Post-Projection Blues [Robert, Vincent, Bow-Wow]

Bow-wow

The last buckle was undone and Bow-Wow near-enough fell forward in the chair He sobbed for a few moments more, until he finally managed to pull himself together, the fog slowly leaving his mind enough that he could stand up.

"I'm okay- I'm- I- I dunno why I'm cryin-!" He sniveled pathetically. "I guess- I jus'… the machine makes ya feel…um…weird? When ya wake up."

Bow-Wow had a… low tolerance for those kinds of intense overstimulating emotions all at once- and his reaction was usually to cry and shut down. His eyes still felt bleary as he wobbled to his feet, reaching out for Robert as soon as the wardens had left.

"Kao…Kaoru? Kaoru was here too?" Dread. That was what he felt about that revelation. Although it was quickly replaced with a somewhat brighter feeling when he spotted Vincent.

"H-Hi, Mr. Vincent." He greeted, forcing himself forward despite still recovering, his stubbornness shining through despite the fact his nose still sounded congested and his eyes still burned. "What… What happened to Kaoru…?" His eyes were round- "It sounds… like somethin' bad?"

Robert McCay

The first thing Robert did was pull the kid into a hug, trying his best to be a source of comfort even as he fought back a shudder of his own. They stood there for a moment until Bow-Wow broke the silence again, with questions that had no easy answer. Boy, this was gonna be a rough conversation.

"Yes, Kaoru snuck in… he wasn't too troublesome, though, surprisingly. But at the very end…"

He looked at Bow-Wow with a rather grim expression on his face.

"…First things first. How much d'you wanna know?"

Bow-wow

Kaoru… snuck in.

It feels like a betrayal, really, but at the same time, it might not have been malicious. It just seemed like the kind of thing Kaoru would accidentally get involved in anyway…

"Um…" He blinks, looking down at the floor, holding onto Robert's arm lightly, like he didn't want to let go in fear of drifting away or something.

"I…I don't know. Everythin', I think. As much as… ya think ya wanna tell me?"

"Did…Did ya see what I look like?" He asked, with the most pathetic voice ever, it wobbling way more than he'd ever admit.

Erin | Vincent Churchwell

Having had a fair amount of time now to get his physical reactions under control by the time Bow-Wow was fully freed, Vincent's face is once again schooled in it's usual way, though the fact that he's hung around this long afterwards in the first place still speaks to his concern for Bow-Wow in and of itself. Vincent was kind of hoping no one had noticed that he himself had been struggling to begin with, really. He's quiet at first, waiting until Bow-Wow actually addresses him to say anything, at which point he nods and steps over towards him in turn.

"Hello, Bow-Wow. And yes, Kaoru was here too, though if anything he was fully supportive of you inside. Or… the 'you' that was there, anyways. He and I might have gotten a bit carried away in trying to help you sort out some thievery that happened to you while you were working. But… in the end, yes, something bad happened to him." A beat, as Vincent realizes he's… not super sure how to describe what happened.

"He… Exploded, I think…??" Awkward to say out loud, but that's kind of what it had seemed like. "Um. I… had left him with a toy car ride, and then a few minutes later there was a sound and… blood, and he wasn't there anymore. Wasn't here when we woke up, either, though I… He probably just left the room." Hopefully. GOD that still freaked Vincent out a bit that he didn't know WHERE Kaoru was, but he's not about to show that and give anyone ELSE a panic attack after he was only just setting down from his own.

……As for if they'd seen what Bow-Wow looked like, Vincent pauses again for a moment, before nodding once more. He knew this was a serious matter to Bow-Wow, at least, so he gives the topic full seriousness.

"I believe we did see you without your mask, yes. Though I can't say you looked any form of 'scary' at all, personally," he adds on. The kid was cute as a dog even without the mask, really.

Bow-wow

Hearing that Kaoru was at the very least supportive of him in the projection made the sting a little less prominent, but… it still stung that he'd been unwillingly witnessed. He visibly wilted a little at the knowledge that something had happened to Kaoru inside of his projection- he couldn't help but feel responsible for hurting him, even though he'd had zero conscious control over it in the first place.

"E-Exploded…?" He sounds mortified. "Did he… did the car thing…explode?" He tilts his head to the side, gripping Robert's arm a little tighter.

"Oh, I really hope he's okay…" He whines, "I dunno what I'd do if I hurt him somehow…" Just like he'd hurt--

Him.

Oh, the car… the… the car.

The car had 'killed' Kaoru, somehow. Just like the car had killed--

He whines a little louder. He may be dense, but he's not stupid. Not enough to not understand what it was implying, really…

"I…I hope he'll- I hope- I…" For a brief moment he seemed to short-circuit, his gaze clouded under the mask for a moment, seemingly lost in thought about…something. He felt sick- he imagined Kaoru, a tangled mess of limbs and blood, just like the last time, and he coughed to hide an audible gag- shaking his head quickly as he tried his hardest to force the thoughts away.

"H-He'll be okay…! I'm…I'm sure he will!" Even Bow-Wow didn't sound convinced this time.

On the matter of his face, he wilted again, seeming more embarrassed than anything. He fidgeted with his own sleeve, trying to muster up words-

"I…I know I ain't… exactly a good-lookin' guy… I kinda…lied sayin' people think I'm scary- they jus' kinda think I'm ugly. But that kinda sounded a bit like I was fishin' for a compliment or somethin'…" He shuffles his foot.

Robert McCay

"Yeah, it was pretty scary... If that's a memory that y'have, I'm... sorry y'had t'see somethin' like that."

Robert sighed and rubbed Bow-Wow's shoulder, trying to change the subject.

"Why don't we go look for Kaoru, too? We can at least make sure he's okay, uh, physically..."

