After a long series of instructions, Mateo and Veronica eventually left Osho's residence, and not long after, Osho quietly stood up and made his way to his room with the aid of Gale and Bedrock.
Seeing his retreating figure, Sam couldn't help but say.
"Damn... I don't think I've ever seen him so downcast before." She sighed while rubbing the back of her neck.
"He's the one who messed up, but we are the ones who feel bad," Irene mumbled, and Kurt gave her a look.
"What do you mean WE are the ones who feel bad? He looks like he just watched someone he cares about die. Also, I'm gonna go ahead and say it, other than Ellie, y'all did not handle that well at ALL." Hearing his rebuke, the other two girls recoiled.
"What do you mean we didn't handle it well?? We just told him what he did wrong!" Irene countered, but Kurt just scoffed.
"First of all, mistake or not, Osho almost died. You didn't almost die, Sam didn't almost die, Ellie didn't almost die, I didn't almost die. HE almost died. But with the way you guys were talking, it's like he almost killed one of us! But you know damn well that's not the case. You said you've never seen him look so downcast, but why wouldn't he seem that way? He's still a human. Knowing he almost died must have been traumatizing, and yet all I saw everyone do was talk about how his death would have affected those around him, like it wasn't HIS life he almost lost!
Veronica and Mateo kept talking about the waste of resources if he died. So what? He isn't some weapon or a Beast Evolving ATM. He's a person! Yeah. He messed up, but you seem to forget that the core issue is that he almost lost his life, but you guys aren't even giving him the space to consider that fact! With how his mind works, I'm sure he went down a spiral of 'how would everyone around me feel if I died', completely forgetting his own feelings towards the matter!" For the first time in a while, Kurt, who was usually laid back and unserious, seemed genuinely irritated by the situation.
Hearing his rant, Sam and Irene, who were usually the ones who kept Kurt in check, had the decency to look away.
"We don't just see him as an ATM..." Sam mumbled.
"Well, you certainly gave off that impression." Kurt huffed and rubbed his eyes before looking at Ellie, who was, in turn, looking at where Osho had disappeared into.
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She finally turned and looked at Kurt, and her eyes seemed a bit lost.
"I know giving him space seems like the right thing to do, but you know as well as I do that leaving him alone with his thoughts right now is not a good idea. Go to him." His words seemed to snap Ellie out of her trance, and slowly, determination returned to her haze, making her nod.
Without wasting any more time, she headed up the stairs towards Osho's room.
"Ah, damn. Just when everything we going well." Kurt sighed and scratched the back of his head.
"Hey... What are we gonna do with that?" Irene suddenly asked, and the other two turned to her to see her pointing at the table.
On it, a blood red egg sat quietly. It was the one Osho had been working on and had been brought out of his lab by Gale at his behest.
"This was the egg he was experimenting on, right?" Kurt tilted his head and walked over to it.
"Yeah. What do you think should happen to it?" Sam asked.
"Well, I don't think there's anything wrong with it. We should probably leave it until Osho is alright and can do whatever."
As they talked, Kurt curiously went over to the egg and touched it. However, as soon as he did, his eyes widened.
Within his body, Venom, who had been quiet for most of the situation, suddenly started acting up, and not slightly either.
Sam and Irene immediately noticed something was off when they saw Kurt start to tremble, and just as they were about to ask what was wrong, he pulled his hand back sharply as if he'd been burned and stumbled backwards, almost falling.
His face was a mask of shock and unbridled terror as he exclaimed shakily.
"Wha... What the hell is that thing?!"
'This is annoyingly familiar.' Osho thought as he sat by his bed with his head buried him his knees, arms hugging them to his chest.
He thought so as in his last life, he would often take such a position. It was stupid, but it almost felt like sitting in such a way, where most of his features were covered, could protect him from the world and its harshness.
'Fuuuck. Why am I so pathetic all of a sudden?' He wondered.
'I've been so used to things going somewhat right. So now one genuine mess up is making me feel ? Pathetic.' He sighed.
