A Parchment Assault

Theo always had a thousand different things on his mind at work - it was good for him, really. But there was one new thing, physically very small, that was taking up quite a lot of space as of late. Perhaps it was because he visited her every chance he got, or she came to find him the rare times he wasn't somewhere near her room - but Theo couldn't stop thinking about the little werewolf girl. The day he'd found her had been so traumatic, it was no wonder she was permanently imprinted on his brain...but that wasn't all of it. It wasn't just guilt, either, or even all of Mali's talk that kept him going back (although, the more time he spent with Ana, the more he was really starting to understand where Mali was coming from). Theo had formed a bond with the little squirt. She seemed pretty happy despite what had happened to her, and really, she was one of the funnest people Theo knew. More fun than most of the grouchy Healers that roamed this place (it was decidedly less sunshiny here without Mali around now).

Those grouchy Healers were crawling all over Theo's back today, making him a little grouchy, too. So demanding, they were. Everyone at the hospital was stressed nowadays, he got that. The whole entire world was stressed these days. But there was no need to take it out on Theo. He hadn't done anything...lately. What transpired last year most certainly still had an effect on his coworkers, Theo could see it in their eyes every time they looked at him. People still didn't trust him. And with the added stress of the werewolf stuff and the Death Eater stuff, sometimes, they treated him pretty badly. Like he was less.

For now, he took it. He didn't know how long he could take it, but he loved this job and he needed to stay here, if not for himself and his livelihood, then for his patients. For people like Ana. So he ran the errands and took the abuse and dealt with his anger once he was off hospital grounds, either hiding away in Mali's arms or in the bottom of a bottle if she was busy. It wasn't exactly sustainable behavior, but it was all Theo knew.

He was standing in front a cupboard, trying not to think about it and trying to remember what the heck he was looking for, when he felt something hit him in the back. His face scrunched together as he whipped around. The only coworker brave enough to actually get physical with him when he fucked up was Tristan...with no tall blondes in sight, Theo wondered if the rest of them were finally getting braver. Great.

Then, he heard the giggles. Soft, muffled little giggles coming from under the Healer's station counter. Theo practically felt the tension melt away from his muscles, even as he hauled his large frame to his hands and knees and started to crawl. "Hmm, how mysterious." He scooped up the rumpled ball of parchment and pulled his wand out of his pocket, tapping the ball and transforming it into a crumpled paper bird. He crawled to the counter and sat just outside of the line of vision of anyone who might be hiding underneath it, levitating the paper bird toward the edge of the desk, perhaps enticing anyone hiding underneath it to come out and play.