Chapter 150: Unable to even help themself

Casper’s gaze kept darting around the room like he was reaching for anything to grasp at, but when Rhys filled the doorway behind Kellen, he practically knew it was all over.

“W-What are you doing here?” He asked, his voice scratchy. Kellen didn’t wince at the sound of his voice and instead moved into the room further, Rhys giving Kellen a bit of space to move on his own, but only a little. Kellen could feel the man hovering behind him, ready to catch him if anything went wrong.

Casper’s eyes wouldn’t stop darting around and Kellen realised he was just going to have to deal with it as he talked to him. It wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation. It was going to be hard, and that was the truth.

“Is there where you’ve been hiding out?” Kellen knew that maybe he shouldn’t be coming in swinging right out of the gate, but he was pissed for his own reasons. Seeing how Casper was neglecting himself on top of all of his duties made him emotional, and he was not above blaming his potential new Class on that. He normally wouldn’t, but hell, he was feeling a little crazy right now.

Casper winced at Kellen’s words like he had hit him. Kellen frowned. Casper would know if Kellen had hit him. He was pretty sure he would break something if he hit him now, or when he had first seen Casper in the Guild tower. When Casper had been…better.

“I haven’t been hiding.” Casper said defensively and Kellen could not help the snort that left him. He raised both eyebrows, his eyepatch shifting slightly as he did so.

“Don’t even start with me. We both know that you have been hiding and avoiding anyone who would make you uncomfortable and who would try to hold you accountable. That’s me, my father, my mother, Rhys, Taylor, Pamela, Hill, any of the Field Guides, members of Sergei’s Guild, the damn receptionist, and other Guides in our Guild. You have been running and running, Casper, and now? Now even Gunther is asking to hold you accountable.” Casper’s eyes went wide.

So wide Kellen was almost worried for the man.

He was trembling, his body shaking so much that Kellen worried he would be able to hear his bones rattling.

“Rhys, go get some damn shakes. Now.” Kellen snapped. He knew that there was no need to speak to Rhys that way, he wasn’t the one who was treating himself this way. He hoped that Rhys understood that he wasn’t mad at him, he just happened to be in the room while he was feeling big emotions.

From the way that Rhys bent, pressing his lips against Kellen’s temple before he left, he did get it.

“I’ll be back shortly. Don’t think you can run past him.” Rhys warned. “He’s injured, not stupid.” It was a jab at Casper, and Kellen realised for a second that Casper had been thinking of trying to bolt without Rhys there. The damn fool.

Kellen could put his arm out and clothesline the fool in a split second. He didn’t even need to move from his spot to do that. He was panicking, cornered, and was trying to think of ways out of this. No damn way that was happening.

Rhys disappeared and Kellen narrowed his eye at Casper.

“Sit down.” He ordered. When Casper swayed like he was going to pass out, Kellen snapped. “Now, before I make you.” Casper backed up and sat down. It was more like a collapse, and Kellen wanted to smack the man for letting him get this far.

Hitting him would not benefit the situation, nor would strangling him, or shaking him. Kellen wanted to do all of that.

“Why have you done this?” Kellen asked broadly and watched as Casper opened and closed his mouth before he sighed. He closed his eyes, shaking his head as his lips trembled. He looked like he needed lip balm and Kellen had half a mind to take him into the bathroom, strip him, and bathe him for his own health. He might even force the issue once he was done ripping him a new one. “Casper, what the fuck happened? What was the trigger for all of this? Why are you doing this to yourself and everyone around you? I thought you were the most stable out of everyone around me. Competent, smart, had a good head on your shoulders. What the hell happened for you to turn on everyone like this, neglect your duties and just…crumble?” Kellen asked and Casper sighed. He hunched his shoulders, dropping them as he refused to meet Kellen’s gaze.

Kellen didn’t speak again until Rhys came back with a small cooler. He had it on a strap, over his right shoulder. It was so Taylor coded that Kellen didn’t even ask where he had gotten it. Rhys didn’t speak to Kellen about it either, he just moved towards Casper, opening the cooler as he walked, reaching in and grabbing a shake. He had it cracked open and handed to Casper before he even got to him.

He stopped, hand out, and Casper looked up at him. There was no light in his eyes, but that didn’t stop Kellen nor Rhys. Rhys thrust the shake towards him again, not going to take no for an answer.

Casper appeared to have shut down, refusing to accept the shake or deny it outwardly. That was a bad decision.

While Kellen couldn’t force Casper to drink, Rhys held no such qualms or setbacks.

He grabbed Casper, forcing his head and glaring at the Guide.