He was the same person who willingly let the walking plague that was the Abyssal Scrounger into his soul. He was the same person who stood against the Skyblight Harbinger with Gale without fear.
He possessed an ability that could literally change the world, and he was a chosen heir of a mysterious yet powerful organization that had trained him to handle all sorts of things since he was a child.
He'd even died once. So technically speaking, his mind shouldn't just be solid, it should be a fortress.
And yet here he was, curled up beside his bed like a scolded child.
The thing is, he felt far, far worse than a scolded child.
'Goddammit...' He sighed again. He didn't even feel like moving.
In front of him, Bedrock and Gale stood with worried looks. They shared a look before quietly going over and pressing themselves against him.
Osho didn't resist. He just sighed again.
They were for a while before a series of gentle knocks sounded on his door.
"Osho, are you in there?"
After a few seconds of silence, there was a huff from behind the door before Ellie spoke again.
"I'm coming in." Then, slowly, the door creaked open.
Ellie stepped inside and looked around, then scoffed.
"Bruh. Don't tell me you left this room the same way it was when you'd gotten it. No special decorations or anything? Come on man." She made a show of complaining, but it was clear that judging Osho's inability to personalize his space wasn't her true intention.
"I mean, I at least expected to see more than a few half-finished diagrams and theories attached to the walls. Maybe a miniature frame of a beast on your desk, and then in one corner, you could customize it to suit Gale, and the same for Bedrock in another corner. Then again, I doubt they actually sleep in your room with the simulated habitat outside. Hm." Seeing that Osho still wasn't responding, Ellie sighed and got on the bed, shuffling over until she was right behind him.
She then sat at the edge of the bed with Osho between her thighs, and without much hesitation, she pressed them against his sides while putting her arms around his shoulders.
She felt his stiffen briefly, but he gradually relaxed.
Gale and Bedrock took this as a sign to move away as they went to another part of the room. Close to enough to come over in case anything happened, but far enough not to disturb them.
"So tense..." Ellie murmured as she pressed her slender fingers against Osho's shoulders.
"In your condition, tensing up like that isn't good, you know?" She gently pressed her hands against certain spots.
The effect was almost immediate, and Osho seemed to almost go slahanunder her grip, and a small sigh of relief left his mouth as he unconsciously leaned his head back.
When he did, he immediately locked eyes with Ellie who was staring down at him with a soft smile.
"Hi." She said softly.
"... Hey." Osho replied unconsciously, and Ellie giggled.
"You're adorable, you know that, right?" She asked sweetly, and Osho pursed his lips.
"... I look like a mummy right now. Not exactly 'cute' material." He replied, sounding self-conscious.
"I wasn't talking about your looks. But I will say, you look cute regardless of your physical state. Nah, I meant YOU. The one on the inside." She poked his forehead.
"That guy curled up in there. He's adorable." Hearing this, Osho felt his sunken cheeks heat up.
"Don't patronize me..." He said weakly, as despite feeling embarrassed, he quite liked those words...
"Hm." Ellie chuckled before blowing out a sigh.
"Alright, enter the bed with me." She said and released her hold on Osho before rolling onto the bed on her side.
Osho slowly got up at turned, allowing himself to take her in.
She currently wore a simple T-shirt and jeans. Both highlighted her graceful and curvy figure greatly, which had only been enhanced further as she got stronger and her body was filled with more vitality.
Sensing his gaze, Ellie chuckled.
"Calm down big boy. Just come here." She said invitingly, and Osho complied.
As soon as he got close, Ellie wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into her. She placed his head on her chest and started running a hand through his hair.
"No need to talk. No need to think." She murmured.
"Just listen to my heartbeat. Alright? Don't worry about anything else. Just relax." Hearing her soothing words, Osho's eyes widened briefly before softening.
He complied and allowed himself to melt into her embrace as he listened to her heartbeat.
It wasn't long before he fell asleep. With the mental strain of everything, all it took was one moment of relaxing, and Ellie had provided that moment.
And she intended to keep doing so.