i finally started drawing something so self indulgent and i wanna scream cause it's turning out DECENTLY (( that is until i look at it tomorrow and notice all the errors ))
@outcast-shadow 's new comic series about Doey in their AU has me thinking about a similar scenario playing out in the RoleSwap AU I have. Basic crux of it is the character in the Player's position is put in the role of 1006, except instead of incorporating the parts of others into her body, she can regenerate. Maybe not to a Wolverine or Deadpool degree, but she is able to bounce back from things most people would have trouble with, such as...a broken bone?
An important thing to note for this is that, because of the different character as 1006, Safe Haven is in Playcare, and CatNap/Theodore Grambell is more definitively a good guy despite being an aloof teen with a good amount of attitude. The Doctor and some other characters control everything below, and have activated a failsafe measure that locks off most of the factory as a way to keep the experiments in. Given how soon this is after the Hour of Joy, there's no real degradation to the factory itself yet, so everyone's trapped together. The main factions present are the experiments, the remaining orphans, and the few general employees that weren't able to get out before everything got shut up.
^^^
It took Medic a good ten minutes to realize that things had lapsed back into quiet. The earlier hum of voices outside along with the occasional set of footsteps passing by the medical bay finally drew him out of his mind. The internal calculations he'd been doing about supplies fell to the wayside as he tried to take that moment to just...relax. Breathe, as it were.
Even if, as a Boogie Bot, he no longer had to.
But, still, it was a good thing to do. Though it felt more productive to roll out of the closet and check up on his current roster of patients. The former shipping assistant turned planner when it came to the fortifying of Playcare, though the name Safe Haven was starting to catch on. She'd been helping seal off one of the elevators and had suffered a burn on her left arm. Not too bad, but Medic was worried about infection. A few of the other experiments might have considered the loss of an employee no horrible thing, but given that they still had a number of them down here it was pertinent to keep relations good. Especially given that most of the low-level employees upstairs had no idea what had been going on down below, hearing about the Prison and the conditions there enough to reduce a number of the group to either outright distress if not momentary denial. Though the experiments themselves were a good bit of proof that the stories were not simply stories. Six going through the trouble of gathering reports and video cassettes from down below, and the executive areas, also helped prove the experiments' case.
And, speaking of, the Medic's treads paused as he looked to the last bed. He'd automatically rolled to about the middle of the room, though his last two patients were easy enough to spot. Or, well, Doey was. Six's slight frame took up about as much space as any young lady's would, even with the somewhat atypical features of pale, almost too pale skin, and bright red eyes that seemed to have their own glow in the dark. To say nothing of the scars dappling said skin like a map of the different experiments the so-called 'great success' of Playtime's founder had undergone. Medic could remember what he'd read of the files on 1006, they'd burned at him like all of the experiments had.
Ten. She had been a ten-year-old girl. Never mind that she'd been in a 'delicate state' thanks to a car accident. Never mind that she'd just lost her parents. No, you had your perfect experiment, didn't you. Your perfected human with a 'lengthened lifespan and a stronger healing ability'. You got what you wanted.
And Doey, well, that was another one Medic smarted over. Three boys, one an accident and two chosen on purpose. Mixed together into an entirely new person, someone who only knew containment rooms, scientists, and experiments. Doey was the strongest of the experiments, though Medic couldn't help wondering if the doughman wasn't, in his own way, the most fractious. It had taken a good amount of talking, as well as the resurfacing of a frankly horrible VHS tape involving one of the 1322 kids' parents, to really understand the depths of that thought.
Doey had been near catatonic simply listening to it, malleable skin rippling with the emotional cocktail of guilt, panic, and shame. It took a quick dose of the tranquilizers, administered with the Bigger Body's say-so, for Doey to come to something resembling calm. The conversation had drifted, Doey filling in the blanks that the tape did not. He had...memories of the incident, but they were mostly foggy and hard to fully recollect. He'd remembered that the pair had lab coats, which Medic theorized afterwards was so they'd be more likely to set Doey off rather than anything about protocol. The fact that the doors hadn't been opened when things were clearly falling apart had solidified the idea in Medic's mind; neither the mother nor the father had been expected to walk out of there. They'd been allowed the chance to talk to Doey, thinking he was their son, simply so Doey would get rid of them.
