#grassypapy

[stillheresanctuary]

I wanted to suggest a name for the unnamed Papy (I hope he's doing okay)! Since he can't remmeber his and likes to recite Robert Frost, maybe he could be called Robby? Just wanted to give you the idea and see if he likes the name.

It has been a while since I provided an update on our little poet, hasn’t it.

Well, first things first, we’re still having some trouble with communication, though not for lack of trying. It seems that the head injury, though slowly healing and being reconstructed, has left our little Papy at least partially deaf as well as entirely blind. From our estimations, he has about an 80 percent loss on his right side and a 30-40 percent loss on his left, which seems to be contributing to some of his balance issues. Halim and I are both looking into alternative means of providing hearing aid, since most assisting devices are either too large or too physically oriented to really work for a bitty, but for the time being, we’ve yet to really come up with anything.

That being said, the Papy type has been a very bright and optimistic little fellow, and has started to be able talk more consistently. He mostly quotes things, primarily poetry but he’s also sung some off key Queen and he parroted some Doctor Who while we were rewatching a couple episodes, but he’s getting better every day.

Name wise, he’s been responding to ‘Papy’ most consistently, though we’re fairly certain he’s responding more to the tone than anything else since he perks up whenever he hears a two-beat word. So far, we’ve tried Papy, Grassy, Gaby, Poppy, Bobby and Toby, which have all gotten some measure of response. I’ll give Robby a go next time we’re getting ready for dinner and see what happens, it might just stick.

[stillheresanctuary]

So... how is that Papy who had a head injury doing? I notice he’s not on the residents page... did something happen to him?

Ah, thank you for reminding me! It’s been a bit hectic here on the blog, so I haven’t been able to keep things as up to date as I’d like.

The Papy has been slowly but steadily improving. Though he’s still having some problems with being able to speak and coordinate his limbs, his HP has stabilized and we were able to start some minor reconstruction of his less severely damaged bones to see how well his magic will take to the introduction of foreign magical matter. He remains blind, unfortunately, and Sharptooth has taken it upon himself to serve as the fellow’s seeing eye bitty until we can get him a cane or similar assisting device. It’s actually kind of adorable to watch them walking around, since Sharptooth is a good inch and a half shorter than the Papy.

So far, we don’t have a name for him, though he responds to ‘Papy’ okay. We think he more recognizes the tone than the word, since he hasn’t really been able to speak clearly since his arrival. Halim is still trying to properly diagnose why, the leading theory is that the head injury actually scrambled some of the Papy’s base magic, sort like crossing wires in a car. It works, but not the way it’s supposed to and not very well. The clearest phrase we’ve gotten out of him sounded like something he was quoting or reciting;

“Grassy, and wanted wear.”

It was a bit more garbled than that when he said it, but we’re fairly certain it’s a line from a poem or something, and he was probably trying to recite it to himself to either calm himself or as something fun to do. Sharptooth took it as a cue to start reading to the fellow, so I find them on the couch at times with Sharptooth reading aloud from various books until they find one that the Papy like the sound of best. They’re in the middle of my Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy anthology right now, Key is helping Sharptooth hold the book cause it’s so big.

Anyway, that’s the update for our wonderful little Papy rescue!

Unnamed Papy type now added to Residents.

[stillheresanctuary]

afraid to ask but, er... how is the injured papy doing?

It is my greatest pleasure to announce that the injured Papy has survived the night.

While he’s still in terrible shape, Halim and I managed to get his magic and physical matter to balance out and stabilize to a point where we felt it was safe for him to sleep for a while. It was a little touch and go, we had to treat him like he had a concussion and wake him every hour or so, but he’s now fully awake and seems to have a healthy appetite considering his injuries. He actually kept down a full serving of Lillick Milk and a Vitamin Crystal, so his prognosis looks remarkably good for the time being.

Halim and I are still keeping a close eye on him, and Halim wants to do a more in depth medical examination once hes sure the little guy is able to sit through one, but for right now, we have hope.

[stillheresanctuary]

about that Papy, maybe you give him some Vitamin Crystals and Lillick Milk from @wonderland-isles? Those two items help with healing and growth, i have some i could give! I hope the little guy gets better.

Halim was actually recommending something similar, we recently got a big donation that included a lot of healing foods and other items from @wonderland-isles. For the time being, Halim and I are working together to stabilize him and see if we can’t set some of the very worst broken bones that the healing magic is zeroing in on.

We’ve found combining physical and magical healing methods have a higher chance of helping with injuries like this, since adding true physical matter into the mix makes it so that magic doesn’t have to try and make matter to fill in the damage. Jasper is actually a really good example of this, Halim used slivers of donated bone as well as a few kinds of plaster to fill in the very worst of the damage to Jasper’s ribs and skull before applying magic infused bandages. It’s been a little under a month and he’s already up and mobile with minimal pain, which is WAY more than either of us were really hoping for at this stage of things.

With this Papy, I’m donating some of my blood and SOUL magic to bind into a plaster for Halim to apply to the worst breaks and see how much of the skull we can save. It’s not ideal, blood isn’t the best donor material for this sort of things, but we haven’t any donor bone available right now and I’m the only fully physical being capable of donating at the moment. If he survives the night, I’m going to rush a visit to the local butcher and see if I can’t get any stew bones. Lamb or mutton tends to be best, since once they get boiled and then baked, they break into slivers easily without actually shattering like chicken, so there’s the option to use the slivers for larger cracks and breaks before making bone meal.

The weird tricks you learn from organic gardening…

Anyway, that’s the plan for now, and should he survive the night, I’m going to grab a picture and see if he has a name.

