welcome home | p, venus

[ophelia.]

[align=center][div style="borderwidth=0px; width: 65%; line-height:120%; text-align: justify;font-family: verdana;"]It had only been a small amount of time since Venus joined, but Ophelia found her thoughts drawn back to the younger member often. They had been so injured when they arrived, and that left a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Anyone being hurt made her feathers - metaphorically, this time - ruffle, but it was even worse when it was someone younger than her. Teenagers and children didn't need to be put through these things. They didn't deserve that. Not that adults did, but at least adults had the ability to better cope with it and not let it shake them too much.

All of this was why she found herself wandering to the medics' dens, gaze searching for the other feline. She was careful as she wandered around to not let her bulky wings or the satchel she had tied around her bump into anything, steps soft and eyes sharp. Bringing a welcome back gift seemed like a good idea, so she'd gone through with it. It was the least she could do, considering the other cat's circumstances.

"Venus..? Are you here? I brought you something." she called out.

[venus]

[align=center][div style=" background-color: transparent; border: 0px solid black; width: 550px; min-height: 9px; font-family: arial; line-height: 109%; text-align: left; color: black; padding: 20px;font-size: 12px;"]had something? huh?

sat in the middle of the medic's den, under the careful eye of the handful of entrusted medical members the group had, venus' silvery-hued form sat as the feline fiddled aimlessly with one of the pieces of equipment they recovered from their old laboratory; a micropipette. something not broken in the formerly abandoned shack, something apparently whoever tried to raid the building for anything worth a dime, didn't care about. jokes on them now. venus was gonna shove their forgotten micropipette so far down their throat they were going to choke on their regrets for not just stealing the damned thing in the first place. calming thoughts. it wasn't until the familiar tones of orphelia broke the angora so suddenly from their dreamy reverie that venus began to truly move. unless you counted tedious clicking of the pipette's mechanisms as "moving". "what?" craning their neck back to peer at the visitor venus had somehow managed to garner, the azure hues of the silver angora lit up in surprise at the form of orphelia standing in the medical den's doorway. wow; she really did have genuine concern then. damn. "yeah, uh, you're welcome to come in i guess." a confused expression spread out upon venus' countenance.

venus began to heave their broken leg over into a position more comfortable and practical for actually paying eye contact to the motherly femme, the effort eliciting a soft hiss of pain from the feline. but her presence further confused the agora - just why did she care enough come and check on the teenager? surely it was trivial matters, waste of time that could be spent bettering yourself. venus thought on her priorities foolish. "but um.. why exactly are you here?" albeit venus didn't understand why, they certainly were not going to pass up on the gifts orphelia brought with her. "not that i particularly mind though. just curious."

[ophelia.]

[align=center][div style="borderwidth=0px; width: 65%; line-height:120%; text-align: justify;font-family: verdana;"]The sound of Venus's voice drew her nearer, and Ophelia offered them a warm smile when her eyes landed on them. They looked a little worse for wear, but she was sure they were in good paws. It wouldn't be long before they were allowed to move out to their own home. Somehow, the thought made her a little sad. That is, the thought of someone so young being left to their own devices for so long. Reinvigorated by that, she stepped forward, face scrunching just a bit in something easily seen as concern when Venus sucked in a breath as they shifted about.

"I am here to bring you some welcome home gifts, though I suppose they could also count as get well soon gifts." she said, stopping when she was in front of the younger feline. She shifted to sit down, moving her wing out of the way to gain access to her bag. She rifled around for a second, then produced a box from inside, placing it down between them. "It's not much, but... I do hope you like it." With that, she lifted off the top for them, presenting a roasted turkey breast, cut up and layered to fill the box a little better. There was a napkin underneath the food to soak up most of the moisture as it was transported as to not ruin her bag. "I wasn't sure what you'd prefer, so I made an educated guess. I hope it suffices."

[venus]

[align=center][div style=" background-color: transparent; border: 0px solid black; width: 550px; min-height: 9px; font-family: arial; line-height: 109%; text-align: left; color: black; padding: 20px;font-size: 12px;"]"yeah but - why?" incredulously venus' azure hues flittered up to orphelia through thick fur, the feline pushing their inquiries further and further because it seemed as if orphelia didn't quite get what venus was asking. obviously she was a more humble and empathetic figure than venus gave her credit for. ugh.

the angora did not have much more energy left to argue when the piece de resistance was unveiled though, venus' mouth watering at the sight of the meal prepared especially for the feline. "oh no it's perfectly fine, great even." shifting slightly the feline did have to admit they were at least the slightest hungry. pangs hit the angora reminding them that they in fact had been away from the medic's den to explore what was left of their old lab when meal times were scheduled, and after returning the meals were mostly abandoned on a table somewhere as venus diligently worked on whatever samples they had been able to recover - trying to piece together what they were researching before abandoning the place. it was more difficult than you'd think. projects seemed to just come and go and it was hard to keep up with the influx of research in the community that new hypothesis had to be formed at an almost impossible rate. the last time venus had allowed themselves to give time for self-care, the feline couldn't remember. "i just didn't think you'd want to see me." pawing at the cooked meat venus took a slice to their mouth and allowed themselves to just savour this taste. admittedly as much of a narcissist venus was, the angora was also aware of their assholery.

[ophelia.]

[align=center][div style="borderwidth=0px; width: 65%; line-height:120%; text-align: justify;font-family: verdana;"]At the next inquiry, Ophelia's gaze softened a bit more. She figured it was best to tell the whole truth, not skim the details and leave Venus wondering about them. It didn't seem like they would appreciate that. So, she took a breath and began. "Because you've just returned, and I assumed you would like some company while you're on the mend. It's... difficult, being new and not having a secure group of friends yet. I can only imagine it's more difficult when you have known this place before, but there aren't many left that know you, and I figure being wounded only adds to that discomfort. I wanted to make sure you felt welcome, just in case you didn't before."

Her gaze stayed on the younger feline, making sure she was actually happy with her meal. It seemed so. That made her smile return, though it was a bit less strong when she heard the last thing they had to say. Oh. Well, that just wouldn't do. There was no reason a teenager should feel like people shouldn't want to be around them, and Ophelia would have some strong words with whoever put those thoughts in their head if she knew who they were.

"Of course I would want to see you. You've yet to give anyone a reason why they should avoid you." she said, then her eyes crinkled a bit at the corners as she continued, fighting back a chuckle. "Are you worried that adults will want to stay away because of the teenage rebellion? Because that's preposterous. Almost all of us have been through it personally."