It wasn't a revelation that Medic had openly talked about; he still retained some proper understanding of bedside manners despite everything going to hell. But, Doey wasn't an idiot, even in an emotionally fraught, hazed-with-tranquilizers state. The kid had pretty readily figured it out, Medic able to remember how the doughman's scrunched-down head had lolled to lean back against the wall, shoulders lethargically shivering as he'd started to cry.
"'m a bad person, 'm a bad, bad person, sh-she was talkin', she was bein' nice, she thought I was Jack an' I just..."
Six had recovered the quickest out of all of them, crossing the room and throwing her arms around Doey's neck. A slightly arduous task given that the doughman tended to withdraw his head into his body a bit when he was tired and he was hardly small, but Six still did it. She'd been joined by Kissy, who'd been present for that sordid conversation, though Medic knew that others had been listening in. Issue with keeping upwind of fifty people in one place, news tended to travel fast. He'd noticed how Huggy and Theo had been gentler with Doey following that; Huggy had the tendency to shadow people he liked when they were injured or unwell anyway.
But, well, maybe this might take either longer or shorter as far as recovery. Not so much for Six, the 'regenerating human' had a habit of shrugging off things most would consider debilitating. And a disturbingly cavalier response to getting injured, but, again, given that road map of scars...
Which, was a problem on it's own, and clearly needed to be corrected. Though the one that Medic was more worried for in this situation was Doey. Their rudimentary medical bay had exploded into activity when the doughman had carried Six in, the girl's arm hanging awkwardly even with a makeshift splint.
Six had been mostly calm, again, disturbingly so given that her arm was broken in two places. Doey had been frantic, skin rippling with tumultuous emotions as he'd tried to explain. Six had been the one to give a more succinct rundown; Doey and her had met with trouble when they'd been looking for supplies and survivors downstairs. Doey had grabbed her when they'd had to make a run for it, and in the confusion he'd misjudged his grip and broke her arm by mistake.
Though from Doey's more emotional testimony, Medic learned that Six hadn't cried out. The only reason Doey knew that something was wrong was because she'd asked for him to stop so she could get materials for a splint and try to set it herself. And then he'd seen the arm, and, well...
Cue the scene that had happened not ten minutes ago. Six had sat patiently for the whole thing, barely flinched as the Medic and Isabel, Six's personal caretaker from her days down in the labs, made sure the break was properly set. It was likely healing already, the splint would probably only need to be on a fraction of the time that it would be for...a normal injury.
Doey's emotional state was harder to judge. The doughman had been frantic, true, but he'd remained present. No tranquilizers or sedatives needed to calm him down this time. Though there had been a brief worry about him running, Six managed to head that off by, of all things, physically and then verbally reaching out to Doey.
"I won't make you stay, not if you don't want to. But I want you to stay. I want you here. You're my friend, remember? You're always my friend."
And Doey had stayed. Sat right down next to Six's cot. He was still there now, head pulled into his body like a turtleneck, leaning back into the wall as he slumbered. The occasional snore from him was more than enough of an indicator that the doughman was actually asleep. Six was harder for the Medic to judge given her more slight figure. Not helped by his height, he could tell that she was in the cot, but that was about it.
They had installed ramps around the room, allowing Medic to get better vantage points if he wished. He made use of this now, silently scooting up the one that ran next to Six's cot. Her eyes were closed, but he could see how her feet were occasionally twitching under the threadbare blanket. As well as the faint furrow to her brow. Hearing the slight vmmm of his treads had her peeking over, red eyes quiet and shadowed as her head rolled to look his way.
