One Day at a Time

“No. I-I... no,” he whispered in response despite his eyes darting back to the looming creature briefly. He had met some pleasant one during his life but it was a rare experience and he often had to take time to really adjust to the presence. Even if this strange being had no negative intentions, it still made him adjust himself anxious under the weighted blanket.

“I... need some tea,” he whispered, anything to give him some sort of comfort in the cold room. “Please, Nathan. I-I...I’m also dizzy - anything to help with that. Perhaps it’s blood sugar?” He suggested, trying his best to keep his attention away from one of his many ‘dillusions’. “I just need... that. Sorry - I’m sorry, you shouldn’t have stayed behind.”
 
Despite his scepticism, the doctor smiled comfortingly and trailed off - he often went out of his way for his patients, and he felt that way especially when it came to Casper. He believed the boy was troubled, so a little extra kindness went a long way if it made him just a little more comfortable in the facility. He hardly realised that he was leaving him in the company of one of the creatures Casper claimed to often consistently see.

It didn't take long for the being to venture forward, slowly at first but then making the decision to rush to a spot on the floor it had taken a liking to, in order to get as comfortable as the solid floor would allow. The globular dollops of black goop that seemed to fall from him disappeared the moment they hit the surface, and the creature made a conscious decision to sit down so the sight of those shadowy dollops didn't freak Casper out too much. One brief examination of a nearby book that Nathan had failed to take with it an immediate grasp of the language, presumably, given the ease he was able to communicate with Casper. It had no mouth but there was a clear, coherent voice that seemed to come from it: it was identifiable as male, albeit with a feminine, almost sing-song lilt.

"...Are you scared?" It offered carefully, its head tilted to the side in concern. "...The others are scary; they scare me sometimes. And they're cruel and mean and evil-- But there are nice ones too. Lots of nice ones. Please don't be scared of us; the good ones. We just want to say hello, I suppose. Nobody really sees us here; you're the first one I've met that sees me."
 
“No, no - I... I’m not supposed to listen to you,” Casper urged, his hands covering his ears for emphasis as he buried further into the blankets, going as far as to cover his face in horror. It was childish, he knew that, but it at least help a little bit to hide his face in sort of ‘if I can’t see them, it isn’t real’ sort of thinking. It didn’t help when it came to differentiating what was real and what was fake in normal life since he could clearly see the shadowy creatures and with that logic, it mean that that they must be real.

“You aren’t here to help me, you’re going to touch me o-or hurt me or something,” he insisted, his voice breaking in anxiety. “You’re just going to pretend to be nice then hurt me o-or... I don’t know, I don’t - are you the reason behind this?” He asked, noticing his nose beginning to bleed when he wiped his nose due to sniffles, only to see that the snot was replaced with the now familiar crimson. “Stop... doing that.”
 
The creature's eyes widened a little in apparent horror, before narrowing again in disappointment when it realised the attempt at communicating with him hadn't gone entirely to plan. Rather than push its agenda -that simply being to get to know the first human that was able to see it-, the being seemed to disappear in an instant, choosing not to persist if Casper didn't want to see it.

It was just as it disappeared that Nathan returned, grimacing at the sight of the nosebleed. He knew from the notes he had read, and from personal experience, that these nosebleeds arrived whenever Casper claimed to have seen a monster, so he carefully set down the juice and gently offered a tissue across.

"...Was it a bad monster again? That tall man who creeps you out, was it him?"
 
“No, no. Not... not bad, this one,” he admitted, staring at his hand now that it was covered in blood. He never got ill at the sight, not any more at least, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t disappointed in himself when he saw it. Pursing his lips, he looked up at Nathan, his face being evident that he was just as confused as the doctor.

“It... spoke to me,” he whispered, moreso to himself. “It spoke to me. That’s only happened once when I was younger. It... was nice? Not mean, at least. I’m... sorry, this was startling,” he admitted before sitting up to take the cup of tea, staring down at it as he tried to collect himself. “It looked sort of... human.”
 
"...I'm sure some rest will do you good-- maybe I can ask the nurses if they'd allow you to have a bath? I know it's late but it might do you some good to relax in the bath for a little while, get yourself cleaned up good and proper," the doctor suggested as he stood back, not knowing what more he could do. He would normally help clean up a patient himself but he had already been accused of being too involved, and he didn't want to unnerve the other by overstepping his boundaries. He had offered him a few tissues and he had to tell himself that that was all he could do right now.

"I... really think we ought to look into some medication for you. Regardless of whether these visions are real or imagined, medication might help you cope with them. I don't think it's healthy to shun medication and continue to stay here without any attempt at getting better, I-- I want to help you. So we'll look at that tomorrow."
 