“Don’t breathe.” He warned before giving him a moment and then pouring the shake down his throat. Casper would have protested, if he had any damn energy, but he was like a deflated balloon. The few words that Kellen had said to him had apparently had an impact, and Kellen was a little bitter that he couldn’t get any fight back from him. Hopefully, with the infusion of energy, Kellen might get more out of him.

Kellen watched as Rhys held Casper, his face grim as he poured the shake down his throat. He spilled a little, but it wasn’t because Casper was putting up a fight. It was like the man was a shell of himself, and damnit, that hurt more than anything else.

Seeing nothing come from Casper, not even panic, anger, rage. He should be upset that Kellen and Rhys were treating him like this, like he couldn’t feed himself. He wasn’t doing any of that.

Kellen saw how Casper’s hands twitched, his eyes glazed as he separated himself from what was happening to him. Kellen felt his jaw harden. Shit. The worst part? Kellen was sure that if he was in such terrible shape like Casper was, he would do the same damn thing, and Kellen didn’t feel guilt over it either. He was upset that it had to happen, but he didn’t feel guilty.

If the man wasn’t going to take care of his body, someone else was going to be kind enough to do it for him. The people who happened to be helping him were Rhys and Kellen.

Rhys dropped the empty shake bottle to the ground, reaching into the cooler bag to grab another and Kellen moved to his side, helping him take the cap off so that he could keep his hand steady on Casper’s face. Rhys gave him a nod in thank you, and then the pair continued to do this to Casper until the cooler was empty, and Casper appeared to be filling out.

It was a fast process for Guides, a small miracle of the human body infused with magic. Casper’s face was filling out before their very eyes, his skin coming to life. However, he still looked ill.

Whatever was wrong with him had affected his body, but it was all mental. Now they just had to prove to Casper he wasn’t alone, he wouldn’t be alone, and they were in this together whether he liked it or not.

Rhys stepped back, waving his hand to magic Casper’s clothes back to their previous state. He even cleaned his glasses,, but they couldn’t do anything about the filthy state that Casper’s body was in. Rhys was frowning, picking up the empty bottles he’d dropped on the floor and putting them back into the cooler.

It felt more like they had but a bandage on an overflowing wound.

“Casper.” Kellen said, then called his name again to get his attention. “Casper. If you don’t get a shower on your own, I am going to ask Gunther to help.” Kellen warned. That seemed to stir Casper from the place inside of himself that he retreated to.

“…no.” It was a soft noise of complaint, made from a man who was not well. Kellen’s jaw hardened.

“I will, if you don’t help me help you. You know that things aren’t going well, right? You are not a stupid man, Casper. So help me. You need a shower, you need to clean yourself. If you’re having a hard time, Rhys and I can help you, alright? There is no shame in this, and the bathrooms in the Medical Bay are made the way that they are for this very reason.” Kellen watched as Casper’s expression finally shifted. Finally changed, and when it did, his eyes began to fill with water. Casper’s face crumpled, and Kellen knew that as much as he wanted to rage and scream and yell at the man for being an idiot and doing idiotic things, now wasn’t the time.

Casper needed a gentle hand before he could handle the harsh truth of what he’d done, what he was continuing to do, and the consequences of his actions. Though, Kellen had a feeling that he already knew, which was why he was running away.

“O-Okay. Don’t get Theodore involved.” Casper whispered. It took Kellen a second to realise and remember that Gunther’s first name was Theodore. Kellen softened only marginally, before he nodded and made eye contact with Rhys.

Kellen spun and locked the door, making sure no one came in while they were doing this, and then pulled out his phone and texted Taylor saying that they had locked the door to Gunther’s room, and everything was fine. Satisfied he had covered his bases, he went back to Rhys and Casper.

Rhys was helping Casper to his feet, practically carrying the man as they went to the bathroom as a unit. As Kellen had said, the bathroom was intentionally a large space for assistance purposes.

Rhys shrugged off the cooler, dropping it on the sink as they passed it. Then, Kellen, Rhys and Casper helped get Casper undressed. The man flushed, embarrassed that Kellen and Rhys were seeing him this way, but Kellen didn’t give a goddamn. He could be embarrassed once he was better.

It was a rather hard shower, and Kellen was more upset that he could only just stand there instead of getting two hands in and helping Rhys with bathing Casper. Casper put up a meager attempt in cleaning himself, but Rhys did most of the heavy-lifting.

It took two showers, with a third quick rinse before Kellen gave his approval. Then, Rhys turned the time back on Casper’s clothes for the second time to make sure that everything was clean, and then they helped him get dressed.

Then, when they came back into the main room, Rhys reset the room, specifically the spot where Casper had been sitting. Casper glanced around the room, his hair wet, his face glossy, and his cheeks flushed with health and warmth.

He looked better. Kellen nodded that at the very least, they had gotten this much done so far.

A knock sounded on the door.

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