A dozen lashes (TW: self harm.)

"I was too." He smiled and moved a bit closer to her. Apparently his little trick was working. He moved her head so she was resting in his lap. "At least you are going to be okay now. What happened, Roo? Did someone or something freak you out?" He began to pet her hair gently, moving her head so if for some reason the trick stopped working she would not see the transformation of his face.

He chuckled and shushed her. "No, you are fine. You can't help if other people are a dick and use your fears against... You."

His shoulders slouched, realizing exactly how much of a Hippocrate he was being in that moment. Condoning someone for doing something bad when Abs did the exact same things but it was dreams so it was different, right. Roo wouldn't cut herself because of something that happened in a dream...or would she.

He cleared his throat. "I'm glad I could be there for you. Do you remember anything about the guy that was snapping the belt anything at all?"

Abs could feel that he didn't have much time left. Either it was too early for him to be in a dream this long or Ellie's sleep spell was wearing off. He suspected it was probably the first one.

A small pang of a mixture of sadness and uneasyness went through him at her last words. He had been there most of the time but in ways she didn't like. He leaned down and gently kisses her temple. He crooned, "I may be in more of them if you want me there."

He felt that tug at the back of his spine and neck, grumbling. He didn't have long at all. He ruffled her hair. "I have to go but I'll be there when you wake up. Don't worry."

And with that. He opened his eyes and he was back in the infirmary, sitting in that uncomfortable chair by Roo's cot. He sat up and stretched his back a bit, his hand still holding gently onto Roo's.

Bolin was the second person that Taibhse went to, once he had washed the blood from his face. Bolin went first to the empty classrooms and, finding nothing but the lingering scent of iron, went to check the infirmary. He walked through the doorway just as Abaddon dozed off, and now he was leaning his hip against the edge of Ellie's desk, arms crossed, watching Roo carefully.

"Is she okay?"

Abs nodded as he looked at Bolin. He wasn't surprised that his teacher was there, more relieved oddly enough. "If you want to sleep in a chair, don't pick this one." He grumbled and released Roo's hand to walk over to talk more privately with Bolin.

"From what I've been able to gather: she was drawing in the student lounge, someone there snapped his belt at her and chased her into the hallway. She went for an empty classroom and cut herself with her own fingernails." He leaned against the desk next to Bolin, crossing his arms and keeping his gaze on Roo. "She couldn't tell me anything about the student other than that it was a male. What can we really do though?"

Bolin managed a small smirk at Abaddon's quip about the chair, then straightened as the boy approached him. His eyes flashed and he pinched the bridge of his nose as a quiet grumble escaped him. He had been careful about what Roo was and was not allowed to keep on her person. He had somehow not counted on her using her own nails.

"As far as dealing with the other student goes, we can't do anything. If he had hit her, or had actively egged her on after realizing that she was having an attack, I could do something about it. As it is..."

He looked at the sleeping girl and sighed through his nose. "Unless she asks for someone to talk to the kid, I can't do anything. Much as I would like to." He turned his gaze to Abaddon and his expression softened.

"She's not suicidal," he assured him. "Not any more-- she's not harming herself with intent to do damage. She's afraid that Lakeshore isn't real, and that she's dreaming everything up." He caught Abaddon's eye and held his gaze. "Now, I don't know how she got to Arcadia, and there really aren't any clues in what she's been able to tell me from before she woke up here. But she's terrified that she's going to wake up from this the same way she wakes up from her dreams that you've been fiddling around in, and she's going to open her eyes and find herself in a hospital room in the human realm instead of here, in the castle."

Abaddon winced a bit when Bolin mentioned him 'fiddling' in Roo's dreams. He averted his gaze, looking at the floor. "I don't know how one of my Dad's relatives got a hold of her but they did somehow. That's all I know about her getting here. But at least my -fiddling- came to some good use." He grumbled, unsure as to if Bolin was trying to make Abs seem like a villain or not.

He sighed and mumbled, "I don't know what I'll do if she finds out. What if she hates me?" He could feel his heart beating harder and a flush forming in his cheeks. "Maybe I should just leave her alone. She might be better off without... Whatever I am and do."

Bolin frowned. "Tell her or don't, that's your judgement. But listen." He patted the side of Abaddon's neck. "I don't know how things turned out this way, but you're a big factor in Roo being so happy here. She feels safe in Lakeshore, and she's got a job, and people she feels like she can talk to. And she has you. You were the first friend she made here, or ever. Do you have any idea what that means to her?"

He huffed. "When you get the chance, ask her how she feels about the monster under the bed. I'm going to go around to her other teachers and get Roo's assignments for tomorrow's classes. She's gonna stay in here for the night."

Yeah. No pressure at all. I was just her first friend ever and that's just going to make things worse for her if she ever did find out and hate him for it.

He nodded and sighed softly. "I'll stay here with her until Ellie gets back." He waved to Bolin as he went back to sit in the not so comfy chair. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, looking at the sleeping Roo. He held one of her hands in both of his and whispered, "Please don't hate me. You can be mad at me for as long as you need to but just don't..." His voice caught in his throat. He grumbled and his eyes stung a bit.

All these strange feelings that he didn't understand and now he was on the verge of crying? What was wrong with him today?

Ellie approached the infirmary just as Bolin was coming out. The vice principal took a gentle grip on her elbow and steered her away from the door, and they had a short murmured conversation about what Abaddon had told him.

Ellie came up to the doorway after Bolin released her, and peered into the room before making her entrance. "Abaddon," she said quietly, her other arm holding a bundle of cloth. "Would you mind stepping away from just a moment while I change Roo's clothes? I'm not sure she'd like waking up with blood on her."

He looked up at her, and nodded. "Oh yeah that's fine." He looked down at his own clothes, realizing that there were a few blood marks from where she had been holding onto his shirt. "I should probably change too. I'll just go and I'll be back."

He picked up his backpack and ran a hand through his hair again. "Thank you for looking after her, Miss Ellie." He gave a small head bow and walked past her out the door. Before he would be able to face Roo again he would have to make some choices about everything. These feelings and if what he was doing with dreams was really wrong.

But first. He had a student lounge to inspect. Sure Bolin couldn't technically do anything about it... But that did not mean that Abaddon couldn't. He walked down the hall as a sinister smirk curled across his lips. There were going to be screams tonight.