“A bath would be nice. They don’t bug me in the bathroom usually,” he agreed quietly, not really agreeing or disagreeing at the ither’s Statement yet, he was far too traumatized to do anything at the moment. All he wanted to do was to be left alone and a bath was perfect.

“Thank you for caring so much about me, Nathan. You’ve been the most supportive doctor I’ve had in years,” he admitted, offering a halfhearted smile to creep into his chapped lips. “I know you have other patients and I know I’m taking time away from them so I’m sorry.”
 
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"You have no need to apologise; this is my job. Besides, I think I'd want to help you regardless of the professional obligation-- I like you and you clearly need someone to support you, right? To help you deal with what you see. If I could willingly see them, I would; to share this all with you so you didn't feel alone. I... I'm sure it's awful," he sighed as he calmly gestured the other to follow him towards the bathroom in the asylum, deciding that he would allow the other a bath no matter what the nurses or other patients thought of it. It was clearly preferential treatment, and he knew that, but he failed to care at the moment; not when the other was in desperate need of some relaxation time.

Little did he realise that the bathroom had been the creature's first place to go after feeling pushed out of Casper's room. It had taken home in the corner between two bathtubs, though didn't notice the humans enter, apparently not even hearing the footsteps echo and approach. Its head was in its hands, its knees pressed tightly against its chest. The fearful position was made clear (at least to Casper who could see it) when the plethora of vicious bugs were seen crawling not just near it, but across its feet, despite the creature's efforts to kick them away. They were almost like large maggots, albeit with dozens of eyes and sharp teeth they made full use of by gnawing and biting at the shadowed figure, in spite of his best attempts to shoo them away. It was evident that it was as scared of them and the scarier-looking beings as Casper was, which was precisely why it felt the need to talk to the human; he seemed to feel the same way as the creature did.

It noticed Casper's presence a few seconds later, glancing out from behind his hands, its breathing laboured and shallow. Eventually it raised a hand in welcome, awkward and clearly hesitant to do so, though it ended climbing to its feet and pushing itself further into the corner, its body able to pass through the concrete with ease. It didn't disappear completely, too interested to see how Casper might react, hoping it would be more positively this time. If not, morphing through the walls until it found a place safe away from the maggot-like creatures was next on the agenda.
 
While his first reaction was that of confusion, it was immediately replaced with fear upon seeing the bugs. They were the sole reason he hated dirt despite his love for gardening, the more big-like creatures always being the most invasive. He immediately tended, taking a large step back while forcing back the urge to vomit when he watched the maggoty creatures head towards him. Covering his mouth to force back the urge to vomit, he stomped on one that approached, whimpering when it oozed so easily. He briefly forgot Nathan’s appearance at all, instead focusing on stomping out the maggots as more approached, his body shaking . While Nathan couldn’t see, Casper’s slippers and socks were soaked in black blood, his nose only beginning to bleed again. When all of the maggots seemed to be squished, his feet ached and his body was trembling but his eyes were still locked on the corner of the bath. Hugging himself tightly, he looked away warily and instead up at Nathan with a wary smile.

“I need that bath. I... I’m going to be ill if I don’t,” he urged, his voice shaky as he anxiously removed his favorite cardigan, trying his best to act calm despite being terrified that the maggots would only return, watching as their corpses seemed to just melt into the concrete flooring. “Please make it as hot as possible, I-I feel disgusting.”
 
Staring at horror as the patient seemed to freak out over nothing, Nathan had no idea what to do other than wait for the moment to be done with, staring around wildly in case his eyes picked up just what was making Casper so horrified. He saw nothing, of course, and silently moved to fill the bathtub up, not even knowing how to make conversation after what had just occurred. Staying silent seemed like the best way to proceed: Casper didn't need to say anything and, frankly, Nathan didn't know what to say.

The creature, however, approached after the bugs had all disappeared, its eyes softening again as though it was smiling. With no features beside its eyes, a smile was impossible, but it was evident it was somewhat happy from its eyes and the cheery nature to its voice when it spoke again.

"...I tried to kill them, they just keep coming back," it murmured lightly, holding its hands together as it awkwardly took notice of all the black splodges dropping from its body, almost cringing at how it must look to Casper. "I'm sorry. I... just want to talk. I don't have anyone else to talk to, the others are all gone now; they don't like it here. They say it's not very happy, but I like it; because you're here and you can see me and... that's good."
 
