This Is Why You're Safer With Me

Goddamnit, why did she leave her cage?

Derek built that cage out of love and concern. She was willing to run away from him because she thought he deserved better. What? Who could possibly be better than Vicky? There was no one better than Victoria. He was sure of this. He struggled with a lot of topics, but his love for Vicky was not one of them. No one could deny him of this; not even she could. This is why it was his job to protect her and watch over her. However, he went too far with the cage. It was a snap judgment made at a bad time, and now she escaped.

He was in another room getting new clothes for his love when she slipped out of the house butt naked. When he came back to see her gone, he freaked out. He had no idea where she was; he hadn't put a monitoring system on her yet, and he had no powers that could track her. The teen went on a wild goose chase trying to find her. All the while his mind thought of various horrible scenarios. He was worried about people hurting her in various ways or worse. His sanity meter decreased heavily as he kept looking; where was she?

Then just as he went back to the house to try and figure out a new plan, he received a call from the hospital. They decided to contact the patient's residence to see if there was anyone there. Who was the patient?

Why none other than Vicky of course.

He couldn't remember how he got to the hospital, but he was soon approaching her room. What happened to her? Who or what did this to her? Why?! Most importantly would she be okay? He practically bull rushed into her room before calming down a slight bit.

"Vicky, what happened? Why are you here?"

[Sanity Meter: 50%]

@Jenny800

"I'm not leaving and the staff let me in here in the first place. I was even called."

He shut the door behind him. He elected to slump into a chair next to Victoria's bed. The male buried his face within his hands. The emotions within him were terrifyingly overwhelming, and he couldn't handle them very well. He had just barely enough stability to not fly off of the handle. His body even visibly trembled.

"Look at you. This is why I wanted to protect you, even if it meant locking you in. The cage was a bit much, but I did my best to accommodate you. Gave you gifts, food, and clothes."

He glanced up at her with an expression that included both a fiery glare and watery eyes.

"You've been refusing to eat or drink, and now you're running out in public all vulnerable? What were you thinking?! The world's full of assholes, Vicky!"

Derek's initial intention wasn't to scold her, but he was worried sick and spent several hours trying to figure out if she was....he didn't even want to think of the possibility or what it would do to his sanity level if that happened.

"....I'm just glad you're alive. You still haven't told me what happened."

[50%]

@Jenny800

Surprisingly, the yandere just further buried his face in his hands as she snapped at him. While he seemed like the dominant one of the relationship, the truth was Victoria did have a lot of say. Her words could really hurt him. So even if he was the one dictating the decisions, criticism from Vicky could easily send him backpedaling. After all, she mattered a lot to him. So hearing her level of frustration bothered him deeply. He was glad he rethought her living arrangements. He made a few adjustments to what would be her bedroom. Now she could roam around the room rather than have to curl up in a cage.

"I didn't mean to hurt you....I'm sorry. The cage is gone now."

He didn't look up at her at all. He was too absorbed in his anxiety and grief to do that. Besides, she probably wasn't even giving him the pleasure of her gaze. This entire situation was an absolute mess, and he blamed himself. This was all his fault. How could he be so foolish as to lose sight of her? Why didn't he make her living space more comfortable? Why didn't he find her in time? He beat himself up over every mistake that led them to this point.

"Now you're hurt and in a hospital bed....I failed you. But maybe now you see how messed up this world is."

He moved his hands away from his face.

"I wanted to avoid that. I didn't want you to have a crash course in evil, but I became too restrictive in the process."

Of course he was planning to put restrictions on her again, but this time he was going about it in a....friendlier manner? Nicer manner? I mean, he wasn't going to use a cage again so.

"Then what happened?"

[50%]
@Jenny800

Derek shut down completely. He said not a word as she spoke. Her words still registered in his mind, but he was no longer responding. His eyes went blank. They became akin to black holes. The emotions he felt didn't fade away, but it was like someone turned off a switch. Now his face became scarily less emotive. That combined with the silence made it both creepy and concerning. It was hard to figure out what he was thinking at the moment. He just became a robot staring blankly at the floor. Was it all too much?

Vicky gave him too much at once. Now she was talking about death like it was an option for her. Who was she to think that she could just die and then everything would be okay? It didn't work like that! She would leave behind a mark, regardless of how small, and it would hurt. It would probably hurt him the mouth though. The truth was he really didn't have much to him. He was just a scary Eldritch monster with human flesh. He wasn't even sure if he truly had emotions. He could certainly act a certain way, but he generally didn't feel anything unless Vicky was there.

Vicky humanized him, and now he had made her angry. He didn't know what more else he could do at that point. He drifted in his thoughts lost on the next step. He felt his meter drop a bit. This brought him too much stress. Why must he be tormented so? The only thing that signaled Derek was still alive was the occasional breath he took. He didn't even blink as he just stared at the floor. It was like he was begging it for an answer. Just give him something to fix his problems.

Finally he raised his head and just....stared at Vicky. He examined every nook and cranny of her body, or at least as much as he could without touching her. The male kept staring at her and still wouldn't blink. One could easily fall down the two black holes that were on his face.

"I love you."

Really only an empath could read his feelings. He wasn't lying. He said nothing beyond those three words as tears poured down his face. Derek broke right then and there. He just couldn't live in a world where he didn't have Victoria.

[48%]
@Jenny800