The Forgotten Zodiac

"Timothy?" Sylas peeked under the bed. "Are you quite alright?" He questioned, a little confused. "Come here, child, I'll protect you. What scared you?" It was a good thing Timothy and Tyler were around. With however south things were going with his mind, he still held some gentleness within him for the two boys. But once that was gone, he might as well be Lotus 2.

((Doesn't he become Lotus to everyone but them? He'll still attack Michael, but he'll be nice to Timothy? Probably by convincing Timothy that Michael wants to hurt him or something.))

Timothy looked up slowly and recognized Sylas before launching himself out from under the bed and into the Iyouis' arms. "D-don't like it here, Sylas. It's s-scary." The child wrapped his arms around Sylas, breathing heavily. Being a formerly Institute construction, the place was earily similar; and it terrified Timothy.

Tyler dropped to his knees next to Sylas, feeling increasingly bad for Timothy. He reached out and gently patted the back of Timothy's head. "It's okay, Timothy. Nobody's going to hurt you."

((No. It's like being stuck in a room with two people you despise and one person you like. You mind your own business, but when things get rough and your friend is hurt or anything, you get mad. Emotions change.

Plus, Lotus intends to actually hurt them any chance he gets. Which will happen to Sylas if Timothy and Tyler were gone.))

"I know," Sylas murmured, hugging the boy close. "I understand. But do not fear, Timothy. I am here and I will protect you with all that I have, okay? No one may hurt Timothy, for Timothy is my friend." He smiled down at the boy in his arms. "Are you hungry or thirsty?"

((Oh. That's very sad. It's a good thing Timothy and Tyler are there.))

Timothy slowly sat up, nodding his head. "If you m-make it. I don't w-want something from K-Kyle." He shivered slightly, worried about even being near Kyle. The boy didn't like him.

"It's okay, Timothy. Sylas made waffles, and Kyle didn't touch them." Tyler stood up and took Timothy's hand, ready to help the older boy stand up when he was ready.

((Yes. So if Timothy and Tyler were to go off into a different room...well, let's not get into that. Or maybe we should. You pick.))

"Of course." Sylas hugged Timothy a few moments more, then stood and helped him stand. "Down the stairs we go, shall we?" He opened the door and held it there, waiting for the two smaller boys, a small smile on his face.

((Maybe later. First we have to get Timothy fed, or I have a thin character not eating for extended periods of time. That leads to passing out.))

Timothy nodded and followed Sylas, waiting for him as soon as he walked through the door.

Tyler jumped up and followed Sylas and Timothy, grabbing Timothy's hand. He would have grabbed Sylas' as well, but that would have kept Timothy from doing so. The other boy clearly needed it more.

((Got it.))

Sylas led the two boys down to where the waffles were growing cold on the table. "Here," Sylas said, putting the syrup in the microwave for a few moments to warm it up, so the taste between the cold waffles and the warm syrup would be balanced properly. He sat Timothy down at the table and gave him one, pouring the heated sticky liquid carefully into the waffle, filling each of the indents and getting it nowhere else.

Timothy started eating the waffle very carefully. He looked around nervously for several minutes before finally relaxing. He was worried that Kyle was in the room somewhere, apparently hiding in a cabinet.

Tyler climbed into a seat next to Timothy, helping himself to a waffle. He ate quiet fast, finishing one in the time it took Timothy to eat only a quarter of one.

"Do I need to make more?" Sylas questioned, smiling a little as he watched them eat. He looked up; Quinn was watching TV, Subject was eating cold waffles next to her. The television was talking about the investigations on the recent missing people, and how their blood was found at certain scenes, but none of their bodies. Sylas snorted and almost smiled. It was too obvious what it was.

Tyler looked at Timothy, then shook his head. "Nope. I'm not hungry, and Timothy's not hungry much either." He finished, stood up, and carried the empty plate to the sink. "We should go find Kyle and see if there's anything interesting to do."

"We could ask Quinn if we can watch Zooboomafoo." Sylas suggested quietly, watching Timothy with his head tilted to the side slightly. He looked up towards the stairs as Werr limped down them, trying very hard to hide his pain.

"Quinn, I n-need help," He uttered, easing himself down on the couch next to her and propping his leg up.

"Ouch," Quinn winced at the sight of his leg. "Uh...I can put a splint on it, but I'm not doing surgery," She shook her head.

"Splint will work. And please ask Kyle for some pain pills," He sighed heavily.

"Okay," She hopped over the back of the couch and moved away.

Tyler ran up to Quinn, pulling on her sleeve and completely ignoring Werr. "Can I watch Zaboomafoo or Animal Planet, Quinn? Please?"

Michael stormed into the kitchen, not saying anything to Sylas or Tyler. "Good morning, Quinn? Did you have a nice time out of your room? Maybe you took a shower, in your spare time."

"Yes, here," Quinn quickly flicked the channel to Animal Planet before turning her attention back to Werr's leg, wondering what she could use for a splint. "I don't shower, Michael. I like cold baths. And yes, for your information, I did bathe. You should probably do so as well. Although, using the second bathroom would be smart, because I think Subject passed out in the main one..."

"No, I'm right here," Subject looked up. He was lying on the couch, still looking a little sick, but recovering quickly.

"Ah. Well then, excuse me, Michael, I need to ask Kyle for some things..."

Michael spun and marched out of the room, clearly furious with Quinn for leaving him lock in the room. He would have been furious with Tyler and Sylas too, but that would have been dangerous. He might've gotten locked in again.

Tyler moved back over to the table and sat on it, not bothering to use a chair. Chairs were boring. "I love Animal Planet. It has monkeys, and tigers, and elephants, and- look! It's a hippo!"

"Hippopotamous. I can pretend to be that." Sylas blinked at the television.

"Don't try here, please...you'll break my other leg," Werr uttered, scooting away a little.

"Okay. I will not do so. Because you said please." Sylas nodded thoughtfully.

"Kyle?" Quinn gave a knock on the door to Kyle's office. "I need a few things...Werr's leg is broken and I need bandages, a splint, pain medicine, and crutches if they're available..."

"Good job, Werr." Tyler bounced on the table, watching a hippopotamous devour a creature that wandered into its waters. "Saying please to Sylas is a very good thing to do. If you don't, he feels sad."

Timothy got up from the table, having finished, and ran over to Sylas, sitting on the ground by his chair.

"Yes...goodness knows we don't want Sylas to be sad..." Werr muttered. Quinn returned a few minutes later, quickly getting to work on fixing Werr's leg up so that it would heal properly. Quinn watched him take the tylenol along with a differently colored pill that he got from a bottle in his pocket. She shrugged it off, though.

Tyler ignored Werr's sarcasm, deciding to take it perfectly seriously. "It's always sad when anyone's sad. I'm glad you understand, Werr." Then, distracted by the television, he pointed at the show exitedly. "IT'S A LEMUR!"

"Lemur?" Sylas blinked at the television, tilting his head to the side for a moment. In a matter of seconds, he was no longer a tall pale Iyoui, but a small gray lemur with the usual black-and-white ringed tail. "Like this? I can pretend. I am all furry now, but I am not a dog." He shook himself thoroughly, puffing out his fur a bit.

Tyler squealed with delight and nearly fell off the table, catching himself on the side of the table and a chair, then pointing at Sylas. "HE'S A LEMUR! LOOK AT IT!" He grabbed Sylas and hugged him tightly, possibly too tightly. "Just like Zaboomafoo!"