The sidebar about his appearance caught him off-guard, though. The kid was as cute as a button! He was gonna have to make a Thing about this, apparently.

"Ugly?! Now now, let me tell ya somethin'-- yer not gonna believe this. Y'know how I said my partner had red hair, just like you?"

Robert motions to his left eye and cheek with a grin.

"Well guess what-- he's got a missin' eye, and a scar too, right here! Sounds like I'm makin' it up, but it's true. And I happen t'think he's the handsomest guy in the world, so..."

"…If you call yourself ugly, that'll make me sad, and I'll look at you like this. Okay?"

He pulled a comically pleading face, trying to get a laugh out of the kid.

Erin | Vincent Churchwell

Vincent has largely put together that there's certainly some Significance to the car with what had happened, likely to do with whatever death had happened recently, so hearing Bow-Wow's whines… Yeah, sorry kid. Vincent gives a look of understanding, though with a glance at to Robert also eventually gives a shallow nod to that as well. Yeah, sorry to Bow-Wow to have to see it regardless of the circumstances.

"I… was focused on something else when it initially happened, so I didn't see the moment of it, but there was… only blood left behind where Kaoru had been." Which, hey, was MAYBE a better mental image than twisted limbs?? Even if clearly not a Great one either, sorry Bow-Wow. He nods at both Bow-Wow's certainty as well that Kaoru is ok and Robert's suggestion to go find him. "I'd personally like to try to find Kaoru later if I can at least to check on him, but we can… take a moment to decompress before that, if you like."

Kaoru certainly might also need a moment alone after that, too, after all. It's hard to say for sure though of course.

As for Bow-Wow admitting that he had lied before when calling his appearance scary… Vincent gets why he might have, and isn't surprised that this kid has self confidence issues about it. Though that said, ROBERT's response to all that with both a personal anecdote and then that gosh dang Pleading Expression kind of takes Vincent out as he chokes on absolutely nothing and has to turn coughing into clearing his throat. AHEM. …How does one follow That up.

"Y… Yes, and the opinion of some children is hardly accurate to an absolute truth, or even just everyone else's thoughts, though I understand they may be difficult to shake off sometimes. I at the very least definitely didn't find you 'ugly' either, you look to be a perfectly normal teenager." Vincent certainly has Some Experience with at the very least looking Out Of Place he can speak from. …He pauses before adding something else as he thinks of it.

"…If your scar does just bother you personally, though, there are also techniques with makeup to cover scars and bruises you could use in place of a full mask, if that's something you'd be interested in. Or to at least make them less pronounced, and easier to get used to." Unstated but implied is an 'i can teach you' about that as an offer. "…Assuming we can acquire any makeup here, anyways. There's no pressure to regardless."

Bow-wow

"Y-Yes. I think I need… a moment." He felt…vulnerable, admitting it out loud. It was a feeling he didn't really like, but he felt safe enough to do so… if anyone else had been here, he'd probably be stubbornly insisting he was fine and that it totally didn't affect him whatsoever.

"Yeah…I'm glad it wasn't… fully. Um. Rep…resentative?" He shuffles his feet. "The real memory is…" He grimaces, "A lot more. Um. Gory? I don't really… like thinkin' 'bout my brother like that--" He's just gonna drop the brother lore like that? Besides, he's pretty sure Robert has likely got some Ideas at this point…

He brightened a little at the suggestion of looking for Kaoru and nodded quickly,

"Okay! I'd like… to know he's okay too." Especially since it had been his projection that hurt him in the first place. He looks at Robert as he starts complimenting him- essentially, at least. And then… oh my god. That pleading expression completely catches him off guard, and he laughs, the kind that isn't restrained by conscious thoughts about how weird it sounds when he does so. He snorts, too.

"Wha- y'don't gotta look at me like that! I'm sorry, I ain't gonna do it again!" He protests and lightly swats at Robert, but he does seem to be feeling a lot brighter, especially as Vincent attempts to follow up on that with something much more serious! And not silly!

He's really being hit by the one-two of emotional and logical comfort here…

"It's… still pretty new, I…um…usually I'm m-more worried 'bout my squint, but…it k-kinda does bother me…" He stutters like he's flustered, rambling nervously, before taking a deep breath and a moment to calm himself down.

"T-Thank ya, that… means a lot ta me…" He shuffles his feet, before nodding. "That'd be nice. I can, even help ya look!" Some fun bonding experience with his other dad, Vincent! "Y'all are so good at this comfortin' thing…I…thank ya. Both of ya." He wishes his father had been like either of them.

"Why don't we… do somethin' more fun? I know there's games in the warehouse, I ain't great at 'em, but…!"

Erin | Vincent Churchwell

Vincent nods solemnly, at Bow-Wow saying that the real memory was worse, because yeah he can… imagine, even if he's trying hard himself not to picture it either. His brother, too… Bow-Wow had told Vincent it was someone close to him before, so that makes an unfortunate amount of sense.

"…Yeah, I don't blame you. And I believe I've said something like it before, but… I'm sorry for your loss." Not that that did much to help, Vincent knew, but still. Even if Bow-Wow might feel responsible, Vincent can't help but acknowledge his pain in the situation too.

Heh. Vincent gives something that's almost a low chuckle as Bow-Wow reacts to Robert's look too, glad to see Roberts tactic work for some levity. Vincent gives another little nod at Bow-Wow's reply to his own offer, as well.

"That's fair. But sure, we can see what there is together, and possibly try to get a warden to give some if there isn't." …He blinks a little at being called good at comforting, but accepts it none the less. He however has no idea that Bow-Wow has somehow imprinted on him now too though hiucdhsius "No problem. And… sure, I did see that there were games there. I'd be willing to play a round of something. Would you like to head out now to do that?"