“I...” Casper began, his own hands nervously fiddling with themselves as he shifted his weight, watching as the tub began to fill. He desperately tried to avoid making eye contact with the creature now, instead facing the tub just to try and keep Nathan to wondering what was happening. He never spoke to the creatures since if they did speak, it was usually to taunt him or just spew words in a language he didn’t understand. The most traumatic experience he had with a ‘talking’ creature was when he woke up in the middle of the night, a spindly looking creature stuck to the wall above him only to immediately vomit black, inky liquid onto his face. It left him screaming both from feeling disgusting but the sight in general. This was a whole new experience, having this creature seemingly persistent in having a positive and full conversation. All he could reply was nervous ‘I’s’ and awkward humming, contemplating whether or not to interact. He instead looked at Nathan, his forced smile still on his lips.

“Am I allowed to be alone while I take a bath?” He asked quietly. If he was going to speak to this... Thing, he wanted to be alone while doing so. He knew the doctor couldn’t see what he saw and he knew he would only look crazier if he was just babbling to nothing. “I promise I won’t hurt myself.”
 
Leaving the patient alone wasn't wise and Nathan knew that. Many of the patients had suicidal tendencies and Casper might be the same way, seeking to be alone to drown himself. That said, Nathan was far too kind to say no, not wanting to risk upsetting Casper now he had come so far with him. With a faint nod, he made an exit, though sat right outside the door nonetheless, just in case he needed to run in to rescue him.

"...That man's nice, I think. I don't know. He seems nice," nodded the creature as it took a seat on the edge of another bathtub, its body continuing to produce the black, thick globs but it chose not to make more of a deal of it. It couldn't stop it and drawing attention to it would only scare Casper more, it figured, so ignoring it altogether seemed the best thing to do.

"Are you going to talk or... should I go? I don't know where to go. They follow me; those bugs. They're drawn to me, I think. They freak me out," it nervously laughed, holding the rim of the bath tightly before tilting its head to observe the other more. "...You're so clean. I... wish I looked like that; all clean and nice and not scary. Then you'd talk to me, right? If I looked normal, you'd talk to me?"
 
“Why are you talking to me?” He immediately asked once alone, undressing quickly before sinking into the water, watching as the bits of black blood that got to his ankles washed off in the bath, turning it a light gray. Grabbing a bar of soap he spotted in the side of the tub, he quickly began to try and wash his feet and ankles as quickly as possible, shivering all the while. “Why do you want to talk to me? Can’t you talk to... to the others like you? Or are you just trying to lure me into some false sense of security so y-you can... suck out my brains or something?”

As he spoke, thr fact that he was offering the creature some eye contact was at least evidence of him trying to genuinely speak. “Do you have a name? A-And... if you can leave, why don’t you? Maybe they would stop thinking I’m crazy if you did.”
 
"...I can't go anywhere, this is where I live. I don't know where else to go. We share the same world, this... is the place I like the most. You're being mean, you know. I'm not a monster," it muttered as it calmly replicated Casper's movement, sinking into the other bathtub which it had filled with water and reaching for a bar of soap to wash itself down with. Clearly it was trying to copy the human, glancing across every few seconds to mimic his movements in childlike fascination and curiosity.

"I don't have a name. Maybe I can be Casper too? I like that name. We don't have names. I'd like a name though," it nodded, reaching out to sink its hands into the water, that of which had slowly turned a murky black as a result of the globs its body seemed to exude. "...You aren't crazy. I... sometimes think I am because I shout and scream to everyone but nobody here sees me-- but you do. I am real, I... I'm happy you see me. It's lonely being in a room full of people and have them ignore you because they can't see you. I... I hate it, actually."
 
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“No, no. Your name isn’t Casper because my name is Casper,” he countered, his own childlike jealousness peeking through just a tad. Once feeling clean enough to stop from completely washing his skin raw, he sank a bit into the water. It wasn’t as high as he’d like, knowing that if it were to his neck it would be way to easy to kill himself. He was annoyed by all of the delicate procedures but he knew that they were appropriate for other patients. “I’ll... call you something else. I dunno - is Pat good?” He asked, his shoulders relaxing a tad when he realized the other had no real intentions to attack him.

“You have other people to talk to, though, don’t you? Those... monsters, things, w-whatever you call them can talk, too. Why not talk to them? No one listens to me here because they think I’m mad for seeing you. I’m sure Nathan is outside right now as we speak, listening to me. I’m not crazy, you’re... not crazy either. You’re nice, actually.”
 
"...I like Pat. Pat. Yeah, it sounds nice," the creature nodded as it wrapped its tongue around the new name, testing out how it sounded beneath his breath before an eager laugh left it at just how absurd this all seemed to it. It hadn't ever experienced a conversation with a human before, and now it had a name given to it by one? It felt crazy but in the best way possible, having to hold its hands up to its face just to avoid getting too emotional over the turn of events.