"Did you. Want to try. A painkiller?" Medic knew Six's system would process it fairly quick, but any relief would likely be welcome. One thing he'd postulated, especially when talking about Six's care with Isabel, was that while Six did not necessarily need sleep or food, her regenerative abilities worked better and faster when they had something substantial to draw from. And the human body worked better overall when you allowed it to rest, and made sure it was properly fueled.
They'd tried to make the 'perfect human', but there were some things that couldn't simply be magicked away it seemed. Though even as Medic was getting to the end of the thought, Six shook her head, eyes furrowing a bit with a faint frown.
"It doesn't hurt. It's just itchy."
Meaning it was likely to be healing up soon. Though there was a part of Medic that wondered if Six was saying that because her experiences had left her a bit desensitized to pain. He'd noticed it from time to time with some of the other experiments.
"Alright. Cast stays on. Did you. Want anything else?"
She'd paused for a bit too long; there was likely something. Though before she could try to say anything both her and Medic caught the sounds of a few sets of feet running towards the medical bay. The clunking steps were enough of a clue as to who this would be. While there was a part of Medic that was exasperated, he wasn't surprised. He'd expected the twins sooner, all things considered.
"Six?!"
The call was loud, Doey starting awake with a bleary snort and Six wincing. Medic was down the ramp in two seconds, rolling into view with a mechanically growled SHH as he pointed in the direction the pair were in. The nonverbal reprimand had already landed well enough, the towering Bigger Body 'tin soldier' giving a guilty start. Even with a more frozen face, blue and black livery shuddered, eyes shuttering as he spoke up with a much quieter tone.
"I-I'm sorry. Excuse me."
"You are. Forgiven. She is over here."
And with the direction, off Umiko went. Thankfully that stamping wasn't too rushed, Medic wasn't relishing needing to avoid being stepped on. Especially since the tin soldier wasn't alone. His red and white twin, Naoto, followed him in, along with Huggy who had a familiar purple Wuggy clinging to his shoulder. Not too surprising though, the Wuggies had taken to their larger counterparts since they'd been rescued from the Game Station. And, speaking of purple, Medic thought he caught a glimpse of a familiar, lanky feline skirting around the open door. But, not coming in yet.
Then again, it did make sense. Theodore was hardly a people person, even if he wasn't the focus of everyone's attention. A busy gathering in the medical bay might be a bit too much for him, but he'd probably be hanging around regardless. He and Six were fairly close, and from what Medic had heard, the CatNap Bigger Body was one of the experiments Six had gone out of her way to visit when the factory was running. He'd want to know that she was okay.
"...How, how bad is...?" Naoto was asking as Medic skirted back up the little ramp to be more present in the conversation. Especially since Six was sitting up, not wincing or showing much by way of discomfort, but with the clearly splinted and reset arm he couldn't help being a little on edge. He was hardly the only one; Doey's face was tensely worried at the sight, his arm making an aborted attempt to reach out before the doughman's face twisted with guilt and he pulled back in.
"It's healing. The splint's probably gonna come off soon." Six was replying, voice quiet but still candid. Medic nearly felt the need to point out: two breaks in your arm, the splint will come off when you're done healing and not a minute before. But saying it in that kind of a way would likely just upset Doey even further. Six had noticed the doughman drawing back, along with Umiko. The black and blue tin soldier moved carefully around the cot, coming to stand next to Doey and resting a hand on the doughman's shoulder. The touch was small, but enough to snap Doey out of his head, and mumble out,
"I'm sorry..."
"It was an accident." Six immediately replied, though Doey was shaking his head like the quiet words were a ringing shout.
"Six, I broke your arm in two places, that's, that's not just an accident, that was irresponsible, I should have been more careful---"
"I should've called out, or told you to stop." The rejoinder, delivered just as placidly as everything before, did get Doey to pause. But within moments he was shaking his head, his face screwed up in a grimace.
"Don't pretend I didn't do anything wrong, I broke your arm!" There was a hum of actual frustration if not anger in Doey's tone, the doughman realizing it too given how he forcibly stopped and pressed his hands to his face for a moment, dragging them down with a deep, tired sigh.