[stillheresanctuary]

Well, that’s a line from The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. No clue what it could mean in context of the bitty reciting it. Maybe the Papy lived with someone who liked modern American poetry, or maybe someone near him had a school assignment (it’s a popular choice for those).

That’s what I was thinking too!

I’ve kind of mentally nicknamed him ‘Grassy’ because of it, but I want to see if he remembers his name or is he has a name he prefers to go by, much like our Unnamed Brassberry (who I’ve mentally been calling Torvet, a Finnish word meaning brass). It’s going to be a process no matter what, I just pray things continue on the upswing and our Papy friend is able to have a good life no matter his ailments.

[stillheresanctuary]

(I don’t role play, but wanted to give you the chance to finish this?) I’ve removed the Papy from the bag, and put him in a container with a sweater (both were in my car). I untied him (zip ties, ugh), he tried to walk away, but as mentioned before he can’t... really walk. I explained I was here to help but... I don’t know how much he understood, as his words are all... messed up. I... this is just... I will leave him with you, and I hope there’s something you can do...

(Ah! Sorry about that! I should have made mention that there’s no obligation to reply to ANY posts, anon or otherwise. I just felt like writing a mini scene and it got away from me. Thank you for continuing though!)

Cell gingerly accepted the tiny burden of the greatly disoriented bitty, trying not to cringe at the soft dusty texture of the delicate bones rubbing on their skin, and looked to the stranger than had gone so far out of their way to get help.

“Thank you so much, you have no idea how grateful I am that you even bothered to come. Most people would have just walked on, but-”

They gave their head a quick shake, knowing they’d babble if they didn’t stop themselves.

“Thank you. We’ll do everything we can to help this little guy. Please drive safe, okay?”

With that, Cell moved quickly towards the inner door that led to the medbay, leaving Key Largo to properly close up behind them as they used their elbow to get through to where Halim was waiting. The Papython stiffened at seeing just how bad off the newest arrival was, a soft hiss escaping through his fangs before he was able to collect himself.

“…This Is Worse Than Jasper.”

Cell swallowed, giving a short nod.

“I know.”

“He May Fall Down, No Matter What We Do.”

“I know.”

Halim’s sockets narrowed, his gaze solemn and stern as he met Cell’s dark eyes, then he nodded. His hands radiated a soft minty green glow as he curled them around both the bitty and Cell’s hands, not wanting to risk moving the bitty any more than absolutely necessary. It took only a few moments for the bitty to calm his wriggling, the soothing warmth of healing magic easing his anxieties and nervous energy.

[stillheresanctuary]

um... my dog and I were out on a walk and he smelled this bitty tied up in a plastic bag... I think it’s a “Papy” type but... his skull was basically caved in on top... he’s pretty dirty and his bones feel powdery... with the head trauma I don’t know how he’s alive, but from the way he’s acting he’s pretty mentally damaged... he likes to be held but speaks very garbled English, seems to be blind, and cannot walk straight without help... this is beyond my ability to help...

Oh lord…

Okay, well, if you’re less than a 5-10 minute drive from the Sanctuary, you’re going to want to take the side entrance through the red door. It goes to a mudroom before leading into the medbay, either Halim or myself will meet you. Halim will do as quick an evaluation as he can, and we’ll see if there’s anything we can do to help stabilize him.

If not-

We can at least make him comfortable as he passes.

- - -

Cell hovered anxiously just inside the side door, rocking on their heels and picking at their cuticles as they waited. They had yet to get a response back from the anonymous rescuer, so they had no idea whether or not the person was even coming, but they wanted to be there, just in case.

Gods and goddesses, it was like when Jasper first came but worse…

Cool, firm hands wrapped firmly around their own, and Cell jolted in place, refocusing to find Key Largo standing in front of them, his stern features drawn with concern.

“…you’re bleeding.”

“Huh?”

They looked down at their hands, and felt a rush of embarrassment as they realized they were indeed bleeding, having torn their cuticles to shreds. Before they could even attempt an excuse, the large bone hands wrapped firmly around their own began to glow with a soft blue-green aura and their skin prickled with gooseflesh as they felt the bloody tears slowly pull closed.

“Key…”

“Don’t. You’ll scare them.”

Deep ocean colored eyelights met dark eyes, the Brassberry’s expression pulled into a chiding frown.

“You know us bitties can smell blood better than most.”

“Right, right… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, stop doing this.”

“Sorry.”

Key glowered, and Cell’s embarassed flush deepened as they looked away towards the wall.

“I just- I’m worried. I mean, Jasper has been our worst case so far, but the way this person was describing the Papy… I dunno how much we can help, Key, I really don’t.”

[stillheresanctuary]

different person but please tell me the poor hurt Papy isn’t going to die, I thought you said everyone had a shot at a happy ending, even if he’ll have challenges in life, what do we need to do to have him live

Everyone has a shot, and everyone gets a chance.

The fact of the matter is that despite all the effort one might put in, death is not something that can be avoided or stopped. It is the End of All, it is the Final Call.

We at the Center will do everything we can to help, providing healing and support, but any emergency responder or medical specialist will tell you that you hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Halim and Van will be working together to stabilize the Papy, and if they need more help, I’m going to be calling around to some of the other adoption-healthcare centers for help in this matter.

I want him to survive, I want him to THRIVE. But I, personally, need to make myself be realistic about this situation, or else risk breaking in a way that will help no one.

Thank you for your concern and your well wishing, it helps all of us here at the Center knowing that there are others who care just as much as we do. With luck and perseverance, the Papy will survive the night.