[W]isker

Morgan stirred in his cave, awakened by a presence not far away. A random Tangler was in the nearby swamp for no apparent reason - and they were alone. That information was enough for the samoyed to jolt awake and sprint out of his home, pulling some water out of his reservoir to form his mask and anklets. He took off into the swamp in the direction of the presence, focusing on the location with all his might. He did not plan to lose any Tanglers if he could help it.

By the time he reached the scene, the dog was ready for action. As he did his best to concentrate, his breathing became just steady enough to part the swamp around the Tangler. Two halves of the watery near-grave came apart, pushed far away to give the feline some air. Various cherry blossom petals floated through the open air, landing at the bottom of the dry area.

Morgan crept down into the dirt path he made, his mask melting away as he got close enough to whisper. "What happened? Can you speak?" He readied a small cushion of water from the wall to his right just in case he'd have to bring the Tangler out of the ditch himself.

[W]isker

"I won't," Morgan whispered back, taking another step closer and lifting the excess water out of the feline's fur. "I'm not letting any of my fellow Tanglers die, no matter what." He was glad to have gotten a response of some kind, even if it was a negative one. He looked at the ground as Delilah spoke, shaking his head before looking back up at her.

The samoyed opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out at first. The word "suffering" bounced around in his head, but he ignored it and started talking again. "That's not the only way for suffering to end. Tanglewood is your family just as much as it's mine... and we want to help ease your pain so you can live happily." He took a moment to think, then added, "We're here for you. I'm here for you." Unable to formulate any more words to describe his feelings, the dog stopped talking.

[W]isker

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"Delilah..." Deep down, somewhere in her being, she felt she didn't have the right to try and comfort the other. They didn't know each other on a super personal level, for one, and secondly Arrow had never, nor did she think she would ever experience the same level of suffering as the cherry blossom girl had. There was nothing else to be said about it, it was horrible, but that was obvious. To say so to her face would be like telling someone with a shattered bone "hey, that hurts". Like no shit.

But she didn't know, all Arrow had to go off of here was that something dragged Delilah so low mentally that she had tried to drown herself in the swamp, a truly miserable way to go. She was relieved Morgan had gotten her before the gators did ( seriously, Morgan was Tanglewood's life savor at this point ), but if this wasn't handled, would she do it again?

Arrow didn't usually feel...anger. That was an emotion she tended to lack the ability to feel. She could feel protective and defensive, but not angry. And yet, right now, a twinge of rage pricked at her chest. Something happened, right? Whether a person or an event or just life itself, something had kicked her psychological health in the dick and made her feel this way. And that made the girl angry, it made her want to snap her fangs and gnash her teeth. But she wouldn't, that would just make things worse and she only loved doing that when it was funny. This was not funny. "Swamp's not a good resting place for someone so sweet." Arrow said with a small smile, deciding the least she could do was try and keep the mood up, even slightly. "Did something happen, flower girl? You need me to kick someone's ass?" She was only partially joking, she would do it. Seriously.

suicide.

malphas hated that word. every time he did something wrong, used the wrong herb, applied the wrong poultice, said the wrong thing... the word came to his head. death was a cheap escape from this world, a permanent solution to a temporarily problem, but he couldn't help but plan out how to do it every time something went wrong. what a medic he was, huh? he was supposed to help people with their trauma, and here he was, suffering himself. still, his views on suicide were largely due to his own feelings. nobody else seemed to express the same desire he did.

except for delilah. malphas had poked fun at her once or twice, but deep down, he didn't really harbor any malice for her. sure, she was a little naive, but who wasn't? he heard arrow and morgan comforting someone and walked over, his deep red eyes furrowed in anticipation. he put all the pieces together- she had tried to drown herself and morgan rescued her. morgan was pretty much this clan's savior, to be honest.

he began speaking to her. "hey, also, fun fact. drowning is like the worst way to go out. do you really want to die struggling? your last moments filled with unbearable pain? i don't even want that, and neither should you," the medic snorted, not being one for niceties unlike his clanmates. still, he felt a debt to this girl, sharing the same thoughts with her and also since he was the medic. "uh... if you're thinking you've got depression- do you feel sad a lot? i can probably score you some antidepressants from my hookups." malphas paused, trying to collect his thoughts.

"it gets better." he told her- short and sweet to the point. it was true, at least for him. a week ago, he was laying in the middle of camp, dying. now, he was a medic, and slowly working through his problems. it got better. 

[W]isker

malphas wasn't sure what he expected. was he expecting delilah to blindly agree with him? to suddenly perk up and tell him 'alright, i'm much better'? he wasn't sure, but clearly his comforting words backfired. damn it, and i used up all my empathy for the day, he thought, as delilah tearfully and angrily described her depression and the skeletons in her closet. malphas huffed, and decided to take a seat.

"yeah. it doesn't get better automatically." he spoke, folding his ears back, avoiding eye contact with her. "you gotta put effort into it. you have to throw all your alcohol into the swamp and then focus on your career," he said, clearly speaking about himself and not her, although he refocused back onto her. "look. i know i make fun of you a lot, and i'm sorry. i was an asshole. i didn't really mean it. i do mean what i'm going to tell you, though." malphas said. "it sounds like you have depression and post traumatic stress disorder. these can be helped. you don't have to suffer like this. you don't have to suffer alone." now, he looked at her. "i can help you. i know i don't know exactly what you're going through- nobody will know but you. but... i get it. i know how it feels to want to die. i'm just saying..." he paused again.

"if you need someone, i'm here." oh god. sympathy? empathy? gross! he had just displayed a lot of different emotions and he was already exhausted. still, he cared about delilah, and hoped she'd seek help. she deserved it- she was a good person.