"It doesn't matter to me if you can heal from it, I should never have done that, never."
"If I may make a suggestion?" Umiko spoke up, the pairs' collective gaze turning to him. "It is true that it should not have happened, but part of the issue is that you were not aware that you were using too much force. Six calling out would have alerted you to this problem, but that did not happen. So, perhaps a change on both parts is necessary? So this does not happen again?"
"Yes!" Naoto spoke up, moving in a way that seemed slightly off given his equally clunky, metallic frame. Leaping up, the red and white tin soldier came to stand next to his brother, his tone befitting his frozen smile as he went on. "When you are constructing an apology, it should consist of three parts, the apology itself, admitting fault where it is due, and how you intend to fix it!"
The words left Six and Doey looking between each other, a bit bemused by how to proceed at first. But after a few moments to think, Six came up with something, turning back to Doey.
"Doey, I'm sorry for not telling you that I was hurt. I'll be more careful and let you know if there is a problem."
The doughman himself was still a little bemused by the whole concept, but Six's words did ease something in his mind. With a softer smile, Doey spoke up, reaching over to place a few fingers in Six's comparatively smaller hand.
"And I'm sorry for, for grabbing you too hard. I'll be more careful from now on."
"Glad to see you two're making up." The words had everyone looking to the storage-closet-turned-resting-space, just in time to see Isabel quietly stumble her way out, rubbing her eye as her steps became more sure.
"Hey, Izzy." Six called, voice quiet but warm. Doey also waved, a small gesture with a more meek but no less grateful smile.
"Hey yourself. How's the arm?"
"Doesn't hurt. Just itchy." Six reported like someone discussing the weather, throwing a quick glance down at the limb.
Though the faint sound of shuffling drew everyone's attention to the door. Theo, it seemed, had finally decided to join the group. Probably after realizing the crowd wasn't going to thin anytime soon. The lanky, purple feline ambled close, deftly stepping in between the rows of cots and coming to a stop next to the ramp Medic was using. Everyone sort of watched as Theo sat, his head dipping to be near to Six's face as the towering cat took in a deep breath---
"Your breath smells. You need to drink water. And eat."
And Six pouted at the rather frank read, the sight getting a smattering of warped giggling from Huggy even as Naoto headed for the door to procure the regenerating girl a proper meal.
Medic ended up getting pulled away again to retake stock of the supplies, and also see to the health of the other patient in the infirmary. But, as he passed by later, he was treated to the relieving, if not somewhat happy sight of Isabel guiding Doey in helping her get the tangles out of Six's hair. Six herself was lying on her back across the cot, expression one of rare peace as the doughman carefully and gently eased a brush through the longer, brownish-red locks. Perhaps, if Six were to continue making trips downstairs, a haircut might be necessary. Didn't want it to get snagged or tangled. But, for the moment, the Medic couldn't bring himself to do more than have the thought.
Especially not when Doey looked so calm, a softer smile on his face as he attentively eased the snarls from Six's hair. As Medic rolled by, Isabel gently patted Doey on the shoulder, quietly murmuring a softer good job, kiddo. The whispering was likely because the careful treatment had likely put Six to sleep, Medic just able to hear Doey's softer but no less warm thank you in response.
Perhaps he'd check in with the doughman later, just for his own peace of mind. But, for now, the Boogie Bot couldn't help the entirely serious thought that Doey would bounce back pretty well from the whole ordeal.
What is your favorite kind of dinner food, drink, and fanfic trope to write?
Thank you 🤗
As of right now, the tism has me stuck on (vegetarian) nuggies and tots. But I try to adult them with melted cheese and chili crisp. I love food and I can be very diverse, but then I have my go to of nuggies and tots. And I'm working my way through testing out all the zero sugar sodas. Got a case of Tropical 7Up currently *chefs kiss*
For fanfic, I love a good Canon divergence. Enemies to lovers. But I think I'm best at writing hurt/comfort personally. I think that's the most consistent trope I utilize. I like digging into that.
