SHIP TO SHORE + WORMWOOD

[wormwood.]

Wormwood had a great many things on his mind lately, but that didn't mean that he has just forgotten about the proxy that had seemingly disappeared from daily life fairly recently. At first Worm had felt a great deal of anxiety, worried that somehow Leroy had been snatched up from beneath their noses by the Pitt, with some cunning plan meant to cripple Tanglewood, but it seemed that wasn't the case. Occasionally he would be walking past Crow's house, either with a new joiner or some sort of prey he had caught, or on his way to host an event of some kind, and he would spot a flash of the canine in the window, staring steadfastly out with a sort of sadness in his eyes. Despite the prevalence of his recently discovered illness in Leroy's life, Wormwood wasn't actually aware of the cancer that was gripping the Proxy at the moment. This was mainly thanks to the discretion of Selby, who had kept his promise of confidentiality, and didn't tell anybody who Leroy didn't want him to. Worm hadn't specifically been someone to not tell, but he hadn't been someone to tell either, and that meant that he was in the dark about it.

This was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it meant that Leroy's illness wasn't yet another thing piling up upon Worm's shoulders to drive him crazy and fill him with anxiety, but it was a curse because it meant he didn't know why Leroy was upset, or how close he was to losing someone he considered a friend without even being able to spend some last time with him. Sure, he and Leroy had their differences in the past, and it wasn't as if they were as close as say Crow and Leroy, but that didn't mean that the hellhound didn't have a great deal of respect for Leroy, and wouldn't have been devastated with him passing away. He had already lost so many people lately, both to death and to being taken from him or leaving... he didn't want a fate like that to befall Leroy. Ultimately he would realize that there was truly nothing that he could do. After all, he had about as much power to stave off Leroy's sickness as Selby or Crow did, but still much like them, he would wish that he had the power. He didn't know why he felt a responsibility for the wellness and happiness of everyone in Tanglewood, but he just... did. And he found that questioning it didn't ever result in him getting any significant response from his own mind.

When Leroy finally emerged from his seemingly impenetrable fortress that he had created from Crow's home, Worm perked up from where he was sitting, munching on a rabbit that he had caught earlier in the day. He didn't want to seem like he had been eagerly waiting, but he did have to admit that he was glad to see the other canine up and walking about, even if it was only briefly. Taking another large bite of his rabbit, Wormwood swallowed it down before getting up to his paws, moving over to where Leroy was walking along, coming up beside the other and barking softly, "Hey, Leroy. It's nice to see you out and about these days again... ah, it's Wormwood, in case you didn't know." It hadn't even occurred to him that it was possible Leroy hadn't seen him since his impromptu form change that he couldn't seem to reverse, so it seemed like he should've quickly clarified, just so that Leroy didn't get confused by some random hellhound wandering up to him on the road in town. Once it seemed like the proxy was aware of his presence, he looked up at the sky for a moment before saying as his tail ragged slowly from side to side, "I was starting to get worried that you weren't ever gonna come put of Crow's house again and interact with us. I didn't know if I'd have to bust in there and say hello myself..." He chuckled a bit at his own little ribbed tease, but then glanced seriously at Lerpy before mumbling, "Seriously, though... are you alright? I haven't seen you come out of there for anything, even food."

[glow=black,2,300]YOUR CHANNEL IS UNREACHABLE[/glow]