towerofanimus | Infighting Week One

It was going to be okay. This was his constant mantra during the entire escapade of their "reunion" with others in the other pods. It was going to be okay, they'd get through this and somehow, they'd end up back to the tower. He just had to keep his chin up like he usually did. A little unbridled optimism never hurt anyone. In fact, a little optimism was what everyone needed now, it seemed. Himself included.

But Ronald had decided to wander back to the rest from his group when he caught sight of that... creature... whatever it was struggling to get back up on its feet. A frown came to his features as he approached it with the smallest sigh. HIs hand reached out onto its back. Poor thing. That Jason would get it eventually. Even if Ronald had to take matters into his own hands. But that could wait. For now, there was this poor sod to tend to. "Here now, you'll be alright. Easy does it." he began. But he stopped, taking a closer look for himself.

The reaper paled but did nothing to take a step back, to remove himself or his hand. Instead, he kept it where it was and forced his voice from his throat. "...Cor... Romeo, mate? Is that you?" he asked, a hushed tone coming to his words. "You... What'd they do to you? Poor bloke..."

Romeo turned to smile at the person that was helping him and smiled a bit brighter when he saw it was Ronald and that he seemed fine. It looked like only mister Jason's pod had had experiments done to them. Romeo was glad that at least some people were unhurt.

"Yes it's me mister Ronald, mister Jason is a really bad man. He did bad things to everyone."

Bad things. It was possibly the tip of the iceberg, truth be told. And if this was the first week, who was to say what the rest of the weeks following. His hand moved over to try and offer Romeo a semblance of a hair ruffle best he could thanks to those antlers. "Yeah, I know. He's a really bad man." he sighed, kneeling in front of the moosechild. "Didn't think he'd take it this far though."

And he settled himself down, sitting by Romeo's side as he petted him once more before drawing it away. "He did something to my--" he began, pausing to find the proper word. "...my friend from home, too. Just saw him a while ago. But don't you worry none. I'm sure it'll be alright. You'll be back to normal and we'll get him in the end, eh?"

Romeo sat down as well, his six legs sprawling unorderly, he still hadn't gotten used to his new form. He blinked at him and nodded, because they would get Jason, they would get him and stop him hurting anyone ever again. "You're friend is in my group too? What's his name mister Ronald, I'll look after him for you!"

He knew he couldn't do anything to stop mister Jason, but he might be able to make him feel better, keep his spirits up, stop him from feeling too scared and sad.

He considered it a moment. It was a generous offer and if there was someone in this place Ronald had started to trust, it was Romeo. He was a sweet boy and quite capable of protecting himself. Reliable enough. A good kid. He continued to pet him, trying to offer a measure of comfort as thanks. "I think he'll be fine but.. would be nice to make sure he isn't taking it on his lonesome like he usually does." he began.

There was one breath as he glanced over, trying to catch sight of William through the crowd but he shakes his head. It's too hard to and if Will ever caught wind of what he was trying to do, well... he might have found it utterly ridiculous. "His name's William. Taller than me but he wears a suit like mine and he's also got glasses on. Kind of sticks out, the way he does. Bit of a stick up his arse but don't tell him I said that, eh?" Ronald added, managing a small grin. "Thanks, mate. I owe you one. He's.. bleeding important to me."

"I know who you mean!" Romeo had seen him but hadn't spoken to him yet. He knew how important best friends were, he would have been really angry and sad and scared if Alfredo or Molly had been with Jason. But Alfredo was in heaven and Molly was on her world; though she would be really lonely at least she wasn't being hurt.

"Best friends are really important sir, I'll make sure he keeps his spirits up! I promise!" He couldn't bring his hands to his chest, as they were hooves and didn't work like that but he nudged Ronald with the side of his head.

"He's... he's not my best friend." he began with the semblance of a laugh. "He's..."

Huh.

Well that was confusing.

Friends. Were they friends? He mulled the thought over for a while because really. It wasn't friendship rather than it was a heavy dose of respect. Or was it admiration. Hero worship? No, certainly nothing as fanboyish as that. It made him frown slightly and ruffle his own hair, pressing his thumbs together in thought.

But he finally finds his words with a small smile. "He's my boss. A reaper, just like me. And the best damn one I've seen in forever." Ronald began, slinging an arm around Romeo a moment. "So... I can't let this bloody tower get to him, right? He'd look out for me too if I was there. Dunno if he'd consider me a friend or at least more than just his subordinate but... cor if he kind of sort of may mean a whole damn lot as much as one to me. Maybe even more."

With a sigh, he gives a little half hug before getting up. "I really appreciate it. Though... we can't let Jason get to you too, alright? Keep your chin up. It'll be over soon, I hope." he adds, lightly tapping the boy on the nose.

"Oh..." Not his best friend? But he sounded like he was... He looked even more confused when Ronald said he was his boss. Because bosses were not your friends, bosses were people you worked for and though they could sometimes be kind. Mister Rossi had been kind to Romeo sometimes but this didn't sound like that.

Maybe he was like a leader then, leaders could be best friends. Like Alfredo had been his leader and also his friend, and how he was so much better than Romeo at things and helped Romeo get better and stronger. Maybe it was like that.

"Don't worry sir," he smiled at the nose tap, "I'm good at keeping my spirits up!"

While it was true bosses didn't necessarily make good friends, there was a certain optimism Ronald had on the matter. Maybe it was because he genuinely liked his seniors. Flamboyant as Mister-- right, Miss Sutcliffe was and no matter how much Mister Spears needed to cut him some slack, they were both admirable in their own right. And if anything, William was fair. Not the sort to abuse his position. Which was why he worried. Mister Spears was a good man. Seeing him being treated the way he was... well... you just didn't treat Ronald's role models like that.

And in turn it scared him just the slightest bit. The thought that Jason had the power to do this to one much stronger than he was...

But no, no time to fret. Romeo was trying his hardest to keep sane. He'd been told to survive. If Romeo could, so could he. After all, he was a reaper with pride and it was this very pride that drew a grin back onto his face. "That's the spirit! No sense letting them get us down. If we do, they've won, right?" he asked, straightening his jacket.

"Yes, they like seeing us cry so we got to be strong and not give them what they want!" He nodded, stumbling a little as the weight of his antlers knocked him off balance.

"We can't let mister Jason win!"

That in itself was inspiring. The fact that this little kid, despite his alterations and apparent physical trauma, could manage to hold his head up and say those words... well... It gave Ronald thought that they would be fine. Those in Jason's pod still had a nice little beam of sunshine to cling on to. In circumstances like this, everyone needed a little beam of sunshine.

He came up to support Romeo before the kid could fall over, keeping an arm around him to allow something to keep him upright lest he tip over again. "That's the spirit! We've gotta keep our chin up, eh? Everyone's counting on it and we'll need all the spine we can get to get through this week together." he offered with a smile.

Romeo smiled at him, steadying himself again. "Everything will be okay if we keep our spirits up, it always is."

And that in itself was enough to bring the reaper back to his usual demeanor. "There we are." he replied, making sure Romeo got on his feet properly. "Best we get back then. I'll prolly see you around next week, eh? Hang on til then. I'm sure it'll be over soon."

"I will mister Ronald and you too! Remember the others might not be as bad but they are still bad people so you got to be careful!"

He didn't want him to be hurt, not at all.

Infighting Week One

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