An afternoon at the hospital (Thomas, Tasha, Amaris, etc.)
Tasha's hand felt bony but warm in his own, reassuring him he wasn't alone. They were stretched out on the lawn of the courtyard at RMMH, grass tickling his neck. He had come to the hospital to speak with Amaris, but decided he needed some time at the last moment. Almost as if she had been waiting for him (and Thomas did wonder if Stephie had texted her) Tasha had been there when Thomas needed her.
"Good clouds," Thomas commented absently, because hey it was something to say. "Very wispy."
Tasha, who had her head turned towards him even while he was staring straight upwards, furrowed her brow in worry. "You know you don't actually have to do this, right? You know you're literally the only person who has decided you need to?"
Thomas chuckled and he gave Tasha's hand a careful squeeze. He knew, of course. His family, friends, Stephie and Peter had all made that incredibly clear. "I like this reclaimed sass," he informed her, instead of arguing since she was entirely correct.
"All the better to boss you with, my dear," Tasha purred at him. "You sure you're going to do this?"
Thomas nodded, finally turning his head to look at her. "I'm going to try anyway. Not just yet though, still need a minute. Tell me about something. How is decorating going?" He was thrilled when Tasha rewarded him with a blinding smile and his something tugged at his belly, reminding him just how damn long he had been without her. She was here now though. It meant everything.
"It's amazing. I either want really nice wallpaper, or black painted walls. Still a little bit edgy, but not so 'young girl needs the world to know how tough she is'."
"Because we already know how tough you are, considering you're still here," Thomas suggested to her.
"Something like that," she squeezed his hand and then sat up, blades of grass raining from her hair to the lawn. "Alright then, since I'm so tough, I'll help you. When you're ready," she added, so he didn't feel rushed. "I won't go in, but I'll be right outside, okay?"
Tasha reassuring him wasn't something he was sure he would ever have again. It was so damn amazing he nearly burst into tears and forgot all about Amaris.
Nearly.
"Just another minute."
They sat in silence then, Thomas trying to ignore the steady 'tick-tick-tick' of his wristwatch. It wasn't going to get any easier, however, no matter how long they stayed out here watching clouds. So he rose, allowed her to dust the grass off of him, and they walked hand in hand to the interview room where Thomas went in alone with the promise that Tasha was waiting for him.
Amaris was brought in, her wrists and ankles cuffed. She was chained to the table as well, though Thomas didn't really feel all that much more secure to see her tied down. She was looking annoyed, but surprisingly not at him. "Fucking bitch," she hissed at Katia, who clicked the lock in place.
"Don't-" Thomas shook his head, "don't call her that, she's making sure I'm safe. And I'm sorry I feel like I need you tied up to be safe." He really didn't like it. "It doesn't have to continue being the case... If I...start to believe you won't hurt me-"
"I can't hurt you," Amaris reminded him, but she leaned her elbows against the table and dropped her head into her hands. She was looking much healthier every time he saw her, and he wondered if she was thankful in any way to be taken care of. "You looking for more answers?"
Was he? "I- I came to talk to you but-" There had been something that he hadn't been able to get out of his mind lately. "I just want to know why you fixated on me. When all this started I wasn't even involved, and as time went on- Was it just Brian needing to sate some kind of revenge lust?"
Amaris shook her head, lowering her hands to the table to tap her fingers against it. "You were the most loyal, brave, self-sacrificing person we'd ever met," she explained then, the rhythmic tapping starting to get on his nerves. "You would put yourself through any kind of pain to keep someone else from it, or so you thought. We just wanted to know how far that would go. It might still be the case with pain, that wasn't what broke you. But can you still say, if you were starving to death alongside someone you loved, and you were presented with one piece of food, that you wouldn't take it for yourself?" she asked, her eyebrows raised.
That hadn't been the answer he was expecting, and the very thought of it twisted his insides. Instead of admitting how uncomfortable she had made him though, he said, "that's where you don't get me at all. You can still share one piece of food."
"You say now, with a full belly," Amaris shrugged. "I saw you at your most desperate. I don't think you would have shared."
Thomas honestly didn't know if he would either, and that made him feel utterly disgusting. So disgusting, in fact, that he had to excuse himself. No more talking was going to happen today, not with that on his mind. "I'll come back," he said, standing roughly and leaving almost as quickly as he had arrived.
"That was fast," Tasha said as Thomas burst through the door to hug her. He was shaking, and he knew she could feel it. "What's-"
"Just...messing with my head again," Thomas admitted, sighing. Goddammit. And he had let her do it too. "Don't even think she meant to, she just does it naturally." He heaved a sigh and slowly disengaged from the hug. "I'll just...I should walk you back to your room," he said, reaching for her hand.
And that was how he ended up in the residential wing hallway with a demon who was having a panic attack, and a succubus who he was pushed into by the demon who was really just not happy with someone entering his space. Thomas was easily twice the size of the poor succubus and he had been pushed hard, so they both went down to the floor equally hard. Thomas didn't even feel her reach out with his powers so fast in a fit of self-protection, that when he rolled off her he was overcome with the need to find anything and fuck it.
He wasn't even entirely sure how he made it home, just that he needed to text Stephie immediately and warn her.