"I-- I try to, they don't talk much to me. The nice ones do, they look after me a lot-- the bad ones hate me, though. They say I'm weird because I look different to them; nobody looks like me, you see. They say I look too human. I don't think I do; I think I look strange," it shrugged casually, leaning against the tub as its voice dropped, almost out of obedience to prevent Nathan listening in and calling Casper weird. The being had developed an immediate instinct to protect him, as well as just to be in his company, and he felt like he could do that if he was quiet to prolong their time together by a few more minutes.

"I see them all the time. There are some in here right now, but they don't talk. They're nice though," it remarked, his eyes absently following the movements of the flying monsters currently fluttering about above its head. "...When you get out of here, I'll come with you. If you want. I couldn't stay here without someone human to talk to. Talking to you makes me feel human, it's... a good feeling. It's what I want most, to be like you-- a human, I mean."
 
Hs eyes followed the flying creatures as they seemingly appeared out of nowhere, his hands gripping the edges of the tub. He was exhausted and he knew his muscles would be sore from just how tense he was. He was extending a lot of energy not to be uncomfortable by Pat. It was clear that they weren’t mean nor intended to hurt him but it was going to to take more than just some calm conversation to have him fully trust a creature, that of which’s species had been torturing him for years.

“You shouldn’t want to be human,” he countered in a murmur as he sank further into the water, frowning deeply. “I doubt I’ll be able to leave this place, anyway. No matter what I do, whenever I convince someone, they’re taken away from me. I don’t want that to happen again, I just... I want people to know I’m not crazy. I want to be able to go home, see my sister face-to-face again.”
 
"...I'd like a sister. I don't have family. I just woke up one day and had to get on with it. You have family, that's good, isn't it? And that doctor said he believes you; I heard him say that in his office. Maybe he'll see me one day and... and then you can get sent out and I can come with you and pretend I'm human, because that's the best thing, Casper. Being human. For me it is. You wouldn't understand what it's like being like this, it's not fun," murmured Pat in response as he sunk further into the water, his eyes locked on the creatures above in fascination. If he was like them, he wouldn't have much of a problem with the world. Being as he was, having an apparently human-like structure, was only cause for being ostracised by some of the other creatures, and as scary as they was, being turned away for something he couldn't control never ever felt good.

"You don't like me. That's fine. I can tell you don't like talking to me," he continued slowly, climbing out of the tub with the forced tone of cheeriness in his voice. "I won't bother you again, I can... move on from here, I suppose. Follow the others. They said there's a place they go full of bright lights and music; that might be nice. I... I just wanted to talk; I didn't want to scare you."
 
“No, no! P-Please don’t lesve!” He pleaded, surging up a tad in the bath with a plethora of emotions on his face. On one hand, he wanted to be left alone from the thing because yeah, Pat was a strange black mass that oozed more inky blobs, it was natural that the sight freaked him out. On the other hand, it was just nice to talk to someone. Scrambling out of the tub as quickly as possible, he inevitably slipped and hit his head hard on the concrete, leaving him to briefly black out for a second only to groan.

“... Nathan?” He called weakly, unable to get up as the pain in his head started. He felt like he was going to vomit now, Stars in his eyes as he searched the room for Pat. “P-Pleass don’t leave, not yet.”
 
"What happened?! Are you okay? I knew I should have stayed with you, I-- come on, let's get you up. Did you hit your head? It looks like you did," babbled Nathan in worry, the doctor having burst in the moment he heard the fall, before his name had even been called. Hooking his hands underneath the other's arms, he carefully pulled him to his feet and took his shoulders, turning him around to properly inspect him.

"It doesn't look too bad but-- I'll get you some painkillers and some juice. Stop the pain before it really kicks in. Let's just get you to bed first, okay?" He smiled, handing over a gown for the other to protect his modesty while they made the journey back to his room, where a pair of clean pyjamas would be waiting for him. He wasn't oblivious to the talking he had heard take place within the bathroom, but he felt it best not to make any reference to it, in fear of upsetting him more. For all he knew, the accident occurred when Casper was trying to flee a monster - plenty of accidents had occurred that way for him, so how was he to know this wasn't another? He didn't realise that the creature he had been talking to wasn't malevolent in the slightest, although the chances of it coming back appeared slim; its body appeared to almost flicker and glitch before it disappeared completely, just seconds before Nathan burst onto the scene. If he knew about it, the doctor would say it was a good thing; that one of Casper's 'visions' had disappeared on its own accord, as though Casper's mind was starting to heal itself. He was inclined to believe that more than believing in the actual existence of these things, at least.