gregoriah, for he'd heard what went down and said that he wanted to send his condolences as well.
Prototype found this all to be so strange. Usually unpleasant was hated by the masses. Disliked and told to stay away, but what changed? What did the gradient do to suddenly get everyone worried for him?
Perhaps they realized their hate for the mute fellow was baseless, hurtful. Perhaps the act of unpleasant defending his only son showed them what it was really like, or maybe both reasons combined.
Prototype could only theorize enough as Dr.Retro stepped out of the room, indicating that he's free to visit now. Everyone tensed for a moment, and bive decided to take the cake from split, who looked at her gratefully, before everyone stepped into the room quietly.
Split sighed under her breath before pulling the curtain, catching the heavily injured gradient off guard, it flinched as some nervously smiled at him, and others just stared in concern at his condition, half of its body burned off, exposing deep red flesh, dosnet help that the Dra didn't was eating and chewing at his remaining hair in nervousness.
Unpleasant stared in confusion as he saw everyone, taking in the fact that they even chose to visit him. Bive cleared her throat
"Oh uh- heyyy unpleasant.." she cracked a guilty grin, trying to act natural "how you feeling?"
unpleasnat glared at her before narrowing his eyes.
"Ok so, I know you're uhm..angry..like...REALLY angry.."
"'An we're really sorry for the uh...stuf' that...went down...-" mark chimed.
"Indeed, you have my apologies as well."
"鉱山も(Mines too)" pest bowed down
"Meh 2...uhm.. surry :[" Poob blew their party horn weakly
"You have my condolences and deepest apologies. Gradient." Mach stepped in and furrowed her eyebrows in slight guilt.
"D'ohhh Uh...I'm sorry too....it's for insulting you a lot...honk <:0("
Prototype stepped up, placing gregoriah's letter next to unpleasant "I also apologize for rather insulting you like that..didn't really realize that you can't control what color you're born as."
"Spud...spud is also very sorry... spud..."
Gnarpy just groaned as xe was on the hospital bed opposite of unpleasant, being almost fully encased in bandages and casts. Letting spud give out a grin in amusement and joy before he snapped out of it and turned back to the gradient.
Lampert didn't say anything, rather just staring at nothing.
"Hope you find our apologies a'peeling' haha! Ahaha..ha...heh...uh.."
Bive just handed over the cake to unpleasant, secretly hoping she earned his forgiveness.
Meanwhile unpleasant just stared at the cake and took in the fact that they all actually took the time to come in and talk with him. Not even infected would visit him whenever he'd end up in the hospital.
But then he went deeper.
Do they really mean it? Or are they just apologizing because of everything that had happened? They had. 8 YEARS to apologize, and yet they decided on now? After all the insults and all the garbage they'd pulled on him?
"Uhh....unpleasa-"
He reached for the cake and shoved it to bives face, earning a chorus of shocked gasps from everyone.
—
Split finished cleaning up Bives face, who was sobbing, the others were all pretty tense and murmured
"That ungrateful bastard!"
"I get 'yer mad but can we really blame 'tha fella? Imagine bein' insulted for years by yer peers and then they pull this shit- I woulda started eatin' their organs by then!"
Wallter sighed "you do have a point mark.."
"Yeah..we had EIGHT years to apologize to the guy so uh.." pest chittered and looked away
"Wait has anyone seen spud-?"
Spud ran out of the door with dr.retro chasing him off, meowing and hissing at him angrily.
"MEOW!! MEOWMEOWMOEMM MEOWM MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOWWW (SPUD! YOU CANT JUST PULL THE LIFE SUPPORT ON PEOPLE!"
"SPUD XE DESERVED IT!! SPUD SPUD"
"MEWWWW MEOW MEOW MEOWWWWW MREOW M E O W (ASTUGHFURRIALLAH I DONT CAREEE NOW O U T)" and with that she shut the door, leaving the group slightly amused at spuds antics.
"So uh...can we see Kasper now..? I mean- infected.." Lampert introverted
"Good idea 'son.."
—
Pilby was the first one to enter the desolate room, seeing as they're the ones who knew infected the most, being their boyfriend and all, with Mach standing by the doorframe to make sure infected doesn't pull off anything sly.
Infected, sitting on the hospital bed, clutching the bedsheets in nervousness, he looked wayy worse than before, being pale with sunken eyes, nervously biting at his own chapped lips until they slightly bled, he turned around to the noise of pilby walking towards him, his eyes widening at the sight of a slightly scared pilby with their injuries.
"p..p1lbz?" infected managed to mutter in his own slurred and raspy way, trying to crawl closer which caused pilby to flinch slightly
"hey.."
"0h..0h p1lby 1m..." he felt tears stream down "1m s0 s0rry.." he placed his hands over his face and hiccupped, pilby just fumbled with their hands "1m s0rry 1 d1dnt t3ll yu0..1 kn3w yu0d g3t sc4r3e 0f m3 4nd..4-4nd I w4s 4fr41d yu0d h-h4t3 m3...."
pilby shook their head at the comment "No infected I wouldn't hate you..:0(" they gulped "I mean yeah I'm scared but..I don't hate you..It'll just take me a while to get used to all...this- d'ohh"
infected felt a little better at the comment but that still didn't stop him from crying so much "y-y34h 1 g3t 1t...0h g0d 1m sUch a fr34k.."
pilby was about to digress, but they decided against it..instead taking it as their chance to showcase bravery and hug infected, who sobbed into their chest, clinging for dear life against them.
"1..1m s0rry.."
"I know.."
the others watched through the door, with slightly pitiful stares as they watched the interaction go on.
"so..what do we do now?" bive hiccupped
"we'll figure it out bivey dont worry...we always do."
(time skip)
Mark jumped out of the elevator as he reached the infected apartment, holding a small wooden caricature of a deer in his hands, he continued to stroll towards the door, preparing to knock on it.
but there was a note plastered on it..
mark furrowed his scribbled eyebrows and picked it up.
I'm leaving! dont even bother looking for me!
especially you son.
-regards, unpleasant
mark was slightly shocked and opened the door, seeing the apartment basically empty, some of the furniture taken away.
he pulled out his ifone and called wallter.
"hey wallte'. y'know the old unpleasant fella'
well uhhh...
I got some news..-"
--
ANDDD THAT CONCLUDES ARC 1 FOR THIS FANFIC! but don't fret! the party is not over! this is simply the beginning of a loong set of stories I have planned for all you readers!
I'll probably take a days or two break before posting part one of my new arc! and thank you all so so much for 3k reads! I honestly thought this fic would never go noticed and I'm glad people take the time to read my rather shitty writing lol.
and with that, stay tuned, and stay safe!